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When I started my own collection, my goal was to get the best game from each major mechanic. That way, I would always be able to play the best game for whatever type of experience I wanted. It's a pretty hard thing to achieve. First, new games come out all the time. You cannot keep up. And second, "the best" of anything is obviously quite subjective. However, it is also the most common question I get asked when people are looking for a new game to buy for their own collection. So, I thought it may be helpful to you out there to list my top 5 from certain mechanics. Feel free to drop me an email with any specific mechanical top 5 requests. I don't want to just run through the top 5 from a mechanic though. That would be pointless for the purposes of helping you buy a game. You could all just check the rankings on BGG or simply skip and only look at the number one game. This may not necessarily be the right one for you. So, instead I am going to pick a mechanic, and then look at the best five games within that mechanic for different ways they use this specific mechanic, or how the game incorporates it into other mechanics. No game uses just one mechanic. Well, very few anyway. As such, this top five is not in any specific order. This is five great games each with specific reasons for their presence here. This way, you can make your own choices based on what style of game works for you. So, without further ado. Here are my top five games that utilise Worker Placement. The Classic: Lords of Waterdeep . And the best to play if you want to play something simple. Current BGG rank: 85 Published by: Wizards of the Coast Designed by: Peter Lee , Rodney Thompson WBG Rating: 8 All the games on this list score a 9/10 from me Whereas this first selection scores only an 8. Why then is it on this list? Surely, there are better games that use worker placement. Well, yes. I have ranked a few games that use Worker Placement higher than Lords of Waterdeep. But each game tells a story. A big part of every games story is where is came from. And a lot of modern board games owe a lot to what Lord of Waterdeep did. Bus from 1999 is regarded as the first game to use Worker Placement in it's current form. And games like Agricola (2007) , Keythedral (2002) , and Caylus (2005) all had huge roles to play in the development of Worker Placement as we see it today. But I would argue that it was the 2012 release of Lords of Waterdeep that accelerated the mechanic, both in terms of it's development in other games, but also in popularity. Lords of Waterdeep currently has 54k ratings on BGG. Caylus has 29k. Keythedral has 3k. Now, admittedly Agricola has 71k ratings, is a brilliant game, and is commonly regarded as one of the ultimate classics for a worker placement game. But for me Lords of Waterdeep gets mentioned more in this breath. It's so often the game that brought people into the hobby and made some of us fall in love with games. In my dealings with many other gamers, Lords of Waterdeep has played this role for many people. Agricola is more of a second or third game to try down to complexity. All these games could have made the list however. Stone Age (2008) too. They are all great games, and they all played pivotal roles in the development of the mechanic, but Lords of Waterdeep gets my vote as being the most main stream, and the most influential on subsequent games. But why is it so good? Why do I think it was so influential? Three reasons. 1. The game is so solid. It all works together so seamlessly. There is more going on than worker placement alone, but this really is the base of the game. You will be working towards set collection and contract fulfilment, but all through the mechanic of your workers being placed out on the board. It incorporates all the classic reasons why worker placement is so fun, engaging and rewarding. With limited actions based on limited available worker placements that bring a race game element to the game, and the desire to want to be first on some rounds. It is enjoyable to simply place workers to achieve goals but you need some tension to make this sing. Some scarcity. This increases the sense of achievement when you fulfil a quest. Without a struggle there would be now reward. Lords of Waterdeep creates this struggle so perfectly in all player counts, for all players, at all times. Through its simplicity and smooth engineering. It is one of the most pure worker placement games as well as being one of the best. This leads to other games leaning into this simplicity and just changing the theme. I would suggest hugley that popular worker placement games such as Raiders of the North Sea (2015) and Underwater Cities (2018) would not be here in their current form were it not for Lords of Waterdeep. 2. It bought DnD players over to board games, and visa versa. Waterdeep is a huge part of the Dungeons and Dragons roll-playing world. Wizards of the Coast who made Lords of Waterdeep own the rights to all things DnD and made this game as a gateway for both sides of the board game and DnD world, to cross over and try the other one out. It was hugely successful and brought new people to both hobbies. Quite an incredible achievement if you think about it. 3. It is so simple to learn and teach. Some say it is too simple, and this is why it perhaps does not score higher on BGG, and also from myself. But this is a gateway game, with pure and simple mechanics and ruleset. It is not trying to be anything else. This is one of the reasons the game spread so fast and found new fans so quickly. But if you want to add in a deeper level, the Scoundrels of Skullport expansion brings two new locations to add to the base game, with new Lords, Buildings, Intrigue, and Quest cards, as well as an entirely new concept, corruption , which removes points at the end of the game based on how corrupt you have been. It takes the game to a more mid-weight worker placement game, and adds new layers to develop the different Lords keeping more experienced gamers happy with their experiences with this game. The Revolutionary: Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar And the best to play if you want something crunchy but accessable. Current BGG rank: 59 Published by: Czech Games Edition Designed by: Simone Luciani , Daniele Tascini WBG Rating: 9 There are many worker placement games with a twist. That tends to happen when something becomes popular but then becomes overused. People want to find a way to stand out from the crowd by giving poeple what they want, but in a new way. I wanted to pick the game that does this the best. For me, that is Tzolk'in. When you play a worker placement game, you will expect there to be some similarities to other games that use the same mechanic. One of these will be the expectation that when you place a worker, they will carry out a specific action based on where you placed them. In Tzolk'in the worker placement is dynamic. The location where you place them won't be where they end up when it comes to your turn next. The game has one main central cog. One full rotation of this marks out the length of the game. This is the game clock. As this main cog turns each round, the connected smaller cogs will turn as well. On your turn you can only do one of two things. Place one or more workers or remove one or more workers. As your workers move with each cog turn, their actions will become more powerful. You will want to leave them on the board for as long as possible to achieve more efficient turns. But eventually you will run out of workers to place and will have to start removing them. This simple twist to the basic worker placement mechanic elevates Tzolk'in to incredible heights. The game feels incredibly deep and strategic, despite having relitivley simple rules and options to you each turn. The game started the T-series. A group of games, mostly using worker placement in clever ways. All made by Daniele Tascini . The series includes Tzolk'in from 2012, Teotihuacan: City of Gods from 2018. 2019's Trismegistus: The Ultimate Formula . The 2020 release Tekhenu: Obelisk of the Sun . 2021 Tabannusi: Builders of Ur . And one of my other favourites, and my game of 2022, Tiletum . I do not get Tzolk'in to the table as often as I would like as it requires a good hour and a half of serious consideration, and that is not something I sadly get to do as much as I would choose. But up there with games like Brass: Birmingham , Tiletum , and Le Havre (which nearly made this list), Tzolk'in would be right up there for me when I am choosing a mid-weight game to play on those rare occasions when I am blessed with the time and the right gaming group to really enjoy a crunchy strategy game over an hour and a half. The Highest Ranked (and optionally coop): Viticulture Essential Edition And the best for getting non-gamers involved. Current BGG rank: 34 Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Jamey Stegmaier , Alan Stone WBG Rating: 9 This selection might stir some controversy, not because of the game itself—Viticulture seems universally well-received by most gamers. The contentious aspect lies in the reason for its choice as the highest-ranked worker placement game. On Board Game Geek, four worker placement games are ranked higher than Viticulture: Dune: Imperium, A Feast for Odin, Lost Ruins of Arnak, and Everdell. The decision to opt for Viticulture over these titles is straightforward. While the four games indeed incorporate worker placement, I wouldn't categorise them primarily as pure worker placement games. Everdell leans more towards tableau building, Lost Ruins of Arnak and Dune: Imperium are more of a deck building game, and A Feast for Odin has lots going on and I see more of an Income game, but it really could be many things. Though all four involve worker placement, it's not their core mechanic. Additionally, I find Dune and Arnak to be somewhat overrated, although Everdell will make an appearance later in the list for a differnet reason. In my view, Viticulture stands out as the highest-ranked game with worker placement as its core mechanic. Conveniently, I also consider it a brilliant game, deserving serious consideration from any board game enthusiast. As a big fan of Stonemaier Games and designer Jamey Stegmaier, Viticulture only solidified my appreciation after falling in love with some of his other designs. Like many worker placement games, Viticulture operates on a straightforward premise: place your workers and carry out actions. However, the path to victory is remarkably varied from game to game. Each playthrough feels like a fresh learning experience, unlike some games that I feel I've mastered after repeated plays. The perpetual sense of discovery in Viticulture is a delightful aspect for me. While many players suggest that the Tuscany expansion is a must-have, I respectfully disagree. While it does enhance the game significantly, I find the base Viticulture enjoyable even before introducing the expansion. Viticulture World's cooperative expansion is another noteworthy feature, making this game stand out in the world of worker placement. Cooperative play often doesn't gel well with worker placement games, but Viticulture World handles it brilliantly. Returning to the base game, Viticulture brings a rare yet intriguing theme of winemaking, appealing to a more mature and sensible audience. It's a game I often suggest to those who dismiss gaming as too nerdy or childish. Pitching it as a game centered around making wine and fulfilling wine contracts tends to generate a more positive response. Viticulture has proven itself as a successful gateway game for those who initially resist the idea of gaming being for kids or geeks, making it a top choice when seeking to convert non-gamers into enthusiasts. Viticulture has yet to disappoint in this regard! The Main Stream Hit: Everdell And the best to play with a more casual gamer. Current BGG rank: 32 Published b y : Starling Games Designed by: Andrew Bosley , Cody Jones , Dann May WBG Rating: 8 I previously mentioned that I wasn't including this in the highest rank, but Everdell has become such a big hit that it feels almost unjust not to feature it in this lineup. While I've emphasised that it leans more towards being a tableau builder, the influence of worker placement is undeniably significant, shaping your options each turn. As you strategically place your critters, you must consider your objectives, required resources, and the most effective way to achieve them. The game evolves into a complex tapestry as your cards expand, yet its fundamental charm lies in the straightforward act of placing an animeeple onto the visually stunning Everdell board. Everdell has seen numerous expansions, many reprints, and has amassed millions on Kickstarter. It stands tall among the modern giants of board games and cannot be overlooked. Similar to many things in life, its surge in popularity in the mainstream has caused some to undervalue it among hardcore gamers. While opinions may vary, it's important to acknowledge that Everdell is a solid game. Its inclusion on this list is justified not only by its success but also by its role in introducing countless new enthusiasts to the hobby. Personally, I derive enjoyment from Everdell, although it doesn't quite reach a nine, unlike three other games on this list. It firmly holds a commendable spot at eight in my rankings, and I relish playing it. Its accessibility, combined with its aesthetic appeal, rule set, and thematic allure, ensures it will endure as a cornerstone in many collections for years to come. Sometimes in life, compromise is necessary, and for me, including Everdell means having a game that not only enriches my collection but is also frequently enjoyed, especially with my wife, making it a practical and delightful addition. The Solo: Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island And the best to play if you want a challange. Current BGG rank: 88 Published by: Portal Games Designed by: Joanna Kijanka , Ignacy Trzewiczek WBG Rating: 9 Robinson Crusoe surpasses the typical worker placement game, offering a rich tapestry of theme and narrative—a crucial factor for me when selecting a solo game. The absence of a compelling theme can leave me feeling disconnected from the gaming experience, diminishing my enjoyment. While camaraderie and conversation are essential when playing with others, in a solo setting, I crave immersion. I want my mind firmly engaged, steering clear of distractions like my phone or the surrounding room. A robust theme and narrative play a pivotal role in achieving this. The allure of Robinson Crusoe lies not only in its stunning theme but also in how seamlessly it intertwines with the narrative and game mechanics. Its mechanical brilliance shines particularly bright. I previously discussed the significance of scarcity in worker placement games, a challenge compounded in solo play where there are no opponents to block your choices. Unlike many games that address this by introducing dummy characters or blocking certain spaces, such approaches would feel thematically out of place in Robinson Crusoe. Stranded on a desert island alone, the scarcity arises naturally. Survival becomes the crux of the game, with limited actions, time, and resources intensifying decision-making. The tension and reward emerge not from racing against opponents to claim spaces or actions but from the consequences of your choices. Undoubtedly, Robinson Crusoe is a challenging game—not in terms of complexity or learning curve but in the pursuit of victory. Unlike games where achieving the highest score is the goal, here the objective is survival. It's a stark binary: success or failure in your mission. Unfortunately, this challenge has contributed to an unfair reputation, with some labeling the game as overly difficult, dissuading potential players. Many, myself included, occasionally shy away from games with extensive rulebooks and complex mechanics, seeking simplicity after navigating the complexities of the real world. However, the effort invested in learning Robinson Crusoe is proportionately rewarded. To all solo gaming enthusiasts, I strongly encourage trying this game. Despite its reputation for difficulty, fear not; the learning curve is manageable. Embrace the challenge, for the moments of walking away victorious will be nothing short of incredible!

Survive The Island WBG Score: 8/10 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: The Original Survive game , Take that , Forbidden Island Published by:   Zygomatic Designed by: Julian Courtland-Smith This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Survive: Escape from Atlantis! first came out in 1982. 1982?! Can you believe it? It still blows me away such great games were round in the 70's and 80's like this and Cosmic Encounter and yet everyone still went out and board Monopoly! What were they thinking? Anyway... The game saw various reimplementation's over the years, including a gorgeous 30th anniversary edition that I own. There are also a number of expansions that bring in new elements, change player count options, and introduce friendly dolphins. In 2024 a new edition came out with a slightly new name, Survive The Island. What has changed? What's new? And does this game stand the test of time. Is it still good? Let's get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Survive The Island First, place the main board in the centre of the table and place the five Sea Monster meeples in their designated spaces on the four corners of the board and the central space. Next, place all the tiles in the central areas as indicated by the black line. Randomly place them without looking at the bottom of the tile. The tiles are made up by land, forest, and mountain artwork. Try to spread these out, but a few clusters of each is fine, and actually looks aesthetically pleasing! Each player now takes a player board in their colour, along with their ten meeples. Look at the bottom to see the meeples' individual scores. Each player will have two Meeples each offering one, two, three, four, and five points respectively. Now, each player places their meeple onto one land tile, one by one, until all Meeples are on the island. Once the Meeples are placed, players cannot look at their scores on the bottom again until the final scoring takes place. You need to try and remember where each one is. Each player will now place two rafts onto spaces next to the Island. Place all remaining rafts, the Shark and Kaiju meeples, and the dice beside the board. You are now ready to play. How To Play Survive The Island Players will now take it in turns to carry out three actions in order. First, they will move their Meeples three spaces. The idea of the game is to rescue as many Meeples as possible from the sinking island and get them to one of the four corners of the board where more stable land awaits. So, as you move your Meeples, you will be moving them onto the rafts you positioned during setup and then sailing towards the island. Sounds simple? This game is far from simple. The Meeples can move up to three, but in the water, they can only ever move one space. And in the rafts, you can only move a raft that you have a majority of Meeples in or that is empty. If you have one Meeple in a raft, but another player has two Meeples present, that raft is now out of your control. Once players have moved their Meeples, they must now remove one land tile. When all the land tiles are gone, you must start to remove the Forest tiles. When they are gone, the Mountain tiles start to go. Any Meeples on a tile that is taken this way immediately fall into the sea, staying in the location the tile once stood. Flip the tile you removed and look at the icon on the bottom. If it has a red background, the tile has an immediate action. Creatures appear, Whirlpools suck away all nearby rafts and Meeples, and Volcanoes signal the end of the game. When you flip the third volcano (all present on the mountain tiles), the game ends. The tiles also have helpful actions such as generating rafts and offering players extra powers on their turn. The green tiles offer other benefits. If you take one of these, add it secretly to your player board, and you can activate this later on any turn. These tiles offer powers to fight back attacks from the Sharks of Kaiju, and even friendly dolphins that help your Meeples in the water swim towards safety. Once an isle has been removed and the action on the back carried out, the active player must then roll the creature die. This will activate one of the three types of creatures on the board: Sharks, Kaiju, or Sea Serpents. If they are not present on the board, nothing happens. But if they are, and remember the game starts with all five Serpents present, so they always activate, then the active player must move the shown creature. The player board shows clearly what each creature's movement looks like. The Sharks move in the same way; they can move up to three spaces and always go for the nearest swimmer. If they move onto a space with a meeple in the water, then that meeple is removed from the game. The Kaiju target the boats. Whereas the Serpent has a relentless desire for anything in its path, destroying rafts and meeples alike! Players continue taking turns like this, trying to get as many Meeples as possible to safety until either the third Volcano is found, and the game immediately ends, or all players run out of Meeples. Either getting them all to safety, or more likely, killed! Players then look at all Meeples who were rescued, checking their individual score on the bottom of each Meeple. You may have rescued far more Meeples than any other player, but you won't know if you have won or not until this point. Two five Meeples can defeat five Meeples from another player if no four or five-point Meeples were rescued. Is It Fun? Survive The Island Board Game Review Ok, first. What has changed? Well, the big change is this game now plays up to five players, whereas the original and 30th-anniversary editions are for four players only. You needed an expansion to make it work for five. Other than that, there are just a few aesthetic changes. The player boards are new. They offer a quick refresher as to how your game works, and what each monster does. Some of this information used to be on the board itself. So, the board now is a little cleaner. Although, even though it now plays up to five, it is smaller. Just by a little and the number of tiles is the same. It's just a little more condensed, which works better as the previous board was a touch too big for my table! And this new one is still large and offers a great table presence. Also, with a slightly smaller board, comes a more traditional size box. Much more aesthetically pleasing on my shelf! The only other change is the removal of the Whales, and introduction of the Kaiju. Oh, and the Sharks, mysteriously, are now green, not blue. As such, if you own the original, or the 30th-anniversary edition, then this may not be a must-buy for you. Unless you want to play with five and cannot get hold of that expansion. But if you don't own a copy yet, this is the one to buy. It is readily available, a great edition, and offers more flexibility in player count. But is the game any good? If you enjoy games with a lot of "take-that" in them, then this is a lot of fun. Simple, easy rules, a great gateway, and full of laughs. But you have to accept that when you play this game, you cannot control the situation. Meeples will be lost. There is a lot of luck, uncontrolled variety, and unexpected twists and turns. If you can lean into that and have fun, then this game could well be for you. But if that sounds frustrating, then you may want to look elsewhere. However, when I play this with my family, we sit on either end of this scale. Some of us like this randomness. Others find it 'strategically frustrating'! So, I tried playing it cooperatively. A crazy little house rule where we set ourselves a target score of ten points per player, so a total of thirty points with three players, and we then play the game as usual, but trying to help each other rather than hinder each other. When one person has an unlucky moment, others now do not laugh. It hurts all players. And likewise, if one player gets lucky, well, then we all benefit. I am not saying that this is a way I would encourage others to play, but it certainly works with my family as I recognize we have different agendas when we play games like this. However, with my daughter in a tow, where each player control two lots of meeples, otherwise the game is the same, we have a blast. Both her and I love games like this and we find the back-and-forth take-that hilarious and ruthlessly fun. But I think the best advice to have fun with this game is to go into it knowing your meeples won't make it. Expect them to die. Do you hope to save them all? That is not realistic. Understand there are 'uncontrollables' in this game and see it as more of a family party game than a strategic experience, and you may well just have a blast. I personally prefer something heavier with more agency, but when I play this game with this mindset, I have a great time with it. The speed of the game is perfect. You can play in 30 minutes easily with three players, and turns fly by. The island very quickly starts to disappear, and your meeples will be fleeing in all directions. There is some random pandemonium in this game that ramps up so fast, and I love it. But if you don't expect that, if you don't embrace that, if you don't understand that is why you are playing this game, you will become frustrated. A Sea Serpent destroying three of your Meeples on a boat in one foul sweep based on the roll of a die when they are one space from safety and a potential 14 points can be mind-numbingly excruciating. Unless you expect that to happen, and simply rejoice on the odd occasions when it doesn't happen!

Harrow County: The Fair Folk WBG Score: 8/10 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Smallworld , Mountains out of Molehills , The comic . Published by:   Off the Page Games Designed by: Jay Cormier , Shad This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Harrow County is a fascinating game. Based on the graphic novel of the same name, the game follows the exploits of two battling factions, trying to sway the fortunes of the people of a small American town. You can learn how to play and read our thoughts here. The game plays one to three players, but is best at two I would say. But with this expansion you can add a fourth player, and introduce a fascinating new way to play with three. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Harrow County: The Fair Folk If you are playing a two player game, you can use the Fair Folk against Hester in a new way to play two player. If you're playing a three-player game, you can have any combination of the base factions (Emmy, Kammi, or Hester) along with the Fair Folk. For a four-player game, all four factions are used: Emmy, Kammi, Hester and the Fair Folk. This board becomes crowded with more Leaders, Haints and importantly, conflicting objectives. The Fair Folk, with their manipulation abilities, can serve as both an ally. But ultimately have their own goals. To find their Queen! To set up, place the Fair Folk's Queen's Board next to the player using the Fair Folk faction along with the three tokens representing the Sword, Crown and Queen. Then the other players choose a starting location for the Queen, Crown and Sword on the main board. They keep this secret from the player using the Fair Folk. They can be placed in any location but are marked secretly on the small white board representing the game board. Place this facing away from the Fair Folk player s the other players can see it, but not the Fair Folk. Next, the Fair Folk player places all their offer tokens into the bag and draws three out. Place these into the nest tokens. The Fair Folk player also places one silver cube on one terrain on their Queen's board. This terrain now gives the Fair Folk a benefit when they activate it in the game. Finally, shuffle the two decks of cards and draw three from each. Three objectives and three Fair folk cards. The rest of the main board setup remains the same. How To Play Harrow County: The Fair Folk The Fair Folk always act after each of the other factions in the game have carried out their turn. Apart from Hester if they are in the game. So, in a game with four factions it would flow between the Fair Folk, Faction one, Fair Folk again, Faction two, Hester; then back to the Fair Folk again. The aim for the Fair Folk is to find the location of their Queen. When they do this, the game ends at the end of that round and they win. It may be that another faction shares the win if they can get to seven or more points in the same round. On their turn, the Fair Folk can do three things. First, they can place a nest along with an offer in that nest on any hex on the map without a unit or bonfire. If they place it on a terrain that matches the one they chose in their player board during set up they take a silver cube from their supply and add it to the battleground. If another player takes the offer later in their turn, (which they do by ending their turn with a unit on the same space), then you activate the tree. You do this by gathering all cubes in the battleground and dropping them into the top of the tree. Then, if the Fair Folk have more silver cubes in the battleground than the player who took the offering, the Fair Folk player can play an arrow token on the board. More on that soon. When another player takes an offering in this way, the nest stays where it was, and the player who took the offer token can use that as a bonus action later in the game when they choose. When playing Nest’s, the Fair Folk are looking to match the patterns shown on their objective cards. These all show representative layouts of four Nests. You must match these layouts, either by where they are on the board or what they are next too, and then when you achieve this, show the completed card to the other players. The Fair Folk can now do one of two things. Guess where the Sword, Crown, or Queen are. Or, if they have no idea, gain some clues as to their location. They do this by placing one of their arrows onto the outside edge of the board, the same as when they win a battle as mentioned above. The arrow must point to one of the Nests that still has an offer on it, that was used in the recently completed objective. The Fair Folk declares which item they are looking for, the other players then check the secret location of the searched for item, and either leave the arrow where it is or rotate it. This shows the Fair Folk player if the item they seek it above or below this imaginary line on the board. Once they have done this a few times, you can quickly determine where the items is. When the items are found the Fair Folk player gains additional powers as shown in their player board to use in the rest of the game. When the Queen is found, the game ends that round. The final thing the Fair Folk can do it play their cards. The cards have a cost as shown on the card themselves, and offer various powers to help this player during the game. The rest of the game plays as per the base game. Is It Fun? Harrow County: The Fair Folk Expansion Board Game Review I am already a big fan of the base game. I like the three player option, but I think the three player game as offered by this expansion is better. And of course, the option to play this in a four, with wildly contrasting asymmetric faction is a pure joy. They are all SO different, but they work incredibly well together. I have no idea how much testing or math went into balancing these contrasting playable characters, but it works very well. It may not feel like that as you play. Like similar asymmetric games such as Root, the speed at which different factions play is very different. Players can pull ahead during the game itself and it may feel unbalanced during the early and mid-game phase. But by the end of most games I have played, taking into account different player experiences with the game, it has always been even. And certainly a fair experience. This really is a huge compliment considering just how different these factions all are in how they play, how they score, and how they win. Of course, the biggest change is the ability to play the game with four players. In a four-player game, the presence of all factions makes the game much more chaotic. The board does not get bigger like many other games of this nature when player count increases. Area control becomes more challenging, as players need to negotiate and contest with three other factions for control of certain hexes. But of course, the Fair Folk do not build like the other factions. They can help and hinder. Their disruptive abilities become hugely impactful for all players. But they don't mean to help. They are out for their own, and you cannot forget that. But during the game, mini alliances can be formed, however they are never as genuine as you may think! If you own the base game and enjoy it, this is a must-buy from me. Not just for the increased player count options; you may not ever want to play this at four. But more for the variety this brings, even at two players. I think the two-player game of the Fair Folk versus Hester is better than the base game experience. It is certainly more intriguing to me anyway. The three-player game with the Fair Folk is similar in quality and enjoyment but wildly different in terms of actual gameplay. So again, worth it if only for variety. And if you do want to play with four, well then this really is a must-buy.

Ghosts Can't Draw WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Pictionary , Telestrations , A Fake Artist Goes To New York Designed by: Ed Naujokas , James A. Vaughan Published by: Big Potato Games This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . There is a lot about Big Potato Games that I love. First and foremost, they make really fun games. But they also put a lot of effort into the sustainability of their games. They are a certified B Corp company , which from personal experience I know is not an easy feat. And you can see this in the production of their games. But the games still have that special feel. I always feel like there is at least one standout component to get my family and friends excited when I open their games. Ghost Can't Draw is no exception, with a large plastic glow-in-the-dark Ghost Doodler piece. It's very cool! And perfect for the coming spooky season. But is the game any good? Let's get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Ghosts Can't Draw Each player takes a Ghost token in their chosen colour. Take the second token of the same colour for each player playing and place it into a central area. You may get this later! Now take the main board and place the Ghost Doodler on the top. Slip into the central hole a dry wipe pen (provided) and clip it fully into the hole. Now take the deck of cards and draw the top card from this and add it to the cards showing "You are a Paranormal Investigator" cards, one for each player. Shuffle these and deal them out so all players get the same Paranormal Investigator cards, and one gets a card showing a random thing to draw. Place all the point tokens into a central area, and lay out the dry wipe cloth ready. Now, download the Ghosts Can't Draw timer using the QR code in the rule book, and press start. You will be told by the timer to sit around the table and get ready to play. How To Play Ghosts Can't Draw All players must now place their index and middle fingers onto the edge of the Ghost Doodler. Make sure your wrist is not leaning on the table, and then press "Begin" on the timer. It will remind you not to press down too hard on the Doodler, to make it fair for the player playing as the ghost. Press "Begin" again, and the game will start. The timer will instruct all players to close their eyes, and then instruct the Ghost player to begin drawing. A timer will start. The ghost player now needs to try to move the Ghost Doodler around, with all other players still touching it, of course, in a way that they draw, as best they can, the thing that is showing on their card. This is surprisingly difficult! The timer is very quick, maybe 20 seconds or so. The timer will then tell the Ghost to stop drawing, and for all players to now open their eyes. Players must now think who they believe the Ghost player to be based on who they felt was controlling the movement of the doodler. Press "Vote" on the timer and you will have a 3, 2,1 countdown, at which point all players must point to who they believe the ghost is. The Ghost player then identifies themself. Any player who correctly guessed can now take their second Ghost token set aside during setup. The Ghost player must now draw seven extra cards and shuffle them with their one card that they drew, and place them all face up on the table. Press "Next" on the Timer and it will tell all players to try and guess what the ghost was drawing, based on what they can see on the board, and the eight available options. Players will place their Ghost tokens down on the card they think is correct. If they have two tokens they can either guess on two separate cards, or double down on one card. The Ghost will score one point for every separate player who guesses correctly. The other players will gain one point for each correct guess. Hit "Next Round" on the Timer, and it will instruct you to do the whole thing again. Get the "Paranormal Investigator" cards back from each player, draw one more card to add to it, shuffle them up, and deal them out again. This way, the player acting as the Ghost is random every time. It may be that not every player plays as the Ghost during the game; it is random. Play like this for five rounds, and the player with the highest score at the end is declared the winner. There is also a two or three-player variant where players play together trying to guess the drawing. The rules are the same, but the second ghost tokens are excluded from the game. After the drawing has been done, and before the eight options are shown, the other player or players can try to guess the picture before they see any options. If they guess correctly, all players earn a collective two points. If they guess incorrectly, the non-playing "Poltergeist" gets two points. If you decide not to guess like this, and instead want to see the right options, then just one point is up for grabs either way. Play five rounds and see if the team can beat the Poltergeist. Is It Fun? Ghosts Can't Draw Party Game Review This game is incredibly fun for lots of different reasons! Guessing correctly another player's drawing feels good. Having other players guess your own drawing is a nice feeling. And laughing at all the terrible drawings is a lot of fun for everyone! It doesn't feel mean or spiteful, as it can sometimes do in other drawing party games, as the nature of how everyone draws in this game means everything is always quite bad anyway! There is a very short amount of time, first of all. And then of course, you are not directly in control of the pen. And of course, your eyes are closed as you draw! Having these sorts of pictures, drawn under these conditions does not feel too personal! The process of the drawing is a lot of fun too. No matter what role you play, as the Ghost or as one of the Paranormal Investigators, feeling the Ghost Doodler move around the board, as the timer plays its spooky music is hilarious. The rules suggest that the player drawing uses as much space as possible. Make your picture big. Use all the space you can. It certainly avoids those scribbled over dust balls that mostly come out for the first few tries! But as your eyes are closed, it is hard to tell quite how big you are going. Opening your eyes when the timer instructs, and then revealing what has been drawn is hilarious. It rarely resembles what you felt, either as the Ghost, or as someone just feeling the movement. But it is surprising how often you can guess correctly when presented with a few options. Simply as the options are all completely different. The below does not look like anything, right? But now if I give you a few options, I bet most of you will guess correctly? Any takers for Dart Board? Like any party game, you can play however you wish. The rules for this game work well, and I would recommend you stick to them. But if at the end of a game, someone has not been the Ghost yet, I imagine you will all want to carry on for a few more rounds to give everyone a chance. The points can be tallied or not. That's up to you. I find most of the joy in this game comes simply from the process of revealing the nonsense that has been drawn. Hopefully all players can revel in this silliness, not take any criticism personally, and accept this game is about forcing you to draw bad pictures, and enjoying the reactions these all get. Although you do get the odd picture that does actually look like the thing it is supposed to be. Sort of! I would recommend this to anyone looking for a new party game that works for up to six people, perfect for Halloween time, and that encourages a high amount of interaction but does not require any player to perform in any way. It also does not single anyone out in the way a game like The Chameleon can, making them feel under pressure. This game is just about silly fun and I am very much here for it! Can you phantom it? I got all the way through this review without any silly puns! In truth, I was worried you’d see right through me and ghost the site. So, I conjured up my wider vocabulary, summoned my haunting writing style, and bootifully reviewed this game without any of that transparent tomfoolery. It took a lot of spirit to resist, but I’m no apparition of my former self—I’m keeping it frightfully professional. You're welcome for this ghoul-finessed review, free of spectral silliness.

Fatal Knockout Oddities WBG Score: 9/10 Player Count: 2 You’ll like this if you like: Smash Up , Star Wars Destiny , Disney Sorcerer's Arena Published by: Crab Studios Designed by: Niall Crabtree This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . I previewed the base game here back in 2023 as it was being kickstarted. And safe to say that I love this game. I now have my hands on the first expansion which I will review here, and a preview copy of the second that will be covered in a separate piece. Head to my previous preview to get a gist of how the game works, setup, rules, and my thoughts. But in summary, this is a two-player card-playing fighting game where players battle it out to try and inflict five damage on their opponent first. Each character is completely different with their own set of special powers, unique traits, and cool cards. This expansion simply adds four more fighters to the game. It is all you want with a game like this. The base game is perfect. More fighters simply offer more variety, replayability, and fun! Let's get to it. How To Set Up Fatal Knockout Oddities Just like the base game, each player takes one character book, standee, player board, and set of cards. Take five damage tokens, one Meter token, and three burn tokens. Then set up the game area using the box as shown in the picture. Cool, isn't it? Just like an old arcade fighter from the 90s! Remove the ultra card from your deck and set it aside and then shuffle your remaining cards and place the deck onto your Draw pile. Take the top three cards to form your starting hand and place your standee onto the board two spaces away from your opponent. You are ready to play. How To Play Fatal Knockout Oddities The first player will now choose one of their three cards to play this round, placing it face up on the table. The other player now does the same. The first player can now, if they want, add a second card, played face down. But they do not have to. They can end it here if they wish. If they do play a second card, then the second player must do the same, placing it face down as well. Back to the first player who can again end the card play for this round or play a third card, again face down. In which case, the second player does the same. Now flip all cards played and order them into the initial order, shown on the top left of the cards. This is the order the cards will play out. Players now run through their cards, taking all actions shown on the cards. This will be a combination of movement, fighting, and special powers. More on that later. Any damage inflicted must be immediately shown on your opponent's board by placing one of the damage tokens onto the damage slot. If anyone ever receives a fifth damage token, the game ends immediately. Players take turns playing cards this way, drawing back up to three each time, until someone receives their fifth damage. You can use your burn tokens to place a card you do not want to use yet into the pocket space on the player board and draw another card from the draw pile. When you play cards with a green symbol in the top middle space, move your Meter marker along the Meter track. As you cross certain symbols, these will give you immediate benefits, such as extra burn tokens and shields. And when you reach the last space, you can take your Ultra card set aside during setup and add it to the bottom of your draw pile. Is It Fun? Fatal Knockout Oddities Expansion Card Game Review The four new characters added to this set are fantastic. Let's go through them one by one. Neptune & Calico An all-rounder fighter with fairly high strength, this character has the unique power to switch between their two forms. Neptune has high defence, whereas Calico offers more movement and ranged combat. Watch out for Calico's weak defence, though, where they die after three hits, not five! When you play as this character, you can start as either Neptune or Calico, placing your chosen standee on the board and the other set aside by your player board. Certain cards allow you to change form as you choose. There are two decks, one for each character. Make sure you draw from the correct one as you change form. Both decks have their own Ultra card, one of which is acquired when you reach the final space on the Meter track. Make a choice between the two when you reach here. When in the form of Neptune you have the bonus power to Fortify. This means you place a Fortify token below your standee, and your opponent now cannot move past you. This affect lasts until you take damage. There is no Burn power with this character, just spaces for each of their own damage tokens. There is also a way you can move into Duo form using the Eject power. Now use the Standee with both characters shown. You can now use cards from both decks. You take damage to Neptune from the front and to Calico from the back. If Neptune ever receives five damage you don't die, but his character is gone and you now fight as Calico. If Calico dies, even if Neptune is still in the game you lose. The changeable nature of the characters makes them feel incredibly unique. The lack of Burn tokens is made up for by the overall health of eight, but you do need to manage this carefully between the two. Especially when in the form of the weaker Calcio. Changing between the two mid-fight can be a lot of fun, and confusing for your opponent as your powers constantly alternate. Dr. Viverra Dr. Viverra does not fight themselves; instead, they use robots they control to do their dirty work. The Doctor is a very strong and versatile character but has low speed and defence. The Doctor has four cards that allow it to spawn robots onto the battle stage with them. Controlling and Takeover below are two examples of this. The robots have their own health of one each. They take up space on the board just like the fighters. There is a maximum of two robots allowed at any one time. Any action played with the cards when the robots are in battle can be taken by the Doctor himself, or any of his robots. Creating a wide area of attack for this player. Some actions are specifically meant for certain robots, as shown by the coloured icons. But anything with the Doctor's image can be used by the Doctor or the robots. Each robot has its own special power, either allowing you to gain extra shields, knock back your opponent, or a new power to root your opponent, which means to cancel your opponent's next movement action. Having more than one character on the board to fight with is a lot of fun. Remember, there are only nine spaces on which you can move to and fight. Potentially filling three of them with your character is pretty powerful! Surge Surge is a character built around speed! When setting up with this character, add the extra energy token on the lightning space on your player board. Every time you move, move your energy token up one space for each space moved on the board. When you attack, you must spend one of these energy, even when your attack misses. If you ever end your turn on the red spaces, you take one damage yourself. If you have no kinetic energy, you cannot attack. But if you spend two additional energy, then you can increase the range of your attack by one. If you overspend by three, you can increase the damage caused by your attack. You can stack this, so spend seven energy to first attack, then add two extra damage on top to make it an attack of three. Or spend six energy to attack to a value of two two spaces away. This is a simple character to use. Just keep moving and attacking. I love this character, especially against some of the slower fights set up for close-range combat. It creates a fantastic dynamic. Sly Sly is my favourite new character. Sly isn't very strong, but is fast, versatile, and has decent defence. But what makes Sly special is their ability to upgrade as they fight. They start off pretty harmless. But as you fight, you can improve your abilities. To set up Sly, take the scrap token and place it on your player board over the scrap dial and take the upgrade deck, shuffle this and place it next to your player board, flipping over the top three cards. Then, in the fight, when you move past your opponent you gain one scrap. Breaking any shield gains two scrap. And damaging your opponent to the rear gains five scrap. When you have six scrap you can rotate one of the three face-up upgrade cards 180 to show it is now active, on the red side. Any symbol shown on the upgrade card, when seen on a used card, now upgrades to what the upgrade card shows. For example, this Rock Skates upgrade changes one single movement to a movement of up to four. There is something incredibly satisfying about using Sly. Increasing your power is a lot of fun. But I found I really enjoyed the process of collecting the scrap. It dictated my moves, encouraging me to do the things that meant I got more scrap. And hitting an opponent on the back and gaining five scrap is so satisfying! Overall, this is a fantastic addition to what is already a brilliant game. If you are looking for a two-player card battler, then I honestly cannot recommend anything over this game. It may not look the best, with very simple and quite stark components and art style, but the flow of the game is fantastic and it is just so fun to play. The symbology is incredibly simple and clear, and you get used to it within two or three turns of your first game. Everyone I have tried this with has dismissed it a little to start with due to the art style and perhaps overcomplicated looking cards. But after a few turns, everyone I have tried this with has loved it. Games are fast, and always come in runs of three or more. Trying new characters is a joy. Becoming a master of them is even more satisfying. Adding more characters to this game is all you want from an expansion, and this does that perfectly. Each of the new four characters offers something original, unique, but most importantly, fun. This is one of the most fun card games I have ever played. It honestly may be one of my all-time favourite games to play. It is just so simple. So fast. But so satisfying to get right. The programming element can be frustrating when you get it wrong, but in truth, that happens more when your opponent does something cool that simply means they got it more right. And that is still fun to witness. And as games are so quick, loosing is not too much of a loss. Just rack 'em up and go again. I love this game. There is a new expansion coming out soon! More news on that in a few weeks, but for now, check here.

Faraway WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Sagrada , 7 Wonders Duel , Ra Published by: Catch Up Games Designed by: Johannes Goupy , Corentin Lebrat This is the reviewer's copy. See our review policy here By Steve Godfrey My track record of scores for Faraway reads like someone filtered a web shop's prices from low to high and my scores are on page one... of twenty! Thankfully my score for this game fares a lot better than my own in game attempts which tend to be… Faraway... from anyone else’s.  How to get Faraway Mechanically, games of Faraway are pretty easy. Games will be played over eight rounds and at the start of each round players will simultaneously pick one of the three region cards in their hand to play and place it face down in front of them. Players then reveal and add their cards to their row. Since you'll eventually be playing eight cards in total you may want to make two rows of four, especially if you're fighting for table space. Each card has a number in the top left corner of the card. Any players who played a higher number than their previous card will get to take one sanctuary card from the deck plus one for every map token showing in their row and any previously gained sanctuary cards. Pick one and discard the rest. The player who played the lowest card that round will be the first to pick a new region card from the market. Go until all players have a new card and then clear and refill the market and move to the next round.  After eight rounds players flip all their cards face down where they are and flip back over your last card and score it. Once you’ve scored it, do the same with the next card going backwards until you’ve revealed and scored all of your cards then do the same with any sanctuary cards. So, how do you score? Each card will have on it a number in the corner, a pretty picture and a colour on the bottom half and (for the most part) a scoring condition. When you reveal a card you score it’s condition based on cards you’ve already revealed (thus can see) including sanctuary cards. So when you score the first card you won’t have many things, if any at all, revealed to score it against. Before the scoring conditions can be triggered on some cards you'll need to meet a prerequisite of revealed symbols. These can be gained from some cards having them on the top right and from some sanctuary cards. But again, you’ll only count the icons you can see for the prerequisites. Some sanctuary cards will have a scoring condition on them as well so don’t forget to score those. After all cards have been revealed, total up the scores and the player with the most points wins! If you’re gonna go Faraway make sure you're back on time for tea.  I’ve played many games over the years that I’ve learned, played, had only the vaguest clue of what I was doing, with no real sense of strategy, but still, at the end of the game, I wanted to play it again. That’s usually because somewhere towards the end it all clicks into place like Sherlock finally putting the pieces together to solve a case, or you finally remembering where you left your tie (which always turns out to be exactly where your other half said it was) Faraway for me joins that prestigious pantheon of games. Because while it’s not a particularly hard game to learn the basic mechanisms of, getting your head around that little nuance of scoring backwards takes at least one game. I’ll almost guarantee that you'll teach the game and people will say they understand (even though those middle distance stares betray them) but it’s genuinely not until they start to score that you’ll hear “oooooooh, now I get it” as the penny finally drops. That first sentence is usually followed up with a “I’ve made a terrible mistake”. Which I usually equate to an in-game error rather than them questioning certain life choices. In a big game it’d be easy to find this sort of thing frustrating. A lot of people don’t like it when things don’t fall into place quick enough for them to still be competitive during that game. I find this less of a problem with games as quick as Faraway though because it’s easy enough to reset and play again. I will say, as someone who loses many games of this, that capitalising on other peoples “first game confusion” provides a much needed confidence boost…..even if it is short lived. You’re gonna go far kid So what happens when that first game limbo has passed and you're ready to set off on your travels once again, armed with a full working knowledge of how this journey works? What you get is a puzzle that’s a lot of brain burn for such a little box. “But it looked so cute from the artwork” you said when you pulled it from the shelf thinking you were going to have a quick light game before you got onto the big game of the evening. Don’t expect Faraway to ease you in gently, this will throw you in at the deep end right from the off, which is understandable given that you’ll only be playing eight cards. You’ll soon find yourself looking intensely at your own cards and the available cards to try and plot out your game and I think that to do well in Faraway you need to start formulating a vague plan from the start. Everything about Faraway is there to give you tough choices over which card to play every turn. Playing a low number is great because you could get the first pick of cards from the display……but then, those sanctuary cards are pretty much essential, especially if you want to score the bigger cards and/or give yourself more scoring options. That’s all before you even take into consideration how the cards will score in correlation to each other. It’s constantly keeping you thinking and planning, so much so that I don’t think I’ve ever found time to even contemplate what my opponents are up to and what cards they may be eyeing up. Not that I’m planning on trying to scupper anyone else’s plans. In fact, because your planning so carefully I can’t even see where any hate drafting would be useful, well not unless the cards really aren’t going your way. As much strategy as there is in how you choose to play your cards, there is a good amount of luck which may or may not put some people off. It’s all well and good putting a big card that requires lots of prerequisites in play right at the start, but if you can’t get your hands on those icons, either through them not coming out, or you just not being able to nab them in time, then I could see how that can get frustrating. The map symbols are there to help with that. The more you have when you draw sanctuary cards, then the more cards you can draw. It’s a great way of potentially getting what you need. But again you need to have the map symbols and this again could be down to luck if you get them. How much this bothers you, if at all, will depend on how much this game hits for you. I think that given it’s a relatively quick game, even if it does annoy you, it won’t be for long, and being as the game is so  short it may even be something you can forgive and still enjoy the game.  Faraway is a big puzzle in a small box and if you want something that’s going to give you that big game brain burn but without the hassle of long set up and play times, then this is definitely worth keeping close to you... you know, rather than… Faraway.

Viticulture  WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-6 You’ll like this if you like: Lords of Waterdeep , Anachrony , Stone Age Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Jamey Stegmaier , Alan Stone This is the reviewer's copy. See our review policy here By Steve Godfrey There used to be a T.V. presenter here in the UK whose catchphrase was “oooh I could crush a grape” I’m not sure why. Maybe he was an ex winemaker who was having withdrawal symptoms or perhaps he really liked eating squishy grapes. Either way, I wonder if he’d enjoy Viticulture or if the non squishy glass grape tokens would just upset him? Either way I probably wouldn’t want to play with him if he’s going to get his sticky grape fingers over my cards. How to make your new favourite vintage. Everyone takes a player board and components in your colour. Everyone is then dealt two mama cards and two papa cards of which they’ll choose one of each. Mama cards will give you two workers and a choice of cards. Papas will give you your Grande worker and some money. You’ll also have another choice to make on the card which varies per card.  Pick a first player and that player places their cockerel on the wake-up track. Each position awards a bonus except the first space. Each player then does this in clockwise order. The positions on the wake-up track will determine turn order for the round.  The round starts in summer and on your turn you’ll place one of your workers on a space in the summer area of the board and take the action on that space. Depending on player count, some spaces will also grant an extra bonus. Also depending on player count only a certain number of spaces will be available on each action so if all spaces are full then you can’t take that action. However! Each player has a Grande worker which can be placed on an action regardless of if it’s full or not. Players will take actions on the summer section of the board until they decide to pass. When everyone has passed the round will move onto winter. This is much the same as summer but with different actions. Again, players will go until they have passed or run out of workers. It has to be said that if players have spent all of their workers in the summer phase then they won’t be able to take actions in the winter. In general actions will include things like planting vines, harvesting fields, making different wines, selling wines for points and playing cards. At the end of a round, everyone one with grape tokens and wines in their cellar will age them (basically making them better) earn any residuals owed to them (which you get from selling wines), the turn marker will be passed round and off you go again. The game will end at the end of the round where a player has scored 20 or more points. The player with the most points wins.  Can I shock you; I like wine. The first time I played Viticulture we played it wrong for the entire first half of the game. We were taught that you could only have one wine token in each crush pad at a time and one token for each wine in your cellar. It wasn’t until I questioned why there were so many glass tokens if we were that limited that we checked the rules and corrected ourselves. Needless to say the game went a lot quicker after that. It speaks volumes to me that even after that bodged first half I was still thinking about the game long after that, even to the point where I was tempted to put it in my top ten games! Viticulture is one of those games that blends its theme and its mechanism together so well, much like the flavours of a fine wine that the game is asking you to create, rather than doing what a lot of games do and largely abstract the process. As an aside I wouldn’t know a fine wine if it came up and poured itself over my head. My process for choosing wine (which I don’t drink) is choosing the one that has the best looking label.  Viticulture goes to great lengths to take you through the winemaking process as best as it can whilst taking out all the boring bits like actually waiting for stuff to grow and harvesting and general hard work. Because it does that the theme oozes out of it like one of the crushed grapes mentioned earlier. Aside from being a worker placement game, Viticulture also throws in some engine building into the mix and, much like most engine builders, it takes a few rounds to get that engine moving. The first rounds of the game can easily make you feel like the game is going to take an age as points ever so slowly drip feed onto the track. But, before you know it the game kicks into gear and you’ll soon be racing to fill orders and keep up with your opponents.  Aye, that’s Grande. Love them or not, worker placement games can have an unintentional mean side to them. Putting your worker on a space will always elicit cry’s of “No! I was gonna go there.” That’s still true of Viticulture and those cry’s will no doubt get louder if you not only take the space but the bonus as well. I love this game’s ability to scale up and down making it, for me anyway, just as fun and as tight at any of its player counts. But just in case you think that the game is maybe too tight and maybe getting the action you want too difficult, especially if you're the last in turn order, then don’t worry because there’s a Grande ace up Viticulture’s wine sodden sleeve. The Grande worker was added for this essential edition of the game(now the only edition) after people felt the same way. It allows you to take the action of any space even if it’s full. It’s only once per round but this one worker can be an absolute life saver. Not only that, but it really opens your options up when planning. It means that you can do at least one of the things that you really want to get done that round. It may not sound like a lot, but there have been plenty of times where a plan of mine has worked purely because I’ve been able to use the Grande worker. It’s such a simple addition but it’s one that makes a big difference…..that’s probably why it’s called the Grande worker? The game takes you through two main seasons in which to place your workers and I love how this brings a worker economy element to the whole game. It’s often the source of some painstaking decisions because you’ll most likely want to do a bit of everything. It’s so easy, mainly in your first turns of your first game to just spend all your workers in summer then realise your mistake, but that’s fine because generally you won’t be doing a ton of winter actions on your first round at least. In fact the game has a shifting focus as the game progresses. The first half of the game will mainly be Summer heavy as you try to plant vines, build buildings and essentially build your engine. The second half is definitely more winter focused as you run that engine to make your wines and sell them for those all important victory points. Just because there is a shift though you’ll still find yourself needing spaces from each season in some capacity. Eventually one or two spaces could potentially become pretty much obsolete, which I don’t particularly love. The train you worker space for example once you’ve got all your workers or the plant a vine space will lose its appeal once you got a robust set of vines placed out.  It’s on the cards. Ignore the cards at your peril in this game. Obviously vine and wine order cards are a must…..or are they? One of the main criticisms thrown at base Viticulture is that you can get a majority of your points from playing the blue or yellow cards negating the need to use that well designed wine simulator. A lot of these cards, especially the blue cards, are more focused on the business of wine rather than the making of it. As much as I’d love to make a compelling case against that, I really can’t. I’ve been in games where this has happened and someone has given me a run for my money by doing just that and almost won the game. It’s a legitimate strategy that can feel good to use but it does kinda pull you out of the theme a bit. It’s like you’ve inherited this winery but rather than using it for its intended purpose you’ve essentially built the Disneyland of the wine loving world. I mean Cadburys world does the same thing but at least they still make the chocolate there. It can be annoying to watch someone win that way, especially if you’ve spent a load of time building up your engine and working up to fulfilling those big orders, only for someone to get a lucky break with cards.  Wakey Wakey The wake-up track is another clever mechanic. As the player with the grape token (which passes round each turn) you get to put your….cockerel on the board on one of the spaces to determine turn order. Pick first place and you get nothing. Place on any of the other spaces and the further down you go, the better the rewards. So, for example, if you go last you get to take the extra grey worker for that round. It’s a nice little decision to make which could net you some useful bonuses as the round begins. You also never know, just because you're last in to pick a spot, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be last in turn order. I've been in that situation on many occasions but a spot for the first in turn order was still up for grabs. I mentioned earlier that the game scales well from 1-6 and I’ll happily play it with any of those counts (I won’t get into it here but the solo mode is a lovely challenge) but beware that as the count creeps up so does the game time and with six, especially with someone with a bit of analysis paralysis, then this game could easily trudge on and outstay it’s welcome.  Viticulture is a game that, even after this many plays I’ll never refuse a game of and, probably more importantly, a game that I wouldn’t refuse at any player count. I love the different combination of strategies you can utilise and I love watching that wine engine grow. It probably no surprise to anyone that whilst I couldn’t justify its place in my top ten after half a play. It’s more than justified its place in there now.

This is a preview copy sent to us for our early opinions. No money exchanged hands. Some art or components may change in the final game. OK. I don't want to beat around the bush here. This is a fantastic game. If you enjoy two-player skirmish games, then you will love this. If you enjoy arcade fighting video games and want to see how that will feel in cardboard form, this may very well be for you. If you like programming games or clever card play, you will love this game. First up, let's check out the box. It opens into three pieces. The bottom splits into two, and then one of the pieces, your choice, can be inserted into the lid to form the arena. Looks awesome, doesn't it! The art can change depending on who is fighting, or what you prefer the look of. This is all for aesthetics, and I am all in on this. I love it. The only functional part of the box is the nine blocks where the fighters enact their battles. It's linear to replicate the video game style this game is trying to recreate. If you just had a flat board with nine blocks, it would work just as well. But this game is all about the drama. I love it. Each character comes with its own unique player board, deck of cards, reference card, player handbook, and standee. It is all very easy to sort and get playing. Set up is a breeze. Each of the characters is completely different. Some have weapons and can attack from range. Others are good in the grapple and want to be up close. One has a guitar and can use it to make vicious melodies. Another has lightning-fast speed and can nip in, attack, then run away again. They are all brilliant to play with, fun to learn, and offer a very different game experience. The cards themselves look complicated at first, but very quickly become incredibly simple to read and understand. The above two cards are for a character that can change their stance mid-fight. This allows them to be stronger in certain attacks and movements. Generally, you work from top to bottom and carry out one of the options on each horizontal level. But MIXUP means you can work from the bottom up if you prefer. So, the card on the left lets you change stance and then attack in the three spaces in front of you, but only the first if you are in stance red, and only the second and third if you are in stance green. The card on the right looks way more complicated, but it really isn't. Let's go through it. Remember, due to MIXUP, you can do these three actions in any order you like. First, you can move or change stance. If you are in the yellow stance already, your movement could be up to three spots. Just one if not. Next, you can either attack in front or behind you, depending on where your opponent is. Again, your range is affected by your current stance. Finally, you can attack directly in front or behind you, either for one damage or two if you are in the red stance. Simple, huh?! The fact that you can choose what you do, and MIXUP helps a great deal as this is a programming game. You see the number in the top left; this will determine the order the cards are acted out in. First, the starting player will play one card face up, followed by the other player. Then the starting player can play another card if they wish or end that round. If they play another, they will do so face down, as will the other player. They can then, if they desire, play a third card, again, face down. If they do this, the other player must do the same. So, you will end the planning phase with either two face-up cards or two face-up and two or four face-down cards. When this is done, all cards are flipped face up and arranged into sequential order, lowest to highest. So, you need to think hard about what order you want to do things and plan accordingly. But the flexibility on the cards, often offering a lot of choices, gives you the chance to adapt and react in the action phase. The cards also offer added flexibility with a status power in the top right. Both of these cards can be used to simply reverse the orientation of your fighter if you desire. See the icon in the top right? This allows you to switch the side you are facing and then ignore the card. Other statuses show that you can only use certain cards if you have suffered at least two damage or gain a shield. Shields simply block one damage either from the front or back, depending on where you oriented the shield when you placed it. The final part of the card, and now that you know most of the rules, is the green icon at the very top in the cards above. This lets you move forward one space on a meter track on your player board. As you move up, you will gain various bonuses such as shields and the chance to exchange cards in your hand. But when you reach the end, you can add to your deck of cards your character's unique ultra card. These cards allow each fighter to enact one huge power move once per game, which is sure to cause significant damage. Above, the card on the left is for the Guitarist. It allows him to play a Chorus, which is when they exchange three previously acquired notes for one big attack. Then acquire three more notes before finally attacking for a second time with another Chorus. This feels immense and wildly satisfying if you manage to get this card and use it. Everything about this game just screams fun. It strips away all the usual mechanics, rules, and complications of a skirmish game. The game is so pure, fast, fun, and full of twists and turns. It's a simple race to see who can inflict five damage first, which I have found only takes around 10-15 minutes and 4-7 turns. This makes the game feel very much like something I would recommend you play, just like a video fighting game on a console. Multiple fights, game after game. Strap in, get comfy, and enjoy the fun. Each character comes with its own reference card, along with the book to explain their unique rules and fighting options. This game is very accessible. I am blown away by the level of detail that has gone into this game, from a designer who seems to be at the start of their board game design journey. Massive congratulations have to go to them for this. As you can tell, I am a huge fan of this. It is just so much fun. I would urge anyone who has gotten this far to go check out the page now and see if this is something that may be for them. KICKSTARER PAGE HERE Now, who wants a fight?

Agent Avenue WBG Score: 7.5/10 Player Count: 2 You’ll like this if you like: Mindbug , Hanamikoji . Published by: Nerdlab Games Designed by: Christian Kudahl , Laura Kudahl This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Agent Avenue comes from the genius team behind the bonkers Mind Bug. Well, 25% of the team anyway with Christian Kudahl. Coupled now with a new designer partner, Laura Kudahl. His wife! How delightful and wholesome. They have created a game that, on paper, sounds amazing. A two-player only I-cut-you-choose bluffing card game that incorporates set-collection and hand management, all wrapped up into what is essentially a race game. Who can catch who first! Intrigued? I was. Let's get it to the table and see how this plays. How To Set Up Agent Avenue There are two ways to play the game. There is only really one difference. The simple game uses one side of the board. The advanced version uses the other. You can tell the difference by the four black spaces on the advanced side. Pick the side you want to play with and place the two wooden characters on their spaces, green on green, blue on blue. Each player chooses which of the two characters they want to play as. Now shuffle the main deck of Agent cards and deal each player four cards. Place the rest of the deck face down on the table by the board. If you are playing the advanced version, shuffle the second deck of black-backed Black Market Agent cards and place three face up by the board and the rest of the deck face down next to this. Ignore these cards in the simple version of the game. You are now ready to play. How To Play Agent Avenue The player who last saw a police officer goes first. They choose two cards from the four in their hand. One card is placed face up on the table, the other is placed face down next to this. The two cards must be different. If you have four identical cards in your hand, this is the only time this rule can be broken, but that is very rare. The other player must now choose one of these two cards to take for themselves, picking it up, flipping it if it was the face-down card, and placing it face up in front of them. They either take the face-up card, knowing what it is, or the face-down card, hoping it is something better! Was it a bluff? Is it a trap? The lead player then redraws back to four cards in their hand. The other player then does the same, choosing two cards from their hand, placing one face up and one face down for the other player to choose one card from. They take the remaining card. Each card shows a series of numbers on the left-hand side. The cards also show their card type on the top with the name, and in the main picture art on the card. If this is the first card of this type that you have taken, move your chosen character on the board by the same number shown as the first number on the top left of the card. If it is the second card of this type, move your character the same number as the second number shown here. If it is the third, fourth, or higher of this type, move your character the same number as the third number on the card. This number could be a positive or negative one. Move your character forwards or backwards accordingly. The idea of the game is to move your character on the board so that it catches up with the other character. If you ever finish on the same space as the other character or pass them, you win the game. Some cards have just one number shown on them. In this case, treat any subsequent cards you get of this type as the first number each time you get more. For example, for the above Mole and Sidekick, for any subsequent cards of the same type, simply move backwards three spaces or forwards four spaces respectively. If your character ever lands on one of the four black spaces on the advanced side of the board, you can immediately take one of the three face-up Black Market cards. These either offer an immediate bonus you must act on right away, or an ongoing power that will be in effect for the rest of the game. Immediately replace any cards that are taken this way so there are always three on offer for the next player. If two players land on the Black Market spaces on the same turn, the player who was the lead player that turn chooses first. The cards offer various powers such as increasing the power of specific cards for the rest of the game, moving you forward one pace immediately, or being able to play a card in play one more time, moving the shown spaces one more time. There are also two cards that offer a different win/lose condition. If you ever get three Codebreaker cards, you immediately win the game. Likewise, if you get three Daredevils, you lose the game the moment this happens. There is an optional rule you can play where players can discard up to four cards in any one game and replace them with new cards from the deck. Keep these cards discarded face down in front of you so that you don't take them back accidentally later, and also keep track of how many times you have done so, as four is the maximum. There is also a team variant where two players play against two others, or one plays against one. Each player has four cards like the normal player game, but teams with two players play one card each instead of one player playing two cards. The first player must play face up, the second must play face down. The two players can decide between them who plays first and who plays second, but you cannot talk about what cards you have in your hand. The recruiting team can then openly discuss which card to take. When discarding cards, any team of two can do this two times each. Any players on their own can still do this four times per game. There is a chance in the Team game that you can run out of cards before a victory condition is met. In this circumstance, the team closer to catching their opponent wins the game. Is It Fun? Agent Avenue Card Game Review This game is incredibly easy to learn, teach, and play. And initially, it will be perhaps too simple. Games will be over in no time. You will probably complete four or five games within a 20-30 minute session. They really do fly by! However, the game will then click. You will start to understand how to play cards in the way your opponents start to take the one they want. You will get a better understanding of the set-collection, how certain cards power up or down quicker than others. And you will start to manipulate the game in your favour a little more. However, so will your opponent, so the games will still be as quick! But they will get better. The bluffing will be more amusing. The length of the game is perhaps an issue. Games do feel a little inconsequential. However, they are fun to play! So, you will need to decide if the balance is right for you. A game that can be over in under 5 minutes, that feels light, with low stakes, but is enjoyable to do. If that is what you are after, then look no further. But if you want deeper strategy, even with the Advanced game, this is probably not for you. I enjoy the quick, light, but fun nature of this game. The multiple paths to victory are interesting. And often games will be over in a flash when players take the card you were not expecting and catch up with you way before you expected. Sometimes you only have cards that whichever one your opponent takes, they will catch you. But don't forget you can discard up to four cards a game. But even then, you may not get the ones you need. But no matter. Shuffle up and go again. As such, I would suggest this game is always best played as a best of three, or better yet, best of five. The art and overall production of this game is lovely. I like how the card art is different on the cards that have the same powers. The board is thicker than you would imagine, and works perfectly for its limited purpose. It adds a nice bit of table presence to what is essentially a simple card game. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a light card game, best played by two, that offers a quick, fun experience with minimal stakes.

Mindbug: Beyond Evolution WBG Score: 8.5/10 Player Count: 2 You’ll like this if you like: Mindbug , Magic The Gathering , Air Land & Sea . Published by: Nerdlab Games Designed by: Skaff Elias , Richard Garfield , Marvin Hegen , Christian Kudahl This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Mindbug is a fascinating game. If you don't know the story, here is the abbreviated version. Magic: The Gathering (if you haven't heard) is one of the biggest, most popular, and profitable card games of all time. This was made by Richard Garfield. An utter legend of the industry. Magic is an almost perfect game. Almost, in that it does cost a fair bit of time and money to get into it. Being a collectible card game, you do need to invest more than usual to get the most out of it. You get the sense that the designer, Garfield, wanted to correct this, and along with a few buddies created a new card game that you can get the full experience from right out of the box. Just one box. A box of cards. That's all you need. But you can get a similar, not the same, but similar feel from the game as Magic. Some bonkers card powers, swingy game one-versus-one card battling action with a bit of bluffing, hand management, and ingenious card play. Mindbug is the result of that, and it does it with such a simple twist. I can't wait to tell you all about it. So, with that history lesson out of the way, let's get this new Beyond Evolution version to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Mindbug: Beyond Evolution Take out the cards and separate the four Mindbug cards, giving two of each card to both players. They have different art, so be sure to give each player two cards with the same art each. Then separate the Evolution cards; these are easily identifiable as they are double-sided! There is also a small icon on them on the top right showing their evolution stage, but don't take all cards with this icon, as the level one evolution cards start in the main deck. Now shuffle the remaining cards, deal ten to each player, and then each player takes five cards from these ten as their starting hand. Give each player a score tracker set to three, or use three cards or a die to do this if you don't have the score trackers. They are provided with the game, but they didn't used to be so they offer this in the rules still. You are now ready to play. How To Play Mindbug: Beyond Evolution Both players now draw one card from the top of the remaining deck to see who goes first. The highest card wins. The remaining deck is now discarded and won't be used for this game. The first player now plays a card from their hand face up in front of them. This has no cost. You just pick one of the five cards and play it. Some cards have a "When played" power; if the card you just played has this, carry out this action. If not, that is your turn over. Draw a card from your remaining five cards to get back to five in your hand, and that's it. The next player will then do the same. From the first player's second turn onwards, players now have a choice. You can play another card, just as you did before. Or you can use a previously played card's "Action" power if you have any. Simply carry out what the card says. Or, finally, you can attack. Use any previously played card to attack the other player. You attack mainly with the attack value shown in the top left of the card, but also using the card's powers, more on that shortly. The defending player can then take a hit, and lose one point. Or defend. If they defend, they can pick any previously played card on their side to defend with. Again, the defence is simply about the power of the card shown in the top left, but card powers again come into effect. The card with the highest power wins, and the losing card is discarded. That's it. No points awarded, just one of your opponents' cards eliminated. If there is a draw, both cards are eliminated. Ok, now what about those card powers? Well, one card power is the Hunter power. This allows the attacking player to choose which opponent card they target, meaning they can take much lower-risk attacks, knowing beforehand if they will win or not. Poisonous means the card will kill the other card, irrespective of card power. If the other card has a higher power than the poisonous card, it will be eliminated as well, but it always takes out its enemy. There is also a card with the Frenzy power, this means that if it survives the first attack, it can then carry out a second. Very cool. Sneaky creatures are very powerful. They can only be blocked by other cards that also have the Sneaky power. Hard to stop! And finally, there is a defensive keyword, Tough. This means a card can take two hits before it is defeated. The first time it loses a fight, rotate the card to be horizontal on the table. It can still be used to fight, defend and use it's abilities, but now the Tough element is gone. And the next hit it takes will take it out as usual. When players play a card, they draw back to five from the spare five cards. When their spare cards run out, that's it. Keep playing with the cards in your hand. But if you ever cannot play a card or use a card's power to take an action, or fight with a card, as you have none, that's it, you lose. Equally, if you take your opponent's health down to zero, you win. So, are you ready for the first twist? As you can tell, with only ten cards in the entire game, picking which cards you play and in what order is crucial. But do you have any more control than that? Surely it is down to the luck of which ten cards you got dealt versus the ten your opponent got? There are 48 cards in total after all. 28 are not being used, and you may simply have the best or worst hand? Well, this is where those two mind-boggling cards you got dealt at the start of the game come in. They really are the biggest part of this game. Hence the name being about these two cards, and not the other 20 you will play with each game. Two times in the game, whenever your opponent plays a card you either do not want them to have, or you simply want to have for yourself, play one of your Mindbug cards and then you simply take that card from them, and it is now placed in front of you instead. It is now your card. It's that simple. But you can only do this twice in the entire game. Flip over your Mindbug when you do this to show it is exhausted. And remember, your opponent can do this twice too! Understanding which cards to take, and the order of your own cards to play, so that your opponent doesn't take the cards you want from you in crucial to success in this game. Tempt them with something they think may be your best card early, only to then lay the star of the show the round after. This is the trick of playing this game well. It is genius. Equally, knowing when to use your own Mindbug cards to strike against your opponent is very important, but hard to judge. Think that's it? Well, it pretty much is for the main game, First Contact which I love. But this version, Beyond Evolution, has one more little trick up its sleeve. Are you ready? Some of the cards have an Action power on them that says they can be swapped for one of the cards you set aside during setup. The card evolves, giving it a more powerful action. This second card has the same ability, and again, for an action on a later turn, can be evolved by flipping it over to its level three power. Which can be pretty devastating! It takes obviously a few turns to get one of these level three cards into your hand and ready to use, so your opponent has a chance to initially Mindbug the card from you, or attack it before you evolve it too far, but if you manage to get it to its full level three power, well, you are in for some fun! Is It Fun? Mindbug: Beyond Evolution Card Game Review Mindbug is a great game. If you own the base game already, you will know the huge amount of fun you can have with this small deck of cards. The introduction of the Action power and changing evolution card is a fantastic addition that brings a fresh new element to the game. If you do not own a copy of Mindbug yet, I would encourage you to start with this one. It has all the base game offers and a little more. My favorite new card is the cute little Penguin. It starts as a Waddling Recruit, giving you a card at strength three, and the chance to force your opponent to discard a card. But evolve it once, and it becomes the mighty Veteran Penguon, now at strength five, and with the same power. Oh, it evolves again! Into what now? A strength ten card with the power, when it attacks, to force your opponent to discard their entire hand and draw pile! Boom! This card can feel a little overpowered. But don't forget that you can always Mindbug this card from your opponent when they play it, and as they have to evolve it two times before it gets to its full powers, you can always try to attack it before then, if possible. And of course, maybe you have an Evolution card too? There are three others in the game. The Wildspout that lets you play cards from your discard pile but then evolves into the Oakmaster. A powerful card that lets you increase your other cards by plus five. The cute Curious Turtle that lets you gain a life and then evolves into the World Eater. A mighty card that has strength eight and when it attacks, forces your opponent to lose one life. And then there is the mysterious Cloud Lady. A card with the power to defeat an enemy with a power of four or less when it attacks, but then can evolve into the fearsome Thunder Queen. A strength nine card with the power to defeat any enemy creature when it attacks! These cards are game changers in the literal sense of the word. I love them. It's what Mindbug should be about. If you are a fan of the original game, then I would encourage you to add this to your collection. It brings more cards, more fun, more twists, and is a fantastic addition to the Mindbug family. If you don't own any yet, start with any box. They all work as standalone games. This is not an expansion as such, more a new version of the same game, offering more cards and variation. But the new Action power, along with the evolving cards, does make this feel quite different when you play. The strategy changes in a big way in all areas: how you play your cards, how you use your Mindbugs. The entire process has, well... evolved!

Rove Jr WBG Score: 7/10 Player Count: 1 You’ll like this if you like: Hive , Onitama , Rove Published by: Button Shy Designed by: Manon Mergnat This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Button Shy make tiny pocket games. They call them wallet games as they look like little credit card holders that fit in your pocket, like a wallet! They are 18-card games, and they release them at alarming intervals. The things they can do with 18 cards is quite incredible, but more on that as we review more of their games. We have not covered any here yet on What Board Game, and I thought it was high time we rectified that, starting with Rove Jr. A child-friendly implementation of a previous release, Rove. A game all about spatial awareness, pattern recognition, and hand management. Rove Jr does the same, just in a simplified manner. So, with all that said, let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Rove Jr Take out the 18 cards from the wallet. Separate the four Module cards and place them in a two-by-two grid on the table. Don't worry about where each card goes. Now shuffle the 14 remaining Mission cards, deal five to your hand, and place the rest face down on the table. They are double sided and you want to be looking at the Move side in your hand, and the mission side on the table. Draw the top card from the deck on the table and place it away from the other cards face up. You will need space for seven more cards to be placed on top of this first one during the game, each one building from the right of this card so you will need some space. This first card will be your first mission. You are now ready to play. How To Play Rove Jr On the mission card, there will be a pattern shown in a three-by-three grid. You need to manipulate the four Module cards, currently laid out in a two-by-two grid, to match this pattern. You can do this by playing the cards in your hand to manipulate the Module cards' position. Remember, the cards are double-sided, so you will not be looking at the mission side on the cards in your hand; you will be looking at the side that shows the movement options. Cards will let you move specific cards based on their icons. Playing one card lets you move one Module. Module cards can be moved orthogonally, as far as you like, over other cards if need be, but they must come to rest on an empty space and touch another card. Touching corners is fine. Once you have manipulated the Module cards to come to rest in the same pattern as the one shown on the current Mission card, you can now take the top card from the deck and place it on top of the recently completed Mission card to show your next mission. Now with a new configuration that needs to be met. Draw back to five cards from the deck and go again. If the deck runs out, use the cards in the discard pile. The discard pile is the cards you had previously played from your hand to move the Module cards. Keep playing until you complete seven Missions, or you fail to complete a mission with the five cards you had in your hand. That's it! There is a variation where you can choose to have just three or four cards in your hand instead. And also, you can flip over the Module cards to show their one time powers as shown below. Then, during the game, at any point you can activate each power one time. Flip the Module over when you do this to show it has been used. These powers help you move the cards about a bit more, and one even lets you refresh your hand. You can play solo or cooperatively, discussing each move as you play. Is It Fun? Rove Jr Card Game Review This, like all Button Shy games, is a delightful little production. This game is aimed at younger players, from six and up, so you need to bear this in mind when playing. If you want something a little more strategic, then check out the original Rove. But for younger gamers, this is a great way to understand games like this. It encourages a learning of spatial awareness, pattern recognition, and sets younger gamers on a path of understanding the importance of managing their resources, in this case, their hand of cards. The process of playing the game is quite relaxing. This is a lovely little solo session. A mindful moment. Having played this game myself with a few children at the age of 9 and 11, I found this to be the case with them too. Surprisingly! They went from their usual excitable (loud) and energetic (annoying) selves, to sitting calmly for 15 minutes, trying to work out this little puzzle. The game is about being as efficient with your movements and resources as possible. Not something you would normally associate with children, but they seem to love the challenge! The cute art, simple iconography, and low-stakes situation mean that even in failure, the game is relaxing. Figuring out the best card to play, and how to achieve each mission with as few cards as possible is a genuinely relaxing and satisfying experience. Perfectly suited to any mind, young or old. Well worth checking out if you have children aged six to 12 who are interested in games like these. Perfect to carry with you wherever you go, but you do need a table with a bit of space to play. But you can always stack the mission cards on top of each other as you complete them rather than lay them in a row to give yourself more room.

Canopy: Evergreen WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count:1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Flourish , Village Green , Canopy .   Published by: Weird City Games Designed by: Tim Eisner This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Canopy was a card game that came out in 2021. It's a great little game. I reviewed it here . In 2024, designer Tim Eisner decided to turn this popular card game into more of a board game. Canopy: Evergreen is the result. A board game version of Canopy. That interestingly still doesn't really have a board! There are a few new rules and some art changes, but otherwise, it is very similar. So, is it better? Do you need both? Will there be another Canopy game? Let's get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Canopy: Evergreen Each player takes a forest map and places it in front of them along with the pieces from their chosen colour. They are all stored in handy boxes, so very easy to set up and pack away. Place your score markers and food tracker down on the starting spaces. Place your ecosystem tokens face down on the circular spaces on your board. Note two pieces are used in the advanced variant mode only. Now, take one root piece (that you will have to build out of the box but can then leave set up in the box) onto any open space on your board. Then take the five starting wildlife cards marked with a star, shuffle them and deal one to each player. Each player then takes the token that matches the card they were dealt, place this colour side up. Now place the Wildlife mat in a central area, shuffle the Wildlife deck, and deal three cards face up onto the mat, placing the deck face down next to it. Place the remaining wildlife tokens and tree pieces nearby. Then take the forest deck. Remove any cards marked three or four in smaller player counts, then shuffle the deck. Deal four cards per player into a face-down Seed deck, placing the Seed deck token on top. This will be used at the end of each round. Then deal cards from the remaining deck face down onto the growth cones. Use three for a one or two player, and four for a four player. Place one card on the first pile, two on the second, and three on the third in one or two-player games. Place two cards onto the central pile and one on the rest in a three or four-player game. Finally, give the first player token to the last player to water a plant and you are ready to begin. How To Play Canopy: Evergreen At the start of each player's turn, they can spend the food they have gathered to attack one of the three face-up Wildlife cards to add it to their hand. Wildlife cards will stay with you for the entirety of the game, unless disease strikes and food is hard to come by. So choose wisely! Any taken Wildlife cards are immediately replenished from the deck so there are always three options. Wildlife cards either offer end game scoring, end of round scoring based on the other plant cards you collect this season, or active powers. Just check what is shown on the card. You can activate a Wildlife card whenever you want, just remember to flip the token to the black and white side when you do this to remind you that you cannot do this again this season. At the end of the season, flip this token round again as you can do this action once per season. Note the symbols on the bottom right and left corners as well. If you can place cards that are next to other cards with matching symbols, you will gain extra end game points, judged by your longest continuous chain of symbols, up to a maximum of seven cards, which will gain you 17 points. Players will now take turns to look at the cards on the Growth cones, picking one pile to add to their hand. If you like what you see, simply take the cards and add them to your hand. Activate any immediate effects then replenish the pile you chose from with one new face-down card from the deck. If you want to pass on the pile, add one more to it, so it becomes juicier for the next player, then look at the next pile. If you pass on the final pile, you have to then take one card blindly from the top of the deck. Cards will come in one of three main types: planet, weather, and threat cards, all simply adding or taking away points each season depending on what the card says. Most cards work in groups. This is a set collection game at heart, such as the Cat Tail Moss card below, which will give you five points for each Cat Tail Moss symbol, one of which exists on this card at the top left. The Wildfire will be safe on its own, but if you gain a second, then you will have to discard two plant cards at the end of the season. Get a third, and then you only discard one card, but so does everyone else! Disease works the same but affects Animal cards instead of plants. The Huckleberry cards have an immediate effect as shown by the lightning symbol, and offer you a chance to get food. One food if you currently have an odd number of Huckleberry symbols in your possession, three food if you have an even number. The tree cards come in two types, either a root/trunk to grow your tree, or a Canopy such as below, which ends a tree, immediately scoring it based on the number of parts the tree has multiplied by two as is the case with this particular Canopy card. Others multiply by other amounts. Most other cards will be self-explanatory. When you plant a new tree with a Root card, you can place it into any open space on your board. When you have two trees next to each other connected by a single path, and at least one of the trees is three sections or more, you immediately gain the ecosystem tokens from the board that is between them. This will give you extra icons to work as multipliers in the card scoring. The tokens do not work alone and need at least one card of the same type to be activated. When the Season deck is empty and all piles have been taken, players will now run through the end of season steps. Unless it is the third season, in which case the game ends. First, check for any Pine Cone cards gathered this season. Players can use these to gain two additional cards from the Seed deck to use now as end of season scoring. If you have any set of two or more Threats, you must now activate them, discarding Wildlife or Plant cards accordingly. Remember, three cards affect all players. Then activate all Foraging animals, scoring points accordingly to the Plant card symbols you gained this season. The player with the Tallest tree now gains the Tallest tree award, replacing the top canopy piece of the tree with the Tallest Tree token, reminding all players this tree is ineligible to enter the Tallest Tree award in any subsequent rounds. In the first season, this awards three points, in the second you get four. And in the final third season, this will award the player with the tallest tree with five points. Next, activate any Weather cards gained this season. Players score one point for each set of Rain and Sun symbols they have, and the player with the most sets gains an additional five points. The player with the second most gains two points. Remember, your Ecosystem tokens help here if you have any. Finally, score your plant cards that reward you with points. Again, using any Ecosystem tokens you may have. All cards except Wildlife cards are now discarded. The season is over, and they have served their purpose. You only get to use them once! Wildlife cards stick around for the rest of the game though. Ecosystem tokens also stay. At the end of the third round, players will score like this but also for the points on their Wildlife cards. Any pairs of Wildlife cards also score two points, or five for a family of three. And then score based on the Wildlife chain symbols. One point for a chain of two, three for three, five points for four, eight for five cards, 12 points for six, and finally, as mentioned, 17 points for a chain of seven cards. Any remaining food scores two points. The player with the most points wins. In the case of a tie, the player with the most Wildlife wins. Is It Fun? Canopy: Evergreen There are quite a lot of games now that look and play like this. They are popular because they are gorgeous, quite relaxing to play, feel good with the theme (green stuff calms you down, right?) and offer a nice lower-mid weight experience that plays in a relatively short time. That is quite a lot of positives! But, (there is always a but!) as I said, there are quite a lot of them. So, they do need to stand out in some way to justify their existence on your shelf. And this game isn't even only similar to a lot of other games in its class. It is also VERY similar to its own spiritual predecessor. It has a lot of work to do. And in truth, it doesn't do this. There are not enough big changes from Canopy or the many other games in this sector to really make this stand out. BUT (it's a big but this time, did you see the capital letters?) it's good. So, if you don't own other games in this mould, go for it. You will not be disappointed. There is some really interesting card play here. But if you do own others in this genre, and perhaps even have a copy of Canopy tucked away somewhere, perhaps this is not for you. Unless of course, you adore Canopy and want everything within its wheelhouse. For those of you though who do like the sound of this and don't have similar games, let's get into it! There is something so satisfying about building up your collection of cards in this game. Due to the fact that at the end of each season, you need to rebuild, what you create and score from is fresh every round. What you can build over a short period of time is quite amazing. The way the cards can interlink, not just working in sets with each other, but matching the Wildlife chain symbols as well, makes the process absorbing and highly rewarding. In some games like this, every card is good and you will want to keep everything. But in Canopy: Evergreen, there will be certain cards you will really want. You won't always get what you need, but the search is strategic. Included in the box is a handy card showing the frequency of each card. You know what the chances will be of finding that final card of a certain type for each player count, and can decide if you want to risk it all searching for the more elusive cards, or build up a more solid but less rewarding scoring system from the more common cards. Everything looks delightful, and the mechanics are silky smooth. It flows so well and has a wonderful pace to the game, especially in two or three players, where I prefer this game. In a four-player game, I can find the downtime between turns a little frustrating, and the search for cards more of a challenge. The new board works well, and I much prefer the little standees over the cards for the trees versus Canopy. However, the rest of the game has not changed that much. The board is still not overly used; it just houses your trees and Ecosystem tokens, that's it. It feels like a better game than Canopy. I prefer playing it and would rate it a notch higher. But it also seems odd to me that this game exists when Canopy already does, and this game doesn't change as much as I might like. That said, judging this game on its own merits, not against Canopy or other games in its field, it is an excellent game I would recommend to anyone who finds this theme compelling, enjoys set collection and clever card play, and is looking for a light to mid-weight game that plays fast but offers an interesting strategic experience.