Tag: top 5

Top 5 Marvel United Expansions To Buy

Top 5 Marvel United Expansions to Buy

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We discussed Marvel United, a cooperative board game designed by Eric Lang, less than a week ago. If you want to see our review of the core set box, here’s a link to that review (link to the review). We also started a guide to Marvel United; you can check that out here (link to the guide page). But today, let’s discuss which Marvel United Expansions are best to purchase first. Think of this as a Marvel United Purchase Guide.

Marvel United has a ton of expansions, so we need to narrow down which ones—in general—are the expansions you should look for. Disclaimer: Eric Lang is one of my favorite designers, and he did a brilliant thing with this game. (I may be biased, so sue me.) Lang put more of his design focus on the villains and not the heroes. That must’ve made the design and iteration process easier. He worked smarter, not harder: brilliant. This isn’t to say that the heroes don’t have personality, they do, but the villains add more wrinkles to Marvel United’s gameplay and with that said…

1) Expansions with more villains feature more prominently on this list. The more villains, the more unique ways to play Marvel United.

2) Boxes with unique gameplay (outside of more villains) will also rate high on this list.

3) I won’t include core sets. These aren’t expansions; they are base games needed to play Marvel United. With that said, you need at least one core set to play Marvel United. Pick the one that looks the most interesting. I like the original Core Set and the X-Men Core Set.

4) If you have a favorite Marvel character, get the box with that character. It doesn’t matter which boxes I say are the best to have. If your collection isn’t complete without your favorite character, get your favorite character.

5) If CMON Games releases another Marvel United campaign on Kickstarter or Gamefound (which is unlikely because they began DC Heroes United, which will be compatible with Marvel United, so crossover battles!), you should be able to get past Kickstarter exclusives. Fingers crossed that CMON will run a second print run for any of the campaigns. That’s more of a possibility than a fourth Marvel United set.

5: X-Men First Class

Spoiler Alert: We’ll see more than one Marvel United X-Men expansion on this list. Many of the runners-up come from the X-Men; that’s what you get when you add the Fantastic Four to the X-Men campaign (the Fantastic Four just missed the list). X-Men First Class has a whopping five heroes, which is rare for an expansion. It also features a double boss in Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch. And it even includes Danger Room Challenges to spice up the gameplay even further.

X-Men First Class has a little bit of everything. Its only downside is that it’s a Kickstarter exclusive. This will be a theme for the list. It’ll be difficult to find X-Men First Class for cheap, but well worth the purchase if you can find it. Or you could wait for a second print run. Again, fingers crossed.

4: Days of Future Past

Another X-Men expansion makes the list. Days of Future Past brings the classic X-Men story of the same name to life. (In case you missed it, here’s our list of X-Men Starter Stories; “Days of Future Past” made the list.) Days of Future Past adds sentinels. And these sentinels (three large ones sporting different poses) are almost to scale. This marks the first time Marvel United attempted a larger model type. Ahem. The largest model shows up later on this list.

Add in Nimrod, a futuristic and enhanced Sentinel model, as the main villain and you have the recipe for another great Marvel United expansion. Again, Days of Future Past is a Kickstarter exclusive. Why does CMON keep locking this great content behind Kickstarter exclusivity? C’mon, CMON. I know why they do it: money. I just wanted to say C’mon, CMON.

3: Maximum Carnage

Maximum Carnage has the most villains in an expansion, not including the promo boxes of Kickstarter exclusives. It includes a staggering seven villains (with one of those villains, Morbius, who’s also playable as a hero). Yikes! And Maximum Carnage isn’t a Kickstarter exclusive. Maximum Carnage builds on a playstyle that will show up again on this list; it introduces a New Sinister Six.

If you have the Kickstarter exclusive (there is a difference between the retail and Kickstarter versions of Maximum Carnage), you can interchange the various members of the Sinister Six. If you don’t have the Kickstarter-exclusive Maximum Carnage expansion and you have everything else need, you could print off the New Sinister Six cards from the Marvel United Wiki and add them to your game. I’m not condoning that behavior. I’m just saying you can. Wink.

You could just have a core set and most of the Spider-Man expansions and have a game of Marvel United that you could play for decades. The Sinister Six Module is fantastic.

2: The Coming of Galactus

Galactus is the largest Marvel United model to date, and The Coming of Galactus adds a new threat to the game. Namely, Galactus. But Galactus does have heralds, and The Coming of Galactus includes four of these heralds: Nova (Frankie Raye), Terrax, Firelord, and Air-Walker. Silver Surfer was released in the Fantastic Four expansion, which again, barely missed this list. If you have Silver Surfer, he can be added as one of Galactus’s heralds. Yay!

Since Galactus is a world-level threat, the gameplay surrounding him is on a global scale. The heroes don’t defeat Galactus. Not many can defeat Galactus. Instead, the heroes convince Galactus not to consume Earth. The Coming of Galactus is thematic and worth the buy, even if you just want a massive Galactus standing on the moon.

1: Return of the Sinister Six

Return of the Sinister Six includes the original members of the Spider-Man’s Sinister Six. Six villains are always a nice addition. Add in a new way to play, the villains are on a team, and this easily makes Return of the Sinister Six the best of the original Marvel United campaign’s expansions. While I could’ve moved any number of the expansions higher on this list and one of the expansions (Maximum Carnage) improves upon this gameplay style, Return of the Sinister Six deserves the top honors.

Unironically, Vulture may be one of the most difficult villains to defeat, whether a part of the Sinister Six or on his own. He gives me nightmares. And this is such a great expansion.

So, did we get the list right? Which expansions would you include in your Top 5 Marvel United Expansions? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Superman Villains Rogues Gallery

Top 5 Superman Villains

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re back with another Top 5 Villains List. This time we’re covering Superman’s rogues gallery. We mentioned Supe’s rogues in a previous Top 5, the Top 5 Most Powerful Rogues Gallery. But Superman’s villains are getting their list today. Let’s see who made the list.

5: Darkseid

You may think that Darkseid is way too low on this list, but I view him more as a Justice League villain if not a DC universe-wide villain. But Darkseid needs to make the list. I struggled with that. I wanted to include Parasite or Cyborg Superman or even Toy Man or Mister Mxyzptlk. Consider them the honorable mentions. Oh. Spoiler alert: those villains didn’t quite make the list. Getting back to Darkseid, he inspired Marvel’s Thanos. So, Darkseid is a heavy hitter. Unless the writer powers down the villain, Superman often needs help when dealing with Darkseid.

4: Doomsday

What more can be said of the villain who killed Superman? He belongs on the list; he may even be too low like Darkseid. Next.

Just kidding. We’ll discuss Doomsday a bit more. Doomsday is an engineered being from the depths of prehistoric Krypton. Is everyone still on board with genetic experiments? Doomsday’s creator imbued him with few feelings, mostly hate and a desire for destruction, which led to him destroying worlds and eventually finding Earth. Doomsday can’t die. He adapts every time he gets defeated. He can’t be reasoned with. Of Superman’s mindless foes (or his foes who are forces of nature), Doomsday tops them all and makes this list.

3: General Zod

Since he’s a Kryptonian, General Zod has powers comparable to Superman. And as his name suggests, he’s a general. So, he has military training. That makes General Zod a Superman-powered general who desires to subjugate humanity and turn Earth into a New Krypton. Yep. He’s terrifying.

General Zod may even be my choice for Superman’s first major villain if I were to reboot the character. He ties in perfectly with Supe’s past. General Zod knew Kal-El’s birth parents after all. And he hated them. It made sense that Man of Steel featured General Zod as its main antagonist. Too bad the movie wasn’t better.

2: Brainiac

There have been many Brainiacs and with that several origins for the character. No matter the origins or version, Brainiac is often considered Superman’s second-greatest villain. You can probably guess who takes the top spot. Usually, writers depict Brainiac as a superintelligent android or cyborg from the planet Colu who is obsessed with collecting all knowledge in the known universe. He even goes so far as to shrink cities like Kandor, the capital of Superman’s home planet Krypton, and Brainiac has destroyed countless civilizations.

If his body ever gets destroyed, Brainiac uploads his artificial consciousness into a new body and begins anew. This makes Brainiac pseudo-immortal and a major threat to Superman. One of my favorite versions of Brainiac comes from the Superman Animated Series. Brainiac was an AI present when Krypton exploded. We learn that Brainiac destroyed Krypton so he and he alone would have the knowledge that Krypton ever existed. This put him at odds immediately with Superman. And the reveal was fantastic. Sorry. Spoilers for an almost thirty-year-old cartoon series.

1: Lex Luthor

What more can I say about the man who would be Superman? Most people know Lex Luthor. He’s one of Comicbook’s greatest villains, let alone Superman’s greatest villain. CEO of LexCorp, Lex Luthor as I mentioned in the Most Powerful Rogues Gallery Top 5 is DC Comics’s version of Tony Stark if Iron Man decided to go a different path. Lex hates how much the world loves Superman. He doesn’t trust all that power belonging to an alien. While I could mention several large-scale, DC Comics affecting schemes, my favorite Lex Luthor story, the one that shows how evil he can be, comes from a much smaller story.

Lex visits a diner outside Metropolis. He offers a waitress at the diner a large sum of money to sleep with him. The waitress knows who Lex is, everyone knows him and what he’s done, and she’d rather not sleep with the devil. But the money Lex offered was too good to pass. As soon as she decides to sleep with Lex, he leaves the diner. Lex’s chauffeur asks why he left before completing the “transaction,” and Lex said—and I’m paraphrasing—She will always know that she would’ve slept with me. Now she hasn’t a penny to show for it.

Like Outkast once said, what’s cooler than being cool? Ice cold. That sums up Lex Luthor.

Did we get the list right? Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Board Games from the 1970s

Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Late 1970s

Published on by Kyra3 Comments

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Back with another Top 5 Tabletop Games of an era. We’re keeping the trend of breaking a decade into two halves—for now. Today’s list will be the Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Late 1970s (1975-1979)

In case you’ve forgotten our criteria for the Top 5 Tabletop Games, let’s reiterate the ground rules again before we get started.

1: Cultural relevance plays as much of a factor as overall quality. A game might make a list that doesn’t hold up to others of its type, but you must admit the game is everywhere.

2: Only one game from a franchise makes the list. This will become more of an issue the closer we get to games with expansions.

3: Longevity plays a role, too. A game doesn’t have to fly off the shelves today, but it had to have some widespread appeal for a decent time.

5: Guess Who? (1979)

Guess Who? kicks off this list with a simple guessing game. Players pick a card with a character depicted on it, and their opponent guesses who their opponent’s character is before their opponent can do the same. Guess Who’s? game board features several rows of cartoon characters, each with distinct looks. Players ask yes/no questions about their opponent’s character (typically about their opponent’s hair color, eye color, hair style, hats, etc.) and flip down the portrait of characters who don’t match the answer their opponent gave.

Guess Who? like many other children’s games (like Operation) has spawned a lot of brand-themed versions. Disney princesses, the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even Cars 2 have had variants of Guess Who?. Guess Who? is a quick and easy game to learn and yet another game that has introduced many to the tabletop game hobby.

4: Ogre (1977)

Ogre is the first Steve Jackson design to make one of these lists, but we’ll most likely see more of his work in future lists. Ogre is a tactical ground combat game set in the not-so-distant future. Combat has become faster and deadlier in the year 2085. Hovercraft, tanks, and infantry dole out damage with tactical nuclear devices, but no weapon is as feared as the giant cybernetic (pretty much AI-driven) tank called the OGRE.

One player takes control of a military force with infantry and armor. They must defend a command post. The other player has only one unit, the OGRE. Ogre plays with asymmetric powers. It may even be one of the first to do so on a grand scale.

3: Dungeon! (1975)

Dungeon! plays out a lot like Dungeons & Dragons, if D&D was simplified and converted to a board game. Players explore the titular dungeon that is divided into levels of increasing difficulty. Players fight monsters for treasure. As you journey deeper into the dungeon, the monsters grow in difficulty and the more valuable treasure you’ll find. Dungeon! uses a lot of the class-types one may find in Dungeons & Dragons.

Each character’s fighting style is unique and suited for specific regions in the dungeon. The winner is the first player to bring a certain amount (value) of treasure back to the Dungeon’s entrance. Dungeon! holds a special place for me. It was my first exposure to the world of Dungeons & Dragons, sort of. While the game shares plenty of similarities, Dungeon! doesn’t follow D&D to the letter. And it plays fast and furious.

2: Rummikub (1977)

Rummikub holds the distinction of being the first recipient of the Spiel des Jahres (German Board Game of the Year) in 1980. You may notice that Rummikub was published in 1977. It didn’t become widely published until a year or two later. Rummikub plays similar to several other central European card games (like Rummy) which are played with two decks of playing cards. Ephraim Hertzano invented the tile game Rummikub in the 1940s when Communists outlawed card playing.

Rummikub didn’t catch on in the rest of the world until after Hertzano published his 1978 Official Rummikub Book. Like Rummy, you try to get rid of all your tiles by forming numbers into runs of 3 tiles or more, or 3 to 4 of a kind. The colors of the numbers on the tiles function like card suits.

Rummikub proves that people want to play games, especially when an over-bearing regime tells them they can’t. This act of rebellion made Rummikub the perfect first recipient of the Spiel des Jahres.

1: Cosmic Encounter (1977)

Cosmic Encounter takes the top spot because it popularized one of the most beloved game mechanisms of all time: Variable Player Powers. Each player takes control of a unique alien race with a special power. They battle each other for galaxy supremacy.

But Cosmic Encounter is far more than just combat. To win Cosmic Encounter, players spread themselves onto five foreign worlds. Players will often enlist the aid of opponents to take out another opponent or allow them to accomplish one of many challenges. Alien powers, which are unique to each race, give players ways to bend or outright break the game’s rules. The game continues until one player occupies five planets. Shared victories are possible, and a player doesn’t need to occupy their own system to win.

Like I implied, Cosmic Encounter has inspired so many modern board games. The Variable Player Powers mechanism tends to sell board games. And even games like Magic: The Gathering owes their inception to Cosmic Encounter. These alien powers allowed players to break the rules; one of the statements in Cosmic Encounter’s rulebook suggested that if an alien power deviated from the rulebook, follow the rules on the alien power. That’s like Magic’s golden rule of cards. Whenever a card’s text directly contradicts these rules, the card takes precedence. Collectible Card Games owe their existence to Cosmic Encounter. It had to take the top spot.

Did we get the list right, for the most part? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Check out the other lists in this series:
Top 5 Tabletop Games prior to the 1930s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the 1930s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the 1940s-50s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the Early 1960s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the Late 1960s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the Early 1970s
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1980-1981
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1982-1983
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1984-1985
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1986-1987
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1988-1989
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1990-1991

Top 5 Board Games from the 1970s

Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Early 1970s

Published on by Kyra15 Comments

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Back with another Top 5 Tabletop Games of an era. We’re keeping the trend of breaking a decade into two halves—for now. Today’s list will be the Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Early 1970s (1970-1974)

In case you’ve forgotten our criteria for the Top 5 Tabletop Games, let’s reiterate the ground rules again before we get started.

1: Cultural relevance plays as much of a factor as overall quality. A game might make a list that doesn’t hold up to others of its type, but you must admit the game is everywhere.

2: Only one game from a franchise makes the list. This will become more of an issue the closer we get to games with expansions.

3: Longevity plays a role, too. A game doesn’t have to fly off the shelves today, but it had to have some widespread appeal for a decent time.

5: Landslide (1971)

Landslide has a simple premise. Each player is running for President of the United States. 2024 is a Presidential election year, so Landslide can scratch the itch for an election game. These rashes flare up every four years. We don’t have too much information about this game’s production; Landslide released when Parker Brothers (the publisher) didn’t credit their artists or designers. That will change in the coming eras.

Landslide uses “votes” as a form of money for players to bid for states. Players can even attempt to steal already “bought” states from each other. And while an actual Presidential election requires one candidate to gain more than half of the total number of electoral votes to get elected, or the vote goes to the House of Representatives, the winner of Landslide is the player with the highest number of electoral votes. There may be more than two players.

I played Landslide a lot growing up. I spotted a couple of copies at my local board game café, Mana Games, and may have to play it a handful of times real soon. The gameplay moves fast, and at the time of its publication (1971), the electoral votes for each state reflected that year’s electoral votes.

4: Mastermind (1971)

I have a love/hate relationship with Mastermind. I appreciate its simplicity, but my brain struggles with finding the solution. For the few of you who don’t know, Mastermind is the basis for Wordle. Instead of deducing a word, you use logic to deduce a sequence of colors. One player sets a secret code, while the other tries to crack the code.

Mastermind has spawned a ton of imitators: Wordle, Fiction, and many others. Not only do I struggle with these puzzles—I flail whenever I play Wordle—I find it grating that whenever a TV show or movie wants to show someone as smart, that “smart” character always has a copy of Mastermind. Big Bang Theory’s Sheldon Cooper constantly had Mastermind on a shelf in the camera’s frame behind his head. Yeah. We know he’s supposed to be smart, so Mastermind. Ugh!

Still, you can’t deny Mastermind’s cultural impact. Even if I stink as the codebreaker.

3: Connect 4 (1974)

Connect 4 (also known as Connect Four) plays a lot like Tic-Tac-Toe (connecting 4 of your pieces in a row). The board stands straight up, and players take turns dropping “checkers” game pieces into the stand’s top. The player who connects four of their pieces in a row first wins. Connect 4 is easy-to-learn and has about as much strategy as Tic-Tac-Toe.

Connect Four just may be a lot of people’s first board game. Its simple rules make it a great game for kids.

2: Uno (1971)

Uno continues two trends. The first, 1971 was a banner year for board games; four of the five games on this list released that year. The second, take an existing game and give it a spin. Connect 4 changed up Tic-Tac-Toe; Uno turned Crazy Eights into a colorful and commercial success. Who knew it could be that easy?

In Uno, players race to empty their hands and catch opposing players with cards left in theirs, which score points. Each turn, players play cards by matching the played last card’s color or number. If unable to play, players draw a card from the draw pile. If they’re still unable to play, the player passes their turn. There are several Wild and Special cards to spice up the gameplay. Oh! And you must say “Uno” whenever you have one card remaining in your hand. If anyone calls you out for not saying Uno, you’ll draw two cards.

Uno may also continue a third trend. It could be a lot of people’s first tabletop game.

1: Sleuth (1971)

Sid Sackson makes another appearance on one of these lists. 1971’s Sleuth (hey, this is another 1971 release) tasks players with deducing the location of a hidden gem.

The hidden gem is one of 36 gem cards and gets hidden before the start of the game. The remainder of this gem deck—with each card showing 1-3 diamonds, pearls, or opals in one of four colors—is distributed evenly among the players, with any remaining cards laid face up. A second deck contains 54 search cards, each showing one or two elements, such as pearls, pairs, red opals, or an element of your choice. Each player receives four face-up search cards.

During a turn in Sleuth, players will ask other players about the cards in their hands based on the search cards they have. The asked player must show every card that matches the asking player’s question. This generates partial information in Sleuth. You may know that one player has two diamond cards in their hand, but you won’t know which color they are or how many diamonds are on the cards unless you asked the question.

Players are encouraged to keep notes for both negative and positive information. Sleuth can reach brain burning levels. It boils down a game like Clue—and Sid Sackson’s own The Case of the Elusive Assassin (1967)—to its deduction roots. It’s a simple but deep concept. Would you expect anything less from a master game designer like Sid Sackson?

Did we get the list right, for the most part? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Check out the other lists in this series:
Top 5 Tabletop Games Prior to the 1930s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the 1930s
Top 5 Tabletop Games of the 1940s-50s
Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Early 1960s
Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Late 1960s
Top 5 Tabletop Games from the Late 1970s
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1980-1981
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1982-1983
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1984-1985
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1986-1987
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1988-1989
Top 5 Tabletop Games from 1990-1991

Top 5 Horror Tropes

Top 5 Horror Tropes

Published on by Skye2 Comments

Hello, Geekly Community! My name is Skye, and I love movies and TV. You could call me a “Screen Geek.” I make deep dives on TV shows and movies on TGIMovies (here’s the link to my website). Everyone who clicks the link gets a free year-long Netflix subscription (JK, just kidding). I’m excited to write for this site and get to know you all. Thank you for inviting me to this platform, it means a lot to be here. Without further ado, let’s begin my very first post. Woo-hoo!

Happy Halloween! Since it’s that time of year, let’s talk about something scary. But not too scary. (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°). While I view myself as a refined connoisseur of visual media (don’t we all?), I’m drawn to certain tropes (whether they’re good or not). Sure, I love killers and dumb idiots dying as much as the next person, but there are other tropes in horror that I just can’t resist. With that said, these are my 5 favorite horror tropes.

5. Creepy/Evil Children

The Evil Children trope has been done to death. Sometimes, literally. Creepy Children show up a lot in horror because children are supposed to be innocent and non-threatening, and this trope flips that expectation on its head. It can be jarring when done well. Unfortunately, I’ve seen far too many poor implementations of Evil Children to put it higher on the list. But let’s focus on good Creepy Children.

4. “Final Girls”

While mostly associated with slasher films, the “Final Girl” trope has experienced an expansion in recent horror media. In the past she was the most moral character of the movie, typically a virgin—and usually white—she suffers more hardship than any other character. She’s always the last to survive, hence the term “Final Girl.” Since Sally Hardesty from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, this was the purpose of “Final Girls.” Look pretty, be nice/modest, and maintain innocence throughout her ordeal.

3. The Slow-Burn

The type of horror that scares me the most is the kind that takes its time. Too many movies are desperate to get reactions out of people and blow their load in over-the-top jump scares which only exist to create the illusion of fear. In case you were wondering, jump scares didn‘t make the list. When it comes to legitimate horror, you must get your audience invested in your characters, story, atmosphere, and of course, pacing.

2. Monsters/Practical Effects

Monsters are awesome! I love a good creature feature, and that’s because you can do so much with monsters. My personal favorites are the ones created through practical effects and shot in front of the camera. It makes them more real and horrifying. I’m not entirely against computer-generated effects but considering Hollywood’s overuse of these kinds of effects in the past 30 years, you can’t deny that CGI has become easy to spot. If I had to choose between a bad practical effect and a bad digital effect, I’d choose the former 10 times out of 10.

1. Music/Sound Design

This one is a cheat. Music and sound design are less a trope and more an essential part of filmmaking. But I believe music and sound design are the most important parts of filmmaking when it comes to Horror. Music instills emotions. Horror needs to create specific emotions to get its audience on edge. It’s been scientifically proven that jump scares almost entirely lose their power without the assistance of sound.

Top 5 Horror Tropes Creepy Children

-Skye

 

Top 5 Recently Spotted Cryptids

Top 5 Recently Spotted Cryptids

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. It’s still spooky season, so I figured I share another Top 5 that fits that theme. This week’s Top 5 is recently spotted cryptids. Cryptids are animals that cryptozoologists believe may exist but whose present existence is disputed or unsubstantiated by science. We’re talking the Loch Ness Monster and Bigfoot. I don’t buy into cryptids. But they can be fun to speculate and since it’s still spooky season, let’s talk about the Top 5 recently spotted cryptids.

5: Nantinaq

What if Bigfoot (or Sasquatch) turned man killer? If you’ve ever asked yourself that question, you don’t have to look much further than Nantinaq. In fact, the Nantinaq is blamed for the abandonment of the Alaskan fishing village Portlock. The killings become so plentiful that people fled for their lives.

Nantinaq sightings began in the 1700s when Europeans conducted expeditions, and Native Alaskans began encountering the mysterious creature. The Nantinaq is believed to rip out trees from their roots and plant them back into the ground upside down. I don’t know how accurate these images are, and I don’t know if there may be another natural explanation for this, but that sounds weird.

The Nantinaq has also been known to kill huge moose and carry the moose on their back several yards. Discovery+ filmed a reality television series in Portlock. The series, Alaskan Killer Bigfoot, follows a team exploring the abandoned village. It aired at the end of 2021 and recorded the most recent sighting of the Nantinaq.

I may have to watch the Alaskan Killer Bigfoot. It’s most likely a trash docuseries, but a trash docuseries can be fun.

4: Dobhar-chu

The Dobhar-chu is a giant carnivorous lake monster that lives in Ireland. It most closely resembles a large otter. That can’t be too intimidating. Only its alternate name is Irish-Crocodile. The Dobhar-chu attacks in pairs and they are known to get aggressive with humans and dogs. And because the Dobhar-chu is a huge, nightmare fuel otter, it can chase its prey on land and in the water. Great.

There haven’t been as many sightings of the Dobhar-chu as there had been in previous decades. The most recent reports came from 2003 by an Irish artist and his wife on Omey Island, Connemara. The couple saw a giant creature with dark coloring and membranes on the feet to swim.

The Dobhar-chu sounds goofy but these artist renderings make them more formidable. I wouldn’t want to run into one of these things. Yikes!

3: Orang Gadang

We have another Bigfoot like creature, but Orang Gadang comes from Indonesia. Orang means person and gadang means giant. Since Orang Gadang are giant people, they stand between 7.5-12 feet tall and are covered with bushy dark hair. They’ve been spotted for centuries in Sumatra and Malaya. They can also be named Orang Tinggi (Tinggi meaning tall), so Tall Person and sometimes Hantu Tinggi or tall ghost.

The most recent sighting of the Orang Gadang occurred in 2013. Seven people were injured and sent to the hospital. One was in critical condition. The group had been attacked by 10 monkeys. The monkeys in question stood upright like gorillas and stood between four to five feet. Monkeys exist in Indonesia, but none of them grow to that height. The group described the creature as having “stub noses and glaring eyes.”

Who knows? This one could be true. A lot of primates, both extinct and living, have been found in Indonesia. Even hobbits. Yes. Hobbits were real and found in Sumatra, which happens to be where the Orang Gadang originate. Oh no!

2: Fresno Nightcrawler

Fresno nightcrawlers may be the oddest creature on this list. They only grow to about five feet with most of their heigh made up of their legs. In fact, they look like a walking pair of pants. The Fresno nightcrawler is also the youngest creature on this list. The first sighting occurred in 2007 with the most recent on April 25th, 2020.

The earlier sightings happened around Fresno, California, hence the name, but the most recent happened in two distant locations. The first occurred in Poland of all places. A man caught the creature on a handheld camera. But the most recent sighting happened in Billings, Montana. A home surveillance system spotted the creature at 9:45 PM in April, 2020.

Okay. This one is silly and sounds like it came from an old Dr. Seuss story “What Was I Scared Of?” where the main character repeatedly meets an empty pair of pale-green pants. “I said, ‘I do not fear those pants with nobody inside them.’ I said, and said, and said those words. I said them. But I lied them.” I kind of want this one to be true because it’s too silly. Shout out to Dr. Seuss.

1: J’ba FoFi

I had to include a large spider; my wife hates spiders. Love you. The J’ba FoFi, pronounced CHOO-Bah Foo Fee, has been spotted in the Congo. It weaves a trap-door like web to catch its prey. There are plenty of spiders in Africa that hunt this way, so that doesn’t raise eyebrows. What does is that the trap-door this spider weaves must be gigantic. The J’ba FoFi can grow as long as four feet.

J’ba FoFi sightings began in 1850 and remained plentiful until recent years. Many of the natives blame the lack of sightings on the J’ba FoFi becoming a vanishing species. Encroaching civilization and the rain forest being converted into farmland have driven the spiders from their natural habitats.

Some have posted pictures of a massive web system. I don’t know if this is photoshopped, AI, or another creature building this web system. Again, J’ba FoFi is supposed to be a trap-door spider, so webs like these, while impressive and large, must be the work of some other animal.

The most recent sighting occurred in March 2013. A video surfaced on YouTube of an alleged J’ba Fofi caught on night vision camera near a waterhole in Mozambique. The J’ba FoFi appears out of the darkness for a moment and scurries into the darkness on the far-right side of the screen.

I don’t know. Giant spiders, like the goliath birdeater, exist, but they only grow to a foot long. There may be a reason for this. Ahem, a spider’s body construct cannot maintain a body larger than about a foot. But a large spider could exist in Africa. That isn’t far-fetched.

So, which one of these cryptids do you wish are true? Heck, which ones do you think are true? And should I plan a trip to try and spot one? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Most Powerful Rogue Gallery

Top 5 Most Powerful Rogues Galleries

Published on by Kyra1 Comment

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. It’s still Spooky Season, but I’m going in a different direction with this week’s Top 5. What’s more horrifying than a strong series of villains? In this list, we’ll discuss the 5 most powerful rogues galleries in comic books. This differs from the most popular rogues galleries. If we did the most popular rogues galleries, Batman and Spider-Man’s rogues would certainly make the list. But most of Batman and Spider-Man’s rogues are street-level villains. And not as powerful.

So, who made the list? Let’s find out.

5: The Flash

Flash has an underrated rogues gallery. I may be showing my bias here; I don’t know. Flash begins with a lot of great street-level villains or villains slightly above street-level with Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Weather Wizard, and Captain Boomerang. But then you get into Gorilla Grodd who has brains and brawn, and the Thinker who is the most intelligent being in the DC Universe.

And then Flash’s rogues reach a new height with evil speedsters. Speed is a given in a Flash story, but each of these evil speedsters can reverse time and change events. That’s Reverse-Flash’s MO. He went back in time to kill Barry Allen’s mother. Our next hero may be able to claim a more powerful set of rogues, but that level of pettiness raises the Flash’s rogues.

4: Thor

This one’s a cheat. Most of Thor’s rogues are god-tier villains, so they can get powerful. Perhaps too powerful. Mangog is the physical manifestation and sum of the hatred of a billion beings. Mangog is a threat to the entire universe. Then, there’s Surtur, the king of the fire giants. Surtur possesses a sword that can destroy universes. And there’s Gorr the God Butcher. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) may have done Gorr dirty in Thor: Love and Thunder. He’s far more menacing in the comics; he has killed hundreds of gods with All-Black, his sword that gets more powerful with each god Gorr kills. Oh, wait, I didn’t mention Loki. Yikes!

3: Superman

Most people think of Lex Luthor first when thinking of Superman’s rogues and with good reason. But there are quite a few people who may think Lex is a normal human. He’s not a threat. Lex happens to be DC Comics’ version of Tony Stark/Iron Man. Both Lex and Tony have money to burn, a power suit, and super genius intellects. Lex Luthor is Iron Man if Iron Man decided to break bad.

Then you add all the evil Supermen, and there are a lot. Bizzaro, Cyborg Superman, and General Zod lead the charge here. General Zod is Superman with military training. Supes may be in trouble. Brainiac is another universe-level threat. Darkseid who is a DC-wide villain can also be a solo Superman villain, and Darkseid inspired the creation of Thanos. And that’s all before we get to Doomsday who literally killed Superman. Throw in the imp from the fifth dimension, Mister Mxyzptlk, who can warp reality itself, and you can’t deny that Superman’s rogues contain a lot of heavy hitters.

2: Fantastic Four

Galactus. This being literally eats planets like Pac-Man gobbles power pellets. Galactus alone makes the Fantastic Four’s rogues gallery ridiculously powerful. But it doesn’t stop there. Doctor Doom may be one of the deadliest villains in comic book history. He has taken the Beyonder’s powers more than once. The Beyonder is an otherworldly being with universe altering abilities. Kang keeps trophies of the hundreds of heroes he’s killed while time jumping. And there’s Annihilus, ruler of the Negative Zone.

The Fantastic Four are unique in the world of comics. They tend to act than react and bump into many of their enemies on their adventures, and their adventures take them to some crazy locales like the Negative Zone. I can’t wait to see which version of the Fantastic Four the MCU will give us.

1: X-Men

But our number one spot must be the X-Men. The Fantastic Four may have Galactus, and Galactus may be more powerful than any one X-Men villain, but the X-Men have a power classification system. This makes it easy to figure out who can destroy or severely alter the world. The X-Men have at least eight Omega-level evil mutants. Madelyne Pryor (evil clone of Jean Gray), Dark Phoenix, Apocalypse, Exodus, Cassandra Nova, Stryfe, Proteus, and of course Magneto.

That short list doesn’t even include Mr. Sinister who cloned Jean Gray and has caused havoc. Sentinels and the upgrade Nimrod. Or even Bastion who is part mutant-part Sentinel. It doesn’t include Shadow King and the Adversary who can haunt people psychically. I think I forgot to mention the Brood in there. And so, so many more ridiculously powered villains who would be at home facing off against the Fantastic Four or Superman or the Justice League or the Avengers. The X-Men’s rogues gallery tops just about any comic book rogues gallery in terms of sheer power.

Did we get the list right? Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Hulk Villains

Top 5 Hulk Villains

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Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re sticking with the Spooky Season theme or at least Spooky Season adjacent with the Top 5 Hulk Villains. Hulk has an odd array of villains because he spends a large portion of his time as a monster.

But the Green Goliath has his fair share of villains. Let’s see who made the list.

5: Absorbing Man

Absorbing Man could’ve been higher on this list. He has one of the most intriguing powers in Hulk’s rogue’s gallery; he can absorb any material he touches. Think of it like a physical version of the X-Men’s Rogue’s power. But Absorbing Man functions just as much as a Marvel Universe villain as he does a Hulk villain. His origins come from a classic Thor comic and has a link with Loki. And his most notable partner Titiania has a connection with She-Hulk, so Absorbing Man could be just as much of a She-Hulk villain.

Even so, he deserves a mention on this list. After fighting Thor for several rounds, Absorbing Man gets banished into outer space. Upon his return on a comet, Absorbing Man battles the Hulk. And the two became on again, off again rivals ever since.

4: Abomination

The Abomination is a classic Hulk villain. Had this been a decade or two ago, the Abomination could’ve landed much higher on this list, maybe even number one. But a few villains have taken his spot as the Hulk’s big bad. Emil Blonsky’s villainous origin plays out similarly to his Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) counterpart. He started as a KGB agent and spy; he was switched to a British Royal Marine for the MCU. Blonsky subjected himself to a ton of gamma radiation and turned into scaly and larger version of the Hulk.

The Abomination is the oldest evil Hulk, but there have been other “evil Hulks” who have taken over higher spots.

3: Maestro

Okay. Maestro is just a future version of the Hulk. But he’s one evil son of a gun. This version of the Hulk comes from the Future Imperfect timeline where the world has been rocked by nuclear weapons. Hulk is uniquely qualified to survive such a future and the horrors he’s seen have driven him mad. Maestro may no longer be as strong as his younger counterpart, but his healing factor makes him virtually immortal.

It also doesn’t hurt that the legendary comic book writer Peter David and equally legendary artist George Perez co-created Maestro and gave the character a phenomenal run in the early 1990s.

2: Red Hulk

Red Hulk is yet another evil version of the Hulk, but he’s more than that. Red Hulk started as General Thaddeus E. “Thunderbolt” Ross. Red Hulk may have debuted in 2008, making him the “newest” character on this list. But Thunderbolt Ross has been around since the very beginning. He was the father of Hulk’s long-time love interest and eventual wife Betty Ross. Thunderbolt hated the Hulk and led the military’s charge to subdue him.

Thunderbolt Ross turned himself into the Red Hulk to go toe-to-toe with the Green Giant. The Red Hulk retained Ross’s intellect and more importantly his military training, making him a force. Ross has yet to become the Red Hulk in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. William Hurt played the character until his passing. Harrison Ford will portray the character in the upcoming Captain America: Brave New World. It should be a matter of time before Red Hulk makes his MCU debut.

1: Leader

I may be biased, but the Leader remains the ultimate foil for the Hulk. Janitor Samuel Sterns gets turned into the ultra-intelligent Leader after exposure to gamma radiation. He develops telekinesis, telepathy, gamma ray manipulation, and can self-resurrect. He’s been a part of several major Hulk storylines, including the creation of the Red Hulk, our number two villain on this list.

The Leader is also one of the founding members of Intelligencia, a group of the greatest criminal minds on Earth. This group can affect the Marvel Universe as a whole. But the Leader works best when he squares off against the Hulk. He is the yin to the Hulk’s yang. The only villain who comes close to besting the Leader as the Hulk’s greatest enemy may be the Hulk himself.

Did we get the list right? Let us know who you would add or remove in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Batman Villains

Top 5 Batman Villains

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Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. We’re kicking off spooky season a little late with a Top 5. The Top 5 Batman Villains to be exact. I struggled with whether to include The Joker and call it the Top 5 Batman Villains Not Named The Joker. But I decided to keep the Joker and add a sixth, honorable mention villain. The best of both worlds? This sixth villain is someone who wouldn’t have made the list. Eek! Batman has so many great villains. Let’s get started.

6: The Riddler

Yep. The Riddler almost didn’t make the list. This doesn’t mean that he’s a poor villain. It doesn’t mean that any of the villains you don’t see on this list are poor villains. I may have to make a Top 5 Underrated Batman Villains at some point. Let me know yours in the comments. Batman has a stacked rogues gallery.

Back to the Riddler. The Riddler began as a joke villain. TV executives even modeled the vibe of the 1960s Batman series starring Adam West from a Batman comic book cover that featured the Riddler. He’s been reimagined so many times that the Riddler has become a formidable foe. He got a little drip from the Batman: The Animated Series. He’s still one of my favorite villains from that cartoon series. “The War of Jokes and Riddles” is a must read if you’d like to see the Riddler portrayed as Joker’s equal. But the Riddler’s best story may come from Batman: Earth One, Volume Two.

Batman: Earth One shows a newer Batman navigating Gotham’s underbelly. The Riddler from Volume Two does a lot of Riddler schtick. He asks riddles of Batman and states that if Batman doesn’t solve the riddle in time, he’ll detonate a bomb killing hundreds. Batman solves the riddle in time because he’s Batman. But the Riddler detonates the bomb anyway. This isn’t your typical Riddler.

5: Two-Face

Two-Face has always been a layered Batman villain. He started as one of Bruce Wayne’s good friends and lost touch with reality after a criminal threw acid on the left side of his face. He’s another great villain from the Batman: The Animated Series. His two-part origin story in that series was fantastic and worth a watch. Aaron Eckhart’s portrayal of Harvey Dent was one of the most underrated elements of 2008’s The Dark Knight. But I’d have to go with the source material and 1990’s “The Eye of the Beholder.”

“The Eye of the Beholder” may sound familiar to fans of Batman: TAS. Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent form an alliance with Batman to rid Gotham of crime. Little do Gordon and Batman know, Harvey suppresses a second personality. “The Eye of the Beholder” does a great job of diving into Dent’s psychology and is well worth the read.

4: Mr. Freeze

Like the Riddler, Mr. Freeze began as a gag character. He used the name Mr. Zero at first and the 1960s TV show portrayed him like he appeared in the comics. Wild! It took Batman: The Animated Series to reimagine into the Mr. Freeze we know today. Mr. Freeze differs from most Batman villains. He isn’t crazy. He just wants to save his cryogenically frozen wife and will do so by any means. Tim Hill had a great Mr. Freeze story that took a different turn for the villain; he was a victim of Batman’s abuse. But I’d go back to the Batman: TAS classic episode “Heart of Ice” as a go-to Mr. Freeze story.

“Heart of Ice” earned a well-deserved Emmy. It’s the story that transformed Mr. Freeze from a gag villain into the tragic one we know today.

3: Bane

Bane not only matches Batman in brawn, but he can also go toe-to-toe with Batman on an intellectual level. That makes Bane’s inclusion in 1997’s shlocky Batman & Robin even more reprehensible. Tom Hardy’s turn as the villain in 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises gets closer to who the villain is. In the comics, Bane grew up in a prison, atoning for the crimes his father had committed. While in prison, he honed his body and mind. Tim Hill’s run on the Batman featured Bane as the main villain, but I’d go with the classic Batman: Knightfall story as starting point for Bane.

Batman: Knightfall features the moment that Bane “broke the bat.” He raises Batman up and breaks him over one knee, leaving Batman a paraplegic. This story will sound familiar to anyone who’s seen The Dark Knight Rises. This story element appears prominently in the film.

2: Ra’s Al Ghul

Ra’s Al Ghul translates to “Head of the Demon.” He’s another Batman villain who differs from most of the rest in that he believes his actions are just. Ra’s wants to save the planet and attain a perfect environmental balance by eliminating most of humanity. Marvel’s Thanos would borrow more than a little of this mentality. The Lazarus Pits he uses keeps him virtually immortal. Yet again, Batman: The Animated Series does a great job showcasing Ra’s Al Ghul’s origin. But I would turn again to the source material.

Ra’s Al Ghul first appeared in Batman #232 “Daughter of the Demon” and the story plays out almost exactly as Batman: TAS. So, never mind. I guess you could watch the show instead.

1: The Joker

I spoiled this one. I can’t see a world without the Joker as Batman’s ultimate villain. The Joker may be the greatest villain in all of comics. He needs no introduction. There have been numerous actors who have given powerful performances as the Joker. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Hamill embodied the Joker in one way or another. I’ll always have a soft spot for Jack Nickolson’s Joker, even if he did venture from the characters a bit. John DiMaggio took the Joker to a gritty place with his vocal performances. But Heath Ledger’s Joker still takes the cake.

The Joker has too many great comic book stories to mention here. I could do a Top 5 of these stories. I’ll rattle off a few: “A Death in the Family,” “The Laughing Fish,” “Joker’s Five-Way Revenge,” “Batman: The Man Who Laughs,” and of course, “The Killing Joke.” The Clown Prince of Crime reigns supreme for a reason.

Did we get the list right? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Top 5 Tabletop Games of the 1960s

Top 5 Tabletop Games from the late 1960s

Published on by Kyra15 Comments

Hey, hey! Kyra Kyle here. Back with another Top 5 Tabletop Games of an era and we’re also back with the second half of the 1960s (1965-1969). If you want to see our picks for the first half of the decade, you can follow this link.

We’re getting back into the swing of things, so let’s reiterate the ground rules again before we get started.

1: Cultural relevance plays as much of a factor as overall quality. A game might make a list that doesn’t hold up to others of its type, but you must admit the game is everywhere.

2: Only one game from a franchise makes the list. This will become more of an issue the closer we get to games with expansions.

3: Longevity plays a role, too. A game doesn’t have to fly off the shelves today, but it had to have some widespread appeal for a decent time.

Feudal board game Top 5 Games from 1960s

5: Feudal (1967)

The 1960s had a lot of Chess-like board games—and I do mean a lot—but none of the Chess variants reached the heights of Fred Beustchler’s Feudal. A part of the 3M Bookshelf Series (3M also produced a lot of Sid Sackson and Alex Randloph’s early work), Feudal tasks players with occupying an opponent’s castle or capturing all an opponent’s royalty. The play area consists of four plastic peg boards depicting empty, rough, and mountainous terrain.

Feudal tabletop game Top games from 1960s

Feudal has a unique set-up. Players place their pieces on their peg boards in secret and reveal how they deployed their units simultaneously. This leads to different strategic problems each game and every game plays out differently. We had to include one Chess-like board game. Feudal is the best of the bunch.

Triominoes board game Top 5 games from 1960s

4: Triominoes (1965)

Simply put, Triominoes is a variation of dominoes that uses triangular tiles. The tiles are equilateral triangles so they fit in neatly with each other. Players can play a Triomino if they have matching numbers with the six potential values 0-5.

Triominoes tabletop game Top 5 Games from 1960

I’ll be honest. Triominoes intimidated me while I was growing up. So many numbers close together looked confusing. But there’s no doubt that the game has a legacy.

Kerplunk tabletop game Top 5 game from 1960s

3: Kerplunk (1967)

Sometimes the simplest concepts make the best games. Kerplunk consists of a transparent plastic tube, plastic rods called straws (26-30 of various colors), and several dozen marbles. Players take turns removing a single straw from the tube while trying to minimize the number of marbles that fall though the web and into their trays.

kerplunk board game Top 5 game from 1960s

Kerplunk beget several similar games in the future, specifically Jenga. This family of games has built-in tension. Remove the wrong straw and the marbles pour out.

Twister tabletop game Top 5 game from 1960s

2: Twister (1966)

The tail end of the 60s saw a lot of simple games or new twists on older games. Speaking of twists, our next game is Twister.

Each version of the game comes with a spinner. And each spinner is divided into four labeled sections: left foot, right foot, left hand, and right hand. And each of those four sections are divided further into the colors red, yellow, green, and blue. After spinning, the combination is called (right hand red) and players must move their matching hand or foot to a circle of the correct color. Last player standing wins.

Twister board game Top 5 game from 1960s

Simple enough. And we’ll see a lot of other simple designs that have stood the test of time on this list.

Operation board game Top 5 game from 1960s

1: Operation (1965)

We go from moving one’s body in weird ways to a game featuring someone with a weird body. Operation challenges players with extracting silly body parts from a hapless patient. During the game, you acquire cards which dictate body parts you must remove. The body parts rest inside a hole and if you erroneously touch one of the hole’s metal sides, a sudden buzzer and light-up nose indicates the patient’s pain. Players want as little pain as possible in Operation. Successful extractions give the player money and the player with the most cash at the end of the game wins.

There have been countless versions of Operation. I believe my kids had a Spongebob themed one. Maybe it was Shrek. Regardless, Operation has never been out of print since its release. And I don’t see that happening in the next 60 years either.

Did we get the list right, for the most part? Let us know in the comments. And wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.

Check out the other lists in this series:
Top 5 Games prior to the 1930s
Top 5 Games of the 1930s
Top 5 Games of the 1940s-50s
Top 5 Games of the early 1960s
Top 5 Games of the early 1970s
Top 5 Games of the late 1970s
Top 5 Games from 1980-1981
Top 5 Games from 1982-1983
Top 5 Games from 1984-1985
Top 5 Games from 1986-1987
Top 5 Games from 1988-1989
Top 5 Games from 1990-1991