Review – LEGO board games

I wanted to do a post about the LEGO board games.  MiniObsi and I have between us got 3 of these now, and I thought I’d post a little bit about them in case it benefits anyone.

Heroica – Castle Fortaan
http://heroica.lego.com/en-us/Products/Default.aspx#3860

This is the first one MiniObsi got.  It’s quite involved, with lots of rules and set up (which is a drawback as far as I am concerned, it’s a bit complicated for people just wanting a quick easy game of something) – you move through a “castle” in a race to get to the end, and have to find keys to open doors to get through, and battle monsters in your way, open chests and whatnot as you go.  Each player has a scoreboard thing which has their lives and any pickups/monsters they have, which is nifty.   It can end up being a little bit boring playing with just 2-3 people over time, because there’s not much difference in each time you play…. but because it’s a LEGO game, you can move the paths around and change things a bit to add a bit of extra interest.  There’s probably a lot of ways you could mix it up to make it different though.  I believe it fits back into the box once assembled (or mostly does), so you don’t have to break it apart each time, which is an advantage.  It probably has more re-playability than the Hoth one as far as I’m concerned.

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Star Wars – Battle of Hoth
http://shop.lego.com/en-AU/The-Battle-of-Hoth-3866

This one was given to me, because I collect the Star Wars Minifigs 🙂  This one has the extra annoyance of it not fitting back in the box fully assembled, so that is a pain when you want to play again.  Also it takes up more space once set up.   Again you can change the paths to make the game different each time you play, so that’s good, but the game is still essentially the same each time you play.  The difference with this one is that you are playing against the other person (rather than racing them to the end), so it’s more of a battle situation.  You also have vehicles to use and the opponents have ranged attacks.  So that adds an element of difference to the game.

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Mini Taurus
http://www.lego.com/legogames/en-gb/Products/Details/3864.aspx

MiniObsi got this one for Xmas, and we all agree that it’s actually the best of the 3 we’ve played.  It’s the smallest and simplest, but by far the more enjoyable and exciting one.  As it’s on one single square tile, it’s easy to put back in the box fully assembled to play again, doesn’t take up much space – you could probably play it in the car or on a plane easily too.  The rules are quite simple – you start at one end and move to the other end to get the golden dagger as your prize. But there is a minotaur in the centre who will “kill” the player (sends it back to the start) if it gets within 1 block of it, and the dice has 2 sides which can allow a player to move the walls or the minotaur instead of moving their character piece.  So it means that the paths you need to take to get to the end are forever changing, and players can move walls around you, to block your path, or set the minotaur onto you, sending you back to the start.  So it’s completely unpredictable and a lot of fun.  I highly recommend this one!  If you had 2 of them you could make the play board twice as big with 2 minotaurs for some extra fun.

Xmas Loot :D

I got…..

Portal gun, Geisha mug, 2 Star Wars novels, Star Wars oven mitts (hubby added the symbols to plain mitts) T2 chai, DVDs (Wolverine, Xmen First Class, Big Bang Theory, Electric Dreams), Prototype PS3 game, Star Wars mints, an EB gift voucher, soap, bath bombs, scented drawer sachets, 2 LEGO minifigs and a black lace parasol (and I got some money from Grandma)

 

When I opened one of the presents, this is what I was greeted with:

(It’s a trap!)

 

For hubby I bought him a Pratchett novel, a Tardis cookie jar, Uncharted 3, Da Blob 2, a figurine from Battle of the Planets and I made him 3 hot air balloon figurine things.

Cookies in a jar (Xmas gift idea)

I got the idea from Bakerella’s Cowgirl Cookies in a jar – but I needed to make the recipe smaller to fit the 500g pasta sauce jars I was going to be reusing 🙂  So I had to modify it…. quite a bit.  But these end up being really tasty and easy to do!  Here’s my recipe and guide.

Take your 500g jar, add:

1 cup SR flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup choc chips
1/4 cup raw sugar

The order you put them is important.  Flour should go at the bottom, as it’s smaller particles and will fall through gaps in everything else.  Sugar likewise will fall through gaps.  However there’s more flour than anything else, so I like to break the flour into 2 sections (and doing this you can use white flour and wholemeal flour too.  You will need to pack the ingredients in, I use the stick part of the mortar and pestle to jam it all in.

In the example below I’ve not layered them well because the flour had fallen down into the choc chips.  Ideally I should have put the sugar, choc chips, oats, then second lot of flour.  Anyway – you get the idea….  experiment with what looks good and stays separated best.

Then cover the lid with a pretty fabric, and I attach a little card with the instructions (they just need to add 1 egg and 1/2 cup melted butter), and the ingredients, so they can make the cookies again if they liked them.

I’ve included the instruction/recipe cards I use if anyone wants them 🙂 –  Cards (doc) | Cards (pdf)

 

Modifications

Almond Cookies – Using 1/2 cup SR flour and 1/2 cup almond meal (instead of 1 cup flour) makes a really nice cookie (and doesn’t taste almondy)

Coconut Cookies – If you use almond meal you can also get away with adding a 1/4 cup shredded coconut to the recipe without making it too dry (though you’d need a larger jar to fit the coconut in).  If you use all flour, you’ll want to add a bit extra butter to the recipe or it’s a bit dry.  The Coconut adds a nice texture and flavour.

You can add a dessertspoon of  walnuts or linseeds which is quite nice too.  Adding a teaspoon of cinnamon can also be nice.

Substitute M&Ms or other chocolately confectionery for the choc chips for a more colourful look.  100s and 1000s mixed through can also be fin for kids

Extras can’t fit?  You could put some extras in a little bag and put it under the fabric, to keep it packaged together if it won’t fit in the jar.