Micro City (Saturday Review)
We had all the plans ready, planning permissions had been sought and approved, contractors had been signed up, the project manager was ready and a rough schedule had been put together. We also knew...
View ArticleThe Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine (Saturday Review)
Space, the final frontier. We're on a 50 mission journey to find a new planet in our solar system. We have to work together to seek out new theories, new experiments and new proof. It's no trick and we...
View ArticleIt’s tricky (Topic Discussion)
As you can probably tell from my review of The Crew, I love trick-taking games. I grew up with them. I learned to shuffle cards when I was about six and started to play Skat with my family when I was...
View ArticleTop 5 Board Games of 2020 (Saturday Review)
As is customary at the end of a calendar year, it's time for my top 5 board games of this, rather odd, year and for me to announce the winner of the Top Table Award 2020. Let me say that this year, I...
View ArticleThe Emperor’s new games (Topic Discussion)
We all have a soft spot for the latest and greatest board game that's coming out next. After all, it'll be better and more wonderful than the game that came before it, or so we're told. We are...
View ArticleUranus! (Saturday Review)
Our peace had been shattered. We had been living underground for centuries, happily going about our daily chores. We had spread across many moons around the planet and were very content and happy until...
View ArticleBoard Game Player Profile – Update (Topic Discussion)
The last time I checked my board game player profile on Quantic Foundry was back in April 2020, so nearly a year ago. So I thought, it's time to run through the questions again and see if much has...
View ArticleSleeping Gods (Saturday Review)
We had been transported to another world, another time maybe. The stars were all wrong, not matching any of the charts we had on board our ship, the Manticore. Captain Sofi Odessa decided we should...
View ArticleExpected expectations (Topic Discussion)
When we play board games together, each of us will have certain expectations, and it's when our expectations are met, that we feel we've had a good time. In this article, I want to talk about what...
View ArticlePilfering Pandas (Saturday Review)
Things had gone missing - food, to be precise. Someone was taking bits of food here and there and stashing it away somewhere, hiding it from the eyes of everyone, especially the keepers. It quickly...
View ArticleMoon Adventure (Saturday Review)
A massive magnetic storm had hit our moon base. All of our supplies had been hit and were now scattered in a 20-mile radius around the base. The base itself was intact and secure, but we only had a...
View ArticleCanine Capers (Saturday Review)
There was something iffy going on in our little country village. My nose was twitchy and I was soon on the trail of some interesting clues. It was clear it was going to take some time and some clever...
View ArticleAttack! (Topic Discussion)
Player interaction isn't for everyone. Some enjoy the confrontation in competitive games, the moments when they move their troops into another player's territory and battle commences, the epic card...
View ArticleAll tied up (Topic Discussion)
Someone once said that board games are basically just a framework to arbitrate a victor. Even though that sounds quite cold, at its heart, it describes how many of us, especially competitive players,...
View Article5 Medium Weight Christmas Board Games (Saturday Review)
Yes, Christmas is just around the corner, so it's time for me to put together lists of games you might want to get out over the holidays and play. I thought I'd start with a list of five games that you...
View ArticleTop 5 Board Games of 2021 (Saturday Review)
Yes, it's the time of year again where I list the 5 board games that I think were the best in 2021. The games don't necessarily have to have been published this year, but as long as I have played them...
View ArticleCoraQuest (Saturday Review)
Oh no! Wizard Pebbledash’s assistants, Kevin and Annabelle, are missing! Of course, it is our task to find them and return them home safely. We are a motley crew of four daring adventurers of all...
View ArticleBoard games for everyone (Topic Discussion)
Sometimes I get asked to recommend games for someone to play. As you can imagine, that's never easy and my first question tends to be what other games they have already played. If they're completely...
View ArticleLibrary Labyrinth (Saturday Review)
It is the evening and everyone has gone home, but you. The library is dark and everything is quiet, when suddenly, out of the corner of your eyes, you think you can see a book opening all by itself in...
View ArticleCo-operative loss (Topic Discussion)
A large number of board games are about winning and losing. Sure, for many of us, it doesn't really matter whether we win or lose, as long as we have a good time, either with friends, family or alone....
View ArticleSix Greetings Card Games (Saturday Review)
Sending someone a letter seems to have become a thing of the past and sending people postcards is mostly restricted to when you've gone away on holiday - but it's been ages since many of us have done...
View ArticleVictory Conditions other than Victory Points (Topic Discussion)
Victory points (VP) are so common in modern board games, along with the condition that the player at the end of the game with the most VP is declared the winner. Sometimes it is called influence,...
View ArticleThe final round (Topic Discussion)
I don't know if you've ever come across it, but the final round, or sometimes the final few rounds, of a game often feel different to the rest of the game. There is the common term "end game" and the...
View ArticleHow to play together (Topic Discussion)
Co-operative games come in all shapes in sizes, just like any game. So there should be something there for anyone, irrespective of what you're looking for, as long as you want an experience where...
View ArticlePointless co-operation (Topic Discussion)
Staunch competitive players may feel that co-operative games are a bit pointless. After all, it makes more sense if there is only one winner, rather than several, or so their reasoning might go....
View ArticleSuspects (Saturday Review)
After graduating from Oxford, specializing in criminal law, it was time for me to travel and see the world. Little did I know that every journey I took would present me with a mystery I had to solve...
View ArticleEtiquette (Topic Discussion)
When you have a long-standing, regular games group, you will probably have already established certain "house rules" that define what's considered good behaviour at the table. Chances are many of them...
View ArticleThe Fox in the Forest: Duet (Saturday Review)
The woodcutter and I were travelling the lands when we reached a kingdom far to the south. Its people were most distraught, because the fairies of the woods had kidnapped the most famous musician whose...
View ArticleSynchronized (Saturday Review)
The squad had been practising many hours a week for months to get to this point. They were up against a tough team, but they had the belief, conviction and the appetite to win. The determination was...
View ArticleTuring (Saturday Review)
The game, it's a test of sorts, for determining whether something is a machine or a human being. There's a judge and a subject. The judge asks questions and based on the subject's answers they...
View ArticleNemesis (Saturday Review)
Waking up from years of hibernation, all of us were a bit dazed and confused. Temporary amnesia was very common and while we all knew our names, we only had some basic memories of what had happened...
View ArticleAdventure Games: The Dungeon (Saturday Review)
Waking up from an uneasy sleep, you look around. You aren't quite sure where you are or how you got here. There is moonlight streaming through the small, barred window. It looks like you're in some...
View ArticleFace-off – interactions in two-player games (Topic Discussion)
I love playing board or card games with my wife. Spending a little, or a lot of time together focused on the same activity is a wonderful way to connect. It started as a date night, but now we might...
View ArticleA game about stuffing balloons as a team, without talking. But it’s a card...
I thought long and hard about how to start this review. Usually, the introductory paragraph of my reviews is like a short story, setting the scene of the game and the experience you're likely to get. I...
View ArticleTwo players – how games change in 2-player modes (Topic Discussion)
I often play games with my wife. We have a fair few two-player-only games, but mostly we play games that were designed for two people or more. Some games do it really well and the experience is no...
View ArticleTricky tricks – trick-taking and other games (Topic Discussion)
Growing up in Germany, I started playing traditional trick-taking games like Skat or Doppelkopf from a relatively young age. I'm used to the idea of suits, trump, following suit, taking tricks,...
View ArticleAlien: Fate of the Nostromo (Saturday Review)
The Nostromo was returning to Earth with a seven-member crew in stasis. Detecting a transmission from a nearby moon, the ship's computer awakens the crew and they land on the moon. While one part of...
View ArticleHow Realtime Games Deliver Excitement (Topic Discussion)
Hey there. It's Joe Slack from the Board Game Design Course. Oliver was kind enough to let me return and write another guest post on his blog, this time about realtime games and the experience that...
View Article5 Great Christmas Games (Saturday Review)
Yes, it is that time of year again when I release a list of games that I think are ideal for you to play over the holidays. My list of Christmas games is not ordered in any particular way. Instead, I...
View ArticleVictorious losses – games without loss or victory condition (Topic Discussion)
In digital games, the idea of a high score table dates back to the 1970s and 80s. Yes, you would eventually run out of lives or credits and therefore lose a console game, but beating your own or...
View ArticleEveryone can play – games that (should) suit most people (Topic Discussion)
I always say that not everyone will like every board game, but there is a board game for everyone. I suppose, I should concede that some people don't like board games at all. Our hobby isn't for...
View ArticleBetrayal at House on the Hill: 3rd Edition (Saturday Review)
You had received a mysterious invitation to the old mansion on top of the hill, which had lain empty for decades - if not centuries. You were about to throw the letter in the bin, along with the junk...
View ArticleSolitary Happiness – multiplayer solitaire games’ popularity (Topic Discussion)
An interesting question Phil Gross recently asked is why low-interaction games are so popular these days. Even though I'm not really sure whether these types of games are actually popular nowadays, I...
View ArticleThe Spill (Saturday Review)
We had been called out in the middle of the night. A major disaster had been declared. It was all hands on deck. After a swift site rep, we were dispatched to various locations around the oil platform....
View ArticleCastle Panic (Saturday Review)
"Troll!" came the shout from the battlements. "Where?!" we shouted back. "Southeast!" was the reply. Darn it. We didn't have any archers defending our fortress in that direction. It was fortunate that...
View ArticleRound the Outside – tracking scores in board games (Topic Discussion)
Pretty much every hobby game contains some sort of score which measures who is in the lead and decides who wins the game. That's undoubtedly true for competitive games, but sometimes also for...
View ArticleIncreased Cooperation – the popularity of cooperative games (Topic Discussion)
I always used to be very much a competitive player. Pitting my wit against other people was my thing. I would usually lose games and still do, but it was always a lot of fun. Cooperative games really...
View ArticleFast & Furious: Highway Heist (Saturday Review)
First gear. Screams of tortured rubber and plumes of acrid smoke fill the air as we barrel over the brow of the hill, rapidly advancing on our target. The tank is an incongruous sight, squat and...
View ArticleCrumbs!: The Sandwich Filler Game (Saturday Review)
It's lunchtime and the queue outside your cafe is rather long. Everyone wants you to hurry up and make them their favourite sandwich from your hugely popular menu. The pressure is on to line up slices...
View ArticleNo Win Situation – a look at victory conditions in board games (Topic...
Whether we play competitive or cooperative games, we all expect someone to be the winner. Even if it's "the game" who wins in a cooperative game. In fact, there is usually a single winner or a team in...
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