Last Friday - English

Product Information

The big Con of the game is the fact that players who are killed early on in a chapter have to sit and wait for a considerable amount of time before they get to continue into a new chapter. Switching chapters also means new rules, which can alter the mood of the game and brought some confusion when first learning how to play.

Basically? Anything you see here is the result of multiple playtests with a variety of players, not to mention extensive hands-on time with the product in general. If we haven't played it half to death and don't still love it, it's not getting in. Other highlights this year include big-name video game tie-ins deeply discounted for the holidays. That includes Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood of Venice, the World of Warcraft-inspired version of Pandemic, and Overboss: A Boss Monster Adventure inspired by 8-bit classics like Super Mario Bros. You can even snag the tabletop version of Frostpunk, a breakout crowdfunding hit, for more than 50% off the retail price.

Last Friday Revised Edition (English Rules) now available for download

I want to be sure to emphasis this before I say some negative things; I really like this game. It’s a fun, charming little puzzle with heaps of replay value. The artwork and components are of as high a standard as Rio Grande Games put out,meaning it’s still leaps and bounds behind companies like Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight, but it is a very endearing and fun aesthetic. You want something simple: Because it rips up the rules (in a manner of speaking, anyway) and offers lots of unique options, Cosmic Encounter may not be your speed if you want something really straightforward. For starters (and as explained in the GamesRadar+ ' how we test' guide), we always spend as long learning, playing, and living with board games as possible. Besides helping us understand how it all works so that we can provide a better commentary on whether those mechanics are fun or not, this is crucial for exposing any gameplay shortcomings... or elements that still delight after multiple sessions. We also do our best to play with varying numbers of players to gauge how or if the experience differs. You're expecting it to be as deep as standard Gloomhaven: The original Gloomhaven (not to mention its sequel, Frosthaven) defines 'sprawling fantasy epic.' Indeed, it'll take you months to finish. Even though Jaws of the Lion has plenty of depth, it's nowhere near as big. If you're expecting it to be on par with its predecessor, you'll be disappointed. We've never seen two games go the same way, for instance. Each factions' quirks (and the cards that can influence them) provide a wealth of options each turn, and while this is overwhelming at first, such flexibility makes Root truly compelling in the long-term. It's very replayable.

How it works: Your aim here is simple - make it out of the mansion alive after completing one of 50 missions. That isn't to say it's predictable, though. Betrayal isn't set up like traditional board games, and that's part of its appeal. Your character has been drawn to the house for mysterious reasons (they're following a friend who's gone missing or received an invitation from parties unknown, for example), and it's revealed turn by turn as you try to solve that case. However, each room is selected at random when you enter it. The items or events encountered within are randomized as well. In other words? There's no way of telling what lurks behind those doors.This is followed by Pandemic Legacy: Season 1, an adaptation of the classic team game where your actions have consequences that carry over from session to session. Actually, those 'legacy' mechanics seem to be a common feature for many of the top board games according to users; fantasy dungeon-crawler Gloomhaven comes in third, for example, and that one sees you working your way through an ever-evolving story. How it works: Casting you as one of two traders in the eponymous city of Jaipur, your challenge is to earn an invite to the maharaja's court by being the best businessperson in all the land. How you do that is up to you though, and there's plenty of room to experiment. You don't like pressure: Tensions run high in Pandemic (you are saving the world, after all), so anyone that doesn't like pressure in games won't enjoy this one. It's a gripping but intense experience.

The game's rapid-fire nature makes it a winner with little ones that don't have much patience, too. Matches don't take long and are easy to set up, so you can happily run an encore without much trouble. Unit cards let you move and fight with troops on the tile-based board, while officer cards let you add more unit cards. The number of cards representing each unit thus mimics the morale of your troops as they’re battered by the tides of war. I played the game with my family and although it was a little slow in the beginning to grasp all of the rules, it ended up being a lot of fun to play. The character cards were very reminiscent of people we have seen in the Friday The 13th films and the setup of the game, wherein counselors are set to escape the killer, was enjoying.

Solo games aren’t exactly the most sought after games in the hobby. Of course, there are loads of games that feature a single player mode, but few are purely single player games. However, Friedemann Friese, the green-haired punk of German game design, has never been one to shy away from a design challenge. It only takes a cursory glance at his bizarre, yet inspired, ‘504’ to see that. Last Friday Revised Edition is the updated and revised version of our hidden movement, hunting, and deduction board game, inspired by the popular “slasher” horror movie genre. Subtle but important changes to the rules enhance the game balance, giving to the Maniac more opportunities than ever to spread terror in Camp Apache! This revised edition also features new cover art.

In the role of young campers during Summer in 1980, five players are challenged to survive a long weekend of terror in a camp in the woods, while one of them takes the role of the undying psychopath hiding in the shadows of the forest. How it works: As the name would suggest, Villainous revolves around classic baddies getting their way - Jafar wants to control Genie, Prince John is trying to amass a fortune, and so on. Think of it like a 'what if' scenario, where the antagonists finally get their way.You don't like randomness: This game relies on randomly-drawn board tiles and cards that'll dictate what happens next. If this kind of unpredictability doesn't appeal, Betrayal probably isn't for you. What you need to know: If you have a soft spot for fantasy and love nothing more than poring over ye-olde maps while dreaming of adventure, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion should be on your radar. This dungeon-crawling epic taps into all that with branching storylines more commonly seen in the best tabletop RPGs, and it makes skilful use of 'Legacy' mechanics where the consequences of your actions carry across from one session to the next. Last Friday, a Friday The 13th themed board game (which is not titled Friday The 13th,wink), designed by Antonio Ferrara and Sebastiano Fiorillo and published by Ares Games, is a hidden movement deduction game. One player moves in secret and works against the rest of the players, who move in full sight of everyone at table. The bottom line: There's a good reason why Pandemic has been on shelves for a couple of decades now - its blend of challenge and elation when you win makes it a classic. While there are countless versions to choose from now, we're still partial to this original game due to how elegant it is. Absolutely nothing is wasted in terms of mechanics and design. Last Friday (Revised Edition) is the updated and revised version of our hidden movement, hunting, and deduction board game, inspired by the popular "slasher" horror movie genre. Subtle but important changes to the rules enhance the game balance, giving to the Maniac more opportunities than ever to spread terror in Camp Apache! This revised edition also features new cover art.