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Gigamons WBG Score: 7 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: Just One, Dixit, Wavelength. Published by: Hachette Board Games UK Designed by: Karim Aouidad, Johann Roussel If you are looking for a new family game for your young children with cute art then check out this box art... Sold? Great. You can find links on how to buy the game here. If you need a bit more, I understand that. I suppose?! Rules, mechanics, and game play do matter a bit. How To Play To set up Gigamons, lay the tiles in a three-by-three grid as below. Pile the rest of the tiles in stacks near by. That's it! you're ready to play! Players then take it in turns to flip two tiles, showing all players what they flip, looking for pairs. If you find two matching tiles, you can take them and place them into your own personal pile. If you don't find a match then you must flip them back to their blank side and let the next player take their turn. The classic game of pairs. If you ever get three of the same type of tile then you can convert those tiles into the corresponding Gigamon standee. The first player to get three Gigamons or the player with the most Gigamon's when the tiles run out wins the game. Children will love the art in this game. My two certainly do! The Gigamon characters are brightly coloured with mainly open and friendly faces. They are essentially glorified ways of scoring points, but for children, what do you think most would prefer? A hypothetical point?Moving a score token one space on a board? Or a large colourful Gigamon standee to hug? There is a small variant that you can add into the game once your children become familiar with the main mechanic. Each tile has a small symbol on the bottom left. When ever you find a match you can enact this power instantly. They are all self explanatory, but there is simple guide in the rule book if any ever escape you. The plus one means that as well as the two tiles you take that have you matched, you can also take the top tile from the stack. Other powers include being able to to look at four of nine tiles in secret, place stone tiles on top of the main tiles so other players cannot take these on their turn, switch a tile you have with a tile someone else has, or destroy another players tile. I will let you see if you figure out which one is which below. See. Easy right. There is also a wild symbol that makes the character on the bottom right above act as a any tile. Flip this little character with any other tile and you have found a pair! There is one final piece who strangely doesn't look at happy, (maybe he has a headache?) but gives the player who finds this pair a second turn. Overall, Gigamons is a highly polished, simple family game, that works perfectly for younger gamers. The art is gorgeous, the components are all well made and sturdy, suitable for little hands; and the rule set is simple but rewarding. I can see this becoming very popular in my household as it's so quick and easy to set up and play. You will be opening the box and packing away within 15 minutes most times, if you play just the once! But this is the perfect "just one more" game to have when your kids are not quite ready to call it a night yet, and you are happy to say yes if it only takes 15 minutes!

Blank Slate WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 3-8 You’ll like this if you like: Just One, Dixit, Wavelength. Published by: The Op Designed by: Robert A. Kamp Good party games need to work at multiple player counts, be easily explained to any age group in minutes, and create moments of laughter and excitement. It would be an awkward way to start this review if Blank Slate didn't tick all three of these boxes, so I will quickly reassure you all now, Blank Slate has all of this. Blank Slate has to be one of the easiest games to explain in the history of board gaming. It works great in a three player and could legitimately work up to any player count with more paper and pencils being added, and it has brought a lot of laughter to my table, couch, and local pub garden! How To Play (in under a minute!) Ok, start the clock. Set up the game by giving each player a pen and drawing pad and set the score board in the centre of the play area. Place the card stack somewhere convenient. Then draw the top card and place it face up on the table or pass it around for all to see. The card will show either a blank then a word, or a word then a blank. All players will then decide what single word to write on their player board that fits either before or after the word on the card where the blank is. Perhaps the card shows "blank town". Maybe your mind goes to China Town and Ipswich Town. As no one else playing the game is a fan of lower league English football, you decide to go with China, and write that. This is because you will get one point if more than one person writes China as well, but three points if just one single person other than you writes the same. So, you want to pick things other may also pick. And that's the game. Play to a set point score, or time, or number of cards, or until the tea is ready. Why This Game Works Blank Slate works well in any player count and due to the nature of the pieces and mechanics, can be played anywhere. I have enjoyed this game around my table as part of a more 'sit-down' game night. Also on my sofa, just chilling with my family. And I have played in the pub, over a few drinks. It creates the spark for many fun conversations, accusations, and celebrations! When two people write the same thing for something relatively niche that reminds them of a shared experience or funny memory, this is when Blank Slate really shines. Finding joy in common ground is a very human trait. It reminds us of our similarities and makes us feel safe and secure. It bonds us as friends and family members. As fellow homo sapiens. This game is built on this very premise. And it works. It works really well. I have enjoyed this game with people of all ages, from my daughter who is 6, to relatives in their 70's. The moments when people write something you don't expect are almost as fun as when you match answers. You may predict a particular person in the game will write a specific word based on a conversation you've previously shared with them, or a hobby you knew they were into. But when the answers are revealed and they went down a completely different path, it can be hilariously frustrating and enlightening in equal measure. You can play this game 'fast-and-fun' and fly through the cards and answers. Or pause and debate each person's answer, falling down various conversational rabbit holes. The box contains the material to create whatever game experience that suits your group's mood and requirements on any given day. With this, it reminds me a lot of Just One. There is more competition and less solo pressure with Bank Slate than the cooperative Just One, but the experience otherwise has many parallels. Regarding the solo pressure, in Just One, when you are the guesser, there is a lot of expectation on you from the others in the group. No one wants to be the one that freezes or says something really silly and lets the team down. Even in a party game! Some people really don't like this. I really don't like this. I love Just One, and enjoy playing it, but always prefer it when it is not my turn. But I also find it awkward when I see others finding the spotlight difficult. That makes me uncomfortable too. This pressure of being under the spotlight does not exist in Blank Slate. Sure, there are some moments when you may not be able to think of something that suits the blank, but if you write any old gibberish, that's fine. You are not letting the team down. You are not losing a card or point for other people. You just wont get a point yourself that turn. And that's fine. It happens to everyone in this game a lot! And winning or losing really doesn't matter. This game isn't really about the points, or the winning. It's about the moments it creates. It's about the shared memories, and the laughter. It's about the moments of shocks, and surprise. The high fives and hugs. I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a versatile party game, that suits all ages, player counts, and game environments. It will deliver on most occasions for most groups and I can see Blank Slate being a firm favourite for many families, coming out on occasions where people are gathered around for a special occasion, and a relaxing, casual, group experience is the order of the day. There are 250 cards in the box, and all cards are double sided, so there is a lot of fun to be had. It will take a lot of plays to see a card again. And by that point, you could be with a different group, and most probably, many weeks or months apart. The cards are numbered, so if you play with the same group regularly, you can take note of where you were up to and then avoid any repetition of recent cards. The game has minimal strategy other than trying to second guess your friends. However, I found that going with the word that first comes to your mind seems to work best. However, there are moments when you guess a friend or families answer based on your knowledge of their interests and it feels great. And it is these moments that will keep this game coming to my table, couch or pub for many years to come.

Viticulture World WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 1-6 You’ll like this if you like: Viticulture, Atlantis Rising, Orléans: Invasion Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Mihir Shah, Francesco Testini There is a lot to go through here, so strap in! A cooperative worker placement game is not something that comes around very often. We will certainly cover that. Viticulture is a hugely popular and successful game that has been around since 2013. How this expansion builds on what is often regarded as one of the best worker placement games, especially when including the brilliant Tuscany expansion, is something we will get into too. This game has launched with some controversy around the use of controversial figures from history, which we will give our thoughts on. But first, lets talk about the actual game. Let's step away from the hype and online chatter and talk about the core mechanics, rules, and flow of this game, which is good. Very good in fact. What's new? Viticulture World brings in several new ideas to the Viticulture world. In this review, I will focus on the Viticulture Essential edition as a comparison, as this is the only one available at retail now and the edition the publisher refers too when the talk about the core game. I will not focus on Tuscany as I appreciate not everyone has that expansion. Although what I would say, is if you are looking for an expansion for Viticulture, and you don't have Tuscany yet, unless you are looking for a cooperative version, then Tuscany is what you want to get first. It's phenomenal. But, if you have Tuscany already, and still want more Viticulture variety in your life, then read on. The main new things brought to the table with Viticulture World are as follows: Cooperative Gameplay Seven Continent modules Seasonal workers Upgradable worker spots New Mamas and Papas cards, with the colours reversed giving the opportunity for two male parents, two female parents, or a mix. Fall benefits Cooperative Gameplay First up, lets cover the cooperative gameplay. It is one of the major changes to the game and seems to have created a lot of online chatter. It's a polarising addition to the game to say the least. Perhaps as there are so few cooperative worker placement games? Perhaps because this is such a beloved game as a competitive experience? Perhaps because some have had bad experiences with cooperative games in the past? By their very nature, worker placement games are often about putting a worker down onto a space that now cannot be used by others. Your worker being there has blocked a space for other players. As you play, you are not only choosing what to do, but thinking how you can affect other players. Creating scarcity in your options and making turn order crucial, this is how many worker placement games work. The Viticulture base game does this very well. Can this translate to a co-op version? Making the game cooperative does on the surface level, seemingly make this redundant. But the reality in the game, is the scarcity is still there. Nothing changes with the rules about how many players can go into each space, (well, not much anyway, we will come onto that). It's just that now, you need to debate with the other players about what you want/need to do, so that you don't inadvertently block another player with a move you don't really need to do. Stopping another player being able to do something crucial to the groups success by doing something you didn't have to do this turn is a new skill you can only master through good communication. The scarcity is still there, it is just now a shared group decision. This difference in the game, the requirement to discuss your moves, is the reason why this game will either work or bomb for you. I love worker placement games it is one of my favourite mechanics. But it does often create a relatively quiet table experience. With just the odd cry of "Ah! I really wanted to go there!" breaking the otherwise silent room. This is fine, and sometimes exactly what I want. I love other worker placement games such as Le Harve, Everdell, Underwater Cities, Architects of the West Kingdom, Raiders of The North Sea, and Tzolk'in to name just a few. But I currently do not own any other cooperative worker placement games. The chance to now have this mechanism and play Viticulture in this way feels great. I enjoy discussing with my family and friends about what we are going to do and plan accordingly across multiple workers, how as a group we can best achieve our goals. It is unique to my collection and works well for me. With so many great worker placement games out there in many of our collections, surely there is a place for a cooperative worker placement game too? The complaints around the announcements for this baffle me I have to say. But, if this doesn't sound for you, then I understand that. Cooperative games are not for everyone. But I don't quite get the vitriol the announcement of this game was met with. Simply down to the fact it was a cooperative variant. "Hard Pass!" Was a common reaction. If you want a competitive game of Viticulture then you have had access to that since 2013! If you want a great expansion for it, then that already exists too. The way you win each game is by all players achieving at least 25 points, and as a group, the influence track reaching the final stage. Which does vary based on each continent you play. One issue with a co-op version of this is that it can be frustrating if you lose as a group, when the final space on the influence track was met and you achieved over 25, but one other player did not quite get to 25 points. But this is the very nature of cooperative games. And perhaps you got to where you are by not playing as a team? If it was because one player just made bad decisions, then this is where the debate and group planning come in? Could you of helped the other players more in your thoughts and actions? But this does lead to a major issue with cooperative games, quarter backing. The main reason many people don't like this mechanic. When one player leads the charge and tries to make decisions for everyone, this can take away the fun for others. If this is a problem with your group, you could always play with closed hands so you are semi-coop. Not knowing other players cards is an option in this game and would reduce another players opportunity to boss you about! Players are still working together, but you don't have to share everything with all players, giving you the chance to make your own decisions. I found the cooperative nature of this game has allowed me to get it to the table more. It makes playing it with other people new to the game so much easier. I can just start playing with zero teach and explain to people as we go the options and strategy. Players less familiar with the game are not as daunted or worried about losing to player more familiar with the strategy in cooperative mode, as they are now playing with that person, not against them. And when tired, I find I can encourage my wife to try this more than a competitive game, late in the evening, when working together can assist our sleepy minds! Seven Continent Modules The second major addition to this expansion is the inclusion of different modules. The first of which, Greengully, is set in the land made popular from a previous Stonemaier Game release, Charterstone. The other six are based on real-world continents, and the history within each one is very much real. Each one feels like a separate and new version of the game. It felt to me like being at an Italian restaurant when I opened the box. I knew I wanted pasta, but which type? Each continent brings its own set of unique rules, some new components, and required strategy. I don't want to go into this in full here, as I think there is some element of surprise as you play the game that I don't want to ruin. It would not be a full spoiler as such for me to reveal them, but I certainly enjoyed experiencing them for myself as I played and seeing them here before you play would affect your own enjoyment. So, all I will say here is they all feel very different. There is a real sense of progression as you move through each continent. The difficulty ramps up if you play in the recommended order. And there is a strong sense of satisfaction to be gained from developing your skills, strategy, and understanding of the game as you play through each continent. As you experience the full world of Viticulture in your first play through, it will feel like a campaign game of sorts. I am surprised it is not marketed and scored in this way. Rather they are looked at as individual modules you can pick from to tailor your experience based on which challenge you enjoyed the most or what difficulty of game you are looking for. The opening module is very much a training exercise and may not be used by everyone, but I certainly enjoyed the nods to Charterstone, and easy entry to the game. Especially as it had been a few months since my last game of Viticulture. It was nice to start with an easy win and remind myself of the strategies in the game. Also, the completist in me wanted to try them all, so I wasn't about to miss this first one. Jamey spoke about wanting everyone to start with an easier experience in his design diary. You get some real concessions to the normal rules with this addition, which almost guarantee a victory. This was why this was included. Seasonal Workers In Viticulture, players are given workers to use over the two main seasons of activity, summer and winter. You can decide when to use each worker and could be left without many options in one season if you go big in another. I like this choice. In Viticulture World, players have two workers with a yellow hat that can only work in the Summer, and two workers with blue hats that are restricted to winter work. You will have your grande worker still, that can go anywhere, and there is still the extra temporary worker that you can pick up in the spring that can also be placed in any season. But your four main workers are now limited. The restriction at the start of the game does balance out bad strategy, but also limits some options later in the game which can be frustrating. As such, one of the new options in Winter is to train a seasonal worker, remove their hat, and give them the flexibility to now work anytime. This is a simple addition to the game, that looks cool. The hats are very funky. But I am unsure how much it actually adds to the game. Perhaps the designers felt more limitation would aid in better table talk, and restrict one player from doubling down on one season, so that everyone feels involved throughout the entire game? It feels like something that was added during playtesting to avoid issues created by the cooperative mechanic, by adding more tension to each decision and encouraging more debate. I may be wrong, but this is what it feels like. It doesn't add much to the game other than frustration, and in fairness, the chance for some cool insta' pics! Upgradable Worker Spots Developing your player board in Viticulture feels great. Adding new buildings to your vineyard and planting more vines so that your wine making process becomes more powerful brings a real sense of satisfaction as the game progresses. One of my favourite additions to Viticulture World is the innovation tiles which adds this feeling to the main board too. Each round, in spring you will add four innovation tiles to the available spaces. They are not yours yet, just available to purchase. In Summer, if you have the available Lira, you can purchase one of the tiles to place over another space on the board to improve that spaces efficiencies, and/or reduce its cost. This could be the space you place your worker itself, which also frees up the space so that now as many workers as you like can be placed here; or the action spaces above which increases that spaces power to all players for the rest of the game. This is my favourite addition to the game, but also, my biggest frustration. I love the development on the board these tiles bring and enjoy having increased powers in certain spaces as the game develops. But it does add a huge element of luck as some tiles are obviously used a lot more than others. And of course, some tiles are more important early in the game such as planting, whereas others work harder for you at the end, such as fulfilling an order. As such, the order that the upgrades tiles come out can greatly affect your chances of victory in the game. It makes a lot of sense to upgrade as many tiles as you can early in the game, but less so if they are not ones you will use at the beginning stages. If planting comes out last or not at all, that will obviously hurt your chances. Being able to harvest every field instead of just one is a massive upgrade. If this doesn't come out in round two or three, then your opportunities to get lots of early grapes is significantly reduced. This is variation that was not needed in my experiences. This affects the game so much that I feel the tiles should be ordered to come out in a set way. A variant could be that you mix them up in a random order for advanced players. But the set way should be in a set order prescribed by the publisher to avoid such a heavy swing in luck. Mamas and Papas Cards Colour Reversed The only change is the base colour for each gender is reversed so that all types of parent groups can be created. This is a great example of Stonemaier creating games for all. Being inclusive as a publisher. Listening to feedback from fans. And making positive changes for all. Well done, Stonemaier. Fall Benefits The spring wake up track has a new inner circle that you move into after the summer is over, where each player can then choose to take a card of any colour, two Lira, or age one grape. This is a nice choice to have, whereas with the base game, you are limited to drawing a new visitor card only. This is a nice simple change that brings in more flexibility, and helps you plan for the winter season with more control. How We Can Learn From History In making this expansion, the designer made the choice to research the history of Viticulture around the world and include major events and people from history in the new modules. Each continent module brings a key part of each regions main development within the industry to the forefront. The climate, geology, and assistance from French winemakers in Asia, the political turmoil that affected African winemaking, and the prohibition era in North American are all covered. It seems that a lot of work went into understanding each region, and keeping the game linked to the facts. This is not a historical game, but historical elements certainly add to the game enjoyment for me. I learnt as I played. The issue comes with the South American module where some of the characters chosen to be included in the game were involved in some horrific moments of history. Stonemaier use a cultural consultant in all games now, and these characters inclusion was picked up as a problem, and a disclaimer was included on the cards which states that the people included in the South American module are not being honoured. It's a short disclaimer that does not really say much. Through early review copies, the inclusion of these people, despite the disclaimer was questioned, due to the fact that you had to work with them to gain a benefit. In a game about War, you cannot avoid certain aspects of life, and history. But in a game about wine, I think some hoped they would not need to encounter this part of the past. And certainly not in a way where you are forced to work with these people from history to do well in the game. As such, a new module for South America is being made and sent out to replace these cards. I do not have the new one yet and did not play the old one out of respect of those affected and the publishers request to all reviewers. This is a good lesson for all publishers about how things like this can affect people. And how reliance on a cultural consultant may not always be enough when developing a game. There are real-world consequences to everything we all do. And more needs to be done to understand this. Personally, I think it is good this change happened. If someone is upset by a game, and you can make the change, then make the change. However, I have since read a lot about the people included in the original module and the history, which is something I would not have done had I not seen them in the game or heard about the issue. I educated myself and bettered my own knowledge from their inclusion. As such, my recommendation to publishers in the future would be to think more about the stories you are telling, the histories you are exploring, and the characters you are including. Think about how this may upset or offend people. And make your own decisions as to whether they should be included or not. And if they are included explain the reasons why upfront. Explain their part in history. A small disclaimer is not enough. If there was a need for a disclaimer, then there was a need for proper explanation too. Take some time to say why the disclaimer is there and detail the issues. Give links for further reading and help us all educate ourselves better. I don't think history should be ignored. But I also don't want it to be trivialised or wrongfully glamorised. We should learn from it. Summery Overall, I have loved every game of this expansion. It has made me play the game again multiple times as I travelled around the different modules. That alone has been great for me! I cannot wait to get the new South America module to complete my journey. And when I do, I will go round and do it again. Time and time again. I have already tried a few of the module's multiple times. And not just as we lost some! I enjoy the new twist each one brings. As much as the joy of experiencing each one for the first time can never be replicated, your understanding of the strategy grows each time. There is a joy in becoming a wine making expert in all of the continents, under each modules own unique challenges. This is an excellent expansion for a brilliant game. I don't see this making anyone who doesn't like the base game fall in love with Viticulture. Unless it is someone who just does not enjoy competitive games, and the cooperative nature of this fixes that. But seeing as most people already really enjoy Viticulture, I can see this being a hit with everyone who gives this a try, without the "hard pass" attitude towards the co-op mature. I will continue to play Tuscany without this, and I will also play this expansion without Tuscany. The choice really comes down to whether I want to play Viticulture competitively or cooperatively. It is as simple as that. I expect it will be 50/50 between the two, and it will mean I get to play a game I love, more often. I am delighted I have the choice. And I will treasure this expansion for years to come.

Toy Story WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle, Clank, Dominion. Published by: The Op Designed by: Prospero Hall, Kami Mandell VERY MINOR SPOILERS LATER. You will be warned at the right time and can skip on if needed. If you are looking for a family-friendly cooperative game to play with your young children, that is themed to your kids taste, then you are going to struggle to find something that fits the bill more than this! Toy Story: Obstacles & Adventures could well be the gateway game you have been searching for. How To Play The premise of this game, is very simple. You and your family/friends need to battle your way through the main story lines from the Toy Story movies, and save the toys! Build your deck to enhance your powers and save the day before it is too late. Each player will choose from one of four different characters to play as, or from five when you get to story two. This is explained on page one of the rules, so I would say is not really a spoiler! But Jessie's board, the fifth character not available in game one, will be very much viable when you open the box. If you have a young daughter desperate to play as Jessie from game one, you may need to open the box and hide this away before you sit down and play with her!!! Just as an example. Nothing specific... Each character has a starting deck of ten cards. On your turn, you will turn over the top danger card and resolve its effect. This usually forces you loose some health or moves the marker on the adventure track a space or two. The marker represents the toys journey through one of the major story lines in the franchise. If the marker reaches the end of the track before you complete the game, you will loose and will need to try again. Although this is very much avoidable and rarely happens. If you loose all your health, you will loose half your cards and any objects you have, move the tracker forward one space, but then get all your health back at the end of your turn. So, this is not too bad either, and also highly avoidable. Once the danger card is resolved, you will then check the current affects on any face up hazard card. Again, this will mainly affect your health, but can also change your hand size, or other minor inconveniences. You can then play your hand of cards, which will usually be five. Cards mainly allow you to either get imagination pieces which allow you to buy new cards from the face up draw pile to add to your discard pile to be used later, or insight pieces to help you defeat the current face up adventure card. Each adventure card has a required amount of insight pieces needed to defeat it. When this is done, all players will receive a benefit, such as health or imagination pieces, and a new adventure card will be drawn. When you defeat the final adventure card in the deck, you will win that mission. There are a number of missions in the game, and they get progressively more difficult. The final two will require some understanding of the game in order to win, but the rest are very simple and most families will fly through them. Your deck building skills will be crucial to your success. Buying the right cards, getting rid of the weaker ones, and most importantly, not being tempted to buy bad cards when that is all you can afford, will be key as you work your way through the different missions. Adventure Awaits! There are six boxes in the game that you can open as you work your way through each victory. Children will find opening these, and discovering the secrets within to be incredibly exciting! There is something magical about holding back components like this. It makes the moment when you do get them that much more sweet. My family were clamouring to get this game to the table "one more time," not just so they could play, but also so they could see what was inside the next box. This method of introducing new rules, cards, and other surprises as you move through a campaign like this, is a clever way to make the game develop in complexity over time, allowing younger players to become familiar with the core rules, before new elements are introduced. It also keeps the game fresh over multiple plays. And makes people want to come back for more to discover the treats inside! To Infinity. And Beyond! My family loved the familiarity this game brought. The films are such a huge part of many of our lives, and the characters are instantly recognisable. At every turn there is something for fans of the films to spot. Being reminded of various scenes and funny lines is a great part of this, and I would encourage others who enjoy the movies to take their time with these games. Enjoy the art. Discuss what is happening on the scenes depicted within the cards. This brings out the theme in a deeper way, makes the game feel like more of a story, and certainly made our family enjoy the process even more. At the end of each game, the cards you have bought and added to your hand are shuffled back into the main deck, and you start the next game with your starting hand again. This was a frustration for my children as they did not enjoy going back to the start each time and loosing the new cards they had acquired. This is the same in the Harry Potter version of this game, which is in all but theme, identical to this game. It's a shame players cannot keep at least one card game-to-game. I don't really understand why this is the case, as it is a little frustrating to go back to the beginning each time. Some cards you buy at the later stages of game, you won't even get to use. For a family game, that is about fun, you think they would include this, and maybe have the reset rule as a advanced variant. But with that said, each time you start again, you will quickly get into the new game, and the mission in front of you. And your hand will build back up in number and power in now time. Each turn you will usually buy at least one card, and turns happen very quickly. The cooperative nature of this game allows for adults to help younger children with the more tricky rules and strategy. However, I found with my six and nine year old, I could leave them to make their own decisions during most games. The final two as I say are a little more complex, and offer more of a challenge. But when they are all completed, it is nice to have a range of game to then try again, deepening on how hard you want to make the game. You can also easily adjust the starting position of the tracker on the adventure track to adjust the difficulty. And we even house ruled a deck building element to the start up, where everyone could take five cards from the main deck to form their starting personal deck, instead of the basic ten you usually get. In the next picture there will be a very minor spoiler. This will be explained in the following paragraph. If you want to avoid any spoilers then skip on past the next picture and the next few lines. Time To Play The new elements that are brought into the rules, game by game, are all simple enough to be introduced with only a minute or two of explanation each time. But change the game in ways that keep everything fresh and exciting. I don't want to ruin them here, but above is a very minor spoiler that shows how small asymmetric player powers are introduced in one of the later rounds. It's a nice addition to the game that makes the choice of each character at the start of the game become a little bit more than just about which pictures your kids like. But in truth, it does remain mainly as this! Which is fine, as I love Rex. I don't really want to be Woody. Its fine. No really, it is! The following boxes I will leave for you to find out about on your own. All I will say is that after the final box, you may feel the game is done. And it will be left on the shelf for a while. But that will still have brought you at least six games, if you won each one first time. But probably more like eight to ten games. And I would wager, if you have got through all six boxes, it was because you enjoyed the experience. And so playing them again will be something you will want to do. I don't think there is a replayability issue here, other than the complexity. As your children grow up, it may become too simple for them. But this could just be the beginning of your families adventures together. Summery Playing Toy Story with my family has been a very rewarding experience. I played the Harry Potter version with my son, and loved it. However, we have not played the final two games in full together as he has not finished the books and films yet, and I didn't want the game to ruin the story from the book for him. I was also unable to play this with my daughter, who is not a fan of the Harry Potter world as much as my son and I. Whereas with Toy Story, my entire family loves it, and has seen every minute of every film, and I would imagine this is the same with thousands of families around the world. As such, this really is the perfect game for young families to play together if you like us, love Toy Story. Anyone who loves the films will be familiar with everything in this box, and instantly love it. The game will teach your family the concepts of deck-building, which if they enjoy, could lead you on to Clank or other such games. And the campaign nature may encourage you to try something else a little more adventurous with them, such as The Adventures of Robin Hood, as they grow up. As such, I would highly recommend this game, not only for the fun you will have with it, and the stories it will remind you of. But also because of the journey it may well start you and your family on.

Undaunted: Reinforcements WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Undaunted: Normandy, Memoir ‘44, Undaunted: North Africa Published by: Osprey Games Designed by: Trevor Benjamin, David Thompson with Solo mode by David Digb, Dávid Turczi By Steve Godfrey When most publishers release expansions for a game they normally do them in chunks. Maybe a few new cards and scenarios here, a solo mode there, possibly even a big box storage solution somewhere down the road. Osprey games however have decided to say “forget that nonsense, we’re releasing this all at once!” So, just for some clarification. Aside from this box I only own a copy of North Africa myself so all solo mode games were only played using that game. The solo system works exactly the same in both games. Similarly all my plays at 4 players were done using Normandy, but again it’s the same principle across both games. Also if you want to see how Undaunted works and see what Jim thought of North Africa you can check out his review here and you get to see his smiling face and who can say no to that! With that out of the way let’s jump in……you could as well, the box is big enough! Just for ease I’m going to break everything down in sections just so you can skip to any part that is of a particular interest. New Units Just like its namesake this box does indeed include reinforcements for each game and for each side. The main addition for Normandy is tanks and believe me they’re not shy with what you get. Three different types and separate units for some types. Tanks for Normandy work differently to the vehicles in North Africa. Rather than having a separate vehicle card where you can place tokens they work pretty much like a normal unit just with a couple of different keywords. So any Normandy players who didn't take to North Africa's vehicles will probably appreciate how these work and how they don’t add any major new rules overhead. Normandy also includes specialists that have new combat actions. The tanks add in their anti tank weapons and the other non vehicle units include new attacks and grenades. Rather than targeting one single unit these actually target an entire tile meaning that not only can you hit multiple enemies at once, but also friendly fire is a thing now. North Africa's main addition is Mines. When you lay a mine it’s placed on the crossover between two tiles on either its anti armour side or its anti personnel side. When an enemy unit of that type crosses those tiles an attack is performed but the defending unit gets no tile or range defence. Something a friend of mine noticed on our first play was that there was a slight colour matching difference on the backs of the new unit cards. This was more noticeable on the Normandy decks than with the North Africa decks. This didn’t pose a problem for our group and it’s not been an issue since. I don't think we paid that close attention to the backs as we were drawing the cards. Even if you do notice them when drawing you still won’t know what unit it is your drawing, just what set it’s coming from. I would say for some people this may not be an issue, or even noticeable. Although there will obviously be a number of people that this will be an issue for, which is completely understandable. Osprey are offering replacement cards which you can find in the forums on board game geek. Nevertheless these units are a great addition to the game. The new keywords don’t add anything too complex to the game and the new simplified tanks for Normandy means that they are easy additions and can easily be taught to new players so you can use these new units and scenarios as soon as you get them. Joint Operations: Four player mode. I love the Undaunted games but sometimes getting certain two player only games like this to the table isn’t easy. Now we have a four player variant to help get these great games played more often. Four player games are actually really simple. Players split into two teams of two and each team chooses one player to be the Platoon Sergeant. Construct all the players decks as per the set up guide for the scenario with each player getting their own deck and personal supply. Both players in a team share a fog of war deck. Players draw cards as per the usual rules but this time the Sergeants draw four and their teammate draws three. Only the leaders cards are used to determine initiative. The turn order will alternate with the Sergeant who won initiative going first, then the opposing leader etc. The game plays out as normal as per the scenario. When each team's Sergeants play their Platoon Sergeant card (or lieutenant if you're using the LRDG) then they will put it in their teammates discard pile and leadership will transfer to them. Team mates can talk and plan out their turns but all chatter has to be open. The four player game is great. It’s a lot of fun to be able to talk strategies with a teammate and plan out your moves together. Both team members will both have different deck make ups so you’ll both have similarities in your decks but also skill sets that only you have in your deck. This makes each player's choices unique to them and makes them equally important to how your strategy plays out. If you’ve already played either game then this is easy to explain and get started. Equally the beauty of this is that it can easily be taught to new players whilst you're teaching the main game. This player mode is actually a good learning tool since you could easily help out a new player on your team rather than sitting across from them and potentially beating them simply due to inexperience. Just remember not to alpha game them!! The fact that this means I can play the game more and it’s easy to introduce to new players immediately appeals to me and a lot of people I would imagine. The only downside I would say is that the four player game can only be played with the included scenarios in this box and there are only four for each game. Now if you add that up and factor in playing both sides and then with the different decks then you could say that technically you could play differently 16 times per game. That’s still a lot of games you can get out of it but if you’re set on always playing a certain side then you may be a bit more limited? The fun scenarios are fun though and they can also be played at two and solo. Enemy Unknown: Solo mode Not content with opening up the player count one way, they’ve also gone and done it in the other direction as well. In solo mode simply pick a game, pick a scenario from either the main book or the book of scenarios in this box, set up the decks for both sides, pick the side you want to play as then take out the corresponding solo cards for your opponents units. Each unit across both games has its own set of double sided solo cards but you’ll only use one of these for each unit per scenario. Rather than being random though every card side is only used in certain scenarios. This means that each one is optimised for the specific scenario you’ll be playing and should mean that a unit will be doing something each turn. This is a lot better than what can happen with some solo games where the A.I. can spend turns standing round on a space looking like they’re in severe need of a sat nav. You’ll draw your four cards as normal and pick an initiative card then flip over the top card of the bot deck. If the bot goes first they use all four cards, if not then only three. They then activate their cards in initiative order (highest to lowest) by using the solo cards for that unit. Each card has a set of commands they could potentially do. If the bot is able to do the first command then they do it, if not they do the second one etc. In the solo book for each scenario you’ll also find a list of “dangerous units” which will act as the bot preferred units for it to attack. I really like the solo mode for these games. The optimised cards for each scenario means that you’re always playing against an interesting and threatening opponent rather than a generalised bot that may suffer in certain situations. Couple this with the fact that there’s solo cards for every scenario over both games and the ones in the reinforcements box and you’re getting a lot of games out of these cards, and that’s if you only play as one side! I will say that this solo mode has a big learning curve. Even the rule book says that you should make sure you’re familiar with the normal rules before jumping into the solo mode and I would definitely agree. I’d played North Africa a couple of times before I sat down for the solo mode but being the rebel that I am I ignored the good advice that the designers had spelled out for me. I realised that my rebellious way was going to be my downfall when I was surrounded by four rule books! Now with more plays of both regular games under my belt things are definitely on the easier side but just be aware that your first few solo games are going to be that bit longer and will have you flipping through the rules trying to get a handle of things. Whether or not you think this learning curve and the slight bit of extra set up is worth your time depends on your interest or solo gaming in general. If you only play solo games out of curiosity now and then, then maybe this is one to best leave in the box. If however solo gaming is your thing or this is a way to help you get the game played then this would definitely be one that’s worth getting your teeth into. Storage Solution The last thing in this box is, well, the box itself. The reinforcements box will fit all the contents of both Normandy and North Africa, as well as the stuff already in this box, obviously. As I said up top, I don’t own Normandy but when I was testing out the four player game round a friends house we did a test fit with both games and everything fits in there just as it should and it works as well as any third party solution would do. As a warning though, Sleeved cards won’t fit into the regular slots provided. They fit width wise but they won’t fit the other way. They will fit in the box but you will have to use one of the other slots. I don’t tend to sleeve a lot of cards so for me this won't really prove an issue if I ever come to own Normandy. It’s a shame though because if you're going to sleeve any type of game then deck builders are at the top of the deck. Final Thought’s Is this a must buy? If everything here sounds like something you would use then I think this is well worth it. The extra games modes give me a lot more opportunity to get these great games to the table. The extra units add some more variety to your games and the storage solution works well (aside from the above mentioned) and means you no longer need to decide which game to take to game night because they’re both going to be in one handy box. If you're only interested in parts of this expansion (I know solo gaming isn’t for everyone) then it would depend on what parts of this you’re interested in and what sort of value you place on those. For me this is a great addition to Undaunted and the fact that it encompasses a lot of different modules and a great storage solution in one expansion make this well worth it. I’ve gotten a lot of use out of this box so far and I don’t expect that to change anytime soon.

Tranquillity WBG Score: 7 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: The Mind, Hanabi, Magic Maze Published by: Board Game Hub Designed by: James Emmerson By Steve Godfrey Close your eyes, relax. You're on a boat drifting calmly through the tranquil seas with nothing but the sound of the ocean gently lapping at the side of your boat to disturb your peace. Aaaahhh bliss. Then, out of nowhere a sea monster attacks and you’re startled from your chair rushing to the controls of the boat just as a storm starts tossing the boat from side to side and soaking the deck making the trip to the helm all the more treacherous. The sea monster submerges back into the depths and you breathe a sigh of relief. But what’s that? with the rain still lashing down on the window you can barely make out the shape of JAGGED ROCKS!!! You swerve to narrowly avoid them, the storm suddenly eases off and the seas calm and you're left to go back to your calming trip, if you can. Some nice calming rules To set up tranquility lay out the border cards so they make a six by six grid inside them (so essentially an eight by eight border). Shuffle the five finish cards into the main deck. Then deal the cards out as evenly as you can to all the players. They then shuffle one start card each into their draw pile. Each player then draws a starting hand of five cards. On your turn you can either play a card into the grid or discard two. The aim of tranquility is to complete the grid and have the start and finish cards out as well. Each card has a number on them from 1 to 80 and the numbers will be placed into the grid in ascending order from the start card to the finish. They will need to be placed from left to right on the bottom line then right to left on the second etc etc. When you play a card it can be placed anywhere in the grid. If you place a card next to another one then you have to discard as many cards as the difference between them. So, if you put a three next to a five you’d discard two cards. If you place between two cards then you discard based on the number closest to the card you just placed. You can’t however put cards next to each other that would make you empty your hand. When the first start card is drawn then It must be played on the bottom left of the grid. Players then collectively discard a total of eight cards. When the grid is complete then if someone has a finish card in their hand they can play it to the end of the grid to win the game. Players lose the game if one player can not legally play any cards on their turn. There is of course a little twist here in the fact that players cannot communicate what cards they have in their hand other than when they are discarding cards from the result of a start card being drawn. A game of tranquility? Games of Tranquility tend to start off exactly as the games name suggests, Tranquil. You place cards down in the grid with some degree of thought but knowing that the whole deck is out there in either yours or your teammates hands means you haven’t got that many worries. Sooner or later one of two things will happen that will start to ramp things up. First, someone will draw a start card causing all players to discard eight cards between them. It’s here and only here that you can communicate with your team. Even then you now know that eight potentially useful cards have definitely been discarded and now the game takes its first terrifying step into the unknown. The second thing will come as the grid starts to fill up and you need to start playing cards next to others and discarding others. It’s here that the tension starts to mount and the decisions over which cards to discard becomes increasingly tougher. Its also where the games inbuilt timer starts to tick down at a much faster pace. It’s all well and good discarding those one or two cards that don’t quite fit yet, but you’re also relying on your teammates not to have done exactly the same thing! The most difficult card to discard though is those finish cards! There are only five in the deck and as these get shuffled into the main deck and dealt out, you have no idea where they’re distributed amongst the players. Sure discarding one seems fine at the time, but if you’ve had that thought, then chances are so has everyone else. You wont find out if that’s the case thought until the time comes to play a Finish card at the end of the game. Limited or no communication games are becoming more popular and you either love them or you don’t. If you don’t then I don’t think Tranquility will change you mind but the non-communication rules is what makes this game. First off it stops any alpha gaming and puts the decisions solely in each player's hand, for better or for worse. If you’re someone who likes an alpha gamer because you have someone to blame if you lose then be prepared to take responsibility for your own actions. It’s this simple rule though that brings the tension. Any sort of discussion and this game would just be a simple puzzle of laying cards in a grid and, let’s face it, probably wouldn’t be much of a puzzle. Similar to playing a game like The Mind, whenever you lay a card down you can’t help but look around at the other players with a grimace on your face hoping that you’re not scuppering another player's plan of placing a better card in that gap. You tend to run the gamut of emotions into this game from “argh why did you play that card there, you’re never coming to another game night” all the way to “thank you for playing that card there, I take back everything I said about you” A good placement for another player could be all you need to give you more options of which cards to discard from your hand. As mentioned before, the game is on a timer and the more cards that are played down and the more that are discarded the quicker the timer runs down. There’s nothing more tense in this game than seeing the cards quickly run down only to look up and see a load of empty spaces that still need filling. The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand. The first thing you’re obviously going to notice about the game is the small box. This is literally just a box of square cards and the rules. With more and more discussions about the amount of unnecessary “air” in games boxes, it’s nice to see this perfect sized box being used. I think this is something that everyone involved in this decision should be applauded for. Don’t let the small box fool you though because this can be a bit of a table hog. You’ll essentially be making an eight by eight grid of cards and it tends to take up way more space than you expect. The other thing I will say is that, if you’re playing on a regular table the border does have a tendency to slip and that can throw things off. Even a miscount of the border cards during setup can throw the game off and you may have to reset. Trust me, I know this from experience! It’s strange because as much as I love the portability of this game and I wouldn’t change a thing about this production, I think all of that would be improved with the play mat……which would then defeat the object of having such a portable game. Maybe I’ll pick it up just for home use. (Play mat available here when stock comes in) This is a great puzzle and whether you play it solo or co-op, each brings something different to how it plays out. In solo mode the game is a battle with yourself and the entire deck of cards. It may sound like it’s going to be a bit easier since you're in charge of all of the cards and surely you know which cards you’ve discarded right? Well yes, to a point but that doesn’t mean you won’t discard something early on thinking it won’t matter, only to realise a few turns later that you really could have used that card. More variants than the multiverse. So, you’ve played the game a few times, you’ve got some good strategies and you’ve probably won the game a few times. That’s it, you’re done with it, put it up for sale or trade right? Nope, because Tranquility comes with eight variants that include different board set ups, a competitive game and variable difficulties. That of course is not including the Stormy seas expansion cards which have Jagged rocks, sea monsters and the storm and compass. I don’t know about you but that’s a heck of a lot of game stuffed into one tiny box. Now at this point I’ve only played a few of the variants and each adds their own challenge and the ones I’ve tried have been fun and found a new way to keep the game fresh, not that it was getting stale at all. I haven’t played them all but in the words of the great Rodney Smith “I’ll leave those for you to discover on your own” For such a small box Tranquility offers up such a lot of game both in table space and content and with all the variants gives you so much versatility and all for the small price and a lot of portability.

Colt Super Express WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 3-7 You’ll like this if you like: Colt Express, Robo Rally, Quirky Circuits Published by: Ludonaute Designed by: Cédric Lefebvre, Christophe Raimbault By Steve Godfrey Robbing a train takes planning, a tactical mind, a good team, and time. Although, these days it seems that even time is a luxury modern day bandits don’t have anymore. So, to combat that we have Colt Super Express which will give us all of our train robbin’ banditry but in a fraction of the time. Which means that if we’re lucky we can still catch the 10:15 to Southend to spend our freshly robbed money in the arcades! Every heist needs rules. Set up by laying out a locomotive card and then behind it enough train cards for each player plus one. Each player takes a bandit and the four cards for that bandit (six if you're using the included expansion cards) Set up the players on the train cards as per the rule book and you’re ready to go. Each round is played out in two phases. First each player picks three cards and places them in a stack face down in front of them. The order in which you lay them is important. Once done the first player reveals their top card and plays out the action on it. The round then goes round like that until every player has played out all of their three cards. The actions themselves are pretty straightforward. Flip lets you change the direction you're facing. Move lets you move onto an adjacent car depending on what direction you’re facing. Change floor lets you…change….floor and fire lets you shoot the next bandit in your line of sight and on your floor. Any bandit that gets shot gets pushed to the adjacent train car and knocked down. The next card they play, whatever it is, gets used to stand them up and then your turn ends. Be careful though because if you get shot and you're in the last train car or the locomotive at the front then you fall off the train and you're out of the game. At the end of the round the last car or caboose gets taken out of the game and the bandit furthest from the locomotive takes that card. Any bandits on the caboose are eliminated from the game. The game ends when either there is one bandit left on the train, in which case they win the game, or once the last train car is unhooked. If there’s more than one bandit on the locomotive then they compare the value on any train cards they have and the player with the most wins. Super Colt Express At the time of writing I’ve not played Colt Express (aside from one turn based game of Board game arena which was good, but turn based is not necessarily the way to play that game) If you don’t know, Colt Express is the big sister to this game which boasts a big 3D train and scenery and loot and a Marshall and more. Because I’ve not really played it I'm obviously not going to compare how the two stack up against each other. What I do know is that Colt Super Express is a ton of fun proving that great things come in small packages. I think it would be all too easy to assume that because you’re removing the visual aspect that Colt Express is so well known for that it would lose some of the appeal. This game proves that the appeal of Colt Express definitely doesn’t lie in a 3D train. A perfectly programmed robbery. This is a programming game and I know that those types of games aren’t always for everyone. The opinions being that they are too chaotic and frustrating since whatever you plan very rarely plays out, and I get that. I don’t mind a bit of chaos in the right setting but I can understand how it can get frustrating over a longer game. Colt Super Express plays in about fifteen minutes, so any frustrations you may have with those games never have time to set in here. You only play three cards out of your four, flip them over, play them out then the round is done. The beauty of this of course means that you can embrace the chaos and just let yourself have fun with it and best of all, laugh. It doesn’t matter if you get shot off of the train two rounds in because it won’t be long before you set up and go again and trust me, you will want to reset it. I love games that give you great moments and for as short as each game is, Colt Super Express gives you just. Watching each round play out is a lot of fun, it’s almost like watching a dance play out as people are manoeuvring about the train jumping up and down and spinning around. Seriously, it's like a western themed Strictly Come Dancing. Honestly though, it’s just really fun watching how each round play out. Especially when your daughter and niece conspire against you and you expertly duck out of the way and one ends up knocking the other off the train. It seems karma does exist? Colt Super Express is a bit of a strange one. On one hand you're trying to plan your strategy and there is a strategy to plan here. Trying to get in your opponents heads to work out what they may or may not do so you can keep in the game. It’s a really fun puzzle as you’re to predict if they’re trying to play to avoid or to attack. In the case of the above scenario it was certainly to attack. So, you realistically want your plan to work and if it does then it feels great. On the other hand, sometimes it’s more fun when it doesn’t. Again this game can be all about the chaos and watching that chaos play out and just laughing, in a short game like this that can arguably be more fun. Expanded Chaos In the box you'll also find two expansions. Each one is simply an extra card that you can add to each player's deck. One is the Reflex card. When played, if you're laying down then you immediately get back up and shoot the next bandit in sight. If however you play it and you're standing up, then you fall down. I imagine it like the Three Stooges do a western train robbery. The other one is the Horse card. When you play this you immediately move to the front of the train and face forwards. The best part of this card though is if you play this card immediately after being ejected from the train, your noble steed saves you and puts you back on the front of the train. It’s all very back to the future three. Here's my advice: Never. Play. Without. These. They’re so much fun, easy to teach and add no real complexity when it comes to choosing cards. But given that they’re just two cards they add so much. The reflex card takes some of the sting out of being knocked down by being able to get up and retaliate. If you’ve got conspiring kids playing against you and you're pretty sure you're getting shot soon it’s fun to predict your vengeance. The horse is another great addition and again, if you predict mutiny (can you use that word in a western game?) and you deploy that card at the right time it can be a thing of glorious joy. We have a small games bag which also comes with us when we go camping each year and there are some firm favourites that come out when we want something quick to play. I already know that this is going to be one of the first of those that are picked out. It plays great at all player counts and the higher player counts never lengthen the game by much and only add to the amount of fun you have while playing.

Wombat Kombat WBG Score: 7 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: Flourish, Tucano, Jaipur, Published by: NeoTroy Games Designed by: Arif Nezih Savi Play Here. Rule book here. This preview is based on a final demo copy. All material is final bar a few minor rule tweaks you can see here. Wombat Kombat is coming to kickstarter in May 2022. The game pits you against your friends, in a set-collection game, with fighting Wombats! You job is to collect as much square shaped poo, (yes, Wombats do indeed poo in squares for reel!) to become the victor. The game works very simply with each playing drawing three cards each turn. You can do this from the draw pile, or from the face up discard pile if there are any wombat cards there that take your fancy. You can then take one action such as laying cards down in sets, at least one more than any other player has done so for that set. Before finally discarding one card. Instead of laying sets you can also play food cards to boost your current sets, attack cards to reduce your opponents sets, or attack another player. Attacking consists of choosing three cards from your hand and then adding up their combined attack score. You will then roll the attack dice and compare this to your chosen opponents defence score and roll from the defence dice. Players can then add bonus cards if required. The winner can choose one of their attack cards to move into the deck of glorious wombats. Your victorious fighters that earn you three points at the end of the game. The other two cards will go back into your hand. You can then choose one card from your opponents three defeated fighters to add to your hand, one to flip over and leave in their area to score them negative points at the end of the game, and then they can take the final card back into their hand. You will also then take three poo from them (if they have it) and roll the event dice. The event dice will then trigger one of three decks to add either an end game, immediate or continuous scoring option or rule change. From these cards, you will also have already drawn one from each of the end game and continuous piles at the start of the game. When you lay your sets, some cards have extra powers such as the 4 card above. These allow you to either take an extra card from the top of the deck, discard a card from another players sets, take a card from another players hand, get three poo; or as is the case above, take any card from the discard pile. The game runs until either the draw pile is exhausted or one player lays enough sets to trigger the end game based on the player count. As such, games are fast, franatic, and fun! The main engine in Wombat Kombat is the set-collection, but the twist being the set size and how this interacts with other players. If one player laid two cards of the same type, they would then score points based on the value of one of these cards at the end of the game. However, if a player later plays the same cards but in a higher card count, the first player will then need to flip their cards and add them to their burrow, which scores them negative points per card at the end of the game. This is set-collection with a sort of area-majority twist! Each card has a different points value, which also represents the number of cards of that type in the game. So, the more points a card may be worth, the higher chance another player may have to force you to flip it buy creating a larger set of their own. Do, you go for quick sets to end the game, or larger sets to ensure the likelihood they get flipped is reduced? DO you go for higher value sets that other may be able to more easily beat you on? Or aim for lower value cards that you can defend more easily but score lower points? The attack and food cards, like everything in this game, are brightly illustrated and clearly labelled. This game is very family friendly. I played with my children (6 and 9) and they immediately were able to play on their own afterwards. It is a very simple, but fun concept. The fact that the game is scored in poo, and the poo is cube shaped... well, that will have every kid in stiches too! It led to a fun and educational conversation in our household about different animal poos, which I suppose was a good thing! But also created a lot of laughter! It does make the take-that a little easier to take for kids as well when they can say, "fine, have my poo!" Playing Wombat Kombat is a lot of fun! I enjoyed the simple rule set and fast nature of the games. We found a three player game typically took 20-30 minutes, and a two player a little quicker. Four player was more like 30 minutes, and we did not try the five player count. There are also some action cards in the deck. They are all self explanatory, but some do have a lot of text so this may need some help for younger players. But other that this, and they could always be taken out, I would say this game easily plays from 5 and up. I thought that Wombat Kombat brought a fun and fresh idea to set-collection games, that will land well with families. The card art is great fun, and my children enjoyed playing with the cards after the game, creating their own little armies and creating stories about them all. There are Wombats of both genders too, which my daughter particularly enjoyed. I think this game will stand out due to the fun name, art, and theme. Wombat Kombat does not necessarily bring anything hugely new to the table, but what it does have in abundance is a sense of humor, simple rule set, great art, and a smooth fast gameplay your kids will enjoy.

Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 1-6 You’ll like this if you like: Libertalia, Shelfie Stacker, Red Rising. Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Paolo Mori PRE ORDER HERE Libertalia first came out 2012 published by Marabunta, receiving very favorable reviews. Due to various reasons, the game did not see any new recent print runs, despite there still being interest in the game. The trademark lapsed, and control of the game went back to the designer Paolo Mori. In the summer of 2021, Jamey Stegmaier from Stonemaier Games acquired the rights to the game, and set work on making a new version of Libertalia for the modern gaming community. In true Stonemaier style, Jamey looked at what people liked and did not like about the very popular original game. A common issue that arose a number of times on forums about the game was that Libertalia would sometimes come across as having too much take-that for some players tastes. Also, the lack of a solo mode was an issue for some. Jamey makes all of his games work for 1-6 players, and so sought to create a more robust two-player system, and a whole new solo mode. He introduced a second side to the board which took away a lot of the take-that elements, and this is the result. Libertalila: Winds of Galecrest. A new implementation of the popular original. Before I get into how the game works, and what I think, let's first look at the main changes from the original version. New art style. The original game had a fairly gritty, realistic style, using darker colours and human pirates for the characters. In Winds of Galecrest, artist Lamaro Smith has introduced anthropomorphic cartoon characters, a lot more colour, and 10 whole new characters. Solo mode and two-player mode. The original played 2-6. This is 1-6 and the two player mode now plays more like a three player game. Take-That or Take-This? The components have seen a significant upgrade. The board is double sided as mentioned above to allow for a choice between a take-that or more relaxed game style. There are also double sided tokens to represent the loot tokens affects which can be used for more control and variety in set up. New reputation track. Previously card ties were decided by secondary numbers on the card, now a new reputation track is used to settle this, as well as determine the players starting doubloons each voyage. There are a few other changes, you can see listed in the rule book if you like, but these are the major differences felt in the game. Set-up Getting this game to the table is as easy as saying Libertale, Lib-a-tale.. well it's easy OK! The first decision is if you want to play with more or less take-that in the game. The game board is double sided, and there are double sided tiles for more variety and control of making the type of game you want. This is the calm side with less take that in the bottom Loot spaces. And here is the stormy side for a game with more conflict. I really like this choice and how the art represents the type of game you will be experiencing. It is such a simple fix to a needless problem. It makes you wonder why more games don't do this. Once you have chosen the board you want, give each player a set of cards, a graveyard spot and a treasure chest money counter. Place loot on days one to four linked to the number of players. Then randomly place the reputation markers on the reputation track and give out the corresponding amount of money to each player. One player will then shuffle their deck and chose six cards at random. Each other player then needs to find the same cards from their deck for their starting hand. All players will start with the same six cards. Playing the game. Each player will now simultaneously play a card from their hand into the Island, the top space on the board. The cards will be ordered in sequence from lowest to highest, left to right. Players will then enact all day time powers on their cards represented by the sunshine symbol, moving from left to right. Once this is done, all cards with an evening phase will enact this power, this time in sequence from right to left. Each player will also take one loot from that days pile if their card is still there at this point. (Some powers from the cards may have already moved or killed that card). Then each card still present on the Island will return, face up to each players 'Ship' area, in front of them. Finally, each player will then trigger every night time power on all cards present in their ship. The game continues like this for four days of the first voyage, before a second voyage of five days and a final adventure of six days is carried out. After each voyage, all anchor powers are triggered from both cards and loot, and then all money collected is added to each players treasure chest. At the end of the game, the player with the most money is the winner. The Components. Everything in this box is representative of the usual Stonemaier games quality. From the insert, to the card stock, and Azul like loot tokens, everything is of a very high standard. The box holder for the money is very useful and has a satisfyingly snug lid. Everything packs away perfectly as you can imagine. The only minor qualm I have with the production is the art on one card. The original game used realistic human style art for the pirate characters. This game has moved to a more cartoon style using anthropomorphic characters. This is fine, and I personally really like this art style. But I am unsure about one character. This is how most of the characters look. Undisputedly, they are animals. Whereas, what animal is this? I asked many people this and not one single person says a Cat, which is what the artist told me this was based on. I just find it odd that this card is so much more human than the rest. I am not making a point beyond this, but it does stand out for me. Anyway... Player Counts. The game, like all Stonemaier releases now, is advertised as working from 1-6. I think the game works better with more people as your cards then have the chance to interact with more people. In games like this, more interaction equals more fun! The game works very well in a two though, with the only major change being the below tile being added to the board to act as a dummy third player. The rule added with this around placement adds a lot of fun too! If your character is the only one ranked 20 or less, you must place it directly to the left of the Midshipman. Then, during the evening phase, the Midshipman's power activates, causing the other player who didn’t place their card to the left of the Midshipman to be able to remove a loot from that days haul. It is a funny mechanic which can create a lot of very interesting dynamics. In solo, the game again works as with a three player. There is a full Automa second player, and a third dummy Pilferer character. It works very well and feels like a three player game. It plays quickly and smoothly, aand with some very interesting, and simple changes to the base games character powers. Below you can see on the left, the green player is the human in this solo example. On the right is the Pilferer. In the middle is the Automa. The Automa and the Pilferer use the same deck of solo cards, they are just oriented 180 degrees from each other. The Solo mode uses a very simple, but clever mechanic for deciding how the Automa chooses which card to play. The center card below is the reverse of the solo deck, and shows how to pick the card. It is based on what Loot items are available that day. But is it any good? Playing Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest is a lot of fun. The game is incredibly simple to set-up, learn and teach. I was able to play with my six and nine year old very easily. On your turn, you just place a card then do what it says. Of course, playing to a high level will take a bit more experience to get the right strategy, but on my sixth game, I played my six year old for her first game, and she was only a few points behind me by final scores. That may say more about me than the game though! But despite the games simple rules and mechanics, there is a lot of fun to be had. As all players start with the same cards, it is a game of bluff and guess work. Trying to work out what other players will do, and how this may affect you. You want to have the lowest number to get on the left side when it comes to the day time phase. But of course, this means you will be last in the evening phase when you loot the booty! You also need to be mindful of the cards that others could play that could affect you. The Brute for example is a card that when played discards the rightmost character. A great card to play when you and another person may be vying for the same booty, and you think they will play a higher card to get first pick. A higher card you cannot beat. But of course, if you have the Brute, they may do too. Or have they already played it? This game is all about interaction, memory, and strategic card play. Working out how best your cards can interact with others. And guessing what other players will try and do. Interestingly, as you all start with the same six cards but only play four, all players will end the first voyage with two cards still in their hand. These may not be the same two cards of course, depending on what each player played that round. All players will then add in six new cards to their hand, now totaling eight. So, in the second voyage, each player will start to have slightly different hands. But all cards they have will have been visible at some point to all players. Can you remember what they played? Can you predict what they will play now? Scores can very quickly jump up to the high 80's and 90s. There is a lot of satisfaction to be had from this game with the quick learning curve. Understanding how best to manipulate your hand, avoid or create conflict depending on your tactics, and maximise your points becomes second nature fairly quickly. After five games or so, the deck will become more familiar to you, and you will fly through this game. I have played two player games in under 30 minutes but despite the quick nature of some games, you still feel like you have played a proper game. I would recommend this game to anyone who is a fan or card laying games that encourage interaction and focus on the order in which you do things. The game echos some mechanics in Shelfie Stacker. If you have played that and enjoy the card play in that game, this could be one for you as well. I also compare this to Red Rising. A card playing game from Stonemaier, that relies on understanding the deck and playing cards at the right time. Red Rising however perhaps suffers from over complication due to its similarities with the incredibly simple Fantasy Realms. Libertalia: Winds of Galecrest however suffers no such fate. Stonemaier always want to create an experience with their games. Jamey likes a game with strong table presence and interesting components. This can lead to games becoming over complicated as was the case for Red Rising. But here, the game retains its core simplicity, whilst looking gorgeous. All whilst delivering a satisfying, strategic experience.

Battleground WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2 You’ll like this if you like: Undaunted: Normandy, Unmatched, Warhammer Underwords Direchasm. Published by: Your Move Games Designed by: Robert Dougherty, Chad Ellis, Darwin Kastle, Marcus Giegerich, Scott Garner, Brook Villa Rule book here. This is a preview of a final stage prototype. The game has final art and rules. The only difference is the card stock quality. Battleground is a fascinating game for many reasons. Here our my top three fascinating things about Battleground. "Finally!" I hear you cry. Battleground is a tabletop miniature war game... without miniatures!? Battleground was first made in 2005 with multiple releases of various fractions. This is fantasy warfare, not a war game simulation. You could be a human, but also an Orc, Goblin, Vampire, The Undead, or Elves or many more. Have a look here. The game has seen a recent revamp with version 4.0 with new card art, the introduction of double sized cards for some units, and a tidy up on some of the rules. The new version of the 'Men of Hawkshold' hit kickstarter in April 2019 and successfully funded, after a previous kickstarter in late 2018 did not work out. The new version of Orcs, Dwarves and the Undead hit kickstarter in March 2022 and sadly did not fund. It is three of these re-issues that I am looking at now. Battleground can be taught in a few minutes and has a quick start rule book to help new players learn the game. But it also has a 150 rule book with each box! OK, with that out of the way. Let's get into the game and how it plays. In Battleground you are commanding an Army into battle. This army could be from one of many fractions, and in this review I am looking at the above three. I expect they will come to Kickstarter again soon but are sadly not currently available, but you can sign up to the mailing list for more details here. Set-Up. The game starts with each player choosing which faction they want to play with. There are ways that two players can use the same faction if you so desire, but a lot of the fun comes from pitting two different species up against each other, and seeing what happens. Players will then decide what sort of game they want to play. Largely determined by game length. Each card has a points value, players will build their armies with a maximum limit of either 1,500, 2,000, or 2,500 points. Units are made up of standard, core and elite fighters. You must ensure you have at least one core and no more than one elite card in your army. In each deck there are multiple unit cards to choose from, and each card has a value roughly sitting between 100 and 550 points. Any left over points that cannot be spent on units, can be used to buy command cards for 25 points each. The player with the most units will then place one card onto the table into its starting position. Players must form their units within a 7.5" x 25" area that is 15" away from the other players own deployment zone. Players alternate placing a card until all units are deployed. Starting orders are then assigned to each unit, again in turn, one by one, starting with the player with the most units. The player who spent the least amount on their units will then take the first turn. There are a lot of modifying rules in the game that can be hard to remember on your first game. After reading the quick start guide you will have a good idea but the full 150 rule book may not be for you. The game provides the above cards to help remind you of the main modifiers, unique factions rules, and movement points to keep the game flowing and away from extensive rule book searching. The cards themselves also act as measuring devices. As you can see, the red markers on the bleed allow you to see what a half card length or width is. With these cards the game does quickly become very intuitive and fast paced. Standing Orders. The three starting orders that you can assign to your units are Close, Range, or Hold. Once assigned, these commands will be carried out by your units each turn until you say otherwise. Your soldiers are loyal to the end! Hold simply keeps the unit in its current position, but they will fight an enemy if they are ever within range or engaged. Engaged meaning in direct contact with another unit. Or in other words, touching cards. Range commands your unit to shoot at the nearest enemy within range. If nothing is within range the unit will move to be within range. The final and most commonly used command is Close, which commands the unit to move towards the nearest enemy and engage them in melee combat. This unit will still shoot if possible when closing in, but when it becomes engaged with another unit, on the turn that this happened they will be considered to be charging which can add various bonuses we will look at later. These actions are written physically onto the cards using dry wipe pens. I was unable to do this as I had a prototype version, so I used pencil. I could have sleeved the cards of course. But the final version has glossy card stock where you simply mark everything needed onto the cards and wipe of when required. The command orders, health, everything. It is a very cool concept. Once all units have been assigned their orders, the game in earnest begins. Players will have one command point for every 500 points in the original allocation for building the units. So, three command points with an Army built on 1,500 points. Command points allow you to make plans before the fighting stage. You can change orders of any unit, take over a unit to do something specific to that one card just for that one action phase before it goes back to it's standing order, or use a units special skill such as a spell, steadfast ability, hatred or lash ability. You can also rally which I will come onto later. But the last and most common action you will be doing is taking a command card. Command cards allow you to add modifiers to your attacks and defence stats. More on these later. Each unit card is double sided. On the front you can see the units stats, health, current command (that you have written), and a top down image of the unit itself. On the back, you can see a close up image of the unit, generally in battle; the units specific bonuses and special actions, and usually some flavour text, a quote from the unit in full battle cry, or information on their equipment. Once both players have used their command points the fighting can begin! The first player will move all their units with an active movement action, and engage the enemy with any attacks they are already engaged with or the movement may illicit. The first few turns generally follow a predictable pattern of players moving their units towards each other and the odd long range attack. So, lets skip to the good bit! Movement turns only take a few seconds, and once players are familiar with the options, mechanics, and the units in play, you will fly through this. It's just a lot of sliding cards towards each other essentially! Once a unit is closer to another unit than their current movement range then the unit enters a final rush. During this phase, the attacking card lines up with the other unit, and starts an attack. If this unit was currently performing a Close command, then this is considered to be a charge. For units such as Calvary this would give them an added bonus. Most units have a bonus that works either in their favour as a proactive movement like the Calvary charging, or as a reactive measure such units with spears. The trick in this game to me seems to be working out which units will fight well against others, and finding the best way to manipulate this to happen in your favour when our opponent will be trying the same thing. The fighting will be familiar to anyone who has played a lot of table top war games with miniatures. This game takes a lot from those games, but simply replaces the miniatures with cards. This will either loose you as a potential fan immediately or not. Up to you. I did like the ease of set up though, but the table presence and fun-factor is obviously diminished. But back to the fighting, as it's very cool! Let's say this oversized Goblin Bomb Chukka is attacking the Orc Trophy Takers, which generally wouldn't happen as they are on the same side, but let's go with it. The first number on the card reading left to right, will show how many dice you will roll to attack. In the case of the Orc Trophy Takers, you can see this would be three. You will notice the asterisk here telling you there may be a variable based on the units current situation. On the back of the card the details for this will be shown, and in this case, it tells you that you will get two extra dice if this unit is fighting whilst engaged. The Goblin Bomb Chukka's have no number for the number of dice, just the asterisk. On the back of the card you will see they have Erratic Attacks which means they will roll two D6 dice, and the result of this will dentine how many dice they roll to attack. Most units roll between two to seven dice to attack, so the chance for 12 here is pretty exciting! But of course you could get two. The second thing you would do is look to see what your Offensive skill is against the targets defensive skill. This is the second number on the card matched against the first number after the shield icon for the defending unit. For the Goblins fighting the Orcs, this would be five against one. Although again there is an asterisk for the Goblins which affects an engaged attack versus a range attack. But let's say this is a range attack and the target roll is four. You will roll your dice and anything higher than a four is removed. Sixes will go every time, they are automatic fails regardless of the stats. Any remaining dice are then re-rolled to see if any of the hits will cause a wound. This is done with the third stat which is the attacking units power, measured against the second stat after the shield icon, which shows the defending units toughness. In this case, six against three, meaning rolls of one, two, or three will damage the Orcs. All clear? Don't worry, it all makes sense when you play. This is a very "simple" way to explain the fighting mechanics in Battlegrounds (I hope), but there are many other variables. The distance of the attack affects your ability to aim. If a unit was charging or not affects your attack and defence stats as discussed. You need to determine the special skills of each unit and faction. Also, are you attacking from the front, flank, or rear? And you can also play command cards here to either help your attack or defence. Only one card can be played per unit throughout the entire attack, and again, sometimes special instructions could affect this. Generally speaking, the blue cards are defence cards, the red cards are attack cards and the other colours are for other phases of the game. Most cards are self explanatory and add plus one to various parts of your roll, but some cards offer secondary powers that work for certain units, such as 'Bears the Grudge' which is a specific power for certain Dwarven units. I mentioned the spells and steadfast ability earlier. These are specific powers granted to certain units. The Dwarves have the Steadfast ability. The Undead have the spells. In the command phase, you can use one of your command points to use a spell or steadfast ability which then comes into affect during the combat phase. The spells have some interesting powers and effects, the Steadfast power when activated, will increase the number of dice you roll to attack by one for engaged attacks and increase your courage in rout check. The rout checks come into play whenever a unit takes damage on the final green spot, or any damage in the yellow or red. In a rout, you are determining your units courage to stay in the fight when injured. To make a rout check you must roll three dice. If you roll above the number in your courage box, shown next to the flag on the card, then your unit will about turn 180 degrees and your opponent will be able to take a free hit to your rear. This could cause another rout check if you score more damage in the yellow or red areas. If the unit is not destroyed during this process it will move back its full movement range. This will continue until the unit is told to rally in the next command phase by using a command point. A unit that is routing can be told to hold, and then on a subsequent turn, be told to close. But if a routing unit is ever final rushed before this happens, or moves out of the play area as part of the rout retreat, then it is destroyed. Once an active player has attacked with a unit, the inactive player can attack back if engaged. This will continue until all units have moved and attacked, and then the next player will take their turn. The game will continue until a certain amount of of units are destroyed, determined by the amount of points used to build the armies at the start. Why you may enjoy this. The fun of this game certainly comes from exploring all the different factions and units. The unique powers are all very interesting and there is a lot to learn with each deck. The Orcs and Goblins for example have a highly amusing power for the Trolls where by if they are are ever engaged and not charging they can vomit on the other unit. That's right, vomit! This will be an attack using just two dice, but with an offensive skill and power of seven, with a secondary roll to wound added above the usual roll. This can continue until either four wounds are delivered or no successes are rolled. I guess until you run out of "ammo!?" Trying out the factions, learning how they work, and pitting them against different opposition has all the fun you can find in games such as Smash Up, Unmatched, and the Funkoverse games. There is a childish joy to seeing who will win in these fantasy battles. Battleground does this in a fairly serious way though. The game doesn't have the same humour or toy-box feel of these other games. It feels more like a War Game. The battles are more of a simulation that an arcade smash-em-up. This is where the choice as to weather this game is for you becomes interesting. If you want a war game, I think you need to ask yourself if you are willing to give up the miniatures for the ease of set up and transportation of this simple deck of cards. If you are looking for something simple and fun, then you need to decide if you want the more arcade style fights offered with the aforementioned games of Smash Up, Unmatched, and the Funkoverse games. Battleground sits between these two areas of gaming in a slightly uneasy position. It has the best of both worlds, but also the worst of both. It's fun, light, portable, and very accessible in terms of the the rules, set-up, and teach like the Funkoverse and Unmatched games, but at the same time, quite serious in its mechanics, you are at war after all. It is dice heavy, so still luck based. And full of tape measures and fiddly modifiers like traditional tabletop war games. If you like Tabletop war games but don't like the sound of Funkoverse/Unmatched style battle, then this may be a nice alternative for you when you are looking for something a little lighter and quicker to get to the table. If you like the Funkoverse/Unmatched style games but don't have the time, patience or painting skills required for tabletop war gaming, but are looking for something with a little more depth or realism, then this could be for you. The issue here is I think this is a fairly niche group of people. And that is a shame, as this game offers a lot in terms of the discovery and enjoyment of tabletop war games. The game can also feel a little back and forth at times. It is a war of attrition after all. Fight, defend. Fight, defend. Who can outlast their opponent? Who can strike the final blow first? But as you learn the best way to use each unit, and develop more interesting tactics and strategies other than just charging in and hoping for the best on the dice rolls, there is a lot of game within these small boxes.

Cryptid WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 3-5 You’ll like this if you like: Treasure Island, The Search for Planet X, Published by: Osprey Games Designed by: Hal Duncan, Ruth Veevers By Steve Godfrey We're going on a monster hunt. We're going to catch a big one. What a beautiful day! We're actually pretty scared, I mean it’s a monster hunt and those things are big with pointy teeth and sharp claws……...actually forget the monster hunt, we'll just stay in and watch T.V. The Rules Yeti In Cryptid players are cryptozoologists trying to hunt down the Cryptid of the week. To set up, pick one of the cards from the 60 card deck and set up the board as per the card. Then based on the player count, give each player a book of clues and let them know which number clue they’ll be using for this game. Each player will then place a cube onto a space where the monster isn’t, based on their clue. On a player's turn you can either question or search. When you question, place the pawn on a space and ask a player if the monster could possibly be on that space based on their clue. If it can, then they place one of their discs on the space. If not then they place a cube. If they place a cube then you must place one of your cubes on a space on the board where the creature couldn’t be based on your clue. A search is similar to questioning except you essentially ask the whole table. Place the pawn on a space which you know could be the habitat. You must then place one of your discs in that space. If you already have a disc there then you have to place a disc in another space which could be the habitat. Then in turn order, each player must place a cube or a disc, again based on their clue. Once a player places a cube the search ends and you place a cube in another space. If however all other players place a disc then the game ends and the player who called the search wins. Shock ness monster I love when board games surprise me. Not jumping out from behind the curtain kind of surprise me. Although that would certainly be a shock and now I’m trying to decide which would be the scariest board game to have jump out on you! Cryptid was a game I’d heard a lot of good things about and it was on my list of games I wanted to try but I never really looked into it much further than that. When I finally managed to play it though I immediately regretted not seeking it out sooner! When you first look at Cryptid out on the table it certainly doesn’t boast the sort of monster hunting adventure that the front cover suggests and, let’s be honest it’s not that and the game never really confesses to being that. What it is though is a brilliant, pure deduction game that not only asks you to find out where the creature's habitat is, but also what information your opponents are hiding. Chubpacabra’s clever clues At the start of the game you literally have your clue and a couple of your opponents cubes on the board to help you find the habitat. It's one of those games that, when you start you can’t help but think of the term ‘needle in a haystack’ and even though you have those couple of clues, knowing where to start can be a bit overwhelming. This is where the game gets clever. The first couple of turns are usually a shot in the dark for all parties, but don’t forget that everytime someone gets a negative answer to a question, they have to add a cube as well. So quickly the board starts to fill up and it’s here where the deduction element kicks into high gear. Regardless of the outcome, each turn of questioning gives the group some idea as to other players' clues which is sure to keep players engaged throughout the game. The further into the game you get, the more it becomes a race to crack each other’s clues and find the habitat before the others. It gives the game a great escalation in tension and makes you don the deerstalker and get the old grey matter going as soon as you start the game. There’s something fun about looking around the table and seeing everyone muttering to themselves with a huge quizzical look on their faces as they’re all trying to figure out everyone else’s clues. The game doesn’t stop there though as it gives you a fun way to add to that confusion. It would make sense to assume that if someone has questioned you about a space then it must mean that that space is part of their clue. But when you question you don’t have to question about a space that follows the rules of your clue so you can bluff your opponents. If you think it’s fun seeing everyone’s confused faces, then there’s nothing like seeing them when they think they’ve got your clue sussed out and then you bluff them! A lot of deduction games will ask players to either play a role, be a traitor or bluff their way around things and, as bad as I am at them, I do love those styles of games, but they’re not for everyone. Not everyone feels comfortable with being “the one” in those games and not everyone is good at bluffing or keeping a good poker face. As well as throwing the game off they’re not always good for new gamers who aren’t used to that style of deduction. This is where I think Cryptid becomes the ideal deduction game for all of those people mentioned above. It gives you all the fun of deduction without having to rely on skills that some of us don’t naturally have. You may have already deduced from this paragraph that I’m not a good liar when it comes to board games……..or am I!? Cryptid plays just as well at three players as it does five but as the player count creeps up things get a lot tighter and, as you can imagine, so does the amount of information you need to keep in your head. I won’t lie, that can be a lot as you're trying to figure out who has what type of clue. However there is now a deduction sheet that you can print off from Ospreys website. I’ve not had a chance to print this off yet but I’m eager to add it to the box as soon as I can. Not a Big-Foot print When you first look at Cryptid set up on the table you’ll be forgiven for thinking that this is an abstract game and I’d probably be the first to agree with you. The game doesn’t necessarily scream creature hunt. The artwork on the tiles is quite simplistic, well done of course but there’s just not a lot of it and the components are just some cubes and discs and other simple shapes. I know some people will see this and be tempted to turn away, but please don’t! Because it's not until you play the game that you realise that these are the perfect components for the game and that these are all they could realistically be for the game to work as well as it does. Any more artwork on the board and it would be too busy and distracting. The wooden pieces are nice and simple and, again, are there so as not to confuse things and distract from the game. Just looking at the board you instantly know that a cube means no and a disc means yes and the structures are instantly recognisable. I can imagine there being publishers out there who would be tempted to put unique pieces for each player which would just confuse things. It’s games like this that go a long way to prove that sometimes making big flashy components aren’t always a benefit to the game and just keeping it simple is sometimes what you need. All that being said, I really like the components. The boards look good when they’re all put together and the wooden pieces are oversized and are nice to handle. Let’s talk about replayability. There are 54 cards in this box. 19 regular cards and 35 advanced and each of these have clues for all three player counts. Now I’m not going to get into the maths but that is A LOT of replayability. I’m not saying you’re ever going to get through all the cards but this is definitely a game that more often than not you’re going to want to immediately set up and play again. Let’s be honest though, unless you play this a ton, you’re probably not going to remember clues from each card. Cryptid is a great deduction game that I would happily bring out to gamers and non gamers for a quick game of puzzly fun. The box states 30 - 50 minutes playtime but even at five players our games have generally been at the bottom end of that time, which means you can easily set up and play again and there’s a good chance that once you’ve found one Cryptid, you’ll want to repack your equipment and go search for another!

Cytress WBG Score: 8/10 Player Count 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Blood Rage, Android: Netrunner, Neon Gods. Published by: Tress Games Designed by: Sean Lee Rule book here This preview is based on a prototype copy of the game. Rules and components will change. Cytress is a stunning looking game. Check out this box art... But so many games with great box art can disappoint when you set the game up and the in-game art doesn't follow what's on the cover. This is NOT the case here. Bright, vibrant, cyber-punk colours, with lots of options. Lovely! But we haven't even got to the main bit yet. Check out this three tiered structure that represents Stratos, the city you are trying to break into. It dominates the table, looming down on the rest of the set-up and looks gorgeous, even in prototype form! OK, enough purring. How does this play? Cytress is made up of four distinct phases. In phase one you simply gain supplies. In phase two you can send your leader out to get more supplies. Phase three you will send your workers out to complete missions to improve your engine and get end game points. Then phase four is a simple reset to ready yourself to go again for another round. The interesting part is how everything you do, get, earn, and pay for is affected by your own personal lifepath. A unique way to track your engine building within the game, linking everything back to your own personal life experience. Each player will start the game with a double sided player board. You can choose either side to use. The variation being the icons on each of the four main areas linking back to the four factions in the game. Subsequently, when you complete missions in phase three, you will add the cards acquired into the appropriate area based on colour, and increase your lifepath skills accordingly. Below you can see a player board with one card added to each area. Your lifepath is then used to affect each phase. In phase one, when collecting resources, you will do so for each icon shown in your Coprocrat lifespan. The more completed missions for this faction, the more symbols you have, therefore, the more resources gained. In Phase two, when each other player places their leader onto the board to gain resources, for every resource that they gain that match symbols in your Privateer area, this will gain you one of those resources too. Building your engine here needs to be based on what resources you think the other player will want to acquire in future rounds. In phase three, you can trade goods based on a ratio of how many symbols you have in your Rover lifepath. For example, if you are trading credits for technology, and have three technology symbols in your Rover lifepath, you will trade at a ratio of 1:3 in your favour. Also in phase three whenever you complete missions, you will need to pay the required cost. This cost will be reduced by any symbols you have of the same type in your Hooligang lifepath. Your lifepath is an engine that you need to nurture and build over the game. It makes choosing which mission to complete a fascination choice. There is a lot to consider here, and herein lies the brilliance of this game. Let's look into it. In phase three, you can send out three ships to trade goods, take out loans, complete bounty hunter missions, build tunnels to Stratos, or complete missions for one of the four different factions. When you make this choice there are four main things to consider. 1. Which area of your lifepath do you want to improve? Each faction will have three face up mission cards to choice from, each in that factions own colour. If for example, you want to increase the resources you get in phase one, then you need to complete a mission for the Corprocrats. But you will need the right resource for completing Corprocrat missions, unless you have the right symbol shown enough times in your Hooligang lifepath to apply the appropriate discount. 2. Where do you want to put your worker? When you complete a mission, you will place one of your three ships onto the appropriate faction board, but you will also place a worker represented by a coloured cube onto the same coloured hex on the mini-map. The colour is important for two main reasons. First, when you build a tunnel, you can only do so on a space you have a worker; and one way to build tunnels requires the tunnel to be build with specific resource on a specific colour. Second, you will score end game points based on an area control battle of left over workers that have not managed to ascend to Stratos, based on their proximity to the tunnels that all player built. Where you place your worker will affect your ability to get up to Stratos, but also your ability to control the tunnels that have been and will be built. 3. Which Skill do you want to improve? Each mission has two symbols on it that represent what type of mission it is and who that mission is being performed on. You will have skill cards dealt to you at the start of the game that require you to complete three missions of a specific type. When this is done, you can take the bonus associated with becoming a specialist at that type of mission, making any subsequent missions of this type cost one less resource moving forward. 4. Which faction to you want to attack? Who you complete that mission against will also contribute towards your ability to complete the available bounty cards. Each card will score you end game points when collected, if you have three mission cards completed against the same faction. So, as you make this choice, there is a lot to consider. What resources do you have? What resources discounts do you generate when completing a mission? What resources do you want to generate more of, or get more discounts with, or have a better ratio for, or generate more of when opposition leaders go out and get those? Where do you want to place your workers on the mini map? Are you looking to send that worker up to Stratos or will they stay behind to fight the area control battle? All these factors will be swimming around your head as you make your choice and it is delightful! The look and feel of Cytress feels fresh. The rules work well together and bring you into the theme. The lifepath engine build mechanic is a clever way to focus your turns, makes each round and decision feel important, and sets each game to feel like its own unique experience. I love the way the lifepath mechanic works, and brings the classic engine-building mechanic more focused to your own personality in the game. It feels more of a video game mechanic than one associated to a board game, but it works very well. There are multiple ways to score, and with that, many different strategies to focus on. DO you want to get as many of your crew up to Stratos? Or, would you rather benefit from the controlling the tunnels the other players are building? With limited turns, and the game all run on a clock of a limited number of tunnel pieces, every turn is crucial. You need to maximise your point scoring efficiency and react to how the other players are playing the game. I will follow the Kickstarter for this game closer, you can follow along here. Cytress is launching on the 26th of April. FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cytressboardgame FB: https://www.facebook.com/cytressboardgame IG: https://www.instagram.com/cyberpunk_boardgame/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/cytressofficial