Poop! Spies! What do they have in common? Both are featured in board games designed by Jon Teixeira Moffat, naturally. On today’s Space-Cast!, we’re joined by Jon to discuss the long development of both Night Soil and Burned, the hidden cost of labor, and cinematic hidden movement games.

Listen here or download here. Timestamps can be found after the jump.

TIMESTAMPS

00:36 — introducing Jon Teixeira Moffat
4:06 — Stone Circle Games
7:00 — Night Soil
21:08 — portraying labor
33:15 — Burned

(If what I’m doing at Space-Biff! is valuable to you in some way, please consider dropping by my Patreon campaign or Ko-fi. Right now, supporters can read my first-quarter update of 2026: the best board games, movies, books, and more!)

Almost a year of uncertainty over the future of board game publisher Greater than Games has been partially resolved, with Flat River Group selling the brand name, and the rights for the Sentinels of the Multiverse titles, to Handelabra Games.

Video game developer Handelabra has a long history with the comics-themed cooperative card game, having spent more than a decade creating digital versions of the title and its expansions – as well as for Greater than Games’ best known release, Spirit Island.

Spirit Island is not part of Handelabra’s deal, however, which the company said only covers the Sentinels of the Multiverse games, the Sentinel Tactics range, the Sentinel Comics RPG, Sentinels miniatures and the cooperative deck-builder Galactic Strike Force.

Flat River laid off the vast majority of staff and suspended new projects at Spirit Island publisher Greater than Games in April last year, blaming “ongoing economic pressures resulting from the international tariff crisis”.

The distribution and e-commerce specialist was bought six years ago by private equity investor Guardian Capital Partners, which provided capital for a string of tabletop industry acquisitions.

They included an expansion into board game publishing in 2021 with the buyout of Greater than Games, which it followed a year later with deals for Canadian publisher Synapses Games and hobby game distributor Luma Imports.

Flat River sold Synapses Games to ACD Distribution last summer, at the same time as industry veterans Jules Vautour, Colin Young and Danni Loe left Flat River to revive Luma as part of ACD.

A statement from Handelabra president and CEO Jaye Handel said the company had made the GtG and Sentinels deal to protect its ability to make digital games in that IP, adding that it was “not interested in becoming a tabletop publisher”.

But the statement added, “But lucky for us, we know a lot of good people who are good at exactly that type of business…”

That is believed to refer to Greater than Games trio Christopher Badell, Paul Bender and Adam Rebottaro, who founded the company in 2011 and were the last remaining employees following Flat River’s downsizing of GtG last year.

Handelabra CEO Handel told BoardGameWire he was unable to share further details, but said that his company was “very excited about the future of Sentinel Comics on digital and analog tabletops and beyond”.

He added, “Handelabra Games’ and Flat River Group’s relationship with regards to Spirit Island has not changed.”

The company’s recent statement from Handel indicated it would be able to provide more information about Greater than Games’ future by April 28, which is National Super Hero Day in the US.

It said, “For your ongoing support and excitement, we remain eternally grateful. We just ask for a little more patience over the coming weeks as we have lots to share, and we can’t wait to embark on the next phase of this journey with you!”

Flat River did not respond to BoardGameWire’s request for comment on the future of Spirit Island or other former Greater than Games-published titles.

The post Flat River sells Greater than Games brand, Sentinels of the Multiverse to digital developer Handelabra first appeared on .

Strohmann Games bringt das Expertenspiel Covenant in der zweiten Jahreshälfte 2026 auf Deutsch heraus. Das Spiel des spanischen Autors Germán Palomar Millán, der unter anderem für „Bitoku" und „Men Nefer" bekannt ist, wurde ursprünglich beim Verlag Devir veröffentlicht. Mit einem Komplexitätswert von 3,71 auf der BGG-Skala richtet es sich an erfahrene Brettspieler, die thematische Tiefe mit anspruchsvollen Mechaniken schätzen. Geeignet ist es für 1 bis 4 Personen ab 14 Jahren bei einer Spielzeit von rund 90 bis 100 Minuten.

Zwerge, Dunkelheit und ein heiliger Berg

In Covenant übernehmen die Spieler die Rolle von Anführern verschiedener Zwergen-Clans. Der König hat alle Clans aufgerufen, den heiligen Berg Karrak-cüm-Kazar zurückzuerobern. Seit Urzeiten die Heimat der Zwerge, wird der Berg schon zu lange vom Dunklen Fürsten und seinen Kreaturen besetzt. Es ist höchste Zeit, dass die Zwerge zurückkehren.

Über drei Runden hinweg weisen die Spieler ihren Zwergen unterschiedliche Aufgaben zu. Sie erkunden die alten Hallen, bekämpfen Feinde und errichten Gebäude, um die legendäre Zwergenstadt wieder zum Leben zu erwecken. Die Spielmechaniken verbinden Worker Placement mit Action Points und Set Collection. Mit Token und Werkzeugen graben sich die Zwerge tiefer in den Berg hinein.

Wer am Ende den meisten Ruhm angesammelt hat, gewinnt nicht nur das Spiel, sondern auch die Anerkennung des Königs. Laut der BGG-Community entfaltet Covenant seine Stärken besonders zu zweit oder zu dritt. Das Spiel hat auf BoardGameGeek eine durchschnittliche Bewertung von 7,74 und liegt im Strategy Game Ranking auf Platz 872.

Erscheinung und offene Fragen

Das Design stammt von Enrique Fernández Peláez, der unter anderem an „B-Sieged" und „Monster Lands" mitgewirkt hat. Der genaue Erscheinungstermin und der deutsche Titel stehen noch nicht fest. Strohmann Games hat bislang nur die zweite Jahreshälfte 2026 als Zeitraum genannt.

Covenant ist bereits in der Originalfassung von Devir erhältlich und kann auf Tabletopia digital ausprobiert werden. Ob die deutsche Ausgabe zusätzliches Material oder Anpassungen enthält, ist derzeit nicht bekannt.

Seit 2019 vergibt eine zehnköpfige Jury in den USA die American Tabletop Awards (ATTA) für herausragende Brettspiele. Die Auszeichnungen decken vier Kategorien ab, von leichten Einstiegsspielen bis hin zu komplexen Strategietiteln. Jetzt stehen die Sieger des Jahrgangs 2026 fest.

Die vier Gewinner im Überblick

In der Kategorie „Early Gamers", die sich an jüngere und neue Spieler richtet, setzt sich Magical Athlete von Richard Garfield und Takashi Ishida (CMYK Games) durch. Das chaotische Rennspiel für 2–6 Personen ab 6 Jahren bietet Partien von rund 30 Minuten. Vor jedem Rennen draften die Spieler Athleten mit unterschiedlichen Fähigkeiten, die das Spielgeschehen gehörig durcheinanderbringen können. Auf BoardGameGeek erreicht der Titel eine durchschnittliche Bewertung von 7,9.

Die Kategorie „Casual Games" geht an Hot Streak von Jon Perry, ebenfalls bei CMYK Games erschienen. Hier wetten 2–8 Spieler auf Maskottchen in einem unberechenbaren Rennen, das in etwa 20 Minuten gespielt ist. Über ein Drafting-System platzieren die Spieler Wetten und beeinflussen gleichzeitig verdeckt den Rennverlauf. Damit sichert sich CMYK Games gleich zwei der vier Auszeichnungen.

Den Preis für das beste „Strategy Game" erhält The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship von Matt Leacock (Z-Man Games / Asmodee). In dem kooperativen Spiel für 1–5 Personen steuert jeder Spieler zwei Charaktere, um Frodo auf seinem Weg zu beschützen und den Einen Ring zu vernichten. Mit einer Spielzeit von 60–150 Minuten und einer Komplexitätswertung von 3,1 auf BGG richtet sich der Titel an erfahrene Spieler. Der Pandemic-Erfinder Leacock liefert hier eine thematische Neuinterpretation seiner kooperativen Spielmechaniken.

In der Königskategorie „Complex Games" gewinnt Molly House von Jo Kelly und Cole Wehrle (Wehrlegig Games). Das Spiel versetzt 1–5 Spieler in das London des frühen 18. Jahrhunderts, wo sie als sogenannte Mollies rauschende Feste veranstalten und gleichzeitig den moralistischen Ordnungshütern ausweichen müssen. Mit einer Komplexitätswertung von 3,7 auf BGG und Mechaniken wie Verhandlung, Bluffen und einem Verräterelement zählt Molly House zu den anspruchsvolleren Titeln des Jahrgangs. Die Spielzeit liegt bei 60–120 Minuten.

Nominierungen und Empfehlungen

Neben den Gewinnern vergab die Jury in jeder Kategorie jeweils zwei Nominierungen und zwei Empfehlungen. In der Kategorie „Early Gamers" waren The Sandcastles of Burgundy von Stefan und Susanne Feld (Ravensburger) sowie Splendor Kids von Marc und Catherine André (Space Cowboys / Asmodee) nominiert. Als empfohlen gelten Cascadia Junior von Fertessa Allyse und Randy Flynn (Flatout Games) sowie Duck & Cover von Oussama Khelifati (Captain Games).

Bei den „Casual Games" erhielten The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game von Bryan Bornmueller (Office Dog / Asmodee) und 7 Wonders Dice von Antoine Bauza (Repos Production / Asmodee) eine Nominierung. FlipToons von Jordy Adan und Renato Simões (Thunderworks Games) sowie A Place for All My Books von Alex Cutler und Michael Mihealsick (Smirk and Dagger Games) wurden empfohlen.

In der Kategorie „Strategy Games" nominierten die Jurymitglieder Critter Kitchen von Alex Cutler und Peter C. Hayward (Cardboard Alchemy) sowie Kinfire Council von Kevin Wilson (Incredible Dream). Knitting Circle von Emily Vincent (Flatout Games) und Moon Colony Bloodbath von Donald X. Vaccarino (Rio Grande Games) erhielten eine Empfehlung.

Bei den „Complex Games" gingen die Nominierungen an Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders von Tim und Ben Eisner (Druid City Games) sowie Covenant von Germán P. Millán (Devir). Empfohlen wurden Above and Below: Haunted von Ryan Laukat (Red Raven Games) und Galactic Cruise von TK King, Dennis Northcott und Koltin Thompson (Kinson Key Games).

Auffällig in diesem Jahrgang: CMYK Games dominiert die leichteren Kategorien mit zwei Siegen, während Asmodee-Labels sowohl bei den Casual als auch bei den Strategy Games stark vertreten sind. Alle Details zu den ATTA Awards 2026 findest du auf der offiziellen Website.

I played a lot of games in 2023. The best of those games, by a sizable margin, was Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory, designed by Vangelis Bagiartakis and Varnavas Timotheou and released by the two men under the Hegemonic Project Games banner. A bold effort in almost every way, Hegemony did an excellent job of simulating a real-world environment and mixing that with a number of different gaming systems. The end result now resides on BoardGameGeek’s top 50 all-time games and has hit my table for nearly a dozen plays; as an event game, it’s tough to beat.

Those accolades put a big target on the back of Hegemonic Project Games’ second design, World Order. Varnavas and Vangelis were kind enough to send a review copy in advance of the game’s full release, and it was pretty easy to get the members of my review crew to line up for plays.

I tempered expectations a bit here. I thought Hegemony was a classic example of “lightning in a bottle”, an asymmetric negotiation game that really did play differently from faction to faction, which landed in a January dead zone after working through a big pile of games from the year before. Could Hegemonic Project Games do it again with World Order? My main hope was that…

The post World Order Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

FlipToons was designed by Renato Simões and Jordy Adan, the latter of whom gave us Stonespine Architects and Cartographers, but the real star of the show is Diego Sá, whose animated characters make me want to rate the game significantly higher than I would otherwise. Just look at those little dudes! The camel is two seconds away from winding up a punch. The rabbit wouldn’t feel out of place leaning in for a kiss, only to be rebuffed when the ostrich hides her head in the sand. The sheep is just is out there boppin’ to her tunes.

As a game? Oh, it’s pretty good. Clever at points, nice to play, the usual. My larger reservation is the way it makes me feel during and after a play.

Six cards. In theory.

FlipToons is a game of two halves. Two halves which, when hinged like an aquatic bivalve, form into a united whole that conceals an unexpectedly tasty muscle within. Okay, so I skipped breakfast. Point is, FlipToons is hard to discuss holistically without first establishing how its components function apart from one another.

The first part is the deck. When the game begins, you have six cards in total. Two caterpillars, each worth bupkis, but easily dismissed. One skunk, a utility card for winnowing your deck. One bee, worth a single pip of purchasing power. One snail, worth double the bee’s value, making it the single most precious card in your starting lineup. And one dragonfly. Ah, the dragonfly. This guy gives you one point for every unique adjacent card.

What this means requires some explanation. Every round opens with you shuffling your deck and then dealing cards onto the table in front of you to create a three-by-two grid. If you have extra cards, too bad, they remain in your hand. If you have too few cards… well, don’t do that.

Some cards may stack. Rabbits, ostriches, turkeys, these are your chance to get more than six cards into your grid at a time. Others, like sheep or monkeys, trigger benefits if they occupy a particular row or column. Some cards flip, others compare values against other players or the market, and a few, like the pig, are traps that can be gifted to rivals to subtract from their tally.

That tally, then, is taken to the market to shape your deck. Since you’ll only use six-ish cards at a time, keeping your cast trim is a good idea. Fortunately, unlike most deck-builders, the ability to dismiss toons is inbuilt in FlipToons, always available for the low cost of five points.

The toons on display, meanwhile, adjust in cost according to their relative ranking. This ensures that something is always available, and if you’re lucky it’s possible for something unusually precious to slip down in cost. Of course, the opposite often also proves true, with low-value cruft sometimes overwhelming the market.

Regardless, you take your purchases and/or dismissals, shuffle your grid back into your hand, and begin all over again. Bit by bit, your cast improves. That measly starting five to six points becomes twelve, then sixteen, then you break twenty and flip your little tally card to its opposite side. The goal is to score thirty.

Costs are adjusted dynamically, which can result in little surprises.

Okay, not quite. Your actual goal is to score the most on the final round. Hitting a tally of thirty is how you trigger the endgame, and there’s a small plus-three advantage if you’re the one to bring it about, but that’s no guarantee luck will be on your side for the last flip. So, then: hit thirty to lock the game into one final pull of the lever, then hit the jackpot.

The slot-machine analogy is apt here. FlipToons is to deck-building what Balatro was to poker. The titular flip of FlipToons is devoid of decision points. You turn cards in order, left to right and top to bottom, until you’ve produced that three-by-two grid.

There’s more going on in the market portion, but these are minor choices rather than a vast menu. There are five cards available at any given moment, and even when you’re flush with cash in the late-game, you’re limited to two purchases. (And dismissing a card from your deck qualifies, so no double-dipping.) This keeps everyone at the table more or less bungee-corded at the hip, which is probably the right decision for such a light game, but also prevents the table from launching the exponential bottle rockets that were Balatro’s core pleasure.

But about those pleasures…

I have my reservations about these sorts of games. The art and market purchases, while pleasant, aren’t far removed from the lights, illusory choices, and “theming” of a slot machine. I remember as a kid on a trip to Vegas, walking past a slot machine that leaped out of the crowd. I think it was based on Aliens, with those sleek oily monsters I had yet to witness on the screen for myself, but which my friends with the cool parents, the ones who let their kids watch R-rated movies in elementary school, spoke of as the scariest things they’d ever seen. My Dad traced the object of my interest and leaned down to whisper, “That’s how they get you.” It was like somebody had roused me from hypnosis. In that moment, my Dad — who suddenly struck me as cooler than those other dads, or at least cannier — had broken through the social programming of that cigarette-reeking hellhole.

And, look, I don’t think FlipToons is some sort of evil artifact. It isn’t the equivalent of a casino, with its fine-tuned odds to ensure the house always wins and your kid’s college fund becomes another rounding error in a billionaire’s high score. But it produces a similar daze, all submersion and dulled perception. It’s a far cry, too, from some of the sharper auto-battler board games, titles like Tag Team, with its emphasis on attention and preemption, or One-Hit Heroes, which requires constant input from its players. Here, the gameplay comes pre-loaded. All you have to do is pull the lever.

It doesn’t always take much effort to reach those 30 points.

I mean, there’s more to it than that. Just not by as much as I would prefer. Certainly not by enough to make me want to play it more.

Because in the end, FlipToons is a pleasant enough diversion. It’s well-crafted, pretty to look at, and feels good to play. When it hits the table, the fugue it offers is dreamy and warm. But when it’s done, I feel like I binged on steakhouse butter in place of an actual filet. It lacks what brought me to the table in the first place. It doesn’t spark my imagination or help me appreciate my friends. It doesn’t teach me anything. It barely even makes a win feel different from a loss. Most of the time, I hardly remember how I spent the past twenty minutes.

But yeah, the art is lovely. Those lovable goofballs. Those scamps. That’s how they get you.

A complimentary copy of FlipToons was provided by the publisher.

(If what I’m doing at Space-Biff! is valuable to you in some way, please consider dropping by my Patreon campaign or Ko-fi. Right now, supporters can read my first-quarter update of 2026: the best board games, movies, books, and more!)

Cross Bronx Expressway, GMT’s third release in the Irregular Conflicts series, is not for the weak. It is exceptionally complicated, even by the elevated standards of a COIN title. A frequent refrain amongst the GMT faithful, and an accurate refrain at that, is that the rules aren’t all that complicated once you get over the hump of learning them. Not so here. For my first game, I gathered three of the finest gaming minds in New York City, all of whom had read the rules in advance, and it still took an hour or two to get things started. This is no doubt in part a function of the theme, the civic management of The Bronx across the latter half of the 20th century. It’s easier to keep rules in your head when they don’t use words like “coalition,” “partner organization,” and “Census Round Audit.” You may find yourself scratching your head and wondering why you didn’t go back to school to get an MB(oard game)A.

Work your way past the daunting exterior and you’ll find a game that is a fascinating mix of the exceptionally confrontational and the utterly inscrutable. Cross Bronx Expressway is a hard game to talk about as a game, in part because the gamic elements are relatively slight in view of the whole. Designer…

The post Cross Bronx Expressway Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

The American Tabletop Awards, an awards scheme launched seven years ago with the aim of being the US equivalent of Germany’s Spiel des Jahres, has unveiled its 2026 winners.

Racing games published by CMYK triumphed in both the Early Gamers and Casual Games awards this year, with Richard Garfield’s new implementation of Takashi Ishida’s 2003 design Magical Athlete scooping the former, and Jon Perry’s chaotic mascot racer Hot Streak the latter.

ATTA’s Early Gamers award is focused on titles suitable for younger gamers and players new to modern board gaming, while the Casual Games awards looks at games suitable for all experience levels that can be played in 30 to 60 minutes.

This year’s Strategy Games prize went to Matt Leacock’s pandemic spinoff The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, while the Complex Games title went to Jo Kelly’s and Cole Wehrle’s design Molly House, which explores the joy and fear experienced by gender-defying Londoners in 18th century society.

CMYK was the standout publisher with two wins out of the four categories. Asmodee studios won one award and picked up three other nominations, while Flatout Games picked up recommendations for both Cascadia Junior and Knitting Circle.

Alex Cutler was the only designer to appear twice among the finalists, scoring a nomination for his co-design Critter Kitchen and a recommendation for co-design A Place For All My Books.

The ATTAs are voted on by members of the US board game media, who each submit up to five games from the previous calendar year, which are then ordered according to ranked-choice vote.

ATTA’s committee includes GAMA president and SAHMReviews.com founder and owner Nicole Brady, Jessica Fisher, the co-founder of Gameosity and the Tabletop Game Jobs Facebook group, and Good Time Society pair Ruel Gaviola and Becca Scott.

Awards co-founder Eric Yurko, who runs board game review site What’s Eric Playing?, said, “The past few years have been great for games, and 2025 was no exception.

“There were great moments and releases throughout, so we’re very excited to present these awards to the best games we played in 2025.”

Last year’s ATTA winners were Captain Flip, The Gang, Let’s Go! To Japan and Fromage.

The 2026 American Tabletop Awards finalists

Early Gamers
Winner: Magical Athlete – designed by Richard Garfield and Takashi Ishida (published by CMYK Games)
Nominated: The Sandcastles of Burgundy – Stefan Feld and Susanne Feld (Ravensburger)
Nominated: Splendor Kids – Marc André and Catherine André (Space Cowboys / Asmodee)
Recommended: Cascadia Junior – Fertessa Allyse and Randy Flynn (Flatout Games)
Recommended: Duck and Cover – Oussama Khelifati (Captain Games)

Casual Games
Winner: Hot Streak – Jon Perry (CMYK Games)
Nominated: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game – Bryan Bornmueller (Office Dog / Asmodee)
Nominated: 7 Wonders Dice – Antoine Bauza (Repos Production / Asmodee)
Recommended: FlipToons – Jordy Adan and Renato Simões (Thunderworks Games)
Recommended: A Place For All My Books – Alex Cutler and Michael Mihealsick (Smirk and Dagger Games)

Strategy Games
Winner: The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship – Matt Leacock (Z-Man Games / Asmodee)
Nominated: Critter Kitchen – Alex Cutler and Peter C. Hayward (Cardboard Alchemy)
Nominated: Kinfire Council – Kevin Wilson (Incredible Dream)
Recommended: Knitting Circle – Emily Vincent (Flatout Games)
Recommended: Moon Colony Bloodbath – Donald X Vaccarino (Rio Grande Games)

Complex Games
Winner: Molly House – Jo Kelly and Cole Wehrle (Wehrlegig Games)
Nominated: Tidal Blades 2: Rise of the Unfolders – Tim Eisner and Ben Eisner (Druid City Games)
Nominated: Covenant – Germán P Millán (Devir)
Recommended: Above and Below: Haunted – Ryan Laukat (Red Raven Games)
Recommended: Galactic Cruise – TK King, Dennis Northcott and Koltin Thompson (Kinson Key Games)

The post Hot Streak, Magical Athlete race to wins in this year’s American Tabletop Awards first appeared on .

Sea Salt & Paper sure was hot a couple years back, huh? I didn’t think much of this thing the first time I encountered it, perhaps a symptom of having only played it with a single partner; in contrast to some, I find it needs room to stretch out. Perhaps it helps, too, that the expansions, More Salt and More Pepper, both give the game a small kick in its folded shorts.

The basic choice: from where does one draw?

For those who haven’t played Bruno Cathala and Théo Rivière’s small-box card game, Sea Salt & Paper opens with the gentlest of all possible choices: from where to draw? Your options, in this case, are either the deck proper — in which case you’ll draw a pair, keep one, and toss the reminder into either of two discards — or the top offering from one of those castoff piles. Either way, you gain a single card.

Over the course of multiple turns and multiple sessions, however, this choice begins to take on some depth. First, there’s the possibility of playing a duo. Some cards, when paired with a mate, can be deployed to the table. The pair is worth a point either way, but their coming-out provides some small benefit: crabs that let you dig through a discard pile for something previously buried, boats that start your turn anew, a shark and swimmer that swipe something precious from a rival’s hand.

But while duos are potent, there’s more to your picks than pairing cards. There’s the color of the card, entirely separate from its icon, which can amass points as you gain more of a particular hue. Or there are offerings that pose a risk, like octopuses and penguins, worth nothing at first but gradually accumulating points as you build sets — while, of course, signaling to your opponents that you’re angling for something.

Or there’s the risk of throwing away something worthwhile to the others at the table. More than once, I’ve had to take a worthless shell because Adam, who tends to sit to my left, hoards shells by default. If I throw one out, he’ll nab it for certain. And fortune favoring him, he probably already has three in hand.

This is all to say that Sea Salt & Paper is an unassuming little thing. Its choices are diminutive, but no less crucial for their stature.

Cards in hand are hidden, but vulnerable.

Where the game gets interesting, though, is in its scoring. Played over multiple hands, the objective is to accumulate some number of points. Say, thirty points with four players. But rather than ending any given hand at a certain threshold, here players are allowed to keep playing until somebody elects to go out. And then they’re offered another little choice that bends the proceedings. They can declare the hand is over, at which point everybody scores according to what they’re holding and/or the duos they’ve revealed. Or the goer-outer can announce that they have the high score at the table and nobody can match them.

Aha! The contest is on. And the stakes are high. If the player who went out has the highest score, they earn all their points plus a color bonus, points worth the sum of their highest-held suit. That might be a lot or a little, depending on their priorities that round. Everyone else, meanwhile, earns only a color bonus. Again, that might be a tidy sum, but it will almost certainly be less than their normal score. But if the opposite holds true, the pendulum swings the other way. Everybody else scores their hand points, while the shouty player earns nothing but the color bonus.

Like everything else in Sea Salt & Paper, this decision is understated. But it represents a potentially major swing. I say “potentially” because, well, this is a game of subtle wagers and sudden swings, and it’s entirely possible for somebody to quietly amass a solid bar of colors and come out ahead either way.

This gives it a sleepy atmosphere. I might even call it boring, in a largely pleasant way, the sort of game you play with your grandmother while sharing some light chit-chat. In that regard, it reminds me of something like Mexican Train or countless trick-takers played with a regular deck. It doesn’t exactly knock me out of my socks, but it was never meant for sock-rocking. It’s there for quiet evenings on the seaside, the air heavy with the inrush of atmosphere, a storm coming but still out on the horizon. It’s a bedtime game.

Extra Salt adds a few cards.

The expansions give it some much-needed kick. The first, Extra Salt, adds only a few cards, not enough to upset the delicate ecosystem of the original game, but sufficient to add at least a few decisions. Extras like a lobster or a jellyfish pair with previously-obvious offerings to produce new effects, while a seahorse makes certain sets more worthwhile and starfish can be added to a duo to drop their ability in exchange for some extra points. The game is still sleepy, but the decision-space is a little denser.

Next is Extra Pepper, the more interesting offering. Every round, an event card is drawn that alters the proceedings. A change to how a certain set is formed, a higher scoring threshold, only needing three mermaids to win outright rather than the usual four… that sort of thing. Everybody plays according to this altered rule, but then — and this is the smart bit — then the winning or losing player receives the event card as a permanent addition to their repertoire. This varies by card, with handicaps going to trailing players and hurdles to winners. Either way, the game receives a nudge that corrects toward the median ever so slightly. Or, better yet, allows somebody to manipulate the rules in their favor by tanking an early session to nab something ultra-potent.

In both cases, the expansions benefit the core game by adding a little more to the turn-by-turn proceedings. If I had to identify an issue with the game — which, again, I’m not sure this is the sort of game that bears a deep critique — it’s that the decision-making process is so muffled. There’s a gap between good and bad play, but good and great play? Eh. I’m not convinced. To their credit, the expansions offer a few more of those small decisions that make it such a pleasant, if still sleepy, game for late nights.

Extra Pepper is more interesting.

On the whole, Sea Salt & Paper is a game that’s nice to play with family, as a filler, or when everybody’s too tired for anything heavier. That’s a crowded field, but, well, this just so happens to be one of the games that’s succeeded in that arena. Call it the king of the sleepers. I doubt Sea Salt & Paper would even take it as an insult.

A complimentary copy of Sea Salt & Paper was provided by the publisher.

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Schon Root hat uns gelehrt, dass wir niedlichen Tierchen nicht trauen sollten. Was ganz harmlos auf Spielkarten abgebildet und ausmodeliert als Holzfiguren auf dem Spielplan steht, das kann auch nur geschickte Tarnung sein. Um uns in ein Spiel zu locken, das dann auf den zweiten Blick und nach dem ersten Spielzug gar nicht mehr so harmlos daherkommt. Das neue Spiel rund um Kartentänze und zu sammelnde Schwerter ist eher im Kennerbereich angesiedelt und hatte für mich eine enorme Einstiegshürde.

Kennt Ihr auch, oder? Ihr macht Euren allerersten Spielzug und wisst genau, dass Ihr schlicht mal so wirklich alles falsch gemacht habt. Zug nachträglich zurücknehmen? Ne, wäre doch blöd. Weil haben wir uns in unserem Blindflug der spielerischen Möglichkeiten schliesslich selbst eingebrockt. Dabei konntet Ihr noch nicht einmal vom Startspieler eine erfolgversprechende Taktik abschauen, dann jeder von Euch hat sein ganz individuelles Set von sechs Startkarten auf der Hand. Die spielen sich alle anders und ganz besonders. Das macht ungezählte Möglichkeiten, mal so richtig in die Grütze zu greifen und aus purer Unwissenheit einen Fehlstart mit Tempoverlust hinzulegen. Denn am Ende geht es doch mal wieder nur um Siegpunkte und alles andere ist nur schön anzusehendes Mittel zum schnöden Zweck.

Aber worum geht es eigentlich und wo sind wir überhaupt? Keine Ahnung, denn in meiner mitgespielten Erstpartie Emberleaf war das Thema leider mal so gar kein Thema. Stattdessen stolperten wir anfangs etwas konfus durchs Regelwerk, was aber auch daran lag, dass noch keiner von uns Spielerfahrung mit an den Dreiertisch gebracht hatte. Also liess ich es ganz entspannt für mich als reine Kennenlernpartie angehen. Einfach mal machen und schon bin ich wieder bei der Spielmechanik angekommen. Die ist recht einfach. Bin ich reihum am Zug, dann spiele ich eine meiner Handkarten in meine persönliche Rasterauslage und führe den Soforteffekt der Karte aus, sofern vorhanden. Alternativ nutze ich den nun abgedeckten Aufdruck meiner Rasterauslage. Was auch immer mir in der aktuellen Situation mehr weiterhilft. Und schon ist der nächste Spieler am Zug.

Emberleaf spielt sich angenehm flott. Ja, wäre da nicht dieser Kartentanz, denn Ihr als alternative Aktion zum Kartenausspielen aufs Parkett legen könnt. Wobei der ganz schnöde „Karten verschieben“ heisst, wie ich später gerafft habe. Der Kartentanz beschreibt nur die Rotation zwischen Eurer Hand und der Auslage. Alles klar, Herr Meister der Abschweifungen? Ihr schiebt also dabei Eure ausliegenden Karten eine Position nach links – in den nächsten Slot des Rasters oder runter vom Raster. Für beide Situationen gibt es Effekte auf den Karten. Auf manchen Karten und ganz verschiedene Effekte, weil da liegt die eigentliche Herausforderung von Emberleaf. Diese Effekte werden ausgeführt und von links nach rechts und immer von oben nach unten arbeitet Ihr so Euer Kartenraster ab. Das können schon mal so sechs Karten dort sein, was dann eben sechs oder mehr Effekte sind im Vergleich zum Ausspielen einer einzigen Karte. Das dauert deshalb etwas länger, und wenn das bis zu vier Mitspieler vor Euch so machen, was im Nebensatz dann auch die maximal mögliche Spielerzahl verrät, dann kann eine Partie schon mal für Euch gefühlt ins Stocken geraten. Zum Glück waren wir nur zu dritt und so hielten sich meine Pausen bei den Mitspielerzügen in enge Grenzen.

Ich hatte allerdings so viel mit mir selbst, sprich meiner Kartenhand und meiner Kartenauslage und potenziellen neue Karten in Form von Helden und Aufträgen sowie der Situation auf dem zentralen Spielbrett zu tun, dass mir keinesfalls langweilig wurde. Stattdessen tüftelte ich meine optimierte Aktionsfolge aus, um doch noch irgendwie meine Pläne umsetzen zu können. Laufen ist toll, aber vorher sollte ich lieber hier bauen, brauche dafür aber noch ein Holz und das will vorab eingesammelt werden. Blöd nur, dass ich die Rasterreihenfolge meiner ausliegenden Karten nicht einfach so durchbrechen kann. Wäre dann auch zu einfach. Wenn die einmal falsch gedacht ausliegen, dann muss ich mit dieser Abarbeitungsreihenfolge in Form des Kartentanzes leben. Wer also schnell seine Karte zurück auf die Hand haben will, sollte die nicht ganz rechts ausspielen. Habe ich auf die harte Tour gelernt. Dann dauert es drei Verschiebe-Aktionen, bis die sich vom Raster zurück auf meine Hand schiebt. Und eventuell war die Sofortaktion beim Ausspielen viel besser als die Aktion beim Verschieben der Karten. Pech gehabt, weil schlecht geplant. Unzureichende Vorplanung bestraft Emberleaf direkt und spürbar. Gut, dass Euer Raster zu Spielbeginn verkürzt, weil mit Startgebäuden belegt ist, die erst noch weggebaut werden wollen.

Im Rückblick und besonders in der Situation betrachtet, empfand ich die Einstiegshürde schon enorm. Ich habe noch keine rechte Ahnung vom Spiel, kenne nur die Spielregeln und soll schon richtungsweisende Entscheidungen treffen. Weil im Idealfall bekomme ich es hin, dass meine Karten-Maschinerie wie geschmiert läuft und eine Kartenaktion in die andere greift. So sähe ein perfektes Spiel aus und davon war ich in meiner Erstpartie arg weit entfernt. Einfach mal machen und so. Tolle Idee, zu vorschnell gedacht und schon steckte ich einige Aktionsrunden fest, weil mir dringend benötigte Rohstoffe fehlten, um eines meiner Gebäude zu bauen, in das ich eine neue Tierart aus meinem Vorrat einziehen lassen kann, was dann wiederum die Aktion auslöst, eine neue Karte aus der offenen Auslage rekrutieren zu können. Hallo Kettenzüge. Ohne Vorausplanung läuft in Emberleaf halt wenig zusammen, aber da wiederhole ich mich. Und genau da liegt auch mein Hauptkritikpunkt an dem optisch so niedlichen Spiel, das im spielerischen Kern eine knallharte Optimieraufgabe ist. Ich prophezeihe, dass Ihr als Erstspieler gegen am Spielbrett erlernte Spielerfahrung keine Chance haben werdet. Ich hätte mir deshalb eine Art von Einsteiger-Kartendeck gewünscht, das etwas mehr unoptimierte Spielweise verzeiht und eventuell noch einen Ratschlag mit auf dem Weg gibt, in welchem Rahmen wir unsere ersten Spielzüge angehen können. Um den kompletten Blindflug zu vermeiden. Frusttoleranz sollte Ihr also mitbringen oder besser noch auf vergleichbarem Erfahrungsniveau Euch in der Welt von Emberleaf bewegen.

So bauen wir mit diversen Rohstoffen, die wir in unserem begrenzten Lager sammeln, diverse Gebäude in diversen Lichtungen des Spielfeldes. Bevölkern diese Gebäude dann mit Holztierchen, die ab sofort und bis Spielende dort wohnen und uns einen Sofortbonus geben, mehr an Sammelsymbolen wie Schwerter oder Holzplanken freispielen oder direkt eine neue Heldenkarte rekrutieren lassen, die dann zwischen Hand und eigenem Kartenraster rotiert. Genau, das ist der Kartentanz. Nebenbei sammeln wir ausliegende Aufträge ein, die uns aber erst am Spielende deren Punkte bringen und die auch erst am Spielende ganz genau erfüllt werden sollen. Ok, in mindestens drei Lichtungen ein Wohnhaus bauen, das kann ich noch recht einfach planen und auch durchziehen. Aber eben genau fünf Heldenkarten ausgespielt zu haben, das erfordert genaues Timing. Tja, und da kommen dann die lieben Mitspieler ins Spiel. Die sind für mich die meiste Zeit leider nur Störfaktoren. Die schnappen mir Helden und Aufträge weg und bekämpfen vor meiner Nase die Wegelagerer-Plättchen per virtuelle Schwerter, um Siegpunkte und Rohstoff-Belohnungen einzusacken. Zudem werden mir Lichtungsplätze mit unpassenden Gebäuden belegt, die ich mal so gar nicht für meine Aufträge dort gebrauchen kann. Diese indirekte Konkurrenz ist überall spürbar. Und bei wem es besonders gut läuft, der ist eben direkt eine noch grössere Konkurrenz, weil dort mehr Aktionen besser ineinander greifen. Bis ich wieder am Zug bin, kann sich eine Menge geändert haben und sogar das Spielende eingeläutet sein.

Auch ja, wir sind übrigens mutige wie einzigartige Emberling, die ihre zerstörte Heimat tief im ältesten Wald der Welt wiederaufbauen wollen. So erforschen wir das Land, wobei es da wenig zu erforschen gibt, weil alles schon offen sichtbar ausliegt. Lasst Euch also nichts erzählen. Wir sammeln ganz viele Ressourcen, die erst zu wenig und dann im Überfluss vorhanden sind, aber von denen stets immer genau ein Rohstoff für den nächsten Zug fehlt. Wir bauen Dörfer auf und rekrutieren neue Helden mit einzigartigen Fähigkeiten. Und diese Fähigkeiten der Helden sind wirklich alle einzigartig und anders und wirken teils unwissend überwältigend. So hatte ich einen Bären ins Spiel gebracht, der aus zwei lumpigen Steinen eine begehrte Honigwabe machen konnte. Klang toll, weil Honig für etliche Startgebäude notwendig ist und später fast egal wird. Ich hatte den viel zu spät rekrutiert und bis zum Spielende kein einziges Mal in seiner Hauptfähigkeit genutzt. Aber da kann das Spiel der Autoren und zeitgleich Illustratoren in Person von James Tomblin und Frank West nichts dafür, wenn ich so dösbatlig aus dem Bauch heraus agiere. Am Ende wurde ich Dritter, obwohl ich im Spielverlauf noch recht gut mithalten konnte. Meine unerfüllbaren Aufträge haben mir das Genick gebrochen. Das Gleichgewicht der Natur habe ich dann wohl nicht wiederherstellen können. Eine Spielerfahrung war es trotzdem wert.

Was taugt nun Emberleaf, das derweil von Skellig Games lokalisiert wurde und seit März 2026 als Retailversion im Handel ist? Retailversion deshalb, weil es noch eine ursprüngliche Kickstarterversion gab. In dem Zuge gab es auch eine Deluxeversion und diverse Erweiterungen wie Ressourcen aus Holz statt Pappe, Kartenraster aus Neopren, diverse Heldenpacks und Eure Spielerfigur in der eigenen Lieblingsfarbe und noch mehr Aufträge, die eigentlich thematisch Gefälligkeiten sind. Ich habe die Retailversion als optisch ausreichend und wirklich schön empfunden. Emberleaf hat eine gewisse Tischpräsenz, die einen mitspielen lassen möchte. Soweit mein positiver Eindruck. Mit der Einstiegshürde und der Falle, seine Kartenhand in unpassener Reihenfolge und an nicht idealer Rasterposition zu spielen, müsst Ihr umgehen können. Oder Ihr nehmt Euch die nötige Bedenkzeit vor Eurem allerersten und entscheidenden Spielzug, was die Gefahr mit sich bringt, dieses Eurogame zu zergrübeln vor lauter Vorplanung, obwohl Ihr den Spielrythmus noch gar nicht einschätzen könnt. Ich persönlich hätte mir mehr direkte Interaktion gewünscht – ob durch die Heldenkarten oder auf dem Spielbrett. Ich habe nur zwei Karten gesehen, bei denen die Mitspieler mitprofitiert hatten. Hier mal gemeinsam zwei Holz einsammeln und dort nacheinander kämpfen dürfen. Das war mir dann doch zu wenig und fühlte sich zu solitär an. Eventuell haben wir vor lauter Unwissenheit auch einfach nur zu sehr nebeneinander hergespielt.

Nochmal mitspielen? Ja, absolut. Nur dann wäre ich wohl derjenige, wer den unfairen Erfahrungsvorteil hätte. Nur kann ich das bequem durch unoptimierte Bauchspieler-Züge locker wieder ausgleichen. Sollte also kein Problem sein. Muss ich Emberleaf hingegen selbst besitzen? Ich glaube eher nicht, weil genauso wie bei Wundersame Wesen und Luthier muss ich nicht jedes schön anzusehende Eurogame selbst besitzen. Dafür fehlte mir dann doch der dauerhaft angespannte Spannungsbogen, während sich die Belohnungen doch nicht interessant genug anfühlten. Einzig die Rekrutierung neuer Heldenkarten war ein wirklicher Höhepunkt, weil eine Überraschung, wie sich diese neuen Karten so ins eigene Deck einfügen werden. Alle Theorie will hier spielerisch erlebt werden und das fand ich gut. Nur kommt diese Rekrutierung pro Mitspieler nur maximal vier Mal im Spiel vor, sodass aus anfänglichen sechs Helden auf der Hand bis zu zehn werden können.

Ist Emberleaf also doch nicht so komplex, wie es anfangs auf mich wirkte? So langsam komme ich ins Grübeln, ob mich zunächst der Niedlichkeitsfaktor und dann nochmal die vielen einzigartigen Helden geblendet haben. Ihr seht mich arg unentschlossen, deshalb macht Euch lieber Euer ganz eigenes Bild im selbsterlebten Partien. Dann mal los mit Euch, denn so richtig verkehrt macht Ihr dann doch nichts mit Emberleaf. Und der Nächste, der das Spiel einfach nur ungespielt niedlich findet, denn solltet Ihr als schnell finden können. Oder doch lieber erstmal irgendwo mitspielen? Als Geheimtipp empfehle ich Euch da die Spiel DOCH! in Dortmund und den SpieleWahnsinn in Herne, sofern Ihr diese Zeilen zeitig vor Ende April 2026 lesen solltet. Ewähnt dann bitte am Skelling Games Messestand, wer Euch dorthin geschickt habt – brettspieltag.de und so. Würde mich freuen, wenn Euch Emberleaf dort eine gute Zeit einbringt. Weil darum geht es doch.

A few years ago, I played and very much enjoyed a cool little solitaire WWII card-driven game called Campaign: Fall Blau from Catastrophe Games and designer Martin Melbardis where the player attempted to breach the Soviet defenses on the East Front in the pivotal German summer campaign of 1942. The game system is very playable and simple, but has some strategic depth to it as the player has to make a lot of choices about what to go after, how to manage their scarce resources (fuel) and what generals to use to take advantage of their special abilities to amass enough VP to claim victory over the Soviet Union. They now have the counter punch of that game in a new entry in the series called Campaign: Operation Bagration and it is currently being offered on Kickstarter.

If you are interested in Campaign: Operation Bagration, you can back the project on the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/campaign-fall-blau/campaign-bagration

Grant: Welcome back to the blog Martin. What is your current game Campaign: Operation Bagration?

Martin: Thanks for having me back! Campaign: Operation Bagration is the long-awaited successor to my very first published game, Campaign: Fall Blau and tells the story of the Soviet offensive in 1944 to take back the occupied center of Russia gained by the Germans during Operation Barbarossa and is based on the successful Campaign: Fall Blau game system.

Grant: What was your design goal with the game?

Martin: My design goal for Campaign: Operation Bagration was to switch perspectives to the Soviet side using my tried-and-tested Campaign Game System. I wanted players to take command of the Soviets during one of the most devastating offensives of the war….Operation Bagration, which tore through German Army Group Center in 1944. From a design standpoint, I found it very rewarding to adapt new game mechanics and ideas to fit this pivotal WWII Campaign on the Eastern Front, while keeping the core of the system intact.

Grant: What are the hallmarks of this solitaire Campaign Series?

Martin: I’d say a minimalist approach to wargaming. Very streamlined, using only cards, dice, and cubes, with a 6–7 page rulebook. These are light solitaire wargames designed to be fast and furious with no extra fat or bloat, especially when compared to more traditional hex-and-counter wargames that can take hours to play.

Grant: As a follow up to Campaign: Fall Blau, what do you believe you have improved in the gaming experience?

Martin: While the system as a whole is more or less exactly the same as Fall Blau, I injected some new ideas into the experience to better reflect the historical realities of this campaign. The core game, such as defeating Campaign Cards, the Order system and how Generals work, will remain familiar to players of Fall Blau, but the feel is distinctly different. 

Grant: What elements from Operation Bagration did you need to model in the design?

Martin: Operation Bagration was a completely different beast to tackle than Fall Blau. In addition to taking control of the Soviet army this time around, the mountainous regions of the Caucasus region have been replaced with the swamps of Belorussia and Poland. You’re also facing a much weaker and mostly static German Army Group Center, desperately trying to rebuild a frontline and stop the Soviet advance from swarming into their rear echelons. This is represented by the new “Rebuild Frontlines” rule, which replaces the old “Local Counter-Attacks” rule from Fall Blau. In Bagration, counter-attacks are now only triggered by Event Cards representing Panzer Divisions trying to blunt the Soviet offensive. In fact, the entire Event Deck has been changed to reflect the research I did on Operation Bagration with all sorts of cool ideas popping up on how to reflect the history, units and tactics of this Campaign.

Grant: As a solitaire game, what type of experience does the game create? 

Martin: The game system prides itself on being fast, easy to learn but hard to master. It creates a very similar experience to Fall Blau such as tough decisions weighing the player down each turn on how to best use your limited Orders and finding the right balance between Attacking, Advancing, or stopping for Logistics to catch up. 

Grant: What is the goal of the player?  

Martin: The goal is to capture enough Campaign Cards before the game ends and earn enough Victory Points from those Campaign Cards to reach the victory or even the Brilliant Victory threshold.

Grant: How does the player go about choosing and managing their Generals? 

Martin: Each game starts with the player choosing three Soviet Generals. All of these generals are historically accurate, with options such as Bagramyan, Konev, Rokossovsky, and a few others. Each General has the generic “Hero of the Soviet Union” special ability plus one unique ability. Additionally, each General leads a certain type of army: either a Tank army or a regular Infantry army. Tank armies have fewer manpower cubes but benefit from added mobility, which helps them bring more Campaign Cards to the frontline when using the Advance Order. Infantry armies, on the other hand, have more “meat” and thus more manpower cubes to absorb losses. Each General also has a set number of cubes representing their starting strength in manpower and available forces. Managing your Generals comes down to picking a balanced mixture and using each general’s individual strengths (number of cubes and abilities) to maximum effect.

Grant: What unique abilities do the different Generals possess? 

Martin: As mentioned, each General has the “Hero of the Soviet Union” special ability, which allows you to discard a red cube to re-roll a single die. This represents the Soviet ability to historically take massive casualties and still push on. On top of that, each General also has a unique ability reflecting their historical traits. For example, General Bagramyan is an offensive-minded General, while Rokossovsky was known to always plan two steps ahead and this is represented by his ability to draw extra cards from the Event Deck.

Grant: What type of events does the Event Deck contain? 

Martin: In addition to the Campaign Cards, the Event Deck is really where the historical aspects of the Bagration Campaign really come to life. I made sure to only include Soviet and German units and tactics that were instrumental to the Bagration campaign. The Event Deck contains mostly cards that help you during the game, such as attached Soviet units like the 3rd Guards Cavalry Corps, which can help you exploit the flanks of the German frontline by removing adjacent defenses, or the 4th Tank Army, which grants extra attack dice when attacking a Campaign Card. These cards not only add flavor to the game but also a strong sense of historical flavor.

Grant: What are the different type of German effects included in the Event Deck? 

Martin: The Event Deck also contains cards that hurt the player, such as German Panzer divisions that trigger a counter-attack when drawn, or German reinforcement cards that add additional German cubes to active Campaign Cards on the frontlines. In addition, things like German bombers or bad weather can and will slow your progress.

Grant: What Actions/Orders are available to the player?  

Martin: There are three available Orders each turn, and you may perform one per General. The Advance Order (costs 1 supply) brings unlocked Campaign Cards to the frontline. Once a card is on the frontline, an Attack Order (also costs supplies) can be used to attack and remove any cubes (representing German formations or defenses) on that card in order to capture it and gain the VP listed on the card. Finally, the Logistics Order adds supplies and reinforces a General with a cube to replace losses.

Grant: How do they manage their Supplies? How can they obtain additional fuel? 

Martin: As mentioned, each Advance and Attack Order costs supplies, and the Logistics Order replenishes supplies as well as lost manpower cubes from attacking. Finding the right balance and knowing when to rest using a Logistics Order instead of Attacking or Advancing is very important. However, resting too long will slow your progress, as the clock is always counting down. A General who uses the Logistics Order adds two supplies to your shared supply pool and adds a single manpower cube to their card.

Grant: How do they manage to defeat the various Campaign Cards? 

Martin: After using the Advance Order to bring an unlocked Campaign Card to the frontline in front of a General’s Card, that Campaign Card then immediately deploys a number of grey cubes (listed on the card) onto itself. The card is now available to be attacked using the Attack Order. When you attack, you pay supplies then calculate the number of cubes on the attacking General’s Card and roll that many dice. You need rolls of 4+ to remove a single white (defense) or grey (German units) cube from the Campaign Card. Some Campaign Cards such as fortress cities (Festerplatz) or swamps reduce the attack dice by -1. Rolls of 1–2 result in your General losing a manpower cube (red cube). Once all German cubes are removed from the Campaign Card, it is considered captured and removed from the frontline, and you gain the Victory Points listed on the card. Capturing Campaign Cards also unlocks additional Campaign Cards.

Grant: How do the German forces fight back? 

Martin: This time around, the Germans are much more static than in Fall Blau, which better reflects the historical situation in 1944. While you may still lose manpower cubes through bad rolls on Attack Orders, counter-attacks are now only triggered through Event Cards. A Panzer Division drawn as an event will immediately counter-attack by deploying to the frontline and attacking the General directly in front of it. There’s also the Operation Doppelkopf Event Card, which is placed near the end of the Event Deck during setup and represents a large German offensive action late in Operation Bagration, designed to blunt Soviet momentum.

Grant: What strategy should the player use to do well? 

Martin: Pick a good, balanced mixture of Generals and learn when to attack versus when to build up supplies and manpower through the Logistics Order. Using Generals with Tank Army abilities to bring multiple Campaign Cards to the frontlines helps a lot but too many Tank Generals will lower your overall manpower total. Also, optimize your use of Event Cards to either prioritize Attacks or to regain manpower cubes. Overall, calculated risk management is the single most important factor in the game.

Grant: What different options are built in to make the game more of a challenge?  

Martin: The game is already pretty challenging, but we are also currently planning on developing a Hard-Mode for the Kickstarter that adds 4–5 additional very difficult Event Cards to the deck for those players who love challenges or are even simply masochists.

Grant: What are you most pleased about with the design? 

Martin: I’m pleased with the way I’ve adapted the old Fall Blau Game System to incorporate new game mechanics and Events to reflect the different historical aspects of Bagrations’ unique Campaign. Such things such as the German’s use of blocking detachments to try to stop the Soviet steamroller with whatever they could (represented by the rebuilding the frontline mechanic), and the use of Festerplatze or Fortress cities in Belorussia to hold at all cost. Added to this is the liberal use of Soviet tactics such as mine sweeping tanks, the massive God of War bombardment to signal the start of Bagration, Maskirovka deception techniques and American lend-lease trucks to help the Offensive are all well-represented in the game through the Event Deck.

Grant: What has been the response of playtesters? 

Martin: Early on, I got some great and positive responses from playtesters when I initially designed the game. Later, I handed off playtesting and development to Catastrophe Games, who further developed the game and ran additional playtests. I’ve heard good things from them as well.

Grant: What other historical campaigns might the series delve into?

Martin: Next up, I am planning to adapt the series to either the North African or the Pacific Theaters in WWII. I also strangely find that representing the Japanese early-war successes against the Allies in the Philippines, Hong Kong, Indonesia and Singapore a very interesting twist and is a subject rarely touched upon in wargaming. This could also be a good option in the future but who really knows where my creativity can take me? 

Grant: What other designs are you currently working on? 

Martin: As always, I am continuing to design lighter Print & Play wargames with my own independent company, Solo Wargame. I usually release a new wargame every two months or so on Kickstarter and want to continue that trend with a WWII wargame about commanding a Soviet battalion during the Battle of Stalingrad in 1942. I also plan to release a new version of my continuing series on WW2 Roll & Write games, this time focusing on the Torch landings in North Africa in 1942–43 with new ideas about convoy interdiction, diplomacy with the Vichy government and eventually pushing the Germans all the way to Tunisia. Like most other creatives, I honestly have way too many ideas and too little time!

Thanks so much once again for having me on! 

If you are interested in learning more about the Campaign Series and how it works, you can watch my preview video for the Campaign: Fall Blau Kickstarter from 2022 at the following link:

If you are interested in Campaign: Operation Bagration, you can back the project on the Kickstarter page at the following link: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/campaign-fall-blau/campaign-bagration

-Grant

Plastic bricks were a key part of my childhood. I have fond memories of tearing up my hands rummaging through a big tub of bricks that may or may not have actually held the one piece that I was searching for. Over time, my siblings and I developed amazing characters and lore of the hijinks that happened in our brick-world, leading me to naturally want to share that with my kids as they grow up. Epic Brick Adventures is designed to couple the world of bricks with the world of roleplaying games to facilitate creativity and storytelling without any age limitations. Ahead of the Kickstarter, I was able to get a look at the Introductory Guide and the Circus Catastrophe Intro Adventure to see if this game is more than just D&D with bricks.

Epic Brick Adventures: Building You Up

Epic Brick Adventures provides a rules framework for players to use their existing collections of bricks and plastic figures in a roleplaying game setting. Minifigures become MiniHeroes as a Brickmaster leads the players through an adventure of their own devising, serving as the Gamemaster (in conventional parlance).

MiniHeroes have Abilities broken out into Creative, Smarts, Willpower, Sense, Muscle, and Zip with concepts of Gusto and Clutch replacing energy and hit points respectively. Tack on an Occupation and some basic equipment…

The post Epic Brick Adventures Game Review appeared first on Meeple Mountain.

The Battle of Champion Hill game is called The Road to Vicksburg and uses the Blue & Gray System. It was included in Strategy & Tactics Magazine Issue #103.

The May 16, 1863 Battle of Champion Hill was the largest, bloodiest, and most significant action of Grant’s Vicksburg Campaign. 32,000 advancing Union soldiers met 23,000 Confederates in a fierce struggle for a vital crossroads roughly halfway between Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi. The field was dominated by bald Champion Hill, from which Confederate artillery opened fire on the Union army at 9:45 A.M. The first Federal assault on the hill drove the Southerners back with bayonets and clubbed muskets. As the Union soldiers tried to reform and consolidate their gains, they were swept away by a counterattack led by John Bowen’s Missourians and Arkansans. Ulysses S. Grant ordered more men towards the hill and Bowen’s Confederates were themselves driven off, compelling a general retreat. Southern Brig. Gen. Lloyd Tilghman was killed while directing a desperate rearguard action that enabled most of the Confederate army to escape towards Vicksburg. The decisive Union victory at Champion Hill was instrumental in forcing the Confederates out of the open field and into a doomed position inside the walls of Vicksburg.

-Grant

Print and Play Bastelecke

Was habe ich gespielt?
boardgamearena.com: Die Burgen von Burgund, Postcards, Tipperary, Perfect Words
Blood on the Clocktower
Trekking: Reise durch die Zeit
VOLT
Piña Coladice
Cat Trick

Podcast Hinweis

Bluesky – @vintersphrost.bsky.social
Mastodon – @vintersphrost@brettspiel.space
Boardgamearena.com – vintersphrost
Yucata.de – vintersphrost
tutti.ch: https://www.tutti.ch/de/seller?id=2079528265671090841
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/vintersphrost/
YouTube Hörspiel Einspieler – https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCER_eNjl0R-Rzev5IMG2uufJSbXt01Mp