July 29, 2010
Agricola is ranked #2 on Board Game Geek. Number Two. That means of all the games, in all the world, the board gaming community bows down to worship only one other game with more vigor (Puerto Rico). It's one of the best titles ever.
The today-only Tanga sale includes the base Agricola [Amazon, Funagain] game, a 1-5 player title all about the family farming experience. It requires to you think about numerous variables like.. say squirting out more kids with the wife (or husband) to act as more farm hands, growing different types of food, and building out your farm's infrastructure. At first you're just a man and a wife working a small shack, but through the game you'll try to groom your land and assets into a major powerhouse farmstead.
Now normally you find Agricola for sale for about 46 bucks. This Tanga Sale is 65. So why is it so interesting? Well you get a deluxe set of 194 wooden pieces, a deluxe set of Meeples that not only make Agricola shine, but can be used for your other Eurogames as well. Meeples are used everywhere, from Carcasonne to Warcraft the Board Game..
Here are the title's official details:
In Agricola (Latin for "farmer"), you're a farmer in a wooden shack with your spouse and little else. On a turn, you get to take only two actions, one for you and one for the spouse, from all the possibilities you'll find on a farm: collecting clay, wood or stone; building fences; and so on. You might think about having kids in order to get more work accomplished, but first you need to expand your house. And what are you going to feed all the little rugrats?
Agricola is a turn-based game. There are 14 game turns plus 6 harvest phases (after turn 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14). Each player starts with two playing tokens (farmer and wife) and thus can take two actions per turn. There are multiple options, and while the game progresses, you'll have more and more: first thing in a turn, a new action card is flipped over.
Problem: Each action can be taken just once per turn, so it's important to do some things with high preference. Each player also starts with a hand of 7 Occupation cards (of more than 160 total) and 7 Minor Improvement cards (of more than 140 total) that he may use during the game if they fit in his/her strategy. This amounts to countless strategies, some depending on your card hand. Sometimes it's a good choice to stay on course, sometimes you better react on what your opponents do.
Agricola can also be played without cards (family game) and can even be played solo.
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July 7, 2010
It's been a while since Tanga has had a worthwhile sale! Well today they've hit a softt spot with us, right on the money, with the Carcassonne Board Game Bundle.
Repeat readers know that Carcassonne is one of our favorite titles, ever. It still remains in the forefront of our gaming play list.. especially since Carcassonne for the iPhone hit the Internets a few short weeks ago.
Now Tanga is bundling both the main set and the Traders & Builders Expansion. If you're new to board gaming and you're looking for a great neo-classic pickup for cheap, then look no further. This bundle also makes the perfect gift for families looking to get into board gaming (Ages 8+).
Here are the details:
"Carcassonne is a clever tile-laying game. The southern French city of Carcassonne is famous for its unique Roman and Medieval fortifications. The players develop the area around Carcassonne and deploy their followers on the roads, in the cities, in the cloisters, and in the fields. The skill of the players to develop the area will determine who is victorious.
Traders & Builders is the second major expansion to the original game of Carcassonne, containing 24 tiles with new features such as Bridges and Cities.
Some tiles also feature symbols for the goods Wine, Cloth and Wheat. Players collect one of these goods when the feature that has it on the tile is scored. Players with the most of each type of good gets bonus points at the end of the game. There are also two new wooden playing pieces in this expansion. The Builder is like a meeple in that it may be placed in a city or road as a kind of supervisor. A subsequent tile extension of the feature the Builder is in allows the player another tile placement. Farmers will also be able to place a new Pig pawn in a field for extra points at the end of the game.
Finally, Traders & Builders comes with a large cloth bag. Not only does this makes it easier to keep and handle the tiles, but it also removes the problem of having non-identical backsides.
The game is playable with or without the first expansion.
" - Tanga.com
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April 29, 2010
Age of Empires III [Amazon, Funagain] has a storied history. After nearly being canned when the owning publisher shut its doors just months before release, this strong title endured and was finally published in 2007. It was welcomed with open arms, too, winning nominations for best board game of the year and strategy game of the year in 2007, as well as winning the Origins Historic Board Game of the Year.
To sum up: this is a solid game. And we just learned that there's an expansion due out this year. All these things make today's Tanga sale of the Day quite noteworthy. An excellent strategy game for sale at only 50% off, placing it in the attractive $30 price range, and a stepping stone to more content in a few short months. This really is a no brainer.
Here are the game's official details:
It is the late 15th century and a new age is dawning. While searching for a new trade route to India, explorers have discovered a new land. The first reports tell of strange creatures, exotic people, and fabulous wealth. Captains and adventurers flock to these new lands in search of gold. They are quickly followed by colonists, soldiers, merchants, and missionaries all seeking wealth of one kind or another. Colonies begin to spring up, and soon competition among the great nations of Europe begins.
Take the role of one of Europe's colonial powers and stake your claim in the New World. As the leader of your nation, there are many paths that lead to victory: Discover and colonize new lands; acquire trade goods that will build your economy; develop new technologies and infrastructure in your home country; build your merchant fleet to dominate the trade routes; and build your army to defend what is rightfully yours!
The triumphant revel in riches and glory, while the vanquished become a footnote in the history books. It is an Age of Discovery... it is an Age of Empires!
For more Information about Age of Empires III, checkout the Tanga Sale of The Day Page, and its Board Game Geek Page. Enjoy!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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April 14, 2010
A few weeks ago we posted that Tanga had the World of Warcraft Adventure Board Game on sale for the cheap. We got our order in and it was all sealed in a nice Fantasy Flight Games shipping box, which probably means that FFG is clearing its inventory.
Today they're following up with a really slick deal for you collectors. The complete set of character addons is on sale today-only at Tanga, too. Normally this would cost about $80-$100 bucks, but all eight of these characters are bundled together for 40 bucks on Tanga.
Total score if you ask us. Here's the details:
All Eight World of Warcraft Adventure Game Character Packs!
In the world of Warcraft, there are many heroes and many perils. As each foe falls, a new enemy is revealed; as each hero falters, a new champion stands forth. Now, a new hero has risen to take his place in the Hall of Legends!
Each order contains Eight Character Expansion Packs:
Each Character Pack contains:- 28 Challenge Cards
- 23 Ability Cards
- 9 Character Tokens
- 4 Character Cards
- 1 Character Miniature
- 4 Quests
- 4 Discovery Tokens
Critical Gamers Staff at
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March 31, 2010
Today's Tanga Game of the Day is the second attempt from Fantasy Flight Games to make a fun board game about World of Warcraft. Yes, we don't like the original World of Warcraft Board Game because it's essentially a 4-8 exercise of counting tokens and pulling them off boards, and then counting tokens and putting them on boards, then 5 minutes of reading cards, and then about 2 seconds of tossing dice. Rinse, repeat.
Now this rebooted second attempt, the World of Warcraft Adventure Game [Amazon, Funagain] is a far more streamlined title that's 'good'. It's fun for Warcraft Fans but it does miss the AAA level of gaming coolness. Warcraft fans should have a ball, general board game fans might have fun working through a game of Runebound instead.
Here are some reviews for your perusal:
And here's the abbreviated the official game description. For more information check the game's Amazon or Tanga page (above):
World of Warcraft: the Adventure Game is an exciting and fast-paced journey through the world of Azeroth for 2 to 4 players. Choose your favorite hero and embark on an epic journey from humble beginnings to immense power, battling vicious monsters, powerful overlords, and your treacherous fellow players! Will you be the mightiest hero in all the land?
Have a good Tuesday!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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March 9, 2010
Todays' Tanga.com Gaming Sale of the Day is quite an interesting nugget. Instead of being a mainstream game, or an standard overstock item, its actually a grab bag of RPG history. The Massive Dungeons & Dragons Dragonlance RPG Lot includes the following laundry list of materials:
- War of the Lance hardcover supplement
- Tasselhoff's Map Pouch: Legends loose/folio accessory
- Tasselhoff's Map Pouch: Age of Mortals loose/folio accessory
Spectre of Sorrows softcover module
- Races of Ansalon hardcover supplement
Lost Leaves From the Inn of the Last Home softcover supplement
- Legends of the Twins hardcover supplement
- Holy Orders of the Stars hardcover supplement
- Dragons of Winter softcover module
- Dragons of Spring softcover module
Dragons of Krynn hardcover supplement
- Dragons of Autumn softcover module
Dragonlance Dungeon Master's Screen
- Dragonlance Campaign Setting hardcover supplement
- Bestiary of Krynn Revised edition hardcover supplement
- Age of Mortals hardcover supplement
Critical Gamers Staff at
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November 30, 2009
Amazon is having a sweet sale today putting a lot of their board game stock down at discounted prices. Click here to enter the sale page.
Titles on sale include the flagships of board gaming, including the Settlers of Catan 4th Edition, Apples to Apples, and Ticket to Ride, Carcassonne and this year's biggest hit Dominion all at 25% off.
Both Battlestar Galactica and Puerto Rico are still some of the best games around, and they're at 50% off, as are some of the old school games like Monopoly, Yahtzee -- in case you want to impart some classic gaming on your kids or grand kids.
Critical Gamers Staff at
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The good folks at Funagain Games have posted their Holiday Buyer's guide (not to be confused with ours). You can check it out here.
Some of the games are on the older side, but they're still some of the best classics around. Games like Ticket to Ride, Puerto Rico, and Power Grid (which made our Holiday Guide, too).
But that's from their General Holiday Guide. They also have Holiday Guides for kids, family games, party games - the works. Just check the bottom of the page here.
Critical Gamers Staff at
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One of the top notch board game and card game publishers is Fantasy Flight Games, and their Holiday Sale is already in full swing.
For board games they have Lord of the Rings expansion, Lord of the Rings Confrontation expansions, Cave Troll, and World or Warcraft board game expansions on sale. There's also a huge sale on A Game of Thrones Collectible Card Game, the Call a Cthulu CCG, and Mutant Chronicles Miniatures game.
There's a lot going on here!
Critical Gamers Staff at
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The online gaming store Troll and Toad usually has some of the best prices around, and now they've discounted a selection of games for the Holidays. Click here for the Holiday Sale.
While there are some board games, the emphasis seems to be on collectible card games. The flagship products: Magic the Gathering based, Yu Gi Oh, and Pokemon booster packs and boxes of boosters from sets released over the last year or so.
Critical Gamers Staff at
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Agricola Ultimate Bundle Sale at Tanga
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