Search Results

by @Meeple.Mike Making a top list of anything is nearly impossible for someone as indecisive as me. I’m one of those people who, after trying a game for the first time, will exclaim “This is my new favourite game!” and click ‘Add to Cart.’ As such, my top games list is an ever-changing ecosystem of themes and mechanisms – none which ever seem to gain any footing above the rest. You may then ask: ‘Mike, how did these following 3 games make it on this list?’ When I think back at my years of boardgaming history, I simply remember big and exciting moments. I could sit here and wax lyrical about my favourite mechanisms and designers and components (and those are all valid metrics!) but what really makes a game pop to me is if it creates memorable moments. These are the games that create a legacy in my group, ones where upon seeing the box, people will reminisce of a previous play session. If a game starts with “Hey, remember when…”, I know it has solidly imprinted itself as a group favourite. So while I’ve enjoyed every single game I’ve ever played, these three have stood out to me the most, and I won’t tire of them anytime soon! Onto the list! Number 1: Gloomhaven Yes, the number one ranked boardgame of all time on BoardGameGeek is also on my list of top games. How daring of me. I was given this giant hunk of a game for my birthday by friends who, back then, weren’t fully committed to the hobby yet. They thought, “Mike’s the boardgame guy, he’ll like this big boardgame thing!” We didn’t know it would make such a splash. It took a long time examining the rulebook, even longer explaining those concepts to my friends, and even longer playing out the first couple of intro scenarios, but at the end of all that, we knew we had a lasting hit on our hands. For those who don’t know, Gloomhaven is a card-driven dungeon-crawling campaign. There is an ever-growing world to be discovered and a plethora of characters, items, and abilities to be unlocked. The gargantuan box offers almost 100 scenarios, of which after almost three years, we’ve only seen about 70% of. We had never tackled a campaign game before; Gloomhaven was a perfect introduction. And there’s truly something for every member of my group. The human calculator is busy working out optimal battle strategies, the enthusiastic gamer is building his character for maximum damage, and the role player is...being a sneaky scoundrel off somewhere in another room. And me, I’m just watching my group have a great time! Despite not seeing each other for an in-person session of this game in over a year, it is definitely still at the forefront of our minds. The digital version of the game has been successful in quenching our thirst for now. But we’re avidly looking forward to finishing the main storyline, and an unopened expansion box, Forgotten Circles, will quickly hit the table soon after. And with the sequel, Frosthaven, looming in the future, there’s absolutely no chance this game disappears anytime soon. Number 2: Spirit Island Second on the list we’ve got Spirit Island. I’ve cheated and lumped Spirit Island in with its two follow-up expansions: Branch & Claw and Jagged Earth, but make no mistake, base Spirit Island is still one of the most cohesive cooperative experiences I’ve ever played. Spirit Island flips the whole colonization trope on its head; instead of the players acting as adventurers discovering a new land, players are instead ancient guardians of the titular island fighting back against a never-ending onslaught of invading explorers. Every turn, ugly hordes of plastic carnage spill onto the board and threaten to ravage the land, and it’s up to the powerful spirits to protect their land. The spirits in this game are the real star of the show. Each character has completely different powers and playstyles that mesh so well with their themes and art. Because everyone is so different, often you’ll be playing to each other’s strengths and discovering insane combos not possible with a different combination of spirits. Throughout the game, you also get to pick up new powers from a massive deck, so there’s almost no playing the same game twice. The power progression in this game is so satisfying. At the beginning of the game, your spirit doesn’t have access to many powers, and probably can’t even affect the island outside a small radius.But at the end of the game, you could be hurling black holes and drowning parts of the land in tsunamis with the snap of a finger. Getting a win always feels hard-fought and earned, and it’s a great feeling to share with the group. I’ve always loved cooperative games, but many can end up falling victim to an alpha gamer: someone who just knows what to do better than anyone else. Technically, this is possible in Spirit Island; there’s no hidden information and players are free to discuss what they plan to do on their turn, but there’s just so much. There’s no way you could feasibly keep tabs on every variable in the game, and you just have to trust your team. And I LOVE that! Spirit Island is a game that I’ve honestly felt myself get better and better at, and there’s still so much I haven’t explored. I went from losing almost every game to winning most of them, but that’s not to say I’ve got it all solved. Each game is almost a different challenge, and it’s made me a more adaptive and thoughtful gamer! Number 3: Cosmic Encounter If Spirit Island is the paragon of teamwork and trust, then my number 3 pick is the champion of betrayal and backstabbing! Cosmic Encounter may seem like the odd one out here, but it actually perfectly encapsulates my criteria for a great game experience. Out of the three games I’ve listed, Cosmic Encounter feels most like an event; it’s often a night of outbursts and shenanigans that leaves a lasting impression on the table. In Cosmic Encounter, you’re given a special game-breaking alien power, a handful of cards, and a command to venture out and occupy your opponent’s planets. With high attack cards, you can brute force your way through, but more often than not you’ll be asking for help from other players, who might do what you want...for a price. Instead of playing the game, you’re playing the other players. You’ll need them to win, but you can’t put any trust into them. Admittedly, Cosmic Encounter is a tough sell. It’s not the latest and greatest brain-burner boardgame filled with intricate mechanisms. The powers are wildly imbalanced; some even completely change how the game is played, and that might throw people off. But it’s more of a social experience, as most of the game is played above the table through negotiations, alliances, backstabs, and betrayals. At the end of the day, most turns boil down to ‘higher card wins,’ which can feel unsatisfying if you’ve had a stroke of bad luck. But this is one of those games where I don’t mind losing at all! It’s fun to see what kind of zany powers people are bringing to the table and how sneaky I can be to try to claw myself to the top. This is a game that gives back exactly how much you put into it. If you go into it fully ready to embrace the silliness, there will never be a dull game of Cosmic Encounter. -- And that’s it! My top 3 summed up with all of my enthusiasm. I’ve played these games for years and I’ll be playing them for many more to come! Big thanks to Jim for letting me pour out my enthusiasm here! I hope you enjoyed reading, and if you did, you can find more of my ramblings on Instagram @meeple.mike! Cheers!

There are a lot of games that work well in different situations, and Word of the Street from Educational Insights and Coiledspring Games is certainly one of these. Suitable both as an after-dinner party game or something to play with your family, Word on the Street balances the educational side and entertainment in a wonderful little package. Set-Up The game itself works very simply. To set the game up, lay out the board and place the letter tiles over the corresponding spaces. It’s all the consonants minus Q, X, and Z. Then, split into two teams and start the game! Players will read questions to each other team, either from the yellow easier side, ideal for children from six and up; or from the blue side that is more suited to teenagers and older. You then have 30 seconds to choose your word and move the relevant letters affected. The questions are generally categories such as naming a mountain, something that would hold liquid or a kitchen appliance. Once the word has been selected, players can then move the letters that appear in their chosen word one space closer to them on the board for each time that letter appears. Where the letters are placed on the board, there is space either side to move the letter two spaces each way. If you can move one letter three spaces towards you by using it three times that letter falls off the board and becomes yours. This becomes a bit of a tug of war as the letter often moves back and forth multiple times in a game. It’s hard to find a word that uses a letter three times before the opposing team has moved it once closer to them, although getting an early "Pineapple" is obviously very rewarding! You can play until all letters are claimed, a majority is won, or to a specific time or letter limit. The flexibility is there for you to enjoy this game however best suits your group. I find the majority win is the most exciting. There are 17 letter tiles, so the first to win nine tiles wins. This is how we play and it adds a bit of tension when one team gets to seven and eight tiles. Quite often the easier letters are claimed first, meaning a game is often won or lost on who can use the “K” or “V” the most first. One recent game had a magical moment centred around the word “Ovoviviparous!” Ok, that was a lie, I googled that to sound clever. But I did manage to get "Kit Kat" in for a thing from a vending machine! Every Day is a School Day! Playing Word on the Street with my children is such an enjoyable experience. We set up with one parent and one child per team and often play after dinner. There is an instant and hilarious rivalry between teams that I don’t see with my family in many other more complex and involved board games. There is something to Word on the Street that brings out the cage fighter in us all! We battle for the easier letters first but my daughter always wants the “M” first, simply as it’s in her name! The game usually runs for 20-30 minutes for us, but it never outstays its welcome. My children enjoy reading the questions to each other and watching the sand timer running down as much as answering the questions themselves. I have found it has massively helped their vocabulary, not just in their own personal understanding of different words, but also in the desire to explore and use more complex words. Not just go for the first thing that comes into their head as they did in the first few games. There is something very satisfying in seeing my six-year-old daughter scream “Himalayas” at the top of her voice! I would recommend this game to any family looking to play games with their children that have an element of education neetly packed in with the fun. It works well with just adults too. Especially those who enjoy word games with a bit of time tension. But it can be a little frustrating if one person has a far superior vocabulary than others. I would not have enjoyed playing this with my father for example!

Top 3: Julian & Nikki - PintSizedGamers Hello everyone! We’re so excited to be part of this 😊Choosing only 3 games to feature was extremely difficult and although there are quite a few games that were really close to making the cut, we ultimately decided to go with games that we both love playing together but also get a lot of love and attention in our different friend groups. Currently our top 3 games are: Number 3: Dream Home Where can I even begin with this one? Such a simple set collection game has charmed it’s way into being a favourite game of ours. I knew when this game was released that I’d be able to play it with my family but also my gaming groups and it’s become such a fun game for us all. In Dream Home, players are building their ultimate dream home by drafting a column of cards (one tool and one room card). There are 12 room spaces on your house board, which means that the game plays over 12 rounds and you must play every chosen room card in a round. The artwork is absolutely adorable with bright colours and I appreciate the colours correlating to the set collection game mechanic. Not only is this game fun with children and family, but with a group of gamers having an itch for a lighter game that still adds a lot of competitiveness, it has shined. Don’t be fooled by the cute artwork because if you love set collection games, this one plays in a short time and is a joy. I also highly recommend the expansion as it adds modular expansions to play with (private objectives, additional public objectives people are fighting for, solo mode, and an increased player count to 6 instead of 4). We’ll always be down to play Dream Home! Number 2: Quacks of Quedlinburg Who doesn’t want to be a Quack doctor creating absurd potions?! Quacks is such a quirky game that we absolutely enjoy playing. When I saw that this game had two of my favourite mechanics, push your luck and deck/bag building, I knew that I immediately had to add it to my collection. Ever since my first playthrough I was hooked and we both have grown to love this game. The amount of variety in the ingredient sets and of course your luck allows us to have such a blast while playing. The artwork and brewing pots really lend itself to the theme and it’s so much fun getting amazing combos from your ingredient pulls. Be aware that if you aren’t a fan of push your luck games, this one might not be the game for you although a lot of ingredients chain together to try and mitigate bad luck. I’ve found that even if there becomes a runaway leader or I’m drawing absolutely terribly, I still have so much fun playing and that lends itself to why Quacks sits in second place. Number 1: Welcome To Welcome to… our first place game! In this flip & write game, players all start with the same neighborhood sheet and choose a house number and bonus to play each round. We’ve played this with a lot of different player counts as well as the two of us and it never fails to bring us a lot of joy and fun. We always want to play and I think there’s something amazing about how everyone creates a unique neighborhood. The tension of where to place a house number and which bonus to obtain always stick with you and games usually become quite intense as you race to complete objectives. Although there isn’t a lot of player interaction throughout the game, we always end up chatting about the struggles of our choices! We have all the mini expansions as well for variety and we can definitely say that we can’t get enough! I really think that this one is going to stay as our favourite game together for a long time.. There’s just something so satisfying when the game ends and seeing the neighborhood you created! Absolutely such a blast that this one tops our list! Huge thank you to Jim for the invitation to create our Top 3! If you’d like to chat and support us, please check out our Youtube Channel @PintSizedGamers and DM us on IG @PintSizedGamers! We always love to chat board games and meet more community members 😊

Turing was a great man. An English Mathematician and Scientist. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and AI, Artificial Intelligence. During The Second World War, Turing helped to decipher German codes and since his death, Turing has had roads, bridges, and now a game named after him. From designer Glenn Ford (Man O’Kent games), the man behind WBG deck-building favourite Moonflight, Turing hits Kickstarter summer 2021. You can find more information here. We were lucky enough to get a pre-Kickstarter copy to play with and we have had a blast with it. Turning is such a clever game. It has so many little cogs and gears whirling in the background, for what is essentially just a collection of cards. I feel like Turing himself would be proud of his association to this. And the concept of this, well, it totally absorbed me! “If a human engages in a conversation with a machine and is convinced the machine is in fact human, then that machine can be said to have exhibited intelligence.” This, as the preview rule book explains, is the basic formulation of the Turing test of AI. It goes on to ask, “what then of the human that fails to convince someone else that they are not a machine over the same test?” The test was introduced by Turing in a 1950 paper and opens with the following, "I propose to consider the question, 'Can machines think?” What a question! And it is one that Turing the game tries to answer. Well, sort of! Welcome to Turing! The game works very simply. Split into two teams or pick one person to be the responder first. I found it helped to work in teams with younger players and on people’s first turn. One side will be the Interrogator. The other will be the Responder. Place the R and L voting cards onto either side of the table and separate the two teams with the box lid stood up. The team playing as the Responder then takes their voting cards, shuffles them and draws one. This will indicate the ‘Machines’ card, either right or left. They will then flip the top ‘Response’ card which will act as the Guide in this game. The Responder then draws four Response cards (less for a harder game or more for an easy one) and sets them in a face up row behind the box shield. The card on either the further right or left will be chosen as the ‘Machines’ card as indicated by the card they chose earlier. They then choose one card from the remaining options as their card. They are looking for the card that best represents the Guide card. Either in colour, shape or whatever it is their human brain can find association with! The other cards are discarded leaving two cards. One chosen by the human player, the other selected at random by the ‘Machine.’ They are given in order to the Interrogator(s) who places the top card they receive next to their own ‘L’ card, and the other next to the ‘R’. This process is repeated three times leaving the Interrogator with four cards on either side. The Interrogators must then chose which side has four randomly chosen cards and which side was selected by the humans. All the cards are suitably vague, random and ambiguous, making this selection surprisingly difficult. There is no time limit here, but I would encourage that for however long you take at this stage, you are vocal. Let both sides hear and enjoy the debate. Obviously, the Responders must remain silent, but hearing the debate can be hilarious! You can play in a group cooperatively and all try to come to a common consensus, or let each Interrogator make their own choice. If you chose correctly, you score a point. In co-op mode you need to have a majority decision for the point. The Responders score one point for each correct guess they received from the Interrogators. Swop roles of Responder and Interrogator and go again. You can play to five points or until everyone has had a turn as the Responder once or twice as the game suggests, or for however long you wish too. We had a few games run for hours; it was just so absorbing! Turing is an fascinating mix of social deduction, guess work, visual analysis, pattern recognition and deduction mixed with just trying to figure out what it was your friends and family were trying to say! It plays very quickly, can be learnt, taught, and played in minutes, but as mentioned above, could be played for hours! It feels like a party game, but it has some depth and substance beyond the usual fun and silliness that games of this ilk can bring. It is the perfect after dinner game with friends, or weekend afternoon with the family. The game suggests 8 and up but I happily played with my (then) five-year old who loved every minute of it. There are parts of this game that are familiar in mechanic. But overall, this game felt very fresh to me. There are obvious ties to games like Dixit, but the human vs. machine element makes it stand out. The concept is just so fascinating to me and the results of the actual game are quite shocking! I would love to know the statistics of this game ending with the phrase “I cannot believe you didn’t pick this!” being shouted by one player. Fans of Dixit, When I dream, and The Chameleon will enjoy this little box of joy a lot. I would recommend this very highly to anyone who enjoys this style of game and is looking for something quick, fun but also a little bit clever to add to their collection.

by @family_meeple What are your top 3 tabletop games? This question feels like a bit of a land mine sometimes; will people judge me for my choices? will they think I'm just a casual gamer or not a "real" hobby board gamer? will they think the games are too heavy? too light? too "mainstream"? or "too obscure"? Well, that's one of my favorite things about the board gaming hobby; there is literally something for everyone! No matter who you are, where you come from, what your experience is, there is a game out there that will be perfect for you. Your perfect game and mine may be completely different and that's alright! We've recently been sharing our Top 100 Games Played in 2020 on the Family Meeple Blog so for this list, I decided not to go with my top 3 favorite games of all time. Instead, I wanted to share my favorite games in three unique categories; Game with an Unexpected/Unique Theme, Game that Surprised Me, and Game that's Become an Addiction. If you're interested, we'd love for you to check out our longer top 100 list as well. Without further ado, here are the Top 3 from Alli at The Family Meeple: Game with an Unexpected/Unique Theme: The Bloody Inn from Pearl Games I am a huge fan of murder mystery television shows and movies. One of my favorites was Dexter, a show about a serial killer from the perspective of the serial killer. I also love the dark drama musical Sweeney Todd and other shows like Criminal Minds. So, when I learned that there was a card game about murdering visitors to your inn, it was an intriguing theme to me for sure. It's a dark theme to be sure and it may not appeal to everyone, but the lightness of the gameplay counteracts the dark theme nicely and somehow the macabre is charming rather than alarming. In The Bloody Inn, 1-4 players take on the role of innkeepers who are looking to earn a living. The only problem is that the income from registered and paying guests is a measly 1 franc each night. There is no way you'll make a living at those rates and so you resort to killing some of your patrons and burying them under your annexed buildings. You best be careful though not to attract the attention of the police during your escapades or there will be a steep fine to pay (or in the solo, jail time). I adore the artwork in this game and the card mechanics are unique and compelling. Each card can be used in multiple ways during the game. You can leave guests alone and collect the standard room rate fee. You can bribe patrons to become your accomplice, but they'll be expecting payment for their services each day. You can build additional annex buildings that will provide one-time or ongoing benefits and provide further space to bury bodies. Or you can kill and then bury your victims. Once buried, the money in their pockets is now yours. You'll also need to watch your purse strings and launder the money before the coppers catch on! I've particularly enjoyed this game for its solo play which is quick, simple to run, and challenging. I've been caught by the police before and lost the game outright. If you're a fan of slightly macabre themes, this is certainly one to check out. Game that Surprised Me: Wingspan from Stonemaier Games I'm just gonna say it, as much as the first theme appealed to me, birds just aren't my thing. I'm actually sort of freaked out by birds; the beaks and claws. Yikes! So, a game about birds? Probably not my thing. But I kept seeing it everywhere I turned. It was in all of the top lists on gaming-related YouTube channels, it was winning all sorts of awards, it was selling out at record pace, and it was all over everyone's Instagram and Facebook feeds. One evening in late 2020 Wingspan was suggested at my local game group and I figured it was time to find out what "all the fuss was about" with this bird-themed game. Well, I'm always willing to admit when I'm wrong about a game. Despite the theme, Wingspan is a fantastic game that I have grown to love. After my very first play, I wouldn't say that I was completely enamored with the game but it lingered. Days later I found myself thinking about the game and the different options I had; could I have played a card more efficiently? what if I had gone with a different strategy? what else did the game have to offer in the solo mode? I watched some videos on the solo mode in particular since right now most of my plays are either solo or online. Everyone seemed to rave about the solo mode as well, so I decided to add it to my collection. After arriving in January of 2021, I proceeded to quickly knock out 10 games in less than a month. I love the challenge of the solo mode and find it difficult but not impossible to beat. This is one of the main aspects that I look for in my solo games; that the goal is challenging but achievable. I've also been able to teach Wingspan to my mom and enjoyed it just as much at two-player as solo. Wingspan was my lesson in "don't judge a game by its theme" and it's one that I would certainly recommend to anyone that enjoys a good engine-building game. Game that's Become an Addiction: Welcome to... from Deep Water Games As hobby gamers or game enthusiasts, I'm sure we all have that one game that went from "that was fun" to a mild (or possibly more) obsession. That game that you keep reaching for over and over and over again. When someone asks you what you want to play, you recommend this particular game first. For me, that game was Welcome To... A quick flip-and-write game that plays in about 30 minutes and continually draws you in to see if you can do better play after play. This pick is a bit interesting as the vast majority of my plays have been through Board Game Arena (BGA) online instead of with my own physical copy of the game. Welcome to... is far and away my most played game since I started recording my plays on Board Game Geek in February of 2020. In fact, no other game is even close. With 80+ games played in the last 7 months, it has been a minor obsession of mine for sure. I wasn't really sure what all the hype was about with this game as well when I saw it online. The theme and design weren't overly intriguing but as soon as I played it I was hooked. I love the simple mechanics combined with the extremely tough choices each turn. Planning ahead for an unknown future condition is both challenging and exhilarating. Will that perfect combination of cards appear just in the nick of time? Will I be able to maximize on the strategies that I've started? Some games work out brilliantly and others I come up just that much too short. This is also a game that I introduced my family to as part of our weekly online game nights. With family living in three different states all spread out in multiple timezones of the US, online gaming has been a delightful way to connect when travel was either impossible or impractical. If you're ever up for a game of Welcome to... you'll probably find me at a table on BGA. Well, with that the games are calling to me... now, what game should I try out next? Happy gaming! Alli The Family Meeple www.familymeeple.com

Sheepy Time WBG Score: 7/10 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Port Royal, King of Tokyo, The Quacks of Quedlinburg Published by: AEG Designed by: Neil Kimball Ready to wrestle with your nightmares, count some sheep and score some winks? This new push-your-luck game from AEG packs more than the art and box suggests! Let’s get the main issue with this game sorted right away. This is not just a children’s game. Ok, the art and name very much suggest otherwise, and sure, it works well with children. But this is more than simply that. This is a push-your-luck style game in the same vein as Quacks and King of Tokyo, that works well for all ages, and the game does have hidden depths. Not Mariana Trench depths, but more than a puddle! With that said, my two children absolutely loved this! The highly visual mechanic of moving your Sheep around the board, trying to avoid the nightmare was instantly understandable for them both on concept and strategy. So much so, I have failed to beat them yet! But what’s new there? My Son often likes to remind me of the games he beat me on his first turn when I had played them many times before! And with Sheepy Time there was no exception! So how does this play? Well, much like the name suggests, its time to sleep. We play as the sheep that us human’s often count when trying to get to sleep. We need to move our Sheep around the board and jump over the white fence as often as we dare! Each time we do that, we edge closer to victory, and help more people drift off to dreamland. But beware! There is a nightmare lurking! And if it crosses your path two times or crosses the fence itself, you will wake up. How long you dare to keep circling around avoiding the bad dreams is up to you. But time it right and you could very well just be the sheep that caught the most winks and reach your pillow. The scoring mechanism has a fun twist whereby you are aiming to move your player token up the board by scoring winks to meet your pillow, but points reset each round. At the start of the game, your pillow starts on the 40 space. The game is won whenever any players token meets or surpasses their pillow. The player marker moves forward whenever any players sheep crosses the fence, takes winks from the card they played, or scores via the dream tiles, but if you don’t make your pillow at the end of the round, all your current points are lost! But don’t despair, at the end of each round, either when all sheep have been woken up, or have decided to call it a night themselves, fearing the nightmare is coming too close, players will look at their position on the score board and move their pillows closer to them. How far your pillow moves is dependent on the player count and your position. For example, in a four or three player game the player in first moves their pillow 10 spaces back, and in a two-player game they would do this eight spaces. The player in second would move back eight, seven or five spaces in a four, three or two player game respectively. In the solo game, you move the Pillow back one space for each five winks scored. This makes the chance of victory become more likely as each round progresses. I found the game usually goes two to four rounds. This is perfect scoring mechanism for a push-your-luck game, because if you fall behind, you will need to chance your luck even more in an attempt to catch up. I like games like this that show you visually where you are on the leader board, encouraging players to take more risks if they are in last place. There is no fun in playing it safe, or taking risks when you don’t need to. Its also frustrating not knowing and having to take blind guesses. Playing the game works very simply. On your turn, players will play one card from the two in their hand. These cards will allow them to move their sheep around the board, scores winks (points) or catch some Z’s. Catching Z’s allows players to place one of their Zzz tokens onto one of the Dream tiles around the board. If on a later turn your sheep land on a dream tile with one of your Z tokens on it, you can then activate that tiles power. The game starts with just two dream tiles, but at the end of each round you can add more. The dream tiles offer bonus actions sauch as moving your sheep around the board, gaining more winks, or the chance to become scared or brave. If you become scared this way, or via the Nightmare catching you, you must rest your sheep tile on its side. If this happens again when still sacred, your round is over. Becoming brave gives you the chance to stand your Sheep back up again. Waking up means you will not be able to move your pillow based on your current position on the score board and will only be able to move it three spaces. Timing when you will call it a night is crucial. How far will you try and go? This game is all about timing. Knowing when to push-your-luck, and when to call it a night. Each player will be given information on the potential movement of the nightmare they are using, so there is some strategy to this. It is not all luck based. And if you are not scared, then you may be more inclined to keep going. If the Nightmare is close to jumping the fence though, you might have to stop, but this is all information freely available to all players. You will know what nightmare cards are in the deck and if you pay attention to what has come out, you can try and predict the likelihood of the Nightmare moving soon. But where is the fun in that!? There are three different nightmares to play with. The Bump in the Night and Nightmare Wolf which are recommended for beginners. And the Sinister Spider which offers more advanced options. Each Nightmare comes armed with 10 cards that are shuffled into the deck. On each players turn, they must draw back to two cards. If they draw a nightmare card, this must be played immediately. These cards will generally move the nightmare token around the board. But can also scare sheep on adjacent spaces, and in the case of the Spider, it will jump forward many spaces. You may well know what is likely to come up with this nightmare, but it is much harder to avoid! The joy in this game comes from cheating death. Chancing your arm more than you should, and your luck paying off. Of course, there will be many times when your luck runs out and you will wake up. The nightmare in this game, like in life, is ultimately hard to avoid! But the satisfaction from avoiding its wispy grasps for as long as you can, will have all players on the edge of their seats. Like any good push-your-luck game, Sheepy Time works well but not punishing you too much when you fail. The game plays quickly, turns are even quicker, and if you do get caught by the nightmare, you can always try again very soon after. This is essential for me for a game that uses this mechanic. There is nothing worse than pushing-your-luck, failing, and losing a game for one unlucky decision. If you enjoy games that use similar mechanics, I would recommend this to you as a light family or gateway game. It is also a perfect end of night experience. Not only can you teach it very quickly, and play it very quickly, it obviously sets all players perfectly for a restful night’s sleep. Just don’t have any nightmares!

Formed in the mid 90s with the collectable card game Legend of the Five Rings, AEG have been making high quality games for over 25 years. With notable names in their catalogue such as Space Base, Istanbul and more recently Calico, its very hard to pick a top 3. I am personally a huge fan of Love Letter and Ecos, but here I have gone for a top 3 based on my more recent playing experience whilst trying to incorporate longevity and all-family appeal. What I am saying is that with so many great games, this top three was difficult! Point Salad – 2-6 players. Official 8 plus but works 5 plus. Point Salad is a must have card game for anyone’s collection in this reviewers’ humble opinion! If you have young kids, they will love this and it is a great way to teach them math. If you want a perfect fun and quick filler game, this will do the trick. And if you are looking for something simple and portable to play when away on holiday, this delivers that experience too. It’s the perfect card game and won multiple awards for a reason. Point Salad is a WBG essential! The rules and set-up are simple. Players are looking to maximise their end game points from a simple card drafting and tableau-building game. Organise the numbers of cards based on the number of players, or ignore that and just player a longer/shorter game! Then shuffle the cards and create three roughly equal piles. They don’t need to be exactly grouped. Then flip over two cards from each pile in columns below the face-down decks. And now you are ready to play. The rules? On your turn, take either one face-down scoring card or two face-up vegetable cards. Keep playing until the cards run out and see who scores the most, that’s it! Each card is double sided to either show a vegetable or a scoring variant. If you take a scoring card, you can always flip it over later in the game if you choose. But you cannot flip them the other way. Scoring options range from most of one type of vegetable, or a certain amount of positive or negative points for each type of group of vegetable. This is where the set-collection comes in. But be careful not to get into the Tomato game if another player has multiple positive soring cards for the same type of card! You may find any Tomatoes are gone when your turn comes around! There are elements of Bohnanza here, and this can frustrate some younger players if they feel the card they want is not always available as other players are taking them. But this is a good lesson in set-collection. This game feels as fresh as the box art and offers a unique, fast fun, family-friendly experience. Games are quick and entertaining, and always in my household repeated multiple times. It’s hard to play this game just once! My family all love it and I have seen a huge improvement in my young children’s mathematical skills both at home and in their school reports after playing this game. I directly attribute this to playing Point Salad. I honestly think this game should form part of year 1-2 curriculum! It makes maths fun. And for the adults, a reminder at the joy of multiplication. “Seven Onions? Get in! I thought I only had six!” Normal discourse for grown men right? Smash Up – 2-4 players. Officially 12 plus but works 8 plus. Smash up first came out in 2012 from designer Paul Peterson and was publicised as a “Shufflebuilding” game. An opportunity to quite literally smash-up characters from different worlds to see how they might fight together and of course, against each other. Finally, the chance to find out who would win in a fight between a Dinosaur and Alien or a Robot and a Pirate! This is a conversation that many young children have had for years! I know I did. (and of course the Dinosaurs would win! Well they wouldn’t, the Aliens with their superior technology would, but Dinosaurs are cooler, ok?!) The game has since seen multiple expansions offering more decks of cards showing the huge popularity of this idea. But this is the O.G. The first of its incarnation and for me, where you should start your collection. Sure, if you are obsessed with Marvel, there is a pretty cool option there, much like if you love Monsters, Cthulhu or Sheep!? There is a set for everyone! But I like to know where my steak is from and where my wine was grown. It’s nice to see the origin story don’t you think? Smash-Up is a very simple concept. Take two different decks, shuffle them together. Lay out a number of bases based on the number of players plus one, draw five cards and away you go. On your turn, you can play one minion (character) card and one action card. You could do less if you chose, or don’t have a particular type of card in your hand. Each card either affects the game situation or other cards played. Or adds a power rating to your team. Each base has a break point at which it is taken over. When this number is reached from the collective power score from all cards present, the player with the highest points scores the first score option there, and so on for the first three players there. The first score is not always the highest, so this is a delicate balancing act. The first player to score 15 points wins, and the game really is as simple as that. But the joy that comes from linking abilities from different factions is a joy to behold! Who would have thought that Gnomes fighting with Ninjas would have been so effective? Who would have thought Gnomes would want to kill humans in this way? Well, me. I would. Its pretty obvious, and anyone with a Gnome in their garden right now perhaps may want to lock their doors and windows. It’s coming people. The genius in this game comes from fusing these magical, mythical and majestic characters from folk-lore, history and science-fiction in a combo-building feast. Curating the perfect hand of cards to enact particular combinations of moves to win certain bases or the game feels fantastic. Some players state the game can outstay its welcome, and cards can be placed in locations only to wait for multiple turns before that base reaches breakpoint, frustrating them. This perhaps can happen with newer players, but when you understand how to make your deck work to your advantage, this can be a very quick back-and-forth. Building up your own teams dominance whilst attacking your enemies can quickly becomes a fast paced affair and I would encourage anyone who feels this game can be slow or too long to try it again. With the multiple sets not only offering a variety of characters, but also mechanics, if one style of play attracts your more, chose those decks at the start, and this game can become a bespoke smorgasbord of delight. The pirates work well by moving from one base to another. The robots power comes by playing multiple low-power cards in the same turn. The Wizards are all about building up a powerful hand of cards so that player can chose more effectively from a wider selection. There really is a deck for each style of play and you may well feel this game has been made just for you when you find your perfect combination. Mariposas 2-5 players. Officially 14 plus but works 8/10 plus depending on experience. Wingspan won pretty much every award going from BGG’s Card Game of the Year to the Eurovision Song Contest! (I think?) Its universal appeal, great looks, and gateway level gaming was the perfect blend for experienced gamers to use as bait to bring in more players from their social groups to join their obsession… sorry, I mean hobby. As such, designer Elizabeth Hargreaves’ next game was always going to be hugely anticipated and Mariposas certainly seems to have lived up to this expectation. It’s beautiful looks, intriguing theme and simple but involved gameplay has quickly drawn many loyal fans. Elizabeth’s love of the natural world shone through in Wingspan so it does again here with Mariposas. Animals, nature, and wildlife in general as a theme always seems to do well in board gaming, especially in the more recent years, but this is more than just a pretty box. Inspired from reading Flight Behaviour, Elizabeth set out to create a game that first and foremost is enjoyable to play, but clearly, is also a game that makes a point about the affect humans are having on our planet. This is not done in a preachy or judgmental way, and when playing the game, maybe not even in a noticeable way. But take a look at the excellently designed rule book and you will see what Elizabth wants our take-out to be from playing this beautiful game. Humans are destroying our planet and affecting all types of life. The North American butterfly for example has depleted in population over 80% in the last 20 years. I learnt this from the rule book. As such, it is a shame the game doesn’t offer some advice or links to ways we can help or change our behaviour. Habitat loss is a huge part of the decline of butterflies, and anyone with a bit of green space, garden or window sill can help. Have a look here. I would also encourage looking here to see how you can modify your behaviours slightly in the short term to help your fellow humans and butterflies, and here too which is a simple and affordable way to counter your behaviours until we can all adapt as a society in the ways we need too in the long term. Back to the game, and Mariposas is more than just a vehicle for discord as above. Mariposas is a beautifully constructed mix of set collection, racing, and calculated push-your-luck. Set through three seasons from Spring to Fall, you must advance, like the Monarch Butterflies themselves do, from Mexico, and spread out across North America. Looking to collect sets of different flowers on your way to assist your reproduction, point scoring and movement, you must search the randomly placed way stations located in various cities across the map. This is done in the hope of collecting sets of four different coloured cards to achieve different in game bonuses. All before heading back to Michoacán as a fourth-generation butterfly for more juicy end game points. And did you know, that no one single Butterfly who leaves Mexico makes it back? It takes four generations to complete the round trip! Which begs the question, how do they know the way!? Isn’t that remarkable? With the multiple ways of scoring, this could feel like a bit of a point salad, which for me would be a very good thing! But perhaps not quite in tune with the theme. Moreover, this feels like a well-constructed grid movement game deeply linked to the overarching theme and developed in a way to offer very high replayability, and easy accessibility. I first played with my 8-year-old who learnt the game in minutes. He loved the theme, colours, and wooden Butterfly components. Especially as he had recently hatched his own Monarchs in his room. This connection with nature is something that has perhaps been lost over the last generation. I sense Elizabth is trying to rekindle that simple youthful interest with this game. The game looks gorgeous. Plays simply. Offers an important message and plays equally well from two players to five. There are some advantages to doing certain things in the game first, but not in an overpowering way. And these rules can always be modified if you don’t want this feeling. Each players butterflies can occupy the same location so ultimately no one player can affect any other player negatively. As such, it works well with younger players but can feel a little solo in its interaction. But you will be comparing yourself constantly with other players, especially when it comes to the end of round bonuses being often linked to your location. “How many people have made it North of Chicago? Just one player, ok great, let’s get flying!” I loved my first few games of Mariposas. And as I continued to play, I fell in love with it even more. This is a game that grows over multiple plays but is incredibly accessible to new players. Other than the knowledge to plan your return south at the right time, more experienced players will have few advantages over newer players. This is much more about in game strategy than learning the game. But multiple plays will reward players with a rich and absorbing experience. I just hope as my own generations of gamers continues, they will be playing this is a safe and loving world full of the richness of life we enjoy today. Lets hope this is not an obituary for the Monarch, more a celebration of the era when we finally learnt how to live with our world, not just in it.

Hey everyone, Dom and Elf here from DE_Boardgamers. Below are the top 3 games we currently love. This is based on what we have been enjoying so far with our gaming group and friends. We love them so much that we are sort of becoming an advocate for these games. Number 3: On Mars by Vital Lacerda One of the heaviest games we have played based on BGG heaviness rating; at 4.64, we were apprehensive of trying this game initially. We love his other games as well, such as Lisboa, Co2 2nd Chance, and The Gallerist. The crunchiness, the artwork, and the quality of the meeples are just so amazing. Till today, what we like about Vital Lacerda's game is the appreciation of the mechanics; mechanics within mechanics; many things to consider and every move we make affects many other considerations later. When it comes to scoring, there are many ways to score, like point salad. It made us appreciate and awe at the wonder of heavy euros. Number 2: Pax Pamir 2nd Edition by Cole Wehrle This game was under our radar, initially, we didn't pay much attention to this game till our gaming group decided to host this game. After our first play, we were hooked, we immediately asked for the next play right after we tallied the scores. After the second play, we decided to procure a copy for ourselves. We did not regret that ever since. Unlike many other games, there is a great possibility for catch up in this game. That may be swingy to some players but we have experienced similar area control games where other players who are behind just gave up mid-game and disengaged because their score was far from the first player. Well...most board game hosts would not like the experience of guests being disengaged? Not with Pax Pamir! The last player in the earlier rounds could just end up as the winner of the game as the final fourth round offers a double score. It is a cutthroat game that offers so many possibilities. We could choose to form an ally with someone one moment and break the ally and backstab them the next moment. Brutal yeah? If you are looking for a game that has a strong historical theme, area control, high player interaction with mid easy to teach rules, this could just be the game right up your alley. Number 1: Indonesia by Splotter games This game is really quiet and does not have much attention it deserves. We came to know about it from someone who is into heavy euros. He mentioned that this is a legendary game for economical euro. We put that to mind but did not manage to find it till we managed to loan from @tabletoptale from Instagram. At first glance, the artwork and the tokens were rather pale in comparison to other good-looking games that we own. This is an ugly-looking game, we had to use some of our tokens to make the game easier for marking territories. HOWEVER, after our first play, we were mind blown by the gameplay. The best part of the game was the merger phase where players would have to negotiate a deal. Sometimes the participation in the merger is not of our choice, rather we are forced into the negotiation. It is a real cutthroat game! After our first game, we immediately went to procure a copy no matter the price! Despite its ugliness, it's our top game. Speaks for not to judge a game by its cover. Compared to Vital Lacerda's games (avoided by many of our friends), this game is surprisingly easy to learn. This game is currently out of print, if you have managed to get a copy of this game, treasure it! Overall, these games tend to tilt towards the heavy side, but then it offers a truly satisfying play after every game, they incorporate player interaction and also strategic planning which we love.

by @start2game As our collection grew really fast in the last year, we saw a lot of potential "top list" games passing by. Boardgames became even more popular thanks to the lockdowns and sometimes we had the idea we couldn't even keep track of all those new releases. We discovered a lot of great games like Nidavellir, Calico, NY Zoo, Trek12, Rajas Of The Ganges, Marvel Splendor, Mandala Stones and Gorinto to name a few. All these are on the top of our shelves, but the next three are really standing out for me: 3. Marvel United We somehow didn't back the first Kickstarter campaign, but slowly felt the FOMO coming up when they've started to fullfill the game earlier this year. As we only read positive things regarding gameplay, we decided we had to check out what it was all about. So we ordered a base game through Amazon and fell in love after our first plays. There's no rocket science behind it for sure, but the way the gameplay is build, fighting villians with your favorite super heroes is just genious. What makes it great is the accesibility for all type of players and the replayability because of all the different characters. Every game is different and delivers big fun on game night. We're happy we took the plunge and yes we've backed the new X-Men campaign to! 2. Fleet: The Dice Game One of our favorite genres has always been roll/flip and writes. We've spend hours playing games like Welcome To, Doodle Sketchup and Railroad Ink. So we were happy to see that the genre also grew to the next level with more challenging games like Cartographers, Hadrian's Wall and Fleet offcourse! We were really flabbergasted when we played our first game. All those scoring options and complexity packed in a roll & write game felt so refreshing and challenging. An opinion shared by all the friends we've played it with in the mean time and thus a game that pops up on the table quite often. 1. Parks There's no love like the first, a saying that pretty much sums up how we feel about our number one. We were already playing boardgames like Hotel, Stratego and even Tsuro before, but when we first played Parks a whole new world opened up. It was the first time we'd played a game of this type and beauty and has set the standard high for all games to follow. As it was also the first Kickstarter we've backed, it won't be a surprise that it didn't only get us into the hobby but also into backing games and other stuff! Parks doesn't hit the table that much any more, but it will always be our first love!

by @boardgamemeeple Hey everyone, I’m really excited to be sharing my top 3 boardgames with you. This selection comes from my experience of playing boardgames for about 10 years and they all ended up being medium complexity games, all played in around 90 mins and play great at all player counts. I would never turn down an offer to play these games. Number 3 - Orléans Starting at number three Orléans is a wonderful game using the bag building mechanic and it does it exceptionally well. The decision making of choosing which workers to have in your bag and how you then allocate them when you draw is simply awesome. Each game feels different due to the randomisation during set-up as well as the option of adding a number of expansions provides more variability and also a co-op mode. If you want to try the bag building mechanic then Orléans is a great place to start. Number 2 - Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar Tzolk’in is simply an excellent medium complexity worker placement game. You are a Mayan leader placing your workers on a number of interconnected gears that rotate at the end of each round, moving your worker(s) to the next space (how awesome is that!). You either place workers on the gears or take them off, that’s it but it’s the decision making of when to place or remove that I adore! Utilising your workers efficiently by forward planning your moves is incredibly satisfying, particularly when you pull off a lovely combo of resources. With its gears and colourful components it always looks stunning on the table and even more so if you actually paint the gears (a friend is currently do this for me!). While Tzolkin may not necessary be suitable for a new gamer just starting out I wouldn’t say you have to have that much experience to get stuck in. Give it a go and get turning those gears! Number 1 - Viticulture So my number 1 game is Viticulture but before I tell you why here is a little bit of info about the game. Viticulture is a worker placement game where each round you are allocating your team of workers to help manage your vineyard to ultimately score the most points. You are developing your vineyard by building structures, planting vines, harvesting grapes, producing wine, and completing orders to ship wine around the world. It plays between 2-6 players and scales well at all player counts. Viticulture has been my number one board game for many years, in fact I expect it’s held that slot since it was released in 2013. At that point I had been playing modern boardgames since around 2012, so relatively new but I had already started to fall in love with worker placement games. Since then I have played many worker placement games but Viticulture has always held its spot. Viticulture is also a game that I have introduced to many of my friends, especially during the lockdowns in the pandemic (if you want someone to teach you then DM me on IG). Viticulture as a base game is great but with the Tuscany additional modular expansions it’s simply outstanding. Depending on if you are new to gaming then Viticulture on its own will be a very enjoyable and certainly worth a space on your shelf. Tuscany is great to step into if you are slightly more experience gamer or want to expand your Viticulture experience. What I find the most enjoyable is that the game is easy to teach, has lots of strategic choices, many routes to victory so it is always different and always joy to play level if I lose. Viticulture comes highly recommended and is worthy to be in any collection.

by @mostly.solo For someone who always claims to suck at making top anythings it’s a bit weird to volunteer a top 3, but the thing is: I’d just gotten a new game in and it was so fantastic it had to be top 3 material. So that was one down, and since I didn’t want to get a top 3 full of the same (rather fantastic) mechanism, I started making a top 3 of my favourite mechanisms instead, because if I really only ever got to play my top 3, would I want them to all be the same mechanism? (Spoiler alert: they ended up sharing a mechanism.) Number 3: flip and fill Hadrian’s Wall The one mechanism that makes me buy a game without so much as a glance at its Boardgamegeek page is paper-and-pencil, comprising of all things roll and write and flip and fill. So when I found out that the latest Garphill game was going to be a flip and fill, I couldn’t resist. And when I saw designer Bobby Hill had looked at both Fleet the Dice Game (two sheets of roll and write awesomeness) and Imperial Settlers Roll & Write (which combines a roll and write with worker placement in again two sheets of fantastic choices), two absolute favourites of mine, I was sold. And Hadrian’s Wall didn’t disappoint, because this is an amazing tableau builder (your possible choices will get better as the game progresses), a worker placement (you’ll need to use specific workers to get the actions you want) as well as a flip and fill, which is why I love it so much. You keep making these excellent chains, especially later in the game, when you're sending a civilian off to the gardens in exchange for some piety here, some trade goods there and what do you know, you end up with a much needed servant and a builder to boot! It's on the heavier side as far as flip and fills go, and I am loving every minute of it. A crunchy game that is super quick to set up. Number 2: tableau builder It’s a Wonderful World The next game however was no love at first sight. I had spotted this in my FLGS, looked at the components, watched reviews on YouTube and seen numerous accounts on Instagram loving this, but I was hesitant. I didn’t necessarily like the artwork, it seemed kind of aggressive, the dystopian theme wasn’t doing it for me and you never know when a zombie might pop up in a dystopian world. I really hate zombies. After my FLGS-friends had ensured me the solo mode was supposed to be great, there were no zombies to be seen and it would play in around half an hour, I decided to try it. 36 plays later I’m still hooked. In It’s a Wonderful World you’ll get cards you can either recycle for one resource, or build with the resources you get from recycling and during the production phase. Once built, a card will get you more resources, end game bonuses, or both. And this means you’ll slowly build up your engine by claiming more and more resources during production to place those fantastic but hard to build cards, to get you even more resources so you can place your … You get where I’m going with this. The enormous deck of cards and the solo scenarios will make sure you’ll want to play this again and again. Number 1: worker placement game Raiders of Scythia No, this wasn’t love at first sight either. I have a digital adaptation of Scythia’s older brother, Raiders of the North Sea. Loved the artwork, loved the dual use cards (choose to: recruit and permanently gain a benefit or play and get a specific benefit or action once), loved the mechanism of putting a worker down to take an action, and then picking up another worker to also take that action. As I was playing Raiders of the North Sea, I started longing for a physical copy but I didn’t want to spend my money on the exact same game I was already playing, especially if that meant spending around 80 euro so be able to play Raiders of the North Sea solo. So I bought Raiders of Scythia, and I haven’t played RotNS since. This game is done right on so many levels. Comparing it to RotNS makes clear that if you own the one, you don’t need the other, but it also makes clear that Raiders of Scythia is the more complete game and the more inclusive game. It doesn’t need any expansions; replay-ability is high thanks to asymmetric player powers, a thick crew deck, blind drafting during set-up and four levels of difficulty for solo play. And where in (the digital edition of) Raiders of the North Sea women were good for collecting extra provisions or maybe silver, they were hardly capable of forming a successful crew between them. In Raiders of Scythia, I can build up a crew consisting solely of women and beat the strongest solo opponent. This, to me, is important, but for readers who don’t feel this is an added bonus, let me just say this: it is a worker placement game with different worker types that will have you on your toes the whole game. It is a tableau builder that lets you improve your crew with eagles and horses, gaining them extra abilities or permanent actions. It’s got you rolling beautiful dice when you raid. It is a game that will always have a place in my collection, and the first game I really want to upgrade. Not because it doesn’t look stunning already, but because this game is exactly why I fell in love with playing board games: it makes me think and calms me down at the same time. And it is the best feeling in the world.

“Last night a board game saved my life………”.No, really. “ (Favouritefoe, Zatu Games, October 2020) Woah, did I really start my first ever board gaming piece with this opening line only 6 months ago? I think I am on pretty safe ground when I say 2020 was a year unlike anything almost any of us have ever experienced. And I am also probably in uncontroversial territory when I suggest that mental health has never been more at the forefront of our minds, literally. Without doubt, the Pandemic has affected us all. Not in the same ways, but definitely changed us. Taking inspiration from author Damian Barr, it is like we have been swimming in the same sea but travelling in different boats. I have been incredibly blessed not to have lost anyone to Coronavirus. And my own family has been extremely fortunate to have waited for the stormiest of times to pass in a house with a garden space – many did not have that luxury. In those respects, I am acutely aware that a lot of people have lost so much more, and struggled in much more challenging environments during this crisis than me. Which, you might think, should give me clear reason to count my lucky stars and quit worrying. However, for me, it is not that simple. It is never that simple. And that is because my own particular brand of anxiety makes every.single.waking.moment a challenge. Pandemic or not, even “normal” life is a terror-fest. And, untreated, my disorder makes it impossible for me to control fear. Impossible to dial down emotional responses. Impossible to stop. I am dizzy. I am tired. I am wound tighter than a drum. An Emotionally Unavailable Weeble I am, in a word, overwhelmed. But I can’t be. I am a mummy, a wife, a friend, a lawyer, a daughter, and a host of other simultaneous things. I am in control. I have to be. Micro-managing is in my DNA. It is in direct response to anxiety whilst simultaneously making me feel more afraid of the responsibility it brings. You see, I don’t have the option to drop, run, and hide away like every cell and synapse in my body is screaming at me to do, needs me to do. I can’t delegate or assign problems – believe me, I have tried. But the worry that somebody else will make matters worse (or at least not make them better) has played out so many times now makes giving over responsibility just as impossible as doing nothing at all. So I stay and I fight. I stiffen up, I ball my fists, and I grit my teeth. My eyes well but I blink hot tears away. My back knots but the uncomfortable tension is necessary. It keeps me standing. Just about. I become an emotionally unavailable Weeble – in survival mode, knocked down only to come back up again. Every time. My anxiety can make the smallest decision feels gut-wrenchingly impossible as it breaks a choice down into innumerable combinations of possibilities and consequences. And on loud days it disrupts even the most basic routines of daily life. Tea or coffee? Shirt or jumper? I don’t know. I can’t think. But I have to think. I have to decide. There is no quit. No matter how cornered I feel by my own anxiety dragon, not functioning is not an option. It hurts. Bone-aching, brain-pounding pain. Nevertheless, through the fog and the noise, choices must be made. Bad ones probably. But choices, nonetheless. Board Gaming Band-Aid And therein lies the gossamer thread which keeps me connected to the ground. The patch allowing me to mentally limp into the next day. Knowing that there is a safe space where I can shut out real-life, consequence heavy choices and practice on something smaller. A single action in a limited sphere; a decision inside a board game. And, whilst I try my best to hide anxiety most days behind smiles and function, it is there. It is always there. Like trying to catch a single blade of grass in a raging tornado, focussing on a single thought is out of the question. The confidence and concentration overcoming my disorder requires being precisely the things it takes away. My headspace is invaded by a continuous thumping onslaught of sensory overload. On that basis, board gaming remains a key element of my self-care. A hobby punching way above its weight – beyond some mere coping mechanism and into the realms of support therapy. Because, just as it was six months ago, gaming gives me an excuse to try and pause the noise. To try and narrow in on a particular mechanism or a theme. To sit and think. Or not think. Just play. Whatever I choose to do, I have agency over it. I may be at the mercy of luck in terms of a deck or a bag in a game but, to me, that is infinitely more enjoyable than the unknowns shaping and slamming into me the other 23 hours every day. In gaming I also know that I am not alone. I have great friends who I have met through playing, chatting, and writing about board games. Those who understand my need to focus on just a single hex or a die or a card. Those who let me be by myself amongst them, or as much a part of the social activity as I can cope with that day. No pressure. No expectation. No obligation. And so, fortified with a little cardboard confidence and in honour of Mental Health Week, I thought it would be a useful exercise to see whether the 5 games I chose in my first post for Zatu Games about board gaming as a means to manage anxiety last year, are still my go-to anxiety busters now. Carry on reading to find out which ones are still on my prescription and which have been toppled by a new tabletop treatment. 1. 2020: Azul Summer Pavilion 2021: Calico Don’t get me wrong, I still adore Michael Kiesling’s beautifully designed portion of Portuguese puzzliness that is Azul Summer Pavilion . The tiles look and feel good enough to eat, and the strategy behind picking and choosing what to lay and when to lay it in order to complete the stars on your board is enough to keep Azul Summer Pavilion at the number one spot of the multiple Azul options for me. But there is a new cat in town, and this furry feline is fierce. Or not. It depends on how you want to play, and whether you even want to play with other people when puzzling it out. And, whilst Azul is also versatile in terms of friendly v fierce gaming styles, it is the added solo campaign which causes Calico to settle at the top of the abstract games for me. Like thick, luxurious, kitty tempting cream. With gorgeous artwork by Beth Sobel, the box tempts all who gaze upon it with the promise of a soothing comfort of a quilt (if you play with your claws retracted, that is). And Calico is indeed a tile laying game in which you can either meditate over patterns and placement, or scrap like an alley cat when it comes to selecting patches to design your quilt and complete your personal objectives. Calico isn’t one of my quick-hit anxiety-busting games. It is a rare one in which I allow myself to indulge – to let my analysis paralysis to play out completely until I am ready to select a tile and lay it on my board. And for that reason, with permission to sit, stare, and shut out the world, it is a top anxiety buster in my book. (If you would like to read my full review of Calico, please click here) 2. 2020: Battle Line 2021: Battle Line Reiner Knizia’s flag-grabbing duelling card game, Battle Line from GMT Games was a strong choice last year and one that remains on my anxiety-busting list. Strong, not because of weight or wargame connections (although it is all about the fight!). No, this is a game which I play when I am feeling strong. When I have smacked my anxiety dragon on the nose and I am riding high (relatively speaking) on a mini-victory. This is because strategic decision making is you have to use in this game. It feels tighter than wet Lycra and, at times, just as uncomfortable. Simple to learn, you are two opposing armies fighting to secure 3 or 5 flags by creating the most powerful troop formations. But with only seven cards in your weaponry (including the option of using some special power Troop cards – which we rarely do instead preferring the purer number battle), you have just your mind to battle the luck of the draw which determines your constantly evolving hand on each turn. My dentist doesn’t like me playing this game. I have ground down more tooth enamel trying to work out which card to lay down in order to give me the best advantage than a lifetime of eating Flumps will ever do. But on a day when I feel able to go head to head with my husband in a game that is going to make my AP scream like a board gaming banshee, the choices I make (eventually!) in Battleline give me a cardboard confidence boost like no other. 3. 2020: Ticket to Ride Europe 2021: Quacks of Quedlingburg Six months ago, Ticket To Ride Europe was my cardboard equivalent of a warm, comfy cardigan. I knew the game, I knew my strategy, I knew the reassuring “no blocking” house rule would be enforced. And, as I mentioned in my first piece, it was (and still is) a sprawling and sociable euro-style multiplayer solitaire. A still soothing choice for a challenging day. Six months on, however, and whilst I will never say no to a game of Ticket To Ride Europe, there is a new social butterfly on my list. Quacks of Quedlingburg by Coiledspring games is built upon a totally different main game mechanic. It is a bag building (or destroying), luck driven hoot in which you are mixing up potions and trying to gain points before you push-your-luck too far and blow up your own cauldron. It does share some similarities; it is sociable, it is fun, there is hardly any direct player interaction, and (like the temptation of extra routes in Ticket to Ride), you can overstretch yourself and crash out in spectacular fashion! For a slave-to-control like me, a luck driven game like Quacks could be a curious choice. But it is a relief; a light, fun family game where I can leave 90% of what happens to chance. Don’t get me wrong, that last 10% is strategic and I know that is all down to me. With resource management in the form of using rubies at the right time and spending money wisely to select the most advantageous additional ingredients each round, as well as the need to decide between dipping in for one more token or sticking to safeguard against explosions, decisions ultimately help tip the bag in (or out of) your favour. But throwing caution to the wind, and diving in for one more chit in the hope that it gets you further round your board than the other players, is what makes this game fun. And it is most definitely a great, safe environment where I can push myself to my limits, to see what happens if I don’t operate on 100% risk aversion mode! 4. 2020: Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition 2021: Railroad Ink: Blazing Red Edition Given that I wrote a virtual love letter to Railroad Ink on Valentine’s Day for another feature earlier this year, my love for this game and all the comfort that it provides me is, without doubt, enduring. And so it remains firmly on my list. A game where you are simply seeking to draw the longest highways and railways connected to as many set network points as possible, base game Railroad Ink can be learnt in under a minute. But over a year of rolling, writing, and erasing later, I remain at its red-hot mercy. Those 7 rounds and 4 die providing an infinitely replayable experience whenever I need it (and that is before I even bring in the fiery expansions included in the box). Some no-brainer tactics have been learnt along the way, of course. But with very little power to forward plan, and nobody to blame but myself for a poor score, this game is a silent-disco of synapse snaps and fantastically frustrated fist balling. Soloing Railroad Ink is no different to playing with others, save that you take it in turns to roll the die (a tenuous responsibility-shifter at best), and have someone else to beat. And over the past year, its ability to play well over video call (and even asynchronously using recorded rolls) with any number of players has been a sanity saver for sure. But, on the basis that I do not ever give myself an easy ride, I am already my own most formidable opponent. And therefore, without the pressure of pace, when I don’t have the fortitude to play to another person’s beat, but I still want to puzzle out the spaghetti junctions on the board rather than the ones inside my head, Railroad Ink remains one of my anxiety busting go-to choices. (watch out for my review of the new 2021 Lush Green and Shining Yellow Challenger Editions coming soon!) 5. 2020: Rhino Hero 2021: Rhino Hero Super Battle Rhino Hero is back, but this time he has brought his friendly rivals! And I simply couldn’t review my initial list without including one of my son’s favourite games. At almost 6 years old, he has quite definite and discerning tastes, but Rhino Hero was always a sure fire hit. In October it was our go to dexterity game. Until, that is, Super Battle was delivered by Santa on Christmas Day. Now, our mini-meeple is all about trying to knock mummy down a level, and forcing daddy into moving those cheeky, balance-altering monkeys around the ever escalating tower. A game elevating the house-of-cards idea into the stratosphere, victory in Super Battle (like its simpler sibling Rhino Hero) is heavily dependent on a steady hand and a steady nerve. Again, possibly a strange choice for an anxiety sufferer you might think. However, what this game represents is time with my son. Time away from work emails, bills, deadlines, homework, chores, Pandemic panic……..Time where I focus on his eyebrows furrowing as he works out where to place his roof and how to arrange his walls. Time where I watch his eyes light up when Rhino Hero (he always plays the main mammal!) defeats me and sends me down to the level below. And time where I listen to his laughter as the tower topples and the cards fly everywhere. I don’t know about you, but for me, there is no better medicine than that.