weekly board game reviews and thought pieces in written and audio format
Passions flamed and power waned. Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived. First Catherine of Aragon, who had the most time to establish loyal supporters and powerful allies, then Anne Boleyn, queen for less than a year. They were followed by Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Katherine Parr. These were The Six of VIII by Carol LaGrow from New Mill Industries.
Oliver KinnePost read time 5 min readLeave a Comment on Immersive Thematics – board games that draw you in (Topic Discussion)I love a good game with an atmospheric setting. I want to feel the cold as my meeples climb up the mountain, hear the bees as I place my apple tree hexes in my cider orchard, smell the smoke and the grease when my trains operate or see the next station that my underground train enters. A game that whisks you away and fully immerses you in another world for an hour or two or three is truly awesome. In this article, I want to look at a few that do it for me.
Oliver KinnePost read time 5 min readLeave a Comment on Mysticana: A Foundation Deck (Saturday Review)The elements are alive in our realm. The water element can douse the deadly flames of the fire element that would otherwise leave behind deeply scorched earth, while the earth element itself has the power to consume the waters of a dozen seas. The three elements are in constant battle, balancing each other out at times in infinite variations of their eternal cycles. Yet none of the three elements can ever reign supreme in the realm of Mysticana: A Foundation Deck by Dustin Dobson and Jamie Thul from Button Shy.
Oliver KinnePost read time 4 min readLeave a Comment on Box Clever – board games where the box is integral (Topic Discussion)I am a hater of air and a lover of compact design. What I mean by that is that I don't like games where most of the box is empty, with components just floating around. I prefer it when the product design is clever and either has a good insert or otherwise makes everything compact. If a game goes the extra step and makes the box itself an integral component, then I'm super impressed. So in this article, I want to look at some examples that I think do it really well.
Space: an endless void with countless stars, some of which capable of harbouring a planet that can support life. Yadda, yadda, yadda. You already know the spiel. So, without further ado let me introduce the Doomlings: Upgrade Pack by Justus and Andrew Meyer from Doomlings.
I have always felt that the theme or setting of a game can really help with learning it. In a game about the Spice Routes, for example, it will be instinctively clear why there are mechanisms to exchange resources of different types with each other or for money. After all, that's what the spice trade was mainly about. However, a game's theme or setting isn't necessarily useful. Sometimes it can be a hindrance. In this article, I want to look at this a bit more closely.
Rejoice, my friends! It’s time for our annual convention, where collectors from around the world gather to trade their tiny postal treasures. We must prepare our most beautiful and best-arranged collection and show it to the expert crowd. If we do well, we may walk away with the top prize at this year’s Stamp Swap by Paul Salomon from Stonemaier Games.
Aye, let me tell ye, it's nae just another day in the engine room! There we were, mindin' our own business, when a ripple in time itself plucks me and three of me trusted crewmates right out of our own century! Next thing ye know, we're smack dab in the aftermath of the Battle of Wolf 359. We've got to deal w' snarlin' Klingon warriors, Romulan spies and these strange machine-creatures. If that wasn't enough, we’ve got some right-determined Federation teams makin' things difficult. We were right in the middle of one of those Star Trek: Away Missions - Commander Scotty: Federation Expansion by Andrew Haught, Mike Haught and Phil Yates from Gale Force Nine.
I know that some people hate player interaction. They prefer a multi-player solitaire experience, where they are in full control of their destiny. If they win, it's down to how well they played. However, I quite like player interaction, both negative and positive. Being able to form temporary alliances that are eventually broken or having a way of stopping another player from getting too far ahead can be fun for me. So in this article, I want to look at player interaction in a bit more detail.
The spacefaring cultures were moving their forces through the gates and across the systems, changing the control in the clusters in the Reach. The balance of the court was also no longer guaranteed. Agents were making their influence known and securing their positions. It didn't take long for the first battles to start, damaging cities and spaceports and leading to captives and trophies. Maneuvering was getting almost impossible and the only way to move fleets was in Arcs by Cole Wehrle from Leder Games.
