The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.

Scot Scoop News

Nikhil Vyas

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer

Nikhil Vyas is an incoming senior at Carlmont High School. He writes reviews about strategy board and card games because he enjoys playing and designing them in his free time.

Twitter: @nikhilvyas109

All content by Nikhil Vyas
Each player has moved their trains about half way across the board at this point during a game of Whistle Stop.

Board Game Reviews: Whistle Stop

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer June 15, 2021

With the rapid expansion of railroads after the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, players will be racing their trains across the U.S. Along the way, players will pick up various resources and...

The box cover for Imhotep. The game is designed by Phil Walker-Harding and published by Kosmos.

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The box cover for Imhotep. The game is designed by Phil Walker-Harding and published by Kosmos.

The obelisk is a location where the order of the stones does not matter. Each player builds their own tower with the stones that are brought here. 

Players get points at the end of the game based on how tall their obelisk is compared to other players.

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The obelisk is a location where the order of the stones does not matter. Each player builds their own tower with the stones that are brought here. Players get points at the end of the game based on how...

At the burial chamber, stones are placed from top to bottom in each column, just like the pyramid.

At the end of the game, each player scores points based on the number of connected stones they have. Players can score points for each group of connected stones they have if they have more than one group. Connected stones only counts orthogonal connections.

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At the burial chamber, stones are placed from top to bottom in each column, just like the pyramid. At the end of the game, each player scores points based on the number of connected stones they have....

At the temple, stones are placed in lines from left to right. When one row is complete, the next stones are placed in a line above the previous row of stones.

At the end of each round, players get one point for each stone they have at the top of a column, or visible from the top.

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At the temple, stones are placed in lines from left to right. When one row is complete, the next stones are placed in a line above the previous row of stones. At the end of each round, players get one...

It is important to remember that a player can sail any boat that has the required number of stones even if they do not have any of their own stones on that boat.

Stones are always unloaded from front to back.

One of the sites a player can sail to is the pyramid. At the pyramid, stones are placed from top to bottom, one column at a time. Each time a stone is added to the pyramid, its owner gets points equal to the number on the space where the stone was placed.

Once the first layer of nine stones is completed, the next layer of four stones begins on top of it, and then the final stone is placed on the third level. The right side of this site shows the points for the second and third levels.

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It is important to remember that a player can sail any boat that has the required number of stones even if they do not have any of their own stones on that boat. Stones are always unloaded from front...

The last site players can sail to is the market.

When a players stone is unloaded here, the player can take any remaining card of their choice.

Blue cards give players an alternate action they can use on their turn. Players can discard a blue card on their turn to do the action on the text. This replaces their regular turn.

Green cards are ornaments and give players points at the end of the game based on how many total stones are at a certain site.

Red cards immediately allow a player to place one stone onto a specific site as if it was just unloaded there.

Purple cards are statues. Players get points at the end of the game based on the number of Statue cards they have.

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The last site players can sail to is the market. When a player's stone is unloaded here, the player can take any remaining card of their choice. Blue cards give players an alternate action they can use...

Each player as a cargo sled where they can keep up to five stones. The rest of their cubes are in a quarry.

Each round, players take turns doing one action until all four ships are sailed.

One action a player can do on their turn is take three stones from the quarry and add them to their cargo sled.

Another action a player can take is to place one stone from their cargo sled to an empty space on a boat.

In this situation, the player could take two more stones from the quarry. Another option they have is to place a stone from their cargo sled onto any of the four boats.

The last action a player can take on their turn is to sail a ship to one of the five sites. In order to sail a ship, the number of stones on that boat must be at least the number of stones on shown on the bottom.

When players sail a ship, they must sail to a site that hasnt been sailed to this round. Each site has a different way that the stones are unloaded and earn players points.

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Each player as a cargo sled where they can keep up to five stones. The rest of their cubes are in a quarry. Each round, players take turns doing one action until all four ships are sailed. One action...

At the start of each round, one card is drawn to show which boats are used during the round. There is a different deck for different number of players, which helps keep the game balanced at each player count.

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At the start of each round, one card is drawn to show which boats are used during the round. There is a different deck for different number of players, which helps keep the game balanced at each player...

By the end of a game of Imhotep, each players stones have helped build a pyramid, temple, burial chamber, and obelisks.

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By the end of a game of Imhotep, each player's stones have helped build a pyramid, temple, burial chamber, and obelisks.

These are all the cards in Dominion: Prosperity. The main things that this expansion adds to Dominion are bigger and better base cards that go beyond Gold and Province, actions cards that provide victory points, and cards that cost seven coins.

Board Game Reviews: Dominion: Prosperity

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer May 26, 2021

This week, we're going to take a look at Dominion: Prosperity, the fourth expansion for Dominion. As its name suggests, this expansion is all about accumulating big money and includes treasure and victory...

Deep Blue is a big adventure game from Days of Wonder, designed by Daniel Skjold Pedersen and Asger Harding Granerud.

Board Game Reviews: Deep Blue

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer May 19, 2021

You and your rival captains have found a map that leads to riches if you can find hoard buried treasures before your enemies beat you to it. However, you'll have to recruit the right skill sets and race...

Aquatica is a unique engine-building and puzzle game designed by Ivan Tuzovsky and published by Arcane Wonders and Cosmodrome Games.

Board Game Reviews: Aquatica

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer May 13, 2021

You're a powerful ocean king, so it's your job to capture locations, recruit ocean creatures, and get past the depths to bring glory and prosperity to your civilization. Aquatica is an engine-building...

One of the new boards in Clank! The Mummys Curse, set-up and ready to play.

Board Game Reviews: Clank! The Mummy’s Curse

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer May 3, 2021

After robbing artifacts and treasures from a dragon's lair and an underwater dungeon, you've heard news of riches in the ancient pyramids. However, the pyramids are heavily guarded by a mummy, so you'll...

For Sale is a family-friendly filler game where players auction properties and use the properties they buy to get the highest paychecks.

Board Game Reviews: For Sale

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer April 27, 2021

When you wait for people to arrive, want something fun to do in a lunch break, or just need a quick gathering activity, filler games are a great option that everyone should have ready because you never...

Concordia is an economic set collection and engine-building game designed by Mac Gerdts and published by Rio Grande Games.

Board Game Reviews: Concordia

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer April 19, 2021

It's the height of the Roman Empire! Players are building houses around the Mediterranean Sea to produce resources and recruit helpers to improve their economy and score more points than their opponents....

Terraforming Mars: Prelude is a small expansion for Terraforming Mars. It adds prelude cards that speed up the game and give players different starting positions.

Board Game Reviews: Terraforming Mars Prelude

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer April 11, 2021

A while ago, I reviewed Terraforming Mars, which is a complex strategy game about buying project cards, managing resources, racing to milestones and awards, and placing tiles on Mars to get the most...

In The River, players place workers at various locations to add tiles to their river, collect resources, and complete buildings.

Board Game Reviews: The River

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer March 28, 2021

Days of Wonder is a board game company that only releases one new game a year at most, but they put lots of effort into making sure that the components, artwork, and gameplay are nice. This week, I'll...

Royals is a family board game designed by Peter Hawes and published by Arcane Wonders. During the game, players collect country cards and intrigue cards and use them to influence nobles in four countries. Players earn points in a variety of ways, most notably through having the most influence in a country during a scoring round.

Board Game Reviews: Royals

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer March 21, 2021

It is about trust and betrayal when you choose which nobles to influence and take over from your opponents as you attempt to get your royal family dominance over Europe. Royals is a simple set collection...

Now well get to the new tiles. The Roasting Plant (17) lets players take up to six coffee. They get two coffee by spending two lira, two for spending a good, and two for discarding a bonus or guild card. They may choose to do any number of these options once. The Guild Hall (18) gives players who go there one coffee. Then, they draw two guild cards from the deck and discard any guild card from their hand. The Tavern (19) lets players spend coffee to do one of three things. The top option on that tile costs two coffee and gives the player control of a barrier. They place the barrier between any two adjacent places and immediately takes the action of one of those places. They also take the cardboard barrier token, which signifies that other players cannot pass through the barrier with their movement. The second option is to take a tavern tile. The price for each type of tile starts at one coffee and increases as players take them. One tavern tile allows players to use the governor, smuggler, and coffee trader for free when they encounter those people. The second tavern tile allows players to move any number of spaces in one direction instead of being limited to two spaces. The last action possible at the tavern is to take a ruby for four coffee and the goods shown on the baksheesh tile. The ruby is taken from the players choice of the gemstone dealer, sultans palace, or coffee house. Then, the baksheesh tile flips, showing different goods. Lastly, the Coffee House (20) lets players take a ruby by spending the number of coffee shown on the rightmost empty space.

Board Game Reviews: Istanbul: Mocha and Baksheesh

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer March 15, 2021

Most games get expansions, but only some games really need them. Expansions make a game better by fixing something from the original game, balancing different strategies, and adding something new that...

Century A New World is the third game in the Century trilogy, designed by Emerson Matsuuchi. Two to four players can play this set collection game in 30-45 minutes.

Board Game Reviews: Century A New World

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer March 6, 2021

This week, we will be diving into the third game in the Century series, Century A New World. The objective in all three games is to collect different spices and resources, represented by different cube...

In the Castles of Burgundy, players take tiles from the main board and place them on the matching colored spaces on their player board to score the most points. The game is designed by Stefan Feld and published by Ravensburger Games.

Board Game Reviews: The Castles of Burgundy

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer February 27, 2021

This week we'll be taking a look at a deep and strategic game where planning and a little luck make all the difference. When playing The Castles of Burgundy, players take various types of tiles and place...

Dominion: Alchemy is a smaller expansion for Dominion. It adds 12 new kingdom cards, and most of them require the new potion currency to buy them.

Board Game Reviews: Dominion: Alchemy

Nikhil Vyas, Staff Writer February 13, 2021

This week, we'll be looking at the third expansion for Dominion, Dominion: Alchemy. I'll only be explaining what is new in this review, so if you don't know how to play Dominion, you should read my...

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The student news site of Carlmont High School in Belmont, California.
Nikhil Vyas