Drake's Flames

Short Version: I am moving. http://drakesflames.com/ Long Version: I have been writing Drake's Flames since 2007, and have not updated the way the site looks in years. In terms of the int...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/announcement-new-digs.html

If you were going to mix two stories, a zombie movie and Romeo and Juliet would probably not be your first pick. But somebody went and did that, and it works ridiculously well. In fact, it goes...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/movie-review-warm-bodies.html

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then the creators of Apples to Apples should be incredibly proud. Their stupid game has been copied so many times that it's starting to look like...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/party-game-review-word-whimsy.html

I think Lewis Pulsipher must have a time machine that has transported his mind to 1974 and somehow left his body here with us. That's the only way I can explain making a game like Dragon Rage a...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/bored-game-review-dragon-rage.html

Deckbuilding games have come a long way. We started with Dominion (and other games that lead to that, but this isn't a full-on history lesson), had Arctic Scavengers and Nightfall and Puzzle St...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/board-game-review-princes-of-dragon.html

I might as well get these Rio Grande reviews out of the way. There's one more to discuss, and then I can get back to not playing European games unless they come out of France (French people mak...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/board-game-review-cinque-terre.html

When I started Drake's Flames, Rio Grande used to send me a lot of games. Then they stopped, mostly because I was rather disparaging of one of their games. Then, several years later, I asked th...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/06/board-game-review-spin-monkeys.html

In 1984, on a secret military base in Gun Barrel City, Texas, a crack team of scientists stumbled across a psychotically insane death's-head hawkmoth. As part of a program to develop a super-so...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/card-game-review-valkyrie-incident.html

Every now and then, when I read the rules for a game, I get a pretty good idea how the review is going to go. Like, when I read the rules for Viticulture, I was thinking, 'I am going to be talk...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/board-game-review-viticulture.html

There are all kinds of board games. You've got your dexterity games, which generally mean you have to flick a piece of wood with your middle finger in an attempt to put out your brother's eye. ...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/board-game-review-panic-on-wall-street.html

Usually, if I'm reviewing a TV show, it's because I loved it and I want other people to enjoy it. Tonight, unfortunately, that is not the case. Tonight's review is a caution sign, a warning. To...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/tv-review-defiance.html

One of two things has recently occurred. One, Rio Grande Games forgot who I was. That, or they have forgiven me for my trespasses. Either way, they recently decided to up and send me some revie...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/card-game-review-cavemen-quest-for-fire.html

Last weekend, I wrote about Galaxy Defenders, and explained that I will only review your Kickstarter game if I am really impressed. And then, to prove that I am a lying bag of koala poop, I wen...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/excellent-idea-review-fantasy-gaming.html

It seems silly to be writing a review of a game that is basically two cards that you put together to make something kind of dumb, but Game Salute has been very good to me and Dan Yarrington is ...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/silly-card-game-review-princess-bride.html

As a younger man, I was something of an aficionado in the world of drinking games. Or, it might be more accurate to say, I was really good at drinking, games or not. Or, if we're being complete...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/drinking-game-review-drunkquest.html

I love playing games that have come from foreign lands and been translated into English, mostly because the rulebooks tend to be very amusing. I've seen strange phrasing that sounded like refer...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/board-game-review-galaxy-defenders.html

I've mentioned before that I'm a big fan of mob movies. Scorsese movies in particular, but really, pretty much anything where organized criminals shoot each other in the face. But even with an ex...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/movie-review-gangster-squad.html

I played a horrible game this weekend, one that has me questioning my moral compass. And not even questioning whether my moral compass is having trouble pointing due north; after playing Cards ...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/card-game-review-cards-against-humanity.html

I'm reviewing two games at the same time tonight, but they're basically the same game twice, so I think that's OK. For that matter, there's so little to either one that they barely deserve a revi...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/05/barely-game-review-rumble-in-house-and.html

Many of you are probably aware of Universal Head. In case you're not, let me set the record straight - his screen name is NOT a reference to one-size-fits-all fellatio. He's Australian. I'm not...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/04/announcement-esoteric-order-of-gamers.html

If you read this blog often enough to know much about me at all, it should require almost no effort to figure out if I liked Django Unchained. If you know me at all, you probably would guess th...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/04/movie-review-django-unchained.html

If you're a fan of Reiner Knizia's games, then one of two things is true. Either A) you have a well-developed sense of humor, or B) you don't read Drake's Flames. Reiner is my Numero-Uno, go-to...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/04/board-game-review-lord-of-rings.html

For the sake of establishing a baseline, here are some shows I do not like: Doctor Who (any incarnation) Being Human (British or American) Torchwood And here are some shows I DO like: J...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/04/tv-show-review-orphan-black.html

Remember right after Dominion came out, and there were no other deckbuilding games in the whole wide world, and everybody was like, 'holy cow, can you believe how cool this game is?' That was b...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/04/deckbuilding-game-review-arctic.html

Some day I'm going to write an article about the psychology of board games. And one thing that I'm definitely going to discuss is whether size matters when we're talking about the box (I encour...

http://drakesflames.blogspot.com/2013/04/card-game-review-guildhall.html