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Normale Ansicht

Published — 03. Februar 2026 ⏭ Shelfside

How Instagram Changed Board Gaming

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
03. Februar 2026 um 20:29

💾

Social media has had a real impact on board game design! We’ve been 3 major trends throughout the last decade or so, whether or not a game has been kickstarted or not. From feels good outcomes, to drawing a lot of cards and seeing new information, instagram has definitely made things have better accuracy, or better first impressions. We can see this in many popular BGG games, whether or not they’re Euros, as this applies to campaign and Ameritrash games too! Even the 4x genre is left changed. But this isn’t a bad thing, it just means that the tabletop experience is changing, with the cream of the crop strategy gaming tending to rise to the top.

Table of Contents:
Intro - (0:00)
Insta-Plussing - (1:05)
Feels Good Gaming - (8:19)
Design Considerations - (15:03)
Discovery vs. Mastery Discussion w/BrotherMing - (17:01)
Aesthetics over Depth? - (20:32)
Final Thoughts - (22:08)
Quick word about TCGs - (26:18)

Games featured: Earth, Wingspan, Root, War of the Ring, Twilight Struggle, Thunder’s Edge, Twilight Imperium, Dune Imperium, Everdell, Wyrmspan, Finspan, Chess, Boop, Lords of Waterdeep, Splendor, Carcassone, El Grande, Yugioh, Sid Meier’s 2010 Civilization Revolution, Re;ACT, Dead of Winter, Hive, Shogu, Scythe, Puerto Rico, Nemesis Retaliation, Fate of the Fellowship, Terraforming Mars

Research: https://www.ucdavis.edu/news/memory-replay-prioritizes-high-reward-memories

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Links to our other stuff:
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#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames
Published — 28. Januar 2026 ⏭ Shelfside

Race to Kepler Prototype Review — Accessible Deckbuilding meets Bidding!

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
28. Januar 2026 um 16:30

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We review this upcoming sci-fi deck builder that features multiplayer bids for some central cards! In Race to Kepler, you construct and eject from your deck of initially 10 cards, ultimately trying to get to Kepler first to win. There’s plenty of tried and true deckbuilding tabletop mechanics, like trashing cards and combo-ing hard off of money cards. By mixing in these special titan cards with the bidding dynamic, Race to Kepler is trying to smooth over problems like multiplayer solitaire. But are there trade-offs from having a bid? Players also get to play a specific city, each with asymmetric abilities to spend your energy on. There’s not much take-that, and with open drafting, so this game is readily accessible to many!

Play Race to Kepler: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/conduitgames/race-to-kepler?ref=96q6hu

Games featured: Dune Imperium, Lost Ruins of Arnak, Aeon’s End, Tyrants of the Underdark, Dominion (1st and 2nd Edition)

Table of Contents:
Overview - (0:00)
How to Play - (1:38)
Pros - (3:43)
Cons - (14:11)
Recommender Score - (18:24)
Ashton's Personal Score - (21:28)

Support us:
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Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
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Shelfside Social Media:
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Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #review
Published — 22. Januar 2026 ⏭ Shelfside

Vantage | Shelfside Review

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
22. Januar 2026 um 16:30

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We review the latest Stonemaier Game, Vantage! It is simultaneously not a campaign game but also one! It is also a tabletop game but also not in some ways! In Vantage, you play as an asymmetric character to explore an uncharted planet, attempting to complete your team’s mission. You will roll challenge dice and assign them to cards, in a bit of a Euro-style. You have narrative choices by opening the storybooks and discovering what happens to your character. The world of Vantage has many secrets, and a ridiculous amount of cards/art. But how does it hold up after many plays, like how it was intended to played? How does this compare to other cooperative games, or ones with a singular story?

Games featured: Eldritch Horror, Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, Gloomhaven Buttons and Bugs, Tainted Grail, Tainted Grail: Kings of Ruin, Mansions of Madness, Arkham Horror the Dunwich Legacy, Oath, The Elder Scrolls Betrayal of the Second Era

Table of Contents:
Overview - (0:00)
How to Play - (2:19)
Pros - (5:12)
SPOILER Pros - (14:17)
Cons - (18:11)
SPOILER Cons - (30:42)
Recommender Score - (45:18)
Alexander''s Personal Score - (55:09)
Ashton's Personal Score - (1:02:45)

Support us:
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Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
https://amazon.com/shop/shelfside

Shelfside Social Media:
https://twitter.com/ShelfSideYT
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https://www.facebook.com/ShelfsideYT/
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Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames
Published — 17. Januar 2026 ⏭ Shelfside

The Star Wars: Rebellion Expansion is AMAZING

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
17. Januar 2026 um 16:30

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We finally got around to playing Rise of the Empire! This expansion for Star Wars: Rebellion took our enjoyment of base game and propelled it even further. The game still has the initial cat and mouse with the highly asymmetrical play, but the ameritrash combat system has been altered with tactic cards! You also get to do worker placement as some of the new leaders from Rogue One (the movie). In our two games, did the rebels win, or was the empire successful with the looming threat of the Death Star miniature?

Table of Contents:
Intro - (0:00)
Talking about new stuff - (3:57)
Talking about things we don't like - (8:51)
Scoring - (13:15)
Extras - (14:38)

Support us:
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Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
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Shelfside Social Media:
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Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames
Published — 08. Januar 2026 ⏭ Shelfside

If American Psycho was about Card Game Players

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
08. Januar 2026 um 16:30

💾

During a very important meeting, a bunch of players discuss some differences on sleeve choice. Perhaps some preferences get in the way. They're also known as TCG (trading card game) players.

Games mentioned: Magic the Gathering, Grand Archive

Sleeves used: Ultra Pro, Dragonsleeve, Player's Choice, Ultimate Katana Guard

Support us:
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Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
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Shelfside Social Media:
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Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames
Published — 05. Januar 2026 ⏭ Shelfside

Shelfside's Best (and Worst) Board Gaming of 2025

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
05. Januar 2026 um 16:30

💾

Here’s Shelfside’s best and worst games of 2025, and we got to play TI4 almost every month! We go through honorable mentions like the war game Firelock all the way to GMT games like Twilight Struggle. During this 2025, we didn't get to play too many Euros but leaned more towards Ameritrash. This is not a review, but we cover covers Europa Universalis: The Price of Power with some worst gaming mentions as well. Will there be Euros admits all of the living card game selections? This is not a top 10 list, but ultimately covers multiple rising games on boardgamegeek and big gamefound launches.

Other games mentioned: Incan Gold, Thunder's Edge, Prophecy of Kings, Nemesis: Retaliation, Arkham Horror, That's Wizard, Frosthaven, Star Wars: Rebellion Rise of the Empire

Table of Contents:
Hello and Announcements! - (0:00)
Ashton's Worst Gaming of 2025 - (1:51)
Most Surprising Game - (4:12)
Alexander's Honorable Mentions - (5:18)
Alexander's Worst Gaming of 2025 - (5:57)
Alexander's Best Gaming of 2025 - (8:21)
Ashton's Best Gaming of 2025 - (11:41)
What's next in 2026 - (20:47)

Support us:
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Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
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Shelfside Social Media:
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https://www.facebook.com/ShelfsideYT/
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Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames
Published — 29. Dezember 2025 ⏭ Shelfside

Heat: Pedal to the Metal Review — Fast, but thematically limited?

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
29. Dezember 2025 um 21:56

💾

We review the most popular racing game! Heat took BGG by storm a couple years back, promising deckbuilding with streamlined gameplay that only takes about an hour. With 6 players! By combining the Heat card into a penalty and a resource, the gameplay has lots of hand management to ensure you round corners without spinning out. There’s even slipstreaming as a comeback mechanic! But could there be issues with taking the high-octane idea of racing and simplifying it so much? There could be some push-your-luck ideas with the stress cards, and you can easily play this game too with the legend variant! This game is also extremely popular on BoardGameArena, so let’s see if the programmed movement lets this hybrid party-board game feel like a race!

Games featured: Twilight Imperium, Dune: A Game of Conquest & Diplomacy, Gaia Project, Mario Kart, Crash: Nitro Kart, Catan, Camel Up, Ready Set Bet, Dominion 2nd Edition

Table of Contents:
Overview - (0:00)
How to Play - (0:52)
Pros - (2:38)
Cons - (10:46)
Recommender Score - (21:04)
Ashton's Personal Score - (26:30)

Support us:
https://www.patreon.com/shelfside
https://ko-fi.com/shelfside

Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
https://amazon.com/shop/shelfside

Shelfside Social Media:
https://twitter.com/ShelfSideYT
https://www.instagram.com/shelfsideboardgames/
https://www.facebook.com/ShelfsideYT/
https://discord.gg/U7QQKqYT62

Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #review
Published — 17. Dezember 2025 ⏭ Shelfside

7 Steps to Get Rich QUICK From Board Games

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
17. Dezember 2025 um 16:30

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Board games are fun to play, but did you also know you could turn a profit through 7 easy steps? Follow this satirical guide to make some real cash, and maybe even run a company of your own one day! Works for Ameritrash OR Euro games, FFG is best.

Games mentioned: Battlestar Galactica, Campaign for North Africa, Tigris and Euphrates, Star Wars: Queens’ Gambit, Twilight Imperium, Thunder’s Edge, Prophecy of Kings, Grimcoven, Catacombs, Winds of Numa Sera, Brass Birmingham, Nemesis: Retaliation, Monopoly, Taboo, Catan, Cosmic Encounter, Sid Meier’s Civilization (2010), Descent, Mansions of Madness, Throw Throw Burrito

Support us:
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Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
https://amazon.com/shop/shelfside

Shelfside Social Media:
https://twitter.com/ShelfSideYT
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Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

Upbeat Funk Vintage Cooking by Infraction [No Copyright Music] / Motor City

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uzOjqXjrQI&list=RD1uzOjqXjrQI

Upbeat Funk Retro by Infraction [No Copyright Music] / Funk Up
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpjl8ybe2aQ&list=RDtpjl8ybe2aQ

Sascha Ende — Time is Now
https://ende.app/en/song/395-time-is-now

#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames
Published — 12. Dezember 2025 ⏭ Shelfside

TI4: Twilight's Fall Review — The Fuh?

✇Shelfside
Von: Shelfside
12. Dezember 2025 um 16:30

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We review this game mode from TI4: Thunder's Edge!

Visit http://plankmattress.com/shelfside to get 30% off your order with code SHELFSIDE

Twilight's Fall features the same great space opera gameplay, just with asymmetry vastly changed! Now players will draft their technologies/faction specialties throughout the game. And you can use the Prophecy of Kings mech abilities of multiple factions! The galactic ameritrash conquest still stays with strategy cards and area control. You'll still do King of the Hill with holding Mecatol Rex. However the tech tree is removed, where you activate splices to draft all sorts of cards! Is this more or less Euro friendly now? Does this reward veteran Twilight Imperium players after countless matches of direct conflict?

Table of Contents:
Overview - (0:00)
What is Twilight's Fall - (0:52)
Pros - (4:27)
Cons - (15:55)
Recommender Score - (18:31)
Alexander's Personal Score - (23:31)
Ashton's Personal Score - (23:48)

Support us:
https://www.patreon.com/shelfside
https://ko-fi.com/shelfside

Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
https://amazon.com/shop/shelfside

Shelfside Social Media:
https://twitter.com/ShelfSideYT
https://www.instagram.com/shelfsideboardgames/
https://www.facebook.com/ShelfsideYT/
https://discord.gg/U7QQKqYT62

Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #tabletopgames

Support us:
https://www.patreon.com/shelfside
https://ko-fi.com/shelfside

Our Website!
https://www.shelfside.co/

Purchase Games We’ve Reviewed! (Paid Link)
https://amazon.com/shop/shelfside

Shelfside Social Media:
https://twitter.com/ShelfSideYT
https://www.instagram.com/shelfsideboardgames/
https://www.facebook.com/ShelfsideYT/
https://discord.gg/U7QQKqYT62

Links to our other stuff:
Ashton's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/ashtonwu
Daniel's Channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/doyduh2

#boardgames #tabletop #review
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