Root: A Game of Woodland Might and Right (Saturday Review)

It was quiet in the deep, dark wood. Everything was still and nothing stirred - but everyone was ready. The cats had taken up their position in every clearing, six birds were waiting patiently by their roost in one corner of the forest, the racoon had taken cover deep in the woods and the crows were biding their time in a handful of clearings of their choice. The moment was near. It was time to decide who was the best animal in the woodland, who was the Root by Cole Wehrle from Leder Games.

Biblios (Digital Eyes)

You were proud of your large library and your hard-working group of scribes was continually adding new tomes, with wonderfully decorative lettering and illustrations. However, you only had so much gold and the best scribes weren't cheap, but you had to somehow continue growing your collection of books to keep the bishop happy and outdo other abbots who were vying for influence. So you persevered and did what you could to have the most Biblios by Steve Finn from iello.

5 Medium Weight Christmas Board Games (Saturday Review)

Yes, Christmas is just around the corner, so it's time for me to put together lists of games you might want to get out over the holidays and play. I thought I'd start with a list of five games that you can play with all the family. These games are easy to teach and learn and quite quick to play. Most of them can be played up to four players, so if you have a large family gathering, you might need to split into smaller groups. I hope you find this list useful.

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile (Saturday Review)

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.

Fluttering Souls (Saturday Review)

Takahama was dying. We were tending to him and tried to make him as comfortable as possible. The windows were wide open and a warm breeze filled the room. Takahama was muttering about how he was too ill to visit his love Akiko's grave and how she would miss the white rose he brought her every day. We told him that he would visit again as soon as he was better, when suddenly, a pure white butterfly flew in through one of the windows and landed on his pillow. We tried to shoo it away, but to no avail. The butterfly would keep coming back, so we relented and allowed it to stay. Takahama looked at the butterfly, smiled and then his final breath left his lungs, as he died in peace. The butterfly saw this, lifted off the pillow and flew out of one of the windows. We didn't know this at the time, but it flew all the way to Akiko's grave and when it landed, it disappeared. The butterfly was one of the Fluttering Souls by Joel Lewis from Good Games Publishing.

Golems (Saturday Review)

There was darkness everywhere. The surface of the Earth was empty and cold. There was no noise, nothing stirred or moved. It was an arid place, void of everything - a blank canvas - but you would change all that. You would command the energies of the Earth and mould lifeless piles of mud into creatures that would populate the world. It was the time of the Golems by ThunderGryph Games.

Rebis (Saturday Review)

"Bubble, bubble, my lovely potions," you cackle gleefully as you carefully stir more solvents into the vial that's slowly being heated over the Bunsen burner. The library you're working in is full of old, musty smelling books full of alchemic knowledge, carefully annotated and added to by the many generations of scientists who have come before you. You can't stop now. You're so close. The light is fading but your candles still provide enough light. Then you hear the familiar voice of your housekeeper: "It's time to stop now, Rebis" by Gaetano Cavallaro from Thundergryph Games.

15 Days (Saturday Review)

The seasons had been disrupted, a clear indication that climate change was taking its toll. Animal migrations were affected and everything was out of sync. We had to do everything we could to restore order in the world and make everything right again. However, we only had 15 Days by ThunderGryph Games.

UFO Wave (Saturday Review)

We had reached the planet Earth. There were many of us who had been watching the people of Earth for a long time, sometimes interacting with humans, sometimes influencing events on the planet. We had come from different worlds, many light-years away, because we felt mankind was an interesting species and we wanted to help them become a great people. We just had to be careful, as we had been spotted, and it was time for another UFO Wave by Paradigm Games.

Pilfering Pandas (Saturday Review)

Things had gone missing - food, to be precise. Someone was taking bits of food here and there and stashing it away somewhere, hiding it from the eyes of everyone, especially the keepers. It quickly became clear that it wasn't any of the visitors to the zoo, but one of the animals - or a group of animals. The meerkats were acting suspiciously as well and were clearly involved. However, as security camera footage was closely monitored over the coming days, it came as a shock that the zoo had a group of Pilfering Pandas by Wren Games.