Village Rails (Saturday Review)
Nestled between hills and blanketed with beautiful fields of grass, where cows grazed happily, our village was in the perfect place. Country life was slow and relaxed, because nobody had anywhere urgent to get to. However, that was all going to change soon. Metal tracks were soon going to crisscross between hills and along rivers. They would connect our sleepy corner of the world. They were the Village Rails by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert from Osprey Games.
Top Table Award 2022 – the best board games of the year (Saturday Review)
Yes, it’s time for my annual list of the best games of the year. As has become tradition, I also announce which game won the accolade of the Top Table Award, which is now in its fourth year. However, you have to be patient for a little while longer, while I list the best five board games of 2022 in reverse order.
Gaslands: Refuelled (Saturday Review)
The apocalypse has finally come. After the breakdown of society, survivors have formed gangs of motorheads, that scour the wasteland for rare and very precious petrol reserves. Their vehicles are highly tricked-out, finely tuned, heavily reinforced and equipped with a wide range of weapons. They will stop at nothing, which is exactly why a small number of the surviving rich elite have organised deadly races, where the gangs are pitted against each other to be the first to reach the finishing line and claim their prize – or be the last survivor in the arena of these Gaslands: Refuelled by Mike Hutchinson from Osprey Games.
Undaunted: Normandy (Saturday Review)
We had just landed in Normandy. It was the summer of 1944, but it was relatively cold. We were thousands of miles from home and the landscape was unknown to us. Yet, we had to push deeper into a country we didn’t know in our goal to push the German forces out of France. There was regular machine gun fire and mortar bombardment. It was really scary, but we remained Undaunted: Normandy by Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson from Osprey Games.
Crescent Moon (Saturday Review)
The Caliphate is in turmoil. The Murshid spreads its influence and whispers into the Sultan’s ear, trying to affect where they build their magnificent towns and cities. The Warlord ravages the lands, plundering and destroying everything in their way. Nothing is safe and everyone has their own goals. So as the sun sets on the deserts, mountains and fertile lands and as day turns to night, the warring factions prepare for another day and get ready to put their plans into action. For now, though, it’s the time of the Crescent Moon by Steven Mathers from Osprey Games.
Brian Boru: High King of Ireland (Saturday Review)
It is the 11th century AD and the Vikings regularly invade our lands, while my domestic rivals try to forcefully take territory from me, without much luck. My military prowess is well known and I prove myself again and again, while also forging political alliances by strategically arranging marriages between my family members and other important houses. I even have time to rebuild the many monasteries in my realm, bringing the Church and its wealth onto my side. My name is Brian Boru: High King of Ireland by Peer Sylvester from Osprey Games.
Cryptid: Urban Legends (Saturday Review)
There is something hiding in the city. I’m sure of it. I keep finding clues and my detectors are picking up very strange signals – but I need proof! Hard facts that I can present to the science community to make them believe that I have found a Cryptid: Urban Legends by Hal Duncan and Ruth Veevers from Osprey Games.
The King is Dead (2nd Edition) (Digital Eyes)
The country was divided again. The Scottish were biding their time in the North, the Welsh were ready to pounce from the West, while the English tried to show some sort of semblance of the controlling power in the rest of the British Isles. At the same time, foreign countries were keeping a keen eye on the developing situation, ready to take advantage of the chaos that was about to ensue. It was up to us to marshal our troops and exert our influence, trying to ensure that the resulting dominant power that would eventually claim the throne was in our favour – and all of this only happened, because The King is Dead by Osprey Games.