Latest Posts
For Sale – Board Game Review
The longer I’ve been into board gaming, the more I’ve noticed a steady drift toward hybridization. Mechanisms get smashed together, so now a game isn’t just a deck-builder game or a worker placement game, but some intricate fusion of both, a la Lost Ruins of Arnak or Dune: Imperium. And while I genuinely enjoy seeing the interesting ways games meld mechanics, there’s something refreshing about a game that picks a single idea and simply executes it as cleanly and completely as possible. So with that in mind, let’s talk about 1997’s For Sale, designed by Stefan Dorra.
Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition – Board Game Review
At this point, there are a lot of trick taking games in the world. It’s kind of comforting to pick up a new one, and already know most of the rules. “This is a trick taking game, but here’s the twist…” and then bam, you’re off to the races. Maybe you’re trying to avoid taking the prince suit in Rebel Princess, or there’s a whole flowchart of special characters that beat one another in Skull King. Either way, trick taking games can be counted on to be taught extremely quickly, which means you’ll go from opening the rulebook to actually playing the game in mere moments.
Frosted Blooms – Board Game Review
I have always loved polyomino based games. From Tetris as a young teenager to Patchwork being one of the games that made me fall in love with the board game hobby. So anytime a new polyomino game hits my table, I’m generally predisposed to enjoy myself.
Escape Comics: The Alien Ship – Review
Exit games started hitting the market in 2016, and by 2017, it felt like they were everywhere, and since then I’ve only played 2 (Lord of the Rings, and The Enchanted Forest). I’ve done a handful of local Escape Rooms, and while I’ve enjoyed them, I would by no means ever call myself an expert. The Exit games I’ve played have been fun, but I always felt like the narrative was paper-thin and served as an excuse to move from puzzle to puzzle. Which is why when Evan Duxbury reached out and introduced me to Escape Comics: The Alien Ship, the promise of an escape room in a comic with a narrative focus really caught my attention.
Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon – First Impressions
I’ve always had a bit of a chip on my shoulder when it comes to reviewing games that haven’t been fully played. Not necessarily 100% completed, that’s in no way realistic, but at least pushed through the main campaign to see the credits. My opinions stem from reading review after review of Final Fantasy XIII and the waves of criticism it received for being a “ series of hallways,” only for it to meaningfully open up beyond the point many reviewers manage to reach. It’s always felt a little presumptuous to me, like judging a book before Act 2 has even started. And yet, here I am, about ten hours into Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, only two chapters deep into a sprawling fifteen-chapter campaign, and I’m already forming opinions that feel too defined to ignore. Age and limited gaming time have a way of softening my old convictions, and so rather than wait for a full conclusion that may never come, this is where I’ve landed so far.
Take Time – Board Game Review
In Take Time, designed by Alexi Piovesan and Julien Prothière, and published by Libellud, you and your group are working together to organize the cards in your hands without speaking. In the centre of the table sits a clock, its minute hand pointing to one of several segments around the clock’s edge. On your turn, and without saying a word, you place one card face down into any segment. Once everyone has played all their cards, you flip everything over and count up the values in each segment, moving clockwise. To succeed, each segment has to be higher than the last, AND no segment can exceed a total value of 24.
Fiction: Banned Books – Board Game Review
Have you ever played Wordle? Of course you have, everyone has! But imagine how that puzzle changes if, somewhere in the feedback step, the game was allowed to lie to you. Not constantly, not chaotically, but just enough misinformation to make you doubt everything you think you know. That’s the core idea sitting at the centre of Fiction by Peter C. Hayward, published by AllPlay in 2023, and it’s a clever hook that immediately reframes the very familiar experience of Wordle into something a little more mischievous.
Zoo Vadis – Board Game Review
In 2023 Bitewing Games crowdfunded Zoo Vadis, ‘politics and intrigue in the animal kingdom’. And I’ll be honest, I never really gave this game a second look. Even knowing the designer was Reiner Knizia, I just am not interested in heavy negotiation games. Any game that features wheeling and dealing, or swindling, or even just loose trading rules don’t interest me. I hate the idea that my game can be hamstrung by someone else’s pure refusal to barter with me. I so much prefer games where the actions and consequences are clear and well-defined.
