When I hear the words “hot air balloon” and “panorama” used to describe a board game, I expect a game with gorgeous table presence, breathtaking views, and a serene, cohesive aesthetic. PARKS, by Henry Audubon, promises beautiful scenery, and it delivers. While I didn’t expect Panorama to have artwork as gorgeous as PARKS, I did […]
My family consists of my wife, my 10-year-old daughter, my 16-year-old son, and my 19-year-old son—and my mother-in-law joins in when she’s around, too. Finding a game that everyone across those wide age gaps and varying board game experience can play and genuinely enjoy is always a challenge. Usually, the most effective hits are easy […]
“In Oasis: New Life on a Distant World, you embody the forces of nature on this primal planet, shaping the planet’s biodiversity by guiding the life cycles of its many bizarre species. Your goal is to cultivate a balanced, vibrant biome where the circle of life fuels the ecosystem’s survival.” -publisher When I first read […]
I don’t know about you, but I’m always rationalizing why I need to buy another board game. It’s even better when someone else does it for me, so I’m here to help you with that. If you’re not familiar with the term STEM, it stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Every toy store has […]
There was a time when my boys were young that I handily beat both of them at Super Smash Bros. But as they got older, my grip on guaranteed victory slowly slipped away. Before I knew it, they could both beat me handily, and their only real challenge was playing against one another. When I […]
I’m a huge fan of Lost Ruins of Arnak, even though I was a late adopter. I loved the Indiana Jones theme right away, and the artwork is just fantastic. After a few plays of the base game, it was a keeper for me and started buying the expansions as they came out. Expedition Leaders […]
Over the last few years, there’s been a clear trend of creating “distilled” or more “accessible” versions of larger games. Terraforming Mars has Ares Expedition, 7 Wonders has 7 Wonders Architects, Pandemic has Pandemic: Hot Zone, and Ticket to Ride has its Express line, to name a few. When Wingspan first came out in 2019, […]
We’ve all been there. You see a game, love the art, hear the hype, and think: “This is the one. We are going to grow old together.” But then the cardboard hits the table, you play it, and the spark just isn’t there. Not because they’re bad games, but because they just weren’t the right […]
Adrenaline pumping, high-speed races have never registered with me as something that could translate well into a board game, but when I had the opportunity to trade for Flamme Rouge, I decided to give it a try. It turned out to be a surprisingly fun and engaging game. It played quickly, and with the slipstreaming […]
Ever play a game that you want to love, that you think you should love, but when you play it, you don’t, and you keep playing anyway, hoping you’ll fall in love with it? For me, that game is Smash Up by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG). On paper, the concept is fantastic. The “shufflebuilding” premise […]
Risk was probably the first area control game most of us ever played. When I started playing Risk, I felt like I “graduated” from Monopoly and was ready for more “grown up” games. At least that’s what went through my head. I played Risk regularly throughout high school, but when my group of friends all […]
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