Wine, Workers and the Good Life The Short Version Viticulture is a worker placement game about running a winery in Tuscany. You plant vines, harvest grapes, age wine, and fill orders, all while competing with up to five other players for the same spaces on the board. It is probably the friendliest worker placement game … Read more
A Forest at War with Itself The Short Version – Tl;Dr Root is the most ambitious board game on my shelf, and also the one most likely to cause someone to quietly fold their arms and say ‘actually, I don’t think this is for me.’ It puts 2–4 players in control of rival factions fighting … Read more
The industrial revolution, reconstructed in card and wooden disc form. Brass: Birmingham is the kind of game that takes about ninety minutes to teach someone properly and then about three years to fully understand. It is a two-phase economic network builder set in 18th and 19th century Birmingham, where you are building industries, connecting cities, … Read more
Onitama is the game I describe as chess for people who find chess intimidating, and chess players usually agree it holds up. It is a two-player abstract played on a five-by-five grid, where both players move their pieces using a rotating set of movement cards. No memorising piece types. No decades-long theory to study. Just … Read more
The Egyptian mythology area control game that rewards aggression and punishes patience. One of The Most Aggressive Euros Game You Will Find Kemet is an area control game for 2 to 5 players in 90 to 120 minutes. You are an Egyptian civilisation competing to reach 8 victory points by attacking temples, recruiting mythological creatures, … Read more
Everdell is the game that gets commented on before anyone has taken a turn. The Ever Tree centrepiece dominates the table. The resource tokens are smooth, chunky, and satisfying to handle. Andrew Bosley’s artwork on every card is detailed and warm and feels genuinely hand-crafted. And then, once you start playing, you discover the game … Read more
Few two-player board games manage to hit the perfect balance of strategy, tension, and replayability quite like 7 Wonders Duel. Whether you’re a seasoned strategist or a newcomer to the world of board games, this modern classic delivers an experience that keeps you coming back for more. 7 Wonders Duel is a game I have … Read more
An excellent Cooperative Board Game for Two Sky Team is the kind of game that gets your heart racing. You and a co-pilot are landing a commercial aircraft. You cannot discuss your dice. One wrong placement and you are spiralling into the runway. Every round the tension builds and the final approach feels genuinely stressful … Read more
We first played 7 Wonders at UK Games Expo in 2023 and were not sure what to expect. By the end of the first game we were already negotiating a rematch. After that we played it constantly on Board Game Arena for months until we picked up our own copy. Designed by Antoine Bauza and … 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
