Card and Dice Poll 2021

Iain McAllister – Critic

Website: giantbrain.co.uk

Social Media: @thegiantbrain

Selections

Lords of Vegas – the highs and lows of the casino in a game with an amazing emotional rollercoaster of mechanics.

Root – just keeps getting better and better with every play. An amazing example of asymmetric gaming.

Gloomhaven – an astonishing vision of what a game can be in one box. A whole world to explore and some of the best combat mechanics out there

Arkham Horror LCG – great stories, loads of variation and lots of ways to approach play. Expensive, but great.

Patchwork – looks fluffy on the outside but is a cutthroat game of efficiency and spatial reasoning. Perfect

Spirit Island – the best value for money of any game I have ever played. Great mechanics, the reverse colonialism theme is brilliant and loads of replayability. That’s before you get to the expansions.

Dobble – loads of games in an unassuming tin that will just keep you playing and playing. Beautiful, simple design

Netrunner – THE two player card game with asymmetric sides and lots of variety. Project Nisei doing amazing work keeping the game going.

Kemet – troops on a map that gets rid of any of the build up of those games and throws you right into the battle. Fast, Aggressive, barrels of fun.

King of Tokyo – filler for sure, but what filler. Massive monsters battling it out with straightforward mechanics and a chunky production that just feels great.