A game’s most important quality is how it feels during play. It’s the whole point of why I write about board games and what I hope you take away when reading. It’s also the reason why I simply didn’t dig Evolution from North Star Games. That title explored an interesting space, tackling evolutionary theory in…
The post-apocalyptic genre is perhaps my favorite of genres. Among my top films are Fury Road and Children of Men, and among my top novels are The Road and Blood Meridian. My point is that Posthuman Saga is exactly the type of game I stand up for. It’s the type of thing that should directly appeal and have my heart in…
You have to be a little off to be a tanker. These men jammed themselves into a noisy steel warmachine and thundered across the countryside while other crazy men threw high velocity tungsten rounds at them. It was a confined hell that smelled of sweat and petrol. All they had was each other and their…
I always thought Wormtongue was misunderstood. During his appearances in the Lord of the Rings he gets shafted by Tolkien, often described as a serpent. He had performed Saruman’s bidding by working to weaken King Theoden of Rohan; his motivation being his love of Eowyn, the king’s niece. Maybe he was a sycophant and manipulator,…
Yuck. I can appreciate a top 10 list from afar, curious to know Joel Eddy or Mark Bigney’s take on their top releases of the year, but I will always struggle to craft my own. Not because the actual choosing of games is difficult but because the penning of lists is an activity akin to…
Netrunner is a church. Those who seek it must first contact another member and begin the divine rights. You then try to fit in with the congregation, mumbling odd phrases and proprietary language. Tithing comes in the form of little plastic blisters containing cardboard theological teachings. It can consume your life as you become engulfed…
I’ve never really been a hunter. The Deer Hunter is one of my favorite films but I’ve never shot a living creature. I can see your face starting to wrinkle and this is all going South. Don’t worry, Merlin’s Beast Hunt doesn’t ask you to climb into a deer blind and rub foul urine on your…
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…
