El Grande Review – Does the Granddaddy of Area Control still rule?
I've loved El Grande from the first time I played it. It's a classic for a reason, and this reprint just makes it better in my opinion.
Game Length Long (90+ mins)
Long games
Civolution Review
Slamming into 2025 with a portmanteau then. A game about the evolution of your civilisation – that’d be Civolution then! It’s a heavily abstracted game about exploring and exploiting a fictional continent while your civilisation evolves and improves. It’s from…
Shackleton Base Review
Shackleton base is built around some seemingly simple actions which belie how deep and malleable the game is. Like a drainpipe full of play-doh, maybe.
Arcs Review – Does Leder Games’ latest game topple Root?
Is Arcs the best game ever? No. Is it a chaotic, unbalanced mess? No, it's not that either. Arcs is a superb game which comes with a few caveats to get the most from it.
Roll Player Review
A game about making a character for another game. Is that really a game? It turns out that yes, it most definitely is a game, and a fun game at that.
Luthier Preview
The blind bidding clack-clack-clack of the worker disc placement adds a rich, bright counterpoint to the by-the-books Euro format of collecting resources to fulfil goals. A toccata to its fugue, if you like.
Nucleum Review – So much more than ‘a bit like Brass’
When you're constantly being namechecked in the same sentence as BGG's number one game of all time, you're doing something right.
Eclipse: Second Dawn for the Galaxy Review – Is it really the best space 4X game?
The spreading tendrils of your empires eventually intertwine, and that's where the interaction begins. The interaction is what drives Eclipse and makes it as much fun as it is.
Sidequest: 7th Sea Review
If you're looking for the short version of "Is it any good?", then I can confirm that yes, it is. Stick around and let me explain why.
Wayfarers of the South Tigris Review
Wayfarers combines traditional worker-placement, dice-as-workers, and tableau-building and it does it brilliantly. Like, chef's kiss good.
Horseless Carriage Review
If you think games like Isle of Cats, A Feast For Odin, or even Barenpark are tricky tile-placement puzzles, then you ain't seen nothing yet. Horseless Carriage is a harsh, unforgiving mistress.
Call Of Kilforth Review
Call of Kilforth does all of the things I like in a fantasy game while avoiding plenty of pitfalls.