When I first saw the name ‘Subastral’, I immediately thought “Cool, definitely a space game”. I was wrong. Subastral in this context refers to exactly what it describes – below the stars. The focus is our own blue marble, our own speck of beauty on the canvas of cosmic insignificance: planet Earth.
I recently reviewed Wingspan, a game about collecting birds and playing with tons of little plastic eggs. Its designer, Elizabeth Hargrave, was rocketed from “who’s that?” to a name that everyone in board games knows. So what’s for her follow-up to the birdy game? More birds? More delightful eggs? Nope. We’re still playing with animals that fly, but this time it’s butterflies.
They say good things come in small packages, and they don’t get much smaller than Zuuli, which is about the size of a pack of playing cards. Zuuli is a card game from Unfringed, where players are building and upgrading enclosures at their wildlife parks, while rescuing the animals who’ll live there
Ever fancied yourself as the owner of a vineyard? You’re in luck. La Viña is a card game from Devir Games, where players compete to get the best grape yield from an abandoned vineyard, and turn it into wine. The player who does best, inherits the vineyard!
Ever fancied yourself as a bit of a Doctor Frankenstein? Did you spend your childhood drawing weird and wonderful creatures and monsters? If so, I think Hideous Abomination might be the game you’re looking for.
Here’s a question for you. How many of your board games use electricity? Of those, how many of those require you to make an electrical circuit in order to power a rocket? Do I have your attention now? Read on, adventurer, and find out more about Forbidden Sky.
If you listen to podcasts, you may have heard of The Adventure Zone. The McElroy family put together a podcast chronicling their adventures in a Dungeons and Dragons (D&D) campaign called The Bureau of Balance. It was a smash hit that spawned graphic novels and a huge fan following, and now, a game. This game.
Balancing workers and materials in an increasingly unstable construction site – what could possibly go wrong? Let’s take a look at Pretzel Games’ 2019 dexterity game, Men At Work, and find out.
The lovely folks at @alderac sent me Whirling Witchcraft, which I'm really enjoying. It's basically an engine-builder in the style of something like It's A Wonderful World, but with the aim to overload your neighbours' boards when you pass these gorgeous cauldrons around.
3I've been playing Arkosa, from @toonhammergames , and I've had a lot of fun. If you'd like to know more about the bunker-building alien eurogame, take a look at my preview - https://punchboard.co.uk/arkosa-preview/ . Well? What are you waiting for? Potter along now.
I love this talk by @gengelstein . The psychology of loss aversion and choice is so interesting. I'm sure there are plenty of board game designers out there even now who could take so much away from it - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_1YcCcBVfY
