Monday Report [July 14-20]

Wii
Wii Fit

3.5 hours

Wii fit is interesting. It has mini-games, but I don't think it qualifies as a game itself. In the same way that Brain Age isn't really a game. It's a trainer program. You use it the same way that you used to use Typing Tutor. Only to help improve and track your body. Mostly it's great. There is just one glaring deficiency: no guided workouts. I'll explain more when I do a full review. I still have some things to unlock. One thing to note is Wii Fit Time Dilation: 30 minutes of workout in Wii Fit can actually be upwards of 45 minutes in real time.

LEGO Indiana Jones

7.5 hours

Wanted to get a LEGO game, and since I don't own a X360 yet, I had to get it for the Wii. Morgan prefers Indiana Jones over Star Wars, so we went with that. Because I want to play it with her. Ad we did. The game is LEGO fun, LEGO irreverent, and bloody annoying in some places. A lot of the world is "realistic", where realistic means not made of virtual plastic. This is good for helping you figure out what to smash (everything made of LEGO), and really good at helping you fall off of platforms. More review as we get further. So far it's fun, but slightly annoying. Two movies down, one to go. Then a whole load of extra things to unlock and find.

Flash
You Don't Know Jack, Episodes 80 & 81

7 minutes, each

More Jack. Basically I like my trivia.

Board Games
Zombies!!!

2 hours  (2 games, 4 players)

Yes, those exclamation points are necessary. It's a board game about, you guessed it, Zombies. Basic premise includes fighting your way through a horde of zombies while trying to make it to the Helipad and escape. This is not a co-operative game. You can also win by offing (and collecting) 25 zombies. Every turn reveals a little more of the city, which is built tile-by-tile, Carcassonne-style. Then you move, kill, and try to survive. Then you move some zombies. Most of the action cards are weapons to help you or events you can use to hinder your fellow players.

At the core, this is a simple game. You can learn it in 5 minutes, and set it up in about the same amount of time. The randomness of the city, and the sheer joy of being able to blast your way through a building full of zombies to get that health you need are what make this game shine. Sometimes the dice work for you, sometimes they don't. Either way, you can tell some neat survival (or horrible death) stories from the events that happen. Oh, and there are 7 expansions which cover the gamut of zombie tropes. This will be a game to just pull out an play with friends: simple, quick, and a lot of fun (who doesn't like killing zombies?).