Tackling On Mars was a daunting prospect. Both in terms of reviewing it, and in just learning how to play it properly. Both have been extremely rewarding exercises though. On Mars is one of the best games I’ve ever played, it’s as simple as that.
When Raiders of Scythia landed in 2020, it caused a few heads to be scratched. Garphill Games already had a ‘Raiders of’ title with 2015’s Raiders of the North Sea. Unless you’d followed Scythia’s progress, you’d be forgiven for wondering if it was another game in the same vein, a spiritual sequel, or a remake
We’re heading back to Garphill Games’ West Kingdom, taking a look at the first game in the trilogy. I started the series with Paladins, then Viscounts, and now I’m looping back around to the game that started it all – Architects of the West Kingdom.
Cooper Island is an unusual Euro game that marries worker-placement and tile-placement, along with a bit of resource management.Each player is developing their own peninsula of the oddly-shaped island, and resources are in short supply.
This special feature looks at the games produced by The Dark Imp, and designer Ellie Dix
Ragusa is a meaty Euro game from Braincrack Games and designer Fabio Lopiano. Players are developing the titular city, generating the precious commodities of the day, trading, importing and developing the city walls.
I’m of a particular generation that can’t see a gondola without singing “Just one Cornetto….” in my head, thanks to TV advertising in the 80s. Fortunately, thanks to the Venice board game, I now picture little cubes instead. It’s a start.
Buckle up folks, we’re going hop-growing in Bavaria! Hallertau is the longest continuous hop-producing region in the world, and in this medium-heavy game from Uwe Rosenberg, we’re going back to 1850 to develop our Bavarian villages and try to be the biggest and best.
If you’re reading the name of the game over and over, and trying to figure out how to say it, you’re not alone. Tawantinsuyu is the latest in a series of games from Board and Dice with fun-to-say names that begin with the letter T. Let’s see what this heavyweight Euro game has in store for us.
A week or so ago I wrote a blog piece about hype, looking at why games are forgotten so quickly in this hobby. One major reason is that aforementioned hype, and getting swept along on the wave of The Cult of the New. The other though, in my opinion, is the crazy rate of progress and evolution in board games.
