We recently got in some packages from the fine folks at Daedalus and were thrilled to open them up. I’ve been checking out their products for a long time and this was the first one I’d ever been able to see in person. I’ve had inserts from Folded Space and Broken Token and these ones measure up nicely, so far.
I was impressed immediately by the quality of the components and the ebony finish is super cool. My main issue is that it doesn’t come with printed instructions and you have to watch a YouTube video on how to install it. And while the video is nice, having a printed option would have been helpful if that wasn’t my thing. Regardless, it was relatively simple to put together — I recommend doing wood glue with a little super glue to hold things in place while your wood glue dries, for a faster experience.
Despite how tall it is, the footprint is relatively small, around the size of a small box game which gave us plenty of room to use and play with at my D&D night. The catcher does a good job stopping the dice, too.
Our main complaint was that it’s very loud — especially with metal dice. However, if I were to do things over again, I’d simply install some craft foam or felt on each layer to deaden the sound. It’d be pretty simple to do. My other complaint is that it’s not the easiest to take to game night with as large as it is. So I’d love to see them make one that’s collapsable or a “mini” version of this.
I’m beyond happy with how this thing turned out and cannot wait to check out more of their products. We’ll be doing a review of their Clank! in! Space! insert very soon! So be sure to look for it.
So excited to finally be able to post these. I was thrilled when Tommy from Meeple Realty came to me about painting tiles for his 3D Printed Terraforming Mars tiles. After painting them, I’m very tempted to get some of my own! He’s working on making some/all of these available for purchase but if you want them painted you’ll have to do it yourself (or hire someone like me).
If you’re interested in having me paint your minis, go here!
Publisher: Blue Orange Games. Designers: Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc. Artist: Sylvain Aublin. Year Published: 2018. Players: 1-4. Time: 20min. Age: 8+. WEIGHT: 1/5.
POST BY CATHY. Visual puzzle games are my nemesis. Trying to fit oddly-shaped pieces together while also planning places for future oddly shaped pieces to go…it’s IMPOSSIBLE! And when a game like that comes to the table, I just expect to lose and want to get it over as soon as possible. So when we pulled out Scarabya and I saw those piles of polyominoes, I groaned internally but put on my bravest fight face. And yes, as expected, I failed miserably. Worse than miserably.
But the surprising thing is…I actually had fun doing it. And every time I played I did better and better until I finally got the hang of it.
In Scarabya, each player has their own modular board of squares (10 x 10) littered with tiny scarabs and a pile of oddly-shaped polyominoes. A card is revealed from the deck and all players must place the pictured polyomino on their board, making sure it’s touching a previously placed piece.
The goal, however, isn’t to fit the pieces snugly together like you would expect. In Scarabya, you actually use your shapes to surround areas of four or fewer squares, creating “excavation sites”. Any of those little scarabs illustrated on your player board that get trapped in those excavation sites score you points based on the site’s size. So each scarab trapped in a three-square excavation site is worth three points.
Scarabya is just plain fun. It’s a perfect little filler game that’s quick to set up and quick to play. It’s easy to teach, easy to learn, and very addictive. I’ve never just played this game once and then put it back on the shelf. It always gets multiple plays in a row, because it gives you that feeling of “I need to try it just one more time.”
My favorite part of this game, though, is the art. Each player has their own landscape to work in–underwater, desert, forest, or tundra–and the polyominoes are covered in these tiny, beautiful illustrations. As you place them, you are filling out your landscape with little workers, vehicles, plants, and other tiny details. My only complaint would be the component quality. The cards are fine, and I LOVE the little plastic mountains that give your landscape a three-dimensional feel, but the cardboard polyominoes are already showing a little wear and tear.
Scarabya is a quick, fun game that I keep in my bag as a filler or end-of-the-night game. Will it stay in our collection? I’m not really sure yet. While the puzzle of this game was a huge challenge for me at first, it hasn’t stayed that way. I may not have completely mastered it yet, but the better I get, the less interesting it is to play.
If you are looking for a fifteen-minute game to add to your collection that’s easy to teach to gamers or non-gamers alike, I absolutely recommend giving this one a try. It may not have a lot of staying power if you’re planning on replaying it frequently, but it will give you a fun challenge at least for a little while.
SPOILER WARNING: This contains photos of the minis from RISE OF FENRIS. Another commission complete! Did this one a little different than my previous jobs. I always like each one being a little bit unique. The client loved the colors of my previous jobs so I amped it up a bit for these ones. If you’re interested in having me paint your minis, go here!
