The original Britannia is something of a collectors item these days, having first been released just three years after I was born and since then having been published in numerous languages, including an English language re-release from industry giants, Fantasy Flight Games. The version that I’ve been playing for the past month or two is […]
Following on from the Black Panther and Killmonger review that we did for Atomic Mass’s Marvel: Crisis Protocol a few months ago, I’m delighted to have picked up the other two expansions that were released at the same time, namely, Venom and Shuri and Okoye. The addition of Shuri and Okoye to my roster enables […]
If you look back at my review for Evolution Climate back at the start of 2019, you’ll note that I absolutely loved it. With thematic, educational links between visuals, components and mechanics, Evolution Climate struck the perfect balance between learning and enjoyment. However, where Evolution Climate focused on the development of birds and mammals and […]
Among all of its many properties, the Arkham Horror LCG (or Living Card Game) has got to be one of the most popular lines that Fantasy Flight Games produces. I have spent several evenings over the past few weeks invested in the three stories that make up the most basic core set, but in addition […]
In the original Mysterium (which I’ve never played) one player acts as a ghost, whilst the others take on the roles of paranormal investigators who must solve the mystery of how the ghost died. To do this, they’ll decipher various clues and messages left by the ghost, and this mechanic is expanded upon through at […]
When I think of wargames, I am often reminded of how broad the range of games covered by that term actually is. On the one hand, you have super heavy, army level simulators such as those represented in many of GMT Games most famous series, whilst on the other, you have the more straightforward and […]
The Unlock! series of games has been around for quite a while, and even though I don’t tend to dive into every single one, there are a few that have really appealed to me. The last one I reviewed was subtitled Heroic Adventures and it featured a Sherlock Holmes mystery, a retelling of Alice in […]
Back in 2016, a board game called Scythe blew the world away with its incredibly evocative artwork, which featured hand painted images busy farmers working the fields against a backdrop of huge, mechanical walkers that seemed to eye them in equal parts both wary and protective. This artwork came from Polish artist Jakub Rozalski, and […]
Whilst I’ve noticed an increasing number of dubious uses for the Marvel branding – including everything from sweets to underwear – Marvel Splendor is one tie-in that actually makes sense. The link between classic Splendor gameplay and Thanos’ quest for the Infinity Stones is so clear that I could imagine that whoever runs marketing at […]
Given that 2020 has been completely spoiled by the Covid-19 Pandemic, I find myself playing more and more games with just my wife. Whilst I always enjoy these head to head contests, she enjoys a much more limited subset of games to me, and so I have to make my proposed choice for any game […]
Camel Up is perhaps one of the longest standing and best loved betting games in the market, but believe it or not, I hadn’t tried it until I was asked to undertake this review. Whilst Camel Up has been around for years, the version I’ve been sent is a recent reprint – and goodness me […]
People who love deckbuilding games are certainly spoiled for choice these days, with the likes of Dominion, Mage Knight and Legendary all building on the core idea of starting out with a weak deck and building it up to something much more powerful over time, albeit with their own twist. Clank! easily sits alongside (and […]
Even though I’ve played every single Civilization game, owned every expansion and even religiously explored every spin-off and related title, it wasn’t until Civilization VI came along that I realised just how fundamental the differences between the civilizations are to the gameplay experience. These days it seems obvious – and indeed the very existence of […]
Even before the Covid-19 lockdown came into force, I had always enjoyed the focus of a good, thoughtful, two player game. I think this fascination comes from repeatedly playing Draughts, Chess and Stratego with my dad and friends when I was much younger. Nowadays, I play two player games with my wife mostly, but we […]
When it comes to board games based on trains (of which there are many) I’m not the biggest fan. Actual real-life trains do little for me, and because setting and theme are so important to the way I enjoy board games, I have to get over that initial lack of interest before I can become […]
If you’re going to make a card game these days, you’re going to have a heck of a job on your hands in making it stand out from the crowd. Casual players these days are inundated with choice, having often hundreds of small box, simple games to choose from. When it comes to Abandon All […]
As I keep mentioning in my reviews, life as a board gamer has probably never been better. Modern production values have enlivened the way that board games look, and introduced new ways to experience the mechanics of the games, thanks to advances in plastic, cardboard and wood production. Modern games work best when they take […]
When I look back across almost thirty years (goodness me) of videogaming experience, there are several games that have stayed with me through their various iterations. Super Mario, Football Manager and Total War all spring to mind (as well as several others) but chief among them is the Civilization series. When I first sunk hundreds […]
With the evergreen popularity of Jaws, and the close proximity of trashy B-Movie stories to video games, I’m genuinely surprised that we haven’t had hundreds of shark themed video games. I honestly can’t fathom (lol) why there haven’t been more, but that may change going forwards if Maneater realises it’s full potential. This game has […]
With two young kids and a wife who is at best only interested in light to midweight games, dice chuckers are becoming increasingly important to us as a family. For me, however, they rarely satisfy my need for meaningful choices and interlocking, complex mechanics. Sushi Roll doesn’t quite reach the heights of the medium to […]
In my household, there are two young children, one casual gamer and one very serious gamer (me.) This means that we’ve grown very fond of KingDomino, as you’ll see from my review last year. As the serious gamer in the group, I love KingDomino’s accessibility when it comes to enabling my wife and children to […]
When it comes to game design, theme is hugely important to me. I know a lot of players prefer the mechanical or mathematical puzzles that games provide, but I honestly can’t engage my brain in the same way when a game is absent of theme. Thankfully for The Isle of Cats, the theme is everything, […]
