Nippon Zaibatsu Review – An Industry Masterclass

We're not even halfway through 2026 at the time of writing, but Nippon Zaibatsu is an early frontrunner for my heavy game of the year. Wonderful stuff.
It might come as a surprise, but lots of board games can be played by one person now. Stories, automated opponents, and beating your own score are common themes.

We're not even halfway through 2026 at the time of writing, but Nippon Zaibatsu is an early frontrunner for my heavy game of the year. Wonderful stuff.

Terraria is a huge game based on a video game franchise with a big, hardcore following. So, for this review, I've added two separate sets of final thoughts. One for Terraria video game fans, and another for board gamers who don't know the game.

If you played Stone Age and loved the theme, or wished there was a bit more to the game, then Doggerland was basically made for you.

Choosing what happens in your story is at the core of Fighting Fantasy, so seeing it preserved in the game is wonderful.

Sanctuary is lighter than Ark Nova, but still enough to get your teeth stuck into, and yes, I believe there's space in your collection for both.

I like Tianxia a lot; it does things you rarely see in modern games.

Is it worth taking those single blue stamps and forgoing everything else on offer? Are the cherries on those pieces of cake big and juicy enough?

Ayar does things differently from its predecessors, but still retains the feel and atmosphere of them while offering something wholly different. I think it might be the best of the bunch.

For me, though, Kanal is another of those games I'll return to again and again when I have an hour to myself and want to get away from the screen. A delicious solo puzzle ice cream with Rosenberg ripples throughout.

Once you have more than four people sitting at the table, that's when Between Two Castles has its 'hold my beer' moment.