City of Bones – An Undaunted: Stalingrad Review

Undaunted: Stalingrad is a powerful experience. It takes Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson’s acclaimed system and marries it to a campaign format that is engrossing and transcendent. The battle of Stalingrad is captured with such purpose and intimacy that I felt as if I was wandering through an HBO miniseries immersed in dramatic action. I’ve…

DO A FRIEND A FAVOR – An Ambush! Review

Eight men, spread far enough apart to minimize casualties in the case of an explosion, yet close enough together to keep their fears in check. They snuck through the French countryside in search of danger. Sgt. Gillick wasn’t green, but he also wasn’t grizzled. Unfortunate circumstances led to his squad performing reconnaissance on the sector.…

Jank Mecha Battles – An Embryo Machine Review

Giant mechs beating the hell out of each other in verdant fields. Asymmetrical loadouts and special technology. Weapons expressed through custom decks. Action programming tickled with a dramatic damage system. Vibrant illustrations and inspired mecha designs. What’s not to like? Embryo Machine. This is not a terrible game. Rather, it’s disappointing. Embryo Machine is a…

Unhappy Trails – A Final Girl Review

Final Girl is widely considered Van Ryder Games’ best title. This was evident with the ‘Series 2’ Kickstarter campaign crossing the two-million-dollar threshold earlier this year. That’s wild capital for a game that is parted out in $15 slices of content. Supremely wild. The energy behind this second Kickstarter campaign was immense. The game was…

On Cole Wehrle and John Company

Cole Wehrle’s John Company knocked the wind out of me in 2017. It’s remained one of my favorite games since. I’ve never written about it. I have written about Wehrle’s other recent efforts, including Root, Pax Pamir, and the mighty Oath. His work is brilliant, all the way down. My challenges of writing about John…

Going Where Eagles Dare – A V-Sabotage Review

V-Sabotage originally debuted in 2016 under the title of V-Commandos. At the time it was an unknown game from an unknown publisher. It received a small amount of positive press but mostly was content operating in the shadows, white-knuckling a KA-BAR and waiting to strike. That initial push was enough to gain some momentum which…

A Tiny Towns Review

Tiny Towns is a Peter McPherson design from way back in 2019. It’s a polyomino builder where you place cubes in a grid. The aim is to make shapes that then convert into little buildings. It’s a very comforting activity, stylistically and mechanically. There’s a serenity in these types of experiences, doing your own thing…