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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

by @Mad4FunGames Why choose just 3 and ignore the rest of your collection?? Why can't I have a few more options? Could that even be remotely possible? I definitely did have a case of analysis paralysis when it came to choosing my 3 favourites. Did anyone else have the same pressure? Anyhow over the years of exploring various games, the following are my top - 3 go to games usually on the weekends. These 3 games always bring a smile on my face every time I play them, not because I usually win (which I normally don't always but sometimes yes, I win a few...) they were some of the most recent & frequent ones that I started to play. So, without much further ado..... Istanbul - The Dice Game The first time I played this game, it did not make much sense to me. There were not a lot of things going on, not much time spent on setting up the board, there was no need to focus much on planning your next moves and so on..... I was shocked. Could such a complex game be this simpler? I did have to keep checking the box to make sure I got all the components out. The craziest part of this game was that the entire game revolves on the rolling of the dice. I still remember the first ever game of Istanbul I played with my husband and our friends took a solid 2 hours because we were still new to Istanbul and the board gaming world. But the first ever Istanbul dice game that we played got over with 30 minutes (no I did not win...) I guess this became one of my favourites because there is no hassle to setup and doesn't take that long to play, which actually gives us more time to explore other games. So, if you haven't played this game, I definitely recommend trying at least once. It might become your favourite too. Azul - The Summer Pavilion The entire series of Azul games are always fun to play. When I heard that a new game in the Azul series was going to launch, I immediately told my husband that we must definitely get it for our collection, and we did.. The first few games that I played were a bit challenging because it took time in getting used to the wild colour tiles. In addition to that I enjoy playing this game because in a way it gives you an opportunity to plan a few moves ahead at every turn. Another interesting thing about the game is that it has some additional tiles that are set aside in the beginning of the game and also during the game and you have a possibility to gain some extra tiles from the pillar, statue and the window during the game.. I believe there is no one strategy of winning this game. Compared to the basic Azul and Azul - The stained glass of sintra, summer pavilion wins it hands down in terms of design, concept and game play. This game I feel is a must have for all gamers. Ticket to Ride - Rails & Sails This game became quite the favourite and the most regular board game every weekend. The interesting thing about this game in particular is that you can travel both ways of the board. You are not bound by the fact that you have to acquire the longest road. It does guarantee fun with 5 players because you want to build all the important links the first. After playing the Europe version, I was no longer interested to play ticket to ride anymore because all of them felt the same way (you gain cards, build roads, claim your route). The first time I played rails & sails I was taken aback by looking at the huge double side game board, so many components and I must admit it did look so colourful. My favourite part of this game in particular is definitely the cards, the cute little ships, the harbours that give you extra points and does not limit your thinking to just trying to build one long link. I feel one does get a sense of travelling around the whole world with this game. On the other side we get to experience the great lakes of USA and Canada. Although having played that only for a few times, I felt it was brilliantly designed. It was a wonderful experience having tried this game. Now I never shy away from giving my honest opinion about this game to anyone who asks me about it, which is do give it a try, you will also fall in love with it like I did. So that was it, these were my top - 3. I would never get tired of playing these games again and again. The memories and that I have with these games always bring a big smile on my face. I guess all these games were an inspiration to me and helped me in designing my own game. I would also like to thank Jim who gave me the opportunity to share here. I hope you enjoyed reading about 'My Top - 3'.I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts about your top - 3 https://www.mad4fungames.com/blog/my-top-3-board-games

From Railroads to Vampires, from Unicorns to Kings in Dilemma. Horrible Guild cover it all! Striving for originality and entertainment, Horrible Guild publish games they think are “cool!” Based out of Milan, Italy, Horrible Guild have a proud history of making games that bring “simple, pure, unbridled fun for everyone.” In this top three we take a look at three of our favourites from their magnificent portfolio of games. Vampire: The Masquerade - Vendetta 3-6 players. Officially 14 plus. Can be understood from 8. Card art may not be suitable until older. Vampire the Masquerade was a huge tabletop RPG in the 90’sm winning awards, fans and plaudits all round. There were numerous spin off video games, dice games, novels and even a short-lived TV show in 1996. Then in 2020, a successful Kickstarter ran with 4,731 backers for a new game, Vampire: The Masquerade – Vendetta. A card-based area-majority game, with asymmetric player powers, take-that and sumptuous art. Vampires have always intrigued. From the early films coming from the states, Russia and Europe, to the 50s Hammer films, Vampires have always been a part of modern popular culture. In the 90’s, many of us grew up watching Buffy, Angel and Blade. And more recently The Vampire Diaries, What we do in the Shadows and Preacher have brought a new generation to the clan! It’s the mix between violence, romance, power, control, and eternal life I think that interest’s people so much. But how dos that translate to board game form? Very well is the short answer! Vendetta delivers in fascinating mix of bluff, card play and strategy in a deeply engrossing way. I want to bite your neck! Set-up is relatively simple. After each player chooses their faction, everyone receives their respective cards, stay or withdraw tokens and blood and influence cache. You then lay out the parts of Chicago you will visit in the game according to player count, and each player places their marker there. Each player receives one victim card to draw blood from and once the game has started, an Ally card is placed at each location. In the game, you will simply place a card and blood if you chose, at the locations you want to try and have influence over it, in an attempt to win more alliances. There are only three rounds of this and you can only lay a few cards each round. Always one less than your hand size, starting with two from three cards in round one and increasing by one each turn. In a three-player game, you play three cards from four in round one. This is the only major difference to a four player plus game other than being able to hold one more card in your hand. For the full rules you can head here. Bluff, Bravado & Brains! This game is a delicious blend of bluff, bravado and brains. I absolutely loved playing this game and introducing these mechanisms to different groups. Each person I taught this to found it a fresh and enjoyable experience. One area that was new to many was the opportunity to play cards either face up or down. Face down costs you one blood but allows you to hide not just the cards powers, but your intent. Once all cards have been played, players then reveal if they intend to stay and fight at each location, or retreat to the final stage at the Princes Haven. Cards could have been placed face down to hide some game changing or rule bending powers that would allow a player to win a location easier than the quantity of cards and blood might have suggested. Or it could be a bluff or double bluff, hiding weak or powerful cards that are destined to fight at this area or another. There is a lot to think about! But it all happens very quickly and in a highly entertaining way. My Vampire and your Vampire, sitting by the fire. Each players card’s are completely different. Depending on the faction you chose at the start of the game, you could find you are incredibly powerful at fighting, using card powers twice in one round or perhaps more adept surprising your opponents with shocking revelations that allow you to use your opponents unused cards on top of yours. Particularly useful when you also laid a card that lets you use all your own unused cards too. You could go from 2 cards to four pretty quickly! At the end of each round, each card you play, win or lose, returns to your hand. You then add one more to it from your draw pile. This means each round, players will start to learn what powers you are capable of as cards are reused. But there is always an element of surprise up each players sleave with their new or previously unplayed card. The art is absolutely stunning. Although I would say suitable for teens and up. The art on some cards is a little graphic with scenes of violence and horror. I loved it but wouldn’t play this with my kids. But with young adults and up, this is an utterly brilliant game. The game is wrought with suspense, second guessing and mischief. If you enjoy games with a lot of interaction, bluffing and asymmetric card play, I am confident you will love this. I was blown away with this game from game one. Unicorn Fever 2-6 players. Officially 14 plus. I played with my five year old and she loved it! Unicorn Fever is an interesting game. At first glance, you will assume this is for young children only. Then after reading the rules and setting up, which is not initially overly clear, you will rethink and understand why this game is marketed as 14 plus. But then you will play a round and realise this is a family friendly game, suitable for all ages, and wonder what the confusion was ever about! Equally, with the mechanics, you will first think this is a race game. You will then realise it is more of a gambling game. But finally, come to think of it as a card-playing party game with bluffing, betting, and racing, that delivers a lot of fun! It’s Time to Race! Set up, Unicorn Fever looks stunning. A veritable feast for the eyes. My daughter (5) was quite literally panting with excitement at all the colours, cards and of course, the Unicorn miniatures! A lot has been put into this production to make it visually appealing, but also simple to play. Everything has its place and once you learn the game, you will be moving from round to round with great efficiency. I mention this as the game does initially seem a little complicated. Everyone I know who has played this has independently said they felt this way. But after a round were realising how simple it is. I don’t think the rule book is bad, in fact, it is very good. It is more that there are quite a few stages to each round; and at first, it can be a little confusing. There are six phases of Planning, then four stages of Racing, followed by six stages of Results. The first time you play this, you will be following the rule book closely, and probably miss at least one thing if you are anything like me! However, once you have got through one race and learnt the core mechanics, you will come to find the Unicorn Fever has a fantastic blend of strategy and luck mixed with a fun tension and push-your-luck chance that flows elegantly from race to race. Each game offered very different experiences for me. Some games, I found I was lucky and dripping with winnings. Other times, I did not fare quite so well, and was forced to take loans to stay in the game. But both ways of playing are equally fun if you can take out one’s personal sulking from losing a bet of course! But the game adapts well for each scenario, win, or lose, and keeps each player involved to the final race. The catch-up mechanic is such that you can just go big on the bets if you need a ‘Hail-Mary’, whereas a winning player, perhaps may play more conservatively. May the odds be ever in your favour. The odds of each runner are adapted well with a simple turn of a card each round based on their previous performances. This gives each Unicorn a varying likelihood of victory, and with it, potential rewards. But players can create their own luck by playing magic cards to certain Unicorns, either helping or hampering their chances in the race ahead. All cards are played face down by all players until the race starts when one player will turn them over and read them out loud to the group. It’s a hilarious part of the game to see what each person has tried to do, and often cards will cancel each out if one player is trying to give a Unicorn a head-start when another is trying to slow it down. Sometimes, a certain Unicorn could get all the favours in the world, but still not quite get the luck of the movement cards or sprint dice. There are so many elements that affect each race, you will be kept guessing throughout. This is a brilliant fun family game, suitable for all ages and potentially higher player counts in a party style where players join forces. It has that “race-night” feel to it, where you could theme the entire evening around this magical gambling world! The production is fantastic, and the table presence very high. This one comes highly recommend to all fans of games like Camel Up but are looking for the next stage up. Unicorn Fever is a brilliant game that packs a lot of punch for its genre and will deliver an incredible amount of magical Unicorn laughs to your table. Railroad Ink 1-6 players with the boards included. 1 to as many as you like with multiple copies or these print outs! 8 plus. Over the last year I have played more of Railroad Ink than any other game. It works brilliantly over video call, scales brilliantly from a relaxing yet challenging solo up to as many as you can fit on a Zoom screen, and can be taught to anyone in minutes. As such, this must be up there as one of the best games of 2020, if not all time. The premise is simple. This is a roll-and-write in its truest sense. Rule four dice, (more if you use any of the now many expansions) then write the dice faces visible onto your board. Your goal is to make as many connections as possible, whilst building the longest single rail and road network possible, avoiding dead ends, and trying to get the centre nine spaces full. It’s genius in its simplicity, and I can see why it grew from its humble beginnings, to the recent new Green and Yellow versions being backed by over 10,000 people! This Kickstarter has just shipped and looks brilliant. Full review of that to come. If you enjoy roll-and-write games, you will love this. If you are looking for a game to play with friends over video call or perhaps as a quick filler before or after games night, this is ideal. If you want a game that scratches your gaming itch for a quick 10-minute coffee break during the working day, I couldn’t think of anything better to recommend than this. Railroad Ink has no Jack, but it is a Master of all trades.

My Little Scythe WBG Score: 7/10 Player Count: 1-6 You’ll like this if you like: Tobago Clank Ticket to Ride Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Hoby Chou, Vienna Chou Let’s start this review by making it very clear. I love Scythe! It’s one of my favourite games of all time. I love the theme. The art is sumptuous. The components ooze class. The engine building aspects are incredibly satisfying. Every game feels fresh to me. Scythe is a top 10 game for me. But, and this is a huge but, I was strangely intimidated by this game when I first got it. Having received this game as a gift from my sister for my birthday a few years back, I was thrilled to get the game, but found the rule book to be too much for me at the time. It was early in the hobby for me, but still, I was being a little lazy with it. My Little Learning Curve At a board game café in London, I mentioned this to a member of staff there, telling him rather ashamedly I had owned Scythe for a whole but still not played it. He suggested to me to try My Little Scythe first, to get my head around the rules and concepts. I thought this a novel idea, and he offered to teach me and my friend the game. He taught us the game in around 10 minutes and I loved it and the rest, as they say is history. I got Scythe to the table fairly soon rafter this and it was amazing. Learning it after My Little Scythe felt a lot less intimidating now. The basic concept of My Little Scythe laid the foundations and made the experience a lot less daunting. Having played both games many times now, I look back at that time and wonder why I was ever so confused. Scythe to me now seems simple. But it’s good to remember how I felt back then. As I play more and more games, learning new ones become simpler. Mechanisms, rules and general game concepts becomes more familiar to me and piecing together how new games work comes a lot easier to me. I suppose its like anything in life, the more you do it, the easier it becomes. So, I owe a lot to My Little Scythe. It started me on a new journey of gaming that I will never look back from. However, after playing My Little Scythe in that café all those years ago, I never got round to buying it. Having a copy of Scythe felt sufficient to me. My son and I played it many times together and have had such wonderful experiences with it. But I was always left feeling a little sad that my wife was not drawn to the game, and my daughter did not feel she could play it being five years old. My Little Children When My Little Scythe came through the door, my children were instantly drawn to the bright vibrant colours on the box. This is a game designed from top to bottom, with a younger audience in mind. But do not be mistaken. This is not just for young children. This can be a great family experience for all adults and kids alike. The game itself came about when a five-year-old girl named Vienna Chou in Cananda made a print-and-play version of Scythe with her father Hoby, in an attempt to make the main game more accessible to them as a family. Their version won the 2017 Board Game Geek Best print and play game for 2017. This brought the game to the attention of Stonemaier owner and the designer of the original game Jamey Stegmaier, who contact the Chou’s to discuss making the game into a full published version. And that is the copy we have before us today. Quite an origin story isn’t it! What caught the attention of Jamey and all those who voted in the 2017 awards was the smooth way the original had been stripped down and represented in a accessible way whilst still holding onto the original games sense of adventure. The engine building was gone, which is a shame, but the feeling of progression still exist in the trophies. My Little Review My Little Scythe works very simply as an exploration game with some elements of pick-up-and-deliver, take-that, fighting and area-control. But none of that really explains the feel of the game. Set in a completely different world to the original, My Little Scythe puts you and your family into the world of Pomme. Your task is to complete four out of eight possible missions as quickly as you can, to become to the new ruler of the land. There is a cute story in the rule book to introduce your family to this background. The order in which you complete these missions, and of course, the four you chose to do, are entirely up to you. As such, each player and each game you will find very different approaches being attempted. Initially, the most obvious seems to be transporting either four gems or four apples to the central space on the board. This is due to the gems and apples being left tantalisingly for you all at set-up. But all other missions all feel approachable and achievable. This game is designed to make the player feel in control. The game starts with a brilliantly simple random set up with three items; either apples, gems or mission tiles, being placed on the board for each starting player. The mere presence of these on an otherwise empty starting board does encourage players to think delivering these to the castle will be an easier opportunity for a completed trophy. But it doesn’t always work out that way! This is largely in part to the multiple moves required to pick up four of these items and then take them to the central space. Both because you may find better uses for these items, and also because other players may start targeting you if you gather too many resources. Moving onto the space of a rival adventurer initiates a pie fight! The looser is sent back to their starting space leaving behind all their juicy items. But much in the way this game keeps everything family friendly, the loser of any pie fight is rewarded with either two pies or a spell card for your troubles. The game as been expertly put together in this way. Right from the punch boards, clearly labelling each component, so you know what it is you are removing each time (why don’t all games do this?) to the brilliantly laid out and worded rule book. This game is so accessible. Even new players to the hobby will be able to learn this game in under 20 minutes and teach others in ten. Let me try and do the same to you in three short paragraphs. My Litte Set-Up To set-up the game, you will use the starting tile to randomly place three different items, gems, apples or mission tiles onto the board. Three for each player. Lay out all the cards onto the marked spaces on the board. Then give each player one spell card, a player board, their two miniatures, and one mission card. This will be a randomly assigned card that modifies one way you can complete a mission each game. You will place your markers on the starting spaces for your pie counter on the right side of the board and friendship on the left. Place the dice and left-over gems and apples nearby to everyone. On the player board you will see that you start the game with six simple options on your turn. You can move you characters two spaces each, one if they are carrying an item. Search for more items buy rolling the dice, placing them on any space on the appropriate colour based on the dice roll. Or change two items for something else. Two apples become two pies for example, or one apple and one gem can become a power up token. When you take your turn, you place your coloured pawn onto the spot you want to do, to remind yourself which action you took. Because on your next go, the only rule is you must not repeat your last action. Players will then take it in turns to take actions to try and attain trophies. There are eight up for grabs, first to four triggers the end game. You can get a trophy for reaching eight or higher on the friendship chart, or eight or higher on the pie tracker. Another can be awarded for winning a pie fight. You can also get trophies for taking four gems or four apples to the central castle space. A trophy is also awarded for having three spell cards, completing two missions, and finally, for getting two power up tiles. You can only get one trophy per turn, even if you qualify for two on the same turn, apart from the final round, which is triggered when the first person gets their fourth trophy. This gives each other player one last go to try and catch up. That’s it! My Little Game The game plays very quickly. When playing with three players, I found we could finish within 30-minutes, and in a four, usually 45-minutes once all players had become familiar with the mechanisms. Each game felt fresh and light, but full of tight but fun decisions to make. As a family, we all enjoyed this immensely, and I did not see a huge advantage being an adult playing against an eight and five-year-old. Everything on the board, cards and player board is so clearly worded or laid out with large and well-designed icons. The only question my five-year-old asked a few times was what the wording meant on the power up tiles, as they were not as familiar to her at the start. One of your choices on your turn is to convert one gem and one apple into a power up tile. You can take the top three of either the Move pile or Make pile and chose one to add next to your player board. This will give you an extra choice on your turn, giving you a new way and power in your Movement or Make option. But like everything in this game, the development of doing this doesn’t just advance you in the game mechanically or with your available powers, but also in your quest to get four trophies. My Little Summery There is a constant and satisfying sense of progression in this game. I think this is why it is so accessible and enjoyable to younger or less experienced players. No matter how far into the game you are, or how often you have played, it always feels like you can develop your position in this game and do so based on what you want to do, rather than what the game is forcing you to do. This is simply done by offering eight different trophy options but asking players to only achieve four. And all of them being relatively simple things to achieve. If you are looking for a family friendly game that will create a sense of achievement for all players, win or lose, then I could not really think of anything better to recommend that this. It will teach your family so many elements of different game mechanics, and perhaps even make them want to play Scythe with you. For this, and what it did for me in my own personal gaming tourney, I cannot thank Vienna and Hoby enough.