To attempt to write a thematic intro for Papyria would be as silly as attempting to do so for The Castles of Burgundy (CoB). Papyria invokes the feel of ancient Mesopotamia in the same way that CoB immerses players in medieval France—i.e., other than some papyri and sheep, respectively, not all that much. I bother […]
Life and work are stressful; that’s why we need vacations that can clear the mind and invigorate our spirits with a sense of adventure, such as gem collecting in a sea of giant glowing jellyfish. Or how about being shrunken to insect size to explore wooded lands atop a galloping mouse? Such are two of […]
Whether it’s Smaug, Drogon, or Toothless, dragons have conventionally been portrayed as giant, malevolent, fire-breathing beings feared for their ability to maim and murder. What would happen instead if they were more diminutive and used their fire-breathing and magical abilities for good, or at least for good artisanal endeavors? This is the idea that fueled […]
Great things come in small packages. I’ve strived to internalize this message as someone who is height-challenged. It’s also why the Dwarves are my favorite of the Middle-earth species. Despite their short stature, they’re renowned for their toughness and craftsmanship, this latter trait exemplified by the impressive labyrinth that is the Mines of Moria in […]
Everdell is a medium-weight city-building game that has garnered great attention and popularity owing to its solid worker placement/engine-building design (James Wilson), the fun toy-factor of squishy berry resources, and also its evocative artwork by Andrew Bosley replete with adorable anthropomorphic animal critters. City building is just so much more fun when the post office […]
When I was first offered a review copy of Questline, I’ll admit I had never heard of it. Some quick research revealed that it is a small-box filler game for 1-6 players that plays like Fantasy Realms, but with a few twists. Fantasy Realms (and its derivative Fantasy Realms: Greek Legends) is probably my most-played […]
Say what you will about Queen Games and their publishing practices, but when you partner with a game designer like Stefan Feld, you’re bound to generate some good games, even if the boxes are larger than necessary, the prices are a bit high, and the colorful artwork rarely endeavors beyond the Fisher-Price palette. I am […]
What’s a better way to spice up your summer travel plans than packing new micro-games from Button Shy’s Summer 2026 collection. I’ll be giving a preview of two of the new titles, Forest Rivals (for 2-players), and The Cursed Cast (for solo play), both consisting of 18 cards and playing in around 10 minutes. Forest […]
Splendor, designed by Marc Andre, crashed into the boardgaming scene in 2014 as a fantastic gateway-level game that’s a straightforward engine-building race made extra appealing due to its poker-like chips. It is currently ranked 53rd as a family-weight game, and 243th overall on BGG. Though the base game plays well at 2-players, a Duel version […]
Hegemony made a huge splash in the board gaming world with its 2023 debut, representing one of the most thematic politico-economic Eurogames ever released. Containing seven unique policies about which four asymmetric factions could push and pull levers to their class’s unique benefit, this creation was equal parts board game and government simulation. The main […]
Stonemaier Games stands out among board game publishers for prioritizing both deluxe component quality and extensive playtesting, the combo of which produces consistently excellent games beloved by many. Their latest release is a mash-up of two of their popular titles: Wingspan and Viticulture—players will race to get birds drunk on fermented grapes. I kid. The […]
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