Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was the author of the first published computer algorithm before computers existed; to put it succinctly, she was a computer science pioneer and visionary. Sadly, her ambitions were never fully realized during her own lifetime owing both to her gender and her untimely death. In the 200 or so intervening years, society […]
So who is Paul? No, I’m not referring to Paul Dennen (Dune Imperium/Uprising), Paul Salomon (Honey Buzz), or Paul Peterson (Smash Up), though I’m sure I could find gaming disagreements with each of these fine designers. Rather, I am referring to my wonderful husband Paul, the man who introduced me to the strategy board gaming […]
Wood is a common resource input in board games, whether it’s for building fences, buildings, or any of a number of wooden trinkets. There are even some games with wood-centric theming, like Woodcraft and Lignum, which delve into some detail about processing and manipulating wood to attain final products. These games typically treat wood as […]
Working in the biomedical field, I’ve developed a pretty strong stomach for blood, guts, and gore. But going fishing? Eughhh! That’s where I draw the line for grossness. Shoving a hook through your helplessly wriggling bait, smelling the putrid sourness of dying flesh as fish get gutted, and having hours on end of nothingness to […]
Calico is a game that looks deceptively cute and cuddly, possessing an adorably floofy kitten on the cover atop a pastel quilted backdrop. Inside the gameplay, however, is a brutal brain-burner of a puzzle where players are challenged to optimize among 36 unique tile types within a slew of overlapping scoring opportunities that all seem […]
According to the Dalai Lama, “the purpose of our lives is to be happy,” and so by the transitive property, it can be argued that the purpose of life is to play board games. Thus, we should play them every chance we get, even when traveling and constrained by limited luggage and/or table space. Button […]
Stone Age is a classic gateway Eurogame. Everdell sits in the top 50 games on BoardGameGeek.com. So surely a game called Everstone has to have some merit, right? Ugh, intros are hard. What really drew me to try Everstone: Discovering Ignis, was first-time designer Sam McDavitt’s description of multi-use cards, use of a Scythe-like action-selection […]
Yokohama’s debut in 2016 marked it as a rare Japanese-themed board game by a Japanese Designer (Hisashi Hayashi) to qualify as a top 200 game on Board Game Geek. Its primary mechanism of contract fulfillment wasn’t entirely novel, but it brilliantly merged it with mancala-style worker-placement, variable board setup, multiple ways to score, and just […]
There have been several hit automobile-based racing games these past few years, and while the gameplay for these is usually fine, the theming does absolutely nothing for me. I’m the type of person who if asked, “What kind of vehicle was the culprit driving?” would answer, “A white one.” Enter Orbit, a racing game without […]
Fantasy Realms holds the distinction of the most played game in my collection. This is partly because it’s a go-to travel game; I have played it on trains, and I have played it on planes. I’ve played it in many a house, though never with a mouse. Fantasy Realms is also an adaptable filler, satisfactorily […]
In the great debate of Ameri-trash vs Euro-games, Millennia: Tracks of Time falls decidedly in the Euro-game camp. I mean, it has “tracks” in its title, and its main board is a paean to tracks with seven large, colorful ones proudly on display. This game knows its audience and unabashedly lays out its minimal luck, […]
Partnering with the right IP can make a huge difference in finding an audience in the crowded space of modern board games; Star Wars: Battle of Hoth, Dune Imperium/Uprising, and Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship are prime recent examples. The Voynich Manuscript, dating to medieval times, is an illustrated codex written in […]
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