Grab the chunky wooden blocks

We’ve got 2 games to tell you about today – Eternas and Quadefy.

Both games are 2-player games published by Maranda Games and both have fantastic wooden components.

When you pick up one of these games boxes, you’ll feel the hefty weight of these pieces.

And the quality of the wood is perfect for table-top play. In fact, both of these are games that you could leave out on the table, or office desk for great conversations starters and quick challenges to family, friends, or coworkers.

You may remember another game we’ve reviewed from Maranda Games that we labeled as the game with the biggest dice we have – Dotzee. They produce great, chunky game components that are great to play with.

Normally we’d have a separate review of each, but these games are so simple to learn, that today you’ll get our special 2-for-1 deal (2 reviews for one read).

Eternas

Eternas is a straight-forward game of getting 4-in-a-row.

There’s plenty of 4-in-a-row abstract, strategy board games out there. But the unique element in Eternas is that the play area is circular.

Instead of simply having a flat playing area (either flat on the table or vertical like Connect Four), Eternas has a vertical, circular play area that has no end (like eternity).

Players take turns placing one of their wooden beads on a post. Once a player has 4 beads in a row either horizontally, vertically, or diagonally, they win.

We’ve played plenty of 4-in-a-row abstract board games and know there’s not a lot of ways to expand upon the game play. But this simple twist of having the ends connect provides a nice wrinkle in thinking.

And if you’ve got two strong competitors, all the beads might get placed before one of the players is victorious. If that’s the case, players continue by removing one of their beads from the top of a post and placing it on another. It’s another unique element about Eternas that earns a thumbs up.

As you can imagine, Eternas is a rather quick game to play and can be enjoyed by young and old alike. It’s also a game that we listed in our “Board Games to Leave Up” list a number of months ago. It’s the type of game that looks nice out on a desk or table for a quick head-to-head challenge from a friend or coworker.

Quadefy

Quadefy is a game about forcing your opponent out of play.

In Quadefy, players take turns placing wooden block formations of their color in a 4 x 4 x 4 cube area without going ‘out of bounds’. That is, without breaking the invisible cube space walls.

The game includes a 4 x 4 cube base where players begin building. And each player has 8 unique wooden formations in their color to choose from. (Think Tetris or Blokus type formations.) Pieces are also all out on the table so each player can see which pieces their opponent has remaining.

The first player selects one of their pieces and places it in the play area (within the cube boundaries). The next player then does the same with one of their pieces. Play continues until one player can’t place a piece entirely within the cube boundaries. If a part of their game piece sticks out, they lose.

Pieces can be slid into open spaces, but players may not move an existing piece in order to place one of their pieces.

Quadefy is a great spacial thinking strategy game that’s fun for old and young.

It’s fun to build a 3-D structure in different arrangements while trying to do so in such a way that forces your opponent out of play.

Once again we have to mention how cool these chunky wooden playing pieces are. It may sound funny, but the game pieces are fun to handle. None of this light plastic, small pieces. Instead you get to play with solid, well-finished wooden blocks. Very nice.

Another thing we like about Quadefy is that the game box shows how to place the pieces to pack it away. The inside bottom of the game box labels where to place each piece so they all fit nice and snug. Awesome little touch.

Like Eternas, we put Quadefy on our list of “Board Games to Leave Up” list because of the visual draw to the game. It’s hard not to stop and play when left out on display.

Thanks Maranda Games for a couple of strategy games that are simple fun for family play.

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