Some games arrive quietly, sit on a shelf for a while, then suddenly reappear with confidence. Tacta is one of those. Originally designed by Jason Tremblay and first published by The Op Games, it drifted past a lot of players the first time around. Then a fresh edition landed via Osprey Games, backed by a … Read more
Pandemic turns up on a lot of beginner lists, and I think that’s mostly right. But it comes with a couple of caveats that those lists don’t always mention, and they’re worth knowing about before you buy. The short answer is yes, Pandemic is a good game for beginners. The slightly longer answer is: it … 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
Mind Up is a push-your-luck game about building a sequence of numbers without going over your limit. It is fast, easy to explain, and generates the same stop-or-keep-going tension that the best games in the genre manage without overstaying its welcome. Published by Helvetiq, Mind Up plays 2 to 6 players in around 20 minutes. … 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
More importantly can you stop playing once you start? Like the game which is about pushing your luck for just 1 more card i find myself pushing it for Just one more game. I’ve recently been captivated by Flip 7, a card game that masterfully blends strategy with chance. If you’re on the hunt for … Read more
When Finspan was announced I was not sure the world needed another Span game. Wingspan has been one of my most-played games for years. Wyrmspan added dragons and a more complex engine layer. Where does a fish game fit? Having played Finspan a reasonable number of times, my answer is: it fits well, but for … Read more
Is it Spicy enough for you? Dune: Imperium is the game that convinced several people in my regular group that deck-building was actually interesting. It does something clever: it takes the card-acquisition loop of a deckbuilder and fuses it with a worker placement layer, so the cards you buy determine what your workers can do. … Read more
If you’re a fan of tile-laying games, chances are you’ve come across Kingdomino at some point. Kingdomino Duel takes the tile-laying puzzle of the original Kingdomino and strips it down into a two-player roll-and-write that plays in about twenty minutes. It is a leaner, faster, more portable game that sacrifices some of the original charm … Read more
A Cosy Yet Cunning Two-Player Board Game Patchwork is one of the games I recommend most often for two players. It is an easy teach, plays in about thirty minutes, and manages to pack a genuinely clever economy into what looks on the surface like a cosy quilting game. Do not let the theme put … Read more
