Tag: Components

Immersive resources (Topic Discussion)

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As you probably know by now, I'm a very visual person. I love great illustrations in board games, hence my series "Let me illustrate" highlighting board game artists in the industry. At the same time, a board game with an amazing look alone is not enough. The gameplay needs to be great too and the rules must not be more complicated than necessary for the weight of the game. So in this article, I want to look at how important realistic resources are to me in games.

Player aids (Topic Discussion)

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Teaching a game isn't easy and the same is true for learning. The teacher will do their best to explain everything and get everything right, but the first play of a game should always be chalked down to experience. Players should do what they can to help and expect mistakes to creep in. However, there are also things the game itself can do to make learning a new game easier, some of which will also help with playing the game again later.

The Fox in the Forest: Duet (Saturday Review)

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The woodcutter and I were travelling the lands when we reached a kingdom far to the south. Its people were most distraught, because the fairies of the woods had kidnapped the most famous musician whose music made everything better. Of course, we agreed to help the people without hesitation. We ventured into the forest and peeked under every leaf and fern and beneath the shelf of every mushroom until we finally found the musician, surrounded by angry fairies. Overjoyed, they played an enchanting lullaby that made the fairies go to sleep and allowed us to escape. After reuniting the musician with the people, we were celebrated as heroes and from that moment on were both known as The Fox in the Forest Duet by Foxtrot Games from Renegade Game Studios.

Junk Forts (Saturday Review)

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Get your friends together, grab some bits from the local junkyard and assemble everything into the best stronghold you can, to be crowned champion of the Junk Forts by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert from Inside the Box Board Games.

Colt Express (Saturday Review)

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It's the 11th of July in the year of our Lord 1899. At 10am Mountain Daylight Time, the Union Pacific Express departed Folsom in Union County, New Mexico as scheduled, but only a few minutes after leaving the village's last buildings behind, heavily armed bandits started robbing the 47 passengers, taking purses and jewellery. A short while later, gunshots could be heard and some of the bandits had climbed onto the roof of the train. It was feared that Marshal Samuel Ford, who was protecting the Nice Valley Coal Company's weekly pay, was being attacked. The whole incident went down in history as the "Attack of the Colt Express" by Christophe Raimbault from Ludonaute.

Top 5 Board Games of 2021 (Saturday Review)

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Yes, it's the time of year again where I list the 5 board games that I think were the best in 2021. The games don't necessarily have to have been published this year, but as long as I have played them in 2021, they qualify to appear on this list. Of course, as is now custom on the Tabletop Games Blog, the #1 game will receive the exclusive and prestigious Top Table Award. I know you're already at the edge of your seat to find out who got the coveted trophy, but let me list the top 5 board games of 2021 in reverse order, to raise the excitement even further and make you wait a little bit longer.

5 Heavy Christmas Board Games (Saturday Review)

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Most of us will have a lot of spare time over the holidays and if we have board game enthusiasts among the family, this is the perfect time to set up and play some heavy games. We might also have more time to meet up with our games group and again, now is the time to get those heavy games to the table that we might not feel like playing of an evening after a busy day at work. So, here are 5 heavy board games I think you should play over the holidays.

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile (Saturday Review)

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As the Chancellor, I had the people on my side. The Empire was going to thrive and grow and be beautiful. Yet, there were rumours of Exiles stirring in the Provinces and Hinterland, trying their best to claw back control. They were two visionaries, one stomping through the regions, using brute force to exert their influence and letting the wolves lose on anyone who would get in their way, while the other was biding their time in the Salt Flats, enlisting the help of witches and unnatural powers, trying to glean secrets and waiting for the right moment to strike. Both were intent on taking over the Empire, because they both had sworn an Oath by Cole Wehrle from Leder Games.

Migration: Mars (Saturday Review)

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Our spaceship had safely landed on Mars and it didn't take too long to convert it into our base station. A few other corporations had done the same and we could just about see them in the distance. There was even an embassy station that was there to try and keep the peace. However, we were quite some way off thinking about politics. All of our energy was spent mining resources so we could build tunnels and other buildings to grow our settlement and increase our population. It would take a long time, but eventually, we would finish project Migration: Mars by Enhance Games.

Resourceful components (Topic Discussion)

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Over the years, I've played many games where you produce and have to manage resources of one kind or another. These can range from traditional things such as coal and ore or wheat and sheep to money, gems, energy or similar. Different games represent resources differently, so in this article, I want to look at what you might come across when you play a resource management game.