Talking Shelf Space

First Impressions of Lands of Galyzr – How Fun Can a Sandbox Be Without Moulds?

by AlexFirst Impressions 03/04/202303/05/2023No Comments

There are many aspects in modern board gaming that I personally don’t really care for. For example, I like the card-engine-building of Terraforming Mars or Ark Nova just fine, but they don’t get me excited. I can appreciate the maximum-turn-extending of an Imperial Settlers or Everdell mechanically, but they don’t make me seek out similar …

Origin Stories: Sleeping Gods – An Interview with Designer Ryan Laukat – Part 2

by AlexOrigin Stories 02/25/202302/25/20235 Comments

This is part 2 of an interview with Ryan Laukat about Sleeping Gods. The full interview was almost 2 hours long, so I had to edit it down to a readable length and split into two parts. If you haven’t read part 1, you should definitely start there! Where we left off, Ryan and I …

Origin Stories: Sleeping Gods – An Interview with Designer Ryan Laukat – Part 1

by AlexOrigin Stories 02/18/202302/18/2023One Comment

For the second instalment in this series, I’m very fortunate that Ryan Laukat, arguably one of the most fascinating designers in board gaming today, was kind enough to sit down with me and talk about Sleeping Gods. The full interview was almost 2 hours long, so I had to edit it down to a readable …

Review of On Tour – Why Some Roll-and-Writes Work While Others Don’t

by AlexReview 02/04/202302/06/2023No Comments

I’m not the biggest fan of roll-and-writes, but I’ve played my fair share of them. From simple ones like Railroad Inc or Saint Malo over combotastic ones like Ganz Schön Clever to more complex ones like Troyes Dice, Welcome to the Moon or Hadrian’s Wall. At some point, I got rid of all of them. …

Review of Tiletum – Have We Reached Peak Euro?

by AlexReview 01/18/202301/19/2023No Comments

I like interesting use of dice. Grand Austria Hotel is one of my favourite games ever, Castles of Burgundy used to be at some point. I really enjoy Troyes, even if my friends don’t want to play it with me, and I enjoyed Woodcraft to name a more recent title. So when I heard of …

First Impressions of Oros – A Fresh Breeze That Moves Mountains

by AlexFirst Impressions 01/14/202301/15/2023No Comments

It only takes a quick look to realise there is something different about Oros: its art style lies between the abstract or painterly detailed art of most games, the box is a bit bigger than usual (approximately 1.5x Ticket-to-Ride-boxes), the mood is unusually cheerful for a game about demigods, reminding me of an animated movie …

First Impressions of Splendor Duel – Smaller Box, Bigger Game?

by AlexFirst Impressions 12/24/202201/09/2023No Comments

Splendor is one of those games that feel like they have been around forever, like Ticket to Ride or Carcassonne. Easy to teach, nice production, great flow, maybe a bit bland after repeated plays but always good to have in a collection. While not the deepest game, there is a nice meta game of seeing …

Review of Encyclopedia – The Power of Expectations

by AlexReview 12/23/202201/07/2023No Comments

I have to admit, this one is a tricky one to write as I was looking forward to Encyclopedia for quite some time. While I’m usually more attracted by mid-to-heavy games, interesting use of dice is always something that gets my attention. The fact that a number of YouTubers were very positive in their previews …

Origin Stories: Carnegie – An Interview with Author Xavier Georges

by AlexOrigin Stories 12/10/202201/07/20232 Comments

Hi Xavier, thanks for taking the time to talk about Carnegie. You’re the very first guest in this interview series on the origin stories of board games and I couldn’t be happier starting it with you. From Initial Idea to Design Most people probably know you as one of the co-designers of Troyes and Black …

A Year in Review

by AlexStory Time 11/29/202203/04/2024No Comments

In January of 2022, I started writing first impressions/reviews on Boardgamegeek and then later adding them to my own site as well. While it’s technically not a full year yet, it seemed like a good opportunity to stop for a moment and look back on the experience so far. Have you ever thought about writing …