A Stunning Tile-Laying Adventure in the Pacific Northwest Cascadia is one of the most consistently recommended games on this site and for good reason. It is accessible, beautiful, well-produced, and produces genuinely interesting decisions across every player count. It won the Spiel des Jahres in 2022 and it earns that award every time it hits … Read more
The Brilliant Abstract Strategy Game You Need to Try Hive is one of those games that looks deceptively simple until someone pins your Queen Bee and you suddenly realise you have been outmanoeuvred for the past four turns. It is a two-player abstract strategy game with no board and no luck. Just you, your opponent, … Read more
The tile-laying classic where the landscape is different every single game Carcassonne is a tile-laying game for 2 to 5 players in 35 to 45 minutes. Each turn you draw a tile and place it to extend the medieval landscape, then optionally place a meeple on a road, city, monastery, or farm to claim it. … Read more
The most strategic game in the Azul serie, and the one that needs the most explanation before you can enjoy it What Is Azul: Queen’s Garden? Azul: Queen’s Garden is the Azul series at its most complex. If the original Azul is a satisfying afternoon puzzle, Queen’s Garden is what happens when designer Michael Kiesling … Read more
Harmonies is a game I was introduced to at UK Games Expo last year and I have been a big fan ever since. It is the kind of game that looks like a gentle puzzle and turns out to have more interesting decisions than you expected. The kind of game you finish and immediately want … Read more
A Fresh Take on a Modern Classic Azul: Summer Pavilion is the third standalone game in the Azul series, and the one I would call the most forgiving. That is not a criticism. Sometimes forgiving is exactly what you want. The original Azul can be ruthless. Take too many tiles you cannot place and the … Read more
For me it’s a Game That Keeps Getting Better I have played more Azul than any other game in my collection over the last 18 months. That is not a small statement given the competition on my shelves. It has hit the table at family get-togethers, late-night two-player sessions, and more rounds on Board Game … Read more
