When I was asked to write this column I was very quick to say yes because I love games and I work in the industry and so thought this would be an easy assignment. But then I sat down to write it – and I didn’t know what to type, there are just so many brilliant games out there. Do I choose one of the games that we sell at Joking Hazard? Or do I pick a chunky campaign game that I have sunk weeks of my life into like Gloomhaven? Or do I choose Lords of Waterdeep because I love worker placement games? Or do I go for a deck/engine building game like Century: Spice Road because I absolutely LOVE that game… hmm so this wasn’t going to be so easy after all. As I sat at my desk, head spinning, I was struck by something that was said to me by a publisher once “I don’t sell games, I make memories” and that’s when I knew what I was going to write about. My favourite game is Rhino Hero Super Battle.
Rhino Hero Super Battle is a dexterity game where the cards are like building blocks and you take turns to build the walls and floors of a giant skyscraper. After every turn you roll dice to see whether your character can move up or down the skyscraper and if you end up on the same level as someone else you battle each other with dice. As your building gets taller and more precarious it becomes increasingly difficult to add levels, place your character and hang spider monkeys (that’s right, there are spider monkeys) and the winner is the player whose character is highest up the skyscraper when it all comes crashing down.