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Obsession WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-4 Published by: Kayenta Games Designed by: Dan Hallagan By Steve Godfrey This is a free review copy. See our review policy here At this point you’re probably expecting a review filled with more Downton Abbey puns than Maggie Smith's film roles. Thankfully for you I’ve not seen Downton Abbey, Bridgerton or really any of those era programs for that matter so you’ve all been spared. Considering Maggie Smith has 221 credits to her name it seems like so have I! How to court a Fairchild I won’t go into how the setup works, but I do want to highlight one part. Get players to pick a house to play as, once they do hand them their house box. Now, if you’ve done the prep work when you were punching the game then this should be filled with all of their starting components including any starting bonuses they have. It makes life so much easier and is such a simple and beautiful component. Plus they look at you like you’ve just handed them a small box of chocolate. However if you just punched the game and threw everything into the big boxes then this is going to be an empty box and just know that Dame Maggie is very disappointed in you right now. Games of Obsession will play out over 16 or 19 rounds depending on how long you want the game to run. Each round will play out the same way but some will have the added bonus of special events that will trigger on each player's turns that round (except for one which I’ll get into.) I won’t explain all of them but for example, the Village Hall round will net a player £300 if they have the private study tile flipped over. On a turn you can do one of three possible things, each made up of a few steps. The first thing you do on a turn will be to rotate your staff. As the game goes on and you use staff they will become exhausted and will take a couple of turns before they become useful again (honestly, nothing has been more relatable to me in board games than this sentence.) Rotating the staff shifts them one step towards becoming usable again. Next you trigger the rounds event if it has one. Here’s where you have a choice of things to do. If you decide to host an event you choose one of the event tiles in your house that is numbered equal to or lower than your current reputation level. The tile will tell you which member of staff it requires and how many and what type of guests it requires. So maybe 2 gentlemen or 3 gentry. Because let’s face it, you can’t have any old riff raff looking into your Cabinet of Curiosities, it’s not an episode of Come Dine With Me. You play the required guests from your hand of cards and, like events, they have to have the same or lower reputation level as your own. Each card will have a number of benefits on them and some guests may also require you to spend staff to see to their needs. Which you’ll do next by taking staff from your available service and placing them on the cards they’re needed on. Next, take all the benefits from the event and the cards that you played. These could be money, reputation, gaining new guest cards or discarding guests. Be aware though as some cards have negative effects. Next you get to add to your estate by buying a new tile from the market. New tiles mean new events to host, potentially better benefits and more points. Speaking as someone who's about to start their second house renovation, the idea of adding entirely new wings to my house is giving me all kinds of anxiety. Lastly clean the board by placing any used staff in the spent area, place the played guests in a personal discard pile and put the tile back in your estate. If it’s the first time you’ve played that tile then flip it over. This new side will now either be worth more points, have a better benefit when used or a combination of both. Gaining new staff works largely the same with the same phase structure except rather than hosting an event, you play the staffing tile and take two new staff from the supply on the board which then go into the spent area on your board. The last thing you can do is pass. Here you’ll reset all your staff to the available area, return all your cards to your hand and then you have a choice to either collect £200 or reset the market board. After that you can buy from the market as usual. One important round event is the courtship. At the start of each phase you’ll reveal a theme card from the deck. This will show a tile type. When the courtship round begins whoever has the most victory points on this tile type in their house will have the privilege of courting one of the two Fairchilds. The winner takes one of these cards into their hand to use in future turns. These cards have powerful benefits and are worth eight points at the end of the game. The winner will also take a victory point card. These cards can be kept and used for their VPs at the end of the game, or cashed in at any time for the bonus on them.  A couple of things to note are that ties for first place means that no one gets the card (but all tied players get a VP card) Also courtship happens a few times during the game so if in a future round someone else wins they could potentially take that card from you. The Fairchilds are fickle people and your opponents shiny new riding stables could be enough to sway them over to theirs. The game will end after the allotted rounds and points will be gained from cards in hand, money, VP cards, tiles in your house and from objective cards you’ve completed. Shall we take tea on the lawn? I first heard about Obsession a few years ago while watching 3 Minute board games top ten games on YouTube. It seemed to have been out for a while and seemingly no one had heard of it, but it was one that I’d kept on my ‘to check out’ list. Then, out of almost nowhere, it was everywhere. Everyone was talking about it and like a phoenix from the ashes this game was reborn and was (yes I’m going to make this joke now to get it out of the way) becoming everyone’s new obsession. I’m still not sure what kicked the hype train into gear…..but the real question is, does it live up to it? By the designers own admission this is a theme first type of game. Mechanisms are of course important but if they’re not serving the theme then, like the riff raff that your particular houses would turf out, they won’t be welcome here. I think that’s the perfect way to describe each mechanism here. Every one fits so well thematically, so well in fact that it really lets the theme shine and you can’t help but be drawn in by it. Within the first couple of rounds in our first multiplayer game we found ourselves loudly announcing, in our best Victorian voices, that “house Ponsonby would be hosting bowles on the lawn and in attendance would be (insert typical Victorian gentry name here)” Now all of this isn’t necessary for you to enjoy the game of course, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t add to the experience for me. The whole game delivers on its thematic promise. If you have any interest in this era of history or anything based on it either books or TV then this will instantly be in your wheelhouse theme wise. It’s a different type of theme that we’re used to as well and I think that’s one of the things that initially drew me to it. I’ve never really been into this era of media except a few episodes of Doctor Who, but I think it’s just a fun world to play in for a couple of hours whether you're into it or not. Everything about it is instantly recognisable and you know exactly how to play into this world should you want to. “Do anything rather than marry without affection” The mechanics aren’t just thrown together for mechanics sake though. Everything works together so well. It’ll soon have you questioning if you should build that music room, have people round to see your riding stable and most importantly, should you actually invite James Hereford esq. round for tea in the morning because he is the absolute worst. Obsession gives you loads to think about, so much so that this could turn into an AP nightmare if you let it. Of course you’ll want to host the biggest and highly reputable events as soon as you can, they get you the most stuff after all, but you really shouldn’t ignore those smaller events either because they could be worth negative points at the end if you do. The whole game is a balancing act and just because you can hold a big event that lets you invite 7 gentry, doesn’t mean you should. Have you ever hosted a party with loads of friends and family? Do you remember how spent you were the next day? Yeah, well that’s exactly what will happen there with your staff and your guests if you do. I’m not saying don’t do that, but sometimes a nice game of Whist in the drawing room is what’s needed instead. I love that puzzle of trying to ration out your staff so you can do, at the very least, good turns rather than those turns where you’ve backed yourself into a corner and you can only use the family cards that you started with and a basic event. I love the mini engines you can build in this game and it’s so satisfying to get them running. With the right combination of tiles, cards and staff you can host an event that will surely be the talk of the county and net you a whole cavalcade of money, reputation and guests to add to your roster. If played well then you’ll find that you’ll be taking very few full refresh turns in a usual game, but with big combos like that you may be tempted to take one or two more just so you can experience those big turns more often. Aside from the big mechanics, there are a few other things that Obsession does that are really welcome ideas. At two particular points in the game the tile market will change. In one, all of the service tiles will now start to be put in their own section of the board rather than in the market and they can be bought at a set cost (taking into account any discounts on the tiles). At another point this will happen to the level one tiles. It’s a lovely idea that means the market isn’t getting bogged down with tiles that people are less likely to take because you’ve grown above those sort of petty events in your now flourishing house. Throughout the game you’ll be drawing and discarding objective cards. This is another thing that I think more games should be doing. Making a choice of objective cards when you know which will work and what won’t just makes sense. You can still work towards each objective but if one isn’t going your way, bin it. I’m starting to feel a little tired of games that ask you to choose objectives at the start of the game before you even know how you’re going to approach the game. My last little thing is in the way you can spend reputation to give you a boost. On your turn you can spend some reputation to gain some money, refresh a worker or refresh the tile market (this last one is only once per round). It may not sound like much but these little things could be the difference of an “ok” turn to a “great” turn. “We must always travel in hope” There are a few negative cards in the deck which could easily put you on the back foot, especially if you're unlucky enough to get a few of them. There are ways to mitigate this of course. Everyone starts with a card with the ability to get rid of those negative cards and some other cards will have this as well. There are also cards that let you take a number of cards and choose between the ones you’ve drawn. How well the mitigation works depends on if you can get your hands on those items and how many negative cards you need to rid yourself of. I know this sort of thing bothers some people but the randomness isn’t really something that bothers me personally, (heck one of my favourite games is Ark Nova if you want to talk about random draws) If you like, see it as hosting one of those parties where your friend asks if they can bring a friend from work with them. That person could end up being someone you hang out with in the future, or they could be the worst…..like James Hereford esq. Another admission by designer Dan Hallagan is that the rulebook is “dense” so if you’re an avid rulebook only learner then be prepared for some reading. I personally used Meeple University's excellent rules video. The game is pretty intuitive once you’ve got the rules. The only questions I tend to get after a teach are about smaller things and not really about the main flow of the game. So the question I asked earlier was, is it worth the hype? In this case! Yes. I’m always sceptical when a game gets this much hype. In a lot of cases you see those games everywhere on social media and then just as quick as they appeared they’re gone and never spoken of again. Obsession though will be one of those games that sticks around. Even after the initial social media burst I still see this one being played and posted about and I still see the love for it and deservedly so. One of the many reasons is that this game is a clear labour of love, that’s not to say that other games aren’t of course. But being the designer, artist and publisher of the game, Dan Hallagan goes all out to make this game the best experience he can for people. A great example of this is a thread on board game geek (here) that is full of ways and tips to get people playing the game with ease while giving them the best possible experience right out of the gate. Obsession delivers a fun, thematic experience and at the same time has you deliberating harder over events and guests lists than you have done since your own wedding when you had to make sure that auntie Carol and uncle Roger weren’t on the same table because…well, you know. Come for the theme, stay for the brilliant puzzle and remember to not overwork your staff. I’m off to dive into some expansion goodness which includes the most important staff member of all, the cook!

By Steve Godfrey Welcome to my top ten game of 2023. As with last year this is my top ten games that I played for the first time this year and aren’t necessarily games that were released this year…….in fact, only two were actually released this year! Check me out keeping up with the new hotness! So, last year was a pretty great one for me in terms of new games with a whopping four of my top ten actually making it into my top ten games of all time at one time (three are still there). This year my top two games have that honour, so far. If I’ve already reviewed an entry I’ll add a link to it at the bottom if you want to read more of me waffling on about them. If I’ve not reviewed them, keep checking back because there may be reviews coming for them in the future. 10. Twilight Inscription Twilight Imperium is one of my favourite games so when this was announced in the year of the games 25th anniversary it was met with……scepticism to say the least. It’s an ambitious task making a flip/roll and write out of one of the biggest games out there but I really think designer James Kniffen has largely managed to pull it off. It does a good job at getting all the TI elements in and while it misses out on the high interaction factor of its bigger brother, it certainly delivers on the scale of the original and is a fun combo-tastic entry into the verb and write family. Oh and those orange chalk pens are really cool. 9. Cantaloop Book 3: Against All Odds Part one of this fun “point and click” style puzzle game series made last year's list with ease. There was a bit of a dip in quality with the second part. It was still fun, but a bit of a let down. But with the final part in this trilogy they’ve managed to bring it home in style with some fun, clever puzzles, and a genuinely emotional end to the story. If the second part knocked your confidence in the series then this is a fantastic return to form and well worth your time. 8. Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion It's a small box Gloomhaven (well small by Gloomhaven standards anyway) but it certainly doesn’t seem to skimp on that experience. Utilising a book instead of tiles for a map and using a genius five scenario tutorial system to ease you into the game. It’s full of a branching story, side quests, city missions and you can level up your character and get cool new abilities. The story so far is pretty fun and we've lovingly named the villain Roland Rat (there’s my obscure TV. reference for the list.) Even though it’s a smaller version it still packs a big punch of a game that we keep wanting to come back to. 7. Obsession A last minute(ish) addition to the list this one. There was a point a couple of years ago, and it’s largely true still, that you couldn’t scroll through your Instagram feed without seeing at least two posts about Obsession. Having now played it I can see why it gets the love that it does. It’s a great thematic game and it gives you lots of fun decisions to make as you try and juggle renovating a house while still trying to throw an epic party. It also serves as a good lesson in staff management if any future employers are interested. Full review here 6. Mille Fiore The box doesn’t exactly draw you in and scream “this is a fun game” but, if you can get people sat down for a game It won’t be long before they’ve also got hearts of glass. Come for those lovely “glass” tokens, stay for the fun tactical gameplay. It’s a great flip and write / point salad cross with loads of interactivity. Above all else the board looks fantastic as those beautiful coloured glass tokens start to fill it up. Full review here 5. Undaunted: Battle of Britain This is Undaunted Series first foray into a different theatre and for me it’s a massive success. They’ve managed to modify the system to capture the mechanics of planes in flight and still kept the undaunted systems' beautiful simplicity and tactical gameplay. It’s another triumphant entry into the system and it makes me excited to see what other theatres they’re going to explore in the future. Speaking of the future I can’t wait to see how they handle the future in Undaunted 2200: Callisto. Full Review here 4. Bantam West You just know a game is great when after one play you’re already considering selling its closest counterpart. I’ll also admit now that I think if I’d had played this a couple more times before I made this list then this could have been my number two Back in February 2022 I reviewed Western Legends, a fun sandbox game that lets you run round the old west Robbing banks, digging for gold and being an outlaw….or a Marshall, depending on how boring your feeling. I still stand by everything I said in that review and it’s still a great game……….however. The folks over at Bantam Planet must have decided that it wasn't quite sand boxy enough and set about making a game that took Western Legends and turned it up to eleven. It’s got so many things you can do that it could easily have been overwhelming, yet, it never felt that way. In fact they were just more things that you were excited to try and on the plus side were also helpful to your game. I love how balanced it felt. All four of us chose different strategies and there were only a couple of points in the final scores. One player had very little money throughout the game and hadn’t upgraded his movement, which could easily serve as a detriment in most games but here it was barely an issue. I’ve only played this once at the time of writing but if this one game is anything to go by then I may have to consider selling my copy of Western Legends. 3. Cubirds I’ve only played this twice physically but I’ve played it countless times on BGA and man is this addictive! Just as I finish one game I immediately want to rack it up and go again. Is it perfect?, no, and when I get round to reviewing it I’ll even point out some of those flaws. Regardless of those, I still love this game even after all my plays. I love how the race element ramps up as the game goes on, the tension as you hope no one else takes your cards and those almost sweat-inducing moments as two people are close to victory and nervously wait on a wing and a prayer for those cards you need. 2. Nidavellir “Nobody tosses a dwarf!” Unless of course you’re tossing him into the number two spot of a top ten. A relatively simple game of bidding, drafting and set collection but it’s so endlessly replayable. The coin upgrade system is such a fun way to change up what could easily have been a simple bidding system since you're now choosing between getting the cards you want and upgrading your coins to give you more choices later in the game. It’s not the most thematic of games but the sheer number of ways to build your dwarf army to obtain victory will have you wanting to try different strategies and combinations every time and that’s what makes this ridiculously addictive. Full review here 1.Undaunted Stalingrad So this may technically be cheating because I first played this game at the end of last year, but it was after the cut off for last year's list so I’m still counting it. Not ones to rest on their laurels, designers David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin took a simple, fun game system and turned it into a legacy game which kept everything great about the previous instalments and gave us this rich, strategic experience that I just kept wanting to jump back into. At the time of writing I’m almost through my second run through and I'm still just as excited to get back to it as I was the first time. I’m loving how things are evolving differently from my first play through and I can’t wait to see how it’s going to end. I called this as being my number one game right at the beginning of the year and honestly it would have taken a lot to beat it. It’s by far my favourite of the Undaunted games and has rightfully shot up into my top ten games of all time. Full review here

Blood Rage WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: Rising Sun, Ankh Published by: Cool Mini Or Not Designed by: Eric M. Lang By Steve Godfrey This is the reviewer's copy. See our review policy here As a note, I’ve painted my minis. I’ve also upgraded a couple of things as well. So the tiles I’ve used to denote destroyed provinces are ones that I found on board game geek (here) and laminated. As much as I love this game, even I have to admit that the title sounds like the name of a death metal band I would have come up with in school and then doodled on every surface I could get a pen to. How to survive Ragnarok. Each player takes a clan, clan board and sets their rage marker to 6. Then shuffle the province tiles and reveal and block off a number depending on your player count. Then, of the unused ones, place one on each of the ages on the round board face down, then reveal the first one and place the ragnarok token in that area. Then take the age one cards and deal out 8 to each player. In the first “Gods gifts” phase players will be drafting cards to make up their hand to be used in the next phase. Players will draft one card and pass the rest on. This will go on with each player drafting one card until everyone has seven cards in their hand. The last card you’re passed will be discarded unseen. Next you’ll go into the action phase. This phase will go on until either everyone is out of rage, has passed or when all of the open areas have been pillaged. On your turn you can take one of five possible actions. To invade, you place one of your clan onto an empty village on the map. Each figure has a strength number on them and when you place them on the map you need to pay that cost in rage. To march you pay one rage to move any number of your figures from one province to another on the map. You can upgrade your clan by playing an upgrade card in the appropriate space on your clan sheet and paying the cost in rage. If it’s a monster, ship, warrior or leader upgrade then you can immediately invade with them for free. Clan upgrades will give you permanent, unique and fun abilities that help flesh out your clan. Questing is a free action and here you'll place a green quest card face down. These will score you points at the end of the age as long as you achieve it. Finally pillaging is where you get into fisticuffs. Call a pillage in the province your in. If there are villages free in that province then anyone with figures in adjacent provinces can come and join the fight. Provided there are other players units to challenge you, each player counts up their total strength in the fight. Then everyone secretly chooses a battle card. These cards will add to your strength and will sometimes have other abilities on them. Players will reveal their cards, trigger any abilities then total their strength. The losers will have their units sent to Valhalla and the winner will gain glory points. If the winner was the player who called the pillage then they’ll win the clan stat upgrade that was in that province. The stats you can upgrade on your clan sheets will be, Rage, which will determine how much rage you start each round with. Glory will be how much glory you get from winning a fight and Horns will determine how many units you can have on the map at any one time. At the start of the game there is a four figure limit. For us this one tends to be the most forgotten rule of the game. As you reach the end of the tracks, these upgrades will be worth points as well. At the end of the round players discard down to one card, score quest cards, then ragnarok. The province marked with the Doom token is destroyed and any units in there along with it, however you do get points for everyone killed during it so it may be an idea to stick around. Especially in later rounds where the points for this increase each round. Ages two and three will play out the same as age one and after the end of age three the player with the most glory wins. Drafting, just like the Vikings used to. Blood Rage is my favourite drafting game. It’s a weird statement to make right? A game with all those big monster minis and I’m here talking about drafting. It’s easy to think that the drafting phase is just a fun, quirky way to choose your cards each round. But it’s actually just as integral to your entire game as what goes on during the action phase. It’s the backbone of your entire round and your opportunity to plan out what course it’s going to take. Sure, it’s drafting so not every card that comes your way is going to be gold, but just having that level of control is, for me, essential. It’s such a tactical part of the game. Not only in how you build your hand of cards in preparation, but also what you don’t let your opponents have access to. Now this does have a twinge of hate drafting to it. But usually you’ll be denying players those cards because they’re really great cards that are gonna help your game just as much as theirs. This will come into play more and more as you play the game more and with the same people and as you start to learn their preferences. It really rewards those multiple plays which you may only get a small taste for in your first couple of plays. The drafting brings with it this wonderful feeling of tension. As cards get passed round you’ll find yourself having to agonise over passing round some really good cards which you know will come back to bite you on your Asgard later in the game. The tense part is waiting to see who plays them and when. It’s the constant living in fear that some will play a Troll (who destroys other players' soldiers in an area when played) and literally wipe out all of your best laid plans. This usually evokes a “argh I forgot that card was out there” At first, drafting and a “dudes on a map” game about Vikings feels as weird a combination to me as a deck builder and a war game. But it really works. So well in fact that I couldn’t see the game working any other way. It’s such an important part for me that there is a rule that I begrudge using. It says that if you have new players then you should just give everyone eight cards and just use what you’ve been given. Don’t get me wrong, I understand that it’s there to give people the chance to familiarise themselves with things before throwing them into drafting. But I also think it takes away their agency and chance to plan their own game and in a three round game that’s a lot. I personally tend to give people the option if I’m teaching but I do appreciate that it’s probably more useful if you’ve got the majority of new players. Gods of War. The action phase is quite aptly where all the action is. This is where you get to put your cunning plan into action and march your Viking hordes and monsters around the board. It’s also here that you get to see what your opponents have been concocting with their drafts. But with your cleverly planned out draft nothing can go wrong…right? This is board games and, let’s be honest with each other, if we knew our plans were always going to work out every time things would start to get boring. Well there's no fear of that happening here. Having that plan in your head and your hand is all well and good. But it’s the executing it that’s going to present the real challenge, because for some reason your opponents don’t want you pillaging and scoring points. Much like the drafting phase, the action phase is as much about reacting as it is putting your own plan into action. For example, you may not want to get into a fight in that neighbouring province, but it might just be worth it to stop someone shooting up those upgrade tracks. Of course the best thing about that scenario is that it could all be a bluff! Considering that some cards reward you for losing fights this could all have been a clever ploy and that’s what I love about this game. Because of the variety of cards and how differently they all play, you can’t really be sure of people’s motivation and it's brilliant. A Variety of Vikings Whenever I show Blood Rage to new players I always tell them that it doesn’t matter which clan they take because they’re all the same, and yes there's that little look of disappointment on their face. But as the game goes on and people play upgrades and clan stats start to rise, you start to see just how asymmetric this game can be and the vast amounts of combinations you can use to shape your clan. More than anything it’s a lot of fun watching your clan evolve throughout the game. Just as you think how great you’ve made your clan, you can’t help but look over at your opponents clans and think how much cooler they are and how maybe you should have kept a particular card. Thor, Loki and all your favourites. Each god will give a different type of upgrade. Loki's upgrades for example are all about losing battles and getting points for being in Valhalla. As logical it would seem to try and get all of one god's upgrades (in fact a Loki heavy strategy is considered quite powerful) they all do mix pretty well together and again this is all about trying to craft a good combination together. In fact the Loki cards and a few other quest cards are one of the reasons I think this game works so well, even if you don’t usually take to this style of game. I’m not actually that great at this type of game, but the fact that I can employ a strategy that essentially rewards me for not doing well is something I kinda love. So many games will reward multiple plays and often a new player will lose purely due to lack of experience. But the idea that you can take advantage of losing can really go a ways to balancing things out. That being said you do have to get those cards to be able to do that. Having said all that about a potential balance, I do think this game has a learning curve. Not the actual rule set, but more in terms of learning the strategy to do well. I know that’s the case in most games, Blood Rages' combination of drafting and area control game has seemed to present some difficulties with some of the new players I’ve played with in the past. The coriolaton of the two mechanisms seems to throw people and it’s not until at least the second round that people really see how the two work together and can make a properly informed choice when drafting next. Which in most other games would not be too much of a problem. But this only being a three round game means that you're already a third of the way through before it all starts to make sense and in a game where you really need to start scoring as soon as possible, it can be a disadvantage. I’ve seen this happen with quite a few new players, myself included when I first played it and normally it probably wouldn’t be something I’d mention, buuut I do think it’s come to colour a few peoples experiences with the game. Because of that struggle with grasping it and because of the high potential for those huge point differences, I think a lot of people have been put off from trying the game again which for me is a big shame. Now I’m not going to force anyone to play a game again if they didn’t enjoy it but it took me a couple of games before it really started to shine. Even Sam Healey, formerly of the Dice Tower gave it a review that, while still good, didn’t reflect a score for what would eventually go on to become his favourite game! Having said all that, it’s not going to be that way for everyone. In fact the last time I played a new player absolutely wiped the floor with us which I’d like to put down to my expert teaching skills but I don’t think anyone would believe that. I’ve not played the game with two players, but it’s not well renowned for playing well at that count though. I wouldn’t normally mention something like this if I’d not tried it myself but this seems to be one of those game that is famously not great at two (much like 7 Wonders not working at two players) that I thought I’d mention it just in case you largely play at two. It’s at least something to be aware of and look into before spending your money. If you have played at two and enjoyed it then let me know. Glorious Purpose! It took me a couple of games to get into it but when Blood Rage finally clicked with me it clicked hard. The wonderful tactical combination of drafting and area control is one that I never knew would work as well as it does and now that I do I need more of it. Couple that with the joy of playing a fire giant and then seeing the worried look on your friends faces as you hover it over the board just before you slam it down and ruin one of their days is glorious fun.

Square Bird Card Game Preview - This is a prototype version of the game and does not represent the final quality or look of the game. Square Birds is being brought to life by Lydia Wallace at Happy Hen Games. This is a first-time design from a UK-based independent designer. I am always excited to try games from new designers, especially one like Square Birds that has clearly been given so much love and care. How To Play Square Birds The game works very simply. There are 18 tiles in the deck, double-sided. The face-down side shows the scoring side, while the other shows the main playing side. Shuffle the tiles and deal one tile face down to each player. This is each player's scoring tile, which will show two birds. The birds are all different shapes and colors. Each tile is unique and will represent the birds you will score with in this game. Then deal each player two face-up tiles. These will be your hand. Players then take turns placing tiles into a shared 4x4 grid, one tile at a time. The goal is to create clearings with the most amount of your scoring birds. The clearings are created by the lines on the tiles. Each time you place a tile, draw a tile to add to your hand. Continue this in turn until the draw pile is empty, and both players have placed all tiles in their hand. At the end of the game, when all 16 tiles have been placed, you can choose one clearing and score all birds from your scoring card in this area—one point per bird. The player with the most points wins. Playing Square Birds is a wonderfully calming experience. You will feel competitive, sure. You will want to win. But games take 5 minutes. If you lose, it's okay. Just rack 'em up and go again. This will make you feel that you don't need to take the competitive side too seriously and simply have fun, which is the perfect headspace to be in when you play this game. As the clearings begin to form, your mind will fill with all the possibilities of your scoring options. New clearings will be created. Old clearings will be expanded. Clearings you hoped to develop will be shut off. A surprisingly large number of things will happen simply by laying one tile. The feeling of creating, adapting, and trying to manipulate this puzzle in your favour, all the while your opponent is doing the same, creates a very interesting dynamic. Sometimes, you will be inadvertently helping each other. Other times, you will be blocking off large scoring areas or placing scoring boards of your opponents into areas they cannot access. How much attention you pay to what your opponent needs or does not, versus building your own clearing, is up to you. There are obviously more than one way to play this game. The game has a tiny footprint, both in terms of its size and the area needed to play. I would love for the final version to be made with high-quality stock cards with a bit of weight and a waterproof finish so that the game could be taken and played anywhere—outside in the wind, in the pub on any wet table. No worries, Square Birds can handle it! With only 18 tiles to make, the costs would be minimal, so I hope this can be achieved. It would be a huge selling point for me. The art style on the cards is simplistic but gorgeous. Even though all the branches simply form from the centre line, it still amazes me how well and neatly they all meet when you join the tiles up. There is something so calming about playing this game. The art definitely helps with that, as do the simple rules and flow. I will be very interested to see what Lydia does with this game. I feel she has created something that deserves a lot of love and attention. I sincerely hope this happens.

Here we go! What a year 2022 was. I would say that it has been one of the finest in recent history for board games. A brilliant UKGE. A fantastic Essen. And what a list of games! Vintage. Picking just ten from all the new games released in 2022 that I have played this year was tough, but this is it. As always, I am sure things could change had I played more games. But I make a choice with the games I play, so if I haven't played it yet, that also says something to me. So, with that said, let's get to it. My top 10 of 2022. WBG Number one Card game of 2022 and coming in at TEN overall: 10. Walkie Talkie WBG Score 8/10 I demo'd this game at Essen this year and immediately had to buy it. It offers something I always love in card games. A simple ruleset, but huge fun. I have played it so many times with so many people since, and it hasn't failed to deliver each time. And for me, I do not see this getting old. It has the same addictive drive to go back to it that I found with The Mind. When you play for the first time, you set your current groups guide score, then for the rest of the games that session, you try and beat that score by as much as you can. I generally play until we all manage to use all of our cards, which happens most of the time. It will take five to ten games on occasions, but that just means more fun! Well worth checking out if you like simple fun cooperative card games. WBG Number one Family Game of 2022 and coming in at NINE overall: 9. Skate Summer WBG Score 8/10 I was drawn to this game from the theme and art, it felt so original. But I go back to it because it is solid game that still feels fresh after multiple games. The split round really helps with this. The first few phases feel so different to the next two. Moving from a push-your-luck hand management card play on your skate board, to point-to-point area control with set collection on the main board. The components are all so juicy for your fingers too, and everything just pops visually. But there is depth in the game you don't expect, and the development of your player board as you progress in the game, which starts to generate bigger and bigger score is wildly satisfying. WBG Number one Blank & Write Game of 2022 and coming in at EIGHT overall: 8. Vengeance: Roll & Fight WBG Score 8.5/10 There is something so nostalgic to this game, it keeps bringing me back to it to experience that child like feeling again. It feels like I am paying an arcade game in the 90's and that was a happy time for me. So, this is very much a personal choice to add this game to this list, but I would wager a few others would get the same warm fuzzy feelings from this game that I do. And any game where you get to throw this many dice, in a real-time race gets my vote. Some of the moves you can do are very cool too. This is just a very cool game. WBG Number one Campaign Game of 2022 and coming in at SEVEN overall: 7. Viticulture World WBG Score 8.5/10 I already loved Viticulture and do enjoy the cooperative nature of this version, but the part that makes me enjoy Viticulture World so much is the campaign. I love games that evolve over different plays, with new little treats to explore and enjoy each time you get it to the table. In Viticulture World you are treated to this multiple times, as each Country brings a new little twist to the ruleset. It's a wonderful experience to go through the first time, and as I have found out, a second time too. When I played this all through for a second time, a few months after the first time, after I had forgotten a lot of what I had learnt the first time round. It was a great experience both times. And what you are left with when you are done when you pick one country to play as a one off game feels very much like picking a bottle of wine. I know I will enjoy anything in the box, but I get to pick which style I want to play that day to suit my current mood. WBG Number one Newcomer of 2022 and coming in at SIX overall: 6. Starship Captains WBG Score 8.5/10 This game looks great and plays just as good. I found I did not really enjoy game one, or two for that matter. But I love it now. This is a great example of a game getting more fun to play as you get better at it and why first impressions for me are not always valid for review purposes. I don't mind winning or doing well in games, but when I cannot figure out a way to get my engine going, it can be frustrating and just not as much fun. That was the case here with this game. But after a few tries you will figure out the ways to maximise your efficiencies and get your combinations working, and it feels great! It does mean this game gives an advantage to more experienced players, so you need to try and play with people who have played as much as you in order to all enjoy it equally. WBG Number one Surprise Game of 2022 and coming in at FIVE overall: 5. Galileo Project WBG Score 8.5/10 Talking of combinations, Galileo just pips Starship Captains as the combos in this game are just a little better, just that little bit easier to execute, and generally speaking, can be accessed by most people from game one onwards. The game looks complex, but it really is very simple, and ends up being a race as to who can get their engine working the most efficiently the quickest. It looks great, and offers an incredibly rich gaming experience in under an hour. One that I cannot stop going back to. WBG Number one Solo Game of 2022 and coming in at FOUR overall: 4. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns WBG Score 8.5/10 This game was lent to me by Rod from extraordinaryinvestigations after his Kickstarter was sent to him and he knew he didn't have time to play it at first. And goodness me, did it blow me away. It was so absorbing. As it is based on such a brilliant story, it made the solo experience just fantastic. I was reading the comic the game is based on at the same time as playing it, which really helped. I would heavily encourage other people to try the same thing. It drew me into the universe even more, which for a solo game, is important for me. The character development, the absorbing story, and freedom of gameplay made me feel like I was the Dark Knight. I was in the game for every moment I was at the table. I can still feel those sensations now as I think back to playing the game. I am unsure if I would go through the whole experience of the four chapters again anytime soon, perhaps in a few years. But once was enough to make this rank at four for 2022. It was that good. This game has less replayability, but it certainly has huge wow factor, great production, a wonderful story, and exciting game play. WBG Number one Gateway Game of 2022 and coming in at THREE overall: 3. The Guild of Merchant Explorers WBG Score 9/10 This game is ugly. Let's get that out the way from the off. But despite that, (and generally speaking, art, theme, and the overall feeling a game gives me from the aesthetics is hugely important to me), I rank this game very highly. If I was going to pick one game to play with a non-gamer, this would be it. It is incredibly simple to teach and learn. You will be set up and playing within minutes, and finished in under half an hour. Even when you are playing with people new to the game. The teach is a breeze. But everyone around the table, experienced players and those new to the hobby alike, will all feel like they have played a game of substance. The scoring is incredibly satisfying, and you will want to play this game over and over again. Just as I have done ever since I got this game this summer. A modern classic. WBG Number one Party Game of 2022 and coming in at TWO overall: 2. Long Shot: The Dice Game WBG Score 9/10 Picture courtesy of Bill Kunes @bkunes from Board Game Geek website. This is the second game in this top ten that I don't own. Batman was leant to me, and Long Shot was a game I first played with some friends at UKGE this year. It seems strange to me that I have not bought it for myself since. I would put that down to poor availability, and a deeply concerning and growing pile of unplayed games in my house that limits my purchases! But if I were to treat myself with something at some point, it would be this game. However, the memories of playing this at a few conventions, and at friends houses this year are enough to make this small box party game jump ahead of some real big hitters and take the second spot for 2022. Each time this has hit the table for me this year, it has created huge moments of joy. Something a party game simply has to deliver every time for me to rate it. It's hard to do this for some games, based on the group and situation. But this game has done this for me every time it has hit the table. Perhaps as I have always played it in high numbers, I don't think this would work as well under four. But for a large group, if you are looking for a quick, fun, but still semi-strategic experience, this will take some beating. WBG Number one Euro Game of 2022 and coming in at ONE overall: 1. Tiletum WBG Score 9/10 Tiletum is not a looker by any stretch of the imagination. But of my, does it play well. I love dry euros, but this stands out to me with its smooth gameplay, satisfying scoring, and the epic build to some brilliantly complex, but simple to execute combos. This is the game I would play right now if I could play any game. I would like to play this game with anyone, in any situation. It may not immediately appeal to everyone off the shelf due to its looks, but I think that if people are willing to give this a try, they will fall in love, just as I did by the end of turn one. Simply brilliant. So that's my list. A common theme here is that I have chosen games that have drawn me back to them over and over. For someone that plays so many new games, I find that to be the best and most honest barometer when it comes to ranking games. There are plenty of great games that came out this year that I have not played yet, so this list could change over time, but for now, I look at these ten beauties and smile for the memories they gave me, and the great times that are still to come from playing them. I hope you had a great year of gaming in 2022. Here's to an even better one in 2023.

All games featured here are the reviewer's copy (or were not bought at all!). See our review policy here In October 2023 I drew up a list of 14 games I was most excited about seeing, playing, buying or demoing at Essen 2023. I though that now, a few months later, it would be interesting to re-visit this list, to see which games lived up to the hype. The White Castle - I bought this game. I love this game. I will never get rid of this game. My copy is signed and I adore the design team behind this game. It plays incredibly smoothly offers so much "game" in under an hour, and always leaves me wanting to play again. A joyous, condensed, combo filled euro. Worthy of the hype. Nokosu Dice - I played this game at the con with a friends copy. I wanted to buy this game, but this game sold out very quickly and seems to still be unavailable anywhere. How do so many publisher's get their stock levels at conventions so wrong? I doubt the hype for this game will ever be as big as it was for Essen 2023 and they turned up with around 500 copies it seemed. Oh, well. I bought Sail instead and I am happy. Planta Nubo - I did not buy this game. I did not demo or play this game. The game was over priced (or so I thought) at the convention at $50 euro (if memory serves correct) which seemed a little over priced to me. I planned to buy it afterwards when the prices calmed down. It's currently not readily available, with only two sites that I can currently see selling, and it's listed at £78 with shipping, so maybe I should have just bought it at Essen. Whoops. Portals - I bought this game. I am unsure about this game. I may sell this game. It certainly looks nice, and the components won me over when I went to the stand at Essen, so I bought it with minimal knowledge of the game play. I have since only played it a few times and each time I was left underwhelmed. It's fine, a 7/10 maybe. I will keep it for a little bit more, play a few more times and then make my mind up. I think I believed my own hype! Lesson learned... maybe. ito - I bought this game. I love this game. I will never get rid of this game. I have played it since with so many different groups and it has only fallen flat with one person so far. My wife. Mostly as I am less than tolerant with her strange (to me) clues! But it is so fun, and if you enjoy Wavelength or are looking for a simple party game that encourages fun conversations around a simple set up, get this. It's wonderful. Furnace: Interbellum - I bought this game. I have not played this game yet. I doubt I will ever get rid of it. I have played Furnace a few times since I got the expansion, just not with people who know the base game well, so I did not feel comfortable adding the expansion. I hope to fix this soon. I am confident this will make a game I love even better. Cascadia: Landmarks - I did not buy this game. I did not demo or play this game. Again, it seemed over priced at £30 at the convection. Although the price has not come down since. Although someone at the con said to me, they did not want to add complexity to Cascadia as they like it because it is light and simple. And they have other games for times they want a more crunchy game experience. That resonated with me. My appetite for this waned. Sea Salt & Paper: Extra Salt - I bought this game. It's ok. I won't get rid of it. It's just a few cards. No need to get rid of it. It has a tiny footprint and its ok. It has some interesting new cards, but I am unsure if the game needs that. It affects the probability of other cards being drawn. That bugs me a little. Felt like a cash grab on a popular game. From the Moon - I did not buy this game. It was not available to purchase. Just demo. I did not demo it. I ran out of time. It looks amazing and I hope I get a chance to play it this year. Nekojima - I bought this game. I like this game. I won't get rid of this game. It's fun. But like many dexterity games, can be annoying. The idea is to build up your pieces to get a nice impressive tower. Most the time you fail, and they all fall down. It's annoying, even in competitive mode as you want a big impressive tower more than the win. And you rarely get that. Perhaps a tiny bit too hard for my clumsy hands. But, it looks ace and is fun for a game or two here and there, and it scratches an itch for me in a sector of games I do not have many other options. Papertown - I bought this game.  I like this game. I may get rid of this game. It is very simple, and looks fun. And has some interesting options. But choices seem a little limited and the graphic design, with the angle of the tiles does make me feel a bit wonky as I look at it. Its a solid 7. Do I need to keep the 7's? Probably not. Will it grow in ratings after more plays? Probably not. More plays needed. Redwood - I did not buy this game. I did not play or demo this. But have previously demo'd. I ran out of time, but really want to play it soon. It looks fantastic and I have heard good things. Sail - I bought this game. I love this game. I won't ever get rid of this game. It's so good. And I am over missing out of Nokosu Dice now. Mostly! It has a lovely arc to it, and different levels you can play on. The theme is a lot more present and interesting than I thought and I love how the game has levels to work through. You play your way into this game over multiple games and build a winning strategy. It feels great to do this. It is a bit like The Mind in this way. A little bit. Just you have to do that over multiple plays, rather than rounds. So, it takes some patience, but it totally delivers if you give it the chance to breath. Sea Dragons - I did not buy this game. I did not play or demo it. Again, this sold like hot cakes and each day I went to the booth. Each day they ran out. Again, I doubt the buzz for this will ever be as big again and I fear many people will move on to look for other things. I myself would love to get my hands on a copy if I could. The buzz has not waned for me, yet. So, there you go. Some hits. Some misses. Some I will keep for ever. Some I may sell. Some I missed out on. Some I still want to get. A classic convention story I would imagine. I cannot wait for the next one!

All games featured here are the reviewer's copy paid for with my own money, apart from Nucleum which was provided for free for purposes of review. See our review policy here When visiting Essen, I always spend a significant amount of time researching which games I want to try out and buy before I go. There is so much to see and do, you need to prepare to max best use of your time. However, as is often the case in life, sometimes it's the things you know little to nothing about that can delight you the most. This was the case with the 2023 Essen fair, where I came back with many games I did not plan too, some of which have offered me a lot more joy than some of the games I was most excited for. As such, I thought it may be interesting and helpful to list my hidden gems of Essen 23. Games I bought, and loved, but prior to the fair knew very little about. So, without further ado, here are my 5 hidden gems I discovered during Essen 2023 Game Fair. That's Not A Hat WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 3-8 You’ll like this if you like: Hanabi, Remembering stuff! Published by: Ravensburger Designed by: Kasper Lapp I had not heard of this game prior to Essen. I was walking around the fair, late one afternoon and I came across a table of strangers being demoed the game. They were all laughing and seemingly having a great time. I stopped to watch and was instantly captivated. I joined in the next game and instantly went to go and buy it afterwards. It seemed to be such a simple game to learn, teach and play, I was certain I would it would be suitable for a lot of circumstances, and get a lot of plays. Since I have owned this game I have played with with family and friends, and it has landed 99% of the time. The game is simple. look at a card, try to remember it. Flip it face down, Pass it around the group naming what you pass as you do. If ever you think someone is passing you something that they have named incorrectly, call them on it. If they are wrong they keep the card. If you are wrong, you keep the card. First to a set amount of cards loses. It can be stress inducing. Trying to remember the cards can be a lot harder for some people. This can be frustrating and even embarrassing it seems for some people. But most seem to simply find it hilarious and enjoy the simple pleasure of watching other people forget the cards just as much as they are. Revelling equally in everyone's inability to retain basic information learned moments before. 5 Towers WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: Ten, Lost Cities, No Thanks. Published by: Deep Print Games,Gém Klub Kft, Pegasus Spiele, White Goblin Games Designed by: Kasper Lapp Again, this was not a game that was on my radar. But as I walked by the stand some people that I was with seemed to get excited to see it. I went over to check it out myself, and there was a bit of a queue. So, I thought I would just take a punt and buy it as it was only 10 euro. I thought I could always gift it on if it wasn't for me. I played it a few weeks after getting back from Essen and instantly thought what a great little game it is. It's very simple. Five cards from five different suits are dealt out each round and players in turn, decide how many of these five they want to build. You can only bid a higher number than previous bids. You only get one bid. And any bid of five instantly ends the bidding round. The player with the highest bid then has to take that many cards and build them. This is done by placing them face up in their coloured groups in front of them. The catch being that what you build must be always on top of the same colour, and be a lower card to the one placed before. You cannot put a higher card onto a lower one. Players will then score points at the end of the game based on the size of their towers. So, building an 11 card and then a two on top is a huge waste. It's incredibly addictive, brilliant in all player counts (but probably best at 2 or 4) and is so easy to teach and play, you could make this work with almost any group. I am a big fan of games like this. A nice simple filler that feels it offers meaningful choices. Surfosaurus Max WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-6 You’ll like this if you like: Poker, Battle Line Published by: Loosey Goosey Games Designed by: Ikhwan Kwon I have already fully reviewed this game here. Head there if you want the full run down of how it plays and what it is like. But if you are here for the abridged version; here yo go. It's awesome. Anyone wanting more, but has not clicked on the above link to the full review, I will say this. If you want a game o play with friends that will illicit screams of joy and horror, that plays fast, is easy to learn, you will not go far wrong with this game. It looks fun. It plays fun. It is fun. And I only bought it because it had a cool name, and something (it seemed) to do with dinosaurs. But come on. Would you really have passed this up yourself? Nucleum WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Brass: Birmingham, Tiletum, Barrage. Published by: Board&Dice Designed by: Simone Luciani, Dávid Turczi This game has also received the full WBG treatment here. But the short-and-sweet version is this. Do you like Brass? But wish you had a version that was slightly different, a lot more green, maybe not quite as good, but with a more nuclear theme? Well, great. That was a uge coincidence! In all seriousness, you can't own all the euro's made. And if you want the best, consider Brass. It's phenomenal. More thoughts on Brass here. But if you want to buy and own more than one, and you already own and love Brass, this is worthy of your consideration. It has been knocked by some due to comparisons with Brass, and it not being as good. But that perhaps is a little unfair. Considering Nucleum on its own, as a standalone game, I would rate it very similarly to Brass. Both are 9/10 games for me. Brass is better. Perhaps a 9.5 if I was pushed to separate them. But they are both great and they both offer fascinating choices throughout. (But I do prefer Brass). Liars & Looters WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 3-6 You’ll like this if you like: Bohnanza, shouting at your friends! Published by: Floating Forge Designed by: Julian Reinartz Liars & Looters is the perfect example of a game I have never heard of, that caught my eye at Essen, I bought on impulse, and I now adore. I sat down and tried this, mainly in truth, as the table was free and I was tired. But oh my, do I appreciate my laziness now. It is so simple. Players are given a task to collect a certain groups of cards. Each person will have one type of card they don't want as well as the ones they do. Players then take it in turns to draw a card and then trade one card with another player. Each round all players gain one more card, but can they through sheer luck, or clever trading, get the ones they need to collect their set. Now, here is the twist, when you trade, you do not, and really should not, tell the truth. Players will offer things to other players, knowing this is the thing they desire the most, but knowing themselves it is in fact the one thing they do not need at all. As these trades take place, screams of joy, frustration, laughter and goodness knows what else will fill your ears. It's hilariously addictive. And seems to be like this immediately so each time I play this. There is no build up to this game. It starts with a bang and continues like that for the entirety of the game. Which would be a bit much if it was anything longer than 15 minutes. But it isn't. So I love it. I think you may do to. So, there you go. Five games I did not have on my radar but now heartily recommend. Shows you how much we should all take from pre-convention hype lists, right? (Note to self!)

Want to know what game to buy for your next family game night? WBG presents our top three party games, each catering to very specific preferences. Whether you enjoy deduction, crave a more creative experience, or wish to challenge your memory, What Board Game has you covered for all your gaming needs. Best Party Game for a CREATIVE group who like to be LOUD Scrawl WBG Score: 7 Player Count: 4-8 You’ll like this if you like: Pictionary, Broken Telephone, Terrible drawings and ridiculous guess. The clue was on the box! Published by: Big Potato Games Designed by: Uncreditied Scrawl stands out as the game that has generated more laughter than any other in my gaming experiences. While it may not be a perfect fit for every group or situation, given the right environment, this game becomes utterly hilarious. The game mechanics are straightforward. Each player receives a card with a funny phrase on it. Simultaneously, all players draw their respective phrases without any specific rules—just the restriction of not using words. The drawings are then passed to the right, and players try to describe the drawing they receive. This process repeats, with drawings and descriptions circulating until each player gets back their original drawing, now accompanied by a comical mix of you firends attempts at art! Players then share the story of how their phrase evolved, typically resulting in bursts of laughter. If the concept sounds entertaining to you, it's almost guaranteed to be a fun experience! Scrawl is an excellent game for laid-back settings, requiring no table. It adapts well to various group sizes, and you can play for as long as you want without the need for scoring—just pure, lighthearted fun. There is also a Disney version if you want something more suitable for younger children called Disney Sketchy Tales. Best Party Game for a STRATEGIC group who like DEDUCTION Night of the Ninja WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 4-11 You’ll like this if you like: Werewolf, The Resistance Published by: Brotherwise Games Designed by: Justin Gary Night of the Ninja not only plays exceptionally well but also boasts stunning visual appeal. The cards, crafted from cut paper and captured for the game, are mesmerising. The mechanics and overall flow of the game are brilliantly designed, providing an accessible yet strategic party gaming experience. The gameplay involves all players receiving a card indicating their allegiance to either the red or blue team. In certain player counts, there may also be a Ronin playing independently. Players then engage in a card-drafting phase, choosing one card from three and passing the other two to the player on their right. They then select one from the two handed to them, with the final card being discarded, leaving each player with two cards. These cards are played at various stages of the unfolding phases that follow this. Early cards allow players to gather information about others' cards or allegiances, while later cards enable players to interfere with opponents and eliminate them from the round. However, it's crucial to question whether they are truly your opponents before you strike and knock over their player stand. The game concludes when all cards are played, revealing all players' allegiances. The team with the highest-value remaining player wins. Each player from the winning side then draws a point token from the bag, and the game continues until one player reaches ten or more points. The gameplay is thoroughly absorbing, immersing players in the art of second-guessing every move. Night of the Ninja is a delightful deduction game that involves everyone, eliminating the need for a game master or a designated leader. The rules are simple enough for anyone to grasp within minutes. While the game can be played in a relaxed environment, having a table is beneficial for providing each player with a designated space for their player stand bu not crucial. Highly reccomend. Best Party Game for a PLAYFUL group who like test their MEMORY That's Not A Hat WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 3-8 You’ll like this if you like: Hanabi, Remembering stuff! Published by: Ravensburger Designed by: Kasper Lapp Some party games thrive on sheer silliness and a unique hook, and That's Not A Hat is undoubtedly one of those gems. The premise is simple: each player is dealt a card face up. The starting player draws an additional card, flipping over the first one and passing it to the player indicated on the card, either to their right or left. As they hand over the card, they declare what it is, saying, "This is a Ball." If, indeed it is a ball. This process repeats, with each player flipping over their initially dealt card and passing it to the next person in the direction indicated. Eventually, all cards end up face down, and players must now pass cards that are in front of them, facing down. Players also pass the card they've had the longest, not the one just given to them, and now have to try to remember what on earth it was! At any time, players can call out someone they suspect of misidentifying a card. If the accuser is correct, the person passing the card takes it as a negative point, drawing another card to continue the game. The first player to accumulate negative three points loses, while the others emerge victorious. The game unfolds in a riot of laughter, highlighting how quickly our brains forget the most common objects just moments after being declared. With cards depicting mundane and basic items, it's astonishing how swiftly they vanish from memory. Every play for me so far has led to someone immediately seeking to purchase their own copy – such is the impact of the game. Whether you excel at memory games or provide amusement for others with your forgetfulness, That's Not A Hat promises a delightful experience. If this sounds like a fun experience to you I would encourage you to not hesitate and grab this game!

Seeker Chronicles WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2 Published by: One Stone Studios Designed by: Fulvio Flamini, Hendrik Poulsen Nautrup, Lea M. Trenkwalder This is a final version copy as sold at Essen 2023. A wider reprint is coming to Kickstarter soon with additional content. You can find out more about the game here. This is a free review copy. See our review policy here Seeker Chronicles is a fascinating card game developed by a team of scientists and game developers who love games, STEM, and science. STEM stands for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The team behind this game states, 'We believe in the power of science and of games beyond gaming.' However, this is not a game that feels like you are doing school work. Rather, it's a game that plays fast and fun, but you may just learn something as you go. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set up Seeker Chronicles Separate the deck of cards into the 6 Seekers and their 6 associated Chronicles. Each card is identifiable by the symbol in the top left of the card. Each Seeker has 10 cards linked to it. Roll a die, and the person with the highest roll then picks one of the six piles. Alternate picks until both players now have three piles each: three Seekers and 30 Modules. Each player then identifies their three Seeker Module cards, one for each Seeker. This is identified by the Seeker Chronicles logo in the top left of the card. Place each Seeker Module with their relevant Seeker and leave two of these to the side. Place the other one, of your choice, face up in front of you with the Seeker placed above the Seeker Chronicle so the bottom of the Seeker Chronicle cards is visible under the main Seeker card. Shuffle the rest of your deck of Chronicles and place them next to this in a face-down deck. The player that picked Seekers first draws three cards to form their starting hand. The other player draws two cards and becomes the starting player. You are now ready to play. How To Play Seeker Chronicles Players will now take turns. First, draw a card from your deck. In later rounds, if you have any exhausted Modules, you can flip them from horizontal to vertical to ready them again for this round. Next comes the main round where you can play one module from your hand to your Memory. This means placing a card on the table face up in front of you, ready to be used as a resource, or ready to be linked to a Seeker. Players can then Link or Hyperlink as many cards as they like, paying the resource cost to do so. Cards in your Memory can be Linked, while cards in your hand can be Hyperlinked, typically at a slightly higher cost as it is a shortcut avoiding the need to be played to the table first. When you Link or Hyperlink a card, you need to pay the resource cost, shown on the top left of the card by rotating previously played Modules to exhaust them. Then, you must slide the card you are activating under the Seeker card you are adding it to, keeping the bottom part of the card visible to show its power when Linked. Now, resolve this ability. Doing this also increases the Power of each of your Seekers. Linking Modules to Seekers in this way adds the Module's power, shown on the bottom right of the card, to the Seeker. This is important for the next phase. But also for adding new Seekers. When a current Seeker reaches a power of seven or more, you can add another Seeker into your display of cards. When you add another Seeker this way, their Seeker Module card goes into your hand. Not tucked underneath the Seeker as in set-up for your first Seeker. Next is the Research phase. First, your opponent can Challenge you by producing resources to Link or Hyperlink Modules of their own. Players then calculate the differences in Power between their Seekers, combining their first Seeker with the other players first Seeker, then their second with their opponents second, and so on. Each researching Seeker with higher power than your opponents' Seekers allows you to Archive a number of cards equal to the difference. Players want to do this because the player who cycles through their deck three times by archiving cards in this way first is the winner. The idea is you are increasing your scientists' knowledge by enhancing their understanding of each Module of science. To Archive means simply taking the top card from your deck and flipping it face up in a separate Archive pile. Play then moves to the next player, who will go through these steps in turn until one player has cycled through their deck three times. That player is then declared the winner. Is It fun? Seeker Chronicles Card Game Review The game is much more of a race game than you first realise. Activating cards to power up your Seekers at first feels more of an Engine builder, with some clever Tableau building. And this is all true. But as you play through more rounds, you will realise this is actually a race game. Its not about who can build their Tableau the best. It's all about who can build it the fastest. Now of course, these are interlinked because you will not be able to build it the fastest if you have not also built it the best. But it will be this pressure and tension from the race that will encompass your as you play. The interplay between the cards is very clever. It feels like there are so many ways to combo certain cards together to create more powerful turns. Linking more cards, activating more powers, and archiving more cards each turn. It feels great. As only one card can be played as a Memory each round, you need to think carefully about the order you play cards. However, having the ability to Hyperlink cards directly from your hand means you can bypass this phase if you have the Resources to do so. And some cards have the Hyperlink cost set as the same as their Link cost. Efficiency in your card choices is very important. The game has a lovely arc to it. As you play more Modules, and build up your Seekers, you will feel a significant increase in the power of your turns. This increased power ramps up for both payers, and increases the feeling of tension in the race to archive your deck three times first. However, one card may be a little over powered in your first few games as you learn the deck. The Hawking Radiation card has a power of six, and a Linked power to triple that cards power that turn. There are other cards that allow you to unlink cards, so if you use this card a few times in a game, its pretty hard for anyone to catch you. In fact, every time I have played, the person who had this card won, and by a fair margin. It feels unbalanced in the early games as you learn how best to counter this sort of move. However, this is a real anomaly. The rest of the cards feel perfectly balanced and work well together, offering both players an equal opportunity to carry out exciting, varied, and powerful turns. I have enjoyed learning each scientist unique powers and how they can combine in different ways to work with each other to provide an entirety varied gaming experience. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys clever little card games, and who is either interested in the area of science it covers, or would enjoy discussing it as they play with their children. I have had some fascinating conversations with my son as we played this game. It has sparked his curiosity into what all these new words and things mean. Requiring a serious amount of googling from my part to answer accurately!

This is a preview for a game coming to Kickstarter soon. You can find more about the Kickstarter here. This is a free preview copy. See our review policy here High Noon Heist has been developed by first time designer Sam Barton from Table For Two Games. It is a fast-paced two-player only card game that offers a lot more than you first think. How To Set Up High Noon Heist The game works by pitting two players against each other, one playing as the Outlaws, the other as the Law enforcement. Players will take their eight character cards, a reference card detailing the power of the cards on their opponent's hand, and two Loot cards. One player then separates the 15 Heist cards into their three separate level one, two, and three piles. Shuffle each pile separately, then form a face-up deck with the level three cards on the bottom, and one on the top. Set this deck down below the two location cards. You are now ready to play. How To Play High Noon Heist Players will now look at the top Heist card and decide which card from their hand they want to play. There are 15 Heist cards to go through over the 15 rounds of the game. And you only have eight cards in your hand, so you need to decide which card to play for each round. Although, you will get all your available cards back when you play your zero powered No Show card. You need to assess the value of the current Heist and try to predict which card your opponent will play. Heists are either worth one, two, or three Loot, and they have their own unique Heist abilities too. For the three value Heists, players are likely to fight harder to win, and certain Heist powers will encourage certain cards to be played over others. You can also see which cards your opponent has played, so will always know what they have available to them in their current hand. It is a game of bluff and double bluff as some Heist will make you think your opponent will play a high card as they will be rewarded with Loot if they do. But they know you know this, so may then play a low card to avoid being trapped by the powers you have to hurt them when you play a high card. The lower power card generally attacks the higher power cards you see. Such as the Law players Bounty Hunter card, which is their One powered card. When you play this, if the the Outlaw player plays their Seven or Six card, their card is then placed into Jail, and the Law player earns a Loot card for this. They will then also win the Heist as they are the only card remaining. The Outlaw player has a similar level one card that places their opponent's six and seven card into the Doctor's Office when played on the same Heist. Cards placed into Jail or the Doctor's Office this way can only be retrieved by playing your No Show card on either the Jailbreak of Surgery Escape Heist. This of course, means you will lose that Heist though, and these two Heist cards are worth two Loot each. And if you have cards of value in the Surgery or Jail the time this Heist card comes up, your opponent will know you will most likely do this, and potentially win without having to play a good card. If both cards played remain after all affects have been taking into account, then the card with the highest power wins the Heist, and takes the Heist card and any associated win bonus. Some Heist cards have a lose affect too, such as the Shootout, where the losing player is placed into the Jail or Surgery, depending on if they are the Law player or Outlaw. Once all 15 Heists have been carried out, players count the Loot gained and the player with the most Loot wins. Is It Fun? High Noon Heist At first, the game comes across as very simple. But as you learn both character's decks a little more, you will realise the genius in this game. Will you double bluff play the obvious card, thinking your opponent will over think it and counter the wrong way, or bluff and play a card that doesn't work as well with the Heist, but could be safer to you and more dangerous to your opponent if they play the obvious card? Games last around 15 minutes, so you can race through each one. Typically meaning you will play more than once each sitting. I found we mostly played the game twice each time, trying both the Outlaws and the Law side each time. It's a fun way to play and a good way to learn both decks. You will need to play your No Show card at some point, in order to get your cards back. But doing so too early can be fatal. Ideally, you will play it when the Jailbreak or Surgery escape heist card is revealed. These are both in the second group so will be either the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th or 10th Heist card in the game. Obviously, if it comes out 9th or 10th, it will be too late, and you will have to play it sooner, either as well, or instead. If it comes out 5th, this may be too soon, and if you don't have any characters in Jail or the Doctor's office yet. you won't need it. Timing, as with most games, is everything. There are two heist cards with a value of three Loot in the first five Heists and the last five Heist. The middle five has just one card worth three Loot. Timing your cards so you have the right hand for the right Heists is also crucial. However, eight of the 15 Heist cards offers the players ways to gain Loot in ways other than winning that Heist. Guessing what card your opponent will play before they reveal it is an interest one. If the other player only has one card in their hand, this is obviously pretty easy. But they could also have all their cards if they played a No Show the previous round. Some luck is involved here, of course. Overall, I have had a lot of fun with this game and can see it dropping into fairly regular rotation when I am playing two-player games. Its perfect for the pub, or when travelling. It has a very small footprint in terms of the size needed to play. And is just a deck of cards in a single deck box. It's so easy to carry around as well. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys two-player cards game, and is looking for something to play either on the move, or as a quick filler at the beginning or end of the night.

Tapestry WBG Score: 8/10 Player Count: 1-5 You’ll like this if you like: Viscounts of the West Kingdom, Wingspan, Lost Ruins of Arnak Published by: Stonemaier Games Designed by: Jamey Stegmaier When Jamey Stegmaier of Stonemaier Games announced a few years back that he was making a Civilization game, I was about as excited as a 40 something year old can get (legally)! I certainly remember a few walls being bounced off! When the game itself was launched, my friend bought a copy and we played it on the day it arrived. We were both instantly absorbed in Jamey’s world. I loved the game and the experience, and now with my own well played copy, I thought it about time to talk about a few things on my mind regarding Tapestry. Tapestry is a fantastic game. The production is off the charts, the rules incredibly smooth, and the gameplay rewarding, challenging and variable. I enjoy playing this game immensely and think I will for many years to come. I love teaching new players this game. Especially players who are not quite as obsessed with games as I am! They see the large set up with multiple components, icons and images and can be intimidated. But within 5 minutes are relaxed into what is, a very simple game rules wise. It’s a great gateway for this reason. It's like Wingspan in this way, in that it gives new gamers a feel for what modern gaming is all about in an accessible and quickly understood manner. The rule book is only a few pages long, so it doesn’t take long to learn yourself. And once you realise there is only really two options on your turn, it does click into place quickly. Tapestry is a simple game at heart. You are given a Civilisation card at the start of the game with a unique asymmetric power. This is the heart of the game and a big part about what brings people back to the game over and over. There are more of these civilisation cards in the Plans & Ploys expansion too. In each turn, you will be given two choices. To advance your Civilisation to the next stage or try and develop your progress within this one. You will use resources to move up four different tracks. Advancing your powers in either Science, Technology, Military or Exploration. If you have the resources available, generally you will advance one of the four tracks, if you don’t, its time to advance to the next era. Seems simple enough right? But there can be occasions when this simple decision can be overwhelming for some. You can usually move on either of the four tracks. Each one will offer something of use and other players cannot block you from taking a certain route. So, it won’t always be obvious which is the right path for you. Based on you own tapestry card for the era and civilisation card for the game, players can be led in a certain direction. But deciding which track would be best for you to advance on is down to you. There are no bad choices, but you will find that your end games score can vary quite a lot. I have run from the mid 80s to the high 200’s so far. As such, players can sometimes suffer a little from analysis paralysis as they ponder their next move. However, as you can only do one thing on your tun, and you can’t do anything between turns except plan your next move, a well-oiled group can fly through this game. Saying that, one of the beauties of this game is the combo moves you can build as you advance your civilisations powers. Turns from the mid-point can start to become a lot more powerful and intricate. For example, advancing on the science track often allows you to roll the science dice to advance on another track. From the mid-point of era two, you can also claim the benefit of the other track you move on when you advance on two tracks like this. Also, many spaces offer bonus moves if you have the resources available. As such, this game is as much about resource management as anything else. Manipulating your moves to squeeze out extra turns is crucial to scoring well in Tapestry. This is something that I find highly enjoyable in any game, particularly here in the way it has been executed. Finishing a grid on your city board to get an extra resource to take one extra turn before you move to the next income phase is a beautifully satisfying thing. One of the most enjoyable things about Tapestry is the decisions the game asks you to make from the early stages. Alongside deciding which of the four tracks you can advance on, at most stages on each of these, you have a choice to make here too. Often this will be between taking a small building from your player mat and moving it to your capital city or taking an action akin to that track. On the exploration track for example, it will be the choice of a farm or explore action. On the military track, an armoury or conquer action. These choices make a big difference to your progression in the game beyond just the turn you take this move. Removing buildings from your personal player board and placing them on your own capital city mat unlocks hidden bonuses. This gives you the ability to earn extra resources and score more points in your next income phase. A player who focuses on placing more buildings early on can often find they can do more actions in the later part of the gam due to having more resources. However, in making this choice, you may find you fall behind in other areas on the main board. Trying to find a balance between these two areas is one key to success in this game. A key area in Tapestry that builds a lot of the enjoyment, engagement and replayability is the civilisation cards. There are 16 unique civilisations in the game. Each player is dealt two at the start and one is chosen to use. The powers given from each is quite different. So much so, that designer Jamey Stegmaier, a few months after release, issued a few start-up rules changes to level the playing field. Asymmetrical player powers are all the rage in the gaming community, but they must be so difficult to play test and any imbalance doesn’t land well with the community. Let’s be honest, no matter how much testing and maths you do in pre-production, play testing can never be as rigorous as the real-world environment of selling the game to thousands of gamers! After a few weeks of Tapestry being released, questions around the civilisations balance begun. Jamey listened to this and released the revised start up rules to equal this out. A few points here, a few resources there, and the civilisations can now be chosen without fear of disadvantage. Although many still question this. As such, for fans of asymmetry, there is a lot of enjoyment to come from this part of the game. The variation is huge, and as well as developing your sense of immersion into the game, it heavily affects your tactics too. For example, the Militants start with their eight outposts covering different spaces on their civilisation board. Each time you conquer a new part of the map you move one of these off to expose a new benefit that you will acquire on the income phase. This encourages players to advance more on the exploration and military track. A favourite civilisation card for many is the Futurists. At the start of the game, with the Futurists you can advance on each of the four tracks four spaces! You also gain one of each resource. Although, as part of the adjustments that Jamey released., you now must remove one of any resource and one culture, but it still feels like a huge head-start over any other player. Especially when it comes to progressing on the tracks quickest to get the building bonus available for each player that move to a new era on each track first. Which is a big part of the game for many people. Perhaps more as the pre-painted building miniatures are so beautifully made and tactile than the actual benefit to you as a player in the game. Moving through each of the four parts of the board becomes harder as you play. In era one you only need to give up one resource to move and gain the benefit. In era two, it is one specific resource and one extra of your choice. Then in era three it is three resources in total. As such, with the futurist civilisation, starting the game in era two with the number of resources available to you at the start of the game, it is hard to progress quickly. And of course, you have missed out on the benefits of the first era that you simply skipped. However, after this early jump, there is no other benefit from this civilisation. So, you can build your strategy however you like after this based on the cards your opponents have. There is no part of this civilisation that is pushing you in one direction. This can be beneficial, as players advancing on the same tracks at the same rate does not work out for all players equally. Moving up the tracks first offers more benefits due to the buildings that are on offer to the player that gets to the first spot on each new era first. As such, ideally players want to pick one to three tracks to try to advance on quickest depending on player count. And of course, it doesn’t always work out as smoothly as this. If all players choose the same tracks to move on based on the tapestry and era cards they are dealt pushing them in the same direction, someone will miss out. All of which can make Tapestry a very different experience each game. It can be a very solo exercise in trying to gain the most points possible through your own efficiency and strategic play. Or you could try to affect your opponent’s more by conquering their land tiles and moving up the same tracks as them. Some players complain about the game being solitaire but this is only the case if all players choose it to be. Tapestry is very much what you make it, and this is one of the reasons I love it. I like games that you can play how you like, rather than as the board dictates. Although I do concede that this can be frustrating for some players if they want to have one type of game and another player around the table is trying to play in a conflicting style. Finally, I want to talk about the theme of this game. Build as a civilisation game, some have said this does not shine through as you play. Admittedly, I do not feel like I am inventing tools or developing scientific elements as I play, and often overlook this part of the board. Each space has a specific development associated with it. Be that developing Mathematics, Ships or Tanks, I mostly ignore this part of the game. For me, the development in this game is less about one of a group of people advancing through different years and ages, and more the development of my own abilities in the game as a player. As such, this can become a little abstract. But immersion in a theme is down to the player as well as the game. If you want to delve into the idea of advancing a civilisation of people then you can. It is your choice to read the flavour text or not. But I would say, if you want a civilisation game alone, this may not deliver what you want. However, if you are looking for a beautifully made game that generates high levels of satisfaction as you traverse through the phases of the game, then you will love this. If you like the idea of developing your understanding and awareness of how best to score well with each different civilisation card over multiple plays, this could be a real winner at your gaming table. Tapestry is a very good game. There is no question of that. Those that attack it for its solitaire aspect or lack of immersive theme have valid points as discussed already. But I would say this does not make it a bad game. It just makes it a game that is not for them. If you are unsure if this is for you after reading this that I would say it probably isn’t. But if you are left intrigued and exited to see what this world could bring to you and your gaming group, then I would encourage you to give it a try, as I think you will be highly satisfied with your experience.

This is a free review copy. See our review policy here You can find out more about the platform here. The new online portal from Big Potato Games is amazing. I am not an avid fan of online board gaming. I don't use or like TTS or other such equivalents. But there is something special about Game City, and I will tell you why. How To Set Up Game City To set this up, simply connect your TV to your laptop or phone. Only one person needs to have paid for the games. You can buy one game for £7 to £10 each or packs of three for £17. Connecting is quite easy with most modern TVs or through Google Chromecast, your laptop's Connect feature, or a good old-fashioned HDMI. It's pretty simple, and once you are up and running, the rest is a breeze. Simply click 'Host game' and ask everyone else to click 'Join game.' People who join can vote on a game they want to play on their phones or tablets. The host can then choose a game based on the votes or just what they want, and away you go. The software does the rest for you. There are currently seven games set up in the system. I have access to six of them, four of which I also have the board game version of, and two that I had not seen before. Each offers its own little moment of magic. Here they are ranked in my own personal preference. Number One: Can Of Squirms This game came out in 2017 and passed me by. I sense that as a board game, it may come across as a little cheap and simple. However, as a video/mobile experience like this, it works incredibly well. This opens up a whole new debate about how this concept can develop and shows me why a party game publisher like Big Potato has done something like this over, say, CMON. It suits their catalogue a lot more. The game works by putting two players against each other with simple questions such as "Who is the best dressed?" or "Who is most likely to make you sick with their cooking?" The two players selected this round then have to choose if it is them or the other person that best fits this question. The players not playing that round have to guess who will get the most votes or if the two picked players will disagree with each other and get one vote each. All players then score points for right guesses, but let's face it. This game is about those brilliant, hilarious, potential friendship-ending moments when people disagree. Both players are incensed, and utter joy is created. This game works perfectly with the video-style game system, allowing players to see things on their own devices when other players should not, and revealing easily to all players when the time is right. This could be done with paper and pen, but who has that nowadays, and it feels wasteful to throw it away after each play. A brilliant rendition of an okay game that creates a fantastic experience. Number Two: Draw Along With Dave In 'Draw Along with Dave,' players take turns being Dave. When you're Dave, you're presented with something simple to draw on your device. As you draw each line or squiggle, you need to describe what you're doing so that the other players can try to replicate it. For example, 'I am drawing a vertical line in the middle of the screen from the top to bottom, with a small circle at the top...' and so on. This continues until the player acting as Dave finishes. They then hit 'finish,' giving the other players a few seconds to complete the last instruction. The player as Dave gets to see all the drawings sent to their device and chooses the best one. All drawings are displayed on the main screen for everyone to laugh at before revealing the winning drawing(s). This setup works exceptionally well. While paper and pen could also work, there's something slick about playing this game this way. It keeps everyone involved throughout, and the simple joy of having your works of art displayed on your TV feels special. Number Three: Scrawl Scrawl is a highly popular board game that has seen various versions. I recommend it as a party game all the time. Initially, playing it on the TV seemed superfluous to me. How wrong I was. While it's a bit trickier to draw on a phone than on a card with a pen, there's no clean up or wiping afterward. Plus, you can simply hit a button to send it to the next person rather than passing it physically or, heaven forbid, having to actually get up and move! The game works simply, with all players active simultaneously, selecting something to draw from two options. Each player then draws what they choose. This picture is sent to the next person chosen at random, who must describe with words written on their phone what they think the picture is of. This description is then sent to the next person, who now, without seeing the initial picture, has to draw, as best they can, the description they have been sent. This continues so that each player is involved in everyone else's sequence, either drawing a description or describing a drawing. When it gets back to the initial player, they can then, with their device, share the process of their initial picture and then each subsequent description and drawing on the main TV screen for all to see. They then choose their favorite drawing or description to award a point to, and the next player takes the group through their sequence. That's it. It's so simple, but hilarious fun and can work with most ages. Number Four: Herd Mentality Herd Mentality here works much like the board game version where all players are presented with a question on their device that they have to type an answer for. The idea is to give an answer that you think at least one other player will also give. If you provide a unique answer within your group, you'll be given the Pink Cow, and you don't want that. It works very well, is a slick conversion, but I do miss the physical pink cow foam toy that comes with the hard copy. Throwing that around and giving it to the losing player each round is hilarious. Now, you can still do this if you have the hard copy too, which we did! But I appreciate not everyone has that on hand, and you will miss out if that is the case. Of course, you could substitute this for something else, and I would encourage you to do so. A physical punishment for picking a unique answer makes this so much funnier! Number Five: The Chameleon I love The Chameleon. It works so well and is one of my favourite party games. This version is so slick and works even better than the original board game version, as players can hide a little more when they are the Chameleon. There's something about everyone hiding their faces in a device for a short period as they input their answers that allows you to conceal your emotions when you are selected as The Chameleon. This is something that can sometimes give the game away when playing in person with a tell-tale blush! However, there is one other significant change based on turn order that I'll get to. The game works by each player being told the answer from a grid of 16 possible answers, all coming from the same theme (e.g., types of food, U.S. states). However, only one answer is correct. All but one player will know the correct answer and must type in a clue that proves to the other players they know the correct answer. The clues cannot be so obvious that the Chameleon, who doesn't know the correct answer but can see all the options, could guess the right answer from them. The Chameleon needs to type in their own clue. The clues are then shown on the screen for all players to decide who they think is the Chameleon. The group can discuss this, and as the Chameleon, you try to deflect and divert attention to another player. In the board game version, players say their answers out loud in turn, and if you are the Chameleon and are picked to reveal your answer last in the round, you have the opportunity to listen to everyone else's answer before you give your own. Quick thinkers can use this as an opportunity to try and guess the right answer before they give their clue, subsequently providing a better, more informed clue. However, you could also be the Chameleon and be picked to give your clue first, leaving you with nothing to go on, making it a lot harder. In this Game City version, all players type their clues on their devices at the same time, never hearing other players' clues beforehand. It makes the game more fair and less random, but at times, harder for the Chameleon. Players then vote on their devices for the player they think is the Chameleon. If the correct player receives the most votes, the player acting as the Chameleon must try to guess the word for that round. If they are correct, they still win, which is why other players try not to give too obvious a clue at that stage of the game. However, if the player acting as the Chameleon does not receive the most votes, they do not need to go through this process and still win. Although we still like to ask the player acting as the Chameleon if they have figured out the word by this point. It is a fun part of the game that, although pointless, adds something to the experience. Number Six: Colour Brain This works just as well as the physical version of the game, but there is just less choice and chance to adapt the questions to suit your audience. With the hard copy, you can simply discard a card if it doesn't work for your group. Whereas here, you are served up questions you cannot affect. I hope they adapt this and offer a child-friendly version or at least a way to choose what type or level of questions you want because the game is so fun and works so well here. Players are simply asked a question, the answer to which can be given with a colour or colours. Players then tap the colours on their device to give their answers, and then all player results are shown. You can take away another player's choices of colours at random once per game, which I always find to be odd. Forcing someone to potentially have to choose from a group of wrong colours seems odd to me. But I suppose it can help level it out a bit if there is a question one person doesn't know the answer to, but they know another player does.