Clatter, clatter. That familiar tune of bones scrapping across wood and revealing the kiss of lady luck. Four warriors. Three convicted felons sentenced to death in the bowels of hell. Not a metaphor but their reality. The fourth is the Redeemer. He wields light and courage and is a beacon for the hellfire to snuff…
Phil Walker-Harding is an Australian gentleman known for recent games such as Gizmos, Imhotep, and Bärenpark. Besides an Aussie at the helm, another thing these designs have in common is that I’ve never played them. Silver & Gold is also a PWH joint, but this one is special because it’s one I’ve actually played. And it’s one I want to…
UBOOT is immensely ambitious. It’s a tabletop cooperative real-time simulation of German World War 2 submarine warfare. It’s equally electronic and analog driven, with much of play off-loaded to a sophisticated app and yet other elements framed around using realistic period technology such as protractors and targeting dials. All of this occurs within the context of…
I’m kind of befuddled. This one is pulling me every which way and I don’t know where I’ll land. In such cases I start writing and we find out together. So let’s start writing. Mental Blocks is a stellar concept. Similar to the forgotten La Boca, participants stare at a spatial puzzle of different colored blocks assembled…
I remember Vast. It was 2016. My buddy Aaron comes up to me in Hall D at the Indianapolis convention center and starts speaking gibberish. His eyes are wild and he’s describing this game from some company called Leder. On the outside I was cautiously nodding but on the inside I was wondering, “What kind…
Combat Commander is 13 years old. That’s absurd when you think about it. I’m the dude showing up at three in the morning, slightly drunk with bottle in hand and ready to throw down like it’s 1999. Surprisingly, the party is still raging and being late is just as good as being on time. That’s a…
I’ve wanted a Shadow of the Colossus game for years. Skulk Hollow isn’t quite that, but it’s in the ballpark. One player is a rampaging Guardian, a spiritual demi-god titan that’s returned to smash and tear at the earth. The other is a swarm of Foxen, a king and their cadre of warriors intent on climbing atop the beast…
Is it morally reprehensible to play a game which explores the Third Reich’s efforts to build the atomic bomb? Should slipping into the role of a Nazi scientist cause revulsion? Do I have any right to ask the others at my table to play such a thing? These are some of the tough questions which…
Shifting Realms is underrated. Designed by Craig and Jeff Van Ness, this Soaring Rhino title is a somewhat light weight Euro-style design of gathering resources and turning those resources into buildings, albeit with a pretty significant twist; the board is comprised of three randomized realms each boasting unique rules, player driven story events, and their…
Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game came out in 2008, a lifetime in cardboard years, and we’re still looking for a quality successor that can play in a fraktion of the time. Dark Moon came close. The Menace Among Us lands just a bit closer. It’s difficult to shake comparisons when discussing this genre. The trick to nailing this concept is…
