In another life, I was infatuated with Neuroshima Hex. Almost exactly 10 years ago, I wrote this soliloquy at Fortress Ameritrash extolling the virtues of Michal Oracz’s design. The game was already nearly a decade old at that time. This thing is grizzled as hell. The truth is I no longer play Neuroshima Hex. While…
Beyond Sextus Empiricus (a noteworthy Greek skeptic, not an Imperator from the Citadel), absolutely no one should be doubting that Bitewing Games has cornered the Reiner Knizia market. Their reign of cardboard terror continues with the doctor’s Ichor, a reworking of his 2009 positional abstract Battle for Olympus. I have no experience with that previous…
“Now my doom is upon me. Let me not then die ingloriously without a struggle, but in the working of some great deed to be told among men hereafter.” Reiner Knizia’s latest – a truly new release and not one brought back from the dead – depicts the ferocious battle between Achilles and Hector as…
Some games fire me up. They make my hair stand on end and my heartbeat. This isn’t Lacuna. Lacuna makes everything still. It imparts a serene tone that emphasizes play above competition. And it does so in a non-traditional way. Everyone likes to point out this game comes in a tube. Yes, tubes are weird…
Atlantic Robot League offers inspiration. You inhabit the role of a savvy gambler, placing indiscriminate bets on mile high robots slugging away at each other. It’s the kind of dramatic far-future concept I’d liken to Robot Jocks meets The Cincinatti Kid. Plus, it’s a Wizkids game. I don’t embrace all of their releases, but Zev…
Pathfinder: Level 20 is the first design collaboration between Lynnvander Studios and Gale Force Nine. This small-box game is many things, but it definitely ain’t honest. Its first fib is the tall tale concept – anyone who has played the tabletop RPGs Pathfinder or Dungeons & Dragons knows that level 20 is a myth. It’s…
Yes, that’s correct, GoCaine. This indie design from Richard Nguyen-Marshall and Kharitago Games combines cocaine trafficking with the ancient Japanese game of Go. Peanut butter and jelly. GoCaine. Sure, it’s a little nutty. That’s what drew me to it. The systems employed are simple. Up to six players take turns performing a single action followed…
Player Elimination 