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Tokaido: Crossroads & Matsuri WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Adding extra choices without complexity to the base game Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Antoine Bauza This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . First published in 2012, Tokaido has a strong fanbase and has certainly stood the test of time. You read my thoughts on the base game here . There was then an expansion, Crossroads , that came out in 20113, and another, Matsuri , that was released in 2016. Stonemaier Games then took over the license and put out their own version of the base game, but not these two expansions. But now, have released these two great expansions in one simple box. They both offer a lot more choices without any extra complexity. It brings so much more to the table with this gorgeous game without removing the tension, adding any extra game length, or messing with what made the base game great. But it does remove the frustration from the original experience? Intrigued, read on! What's New In This Expansion? There are mainly two new things in this expansion, along with a few other smaller additions. First, there are 25 new Traveler tiles. 25! Some great new options and choices for which character you play as and the power that brings. Second, there is a new board that you add above the main board that offers a second choice for every stop along the way. How To Set Up Tokaido: Crossroads & Matsuri After setting up the base game, take out the new expansion board and place it above the main board. Add to it the six new decks face down, separated and placed on their matching spaces, as well as the dice into the final space on the right. There are four closed space tokens, add these next to this board. You may not use them in the game, it depends which cards come out. Finally, give each player one of the new Reference tiles, and then shuffle in the new Encounter and Traveler cards into their respective decks from the base game and you are now ready to play. How To Play Tokaido: Crossroads & Matsuri The game plays as usual, except that now, at every stop, there is a new second choice for each player to make. Lets go through them one by one. Panoramas : Now, when you reach one of these spots, you can either progress in the painting linked to the location you are at, or you can take one of the new Cherry Tree cards, which instantly gives you one coin and two points. Handy if you are not targeting the paintings, or have finished that particular painting, or just need some cash! Hot Springs: Your second choice here now is to take one of the Bathhouse cards, which awards four points every time. It will count as a Hot Spring card for the Bather achievement. Farms : This is an interesting one. You now have the option, if you can afford it, to bet two coins and then roll the dice. You can then double, triple, or even quadruple your money if you roll well! But you may also lose it all if you roll the X. Temples : Your second option here is to pay one coin to take an Amulet card. These new cards offer powerful, rule-bending powers that you can use on later turns. Shops : Here, you can now buy Legendary Objects. They can cost between one and three coins, but offer big powers and points! Encounters : Your second choice here is to pay a coin to take a Calligraphy card. They offer new end-game scoring opportunities that can unexpectedly shift the final scores in a big way! Inns : Finally, at the Inns, the first player to arrive will draw two of the new Matsuri cards. They will pick one, discard the other, then read it aloud. It will add new one-time or ongoing effects that will be relevant for all players. Is It Fun? Tokaido: Crossroads & Matsuri Expansion Board Game Review I like Tokaido a lot. I gave the base game a 7.5 rating. It can be a little too simple, though, and the choices a little light. And on occasion, well actually—most games can lead to some frustrating moments of getting blocked off by other players. Now, though, with every spot offering a secondary choice, missing something you really want is less frustrating. And you can no longer be forced to go to a place where you simply cannot do anything else. Turns can still be made more or less optimal by other players blocking you, of course, but the results are less catastrophic. But aside from just removing the frustration, they also add choice and intrigue. It makes your turns feel like they are full of a lot more agency. Your strategy needs to be more fine-tuned and thought out. Simply, it makes the game a lot better. And it does so with minimal changes to the rules, setup, teach, or game length. You could simply set up and start playing with someone who knows the base game and just give them the new player reference card. That should be enough to teach them! I love the fact that the designer and publisher decided to add in 25 new Traveler tiles too. The base game has a good selection. Ten, I believe. nd the original expansion brought 16 new tiles. So another 16 would have been nice. But no, they went for 25 new tiles! That's a lot of new choices. And some of them offer intriguing powers. I will leave you to find them out for yourself! Pros: A huge variety of new Traveler tiles adds tons of replayability Fresh powers and abilities keep each game feeling different A second choice on every spot keeps options open, and player strategy more varied Cons: The risk on the Farm betting option can be brutal. A swing from eight or zero coins is huge! The addition of 25 new Traveler tiles is an impressive and generous upgrade. It expands the game’s variety far beyond what I hoped for, offering fresh combinations and new tactical challenges every time you play. The new board and cards mean every spot has a second choice, which exponentially improves the game's strategy and agency without any lag to game time or rules. An impressive feat. A near-perfect expansion for me. Certainly improves the game from a 7.5 to an 8 overall for me now, and as a standalone product, this expansion is a 9 for me, for what it brings.

Origin Story WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Trick-taking, with a theme, and a twist! Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: J amey Stegmaier , Pete Wissinger This is a review copy. See our review policy here Origin Story is a new trick-taking game from Stonemaier Games. To be a trick-taking game in the modern world, you need a twist. The are just so many of them. The advertised twist in this game is the blend of tableau-building with the base trick-taking. Players can develop their powers over the course of five games by playing Story cards to gain stronger abilities to gain more points, building their tableau as they go. And this, in turn, reveals the bigger twist: this is a trick-taking game with a theme. You develop your origin story as you play, and this really does come across. Your Story, or tableau, are how you become the hero you end the game as. And for a card game, theme is quite rare. So, with that said, let's get this game to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Origin Story First, place all stamina tokens within easy reach of everyone to form a shared supply. Shuffle the story cards and place them face down nearby in the general supply. Do the same with the event cards. Each player now takes a random player mat, which will act as their personal HQ for the game. Gain an alignment or victory point dial, set it to zero, and place it beside your mat. Either side up for now. Take one stamina token and place it in the stamina supply space on your mat. Draw two random superhero cards and place them with the reference cards face up on the space on the bottom right of your player mat. You can look at your final superhero choices now, but keep that secret from the other players. The player who most recently watched a superhero movie takes the dealer token and becomes the first player. If no one can remember or you all just finished a binge of crime dramas instead, assign it randomly. The dealer begins by gathering all 52 playing cards, giving them a good shuffle, and dealing eight cards face down to each player. You may look only at your own hand. Keep your poker face ready because, from here on, the trick-taking begins. In a two-player game, each player will have a “sidekick.” These sidekicks are not real players, but they will still take part in every trick. Deal each sidekick a hand of eight face-down cards, then flip two of their cards face up so everyone can see them. This gives a small glimpse into what chaos they might bring. In a solo game, deal eight face-up cards in a row from left to right next to two separate score trackers for two bot players. Place this next to five Vancardian cards, made up of either the easier single flash deck or the harder double flash deck, depending on how hard you want to make the game. The city is now ready, your heroes are gearing up, and it is time to play. How Play Up Origin Story The game is played over five rounds with eight tricks in each round. A trick is simply a round where all players play one card from their hand. The lead player plays first, then all other players must follow by playing one card in that suit if they can. If they cannot follow the lead suit, they can play whatever they like. The highest of the lead suit wins, unless any player plays a trump card, the Love suit. The highest led suit or trump card played wins the trick. The cards played that round are collected and placed in a face-down pile next to the player who won that trick, and that player leads the next trick. At the start of rounds one to four, each player gains one stamina from the general supply and draws three Story cards. Choose one to play face up onto your player mat over the space for the current round and discard the other two. These stories shape your character’s journey as the game progresses. You can do this after you have seen your eight cards for this round, so you can work with what you have this round. But the Story cards ideally will work together as well, over the rounds, to build up a functioning engine that all build towards your final Superhero choice. Players can choose their Story card for each round same time, as well as decided which ones they want to use this round. Just because you have the card, does not mean you can use it. You need to charge it up! To do this, simply place stamina tokens on the abilities you want to to charge. Each story card shows a stamina cost in the top left corner. Some have a single cost and then are permanent powers to be used all round, some have multiple spaces and allow you to choose how much to charge to use them multiple times as an when you choose. Abilities marked with the remove symbol mean when used, you must take the Stamina token from this apace, and place it back into your reserve. Meaning that power cannot be used again until charged again. Your character mat also shows a unique ability permanently printed on the board with its own stamina cost. This can be charged and used just like your Story card abilities. All charged abilities are open information for everyone to see. If you have any stamina left over, keep it on your mat for future rounds. You cannot add more after this phase ends. Once everyone is ready, each player simultaneously sets their alignment dial in front of them, revealing whether they are a hero or a villain this round. Heroes aim to win as many tricks as possible, earning one victory point per trick at the end of the round. Villains, on the other hand, are trying to lose every trick. If a villain wins none, they score four victory points. If they accidentally win one or more, that’s one trick too many - zero points! For both hero and villain, tricks are only counted at the end of the round. So if you use an ability during play to hand off a trick you previously won, it no longer counts as yours. Timing and trick management are key. As a Villain, you could win a trick, then give it to someone else, and still gain your four points for not winning any tricks! Each round ends after eight tricks have been played. When that happens, everyone follows a few simple steps to wrap things up. First, use any “End of Round” abilities shown on your charged story cards. In round five, you can also trigger those on your superhero card. If it’s the end of round three, make sure to resolve any “End of Round” abilities on the event card before discarding it. More on that in a bit! Next, score your points based on whether you were a hero or a villain that round. Then return all stamina from your abilities back to your stamina supply, ready for the next round. Pass the dealer token clockwise to the next player. For round three only, one player will reveal one random event card and follow its instructions. This will change the rules for this round, and this round only. This happens once per game. Even if the event introduces special scoring rules, players still earn points for their hero or villain alignment as usual. It is simply another twist in your heroic journey. When round five begins, the real drama unfolds. Starting with the player to the left of the dealer and going clockwise, each player chooses one of their two superhero cards given to them at the start of the game, which up to this point have only been reference cards. Reveal your chosen hero face up on your mat and gain its benefit. Discard the unchosen card. This is the moment you finally reveal who you truly are. This card will offer you extra powers and opportunities for final round points. After the fifth round, the game ends. The player with the most victory points wins. If there’s a tie, those players share the victory, because sometimes even heroes and villains have to call it a draw. But there will almost certainly be a sequel! Is It Fun? Origin Story Card Game Review Origin Story is Stonemaier Games’ bold leap into the trick-taking genre, and it lands with flair and a real sense of personality. The mix of classic card play with tableau-building and evolving powers is something fresh, breathing new life into a familiar format. Over the course of five rounds, you’re not just playing tricks, you’re crafting a character. It really does feel like that to me. Each story card builds your hero’s (or villain’s) journey, adding powers that make you feel stronger and more capable as the game goes on. The fact that you literally reveal your superhero identity in the final round is a brilliant thematic payoff, making the game’s title feel more than earned. The theme in this game is strong and it works so well entwinned with the mechanics. Mechanically, the game is tight and easy to grasp. It uses the standard 52-card deck, but layers in clever decisions around stamina management, story card choices, and how and when to use your abilities. The moment you secretly choose whether you’ll play as a hero or a villain each round adds delicious tension as all players reveal this simultaneously. You can’t just play the best card, you must play the best role. The pacing works well too, with the event in round three adding variety and a spicey mid-game twist, and the final reveal in round five creating a satisfying climax to a quick, but crunchy game. The two-player sidekick system is smart, keeping even smaller games feeling alive and unpredictable. It works so well and delivers a brilliant two-player trick-taking game. One of the best I have experienced. The art is gorgeous, the components are fantastic, and everything just oozes class throughout. As you play, the sense of discovery as your character develops in front of your eyes based on your choices is really quite something. Every game feels so different as each character you create feels so unique. There are 64 Story cards and you will use four each time, and 10 Superhero cards, and of course, you have just one each time. The combinations of engines that you can build from all this are huge. And finding one that works well, creating scoring combos is delightfully satisfying. That said, I am not a fan of the solo mode. It works fine and has a quick and easy flow, but it just feels "less." Less thematic. Less eventful. Less enjoyable. I hope others find more from this, but for me, this game is about the interaction between different players' choices and how their superheroes or villains evolve. Card play needs choices and player involvement. The Automa is brilliant in trying to recreate this in a solitaire mode, but it doesn't give me any warmth or personality. If you are desperate for a good solo trick-taker, then this may hit the spot, as it is solid. But if you are not desperate for that specific experience, do not expect this to be a solo option for you. That said, Origin Story may not click for everyone in multi-player either. The learning curve for mixing trick-taking with powers and stamina might be steeper than expected for more casual gamers, and it’s certainly not a simple game of Hearts or Spades. The theme is excellent, but it could feel a little light for players expecting a full superhero campaign, and of course, not everyone likes comic book style art or themes. But for me, when it clicks, it sings. It’s stylish, engaging, and clever; a rare combination. Pros: A genuinely thematic trick-taking experience Great sense of progression and payoff across the five rounds Clever hero/villain choice adds drama and tension Cons: A bit heavier than expected for a trick-taking game Can feel overcomplicated for casual players Theme may feel secondary to pure card play at times Origin Story delivers exactly what its name promises – the birth of something new. It’s a trick-taking game that manages to tell a story, make you care about your character, and keep the table buzzing with tension and laughter. It’s not for everyone, but for players who want their card play mixed with narrative flair and meaningful choices, this is a game worth suiting up and assembling your friends for.

Altay: Dawn Of Civilisation WBG Score: 8 Player Count 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: An abstract deck builder mixed with area control. Published by:   Ares Games Designed by:   Paolo Mori , Ole Steiness This is a free review copy of the game. See our review policy here Altay: Dawn Of Civilisation was one of the big hits from Essen 2024. I did not get a chance to play it until more recently, but was intrigued due to the mix of mechanics within the game, and the mixed reviews from the Dice Tower. This is an asymmetric, area control deck-builder, loosely based around a civilisation theme, that scored five out of ten from Tom Vasel and eight out of ten from Chris Yi. That's quite a difference! Why is this game so polarising? Or was one of them just wrong? Let's get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Altay: Dawn Of Civilisation First, place the main board down in the middle of the table along with the resources and coins. There is a handy storage tray in the main box for this, which holds them all, so simply take this out. You now need to set up the Action card display, the cards you can buy during the game. You need two cards of each type per player. Make sure you include the cards with the point value on the top if you are not using all the cards in a lower player count game, and place the highest value point cards on the top. Now set up the Achievement decks. You need one card of each type for the bronze and silver technology levels, and all cards in the gold Wonder level. Shuffle each deck and place them face down, drawing the top three cards face up into a starting display. Now place a level three conquest marker on all the white mountain areas, and a random level one or two marker on all other areas. Place a victory point marker on the three middle mountains. Now, each player takes the cards and 15 settlement pieces in their chosen colour. Each colour has a slightly different asymmetric power. The green Elevenfolk prefer to generate food and culture. The red Firefolk favour warriors, battle, and conquest. The blue Smallfolk diversify and generate a multitude of different resources, whereas the yellow Earthfolk have two starting villages and a colonist to fill them quicker. Each player chooses one of the green farmland spaces on the board, removes the conquest marker there, returning it to the box, and places one of their settlements there. All players now shuffle their cards and draw a starting hand of five. Each player gains one random level three Wonder card, gives one player at random the starting token, and you are now ready to play. How To Play Altay: Dawn Of Civilisation Players now take turns using all five cards in their hand. Players are looking to conquer new lands, build up their deck of cards, and complete the three-tiered achievement cards. The game ends when either one player places their final settlement on the board, or one player has no settlements on the board anymore, which is far less likely. When either end game scenario is met, finish the current round so all players have equal turns, then move to final scoring. Points are awarded for all developed technologies and Wonders, action cards acquired during the game with points on them, each territory with at least one settlement on it, each captured settlement, and finally the conquest markers you gained during the game, totalled and divided by three. As players take turns to play their hand of cards, cards can either be used to generate resources, build new settlements, store resources between rounds, or attack neighbouring areas. If you cannot store or use a resource, then you must discard it, or you can play the variant where you can exchange unused resources for money. Money can later be exchanged back for any good at a ratio of five coins to any good. Resources are mainly used to meet the requirements of Village cards, which require two Food in order to build a new settlement. When you build a new settlement, it must either be on the space where you have an existing settlement, or in a neighbouring space so long as the conquest marker has been previously removed. You can remove conquest markers, just as you may attack a neighbouring player. Play Attack cards from your hand, and total the Attack symbols on them with the number of settlements in the area you are attacking from. This is your total attack value. If this exceeds the number shown on a neighbouring conquest token, you simply remove the token from the board and add it to your collection for end game points. Some conquest markers generate resources as you take them, so look out for symbols on the markers as you gain each one. When you fight another player, the same happens, except they now have the chance to fight back and play defence cards. The winner of the fight removes one settlement from their opposing player's area, and again, takes it into their play area for end game points. The defending player can draw back up to five cards if they played any cards. You can play cards without defence icons on, up to the amount of cards the attacking player used, simply to recycle through your hand quicker if you choose. You can also use resources to buy new cards from the display of Action cards. Each has a cost shown on the top right. Simply discard the required resources and take any card you buy and add it into your discard pile. When your deck of cards runs out, which it will after your second turn, shuffle your discard pile and draw five new cards. This way, from turn three onwards, you have the chance to have and play new cards that you bought in either round one or two, added to your hand. The final thing you can do on your turn is use resources you have generated that round, or previously stored, to develop Achievements or wonders. You need to do a level one Bronze achievement first, then you can try a Silver Achievement, and then, finally, a Gold. If you want to try a second Bronze, that is fine, but only if you have completed the first. The achievements generate extra powers that can be used during the game, either once or each round during your turn, or at the end of each turn. The wonders mainly generate end game scoring opportunities, but one gives you the chance to have another turn when it is completed. The achievements also allow you to build more settlements as an instant one-off power. To start an Achievement or Wonder, you simply need one of the required resources. Take the card and place the resource onto the card and you are off and away. When you place the final required resource on the card it is considered completed. In three or two-player games, the game board is reduced in size. Nothing is done to mark this, but you won't place as many conquest tokens out at the start of the game, and your eye will quickly adjust to the reduced playing area. This is done to keep the game tight and encourage more player interaction via fighting. However, this will simply not happen as much in reduced player counts, and in three-player games without the red Firefolk involved. There is a small expansion that allows you to use the islands in the game. You can now travel over the sea and battle for and own the islands. Some people have complained that the absence of this in some versions of the game causes problems and reduces the ability to experience the full board. I can see this being an issue in higher player counts. It would be frustrating not to have that. But in some two-player games I have played, we did not make it over there. The game ended before we could. But, I would encourage you to look out for this mini expansion if you want the base game. There is also a new larger expansion coming out in 2026 that will utilise the sea areas more. Is It Fun? How To Set Up Altay: Dawn Of Civilisation Board Game Review Altay: Dawn of Civilisation is at its best when it’s a bustling table of four players, each pushing their asymmetric power to the limit. The game throws together area control, deck building, and a dash of civilisation-building in a way that feels simple and easy to master, but interesting and rewarding. Conquering lands while balancing resources and your development of the technologies is satisfying, especially when your deck finally starts humming and you feel like a strategist pulling multiple levers at once. If you like games where you grow stronger, faster, and cleverer each round, like most deck-builders, this one will keep you leaning forward in your chair. Eager for your next turn. "Watch this..." Of course, Altay is not for everyone. If you don’t like conflict, brace yourself, because fights will happen, and losing a settlement can sting. However, it doesn't hurt you like other area control games. And you can always win a fight that comes upon you, not just the ones you initiate. But the game is a much lighter rules teach than its civilization veneer might suggest. Some players will feel it does not offer the depth a civilization game should. Or indeed, does not feel like a civ game at all. Often, you will be completing cards, playing cards, finishing achievements, and not even noticing what it was you did. You don't check the name or look at the art. Just focus on the benefit. The game feels way more abstract that the box art suggests. The theme does melt away somewhat. Where Altay shines, though, is in its polarizing nature of tactics. It’s a game designed for those who want to fight as much as they want to build their deck. If you enjoy big turns from a quick deck build, with minor asymmetric powers, and aren’t afraid of a game that rewards boldness over caution, then this is worth a try. But if you prefer a calm puzzle where you quietly optimize in your corner, Altay may feel more like a neighbour knocking down your fence than a friendly trade partner. That said, in a two-player game, or a three-player game without the red Firefolk, games can tend to be a little more isolated with only a few fights breaking out. I had one two-player game with only one fight, and that was right at the end when we finally got close to each other. So, for two, this is a little more relaxing and multiplayer solitaire. But you can manipulate this however you best want with the asymmetric powers of the four factions in the game, and which ones you choose to use. And of course, during the game, if you want to avoid or reduce conflict, buy a few fighting cards to ward off the other players. Everyone can see what you buy. Your purchases are not just for your use, but also for posturing! Pros Minor asymmetric factions that encourage varied playstyles Satisfying mix of deck building and area control Bold interaction keeps players engaged and invested Achievement and wonder system adds depth and long-term planning Cons Player conflict can feel annoying when you don't have the deck to fight back Civilisation theme becomes more abstract Very dependent on the right player mix for best experience This is a light weight game. Can be disappointing if you want something more heavy. Altay: Dawn of Civilisation is one of those games that makes you sit up and pay attention, whether you’re having the time of your life or quietly wishing you’d played something else. It thrives on table presence, conflict, and asymmetric cleverness. If you want a game that sparks stories and heated discussions long after the box is packed away, this could be a hit. But know what you’re walking into. Altay is more abstract than you think; it's a lot lighter than the box art and size, mechanics, and theme all suggest. This can be a very different game based on the player count and factions used in the game. I can see why the Dice Tower reviewers clashed on this so much. It is a polarising game for sure. But when I want something quick, simple, light but fun, this is going to stay in my collection alongside games like Splendor, Century Road, and Azul. I can see myself playing it in a two-player mode more than anything else and seeing this more as a race game than an area control game. Who can get their settlements out quickest and most efficiently? That version of this game is an 8. The area control battling abstract game that Tom Vasel didn’t like is out there. You just need to decide why you want this game.

Tricky Kids WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Trick-takers with a twist! Published by: Pandasaurus Games Designed by: Danielle Reynolds , Steven Ungaro This is a review copy. See our review policy here I love trick-taking games. And there seem to be so many coming our recently. We have covered a lot here . So, to stand out in the cluttered word of trick-taking card games, you need a twist. And most do. So, the question here is what twist does Tricky Kids bring, and is it any fun? Well, lets get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Tricky Kids Shuffle the main deck and deal each player nine cards. The deck is made up of three suits, but all cards have blank when it comes to numerical value. Say what now? I know. More on that soon. Lay out seven score markers in a row, left to right. Each player will look at their cards and discard two of them, leaving each player with seven cards. Give each player a marker, and then each player will write onto their cards with their marker a figure from zero to 21. The total of their seven cards cannot exceed 21. It can be below if they wish, but that would be a waste. If you gave one card the score of 21, the rest would have to be zero. You could give the cards any score you want, just stick to these restrictions. The game plays over three rounds. You are now ready to play. However, you can if you wish add in the the Tricky cards. Shuffle the Tricky rule card deck and turn one card face up each round. It will add a new rule for each round. At the end of the round, discard that card, and draw a new rule for the next round. How To Play Tricky Kids One player will now spin one of the pens. The player the pen points at becomes the first player. They can now play any card from their hand. Each other player in clockwise order must now follow suit, meaning they play a card of the same colour from their hand. If they cannot follow suit as they do not have the same colour card in their hand, they can play any card they want. The player who plays the highest numbered card in the lead suit wins that trick. Ties cancel each other out, and the next highest card under these in the lead suit takes the win! The winning player takes the score marker for that round. This means the points available for each trick vary greatly! In this case, for round one, if yellow was the lead trick, it would be worth three points, pink two, and blue two. Whereas in round two, yellow drops to one and blue jumps to four. The winning player circles the colour they scored with that round, so they don't forget. Each player takes the card they played and places it face up in front of them. The winning player then plays the next card from their hand, starting the next trick. After the seventh trick, all players check that their played cards do not total over 21. If they do, they lose all points they gained that round. If this occurs in round two, they must also discard a score token from round one. And if it happens in round three, they are disqualified from the game entirely! After each round, collect all cards, shuffle them up, deal another nine cards to each player and place our seven new score tokens. After three rounds, the game ends, and players tally up their score tokens. Most points wins! Is It Fun? Tricky Kids Card Game Review Tricky Kids doesn’t just throw you into another trick-taking game with new suits and a quirky backstory. No, this one hands you a marker and says, “Go on then, make the game your own.” Writing the numbers onto your blank cards is great fun, and feels strangely naughty. Like you’re scribbling on something you shouldn’t! But it also sets the tone for the game brilliantly. You’re building your hand before the round even begins based on the score markers available that round, and the colour of cards in your hand. And from that moment you’re invested. It’s unpredictable, playful, and that’s where the fun lives. Who May Like It If you’re already into trick-taking, but feel like you’ve seen it all before, this is the kind of twist that keeps the genre alive. It’s part strategy puzzle, part chaos engine, and it rewards players who enjoy adapting on the fly. Families and casual groups will get a lot out of the silliness too, especially when someone inevitably busts over 21 and loses everything, to the table’s delight. And if you’re the kind of gamer who likes your cards to have a little personality (and doesn’t mind that personality being literally your handwriting), you’ll find Tricky Kids hits the sweet spot. Who May Not Like It If you’re a trick-taking purist, look away now. There’s no polished, tightly balanced hierarchy of suits here. Instead, it’s messy, unpredictable, and occasionally cruel. Some players will hate the randomness of the shifting rules, or the brutal punishment of going over 21. And yes, if the thought of marking up your cards makes you break out in hives, this is going to be a hard pass. Tricky Kids is all about embracing the chaos. I you’re not up for that, it might not be your game. But it does suit younger players, who enjoy the novelty, control, and naughtiness of writing on the cards. Pros Brilliantly inventive write-your-own-cards twist Every round feels different thanks to the shifting score values Fast, light, and always entertaining Optional Tricky rule cards add replayability and silliness Cons Chaos and luck can outweigh strategy Harsh penalties for busting past 21 Traditionalists may find it too loose and swingy Writing on cards isn’t for everyone Tricky Kids is exactly what a modern trick-taking game should be: fast, chaotic, and full of “I can’t believe that just happened” moments. The freedom of creating your own hand, the constant swing of the scoring system, and the threat of losing it all in a heartbeat make it equal parts clever and ridiculous. It’s not for the serious-minded, but if you’re after something fresh that’ll have your group laughing, groaning, and scribbling away, Tricky Kids more than delivers.

Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Wingspan, but want a bit more complexity, and dragons! Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Connie Vogelmann This is a review copy. See our review policy here I liked Wingspan. I gave it 8 out of 10. It's a modern classic for a reason. You can check out my review here . I liked Wyrmspan a little more. It has some lovely additions to the "span" mechanics." I gave that 8.5. You can check out my review here . I also liked Finspan. I gave that 8.5 too. It's just so simple and quick. It gives you most of what you want from a span game, but in such an easy way. You can check out my full review here . So, an expansion for Wyrmspan should make this the best Span yet, right? Well, maybe. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy Set the game up as usual, but replace the previous round tracker board with the new one. It's slightly bigger and offers new options at the bottom for end-of-round benefits. You can discard the old one. You won't use it again. But can you really do that? Nope, me neither. It's still in the box! And joyfully, everything in this game fits in the original box, nice and easily. There are also five Dragon cards and two Cave cards that need replacing with new updated versions. The differences are shown here. You can see the new cards on the top with the DA tag on the bottom left of the card. The replacement Dragon cards also have minimal difference, just tidying up some language and minor balance issues. New cards on the bottom this time, just to keep you on your toes. This expansion also comes with 80 new Dragon cards, 25 new Cave cards, seven new objective tile, and five new Dragon Guilds. Oh, and a card tray to make tidying this all up a lot simpler. Funny the base game didn't have this? But all sorted now! The new objectives, like everything else, can simply be added into your main box, mix well with the base game components, and simply offer more variation to the game. Some also mention the new card type in this expansion, Fledglings. More on that soon. So, you can obviously only use this if you use the new Dragon cards too. But the idea is you permanently mix all the new components with the base components. The only other new component is the 45 new training cubes. Add these to the centre of the table for all players to use when needed. You are now ready to play. How To Play Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy The game plays as usual, with these three changes to the rules. Fledging cards These new cards offer a new scoring system, as well as a way to build up their engine. At the end of the game, players will score points as multipliers, based on the total number of Fledgling cards they have on their player boards. If you have one, then it's one point. If you have two, it's two points each for a total of four. This continues to multiply with every extra card, and is irrelevant of their final status. As you can see, on these new cards, there is a space for one of the new training cubes. When you activate these cards with the Explore action, walking over them with your Explorer, you can add a training cube to the card, optionally pay the cost shown on the first symbol on the left, then move the cube one space to the right. When you have paid all the costs over several Explore actions, you can then unlock the purple ability on the bottom, often giving large end-game scoring opportunities. With these new cards, you sacrifice powerful when played or end of round powers given by other Dragons, with these end game scoring multipliers. Having a good mix of all of these powers is key. The Fledging cards live in all three of the caves, unlike the Hatchings from the base game, which primarily live in the bottom caves. So, you could Entice them anywhere. End of round changes When each player decides they no longer want to take any turns, or run out of coins to do so, they must place their Explorer meeple onto the new End of Round tracker board, onto one of the spaces on the bottom, depending on what round it is. For rounds one and two, choose one of the spaces on the left side. For round three, the space on the right. You do not need to do this for the final fourth round. When the round ends, and all players have placed their Explorer meeple onto one of the spaces, you will run through, top to bottom, the end of round actions. First, activate any end of round bonuses, then score that round's objective. Then, refresh all cards in the display, before finally taking the income as chosen by your Explorer placement that round. As you can see, you can choose from a mix of coins, eggs, resources, cards, and in the third round, Dragon Guild movement. It is funny to not get all six coins back, like in the base game, and this mean you may have less turns, and the game can be quicker this way. But you will get resources for this sacrifice, if you make that choice. And that enables you to do more, and avoid dead turns. Free to play Dragons The final small change in this game is that there are now free-to-play Dragon cards. As you can see with the three cards below, there is a new blue flower symbol on some cards. This means you can either pay the shown cost to entice these cards or take the displayed blue flower action to gain the card for free. You need to meet certain criteria for this to be the case, such as the Andean Coatl, which will be free to place if it is your third or fourth dragon in its respective cave. Is It Fun? Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy Board Game Expansion Review Wyrmspan was already a brilliant twist on the span  formula, giving players the same smooth engine-building feel as Wingspan  but with a bolder theme and a little more crunch. It balances strategy and accessibility in a way few games manage. You always feel like you are building towards something, whether chasing Guilds, objectives, or simply watching your cavern fill with colourful dragons. The pace is tight, the turns are satisfying, and it never outstays its welcome. The game flows better for me, and there are a lot more opportunities for exciting cascading turns. It’s a game that rewards clever sequencing, but never punishes experimentation, which makes it as fun for casual players as it is for those chasing every efficiency. Why the Expansion Makes the Base Game Better Dragon Academy layers in variety and clever new systems without overwhelming the base rules. The Fledgling cards introduce an exciting scoring puzzle that tempts players to delay short-term power for big end-game payoffs. The new end-of-round tracker not only refreshes how rounds flow but also offers real choices about what income to take and when, making every round feel more dynamic. Throw in new objectives, Guilds, and even the convenience of the new card tray, and you have an expansion that fixes small gripes with the base game while pushing the design into new territory. It’s more flexible, more tactical, and more rewarding. Who May Like It (and Who May Not) Fans of engine builders who love a strong end-game puzzle will lap this up. If you enjoyed Wyrmspan but wanted more variety in cards and more decisions around resource timing, Dragon Academy is exactly what you’re looking for. On the other hand, if you felt the base game was already on the edge of being too much, the added layers here might tip it over. The expansion doesn’t bloat the game, but it does ask players to juggle more possibilities. So, for families who liked the streamlined feel of Finspan, this may not be the right step. But for anyone who wanted Wyrmspan to go bigger and deeper, this is essential. Pros Fledgling cards create a brilliant new scoring puzzle. End-of-round tracker refreshes the pacing of the game. Lots of new content: dragons, caves, Guilds, objectives. Card tray and upgraded components improve usability. Everything fits neatly into the base box. Cons Adds a few extra rules that may slow down new players. The Fledgling scoring system can dominate if not balanced. Players who found Wyrmspan “just enough” may feel this is “too much.” Final Thoughts Dragon Academy takes an already great game and makes it better. It adds depth without unnecessary complication, and variety without clutter. The Fledgling cards change how you think about engine building, the end-of-round tracker smooths the flow, and the extra Guilds, objectives, and dragons keep every game fresh. If Wyrmspan was the game that gave the span  series its teeth, then Dragon Academy is the expansion that sharpens them. I liked Wingspan. I liked Wyrmspan a little more. I also liked Finspan. So where does Dragon Academy sit? For me, this expansion takes Wyrmspan to the next level. The new scoring system with Fledglings, the sharper pacing with the end-of-round tracker, and the wealth of new dragons and objectives make this the most satisfying span  game yet. I’m giving Wyrmspan: Dragon Academy a 9 out of 10 . This is the way I want to play a Span game.

Cretaceous Skies WBG Score: 9.5 Player Count 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Euros with a theme, it can be done! Published by:   Spielcraft Games Designed by:   Ann Journey This is a free review copy of the game. See our review policy here Cretaceous Rails is one of my games of the year. I simply adore it. You can read my full review here . The game was released with an expansion which I have only just got to try, Cretaceous Skies. It is wonderful! And you can read my full review here in this post. There is a new expansion coming out soon along with a reprint of the game along with this expansion if you want to get a copy or you can try your luck at retail here . The game is also being made along with a new smaller, meeple-only version in a smaller box. This seems a shame, but I suppose it offers the game at a cheaper price point, in a smaller box which is good. But the dino minis are so cool! But I suppose it's nice to have a choice. This all goes live in October 2025. You can check the link here . Anyway, let's take a look at this first expansion and see what it adds and how it plays. How To Set Up Cretaceous Skies This expansion comes with four separate modules. You can add just one, all five, or any combination. Whatever works for you. I like to include them all! They are all pretty simple, don't add much time to set up or to teach, and all make the game a little bit better. Let's go through them all one-by-one. Variable Start Expansion: During setup, don't give any player any starting trains, dinos, tourists, or jungle pieces. Instead, deal out two variable start cards per player, plus two extra, and then each player draws a pair of cards and takes the shown starting resources. Then, when you select your home hex on the main board, place a number of rails shown on your starting cards plus one. So, still one rail, even if you have no starting trains. End Game Scoring Tiles There are five in total. Randomly select two and place them face up next to the main board. Then, at the end of the game, you will score these end-game bonuses as well as the usual scoring. 5th Executive Expansion There is now an opportunity to get a fifth executive. During set up, place the four new Executive cards next to the resort card board along with the 5th Executive of any player in the games colour. Then, during the game, at any pint, any player can draw one of these cards as they would any Resort card, then build it, gaining their fifth Executive. Each player can only do this once. They then have a fifth turn each round, from the moment they do this. Cretaceous Skies Expansion This is the main part of the expansion and the only part that needs a How to Play. The above is enough for the other three. Here, add in the new Pteranodon minis onto each space on the main board with a flower symbol. Three on each tile, and two on the starting board. Then give each player their 16 new Aviary tiles which will be arranged at random in a four-by-four grid next to their player mat. This is your Aviary. You are now ready to play. How To Play Cretaceous Skies At any time, you can opt to forgo a main action selected from the action tiles and instead take any Pteranodon from the main board, provided it is adjacent to one of your rails, and place it in your Aviary. Initially, this must be one of the central four tiles. Afterward, it must be orthogonally adjacent to another tile with a Pteranodon. As soon as you do this, you will gain access to the power of the tile you placed the Pteranodon on for the rest of the game. The tiles gives you the ability to hold more than one good on your train cars, to lay extra rails when you take a Safari action with various coloured tourists, take various extra actions when you capture various dinos, reduce the ratings on your resort cards, or improve your end game scoring options. Is It Fun? Cretaceous Skies Board Game Expansion Review This mechanism of sacrificing an action and capturing Pteranodons to build your engine and make subsequent turns more powerful or gain additional end game points, adds an exciting layer of choice. Instead of simply following the core actions, players can unlock permanent powers that change how the rest of their game unfolds. The sense of progression feels strong, as each new Pteranodon captured not only rewards you with a lasting bonus but also expands the possibilities for future turns. It keeps the game feeling fresh, offering different strategies depending on which powers you choose to unlock and when. And at the end of the game, it is a great way to make your final tally jump up if you pick the right Aviary tile matches with your in game strategy. The variable start tiles are a simple but nice addition. They add a layer of strategy to the start of the game, where you can base what you want to do on the options available with the starting resources, and then plan your first few turns accordingly. It feels like you are in more control from the off with this. The end game scoring does a similar thing, giving you additional focus on what you want to achieve. If the longest rail track is out, that's a simple thing to aim for early on, with a big swing of points on offer. It's extra points, extra focus. A nice little add-on. I see no reason why people would not include both the variable start tiles and end game scoring in every game. The fifth Executive is a nice addition for me too. I will always use it. But it does slow the game down a little. The earlier you get it, the more turns you will have in the game. There are only four rounds in the game, and an extra turn each round after getting this is not too much. But what I found is most people aim to get their fifth Executive ASAP, and generally have it from round two onwards. That's an extra nine turns in a three-player game. Maybe ten more minutes? I can see the issue here for some. But I love it. I always want to do more in this game. Now I can! Especially with the Pteranodons needing a sacrificed action to activate. Here is a way to get those actions back. On the flip side, the Aviary system may not work for everyone. The adjacency requirement and tile placement rules mean your options can sometimes feel restricted, especially if the path of tiles does not match your preferred strategy. Players who dislike being forced into certain choices may find the mechanic frustrating rather than rewarding. It can also feel like the game is punishing you if your tiles are not well positioned early on, leaving you unable to access the powers you want. For fans of the base game though, this expansion will be a lot of fun. Fans of the engine-building part of Cretaceous Rails will enjoy seeing their abilities grow even more over time, while players who like the spatial and tactical puzzle in the game will appreciate the challenge of positioning rails and capturing the Pteranodons to get the most useful Aviary tiles to them. Those who prefer a more straightforward or relaxed style of play may struggle with the restrictions, but gamers who enjoy layered strategy and clever planning will find this more advanced system highly rewarding. I for one will include all four of these module sin every game moving forward, even with new players. They do not over complicate the game, add extra strategy, and make the choices even more fun. This expansion made a great game even greater. I cannot wait to try the next expansion. Pros New permanent powers create a satisfying sense of engine building and progression Strategic depth increased and early game choices seem more forgiving Great for players who enjoy long-term planning and engine building Cons Does add a little more complexity, but not much. Your Aviary tile placement does affect your choices a lot This is a near-perfect expansion. Four tight little modules. All easily incorporated into the original game with minimal added rules, added time to the game, or added complexity; but a lot more strategy and fun. A must-have for fans of the base game.

Tokaido Duo WBG Score: 7.5/10 Player Count: 1-2 You’ll like this if you like: Quick, chill board games where you can chase multiple paths Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Antoine Bauza This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Tokaido Duo is a stand alone game set in the world of Tokaido. A game we reviewed here . It changes a fair few things from Tokaido, mainly making this a two-player only game. However, after Stonemaier acquired the rights to the game from the original publisher, they have now added in a new solo version, making this now play one to two player. They also tidied up the rules and made separate player guides. If you have the original and want to play solitaire, you can simply buy the solo add on pack here (be sure to click on your local store first!). If you don't own this game yet and want it, be sure to get the new updated Stonemaier version here to get access to the new elements. But is this game any good? Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Tokaido Duo Place out the game board and take one character board and character guide for each player. There are three character guides and boards each. One player takes the green meeples, painting tiles, viewing pegs, and colour marker; and the other takes the purple ones. Place the meeples on their starting spaces marked on the board, and lay out the money into two separate piles next to the board. Each player places their colour marker in front of them, along with their three character boards and guides. Next, place the eight Boutique tokens on their spaces on the board. Do this at random. Add the 26 Ware tokens into the cloth bag and give them a shuffle. Place the bag next to the board along with the three dice. Place the three Wave tokens on the top of the board; they can be placed either side up. This affects the variety in the game. Place the Hot Spring token onto its space on the bottom left of the board. Each player adds their viewing pegs into the starting spaces on the Pilgrim board, then shuffles their Painting tiles and places them face down onto randomly assigned spaces on their Artist board. In solo mode, just set up one board per character or one player. The opposition, known as the Automa, takes three character cards instead. Place a single coin on the starting spot for each of these cards. There are a few different difficulties of character cards. You can pick whatever works best for you. The game recommends you start with level two. Also, place one coin into two central areas on the game board and one purple painting token onto the Coastal Town on the top left of the board as shown here. The Automa's meeples are placed on the southern end of the board. You are now ready to play. How To Play Tokaido Duo Players will now take turns rolling the three dice. Each die represents one of the three characters that each player has. The player who rolled chooses one of the three dice and moves the corresponding character the shown number of spaces. The other player then chooses from the remaining two dice, leaving the first player with one remaining die to activate. Play then moves to the next player, who now has the first and third pick. When you move your character, you must move the full extent of the movement shown on the dice. If you land on a space occupied by another player that isn't a Mountain Town, you must move forward one extra space. The Mountain Towns can hold two characters. The Pilgrim moves around the edge of the board in a clockwise manner. The Artist moves around the central areas, crossing over the orange hatched trade routes, moving from grey image to image. The Merchants move along the orange trade routes from Mountain Towns to Coastal Towns. The Merchant is either buying or selling goods. From the four Mountain Towns in the center of the board, when you land on these, you will either take two, three, or four tokens from the bag and add them to your character board, depending on the number shown next to the Town they are in. You must draw as many tokens as shown, but you can only hold up to five Wares on your board. So if you end with six or more, you must discard down to five after you have drawn all your new tokens. When at the Coastal Town, the Merchant will be able to sell the Wares matching the token added at random during setup. You will sell for two, three, or four coins, as shown by the token at the Coastal Town. Add the Ware tokens back into the bag, and add the coins to your player board. Whenever you get ten or more coins, you must exchange these for one gold coin and add this to the bottom of your character board. When you get your sixth gold coin, the game will end. At the end of the game, each player will gain points for their Merchant based on how many gold coins they acquired during the game. The Artist is either painting or gifting. When painting, reveal as many face-down Painting tiles from your Artist board as there are characters within your area. The nearby spaces in the middle and edge of the board directly next to your current position count for this. Opposition characters, including the Artist, which could be in the same space as you, all count towards this. Painting tiles are revealed from top to bottom, from left to right. If the icon of the arrival area matches the icon on the top leftmost tile on your Artist board, then you may Gift that Painting by removing it from your board and adding it back to the box. If you Gift your final painting, that triggers the end game. The Artist will score points based on the amount of Paintings they were able to Gift during the game. The Pilgrim can help the other characters during the game by gaining extra money for the Merchant from the Coastal Towns, or gaining the Wave tokens from the Seashore spaces, gaining additional powers for any character they choose. When they visit the Temple or Garden, however, they gain points themselves, either moving the viewing peg up one space on the Temple or Garden track, depending on where they are. At the end of the game, they gain points of the Temple space multiplied by the Garden space. If they reach the final space on either track, they trigger the end game. When the end game is triggered, make sure you use all dice from that current turn, then each player adds up their total points scored from all three of their characters. Most points, wins. In the solo game, the Automa characters all follow a clockwise path around their respective spaces. The Automa's Merchant only visits Coastal towns this way. When the Automa's Artist lands on an area without a coin, their coin on their Automa track moves up one space. The Merchant moves up a space when they land on any Coastal town without a Painting tile. The Pilgrim moves up when they land on a Garden, Temple, or Coastal tile without a Painting tile. If a coin reaches the final space, this triggers the end of the game. The dice are thrown and organized in order of how physically close they were to the other side of the table. The dice are selected by a prescribed method as shown in the solo rules, which I won't go into here, but it makes it clear and simple for you as you play. The Automa scores victory points equal to the sum of her three final spaces reached on the Automa tracks. Is It Fun? Tokaido Duo Board Game Review Tokaido Duo  offers a fascinating spin on the original Tokaido , focusing on a two-player experience with a thoughtful solo mode added in the new Stonemaier edition. The premise of controlling three different characters, each with their own path to victory, creates an engaging puzzle where your choices ripple across multiple strategies. The dice draft mechanism adds a layer of tension, as every roll gives both players opportunities and dilemmas. For fans of elegant games with a serene pace, this blend of movement, timing, and character interplay can be deeply satisfying. However, Tokaido Duo  may not be for everyone. The game’s relaxed tempo can feel too slow for players who prefer high-stakes interaction or quick payoffs. Managing three separate characters at once can also be fiddly, and some might find the bookkeeping of Merchants, Artists, and Pilgrims a little overwhelming in a compact two-player setting. Solo mode is welcome but may not scratch the itch for those who prefer dynamic opponents over predictable Automa routines. In short, if you are looking for drama or heavy conflict, this will likely fall flat. I have also found some luck in the game around which Wares you pull, based on which Coastal towns you are near and can sell to next. This can be a little frustrating for some. Although, this is a quick game. 25 minutes I have found to be plenty for most games, even when taking it easy. So, you are never to upset when the dice or bag draw doesn't go your way. For the right audience, though, Tokaido Duo  is a peaceful yet strategic experience. It retains the charm and beauty of the original while carving its own identity through clever dice drafting and varied character paths. Fans of relaxing, thematic games that feel like a journey rather than a battle will find plenty to enjoy here. It is best suited for pairs who want a thoughtful head-to-head game or solo players seeking a meditative puzzle. Like its predecessor, Tokaido Duo  is more about the experience than the competition, and that is where its beauty lies. Pros Clever dice drafting creates tension and choice Beautiful theme and artwork carried over from the original Tokaido Offers both a tight two-player duel and a solo puzzle Three-character system adds variety and depth Cons Slow pace may not appeal to everyone Managing three roles can feel fiddly Solo mode can feel predictable Low direct player interaction Tokaido Duo  is a beautiful reimagining of a modern classic, set now in a one or two player world. Offering a tighter, more strategic experience while keeping the calming spirit of Tokaido  alive, this game will appeal to fans of Tokaido . It may not appeal to players who crave speed, direct conflict, or heavy complexity, but for those who enjoy a thoughtful, relaxing game with layers of subtle strategy, it shines. Whether played competitively as a duel or reflectively in its solo mode, Tokaido Duo  captures the essence of a journey well taken, thoughtful, peaceful, and rewarding in its own quiet way.

Smitten & Smitten 2 WBG Score: 6.5/10 Player Count: 1-2 You’ll like this if you like: Nice, simple, card games Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Ryan S. Davis , Jamey Stegmaier This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Smitten is a delightful 18-card game that represents art from various Stonemaier games. It challenges one to two players in a quick, simple, but enjoyable card-laying experience. The game came out in 2022 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Stonemaier Games and represented nine games created by Stonemaier at that point. Each game was shown on two cards from the deck of 18, with nine separate art designs. However, when you formed a grid of three-by-three with them, as is the idea in the game, they form one cohesive picture. The games featured were Tapestry, Euphoria, Wingspan, Between Two Castles, My Little Scythe, Charterstone, Pendulum, Viticulture, and Between Two Cities. Scythe is in the background when you form the tableau. It's pretty cool! In 2025, Smitten Two was released. It is the same premise but with nine new pairs of cards. Nine new cards, representing nine new games within the Stonemaier universe, with nine new card powers. This time, the games featured have not been confirmed by Jamey yet, but my best guess is we have Wyrmspan, Apiary, Stamp Swap, Tokaido, Rolling Realms Redux, Vantage, Finspan, Libertalia, and collectively they create an image, of what I am guessing to be Expeditions. There is one other game included, but I am unsure what this is. Maybe an unreleased game? Or perhaps, Red Rising which is not featured in Smitten, and could be here? But it just my guess. OK, enough of that, are these games fun? Let's get them to the table and see how they play. How To Set Up Smitten & Smitten 2 Shuffle the 18 cards into a deck and place one random card face down away from the play area, this is out of the game. Next, choose a difficulty level, easy, medium, or hard. This determines how may cards you start with. Easy you get four cards each, medium and hard you get three. But in hard, there are also some extra rules, covered below. In solo, create two "hands" by shuffling the deck, then placing two cards face up and one card face down into each of the two piles. The two hands represent two players, so when you play a card from one hand, the other hand now represents the other player, or "partner" as it is referred to in this game. You are now ready to play! How To Set Up Smitten & Smitten 2 The aim of the game is to place all 17 cards into their prescribed position in the grid. You are creating two separate three-by-three grids. One made by each player. Or in a solo, one from one hand, and one by the other. But of course, as one card has been taken out of the game, one grid will be incomplete. So you win when you place the 17th card. Ignore the effect of the 17th card, and now place the previously discarded 18th card to complete your two grids. You loose if you ever cannot place a card, or follow a placed cards instructions. Players place cards from their hand into a grid. The first card can go anywhere on the table, but subsequent cards must be placed adjacent to a previously played card. Cards must be placed in their correct position as shown on the symbol on the top left of each card. One in the top left, five in the middle, etc. When you play a card, the other player (the partner) must then follow that card's actions, as shown on the card. At the end of each turn, both players draw cards to replenish their hands if possible, with the active player drawing their card(s) first. Players can play cards whenever they see fit. There are no turns in this game. It's not player A then player B. You play simply when you feel you have the right card to play. To decide who should play in the multiplayer game, the only information you can discuss is whether you are able or willing to play a card, simply stating, “I can play/I want to play” or “I can’t play/I don’t want to play.” You can also say “I can play, but I don’t want to play.” The player who decides to play becomes the active player. If a cards action instructs the "partner" to play a card, the second card played in this sequence by the partner does not trigger its 'when played' action. In the hard mode, you cannot play or place a card if it results in one grid having more than two cards difference compared to the other grid. In solo, you can play any card from either hand. If you lay a face-down card, flip it face up first. Whenever a card has been played, if the partner has a face-down card, you must immediately flip it over to be face up. For the easy solo mode, at the beginning of any turn, either hand may set a card aside face up and replace it, face up with the card that was set aside during setup. If you want to play hard mode, use the above hard mode rules, and/or you must ensure that the first and last card played must come from the left hand. Is It Fun? Smitten & Smitten 2 Card Game Review I find the art to be a little clearer in the first game. I much prefer it. The above picture shows the final grid, and you can see the main picture representing an image of Scythe, and the individual components representing each game really do stand out. Scroll up to see the darker, busier final grid from Smitten Two. It does not quite pop as a single image to me. Smitten  and its follow-up Smitten 2 are tiny-box card games that celebrate the Stonemaier catalogue in a clever and artistic way. With just 18 cards, players work together to build two three-by-three grids where the art from across the company’s titles combines into one bigger picture. Each card also carries a rule twist that keeps the puzzle fresh. The cooperative play is quick, accessible, and charming, making this a strong choice for couples, solo players, or anyone looking for a pocket-sized puzzle that takes minutes to learn but has just enough bite to stay interesting. That said, Smitten  will not be for everyone. The rules around hand management, adjacency, and partner-triggered actions can feel fiddly, especially in harder modes where balance between grids becomes stricter. With so few cards in the deck, luck can sometimes dictate the flow of play, and the cooperative restrictions on communication may frustrate players who prefer open table talk. This is a game that thrives as a light, thematic diversion but may struggle to satisfy gamers who want depth, strategy, or replayability beyond the novelty of the art. Pros Gorgeous art from across the Stonemaier catalogue Quick setup and fast playtime Works well solo or cooperatively Portable and highly accessible Cons Limited depth and replayability Luck of the draw can dictate success Restrictions on communication may frustrate some Hard mode can feel fiddly Ultimately, Smitten  and Smitten Two  shine as celebration pieces, both for Stonemaier fans and for players who enjoy quick, puzzly co-ops. The game has beautiful art, minimal setup, portability, and a clever core concept. But be mindful of the light gameplay, occasional frustration with restrictions, and limited scope. If you are looking for a filler game with table presence and charm, or if you are a Stonemaier enthusiast keen to see their universe represented in miniature form, this will be a delightful addition to your collection.

Wyrmspan WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Wingspan , Everdell , Lost Ruins of Arnak Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Connie Vogelmann This is a review copy. See our review policy here Wingspan is one of the best selling games of the modern era. It has won numerous awards and is widely regarded as one of the best gateway games in terms of bring new players to the hobby. My review for Wingspan can be found here . When a publisher has a huge hit like this, it is rare they leave it alone. And Wingspan has seen seen a number of expansions, add-ons, and even a two-player version. You can read more about that here . But when at the start of 2024, the publisher announced there was to be a new version of the game, offering a slightly higher complexity, aimed at a more serious gamer, called Wyrmspan, you would be excused at confusing this release with something a lot more controversial. Some people seemed outraged at this idea. Why, when games like Ticket to Ride and Pandemic have multiple versions out, this was a surprise to anyone is beyond me. But this seems to be the curse that successful publishers like Stonemaier Game have to suffer. They are criticised for most things they do, seemingly just because they are seen as being big and successful. Interestingly this all seemed to begin with Wingspan. Simply because of it's huge success. Stonemaier were seen as more indie prior to then. Since Wingspan, Stonemaier have seen mixed success with their releases. Games like Red Rising and Pendulum have received muted responses from critics. Tapestry was attacked for its over production and lack of balance. Libertalia was criticised for lacking the heart of the original. And Expeditions has been suggested by some to be a cash grab based on the success of Scythe, (the original game this release shared a theme and art style with) and after the failures of the previous releases, just mentioned. But all are good games. It seems some people cannot see beyond the trolls - and the bandwagon that all started from the huge success Wingspan brought to the publisher - and now cannot just judge each game for what it is. They look for problems. Or simply it's because people just enjoy hating on Stonemaier as it is seen as cool. It's hard to like the big guy, right? The Coldplay effect in full force. But again, that's odd as Stonemaier are hardly big. They have three full time employees. They are nothing compared to Cool Mini Or Not or Asmodee . I prefer to simply judge each game on its own merits. Not the history or legacy of the publisher. So, that is what I will do here. BUT! I would say I am a fan of Jamey Stegmaier, and Stonemaier games. So, perhaps I have a different bias pushing me the other direction? All I would say on that is this. I own over 700 games in my collection, and know which ones I get to the table most, and I only pick the games I want to play. I certainly play games more when I first get them so I can review them, but I know which ones then see repeat plays after I hit publish. And all these criticised Stonemaier games have seen many repeat plays since the pressure of the review has gone. With all that said, Wyrmspan is a very interesting game on it's own merits. But it has to be looked at within this context. There is an important history that I believe is worth being aware of to help judge this game, and assess my own ability to critique it fairly. So, after the longest introduction in the history of What Board Game, let's get this game to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Wyrmspan First place the Dragon Guild Board on the table. Randomly pick one of the four Dragon Guild tiles and put it on the middle of the board with your chosen side up, depending on how many players there are. Then shuffle all the Dragons cards together and put three of them face up on the card display board in the marked spots. Keep the rest of Dragon deck nearby, face down. Do the same with the Cave cards. Next, place the round Tracker Board down with the round marker on the first round space. Mix up the objective tiles and put four of them randomly onto this board with a random side up for each one. Put the rest back in the box. Now set up the public supply by putting all the coins, eggs, and tokens in a spot where everyone can reach them. Each player will now take a player mat and place it in front of them. Put your starting resources of six coins and eight player markers, on the left side of your mat. Take one egg and place it on one of the two nest icons on your player mat. Place your Adventurer on the space on your board marked as Base Camp. Then put your guild token on the starting Dragon Guild space. Now deal three Dragon cards and three Cave cards to each player. Everyone can choose to keep any four of these six cards. Discard the rest. All players can now choose any three starting resources based on the cards they chose to keep. Give the starting player token to the last person to ride a Dragon, or a random player; your choice. You are now ready to begin. How To Play Wyrmspan If you have played Wingspan then a lot of the below will be familiar to you. I have managed to teach Wyrmspan to people who have played Wingspan in around five minutes. I do this by highlighting the differences. Then talking through the three main actions. Let's do the same now. Much like Wingspan, players will take turns to carry out one action per turn over four rounds. But whereas in Wingspan you do this with an action cube, in Wyrmspan this is done by spending coins. Players start with six coins and will get six new coins each round. You can save coins round to round if you want, but I doubt you ever will. And you can get extra coins during rounds through certain card and Guild effects, but these won't carry over to later rounds unless you save them. You can never start a round with less than six or more than nine coins. On your turn, you will place a coin on your player mat by the action you want to do, then carry out that action. On the left of the mat, it shows you your three main options: Excavate, Entice, and Explore. Let's go through them now one by one. Excavate is a whole new action compared to Wingspan. To Entice Dragons to your player board, they first need a cave to live in. Excavate is how you do this. Simply pay a coin and egg (if needed depending on the column) and place a Cave card from your hand onto the leftmost space on one of the three rows on your board. The first space on each row will have a Cave already present, so you don't need to Excavate there. Cave cards have a when-played power that you can now activate. Entice is how you get Dragons onto your board and is very similar to adding birds in Wingspan. You will pay one coin then the shown cost on the dragon card itself, placing any required resources from your personal supply back into the main supply. The Dragon card will show which of the three rows it can go to, ensure you pick a legal space. Some Dragons have a when-played action, others will show end-of-round or end-of-game abilities, or powers that activate when you explore. Explore is similar to activating Birds in Wingspan when you carry out certain rows actions. Here, explore is its own specific action. Pay a coin, then take your Adventurer meeple from its position on your player mat, pick one of the three rows you want to explore, and place it on the first Explore icon on that row. Then move your Adventurer right to left, stopping at each Adventure symbol until you see a red hexagon with a white line in the middle. The top row will help you gain resources. The middle is about Dragon cards. The bottom is about Cave cards. As you place more Dragon cards down on each row, this action becomes stronger as your Adventurer can move further right, as the Dragon cards not only bring new Explore powers but block the symbol that shows where you have to stop when Adventuring. Whenever you see the Dragon Guild symbol, you can move your guild token one space clockwise around the Guild track. You will then take the shown item or resource. Whenever you move to the bottom or top space, you can move a colored cube into one of the boxed spaces on the Guild tile. This will give you an instant or end-of-game bonus. This is the main addition from Wingspan and introduces a lot of new ways to combo turns. Players will continue placing coins and taking one of these three actions until they run out of coins or choose to stop. Then you will run through the phases shown on the round tracker board. First, each player will activate all end-of-round Dragon cards they have on their player mat. Then players will score based on that round's objective. Then all Cave cards and Dragon cards on the display board are refreshed, and finally all players receive their six shiny new coins, and one egg. The next round will then take place. After the end of the fourth round, the player with the most points wins. Is It Fun? Wyrmspan Board Game Review If you like Wingspan, you will most probably like this. The game is a little better with some added elements, such as the Dragon Guild. But two big things will affect your opinion. Do you like Dragons more or less than birds? Are you happy about Wingspan getting this treatment? A lot of people prefer the real-world nature of Wingspan. Some like the mystical fantasy Wyrmspan brings. Some may not mind at all and just enjoy the enhanced mechanics. Some are very loyal to Wingspan and find this adapted version hard to accept. Others enjoy the fact that one of the most popular games in the modern-day hobby has a new version and are excited to see how this develops. If you don't like Wingspan, I doubt the dragons and extra parts will change your mind that much about the mechanics of the game. I think it is a little better myself and see the improvements that have been made. The luck of the dice tower being removed. The control with the Guild being added. Just as two examples. But 90% of the game is the same and if you don't like one, the other won't be that different. Unless of course, it was simply the theme of Wingspan that you did not enjoy. In which case, how do you feel about Dragons? Another major factor in this will be the art and card layout. Some say it is busy. Others are not fans of the light, airy watercolor style. Personally, I like it. I think it suits the game. The Dragons look gorgeous in my opinion. And the card layout is very clear. I don't like the lack of space for eggs. When you start adding multiple eggs to the cards, you do block the art somewhat. But this is merely aesthetic. You can keep the important text at the bottom open. But Dragon size and personality matter towards the round objectives. And it is easy for eggs to block these stats. Making it harder for other players to see and track how you are doing on these round goals. The solo mode is excellent, runs very smoothly, and offers an interesting challenge. In a two-player game, the game flows well and is my ideal number to play this in. Three and up work fine, but there can be some downtime as players start to really combo their turns in the later stages. It can be frustrating to wait when you are eager to carry out a cool turn of your own. Take your own personality and groups play style into account here! And on those combos. Oh my! This is where the game really shines. I have found with my plays of Wyrmspan so far that I have been able to get this part of the experience working a lot quicker and more powerfully than I ever could with Wingspan. It’s also a lot more effective here. And it happens with a lot more satisfaction. There are fewer card spaces to fill in Wyrmspan compared to Wingspan. Most games you will complete your board, or at least come close. The most empty spaces I have seen at the end of the game so far was four. I would say usually players average two or three empty spaces by the end. More cards mean more powers. And completing rows is easier with one less space per row. The end-of-row bonus in Wyrmspan gets you another coin, which is an extra turn. In Wingspan, as the game moves on, you will have one less turn per round as you use your turn cubes to track your end of round objective score. In Wyrmspan, you always have the same amount of turns as a minimum each round. But tend to get more as your card powers and end of row bonus kick in. That is more fun. The combo options provided by the Hatchling cards alone are worth the entry fee to this game. They work a little differently from the other cards in the game, whereby they increase in power the more often they are activated. Typically maxing out their power on the third activation. There are some pretty clever ways that you will be able to activate these a number of times during each game, providing you with extra cards, resources, and points, that in turn will begin to combo with other cards, creating a cascading effect of combo turns in the mid to late game. It is for this reason that I rate Wyrmspan slightly higher than Wingspan. And I am a big fan of Wingspan. Personally, I much prefer the real-world nature of Wingspan. Learning about the birds as I play is a great joy to me. The made-up nature of Wyrmspan is fine. It's just less interesting for me. And the attempted world-building in the supplementary Dragon facts booklet is very odd. To avoid cluttering the cards, the information of the Dragons is taken from the card itself and instead, placed into a glossy 32-page booklet. A good idea to keep the cards clean. But utterly pointless because I have zero interest in learning facts about made-up Dragons in a game where the lore is redundant. No harm in the booklet being in the box, but it must add to cost and this game is not the cheapest. I understand why it is in the box, but it seems odd and superfluous to me. That said, if you judge Wyrmspan on its own, it is a very good game. But no one will do that. It will always be judged against Wingspan. And I suppose rightly so. It’s just interesting to me why this happens so much more for games like this, over the multiple versions of Ticket to Ride and Pandemic that we see, that don’t appear to bother anyone. But even when judging against Wingspan, Wyrmspan is still very good. A little better even. So, this is the one to get - if you only buy one - and are not judging on theme. But do you need both? Well, that's up to you. I do, as I am a completist and own every Stonemaier game to date. But would I buy this on its own merits even if I was not such a Stonemaier fanboy, and already owned Wingspan? Well, yes I would. I like the options both bring and how I can bring either out based on who I am playing with. But if I only planned to play solo, or had to pick just one, or was judging this based on which of the two is the best game, Wyrmspan wins for me every day of the week.

Cross Spin WBG Score: 7.5/10 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Word Games under time pressure Published by: JoPat Games Designed by: Chris Savino This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . I love word games. And anything with a clever little twist, I am in. Cross Spin is exactly that. It mixes a cross word style layout, with free form puzzle solving. It tests your calmness under pressure, vocabulary, and ability to fit words together. The game also has a daily quiz you can try out here , if you like that sort of thing! Could this be the new Wordle? But is it fun? Lets get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Cross Spin Give each player a booklet and a pen. Give the deck of cards a good shuffle and place it face down on the table along with the sand timer. Next, choose a puzzle to start with; puzzle one seems a good place to start! Get each player to turn to that page in their booklet. Ensure everyone is on the same page. Now, flip over a card face up for each space for a word on the puzzle. You are now ready to play! How To Play Cross Spin Each player takes the puzzle booklet and flips over a set of word cards. Your job is to find a word that matches each card and fit it into the crossword-style grid on the page in front of you. Each puzzle card represents one word. You can only use each card once, and you must fit all of your chosen words into the puzzle. This means your words will need to overlap and share letters, just like in a crossword. For example, you may need to combine answers for cards such as “something in the ocean,” “something starting with E,” “a word with two vowels,” and “something a dog does.” The challenge is to make them all connect neatly in different ways across the grid. Speed matters. As soon as you think you have completed your puzzle, flip over the sand timer. Every other player now has the remaining 20 odd seconds to finish their own grid. When the timer runs out, the round ends. Players then reveal their puzzle solutions to the group. If your answers all work, you score one point per correct word, plus two bonus points for finishing first. However, if the group agrees that any of your answers doesn’t fit, you lose a point instead. Everyone else simply scores one point per correct word. You can rotate your puzzle booklet 90, 180, or 270 degrees if it helps you fit the words, that’s the “Spin” element of the game. When scoring is complete, wipe your board clean, discard the used cards, move to the next page in the booklet, and draw a new set of cards. Play continues until someone reaches 25 points, or simply for as many rounds as you like. If everyone is stuck, the group can agree to draw one extra card. You’ll then have more cards than needed, which allows you to discard whichever one proves the hardest to fit. Is It Fun? Cross Spin Word Game Review Cross Spin is a surprisingly enjoyable mix of wordplay and light puzzle solving. If you like games such as Scrabble, Boggle, or simply doing crosswords, this will feel right at home. It works brilliantly solo if you want something calm and 'puzzly', but also shines in pairs or teams. This makes it easy to balance across different ages or vocabulary levels, kids, parents, and grandparents can all join in together. The creativity is where this game comes alive. Often you’ll slot in an obvious first word, only to realise later you need to change it to make the rest of the grid fit. That process of adapting, tweaking, and eventually finding the perfect fit is deeply satisfying. Linking a chain of words together so that everything locks in, all under time pressure, creates wonderful tension. Speaking of time, the sand timer runs for around 24 seconds (I even noticed one side is slightly faster than the other!). It’s barely enough to finish if you’re behind, but that’s the point. It forces you to grab a few extra words and squeeze in some last-minute points. For younger players or those who prefer a slower pace, you could flip the timer twice, or ignore it altogether and just play at leisure. As a relaxing, word-based filler, this is one I can see hitting the table a lot. It’s the kind of game you can enjoy with family on a Sunday afternoon, or play solo for a quick challenge. Personally, I think my mum will love it, though I doubt I’ll ever beat her at word games! Pros: Easy to teach and quick to set up Works solo, in pairs, or in larger teams Satisfying puzzle-solving with lots of creativity Timer adds fun tension but can be adjusted or ignored Replayable thanks to a large set of cards and varied grids Cons: Timer can feel too short for some players Group validation of words may cause minor disagreements Not suited to players who dislike word games Final Thoughts - Cross Spin Word Game Review Cross Spin offers a flexible word puzzle experience that’s as fun solo as it is in groups. It’s quick to teach, easy to play, and can scale in difficulty depending on how you use the timer. The rotating boards add a neat spatial twist, and the clue cards keep the puzzles fresh. This isn’t a game for everyone, if you don’t enjoy word puzzles, it won’t convert you. But for word lovers, or families who enjoy games like Boggle, Scrabble, or crosswords, Cross Spin is a creative, replayable option.

Gray Eminence With Year Of Chaos Expansion WBG Score: 8/10 If you like bluffing and Negotiation (less if not!) Player Count: 3-5 You’ll like this if you like: Negotiation and bluffing within a 'Euro-esque' experience Published by: Dragon Dawn Productions Designed by:   Tony Cotterill , Ren Multamäki This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . I have covered a fair few games from Ren and Ton from Dragon Dawn, and I have liked them all, a lot. They are mostly card games. Trick-taking card games. But here, with Gray Eminence, we have something quite different from that, and indeed, many other games you will have played before. This really does feel quite unique. It is a political, satirical, but also very serious hand-management bluffing game with bidding and deduction. Which sort of feels all over the place, I know, but it comes together very well. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Gray Eminence With Year Of Chaos Expansion Place the Power Struggle board in the centre of the table, within reach of all players. Each player takes a playmat and their matching meeple. Leave space nearby for both the Unresolved Events pile and the Resolved Events pile. Next, put one of each starting resource into the Bidding Pool. Place all player meeples on the visibility track in random order. Set the Round Marker on the “1st Round” space. Each player now chooses a Gray Eminence card and places it in the slot on their playmat. Take the starting resources shown on that card and add the starting Faction cards into their slots. Deal three Secret Objective cards to each player. Each player keeps two, placing them face down next to their playmat, and discards the third. Next, select a Scenario card. For the first game, the EU scenario is recommended. Return all unused Scenario cards to the box. Now follow the setup listed on the chosen Scenario card which will included deciding how many rounds to play (5 for a standard game, 8 for a long game), shuffling any scenario-specific Tweet cards into the Tweet deck and placing the wooden Relationship Markers on the Relationship Chart as instructed, along with any scenario-specific cardboard flags on the chart. Finally, shuffle the scenario-specific Event cards into the Event deck, the scenario-specific Faction cards into the Faction deck, and the Scenario-specific Action cards into the Action deck. Place all remaining resources within easy reach to form the Common Pool. Place the Victory Point tokens nearby as well. You will also need to leave space for Event cards in both the Event slot and the Additional Event slot. Keep the Escalation cards in the box, they are not used at the start of the game. Finally, make sure there is space for discard piles for every deck. When any deck runs out, shuffle its discard pile to form a new draw deck. You are now ready to play. If you are using the expansion, it is a new stuff expansion, so just shuffle the cards into their respective decks and play as you usually would. There are a few new characters to choose from to, with some familiar faces, just like the game! How To Play Gray Eminence With Year Of Chaos Expansion The game is played over a series of five to eight rounds rounds (your choice), each split into nine phases. Each round kicks off with the Refresh phase . Draw four Action cards and discard down to eight if needed. You can refresh any eligible Faction cards at this stage. Some factions can only be refreshed by card effects, so watch for that. Next comes the Event phase . Draw a new Event card, read it aloud, and place it on the Mandatory Event spot of the board. This sets the common objective for the round, the thing that will shape your choices and maybe even unite you with your rivals. Bidding follows . Players secretly bid resources to set the visibility track order. Resources are kept secret from other players, so you won't know what people could bid, or what they did bid. Players can bid zero if they wish. The highest bid chooses their place on the visibility track first, then the next highest, and so on. Ties are resolved first by the total number of one type of resource, then by the current order on the track. The visibility track matters a lot. It sets turn order, grants you benefits, and even decides tie breaks later on. At the end, one player is in the Public Eye, another in the Shadows, and the rest are Gray Eminences. Public Eye gains exposure: draw a Faction card, reveal a Secret Objective, and take money or influence from the Common Pool. Gray Eminences draw an extra Action card, gain a resource, and get to play a fourth card later. In the Shadows is trickier. They can blackmail players for faction cards or resources, or even peek at an objective. They also sneak a resource from the bidding pool. All resources you gain here go into your box of secrets. Roles now define benefits, turn order, and voting priority. The box is a great addition as it keeps what you have a secret, which is crucial for various parts of the game where you may want to bluff about your certain Wealth or Power. Peering in and counting, or pretending to count, is a key part of this game! If this part alone sounds fun to you, you will probably enjoy this game. Programming comes next. Players simultaneously slot their Action cards face-down according to their visibility. A fourth card costs a resource unless you are a Gray Eminence, in which case it is free. These cards will later be revealed for personal gain, for common good, or simply discarded. Then comes the Presidential response . Draw tweet cards one by one until a hashtag matches the current event, or until all slots are filled. Each tweet takes effect as you draw it, and they can change factions, adjust the bidding pool, or even refresh cards. Once you get a match, the president is satisfied, and the response is locked in. After that, the Action phase begins. Each player reveals and resolves the action cards they programmed earlier. You must use one for personal gain, one for common good, and discard one. If you played a fourth card, you choose whether it is personal gain or common good. Cards can be used differently than originally intended, but if you play them off-type they have no effect. You may also exhaust your factions at this time to use their powers. Resolution comes next. Shuffle all the common good cards on the event and reveal them one at a time. These might adjust relationships on the chart, or add and remove resources from the pool. Then check the bidding pool. If there are enough resources, the mandatory event must be resolved. If there is more than one way to do it, the players vote. Pay the cost, move the card to the resolved pile, and mark it with the type of resource that was used. If resources remain, you may attempt the additional event in the same way. Some unresolved events move into the additional event slot automatically. Remember, how events are resolved is important for end game scoring. Sometimes escalation events appear. These are special. They have a trigger effect that happens immediately, and a static effect that stays active while they are in play. They behave like normal events when it comes to resolution, but they change the game in bigger ways until dealt with. After all this, the Trading phase comes next. Here, anything can be traded. Cards, resources, victory points, future promises. The only limits are what both players agree to and no coercion outside the game. You can even agree beforehand to play with optional rules that allow broken promises if you want things even nastier. Finally comes Scoring . In turn order, each player may complete one public or secret objective. When you complete a secret objective, flip it up, score it, and draw a new one from two choices. When you complete a public objective, place victory points directly onto it. There is also an optional rule where other players can challenge your secret objective by trying to beat you to it. Rounds continue until the scenario’s set number of rounds has been played. At the end, if the scenario’s common objective has not been met, everyone loses. Otherwise, add up your victory points from objectives, tokens, and bonuses. One point each for the player with the most money, power, influence, and total resources. If tied, the player with the most completed objectives wins. If still tied, it comes down to the visibility track. There are a few key things to remember as you play. If a card contradicts the rules, the card always wins. Keep resolved and unresolved events separate, marking resolved ones with the resource used. Ties for least count, ties for most do not. Spending means moving resources from your box of secrets to the common pool. Resources are unlimited, so substitute if you run out. Blackmailing only works on players with faction cards. And above all, the common objective must be met or nobody wins. Is It Fun? Gray Eminence Board Game Review With Year Of Chaos Expansion This game can be a lot of fun because it feels like you are part of a big political drama. You are balancing your own secret objectives with the need to work together on events, all while watching your rivals and plotting when to help and when to sabotage. The tension builds as the tweets come in, changing the board and messing with your carefully laid plans. It is one of those games where stories naturally come out of the chaos, and you will laugh about them long after the game ends. This tension, plotting and scheming really can be a lot of fun. Especially when it pays off! Not every part of the game will be for everyone though. It can run long, especially if players spend a lot of time negotiating or arguing about what to do with the common pool. There are also a lot of moving parts, so you need to stay focused. Especially if there are new players to the game. If your group prefers quick games with clear choices and immediate rewards, this might feel a bit heavy. Some players may not enjoy the take-that moments that come from blackmailing and trading either. It is a fun game to win, but can be frustrating to do badly in. The characters you play, with their surprisingly lifelike resemblance to real characters, politicians, TV celebrities, business people, and even royalty, can add an area of whimsy and fun to what could otherwise be seen as a serious game. This is a political game; it is genuinely sincere, but it doesn't take itself too seriously. There is a lot of humor, debate, fun, and jovialness included. People who enjoy negotiation games though, will find plenty to love here. The trading phase is where the table really comes alive, and the promises, deals, and betrayals will keep everyone on edge. Fans of thematic euro games will also enjoy how tightly the mechanisms fit the setting. If you like games with strong player interaction, lots of table talk, and plenty of tactical decisions, this one should be a hit. On the flip side, if you prefer quiet, solitaire style euro games where you focus on your own board and optimise your engine, this will not be for you. The game thrives on conversation, bluffing, and conflict. If you sit back and keep to yourself, you may find it a frustrating experience. It also has hidden information and plenty of surprises, so players who like perfect planning will feel out of their comfort zone. The expansion is perfect if you like the game. More stuff! Great! You won't need it to start with. I would say you could comfortably play 10 or more games and feel like you are still seeing new Tweet cards as you play, trying new characters to play as, and seeing new events. But after that, this is perfect to freshen things up. It won't change your perception of the game. It doesn't change things at all. It just adds more stuff, which for a game of this level, is perfect for me. Pros Rich theme and strong political drama that doesn't take itself too seriously Intense player interaction and negotiation at the games core Hidden resources add clever tension to bidding Scenario variety keeps games fresh, even more so with the expansion Balance of cooperation and competition flows throughout the game as you vie to achieve similar or separate individual goals. Cons Long playtime and potentially slow negotiations wont suit everyone Complex to teach with lots of moving parts, but simple to play when you get it Swingy events and tweets can derail plans or help you without your planning Heavy reliance on group dynamics; those who enjoy it will love it, while those who don't could have a bad time. Take-that, bluffing, and negotiating elements may put off some players In summary, this is a big, bold negotiation game full of drama, deals, and double-crosses. It is best with a group that enjoys table talk and embraces the chaos, but it will not suit everyone. If your friends like flowing, interactive games where the story is just as important as the score, you will have a brilliant time. If they prefer calm, quiet play with no surprises, it might be better left on the shelf. I for one am a huge fan. I worry this wont see much table presence as it has to be played with the right group. It needs at least three players, but is better with more; and it is not a quick teach. But the player sin my group who do enjoy this, really love it. This could be a bit of a polarising game in most groups, but I think the design, ambition, whimsey, political satire, and sheer bravery of the game should be applauded.

Castle Combo WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: Clever tableau-builders Published by: Catch Up Games Designed by: Grégory Grard , Mathieu Roussel This is the reviewer’s copy. See our review policy here By Steve Godfrey In Castle Combo Michel the messenger will be delivering messages between the village and the castle in preparation for the Combo Party. I’ve not heard of these but I’m guessing it's one where two people share a party but have two wildly different themed costumes. Like horror movies mixed with Disney. Goofy dressed as Michael Myers’s anyone? This review has really taken a turn! How to combo your castle Set up by placing the two separate card decks on the table with the grey castle cards above the brown village cards and then place three cards next to their respective decks. Then place the messenger next to the revealed village cards, give each player 15 coins and 2 keys and you're ready to go. At the start of your turn, you have the option to spend one key to either move the messenger to the other row of cards or replace the row of cards that the messenger is in. Whether you do any of these or not you then take your turn. On your turn you must take a card from the row that the messenger is in. Take a card by paying its cost in the top left corner, applying any discounts you may have from any cards you might already have. Then place the card in your grid. Over the course of the game, you’ll be building out a 3x3 grid of cards in front of you. The first card you play will go anywhere in your, at present imaginary grid. Any subsequent cards you play have to go orthogonally adjacent to any other card in your grid.  Each card has a top and bottom row action and when you play that card you immediately play out the effects on the top row. In general, these top rows will give you keys or money for satisfying certain conditions, like taking a number of coins based on a particular shield colour you have in your grid. These cards will also include themselves as well for the bonuses. You also have cards that give you discounts on other card types or some will let you put coins in any cards in your grid that have purses. These purses will score for the number of coins in them at the end.  Once you’ve taken your card and refilled the row you check the card you just played. Some will have a symbol on them which instructs you to move the messenger to the opposite row at the end of that turn. If you can’t take a card on your turn (or you just don’t want any available) you can instead choose to take a card from that row, flip it over, take 6 coins and two keys and place that card in your grid. This will have no immediate bonuses and will not score at the end of the game (unless you have the card(s) that let you score those ones). The game will end once every player has finished their grid of cards. At which point you’ll score every card in your grid from left to right, top to bottom. There are a lot of scoring conditions so I won’t go into every one but some cards will have you score per certain coloured shield in that row or column, some will have placement scoring while others will score for missing shield types. Keys are worth 1 point each at the end and the player with the highest score wins.  A warning? I first want to start with a warning about Catch Up Games, because they did this to me last time with Faraway. They’re getting into a habit of lulling gamers into a false sense of security. Yet again they’ve presented us with a small game that has this really cute, fun art work that sounds really fun, but failed to warn us of the absolutely brilliant brain burner that lurks inside. They need to have their dastardly practices exposed and I for one will not stand for it…..but maybe I’ll see what the next game is before I start making a fuss.  Castle Combo will have you thinking about the make-up of your grid right from your first choice of card and it’s wonderful. At the start of your game this imaginary grid of cards feels like it should give you so much freedom, you can put whatever you want anywhere you want and for the most part you can, until you lay down that first card. Because now that card is starting to dictate how you grow your grid. Did you lay down a card that scores all yellow shields in its row? Well, that’s at least two of your future turns mapped. Is it a card that scores by being in a certain position? Well, then all of a sudden that previously fluid grid of cards doesn’t have as much freedom of movement in it. Every card you lay is a new interesting choice as you try and puzzle out the best card and the best position for it. You're not scoring the grid as one entity, you’re scoring each and every card individually and because of that you’re want to score the maximum you can for each card, which is commendable, until you realise that (unless your very lucky) your choices of cards, and other players could well work against what you're trying to achieve.  One of the things I love about this game is that it starts off, as I said, with so much potential to max out those scores, but with each turn you realise that you’ll eventually have to sacrifice some of that potential. At some point, you’ll have to take a card purely because you need more money or keys. While that card will give you that, it won’t necessarily align with your plans, it’s got to take up real estate in your grid that will definitely lessen your score on another card. This is generally ok very early game since you’ve got the potential to make a pivot and make that card mean something. As the game goes on though that room for efficiency dwindles.  Here he comes to save the day. Never fear though because Michel and his keys are here to save the day. The lovely thing about this game is it gives you just enough mitigation that you feel like you’re doing all you can to help your situation. From the very start of the game it’s easy to feel like you’ve got all the keys and money you’ll ever need and the idea of using keys to move the messenger of wipe cards is a ridiculous notion. Heck, even the idea of having to take one of those dead cards seems ludicrous because you’ll never run out of money or keys… until you do and you realise that the game has given you just enough for you over confidence to kick in and you eventually hoist yourself with your own petard. Therein lies the brilliance of this game. You see you're not just worried about the best scoring cards, you're also worrying about the best scoring cards that will also give you enough money or keys to keep you in enough supply to get the cards you want, when you want them, which is important because you never know if they’re still going to be there on your next turn. Like a lot of these kinds of open drafting games the tension of the games may dwindle slightly with the player count purely because the game doesn’t make any adjustments for it. Where not so many cards are being taken between turns in a two-player game there’s a solid chance that the card you want could still be there on your next turn. Ramp it up to five players though and it becomes a bit more of a nail biter. It still absolutely works at two but just don’t expect the cards to naturally cycle through. Of course, this is where the keys really come into their own at two players.  This castle calls for aid. I would have liked a few more player aids. There are a lot of icons in this game and for a lot of them, if you learn one (like the shields for example) then you can guess the rest. But there’s still a few others that you’ll have to look up,  especially in your first couple of games at least, so one between five doesn’t cut it. This especially if you’re all new and no one wants to hold the game up because analysis paralysis can certainly happen in this game.  With this, Cubirds  and Farway  (click on those if you want to see my reviews for those) Catch Up Games have now put out a trilogy of small box card games that I love. I don’t know if it’s their plan to fill up my small games bag of titles that are exclusively from them, but it’s certainly shaping up that way. Castle Combo is another resounding hit from them and is well worth all the hype it’s been receiving.  Right, I’m off to track down Michel. Is he at the castle or the village? He never stands still for one minute, honestly, anyone would think he doesn’t want to deliver this box to Brad Pitt!