On occasion, I fancy a game that has no theme. Removing the possibility of fitting a square-pegged theme into a round hole, an abstract game just presents itself as a function of play, plain and simple. The coagulation of rules...
Category: Board Games
Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula Review
Not every game is easy to learn or teach. 2019 was a year filled with games that sit at or above the medium-heavy level of complexity. These are games with pages rule, lots of components, and a plethora of decisions....
Kickstarters of the Week: 6/1
June has finally arrived and with it comes warmer weather as the states have finally started to open-up. Unfortunately, we don’t have any conventions to look forward to this summer, unless you are excited about virtual cons online. Time will...
Azul: Summer Pavilion Review
3 years ago, Next Move Games released a surprise hit in their abstract strategy game Azul. You can read Andrews’s review of it here if you want the ins and outs, but overall I found it to be an entertaining...
Oboro Ninja Star Trick Review
When I say I love trick-taking games, I mean it. One of my best gaming events in recent memory was a trick-taking focused mini-convention that I drove 2.5 hours to, even though I could only stay for one night. In...
Documenting Designing
Being on camera is not easy. If you’ve ever tried to film something for YouTube or other social media where you need to share your self-image, it can be challenging as well as intimidating. Never mind that we’re by nature...
The Emerald Flame Preview
Note: This preview uses pre-release components and rules. What you see here may be different from the final, published game. “Greetings, My name is Jules Remond, and as head of the Koschei Society of scholar, I write to you today...
Kickstarters of the Week: 5/25
As we get ready to close out May, normally we’d be pretty excited for the start of convention season. But with Gen Con officially canceled last week, the last domino has fallen. Maybe we’ll get a convention in the winter...
Court of the Dead: Mourners Call Review
Some readers can skip this introduction entirely. The next game to weigh on the scales of Anubis is Court of the Dead with arguably the strangest theme this reviewer has ever come across. For those who are already familiar, skip...
Charterstone Digital Review
Back in 2017, Stonemaier games released heir legacy worker placement game Charterstone. It was a unique idea at the time, and although I was a fan of it in my original review, I’d probably have rated it a bit lower...