Gale Force Nine is an interesting company. They produced some of the very best board games of the previous decade, including titles such as Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, Sons of Anarchy: Men of Mayhem, and Star Trek: Ascendancy. Then, their all-star design team departed and things changed. I wasn’t overly optimistic that…
What strikes me about Wonderland’s War is that it’s intensely modern. I say this for several reasons. It’s visually gorgeous and wonderfully tactile. It wraps the game around conflict, but there’s no sense of cruelty or aggression. It checks the box of strong variability with rotational content. It’s also engineered from the souls of others,…
I’m still chuckling at the absurd length of both the game’s and this article’s title. However, it fits with the way the MCU has slammed together sequels and crossovers with reckless abandon. I’ve written at length of my own personal Marvel cinematic renaissance. Since then, I’ve kept up with most of the ongoing films and…
In 1993 Richard Garfield hit it big. He had the ingenious – and parasitical – idea of taking the collectible sports card model and applying it to a game. Magic: The Gathering was the genesis of something culturally significant. It has spawned millions of dollars for Wizards of the Coast, as well as thousands of…
I love the track. We have this dirt hole of a paddock, a loud and raucous environment that’s as much a party as it is a pedestal for hoofed contest. Stepping through that turnstile is like entering another world, a Disneyland dedicated to debauchery. Of course I love horse racing games too. It’s a genre…
The Hunters is a big game. It unfolds across the table with swollen cardboard limbs. It spits hundreds of cards in all directions, cards to represent locations, enemies, and story. No speck of surface is left unsoiled. In fact, you may not even be able to fit it all on your table. Such is life…
Listen up, boppers. We have a new cut from that cool crew called Prospero Hall. A slick hit for our friends in the mass market. It only takes a smooth 45, but we gonna play this one all night long. You hear me, babies? All night long. It’s still on. And we’re playing. Now, everybody…
Warning: RPG Content Ahead I don’t often write about roleplaying games. That’s because I don’t really play them. Anymore at least. That is, until this past week. Yes, dedicated reader, I did play through the Animal Adventures boxed set with my daughter; it was a grand time. And while I don’t want to lessen that…
Core Space just gets me. It does so much of what I want from a miniatures game. A restrained yet satisfying ruleset that is easy to recall even with months between sessions. A free form and light campaign system which can be engaged on my own terms. An interesting and characterful setting that remains vague…
Godtear is not what I expected. It’s tighter and more succinct than the standard Steamforged Games release. The ruleset is very clean and sensible, surprisingly so. Better yet, it manages to avoid any native sense of sterility that is common in stripped down conflict-oriented designs. All things told, this is a fantastic work. Before I…
Player Elimination 