Category: Podcasts

Sleeping Gods (Saturday Review)

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We had been transported to another world, another time maybe. The stars were all wrong, not matching any of the charts we had on board our ship, the Manticore. Captain Sofi Odessa decided we should make landfall and spotted a natural harbour nearby. As we got closer, we saw an old woman waving to us from the shore. It seemed like she had been expecting us. Once we had dropped anchor, we went to the starboard side to speak to the woman and find out what she wanted. She was clearly excited to see us and immediately told us that we were here to wake the Sleeping Gods by Red Raven Games.

Food for friends (Topic Discussion)

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It's been a question that I've tried to tackle a few times before and that has been ongoing in board game circles for decades (probably): whether food and drinks should be allowed at the board game table. There are many different opinions and they range from wanting to keep everything pristine to only caring about having fun with friends. Everyone will have to decide for themselves, but in this article, I want to look at a number of possible approaches. (This article was inspired by a discussion on my Discord.)

One Card Wonder (Saturday Review)

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Building the Colossus was going to require a lot of resources. Some iron for the base, many carefully hewn and ornately dressed stones to create a strong structure that would represent our most revered sun-god Helios. Chares, the sculptor, oversaw the project from start to finish to ensure the Gods would smile on us and our country's fortunes well into the future. We all knew it was going to be hard work, but it seemed that the Gods helped us along and building the whole structure was over more quickly than anyone expected. In fact, it was so quick that we couldn't wait to build yet another One Card Wonder by Ape Games.

Ideal ideals (Topic Discussion)

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When reviewing games, you look at rulebooks, components, complexity, playing time, illustrations, setting and many other things, but ultimately you focus on the experience you got when playing the game. The thing is, what you enjoy playing changes over time. In this article, I want to look at whether we should compare games against our expectations or whether it would make more sense to check them against some other benchmark. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)

The King is Dead (2nd Edition) (Digital Eyes)

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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.

Agreed differences (Topic Discussion)

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Gone are the days where every game gave every player the same starting setup and the same actions or abilities. More and more games these days come with factions who all have different powers, or if they all have the same, then they at least have a different starting setup. In this article, I want to look at those types of games where every player around the table basically plays a different game.

Kombo Klash (Saturday Review)

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There was one creature waiting in each corner of the square battle arena and a tower of tiles was in its centre. It was the quiet before the storm as the players looked at their five tiles and silently contemplated the best way of playing them. It was vital that tiles were placed in the right place at the right time to score the most points, while denying other players their chance of racing into the lead. After all, only one of the players would be victorious in this Kombo Klash by Hub Games.

Let’s escape (Topic Discussion)

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Board games can be a great way of escaping from the day-to-day worries, thoughts and general logistics, even if it's just for a short time. Board games are just one form of escapism, of course. Books, films, arts and crafts, hiking, solving crossword puzzles and many other activities can achieve something very similar for yourself or other people. You have to find what works for you, but in this article, I want to talk about board games and how they are a form of escapism for me.

Kittin (Saturday Review)

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You will never, in your life, see cats co-operate to create gravity-defying sculptures. It just doesn't happen. Cats tolerating each other is about as far as it gets. However, that's exactly what happens in this latest mint tin dexterity game. I can already hear you asking me: "Are you Kittin?" by Alley Cat Games.

Learning digital (Topic Discussion)

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We all learn rules for games differently. I would even say, we learn rules differently for different games. I do like games that are easy to teach and learn, where the rules allow you to start playing pretty much straight away and you learn new rules as you go along. However, that's not always possible and for more complex games, learning rules tends to be more involved. Yet, now that more and more games are also available digitally, there seems to be another way of learning a new game.