Lisboa, Portuguese eurogame master Vital Lacerda’s newest design, is a visual and mechanical smorgasboard–a hodgepodge of player incentives, feedback loops, and iconography teetering on the brink of “too much!” Until, of course, you play through your first game. Then, thinking … Continued
I just spent the weekend down in Connecticut at “Connclave” playing games non-stop. I know you’re all immensely jealous about that fact, so I’m here to spread the love. Here are some mini-reviews of every single game I played that … Continued
You stare at the grid of faces. Some are human. Others–robots. It doesn’t matter. All that matters are the faces, and the names. Is the killer next to you? You’ve been investigating hard, and you’ve narrowed down the killer’s identity … Continued
How can this not be a first impression? Has anyone ever finished Gloomhaven? It’s so big and so immense in its scope that I fear that it can’t live up to the expectations I’ve created in my mind. I still … Continued
I’ve been learning and playing a lot of new games recently, but none of them have made the impression that Concordia has after only one play. It’s been a few days and I’m still thinking about strategic possibilities and how … Continued
I have this theory, supported by some evidence, that game designers have to harbor a bit of cruelty for the participants in their games in order to make great games. We see this with Uwe Rosenberg, who built a punishing … Continued
I don’t think I’ll create any controversy by saying that the War on Terror is, and has been, a mess. A war of intelligence gathering and ideology as much as it is about traditional combat, we’ve seen it stretch to … Continued
Yesterday the Thoughtful Gamer group went to Knight Moves, a local board game cafe, to try out some games we hadn’t played before. I had a great time, and the cafe was lovely. I’ll definitely be doing some more “new … Continued
After quickly reading through the “set-up” portion in the Millennium Blades rulebook, I found myself sitting in front of a stack of cards about five inches tall. Apparently I was supposed to shuffle this monstrosity. Clearly I misread the rulebook. … Continued
Scythe contains one of the most purely satisfying actions I’ve ever experienced in a board game. Picture this: a beautiful individual player board that shows every action available. On this board, slotted into indentations from that rad double-layer cardboard thing … Continued