122: Cindr | LOTR: Journeys in Middle-earth | Dark & Dangerous Skies

Welcome to Which Game First where we boldly explore the hilariously huge world of board games. Did we unearth any hidden treasures you’ve been missing out on? Let’s find out! First up this week: We’re looking to sizzle but not get burned by the dragon of our dreams in CindrNext: We command Middle-earth all from the palm of our hand in LOTR: Journeys in Middle-earthAnd lastly: We struggle to survive the inky black of space in Dark and Dangerous Skies This week we have a special guest, professional comedian and board game content creator Grant Lyon! Cindr Designed by: Harold Mikolaitis, Benjamin WalkerPublished by: Smirk & Laughter Games (2020)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 30 – 40 min Cindr is a ‘push your luck’ dice and card game that allows players to set up a dating profile and then thumb through potential matches, seeing if a given dragon sounds compatible. First build your character’s profile on four qualities: Treasure, Climate, Lifestyle, and Social, each with three options. For example, for treasure, you choose one of: Hoarder, Investor, or Spender. You may date one of four dragons: the three dragons in the dating pool, or draw from the top of the App deck. And then draw a location from the Welp deck to see where you take your date. Read the dragon’s profile on the front of the card, and if you think it would be a good match for your character, take the card and flip it over to see just how compatible you actually are with the dragon, which determines the dice you roll.  Some dice have more hearts than flames. Avoid the flames because if three flames come up, you get burned on your date!. But, as a consolation, you get one of the “second chance” cards that you can use later for re-rolls or upgrading dice. Hearts is what wins the game. Accumulate 21 hearts to trigger the final round, and the winner is the player with the most hearts, in which you go from being Cindr to the night’s Cinderella. The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth Designed by: Nathan I. Hajek, Grace HoldinghausPublished by: Fantasy Flight Games (2019)Players: 1 – 5Ages: 14 & upPlaying time: 60 – 120 min The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-Earth, is a co-operative, app-supported board game.  Each player is a character in the adventuring party. Each player starts with a basic deck of action cards. To that deck they will add 3 more cards, depending on the role that character takes. For example, Bilbo Baggins might take the burglar role. That player will add the three burglar cards to their action deck.  The app drives the game – it tells you which parts of the map to reveal. On that part of the map there might be threat tokens, search tokens, or exploration tokens. In order to successfully accomplish a task, that character needs to succeed at their skill check.  Drawn cards from their character’s deck will determine success or failure of any given task, including combat. Those are the very basic rules. The APP handles most aspects of the game, such as which parts of the map get revealed, tracks the enemies statistics, and tells the overall story. As finally, always remember what Gandalf said if you choose to skip a turn … You Shall Not Pass! Dark & Dangerous Skies Designed by: Jim DeacovePublished by: Family Pastimes (2005)Players: 2 – 4Ages: 5 & upPlaying time: 30 min