Alright, let’s get this out of the way. These first impressions will likely be different for two reasons: one, this is the very first Kickstarter that I backed myself and has actually fulfilled. Up to now, I’ve typically just waited for games to actually ship, checked how they turned out and then grabbed a copy …
I was just thinking I might be the least qualified person on BGG to write about Stars of Akarios: I have played neither Gloomhaven, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon, nor Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game, so a lot of comparisons others make I cannot draw from. I’m also not a miniature-driven purchaser of games. But for some …
Read more “First Impressions of Stars of Akarios – Which Way to The Battle, Kind Sir?”
I’ve been playing Curious Cargo a lot in the last two weeks. And I mean a lot a lot. There are some games that immediately trigger something in my brain to go “yeeees” and make it difficult to stop wanting to play it. I’m thinking of games like SET or Ricochet Robots, games that most of my friends …
Read more “Review of Curious Cargo – A (Solo) Knife Fight in a Phone Booth”
Alright, let’s admit it, I like a good city builder. It’s not the most exciting or innovative concept in board gaming but it is sure satisfying to build your own little empire, street by street, building by building. Where the idea of actually establishing a trade empire in the Mediterranean or exploring the depth of …
Introduction From time to time, I like to get a game just out of pure curiosity like back in the old days. After an era of abundance and fear of missing out, the hobby currently seems to slowly turn to a phase of culling and more mindfulness when it comes to buying decisions. Case in …
Read more “First Impressions of Obsession – Can the Hype Be True?”
What does it take for a game to stay in your collection? A clever, unique mechanism? Nice graphics? Accessibility? The downside of collecting board games and the shear volume of games being published nowadays is that it gets tough for a new game to be brought to the table, let alone get repeated plays. Take Cellulose: …
Read more “Review of Furnace – Does a Clever Twist Make a Game?”
A friend of mine once commented that to the uninitiated, it must seem completely ridiculous we are playing board games for fun. We were fretting over some heavy euro, probably the original Caylus or something similar. Everyone around the table could be seen mildly frustrated that they were missing that one resource they needed or living in …
Read more “Review of Burgle Bros 2 – Let’s Have a Ridiculous Good Time”
When was the last time you have been pleasantly surprised by a board game? In today’s world of board game collecting, with all the great YouTubers out there doing reviews, crowdfunding campaigns hitting home their message months/years before we get a game into our hands and of course BGG, the times where you go to …
Read more “First Impressions of Cellulose – A Box of Delights”
In the last couple of years, automa design has made great advancements. From simple cleanup/blocker-automas that more or less at random remove tiles from the board or block action spaces without much intent (e.g. Messina 1347) to pace makers with intent (e.g. Jean in Maracaibo), from priority-automas that try to find the first of their desires that …
Read more “Review of Concordia Solitaria – The (almost?) Perfect Automa”
To say that I have been fascinated with Red Rising for a long time would be an understatement. I cannot remember when or where I first heard of it but despite not knowing Fantasy Realms, there was something that immediately appealed to me. The lush production, the to me unknown franchise it was based on, etc. But something …
Read more “Review of Red Rising – Case Study of a Passion Project”