Zurmat is a small Pashtun district south of Kabul. In 2007, It was a tense region with a fragile sense of order. The Taliban moved throughout the villages and roads at night, issuing threats to dissuade cooperation with the Afghan government. Zurmat is also a wargame. Some soldiers write about their experience. Tim Densham designs.…
There are few acts of violence more righteous than killing Adolf Hitler. On July 20th, 1944, German Colonel Claus Von Stauffenberg attempted to do just that. Not to spoil the 2008 Bryan Singer film, but von Stauffenberg failed thanks to the leg of an oak table. The 2016 board game Black Orchestra allows players to…
It’s 1998. Goldberg is dominating the only wrestling league that matters. The Wolfpac is running wild, and that damn cattle prod is about to make an appearance at Starrcade. But that hasn’t happened yet. Right now, a Totino’s pizza is crackling to life in the oven. My buddy Chris is spending the night, and we…
I find it hard to believe the Company of Heroes board game is five years old. This splendid adaptation of the popular real-time strategy PC game was a story in 2021. My review contained a healthy amount of enthusiasm, and it occupied a key position in my top 10 of the year. A lot has…
I remember the first time I saw The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. I was a teen, sitting in front of a small CRT in a small living room. I was wholly unaware of what the next three hours of my life would entail. I hadn’t yet learned to trust my dad. And while…
“Think left and think right and think low and think high. Oh, the things you can think up if you only try.” Party games often get short shrift. But it’s a difficult genre for innovative work. The majority of titles in this category are word games springing off the popularity of Codenames, or selection and…
Five months have passed since my original review of The Old King’s Crown. While the outside has grown colder and darker with winter, the inside is a different story. My appreciation for Pablo Clark’s ambitious game of throne-seeking has ignited. It’s stuck with me, claiming a seat in my top 10 of the year and…
Fobs Games put Tiefe Taschen out in the world back in 2016. It’s one of my favorite designs, uniquely presenting a tense affair of dynamic negotiation. It’s worthy of the word “brilliant”. By this virtue alone, I was interested in Gnomic Parliament. It’s the German publisher’s second release, arriving at the end of 2025. I…
This feels strange. I’m usually late with my yearly list, taking my sweet time until January or February to catch up on all of the noteworthy releases. This was a quieter year. Some would say weaker than most. There are still several standout titles, and it did prove a bit of a struggle to narrow…
A crafty salesperson would push Snake Charmers as a cross between Cockroach Poker and The Resistance. This allusion is a strong sell, as it ties this new release to two of the best bluffing and deduction games ever designed. Fortunately, it is a reasonably accurate comparison, even if Snake Charmers can’t quite deliver the impact…
The opening sequence of Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver depicts a New York with enough grit that you can feel it on your teeth. It’s a feral hour of the night. DeNiro’s sedan is cruising down a street awash in the radiant soul of the city. There’s a shot of the vehicle’s quarter panel. Beads of…
There’s this thing that people say which rips my skin like 60 grit sandpaper. “That was fun, but it’s not much of a game.” Games require decisions. Meaningful ones. At least, that’s what a portion of the hobby community believes. Candy Land isn’t a game they say, it’s an activity. There’s an obvious implication that…
Vantage has been cooking in my mental oven for half the year. I first wrote about this open world sci-fi adventure game in July, with my review appearing at entertainment site IGN. If you haven’t read that or don’t know much about this peculiar design, my apologies, but the rest of this piece may befuddle…
Origin stories are the worst. This is coming from a cretin who ingests superhero content via cinema as opposed to paper. I don’t want to see Thomas and Martha Wayne murdered by a low life, again. We’ve had 10 Spider-Mans in the past couple decades; I’ve already rode that ride. I would much rather watch…
There are two ways to look at Kingdoms Forlorn: Dragons, Devils and Kings. You can either view this unbelievably massive box as a vast world waiting to be explored and conquered, one of untold treasures and tragic stories. Or it can be seen as a crushing boulder whose massive weight embodies headache, labor, and anxiety.…
In another life, I was infatuated with Neuroshima Hex. Almost exactly 10 years ago, I wrote this soliloquy at Fortress Ameritrash extolling the virtues of Michal Oracz’s design. The game was already nearly a decade old at that time. This thing is grizzled as hell. The truth is I no longer play Neuroshima Hex. While…
I’m a child of the 90s, so when I hear the words tag team, I think of the Bushwhackers, Harlem Heat, and the Outsiders. Gricha German and Corentin Labrat’s Tag Team isn’t that. Well, maybe it sort of is. Instead of prescribed duos, each player slams together two distinct fighters to form an impromptu team…
Philosopher Mara van der Lugt’s 2025 book Hopeful Pessimism challenges ideas of motivation and the role of despondency. It’s a revelation of sorts, especially for those plagued with eternal pessimism. That’s me. A relentless worrywart, down to my bones. Van der Lugt argues that it’s possible, nay encouraged, for those suffering from pessimism in a…
Jeffrey CCH, founder of Hong Kong publisher ICE Makes, has produced some wonky designs. Eila and Something Shiny is a narrative-driven card game that is emotionally poignant, Inheritors remains one of my favorite offbeat small box designs, and Terrorscape looks menacing and sharp, although I haven’t had the opportunity to play it. Age of Galaxy…
Takashi Ishida’s Magical Athlete is a quirky game about a cast of misfits in a foot race. First released in 2003 by Z-Man Games, its oddball nature and prototype-level production resulted in a large shrug from audiences. It was the typical Tanga title, dumped on a deep discount website and banished to the shelves of…
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