Before starting to write about That Time You Killed Me, I checked whether it is a design from Japan. It isn’t. It gives me the vibes. Partly from the name. Partly from the minimalistic components. Partly from the unusual concept. This game toys with the idea of time travel. This is a two player abstract game in which you fight in the present, in the past, and in the future.&

Pocket Empires is a 2-player card game from Indonesia by Nomas Kurnia. It is a minimalistic 18-card game that can be played in 10 minutes. The basic game contains six different civilisations. The game has now been expanded to have more civilisations. A solo game has also been developed.  In Pocket Empires you and your opponent will build your respective 3x3 grid of

Reversalers is a 2-player microgame from Japan, designed by Ryusei Nakata of Ryusei Games.  You randomly set up five treasure cards to be fought over. Treasure cards are worth points. Some have a fixed number of points, while for others the point values depend on other factors, for example the fighter card played by your opponent, or the fighter card remaining in your hand. The

Citadels (2000) is a classic from Bruno Faidutti, and a highly successful game. Citadels Duel is heavily based on it, and adds some elements not found in the original. What I am most surprised about is this is not designed by Bruno Faidutti. It is designed by Guillaume Montiage (Kemet, Nefertiti) and Manuel Rozoy (TIME Stories, Altered).  The nine

Bloody Breakers is a 2-player microgame from Japan, designed by Ryusei Nakata. It is a game with just 16 cards. This seems to be a common format in Japan.  Box back You have four types of cards in the game. There are four copies of each card type. Each card has a scoring criteria on the left and also an ability at the top right.  During the game both players will

  This is a game I have been keen to write about since I played it. In recent months, my to-do list of blog posts to write has been hovering around 15 to 20 items long. I generally write in a first-in-first-out manner, but sometimes some blog posts cut queue, for example when I write about exhibitions I attend. I have heard a little about Azure, and I thought it was just

Neon Reign is a simple game I have played several times, and still don't understand. This is a 2-player card game about those 1v1 fighting arcade games. There are several characters you can play, and every character has their own deck of cards. To win, you need to reduce the opponent's life points to zero.  You have a hand of seven. Your cards are mostly button

Tanglung is a 2-player abstract game by Mark William, published by Malaysian publishing house Luma. "Tanglung" refers to Chinese lanterns which are carried during the Mid Autumn Festival.   I absolutely love the production of the game, especially the attention to detail. The insides of the box are decorated. I adore the art!  A game is set up

The Isle of Cats Duel is a 2-player polyomino game. You take turns claiming polyominoes from a common board to place on your personal player board. At game end you score points based on how well you have filled your player board.   On the common board there are both polyominoes (cats in various colours and poses) and scoring cards. On your turn you must move the

Having played Quartermaster General: East Front recently, Han and I moved on to play the South Front version. The South Front of World War 2 refers to the Mediterranean theatre. The game has a long map that stretches from Gibraltar in the south of Spain to Iraq in the Middle East. You have North Africa, Italy and the Balkans too. On the Axis side you have mainly the Pact (I think these are

DETROIT is a lovely little two player game from Japan. You compete to build three cars. You share a factory floor, where some spaces are common while some are for you only. You have six game pieces, and you need to move them all through the assembly line, in the process combining the top and bottom pairs to form complete cars. Whoever does so first wins. On your turn you roll four dice,

Legions is a 2-player card game set in the world of Abyss. There are five regions between the two players, and you play cards to compete for dominance in each of these regions. There are two ways you can win. If you manage to capture five banners, you win immediately. Banners only appear on some cards, and it is not easy to achieve this victory condition. If no one achieves this by the

This is a 2-player game about city building, where you compete for the same pool of resources to build your individual cities.  You each have your own player board, which is a 3x3 grid. On your turn, you place one of your four pawns on the common board, which is also a 3x3 grid. The common board has stacks of tiles. When you place a pawn, you claim the topmost tile, and you

This game is set in World War II and depicts the battle between Germany and the USSR. This is a two player game and the story starts with Germany initiating the invasion of the Soviet Union. Every few rounds both players will score points based on controlling key locations. If you outscore your opponent by 10 points, you win immediately. Otherwise, you win by having more points at the end of

Bahamut Dispute is a microgame from Japan. It is a 2 player game about two kings trying to defeat the other by setting a dragon on their opponent. The structure is simple. On your turn you draw one card, and you may play up to two cards. You need to discard only if you exceed the hand limit. You start with 4 health, and your goal is to reduce your opponent’s health to zero. So far, nothing