‘Expected’. This is the word that continually flitters across my mind when I’m thinking about Apiary. It’s a very conventional Stonemaier Games title. It integrates the trend of a nature setting (bees) with a slight twist of a popular but divergent genre (science fiction). It’s an interesting concept that will raise your eyebrows upon first…
Every night, a collection of villains awakes in a mysterious castle. This dwelling sits on the border of hell and unreality. It hosts various implements to serve as weaponry, concealed traps to claim flesh, and a slumbering vampire that seeks blood. You are one of the forsaken doomed to wander the halls and fight to…
This is Prospero Hall realizing their full potential. Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Slaughterhouse is better than the previous echelon of Jaws, Rear Window, and Horrified. It’s the studio coming together to produce a relatively accessible mainstream board game with engrossing, clever, and intense design finishes. This is white hot and blood red. As an adaptation of…
GMT’s 2023 solitaire epic Mr. President: The American Presidency, 2001-2020 has my soul vibrating. I put off playing this thing for months as its complexity is wearying, even when just fumbling through the stacks of counter sheets and half dozen printed booklets. My first session took over an hour to setup. My first play nearly…
This game is just silly. You got two drivers competing for speed in a beguiling race. But they’re not actually driving cars, instead they’re tracing a route along a racetrack with a dry erase marker. They can’t lift up the pen and must keep it pressed to the surface so that the path is continuous.…
Sea of Thieves is the latest video game to tabletop adaptation courtesy of Steamforged Games. That’s a matter of fact introduction, but this is a matter of fact game. Unlike many of the other titles produced by this publisher, there are no swanky miniatures or glitzy plastic upgrades. The box size is what we used…
The Last Kingdom is a Netflix series that found modest success across its five seasons. Based on a collection of novels from Bernard Cornwell called The Saxon Stories, this historical drama follows Uhtred of Bebbanburg, an enigmatic and ambitious warrior who was born a Saxon but raised by Vikings. It emerged in a cluttered historical…
I’m not terribly familiar with Dan Hundycz’s body of work. While he’s designed several titles, the only release of his I’ve previously played is an odd one called AFFLICTION: Salem 1692. Unfortunately, that was not about the clothing brand of the same name, but instead focused on the hysteria of the Salem witch trials. It…
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols (LRRPs) were a fixture of U.S. military doctrine during the Vietnam War. They consisted of small teams of well-trained soldiers with a versatile armament and skillset. These units traveled deep into enemy-held territory to perform a variety of tasks. They are also the titular subject matter of Mike Lambo’s 17th solitaire…
Right out the gate, Gears of War: The Card Game has a hill to climb. Steamforged Games’ take on this Xbox franchise is always going to be fighting for ground against Fantasy Flight’s 2011 Gears of War board game. That fantastic dungeon crawler was one of many classic titles birthed by the FFG studio during…
Player Elimination 