A review copy of Decko was kindly provided by Gem Games. Thoughts & opinions are my own. If you’ve met anyone who’s played Decko and any amount of video games lately, it’s likely you’ve heard it described one way: “It’s like Balatro the board game”. While that’s not strictly true, Decko does manage to capture some of the feel of the absurd poker game, but with its own feel and approach. You’…
An early prototype of Ryugu was kindly provided by 14Games. All artwork and rules are subject to change. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Ryugu The Fleeting Paradise, to give it its full name, is a clean, colourful new worker-placement game from 14Games, the studio that brought us Snow Planner (read my review of that here). Following the trend of Japanese Euro games doing things slightly…
A review copy of Chicago & Northwestern was kindly provided by Rio Grande Games. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Ticket to Ride is too light, and 18xx games make my brain want to cry, so for me, Cube Rail games are where it’s at. Chicago & Northwestern from the person many consider to be the father of cube rails – John Bohrer – originally came out in 2016, then landed again in 2023 thanks to…
A review copy of Zenith was kindly provided by Hachette Boardgames UK. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Zenith is a tight, hugely enjoyable head-to-head duel that’ll have you trying to do all-too-many things at once. It’s an exercise in plate-spinning that I think most people will really enjoy and wish they’d tried sooner. VERDICT players 2-4 | playing time 25-35 mins…
A review copy of Last Week of Summer was kindly provided by Zatu Trade. Thoughts & opinions are my own. I have rose-tinted spectacles with inch-thick lenses when it comes to 1980s nostalgia, so when I had the opportunity to cover Last Week of Summer, I jumped at it. For me, it’s probably a little too light and disjointed, and I’ll get into that, but if you’ve got a group who like lighter…
My plays were all with a prototype copy of Excursions kindly provided by Kinson Key Games. All artwork, components, and rules are subject to change. 🚀 The Excursions Kickstarter Campaign goes live on October 6th 2026. You can find out more and back it by clicking here 🚀. Excursions does for Galactic Cruise (read my review of the original here) what Sanctuary (review here) did for Ark…
A review copy of Snow Planner was kindly provided by Hiroki Ishi. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Snow Planner’s success is because it keeps things plain and simple, not despite it. Once you dip your toes in the pool of Japanese Eurogames, you start to notice these things. Components are simpler. Boards are smaller. There’s very little bling to speak of. It’s the way European games used to be…
The nights are drawing in, shorts are condemned to the back of the drawer for another 9 months, and you’re teetering on the edge of turning the central heating back on. That’s right – it’s Autumn, or Fall for my transatlantic friends. Time to hunker down with warm, comfy things, and that includes games. The overuse of the word ‘cosy’ in the last few years drives me batty. Don’t get me wrong…
A review copy of Here Lies was kindly provided by Zatu Trade. Thoughts & opinions are my own. I went into Here Lies with no preconceptions and with barely any idea what the game was about, and came away both surprised and delighted. A cooperative game of deduction, sleuthing, and actually quite a lot of storytelling. Jasper, Jakob, and Bobby have created something a little bit special here…
A review copy of Greylune was kindly provided by Hachette Boardgames UK. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Greylune whisks the players away to a fantasy land inhabited by monsters, magic, and sheep. Action selection via a clever Dutch auction system sits atop a clever engine-builder whose diminutive stature belies a nuanced, tightly woven Euro game. There’s a lot to like about Greylune…
A copy of Salamandra was kindly provided by Hachette Boardgames UK. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Salamandra is a worker-placement game with a twist, and that twist is just the sort of thing that might make you take a second look if you’re feeling overrun with worker-placement games. The added change of workers being stuck in place once they’re on the board adds a new layer of planning…
A review copy of Kobayakawa was kindly provided by Hachette Boardgames UK. Thoughts & opinions are my own. Another colourful Oink game joins the gang. This time it’s an older game that’s been given a facelift. Jun Sasaki’s Kobayakawa has a simple premise: bet on a single hand of cards; high card wins. Doesn’t sound too exciting when you put it like that, but there are a couple of twists which…
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