Can a civilization game deliver meaningful strategy in under an hour? Rising Cultures from Capstone Games might pull it off.
In this review, I take a look at this fast-playing 2-player civilization game featuring asymmetric factions, engine building, military competition, and clever card management. The real standout for me is how differently each civilization plays—especially Egypt and the Abbasid Caliphate, which completely change the feel of the game from one session to the next.
I’ll cover:
* Gameplay overview
* Asymmetric faction design
* Egypt’s Nile economy mechanics
* Replayability
* Cognitive skills practiced through play
* Final thoughts and recommendations
If you enjoy civilization games but don’t always have 3–4 hours available, Rising Cultures offers a surprisingly deep experience in a much tighter package.
00:00 Intro
00:24 Play Count & Complexity
01:55 Victory Conditions & How It Plays
10:37 Skills
11:50 Final Thoughts
What a variety last week! Continued to explore the Homeland expansion for Root, taught Dune: Imperium - Uprising to a friend who wanted to play since he likes the Dune universe, and also had some great co-op experiences with Bomb Busters and Regicide Legacy.
Check out my teach and playthrough video of the solo-only 18-card micro card game Ancient Realm by designer Steven Aramini and publisher Button Shy Games.
It's time to go and find our next 6 months worth of amazing Asian games from Tokyo Game Market Spring 2026. We've gone deep into the rabbithole and once again we want to share our research into the games we're most excited about.
REMEMBER THOUGH - we haven't played any of these titles! And the rules are mostly in Japanese! So buy at your own risk but mostly, have a fantastic time finding some gems that speak to you and your gaming group.
Come say hi if you see us!
A&M x
Here's some helpful links below. Links to the official Game Market pages are below the timestamps and it is here you can find the links to reservation forms. But be warned these do close randomly, and it's easiest to use if you are able to translate the page from your browser!
Thanks for stopping by! We're Amy & Maggie aka ThinkerThemer. We're an Australian couple with two very different perspectives of what makes a great board game - Amy (Thinker) is all about the mechanics and enjoys tight, competitive games, and Maggie (Themer) is all about the storytelling and the theme of the game, and the 'world' that the designer is trying to create. Subscribe to our channel to hear us talk about these two elements of a game, and how well integrated we feel these are in delivering a cohesive and wonderful game experience.
#boardgames #tabletopgames #thinkerthemer ❤🏳️🌈🇦🇺
Welcome to Totally Digital, a series where I teach and play the best digital board games and board game adjacent video games. Today I'm playing Dice A Million, a roguelike deckbuilder with only dice. Lots and lots of crazy dice with crazy powers.
🎲 Every few years, certain board games become “must-haves”.
Everyone talks about them. Everyone recommends them. Everyone buys them.
But what happens after the hype fades?
In this video, we revisit some of the hobby’s biggest “must-have” board games and ask the important question…
💬 Where are they now?
In this video:
0:00 Intro
0:25 Unstoppable
2:14 Star Wars The Mandalorian Adventures
3:50 Uprising
6:19 Harrow County
7:56 Kabuto Sumo
9:36 Kariba
10:08 Le Havre
12:01 Rewild
13:17 Blood On The Clocktower
15:22 Survive The Island
16:43 Outro
Board Game Hangover is your go-to channel for everything board games! From the best board game reviews, playthroughs, and top 10 lists to board game upgrades, house rules, and gameplay tips — we help you discover the best board games, improve your board gaming experience, and have a good laugh along the way. Whether you're into strategy board games, party games, solo board gaming, or family board games, you're in the right place.
Cysmic Board Game Review – Is this cosmic survival game a hidden gem, or does it collapse under the weight of its own ambition?
In this review, we take a look at Cysmic, a sci-fi board game of survival, strategy, and desperate decision-making as players race against planetary disaster. We’ll cover the gameplay, components, theme, player interaction, replayability, and whether Cysmic deserves a place on your shelf.
Is it tense and cinematic, or just another overproduced space box full of faff? Let’s find out.
Perfect for fans of sci-fi board games, survival games, thematic strategy games, and big-box tabletop experiences.
It’s time for the annual PunchedCon debrief, and this year’s edition is a special one. I’m joined by an incredible panel of guests to unpack our experiences at the Coventry wargame convention, the games we played, and the ideas they sparked.
Around the table:
- Candice M. Harris, friend of the show and host of Kickin’ It Creative
- Pierre Vagneur-Jones, co-host of We Intend to Move on Your Works and designer of Ermine (next entry in the Men of Iron series)
- Eric Vulgaris, legendary online game master
- Joe Dewhurst, partner in crime, developer and designer (The Pure Land, Resisting Revolution)
- Adam Blinkinsop, developer and designer (Echo from the Dark, upcoming ICS title from GMT)
Together, we revisit the convention: what stood out, what surprised us, and what made this year’s PunchedCon such a great space for wargames, historical games, and creative experimentation.
We talk about a wide range of titles — from classics to curiosities:
Onward Christian Soldier (Berg megagame), the surprise hit from VUCA Imperial Elegy, the unusual The Man Who Was Thursday, Pacts from DVC Games, the classic A House Divided, recent releases like Guerrilla Generation and Baltic Empires, and oddities ranging from Guerrilla (a 90s COIN-like card game) to Fleeced (yes, the Wallace & Gromit game) and many more...
We played a lot of great board games in 2025 that were new to us and we're here to talk about them! All of this in preparation of our Top Board Games of All-Time which will be coming this Summer!
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We're proudly sponsored by VICTORY PINTS, who specialize in board games and are located in our hometown of Winnipeg, Manitoba. They aim to have the best board game selection in the city and are also happy to special order you anything they don't have available!
Pop in and purchase any board games that have been featured on AYCB in the last year and say the discount code "TOP SHELF BILLING" to receive 10% off the games!
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0:00 The New-To-Us Games We Played in 2025
1:38 Carlo 5
4:53 Dylann 5
8:04 Carlo 4
10:59 Dylann 4
14:06 Carlo 3
17:30 Dylann 3
22:10 Carlo 2
25:41 Dylann 2
30:10 Carlo & Dylann 1
Take Time is a cooperative game where players either win or lose together.
To succeed, you must strategically play 12 cards facedown around a Clock, following specific rules for each Test. You can work together through a series of games to pass all 40 Tests available in the game.
0:00 - Intro
0:54 - Brief Overview
2:56 - Review
Sleeves are from Crimitidex. If you order their products, use the code below for a discount!
#DropoutPartner Thanks so much to Dropout and Game Changer: Home Edition for sponsoring this video! Check out the Kickstarter for yourself by clicking this link: https://tag.gs/A5zdS @dropout
I hope you enjoy this updated list of my Top 10 2 Player Games. Let me know what you think in the comments below and if there are any games I missed!
Alternate Video Titles:
Best Games for 2 Players
Best 2 Player Games
Best Games for Couples or Just 2 People Who Like Playing Games Together Just the Two Of Them
We completed the campaign twice for this Star Wars big box, and are here to review all of that experience! Imperial Assault is a dungeon crawler with this sci-fi theme, where you still draw line of sight and chuck die, just with a lot of nice mechanical tweaks from the Descent 2nd edition system, like movement capabilities! On your turn, either rebel or empire player will go, and perform 2 actions with their miniatures. There’s even a skirmish mode to draft your armies to fight over objectives, if you don’t care about the ongoing campaign, or finished it! With a ton of modular board to to make the maps, and even Jedi to play, this box evokes a lot of strong story moments. Is this fight between the galactic empire and rebel alliance still worth it over a decade after release?
Other games mentioned: HeroQuest, Gloomhaven, Zombicide, Arkham Horror LCG, Elder Scrolls: Betrayal of the Second Era, Arcadia Quest, Frosthaven, Jaws of the Lion, Project Elite, Mansions of Madness, Buttons and Bugs, Dungeons and Dragons
Anmelden
