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.

3 Of A Kind WBG Score: 8/10 Player Count: 2-8 You’ll like this if you like: Just One , So Clover , Codenames Published by: Weird City Games Designed by: Tim Eisner This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Sometimes, a party game explodes onto the scene, causing a huge stir, and quickly becomes everyone's favourite game to play in a large group of friends. They play for weeks, multiple times, but then grow tired of it. It is funny how we can binge party games like we might a Netflix show, far more than we can most other types of games. Simply because they generally play very quickly and work well with repeat plays in each session as players get into the flow of the game.   Just One , So Clover , and Codenames are all great examples of this. This issue with repeat plays like this is that the game quickly becomes old. The solution? Get a new game every few weeks! No, that's excessive. How about having a few on the shelf to keep your options fresh? Both work for me! But finding the next great party game can be hard. Maybe this review will help? So, with that in mind, let's get 3 of a kind to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up 3 of a Kind Give each player a pen and pad and shuffle up the two decks, the category cards and adjective cards. Then place both face down into a central area. Get comfy, pour a drink, and get ready to argue.. sorry I mean have some fun! How To Play 3 of a Kind One player now draws two category cards and chooses one they like and places this down face up for all to see. Discard the other. The next three players now draw two adjective cards, again choosing one they like and placing this face up for all to see and discarding the other card. There will now be one category card and three adjective cards face up ready for that round. All players now must think of an answer for that rounds category that fits the three face up adjectives. Writing their answers into their score pad. You will want to match your answers with other players, so think universally. Laterally. Try not to be too obscure, unless that is what floats the rest of your groups boat of course! You need to have unique answers for each question, no repetition. This is sometimes easy. Quickest green thing. A Frog? A Jaguar XJS in British racing green? other times it can be baffling! The craftiest Animal noise? Errr... how about a Cow mooing? That could be crafty? Oh, I don't know. I just review games. I am not good at them. Just ask the people who play with me! When everyone has written their three answers down, players now reveal their answers. One by one, or shouting them out. However you fancy. If you match an answer with another player you score a point. If you match with multiple people you score multiple points. Mark this off in your player pad. The person who chose the category will always reward one bonus point for their favourite answer. Repeat this either for six rounds or until someone fills in all their score pad. Or just play for fun. Whatever works for you. It's a party game remember. Is It Fun? 3 of a Kind Party Game Review You can play this game in several ways. Seriously, trying your best to match with other people. Or play a bit like Cards Against Humanity, and simply aim to get the biggest laugh each round! Both work, and you won't annoy other people if you play different ways as this is an individual game. However, some players may bank on you saying X when you say Y, and maybe you would normally say X; it was just that Y was funnier! That could cause some frustration! But you cannot take this game too seriously, and arguments over answers really are a big part of this game. If that all sounds like fun to you, you will have a blast with this game! If that sounds a bit too random, lacking in strategy, and perhaps a bit chaotic and stressful, I would urge you to try a different game. This may not be for you. But you can, of course, all agree to play a bit more seriously, and genuinely try to match each other's answers. Learning from each other's previous answers and guessing based on their personalities. But then it just becomes the inverse of Just One, and I would rather play Just One in this situation. Player count is crucial for this game. Considering this is all about matching answers, the more the merrier. I would say four minimum, but ideally more. It does work with fewer, it's just not as fun. However, I have tried it with two, in a more intimate "genuinely trying to guess each other's answers and get a match" type style, and it was fun! Strategic even. Certainly a very different experience. Not funny. Not really a party game. More of a personality match test for couples! But interesting nonetheless. For a game that can be learned in minutes, taught in even less time, and played in any environment, with pretty much any type of person, this is a great addition to any collection. Only you know how much game time it will get, and if it will add to your own collection of party games. For me, I am currently obsessed with it, cannot stop playing with anyone I get the chance to do so, and have loved every second with this game. Just don't take it too seriously!

Movie Scene It? WBG Score: 6 Player Count: 2 - or two teams of any size. You’ll like this if you like: Blockbusters , Movies! Designed by: Craig Kinzer , Dave Long Published by: Imagination Games This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . Do you remember those DVD-based games, big in the noughties, where you would gather around a huge TV and play trivia games based on clips seen on a DVD? Well, if so, it is likely you were playing something from the Scene It? range. Well, they have moved on and the games now run on an app-based system, offering the same interactive video-based trivia experience, but in a much more digestible format suitable for 2024. But is it fun? Well, let's get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up Movie Scene it? For your first game, you need to activate your game to link the code in your instruction booklet to the app. So, download the free app onto your device, and add in the activation code. You will also need to set up an account if you don't have one already. When done, this will never have to be done again. Now, place the board on the table. You can open it up to the full board for a longer game, or keep it folded in a circle for a shorter game. Other than length, nothing else changes. Each player then chooses a game piece to play as, Monopoly style, and places it on the starting space. Now place the Buzz cards on the space for them, or beside the board if you are playing with the small version. Pile the trivia cards face down next to these. Give each player a category reference and place the two dice into a central area. Finally, set up your device so everyone can see it. Linking to the TV is best, but whatever works for you. Decide what length of countdown you want on the timer for the questions, ten, 20, or 30 seconds. Your choice. You are now ready to play. How To Play Movie Scene it? The first player will now roll both dice. One will show how far you move your playing piece along the spaces of the board, the second will show which challenge you will face. All the challenges are based on various film trivia knowledge, either using the cards or app; and work either on your own against the timer, or as an all play, with the first player to answer out loud correctly first declared the winner of that round. The My Play face of the dice means the player who rolled the dice will face an on-screen challenge on their own. If they answer correctly within the time frame, they roll both dice again. If they answer incorrectly, their turn ends. The questions will be based on a short film scene that will play on your device, with the question following shortly afterwards. The All Play works the same, but now with the question being open to all players. If the player who rolled the dice guesses correctly first, they continue their turn. If anyone else answers correctly first, they will move their playing piece forward one space. Play then moves to the next player in clockwise order. If no one answers correctly, play simply moves to the next player. The Trivia card questions are split into three main types: Take Three, Songs and Slogans, and Pop Culture. Simply follow the instructions on the card itself. You can use the on-screen timer again for these trivia card questions. The Buzz card side of the die means the player who rolled must now draw the top card from the Buzz deck. These cards will help you or another player. Some activate immediately, others can be played at a later point. If you roll the Player's Choice side of the die, you can choose any of the above categories, including the Buzz card if you wish. If you land on a Double Feature space, on your next roll, you will move twice the number of spaces shown on the numbered die. Players continue this way until they reach the final space on the track. When you do, you must attempt to win an All Play question. If you succeed, congratulations, you have won the game. If not, move into the central space marked with a three. On your next turn, you will enter the Final Cut on the app and attempt to answer the question correctly. In the outer three-ring, you will have three questions to answer. If you get them all right, you win. If you fail, you will move into the middle two-ring. On your next turn, you will need to answer two questions correctly to win. If you fail again, move into the final central space where you will have just one question to answer on your next turn. The first player to win either way is declared the winner, and the game ends. Is It Fun? Movie Scene It? Party Game Review If you like movie trivia, great! I'm fairly sure you will enjoy this. If not, then feel free to walk away. However, fair warning: I quite like movie trivia, but found this game to be a bit niche at times, especially during the film clip All Play and My Play rounds. I suppose, like anything, it's easy if you know it. Some questions were very simple, but others weren't necessarily difficult—they were just about movies I'd never heard of. That said, this was rare. Most of the questions are about films like Jaws , Kill Bill , and Mamma Mia!  Most movie fans should feel at home with this. If you know actor and director names, or if you're a fan of famous taglines, songs, characters, and other film trivia, you'll be in movie heaven. For younger players, this may be a little tricky. Finding Nemo  and other family films are included, but you really do need a broad knowledge of films from the last 50 years to have a good chance of winning. Of course, in a team setting, most players will be able to contribute at some point. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys film quizzes. The system is slick, the questions are varied, and the process is fun. If you don't like movie trivia, I doubt you've made it this far into the review. But obviously, this isn't for you. The app system is excellent—easy to set up, with great visuals, high production values, and a variety of questions. Even if you see the same clip twice, the question about it will invariably be different. And one final word about the playing pieces: they are weighty, gorgeous, and generally a delight to hold. Remember those arguments over who got to be the car in Monopoly? Well, prepare for round two!

Canopy WBG Score: 8 Player Count:1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Flourish , Village Green , Santa Monica Published by: Weird City Games Designed by: Tim Eisner Canopy was a huge Kickstarter success back in January 2022. It hit the crowdfunding sweet spot with gorgeous looks, accessible but interesting gameplay, and was sold at a fair price. Over 5,000 backers later, the game is now on its second retail print run, has received all sorts of positive reviews, and has gained thousands of admirers from around the world. But what makes this little box card game so special? Let's get it to the table and find out. Set Up Getting this delightful game to the table is very simple. Place the season cards down in the layout below to form the 'board.' Take the full deck of cards, shuffle them, remove 10 cards at random, then separate them into three piles of roughly the same size and place them into the locations for the three seasons. Draw six cards from the deck for the first season and place one card face down under the space for growth pile one. Do the same with two cards in growth pile two and with three cards in growth pile three. Place the seed deck next to this and give each player a reference sheet and starting tree card. Place the points and animal tokens into a central area, and you are now ready to play. So far, so green. But wait... How To Play Starting with the last player to water a plant (but not overwatered just to go first, that's just as bad as letting them dry out!) each player will now take cards from the central reserve, adding them to their canopy tableau in front of them. This is done in a very interesting way. First, you will look at the card(s) in growth pile one. If you like them, simply take them and add the cards to your collection. If you don't, you can put them back, face down, adding one extra card from the deck to it, making that pile a little bit more juicy for the next player. Then take a look at the card(s) in growth pile two. Again, if these are not for you, add an extra card to this pile and check out growth pile three. If this final one still does not tickle your fancy, you will have to take a single card blind from the top of the deck. If you take any card(s) from either growth pile, replace the now empty slot with one card from the deck. So, either way, you will be taking at least one card and adding it to your array, and reducing the deck by at least one card. The game will go on like this until the deck runs out, which signifies the end of season one. Some cards will be scored, removed, and actioned; more on that shortly (like, the next paragraph, okay? Just chill). Then season two will begin with the same process and end-of-season scoring. The game lasts three seasons before the game ends and final scoring is done. The cards come in six main types: Wildlife, Seeds, Threats, Trees, Plants, and Weather. Each has its own way of contributing towards your scoring options, either at the end of the season or, as is the case with the wildlife cards, at the end of the game. Plants mainly work in a classic set collection way. Collect a certain amount of the same card and get a certain amount of points. Get one more/less and get more/less points. The clever and interesting thing here is how the game gives you extra ways to get more or fewer cards to assist with these scoring opportunities. The Seeds cards allow you to draw one of three cards from the seeds deck at the end of the season for each seed card you have. The fire cards, if you have at least two, allow you to get rid of one card. This is a clever way for you to manipulate your scoring opportunities within each card's parameters. All plant cards are discarded at the end of a season, so you need to get to the sweet scoring spot before then. The wildlife works in one of two ways. Each animal comes in a pair. One card will score you points, the other will give you a power. But collect both, and you have a mating pair, and your points will grow exponentially. These are harder to collect a set for, as there are only two cards of each in the deck. But don't fear, you won't have to discard your wildlife cards at the end of each season. These cards stay in your array alongside the tree cards, giving you more time to find the other card. And remember the whole deck will be seen, other than the ten cards you removed at the start of the game. So, your chances are high. It just may take some time. Threats work by removing either animal cards, in the case of disease, or plant cards, in the case of fire. The more you have, the more cards are lost. Sometimes this is a good thing, getting you down to the most efficient and high-scoring set. Other times, this makes you lose points in a frustrating way. If you get three or more fire cards, the fire spreads and the other players at the table will start losing cards too. So, you could start collecting more to attack other people's tableau. Although, I have never seen this myself. Weather works quite simply, in a little set of its own. Rain is useless on its own. The sun working solo won't help you at all. But get both, and harmony is restored. Points are awarded. The tree cards come in two types: either as a trunk card or a canopy card. When you take a canopy card, if you have an open trunk, you must place the canopy over it, thus completing that tree. But if you draw more trunk cards, you can build up your tree, increasing its height and the chance of it winning the tallest tree that season, and also the points it will generate. Is it Fun? Playing Canopy is a real joy. In a strange way, it reminds me of Furnace . The games are completely different, but in the way that Furnace distils the engine-building mechanic and builds a game around this one core idea in a simple but brilliant way. Canopy does the same for set collection. As such, if you have ever enjoyed set collection in other games, then I would wager you will love this. Canopy looks gorgeous. The art is stunning and really brings the theme alive. Just look at the art of the tree cards below. Building them up to grow the tallest trees, gaining more points, but also creating something of real beauty. It just feels good to do this. As the game progresses and more cards hit the table, it will become hard not to stop and admire what you are creating. Everything just looks so pretty! I mention this not just because the art is nice, and this is a review of a card game, but because with a set collection game, I think having good art that really appeals helps so much with the overall game experience. You want to get a certain card not just because it gets you more points or finishes that set you have been collecting all game, but also because it looks stunning! This may be a small point, but one that I think goes some way to explaining why this game has been so successful. Make this an abstract game collecting shapes or numbers, and it will not sell one-tenth of this amount. Replace the art with photos, and I don't see this doing half as well. The art adds to the visual appeal of not just the game but the set collection process itself. When you complete a tree, you will score it at the end of the season. You will then place one of the animal tokens below into it to mark it as complete, so that you don't forget and accidentally score it again the next season. This is a nice touch, but again, it is more about making the experience more fulfilling and visually attractive, making the table presence more exciting and colorful. You could simply collect the cards in the tree and flip them over, but no. This game wants you to proudly keep all your trees out all game, looking stunning, and contributing to your overall tableau. Now, of course, there are the points available for the tallest tree each round, and then the most trees finished at the end of the game. So, there is a mechanical reason to keep them all out as well. But I think the visual benefit is the dominant force here. And I am all for that! Like everything in the game, the art, components, and simple ruleset draw me into this world. I am instantly immersed in the game. I find that when I play Canopy, I am lost in the game almost immediately, right until the last card is drawn and final scoring begins. It is a wonderful world to visit and get absorbed in, and I am drawn back to its charm, simplicity, and addictive gameplay. There is a three and four-player variant, but I think this game shines with two players. There are also the shifting season cards below, which add a variable to make each game feel different. But I don't think they are overly necessary. Perhaps after 20 games, you will gravitate towards them. I am 10 games in now and still very happy with the basic game. There is something about a game as pure as this. When a designer has distilled a mechanic in such a simple but effective rule set, I can see the temptation to then add shiny extras, especially via Kickstarter add-ons. But they don't always make the game better and often distract from what made the game so enjoyable to start with. However, they are nice to have and are there in the background when required. I would recommend this game to anyone who has ever enjoyed set collection as a process in any other game and is looking for a relaxed but rewarding two-player experience. Canopy delivers in spades for this, and I see this becoming a highly played game in my household. It is just so accessible, simple, and enjoyable. The ratio of fun to simplicity is always important for me as I play so often with my children. But I can see this being a regularly chosen filler game with adults on game night too. It is over a little too quickly for my liking, but I don't think a longer game would be better. That would require more cards, which would make collecting sets harder, and the balance right now is perfect. It's just that when it finishes, I always am left wanting more. But that's fine, just rack 'em up and go again!

Mind MGMT WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Beast , Scotland Yard , Fury of Dracula . Published by: Off the Page Games Designed by: Jay Cormie r , Sen-Foong Lim Mind MGMT is an American comic that ran from May 2012 to August 2015. It only had 36 issues, so it is very easy to get into, enjoy, and finish. In 2021, the design team behind games such as Junk Art and Akrotiri came together again to turn this masterpiece of a comic into a game. Working with the same artist and writer as the original production, Matt Kindt, the game has the same feel as the comic, but does it play as well as it looks? Set Up First, decide who will play as the rogue agents and which single player will play as Mind MGMT. You can have between one and four players working together as the rogue agents, but only one on the other side. Position yourselves around the board accordingly in teams, next to your area. Give the player working as Mind MGMT their screen, recruit pieces, stack of footprint tokens, one mind slip token, a dry wipe pen, and the two recruiter cards for them to choose one in secret. Then give the players working as the rogue agents their player pieces, mental note tokens, character cards, and pens. Place the time piece on the 01:00 - 05:00 space in the time track. There is a training mission to learn the game, and then the full game. If you are playing the training mission, you are pretty much done with the setup. Just block off the last two spaces on the time track to make a shorter game. You are now ready to go. In the full game, there are a few more steps. You will now give five mayhem pieces to place on the board. These pieces block movement between squares and can be placed anywhere on the board, just not next to each other. The player playing as the recruiter will now write a 'one' on their starting location on their mini board. In the training mission, they will mark this on the main board as well to show the rogue agents where they are starting. But usually, you would not do this. Your location is kept secret at all times. It's sort of the point of the entire game! They will then draw three feature cards at random, mark off each of their selected features on their mini board so they can easily move to them, and then mark a two, three, four, and five in orthogonally adjacent spaces. This shows their movement over the subsequent four hours. The recruiter will add on the four Immortal figures onto the board, on any separate space other than the outside edges. Whilst this is being done, the rogue agents will need to place their characters onto the board. In the training game, they have no additional powers. In the full game, each agent has its own unique power, so be sure to have your rogue card the right way up so you can easily see this. They will then place their agents onto any space on the outside edge of the board. The agents will now place a second mind slip token anywhere they like on the board as long as it is next to one of the two temples spaces. They will then draw two additional feature cards and place them face up under the immortal recruiting label. You are now ready to play. How to Win Players will now take turns to complete their mission. For the player playing at Mind MGMT, they need to move onto spaces that match their feature cards to recruit nine or twelve agents, depending on whether this is the training or full game. Each location they move onto that has a matching feature will add one to their goal. They can move one space each turn, and every other turn, when they move the timepiece onto a red time spot, you must declare how many recruits you have made in your last two turns. If you ever reach your goal, the game immediately ends, and you win. The rogue agents are simply trying to find you. If they ever play a 'reveal' card on a space where the player playing as Mind MGMT is at the same time, the game immediately ends, and the rogue agents collectively win. If the rogue agents fail to find the player acting as Mind MGMT, and the Mind MGMT player fails to reach their recruiting goal, but the time runs out, Mind MGMT wins. How to Play The player acting as Mind MGMT is looking to move around, avoiding the capture of the rogue agents. They need to make a beeline for their target recruits, but also avoid the gaze of the agents. Initially, this will seem simple, and the advantage will appear to side with them. But as the rogue agents reveal their powers, you will quickly see how clever this game is. On the rogue agents' turn, they can activate any two of their characters. They can all move one or two spaces and then carry out one action. This could be to move to a location, pick one of the two features there, and then ask the Mind MGMT player if they have at any point been on any location with this specific feature. If this has happened, the Mind MGMT player now needs to place one footprint token on any one of these locations they had been on. If they had visited more than one location with this feature during their previous movement, they can put the footprint token on either one. It does not have to be the most recent. But this will start to build a path for the rogue agents to follow. Each space has two features, so sometimes Mind MGMT visits features they don't want or need to in their desire to reach other features. Or perhaps it was just on their way. Or maybe it's one of the three features they are chasing? The rogue agents can, on a later turn, move to any location with a footprint and ask the Mind MGMT player to declare at what exact time they were there. Very handy if it was recent! The agents also have their own unique powers to help build up the picture of where the Mind MGMT has been. One character can ask if the Mind MGMT is in any two orthogonally adjacent spaces at that point. The rogue agents can also use their mental note tokens to keep track of the information they gather. It's starting to sound like the game favours them now, isn't it? Well, never fear. The player playing as the Mind MGMT still has a few tricks up their sleeve. They can move onto one of the two temple locations and move diagonally in either direction, or use their mind slip token to jump two spaces either orthogonally or diagonally, depending on which character they chose during setup. This is not known by the rogue agent. However, they will know when you use it. The Mind MGMT player must discard their mind slip token when it is used to show the power has been activated. But all this will tell the rogue agents is that the Mind MGMT character is now two spaces away from their last location in either direction. And remember, their last location may not be known. Although the Mind Slip is often used when the rogue agents are about to pounce! It's starting to slip back in favour of the Mind MGMT player now! Well, this is exactly how this game works. You will play games that sometimes seem to favour the agents, and other times the Mind MGMT. Perhaps this is down to luck. Sometimes this is skill. Perhaps this is the player's strategy. Either way, the best bit of this game is about to come. Prepare yourself. Are you prepared? OK, read on. After each game, the losing team can open a secret wallet filled with goodies. There are 14 of these packages, seven designed for each team. You can open one per loss, in order. Each time, you will be presented with a mini comic and some cool new rules and components that will help the team that previously lost in their next game. In subsequent games, when they are all open, you can add these in as you see fit to try and create the perfect game for you, balanced based on who is playing. You can set the rules and components as best for you and how you enjoy playing. But as you open them game by game, it is a thing of pure joy! I don't want to spoil this, so I won't say or show much more, but it brings you back for game after game. A large part of the fun in this game is exploring these for yourself as you play. This is a campaign game that creates new and exciting rules and additions each game. But always in the favor of the team that lost the last game to even things out as you play. It creates a swing effect between victories. This is called the SHIFT system, and it is utter genius. I absolutely adore it. Is it Fun? Oh my goodness, is this fun! The basic game alone is very good. If you like hidden movement games, then you will enjoy this. It feels very much like other games in its genre. But the shift system completely rips up the rule book and makes Mind MGMT stand apart. This now has to be seen as the benchmark in hidden movement games. It takes the mechanic to a new level, time and time again as you play through the campaign, and I cannot think of how anyone would not enjoy that process, even if the game itself isn't for them. But as a semi-cooperative game, this has something for everyone. Either play as a team trying to find the Mind MGMT, or work alone and try to trick your friends. The powers you have from game one (well, game two in truth) are brilliant fun to use, and they only get better and better. You will want to play Mind MGMT just so you can open another Shift box and play again. It is incredibly addictive in all the good ways. It is fun to switch between the roles of rogue agent and Mind MGMT as well, although like other campaign games such as Undaunted , you may find yourself emotionally connecting with one team and wanting to play as them each time, especially as you get to try new powers each time you lose. This also creates a very interesting feeling when winning and losing in this game. Obviously, you want to win, but losing rewards you with a very exciting and juicy prize! So, it's a win-win situation, really. And what game can legitimately say that? As you would expect from a game inspired by a comic book, the art is stunning. The world in this game looks just like the one from the comic books, and fans of the series will be transported straight into this mysterious clandestine story. If you have not read the comics, you won't be confused or miss out on anything. The game explains it all. But I would suggest that, like games such as Batman , this game is made a little bit more special when you fully immerse yourself in the comic as well. I would recommend this game to anyone who has played games like Scotland Yard and enjoyed it but felt it was lacking a little something. Mind MGMT adds in that little something. And then some more. And then some more, and then even more. Until you feel there can be no more. And then some more on top. As such, I would say that Mind MGMT is a masterpiece and a genre-defining moment in the board game hobby.

Stamp Swap WBG Score: 8.5/10 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Castles of Mad King Ludwig , 7 Wonders , Stamp collecting! Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Paul Salomon This is a free review copy. See our review policy here . There is always a bit of a fanfare with any Stonemaier release. Their marketing is generally excellent, the games sell well, though not always popular; and with the big hitters such as Wingspan and Scythe , they have played a huge part in redefining what the modern era of board games is all about. No question. The reaction to Stamp Swap was a little different. I can only think it was because the theme underwhelmed some people. Not everyone is into stamps, I suppose. But neither am I, and I was still buzzing for this. The reason? The fusion of Open Drafting and I Cut You Choose intrigued me. Drafting things that you then must split into two piles, only one of which you get to keep, sounded like a fascinating mechanical fusion. But does it work? Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Stamp Swap Each player takes a player board and places in front of them. Note the Exhibitor ticket built into the board for each player. This adds a small amount of asymmetry and early game focus as each player will gain points from different types of stamps according to their own board. Everyone now chooses their player colour and takes a reference card, three Show Tickets, and two score markers in their chosen colour. Next, place the main board down into a central playing area, and each player will add one of their two scoring cubes into the zero starting space on the outer score tracker. Keep the other back for when you circle the board for the first time. Which will happen! Now, place the Phase token onto the first space at the beginning of Friday. The game will run over three rounds, which will track the phases and rounds. On the main board, you will notice spaces for five different coloured cards. Take the Contest decks and shuffle them independently, and draw one card from each colour, placing it face up onto each space. Alternatively, you can shuffle them all together and draw cards until you have one of each colour. There are five spaces, one being the Finale. Place the unused cards back into the box; you will only use one of each for every game. Finally, shuffle the Attendee cards, which include both the specialist and exhibitor cards, and place them into a face-down pile; along with the Event cards, which should also be shuffled separately into their own face-down pile. Assign the first player token to the last person to mail something. You are now ready to begin. How To Play Stamp Swap At the start of each round, one player will draw one Event card equal to the number of players. Place these on top of each other, so you can only see the text on the very top card. Then use the symbols shown on each card to draw the stamps and cards that will be drafted in this round in what is known as the daily collection. Note the imagery used for face-up or face-down stamps, and also the cards. It will be a mix of stamps and Attendee cards being drafted. Then read the text on the top card so all are aware of the new rule active this round. This could be a mix of being able to swap items from your collection with those in the daily collection, being able to add items from the supply to the daily collection, being able to reserve extra items, and different ways to score that round. At the start of the next round, remove the top card, add another to the bottom, create the new daily collection, and read the new rule from the now uncovered top card. This way, you have some information about upcoming rounds, in that you can see some of what may be coming in the next drafting phase. Once this is done, the game begins, starting with the drafting phase. This phase is called "Collect" in the game, but follows a traditional drafting mechanic. Players will take turns to draft one of the items from the daily collection, adding it to their player mat. There is space for six items there, just to remind you how many you take each round. However, as shown above, some Event cards can change the amount you can take. The first player will go first, adding the first player token to the daily collection as they do this. Players then take turns to take one stamp, card, or the first player token until all players have drafted the allowed amount of items for that round. The cards will either be Specialist cards adding in-game powers and two points to the final scoring, or Exhibitor cards that add end-of-round scoring for all remaining rounds in the game. Note, the gold-coloured stamps are rare stamps. They score well on their own at the end of the game, but do not contribute towards any colour, size, or theme in the end-of-round scoring. the other stamps come in one of five themes, colours, and sizes. Also, be aware of the single space forever stamps. Again, they cannot help you in the end game scoring, but will help fill holes to create what you need for the Finale. If the First player token is still present when the final player drafts the final item, they can take the first player item along with whatever else they took that round. Players then move to the second phase, moving the round tracker marker accordingly on the main board. This is the first part of the "Swap" phase and is carried out simultaneously. First, all players will choose one item from those recently drafted to put into their Reserve area. Each round, one of the items is guaranteed to be yours. But no more! This is no ordinary drafting game. Now comes the twist. Players will now need to cut the remaining items into two piles. Usually five items, usually one pile of two and one pile of three items. But it is up to you how you do this. Each pile must have at least one item in, but you could do a pile of one and another of four. Your choice. Any items you drafted face down must remain face down. You can look at your own face-down items, but do not reveal them to the other players yet. Perhaps the mystery here will make them more alluring? Maybe it adds too much risk and randomness to a pile? Either way, forge your piles carefully as you will only keep one of them. Look at what other players may want or need and try to tempt them with something juicy that you do not want to keep! Players will then take turns, starting with the new first player in the "Swap" phase. They can take any one single pile from any player, other than themselves. Take all items in one pile and move it to your play area. When one player has one of their piles taken, they can then move the other pile they created into their area. Players cannot take both piles from one player. One always remains as their own. Each player will choose one pile like this until all have now taken one pile from another player, and kept one of their own piles for themselves. If, in a three-player game, player A takes from player B, and player B takes from player A, player C is then left with both of their original piles for themselves. This is the only way you will keep all the tiles you drafted in the "Collect" phase. Finally, the "Show" phase begins, where, simultaneously, players will place their newly acquired items into the relevant areas. Specialist and Exhibitor cards are placed on the space designated for them on the players' boards, and Stamps are placed onto the player mats. You can place stamps wherever you like, as long as they don't overlap, hang off the edge, or move any existing stamps previously placed in an earlier round. All stamps must be placed upright with the value or cancellation mark in the top right. Placement matters based on this game's Contest cards, especially the finale. Once all players have done this, each player will score their current collection. In later rounds, you can do this simultaneously, but it makes sense to do this one at a time with new players, especially in the first round, or if you just want a bit more interaction between players. It does not slow things down too much and makes it more interactive. However, for a faster game, all players can simply do this on their own, when ready. Players will score for three things. Two points go to the player with the first player token. Players then score for their Exhibitor cards, of which all players have at least one - the one on their player board. This typically will be points awarded for specific types of stamps. These will score each round. So, the earlier you get them, the more valuable they will be to you. Finally, all players will now pick one of the four Contest cards. There are five, but you cannot pick the Finale card at this point. There are three rounds, and four cards available, so note one of these four will be irrelevant to each player in each game. You just need to focus on three of them. And the Finale, of course. Players choose which one they want to score this round, place their show ticket of their colour underneath it, and take the points for this card. The cards offer points based on colour, theme, size, or if they are cancelled stamps. Note your collection will only get bigger, and you can only pick each card once per game, so make a plan for what you will aim for in rounds two and three when making this choice. Also note that some cards offer points on a multiple of two or three. Maybe choose the two points in the early rounds when you have fewer stamps to hold back the three point cards for later rounds when your collection will have grown and the multiples will be higher. If this is the first or second round, set up for the next round. If this is the third round, score for the finale. This will be a space-related bonus; all players now score. Perhaps you have been tasked with creating 1x2 holes in your stamp collection, or empty regions (of any size), or perfect edges (all spaces of the edge of the board are filled with stamps). Players then score based on whoever has the most Forever stamps. These are the one-by-one-sized stamps. The player with the most gets ten points. Six points go to the player with the second most, three to the person in third. In a two-player game, add an imaginary player with three Forever stamps for the purposes of this scoring alone. Players now score two points for all Specialist cards they gained during the game, and the face-up value on each stamp in their collection. Note: some stamps have zero value, and some offer a negative score. Total your final score and the player with the most points wins. The tie breaker is set by the player with the highest value of rare stamps. If there is still a tie, well then players share the victory. Is It Fun? Stamp Swap Board Game Review Enjoying this game will come down to three things. First, do you like the theme? If so, I can see this being highly intriguing to you, and a fun game simply due to the nature of there being so few games about stamps! However, I hate this theme, and love the game. So, this is not a requirement to liking this game, I just think it will help you enjoy it more if you do like the theme. Second, the length. This is a fast game. The box suggests 20-60 minutes, which is accurate. I have finished a two-player game in 25 minutes, and a three-player game in 30. It goes fast once players are familiar with the rules and strategy. If you like fast games like this, you may well again find this a big pull for a game of this weight. It delivers a beautifully mid-weight game in a really quick time. Finally, and most importantly, do you like the fusion of mechanics. Let's get into that! A lot of people like drafting games. They are very popular as they offer you a high degree of control. You choose what you get, rather than being dealt it. The luck element is taken out, and people feel like they can strategize towards their own goals. Equally, "I Cut You Choose" is a very popular mechanic too. People like being able to create something to try and entice another player, meaning they get to keep the other thing - the thing they wanted all along. Mixing these two mechanics is quite rare. I cannot think of another game that has done it. And it has split opinions. Some do not like drafting things they do not get to keep. They say it takes away the control I mentioned above. Others, myself included, feel it makes the drafting phase even more interesting. You are not just taking things you want, you are taking things you think the other players want. Equally, if you miss out on something you did want in the draft phase, you may well still get it in the Swap phase. I love the thought of drafting when I am trying to build a group of items I want to keep and another I want to try and entice another player into taking. It adds a huge element of difference to the drafting phase compared to the many other drafting games out there, and for me, makes the draft more strategic. I can see why others simply want to draft and keep what they want. But that just isn't this game. If that is what you want, there are thousands of drafting games out there that do that. This game is different, and I feel this right here is the crux of this game's success or failure. It is a strange thing to criticise in my opinion. As I say, there are many MANY other pure drafting games out there. Do we really need another just because it's about stamps? This game is trying to do something new by fusing these two rarely seen together mechanics, and I feel they do it in a really smart way. It also makes sense to me thematically. You are at a convention. You get new items each day. You then use these to swap with other collectors to try and get what you want. This is how it happens in the real world. Sort of. And I like it. But think yourself if this mechanical marriage will work for you or not. Outside of this, I love the art of the stamps. Some of the themes do cross over a little and cause some confusion as to what exactly they are at first glance. You can easily figure it out, they just do not immediately pop out as theme X, or colour Y. You need to get your eye in, so to speak, and really look at the stamps you have. This is a good thing, as it adds some concentration and focus. Also, the stamp art is beautiful, and I like looking at them. There is no insert, and the game doesn't quite have the same level of polish as some other Stonemaier titles. While nothing is subpar, there isn't a standout component like in many other Stonemaier productions. When packed away, it looks fine, and set-up and pack away is very easy. But an insert would have been nice. Mechanically, the only thing that disappoints me is that when it comes to the placement of the stamps in the game, there is a sense of insignificance. While the finale does manage to salvage some of the relevance of stamps and where they go, the overall impact of this falls short. I find myself wishing for more agency in this particular aspect of the game. Enhancing this element by increasing the significance of where and how the stamps are placed could potentially elevate the gaming experience to a whole new level. You can get a lot of points from the Finale, which is all about where the stamps are, but it's not difficult. The stamps are all an easy shape. You cannot rotate them, and you can place them where you like. So, achieving optimum points for the Finale seems procedural more than a strategic challenge. That said, the game works so well. The pace and length are perfect. The weight is also ideal. I love the look and feel of it all. The point scoring opportunities excite me. Your points ramp up very quickly and you will circle the board a few times in most games. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys stamps, that goes without saying. But also for anyone who enjoys Drafting or I cut, you choose games, and is looking for something a little different in that area. This certainly delivers there. First class! (Sorry).