7 Wonders, first published in 2010, has now become a juggernaut of a franchise. The series has multiple expansions and spin offs. Some of the spin offs have different core mechanisms. They are different games, but they use the same theme and art style. The 2 player version of 7 Wonders has now been turned into a Lord of the Rings game. For the dice game version to get released only in

7 Feb 2026. We had a playtesting session at Nasi Kandar Apollo on a Saturday afternoon. I didn't manage to take photos of every game played, not even every game that I played. I did a rough playtest of one idea I came up with just the day before. I wanted to make a simple card game that can be played on a road trip, needing no table. Everyone has a stack of 5 cards. They are ordered. The highest

Popcorn is a game about running your own cineplex. You buy screening rights for movies, you attract cinema-goers and you upgrade your cinema halls to provide great movie experiences. You have to keep your list of movies fresh, taking down movies before customers completely dry up and showing new movies to attract customers. While scoring points (points are called popcorn here), you need to

In Miams (I think it means yummy in French) you roll five dice and try to get combinations which will score you points. Normally you get one reroll, and you get to choose which dice to reroll. Throughout the game you gain abilities which let you manipulate the dice and do other things which help you score points. The game ends when anyone reaches 50 points.  The die faces

Chu Han is a two player shedding game (or climbing game). You play multiple rounds, and you win a round by playing all your cards before your opponent. You score points based on the number of cards remaining in your opponent's hand. There are a few other ways to score points. The game ends when someone exceeds 31 points.  Cards go from 1 to 9. There

Altay is a civilisation and 4X game built on a deck-building engine. It is played on a simple map. Each player starts with just one small village. They defeat barbarians around them and build new settlements, expanding their territory.  The map shows different terrain types. Specific terrain types that you control can help you boost your production of certain resources. Some

 31 Jan 2026. Eric Lang (Blood Rage, Rising Sun, Ankh, Chaos in the Old World) was in town. He has been staying in Malaysia on and off for many years, and is now planning to spend more time living in Kuala Lumpur. He wants to get to know the local designer community and the local boardgame community. Aaron arranged two meet-up sessions for game designers and other industry players to get to

Captain Tsubasa is a 2 player game based on the manga and anime of the same name. This Japanese manga and anime from the 1980’s is hugely popular not only in Japan but also around the world. It is about football (soccer). In the game you play a football match between two key teams in the story, Nankatsu and Toho. This is a card game, and you will see many characters from the series. If

Up or Down? is a simple card game from from the master duo Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling which is not as simple as it looks. You collect up to three sets of cards, and within each set the cards must be played in ascending or descending order. Cards come in 6 different colours and every card has a different number. The cards in the game go from 1 to 126, but the range you

I am almost tempted to just write that Terra Nova is a simplified version of Terra Mystica. End of story. It's technically true, but that's a bit lazy. I have played Terra Mystica before. It's a hugely popular game. I can't say I'm a fan, but I do enjoy myself when I play it.  Just like the predecessor, you play a tribe starting with small settlements, and you grow your settlements

Leaders is a 2 player abstract game played on a hexagonal board made of hexagonal spaces. You each start the game with just one game piece - your leader. In the first few rounds of the game you will get to recruit minions from a market of three options. Every minion in the game has a unique ability. You will eventually have four minions, after which you do not recruit any more. Your goal is to

Recently Hilko informed me about a game of Snow White and the Eleven Dwarfs being played in a BoardGameGeek.com forum. It is hosted by Dave Peters, and the players are from different countries, including from both sides of the Atlantic Ocean, and even Australia. I certainly have never imagined my game being played in this format, so I am watching this game with curiosity (link to thread, item 3).

I was back in my hometown Kota Kinabalu during the Christmas period, and met up with an old friend to play some boardgames. We did a four-player game of Brazil Imperial. I have played this once before, but quite some time ago. This is a very pretty game.  These were the three objectives I chose. Originally the plan was to play Clans of Caledonia. Then the plan changed because it

Draft & Write Records is a paper and pencil game. Your put together a rock band, bringing together not only the musicians, but also producers and stage hands. You release albums and singles, you do shows starting with local pubs and hopefully eventually progressing to prestigious stadiums. Every player does this on his own player sheet. You check boxes off to mark your progress in the

Karakorum is a title from Reiner Knizia about mountain climbing. It is a game about evaluating and taking risks, and knowing when to rest and claim progress. At the same it is also a race on several levels. The mountain climbing theme is pretty much pasted on. Story-wise you have three climbers each working on a different peak. You help them climb as far as possible, and you will score