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Realm of Misfits, Markham, ON (2026)

02/14/2020

You know, things weren't always the way they are with our laptop and phones and all other kinds of technology. In the times of yore, we couldn't call people to talk to them or drive around in fancy, gas guzzling vehicles – we had to literally walk everywhere. We're a lot luckier in the choices we have in jobs nowadays, too – I mean, could you imagine having to work in a field all day? Because now you don't have to imagine, as you can experience it in Carcassone by Klaus-Jurgen Wrede.

Carcassone is a tile-placing and meeple management game for two to five people set in the Middle Ages around the French city of Carcassone. Players place tiles on their turns, building paths and cities as they do, and occasionally strategically placing meeples as well. Different objectives mean different points and once the last tile has been placed, the winner is the one with the most points after said points are tallied up.

Carcassone is a hard game to win – fun but hard – due to all the moving pieces and things you need to keep track of. There's so many ways to get points – some shorter like finishing roads, others aren't tallied until the end of the game like farmland – that you need to keep your eye on everything and be careful where you place your tiles, as one wrong placement might give one of your opponents an advantage. You also have to watch your meeples – which will come and go during the game – because you have a limited number to place in order to set up and earn points.

All in all, Carcassone is an amazingly well made game – the painted tiles full of detail, and the easy to learn rules that just coalesce into a beautiful and cohesive experience – and it's just so satisfying when you win. I recommend this game for both family and friends alike, and anyone looking for a game with a lot of different strategies. And I imagine if this game existed in the past, it would have been a hit as well.

02/08/2020

Admit it. There's a small part of you – reading this right now – that can't help but be fascinated by the concept of the kaiju, or the giant monster. The Godzilla's, the King Kong's, the Mothra's, even – yes – the Power Ranger Zords. They are giant and they wreck stuff. They count. Of course, these are all fictional beings, as is their destruction. But... it's fun to imagine, isn't it? Stomping through cities, looking down at all the ant-sized citizens? Well, now you don't have to imagine anymore with King Of Tokyo by Richard Garfield.

In King Of Tokyo, you take control of one of several different, completely original, not at all copyright infringing giant monsters all vying for control of Tokyo! You'll roll to determine your actions each turn – which include healing, gaining crystals you can use to buy upgrades, scoring points, and smashing in the faces of the other monsters. It's a fierce battle as control for Tokyo itself switches often, as do all the advantages that go along with it. In the end, there's only two ways to win: take down all the other monsters, or be the first to 20 points!

Due to it's nature as a dice-rolling game, there's a heavy amount of gambling involved – which, honestly, just adds to the fun chaos of the game. And like all games of chance, there's a strategy to it – do you try to stick to Tokyo, fast track your way to the win and hope you don't die in the process? Or do you stick to the outskirts, try to outlast everyone and use the upgrade cards to your advantage? There's all sorts of strategies, fitting all sorts of play styles, all of which are valid though they also depend on the rolls of the dice. It's a gamble. But, what do you expect, really? Being a giant monster IS a gamble. All those little planes and tanks HURT.

In conclusion, this is a great game for both family and friends a like. It's easy to learn and pick up, and incredibly colourful and vibrant. It's a lot of fun, and I'd say definitely a favourite here at the store whenever we're looking for a quick game to play. It's never a friendship, either, since it's usually all luck of the rolls, but when someone gets consistently lucky? THEN you know who the REAL monster is. Giant monster, that is.

01/31/2020

Every culture has it's traditions. Greek children are told to toss their loose teeth onto the roofs of their homes to bring the family good luck. Northern Finland has annual air guitar championships, Poland and the Ukraine have Wet Monday water fights instead of Easter Monday, and Canadians have hockey nights and extreme politeness. But one of the oldest traditions – dating all the way back to Imperial China – is the Harvest Festival. And that's what Lanterns – by https://www.facebook.com/PlayRGS/ - is all about.

Lanterns is a tile placing and colour matching game for two to four people, where you act as artisans attempting to place lanterns around a lake and gain the most honor. At the start of each turn, players place a tile, trying to match colours to gain Lantern cards of the same colours, which they can use – in specific combinations – to gain dedication tokens which give them points at the end of the game. Matching can also gain you favour tokens which you can spend to trade one colour of lantern for another. Once all lake tiles have been placed, points are tabulated, and the player with the most points – and the most spectacular lantern display – wins.

Lanterns is another in a long line of excellent games that are simple but elegant. It's only for four players, because each side of the tile represents a direction pointing TOWARDS a player and when one player matches a colour, all other players get the colour of card corresponding to them. As dedication tokens are taking the point values for their corresponding group – three pairs, one of each, and four of a kind – go down, meaning you need to plan accordingly to get the highest number of points. There's a strategy there, too – do you focus on one grouping? Or do you try to get whatever you can, based on the coloured lantern cards you get?

In conclusion, Lanterns is an amazingly beautiful game, perfect for a family game night or friends looking for something competitive and quick. It's bright and colourful, easy to learn and pick up, but still full of strategy to master. And, most importantly, it's FUN, and a great addition to any board gamer's collection. So pick up a copy wherever you can and make this game YOUR new weekly tradition.

01/24/2020

Back before the inventions of planes and automobiles, the best way for people to get around the world – aside from walking for a healthy dose of exercise – were trains. Also known as mechanical land worms, these great heaps of metal with passengers inside chugged along on tracks connecting one station and one area of the world to another. And while slow, they offered many chances for panoramic views from the outside and murder mysteries on the inside. Thankfully, Ticket To Ride – published by https://www.facebook.com/daysofwonder/ – offers all of that in a convenient, stay at home package – including the murder mystery, if your players are bloodthirsty enough.

Ticket To Ride is a cross country adventure game where you play as engineers trying to get their trains along the correct routes. You'll collect coloured cards corresponding to coloured routes on the map, and spend them to place trains on the board. Once one person has two or lest trains left, each other player gets one more turn and then the game ends and the player with the most points – tallied from value of placed trains and destination tickets, among other things – wins.

Here's the thing about this game: It's perfect for both families – looking for something simple and easy to play on a Sunday night – AND for super competitive friend groups – always looking for a way to get ahead of other players. It's simple to learn, but hard to master – I can't count the number of times I've failed to land a route which cost me points in the end for not finishing my ticket. There's tons of strategies – like taking low point tickets and not worrying more about getting long routes than finishing the tickets – and it takes a few games to figure out which ones to use.

All in all, Ticket To Ride is a super fun game that we heartily recommend. Whether your a geography nut looking to complain that the board isn't geographically accurate, or a board game lover looking for a quick, fun game to fill out your night, Ticket To Ride is the game for you.

12/06/2019

Back in 1887, Bram Stoker published a novel called Dracula, which lead to an upswing in the popularity of vampires in fantasy culture. While rooted in urban myths – of bloodsuckers who appeared out of the shadowy nowhere and escaped by turning as bats and who were completely obsessed with picking up rice and counting it if it was dropped in front of them – it was quickly romanticized, with vampires being sexy but dangerous. Fury Of Dracula – by https://www.facebook.com/FantasyFlightGames/ – focuses more on the original tale, where Dracula is being hunted by his greatest rivals.

In Fury Of Dracula, one group of players plays as the four hunters – and whether it's one player or four, all four hunters must be in play – while another player takes up the mantle of the vampire lord himself. From their, the game is played in various night and day phases as the hunter team attempts to guess where Dracula is, where he might be going, and from there hunt him down, fight him, and hopefully be able to drive that stake through his heart. Game ends when either Dracula is defeated or a certain number of turns has passed to allow the dark lord to flee, or a certain number of points is acquired that the dark lord completely takes over.

The game has an amazing cat and mouse feel to it, no matter whether you have two players or five. And lest you think that the hunter team has a four on one advantage – along with the fact that Dracula can't ride trains and has a LOT of trouble going over water – defeating Dracula is HARD. Especially in the hands of a smart player, he has many tricks up his sleeve including wolves, rats, and random hobo people he drained and turned to provide ample distractions for his enemies. Teamwork is key for the hunters if they want to take down Dracula, especially if he starts on an island and one people has a feeling that he's there but no one actually listens to him.

So if you have always had a dream of being Buffy or Biff the Vampire Slayer – or ever wanted to take a bite out of some sweet, sweet necks – or you enjoy games that pit friends against friend in tense, time-racing action, then Fury Of Dracula is the game for you. Best played on Halloween – or any time of year, really – and it is one of the store favourites for a very good reason.

11/25/2019

Yule has arrived at the Realm Of Misfits, which means a veritable dragon's hoard of loot is available at the store! We have all the accessories any budding adventurer would need - dice, dice bags, Players Handbooks, and more. For those looking to travel to other worlds and experience new places, we also have many awesome board games for sale, as well. So come on in and pick something up that will make someone at YOUR table smile this holiday season!

11/22/2019

While gems were essentially the currency and shoddy credit cards of the Renaissance, merchants still needed a way to get them to their proper owners. Enter: boats! Vessels that could sail across the water to far off lands and STILL get things to their owners faster than their modern day counterpart could. But – like Amazon and similar services – trade routes are treacherous and highly contested. Which is exactly the world that one of our favourite Kickstarter games – Endeavor: Age Of Sail by Burnt Island Games – takes place in.

In Endeavor, you attempt to build trade routes and bring glory to your empire by micro-managing four different attributes – Industry, Wealth, Culture, and Influence. Along the way you'll build buildings for your main city, acquire asset cards, claim trade routes, and probably also lose them due to some players always aiming their cannons your way because, hey, why not? Game goes on like this for seven turns – with various phases each turn – until the end, where the person with the most points wins.

From turn one, move one – hell, from the point where you choose your first building during game prep – each choice you make, each resource you use is important. One wrong move could de-rail your game. And yet, even with that stress looming over you, it's still so much fun. It's never the same game twice either, as resources are randomly placed at the start of the game.

Endeavor is a fantastic game, even if you don't have a strategic mindset. Because either you're the type of person who plans moves and back-up moves five turns ahead, cackling with glee every time you counter someone or see a frown on their face, OR you're the kind of person who watches where people need to go and purposely blocks them. Or you just like shooting cannons at peoples faces. Either way, you're going to enjoy this game and should definitely pick it up.

11/21/2019

Back in the days of yore when technology was a fleeting thought and no one had ever really heard of these fancy things called credit cards, merchants made their living through gems. Whether that be through acquiring gem mine contracts, or selling them to build new shops or means of transportation in order to acquire more currency, gems were the much less convenient credit cards of the renaissance era. And so it is ironic that Splendor – which was originally designed by Marc Andre for Space Cowboys – is a game all about the origins of currency that is also what started it all for Realm Of Misfits.

In Splendor, you collect gems of differing colours and spend them to purchase different cards representing different mines, buildings, modes of transportation, etc. As you gain more cards, your prestige also goes up and you also have a chance of enticing nobles to join you. When one person gets 15 prestige, everyone else gets one more turn before the end, and then the person with the most prestige wins. It's simple, elegant, and easy to learn.

But it's not always easy to win, which is one of the great things about this game – you're always trying to think four or five moves in advance and prevent your opponents from getting a leg up. I can't count the number of times we've been playing and one person's turn has been ruined by another taking the card they were looking to take, or scooping the last gem of a certain colour. At which point plans are ruined, and new ones need to be quickly formed.

But that competitive factor doesn't make the game any less fun – and, in fact, it enhances it with the right group. Especially if they aren't afraid of making hard moves that cause the rest of the players to hate them for days on end. There's no bonding like that which comes from ending another persons six game winning streak, so go pick up Splendor if you're ready to strike it rich.

11/20/2019

Ever dream of being a dragon, soaring through the sky, enjoying the feeling of the fluffiness of the clouds as you pass them by? What about that same dream, but also adding in other dragons that are trying to buck you out of the sky highway, sending you plummeting to the ground so THEY are the only ones in the sky? Well, if you enjoy either of those things – though you're a real glutton for punishment if you enjoy the second one – then Tsuro by Calliope Games is the one for you.

It's a relatively simple game, with a simple concept. You are a dragon, the sky is your domain, and other dragons are intruding into your territory and it's your job to get them out of there while also completely avoiding them. Everyone gets a hand of randomly dealt out tiles that represent sky pathways for your dragon to fly around and as you build upon them, the game gets more and more tense.

This is because you're trying to place tiles to help yourself stay out of the way while also sending your opponents to their eventual doom. Even at the beginning – when all the dragons start at different locations – strategies are already being formed as you think about the long game; where you should go and what you should do if the other players beat you there. This game always keeps you on your toes, knowing that one misplaced tile could spell disaster for you.

It's a fun, and relatively short game, which means you could play it several times, quickly. It's satisfying when you win either by avoiding your opponents completely or sending them off the edge with one well placed tile. But it's also sometimes fun when no one wins because you and the last dragon flying crashed into each other because of the tile you placed. So go pick it up, fly high, and watch your tail.

11/18/2019

Imagine, now, stepping into an arena, the crowd cheering your name as you step to the center and lock eyes with your opponent. You scowl. Your opponent scowls back. Then you reach to your side, where your cherished Pokeballs rest, grab one, call out, “Insert Name Here! I Choose You!” as you toss it behind you, and the crowd cheers even louder as out pops your beloved pocket monster who's been by your side since the start of your journey. Either that, or one of the other dozens of new and old creatures you'll find in Pokemon Sword and Shield on the Switch. Games so addictive that as I've been writing this article, I've already had to stop to pick up my Switch and play several times.

The basic story is the same as always; a small town child with big dreams of one day being a Champion gets his first Pokemon and takes it on the road with him, battling other trainers, collecting gym badges, and having the journey of a lifetime. Features from previous games leave – so long, Z-Moves and Mega Evolutions – while new ones are introduced – greetings, Dynamaxing, Raids and Gigantamaxing! And, of course, as always there's about a million different Pokemon to collect. The formula stays pretty much the same.

But with Pokemon, it doesn't really need to ever change too much. Even all the way back when Red and Blue came out, the games were simple – but amazing in their simplicity, and their addictive “Gotta Catch Em All!”, nature. The nostalgia is high with all the old favourites still in the game and that nostalgia is enough to keep people going and playing, even without all the added bonuses.

For their first Pokemon game on a new console, I can safely say Nintendo has hit it out of the park, without even having beaten it yet. Because when everyone at the Realm Of Misfits is sitting around a large screen watching someone smash the ever loving p**p out of adorable creatures or catching ones they've never seen before, then you know you're doing your job right. And now – if you'll excuse us – we have to get back to working on our Curry Dex.

11/16/2019

You: A crew mate of the S.S. Predator, sneaking through halls of your ship, going through your mission in your head as you listen closely for the sounds of danger. Them: A bloodthirsty alien from the farthest reaches of space who has decided YOUR ship is the perfect place to find a midnight snack. Created by Awaken Realms, Nemesis is a semi co-operative horror game that – after we received it from Kickstarter – quickly rocketed up the list to be one of our standout favourites at the store.

In Nemesis, you play crew members fighting to survive on their ship as it's invaded by aliens. You'll pick your character – all with their own specialties – and try to survive until you manage to complete your goal. But the thing that makes this semi-cooperative is that you don't know what the other players' goals are. While YOU may be safely trying to get the ship to Jupiter, one of the other players might be trying to sabotage it so it crashes and kills everyone. So you can never exactly trust the other players, even if you THINK that your goals might align.

The game is also super tense. Not just because of the randomness – rooms are placed randomly so you never know what the first room you're going to enter at any time is, items you find are always random, and the status of the engines of the ship and the ship's destination are – ninety percent of the time – unknown. But also because the game is basically a HUNDRED PERCENT against you winning. The aliens are hard to kill, you never know who's actually on your side, AND the littlest thing – like thinking, oh, it's just one room on fire, it'll be fine – can snowball and end your game in a matter of turns.

But that tenseness and that thrilling feeling just add to what is already an exciting game. Replayability – with the different characters and the rooms never being in the same place – is high, and the production values are too – the alien mini's are fantastically creepy. So go pick it up, if you can. And never play with the lights off. Just a warning.

Realm of Misfits

02/14/2020

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