FULL REVIEW

Board Game Designers Forum
USA

Shipwrecked was a good, light filler game. I liked the way you tried to second guess your opponents. The game itself might have been just a tad too light for real serious play, perhaps some items could be given a special ability. However, the simplicity and elegence of play was quite refreshing. I will add Shipwrecked to my favorite filler games box along with Guillotine and Golfmania.

Basari is a great game too. I'm not sure how well it would fare with three players (we always played with four), but I guess strategy would change drastically with three players as the instance of everyone getting 'free' actions might occur quite often. The balance of the game was good, with there being two, if not three different strategies capable of winning. I found the bartering for actions system to be quite good, and quite well balanced. Again I found this game to be very well designed from all of the balanced gameplay right down to the instructions and artwork. I tend to prefer Beer & Pretzel games over strategy, and this game seemed to fit the balance just right. We found there can be a king making situation in the last round where a player who is not capable of winning, has the ability to decide who wins by which gems he trades away. I'm not sure that this necessarily a bad thing however, as a good player would take this possibility into consideration while planning his actions.

Overall, I rated both games a 9. Some people might rate Shipwrecked lower because it is more of a light filler game. However, I rated it high BECAUSE it is a light filler game. Any game that can be completed in 15 minutes and is still very fun is a winner in my book.

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