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Dedalo's Board Game Preview Daedalus, father of Icarus, and inventor of non-heat proof wings, was also the chap who was made responsible, as the Greek mythology goes, to build the labyrinth of Crete to entrap the Minotaur. A creature that was created from a fairly twisted and rather unsavoury trick from the Gods. Read about it, it's crazy! Anyway... The story has spurned many tails since, and now is the inspiration for this new tile laying dungeon crawler, Dedalo's. The game is live on Kickstarter as of October 2023. You can find more about the game here. In this Preview we will talk you through the basics of the game and our thoughts. Dedalo's is an incredibly simple game to set-up, learn and play. Punch all the tiles and separate the entrance and exit's. Place all the other tiles into the cloth bag. Then place the entrance into the centre of the play area, placing the appropriate number of exists based on player count six spaces away in either direction. Two for a three player game, three for a four player, and four for a five of six player game. Use other tiles to measure this out. Each player chooses a Tribute to play as and places it onto the centre entrance tile. Place the Minotaur figure by the main player area and then every player will then draw three tiles to start with and the game can commence. The tiles are made up of various corners, junctions and straights. There are also four way intersections that show the Minotaur symbol, this is because they act as a portal/tunnel for the Minotaur to move between when it enters the dungeons. There are also Minotaur tiles, white and red, which when drawn must be used to activate the Minotaur. And finally collapsed tiled that can be used to close exists. Any other differences are purely cosmetic to add some flavour to the game. On each players turn they can take three actions. There are three options and you must choose at least two of these. You can do any actions twice, but not three times. The three options are to either play a tile down on the board, connecting and continuing at least one path one space. Move your self one space to any open adjacent square. Or, push another player on the same space as you to any adjacent tile. The players are looking to make their way to one of the exit tiles. If they do, they will win. However, the other players will be trying to slow you down, back you into corners, and hunt you down with the Minotaur. When any player pulls a Minotaur tile from they bag they must play it on their next turn. This will bring the Minotaur miniature into play. Place it onto the central entrance tile and then move it one space. You can move it in any direction, ideally hunting down the closest rival player to you. Keep the Minotaur tile you played face up in the game area. This is because when another Minotaur tile is played it will be placed next to this and now the Minotaur will move two spaces. A third tile means three movement and so on. When the Minotaur catches any other players, they will remove their playing piece from the board, discard all tiles they have and then take the Minotaur from the board. All red Minotaur tiles are placed back into the bag whilst he white ones are discarded. On the captured players next turn, they will return their playing piece to the entrance, draft three new tiles and then end their turn no no further actions. From their next turn, they will go back to normal. Certain tiles have stars on, one, two, or three. These can be placed on any other tile so long at the top tile has more stars the the below tile. This is very handy in blocking the path for other players, or opening up. Such as the above example where green was one space away from victory. Blue blocked them, closing the path to the exit. However using a higher stared tile they could do the below to then escape and win. As such, the tunnels and paths are constantly changing and evolving. You could even find yourself trapped with no moves to make. If this is ever the case then the tile that caused this cannot be placed. You must always have at least two valid movement options. However, I have found times when I have two or more movement options, but was blocked by three stared tiles that I could not place other tiles over. This is very rare, but can be frustrating. If the Minotaur is ever trapped then it will simply be removed from the tunnels. Over time, you can find the layers of the labyrinth become increasing built up as players trap other players, who in turn try to build their escape paths. This can cause a very interesting back-and-forth. You must at all times find the balance between finding your own way out, whilst not neglecting to watch all other players, lest they have a simple route to victory. Games can sometimes very very quick and simple. If you don't get the right tiles to block other players, or you forget to focus on that, then it can be over very quickly. Such as the below game which ended after five minutes. Other times if can become a bit of s stalemate as players block and entrap other players, but in so doing, obstruct their own path as well. There is of course a lot of luck in what tiles you get, and you will need to be comfortable with blocking other players to enjoy and do well at this game. There can be a lot of strategy in a longer game, using the star tiles to evolve the labyrinth to your advantage. And each game feels very different because of this. Short, long, easy, hard. It very much depends on the opening exchanges based on what tiles each player gets and what their opening strategy is. Make a quick dash for the exit, or try to stop the other players. If you enjoy tile laying games, and are looking for something with a Greek mythology theme that plays quickly, this could well be for you. I would imagine that this description works for a lot of people. As such, I am somewhat confused as to why the Kickstarter has not been more of a success. The goal has been set to zero, so this game will be made no matter what. The designers are not pulling it and will make this game for whoever backs it. They are willing to cover the costs themselves if needs be. It's funny how some games take off and others don't. Perhaps the cover was a little too generic, or the gameplay too light. I have also heard that early version of the game had low quality tiles but the ones in this version are good quality and fairly thick and sturdy. The bag that holds them is also large, a good quality, and very easy to get your entire hand in and out of. A problem often found with tile bags! I have enjoyed playing this game and will continue to do so. I hope the Kickstarter has a strong finish and the costs are covered. I think this game deserves to find a little more love.

3 Ring Circus WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Tribes of the Wind,The Red Cathedral, Great Western Trail. Published by: Devir Designed by: Remo Conzadori, Fabio Lopiano This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. 3 Ring Circus Board Game Review There are surprisingly very few games with a circus theme. Circus Flohcati comes to mind. A classic circus themed (in an abstract way) card game, that is hard to get hold of, but fun to play. As such, when I heard about 3 Ring Circus, I was instantly keen to play. Added to the the seemingly rare theme, we have the astonishingly high recent pedigree of Devir and their smaller boxed euro games. The Red Cathedral and Bamboo to name just two were both excellent. Packing a lot of game into a tiny box seems to be Devir's thing of late. Pulling out component after component, like Clowns emerging from a tiny car. Not a bad thing to be into in the current climate. Saying that, 3 Ring circus comes in a slightly larger box, more square in design, but still small for the weight of game inside. But does it deliver on all this promise? Well, roll up, roll up! Let's get it to the table and find out. How To Set Up 3 Ring Circus The main board is single sided and needs to be modified based on your player count. The normal board looks like this and is fine for a four player game. You need to block off one space for a three player game, and two spaces for a two player game. There are choices to be made here as from the five areas, you can block off Boston, Indianapolis, or Chicago. You just cannot leave anything unconnected. A linked road must always be present between all open areas. There are boards that you can place on top of these areas to block them off. They slide about a bit which is a bit annoying during gameplay, but otherwise work fine enough. Here is the board shown with the two western areas blocked. And here is it with both the far west Chicago and eastern Boston areas blocked and the three central areas open for play. Once this is done, now it it time to set up the rest of the board. Give each person playing their own player mat and the pieces in their chosen colour. Each player will place their scoring marker on the zero space of the score track on the main board, then place the Barnum carriage onto the city shown furthest east, either Boston or New York. Then, shuffle each separate deck of cards for the End game scoring deck, Ticket deck, and Money deck. Place them onto their spaces on the board, revealing the top five cards of the Ticket deck onto the spaces shown. Each player takes one End game scoring card, one Ticket card and four Money cards. Next, shuffle the city tokens and place one, either side, onto the medium sized cities in play. Do the same with the cards for the large cities. This will randomly determine what each city requires for a high scoring show each game. In a two player game take some neutral circus tokens and place them onto the six spaces shown in the rule book. Finally, decide who will be the first player and give the Barnum card to the player sat to their right. Take your seats please, you are now ready to start the show! How To Play 3 Ring Circus The rule book makes it seem a little more complicated than it actually is. Hopefully the below makes it sound a little more simple. On your turn, players will simply do one of two actions. Either Engage with an Artist, or Perform a show. You take one action then the next player does the same. Let's go through the two actions in detail. Engaging with an artist simply means to place one card from your hand onto your player board. You have three rows, each one representing one of your three rings in your own circus performance. You are looking to place cards that increase your current powers, end game scoring opportunities, and cards that work with each other to maximise points. The cards all show the cost on the top left, end game points or category on the top right, and power on the bottom. The colour on the top left also dictates their set, which is important when it comes to the powers, such as the purple card in the middle top below. This will offer two end game points for every orange card placed to its left. The below cards are all Ticket cards. The Money cards also have a cost shown on the top left but can also be used as currency, to pay for other cards to be played. When you do this, simply discard the cards required to cover the cost and place your chosen card into your tableau on the left most space of either of the three rows. You can choose either row. Your choice will be dependant on how the card works with other cards, and which spaces you want to fill. As you place cards you will cover up symbols which reduce certain powers, such as the train symbol which is used for movement when performing a show. More on that later. The Money cards also show a category on the top right instead of end game points. These categories are important when it comes to performing in the middle sized cities. More on that later. The player boards each player has start with multiple symbols visible. Each Train symbol for example grants you one movement when performing a show. So you start with six movement. But as cards are paced over these, the movement is lost. Some cards will grant powers back to you such as movement, but not many. So, in the later stages of the game, when your player board is filling up, movement will be a lot more restricted. But the game has a clever way to help there. We will discuss that later. On the left of the player board you will see three spaces for your end game scoring cards. You start with one in your hand which you can place when you complete your first column, as shown by the three stars on the bottom of the first three columns. You will can gain your second and third end game scoring card when you fill the second space on the second row and the third space on the third row. Doing this early will let you know what you need to aim for during the rest of the game, so it is advisable to do this as soon as possible. You cannot change end game scoring cards and you won't ever see more than the three cards that you acquire this way. You will notice the track to the right of the End game scoring area. This displays your Circus shows current attraction levels. The more Pedestals you have the better your show will be. You start with one shown on the symbol on the bottom left of the End game scoring area, but this is lost when you play a card that covers this. You can gain many more from the card powers you play. Placing cards must always be done in numerical order, ascending lowest to highest. If you place a Five card down, and have already placed a card of lower value down, the five will go to the right and you pay the difference between the two. The cost is reduced by the highest card already payed. For example, if a three was already on the same row, then the five now only costs two additional money to place. If you have already placed a higher value card, such as a seven, the five is now free, but must be placed to the left of the seven, which now shift ones space over to the right. You can never play a card of equal value. So, a few rules. But a simple action. Engaging with an artist simply means placing a card from your hand, onto your player board. Pay the cost, take the reward if there is an immediate one. And reduce any affected powers. Make sense? Great. Lets perform a show! The audience is getting restless. The second action you can take on your turn is to Perform a show. If you choose to do this, first move your playing piece the required spaces. Your playing piece is a carriage in your colour. It starts off the board. But on your first turn you must place it onto any available large city. You cannot share this space with anyone else or any other piece such as the Barnum circus carriage. You will move your piece the number of spaces you choose, up to your current movement potential. Then, wherever you land, you will perform a show. There are small, medium, and large cities. Each one has a different way to perform a show. We will go through them all now. Small City - There is no requirement for performing a show in a small city other than it being available. Meaning no one else has performed there yet. When you move here, simply take one Money card and then one further Money card for any adjacent small city that is also available. Take an extra Money card for each Money symbol currently shown on your board. You start with one. Then, place one of your Circus tokens onto this space to show it is no longer available for you or another player to perform here. Then finally, move the Barnum piece one space clockwise. Herein begins the game clock. Medium City - These cities have a requirement for maximum crowd enjoyment, and points. This is determined by the tokens you placed at the start of the game. As you can see below, they split the top and bottom middle city in each area, and offer two extra Pedestals for each card in your tableau with a specific symbol. Use this and your current Pedestal level to work out which space to place your Circus token onto the board. Placing your Circus token will block up one space and will grant you the rewards shown of either new Ticket cards or points. You will also take one Money card and move the Barnum token one space. Large City - The large cities use the cards placed during set up, such as the two shown above. You simply score points based on how well you meet the criteria. For example, the top left card requires an orange card to the value of 11 to have been placed in one if your three lines to score six points. If you have it placed with a purple card to its left a further four points are added, and a turquoise to its right, a further five. For a total of 16. You will also score an additional three points if you are the first to perform here, and one for the second performance. Again, you will also take one Money card and move the Barnum token one space. And this is how you play the game. Sounds like a lot, but it really isn't. On your turn, you are only ever adding one card to your tableau or placing a Circus token onto the board to get additional cards or points. There is a small additional element of area majority when whenever the Barnum piece moves onto one of the main city spaces, at the end of the players turn that triggered this, the player with the most Circus tokens in this area will score ten extra points. The player in second gets six, and the third takes three. But other than that, this is the entire game. You are building up your circus and performing shows. The game ends when Barnum gets back to its starting spot, players will score one final area majority and then add all points from the ecards on their board. Most points wins. Is It Fun? 3 Ring Circus Board Game Review 3 Ring Circus is a fascinating game. As I have tried to make clear above, it is very simple to play. But the intricacies in strategy are immense. Let's look at just one area. Card play. What card you want to play and where you want to place it. So that you can start to see how well interconnected this game is. When you place a card from your hand onto your board you are going to be thinking about a lot of things. What your end game scoring conditions are and how you can best manipulate that in your favour. What each main city needs to score maximum points. Which colour, which number, which location. How the card helps you now. What powers will it give you. How the card hurts you now. What symbols will it block. How the card will work with future cards played, and how it will work with current cards already in your tableau. How the card will help you score at the end of the game. How you will pay for it. Which cards will you discard to gain this one. It is not a simple choice. And your brain will be in overdrive for a moment as you process the structure of your turn, thinking a number of moves ahead, and try to puzzle this out. It's delicious. By the end, this already cluttered board begins to look quite busy. But it will all make sense to you, and is easy to read. The busyness also works in a clever way to help your movement. As you move around the board, you will start to have more specific requirements as to where you want to be as the game draws to the end. You will have certain things you will want to fulfil that can only be done in certain places. But as we discussed, your power to move longer distances will also reduce. However the rules state that you skip any space with another player, Circus token, or Barnum figure. So, you can end up moving vast distances across America with only a few movement actions, jumping over occupied towns and cities. But of course, where you can now end up will be very restricted because you cannot stop where other players have already performed or are currently located. It's an ingenious tightening, then loosening, and then one final big squeeze of the games freedom and strategy as you play. Oh, I love it. The interplay of cards is wonderfully satisfying as well. It is hard to make cards work together as well as you would like. They often have a requirement for another type of card, that will not match with the others in your current row or hand. You need to make choices about which card to play and where and be flexible with how they may work with some other cards but not always all of them. There will rarely be a perfect choice. Choices won't ever be bad. Always good. But never obvious and rarely perfect. It will take some noodling each time, which is a wonderful thing for a game that moves otherwise, with a brisk pace. With one action from only two choices, turns are quick, so a brief respite when someone considers their options is a welcome thing for all players around the table. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys classic Euro gaming, but wants something with just a few smidges of extra accessibility. This game dials the complexity of rules, game length, and intimidation factor right down to a three I would say. But keeps the strategy and satisfaction right up there when compared to some other big box Euros. If you enjoy this style of games but wish you could have one that could be played more often as you don't always have two hours, or those specific friends in your group who don't mind complex games, this could be the one for you. The Red Cathedral is probably better, but this game is less fiddley, and has a more interesting theme to me. I like the sprawling board and point-to-point movement around it. Working out where I can go, and where I want to go, along with the powers currently available to me from my player board is a delightful puzzle to work out. The Red Cathedral offers a little more in terms of strategy, but this offers more drama, and a much lighter and more attractive theme, to me at least. Add a decent insert, a better rule book, and perhaps one more tiny amount of complexity with an expansion and this could well become one of my favourite games to play. I look forward to many more games of this and seeing how it develops with what I hope will be inevitable expansions.

Happy Families Exploring Ireland WBG Score: 7 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: Go Fish, Happy Families. Published by: Happy Clan Designed by: Moya Sands This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. Happy Families Exploring Ireland Card Game Review Happy Families, or Go Fish, has been around for over 100 years. I have many fond memories of playing with my family as a child. Trying to complete the various sets of what was then, a very English version. With families of Bakers, Butchers, and other high street shop workers to collect. But I strangely don't have a copy now, and when I had the chance to play and review this version from Happy Clan, I jumped at the chance. So, let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Happy Families Exploring Ireland Shuffle the deck and deal six cards to each player. Leave the rest of the deck as a face down draw pile in the centre of the table. Choose a first player and you are now ready to play! How To Play Happy Families Exploring Ireland The cards are all made up of a number of different sets in groups of six cards. Each card shows what other cards match its set on the card itself as seen below. The first player will ask any other player if they have any card from any set that they currently own as least one from. You cannot ask about a card if you don't already own at least one card from that set. But if you do, ask away. If the person you ask has that card they must then give it to you. The asking player will then have another turn. Again, asking any other player about any other card. If you ask for a card that a person does not have, they will say "Dig" and you must now draw the top card from the deck, whilst it lasts. If you ever draw a card from the Dig pile that was the exact card you just asked for you must show it but can then take another turn. If a player ever completes a set of all six cards from any one group, you must then declare that and place them face up on the table for all to see. This will now count as one point at the end of the game. Once all sets have been completed this way the game ends, and the person who collected the most complete sets is declared the winner. Is It Fun? Happy Families Exploring Ireland Card Game Review. The joy in this game comes from one very simple mechanic. Memory. Picture this. Player one, lets call them Mya, asks player two, lets call them Jacob, for Limerick. Jacob does not have Limerick but that question alone tells them, and all other players around the table that Mya has at least one City card. On later turns, anyone else with one City card can now try and target Mya by asking her for City cards, trying to guess which one she may have. Let's say on a later turn player three, Fran, asks Mya for Cork and gets it. She then asks for Dublin and also gets that. Finally, she pushes her luck one more time and asks Mya for Derry but Mya does not have it. Everyone else now knows that Fran has Cork, Dublin and one other card in the City group. The one she started with. The game moves back to Jacob who holds Derry and Galway, and knows where at least three other cards are and can easily get two of them, Cork and Dublin by simply asking Fran for them. But can he guess where the last one is? Does he have it himself? Or does perhaps Mya hold it? Or is it still in the Dig pile? Let's say it is in the Dig pile, so a complete set cannot be collected. But on a few turns later Mya picks up the final City card. Can she now all this time later remember who had what from the previous exchanges and claim them all back to complete the set she started all those turns ago? If this all sounds like fun to you, then this game could well be a hit for you. However, there is of course an element of take-that here. Players can take advantage of other players misfortune and take cards from them that they only just collected. Claiming cards from others is all well and good, but each time you do it, you give vital information to other players about your own hand. Asking for cards becomes a much more interesting choice after a few games when you realise you may only want to ask for cards you can complete the sets for, and when you are certain you know where they are. Otherwise you are just giving vital information away to the other players. So in the lead up to being ready to ask for specific cards you need, perhaps you create some misdirection and ask for cards you don't need, or maybe even have already. This may be taking what is essentially a very light family game a little too far, and even pushing the rules a little. But it does mean the game has a little more to it that you first think. And perhaps now, as an adult, can be played in ways you never considered as a child. I would recommend this game to any group who plays with their family. My children (ten and eight) have adored this. It has caused a few grumpy faces when cards have been taken away from them, but that has been far outweighed by the laughter and cheers when certain much sought after sets are completed, and specific hard to find cards are eventually found. Happy Families/Go Fish is a classic and perhaps the sort of simple card game you could argue everyone should own. The only question is which version do you get. I am very happy with this one for my collection. The art is stunning and evokes a mystery, simply beauty, and accurate representation all at the same time. The theming is delightful and has been genuinely educational for my family and I. The rule book includes the back story for each card, and it has been fun to learn more about Ireland. A country I have only visited on two occasions. This version was created by Moya Sands. As a mother of two small kids, Moya wanted to combine her cultural and educational background with a yearning to teach her family about Ireland in an amusing and entertaining way. I would certainly say this has been successfully achieved, and the personal nostalgia for her Irish roots can be felt with every card in this beautiful set.

Heroes of Xhandar is on Kickstarter. You can find details of it here. Heroes of Xhandar Board Game Preview - This is a prototype version with only some parts of the game and it does not represent the final quality of the game. This is a trick taking game, set in a fantasy world, with amazing art, slick gameplay, and Lego-style brick characters to build and fight with! That's right. Lego-style brick minis to build and use in the game. Check them out! How cool is this?! There are a couple of different ways to play, but I wont go into that fully here. The rules are still being worked on. You can check them out on the link on the Kickstarter page. Again, you can find details of it here. But in short, here is how you play one version of the two player game. Each player will be dealt three of the Hero cards. Each player can choose one of these three Heroes to play as, discarding the other two back into the box. They will place their hero card face down in front of them, hiding who they are from the other players. Their Hero card will grant them two different powers. One that is offered to the player once when they choose to reveal who they are. Something they can do whenever they wish. Adding a fun reveal to the game. The other which can be used at any time after they are revealed. Their hero card will also show them their own special win condition, usually a specific Diamond points target. Check out a few here. Each player is then dealt ten cards from the main deck. They will then draw the top card from the deck to see which number they got. The player who draws the highest number will start. The drawn cards are placed into a face up discard pile. The first player will now look at their hand of ten cards and choose one to play. They are looking to win a trick in order to claim the cards from that trick and place then into their Pocket. Once all cards have been played and tricks won, each player can then move two cards from their Pocket into their Stash. From here, in the stash, players can then gain the Diamonds shown on their chosen cards. If a player ever reaches the target points from cards in their Stash then the game is over and they win. If neither player has achieved their goal yet, ten more cards are dealt out and another round begins. The tricks are won simply by the highest card played. The first player will play one card, then the next player will play one card. Then back to the first player again who plays their second card. Then the second player plays their second and final card. You don't have to follow suit, and suits don't determine the winning card. It is simply the highest card played. From these four cards, the highest card wins, and the player that payed that card takes all four cards and places them into their Pocket. Sounds simple enough right? Well, the lower cards below eight have powers on them as well as a value. This is where the colours come in. Some cards stop cards of certain colours being played. On some it states that certain coloured cards cannot win that time. Others state that for this trick it is the lowest card that wins. Something that really annoys the other player if they lead with a particular high card! Others let you take cards back from your Pocket, replace some from the deck, or make other cards that you play have a higher power. It makes each hand different, unpredictable, and highly entertaining. Their is a Seer card that lets you see other players hands though, so you can strategies to an extent. And once you learn the deck and the cards powers you can begin to really build some clever strategies. But what about those Lego-style minis? Well, there is another way to play with battle tracks and your minis, where players run through a similar style trick taking battle but with face up Hero cards, and each time you win a trick you can move your hero one space on their track, giving you extra powers as you play. It's a simple addition that adds a lot of drama, theatre and table presence to an otherwise fairly simple card game. I love it. I won't go into too much more detail with the rules for this version or the other ways to play with these cards because, well.. in truth, I didn't quite understand the rule book! It's early stages and I am sure it will get sorted. But I had to ask a fair few questions of Kay from Kay Plays Games to understand the above as I did, so thanks to her! I believe she figured it out from talking with the designer. This game has wonderful art. That is the stand out feature for me. The card play is fun, and offers a surprising level of depth once you start to understand how the powers all interlink and can be used with and against each other. But the art captivates me each turn, each play, each game. The designer of the game, Florian Fiedler, is also the artist, and it must be said, this is a truly wonderful looking game that deserves a lot of praise. I was captivated after seeing the card art myself and desperate to play. I am very glad I have now done that and hope the campaign is a huge success, if only to sort the rule book! But also because I think within these stunning cards is a brilliant and very clever trick-taking game that I believe a lot of people can have a lot of fun with. Go check out the Kickstarter page now for more details. You can find details of it here.

Moon: Valkyrie WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Streets, Villagers, 7 Wonders. Published by: Sinister Fish Games Designed by: Haakon Gaarder This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. Moon: Valkyrie Board Game Expansion Review - Buy the game here - Sponsored link To read my review and how to play guide for Moon, the base game, head to here. For my thoughts on the expansion, read on! I very much enjoy expansions that add more choices with minimal rule changes. More so when it is for a game I already like and feel it does not need any significant changes or additions made to it. It's nice to see an expansion bring something new. A surprise. Rather than fix a glaring error. Valkyrie and Moon offers exactly this. Having played Moon a few times, I was left wanting more. More time with the game that is. I was very happy to keep playing without adding the expansion The game is great and I see no issues with it that need fixing. However, for purposes of the review, I added the expansion from game five onwards. And, well, its pretty good! I will now use it in every game. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Moon: Valkyrie Board Game As well as the set up for the main game that you can read about in my main review here, simply add in the new Valkyrie launch board above the Flag reward board and give each player one Valkyrie (the ship tokens). Place any remaining Valkyries by the launch board. Then place the Valkyrie Structure cards on the table. There are two identical decks included with this expansion, use either one. The only difference is one has a shiny foil finish, so obviously pick that. At the start of the Construction phase, place one Valkyrie Structure card from the current Era above the Launch board, one card per player. Like the main game, for a two player game, use three cards for a two player game. How To Play Moon: Valkyrie Board Game During the Construction phase, place any unowned Valkyries onto the launch spots on the Launch board. Use the numbers shown on the top left of the first Valkyrie Structure card to chose which launch spots to use. As you are only placing the unowned Valkyries, in a five player game, this step is missed, they are all owned. Players now have the additional optional action on their turn to launch a Valkyrie. Place the Valkyrie you own onto the left most available location on the Launch board. You can then take the depicted reward shown on that space. If you have to place your ship onto the first space you will not get a bonus action but you will get first pick at the new Valkyrie Structure cards. The other spaces grant you an extra Rover, Resource, Flag to be used this turn, or two Resources. The later benefits are more powerful, but you will then be getting last pick on the Structure cards. This is because if you meet the Flag requirements and have the resources needed, you can then as well as this, build one of the Valkyrie Structure cards. This would be on top of your normal Build or Assimilate action. Turns can be quite a lot more powerful with this expansion! But of course, as you can only do this when you launch a Valkyrie, which counts as one of your optional actions, this means you have to have all the resources you need to do this yourself. You cannot relay on using the other players Flags or resources by using the Rover action to do this. The rule book suggests to teach this by saying you can use one vehicle per turn. Either the Rover or the Valkyrie. At the end of the Construction phase, all Valkyries are returned to their owners, just one per player, and any unowned ships are removed from the Launch board. All unowned Valkyrie Structure cards are placed back into their deck. Moon: Valkyrie Board Game Expansion Review Valkyrie is the perfect expansion. Two new simple things to add in. Minimal additional rules. The Ships that let you gain a bonus benefit and build another Structure are a simple additional to the game but add a lot. It makes one turn each round a lot more more powerful, but it only happens once per round as you need a ship to do this. So timing is everything. This expansion scales brilliantly as any unowned ships block spaces on the launch board each round, meaning there is still a sense of urgency to use your ship with less players, as there are only a few spaces available, and therefore less choice. And of course, with more players, when there are all five launch spots to pick from, you will still want to beat the other players to these spots to have the first choices as to which Structure card you can build. Maybe there is only one you can build? Maybe there is one that is perfect for your current engine? The new cards look awesome too. I like how you have options of both the normal or foil finish. I suppose some people hate these foil cards, or find them hard to read. It's good to have both options. But for me, I love the Foil cards. They add a sense of wonder and a premium luxury to an already well produced game. The powers they offer are great too. They are strong. But you can only do one per round remember, but that turn feels wonderful! But they are not over powered. It does not affect the delicate balance of the game. If you have the base game without this, then get it. Although it shipped with all Kickstarter versions I believe. So, you probably do already. And sadly, it is currently not available as an add on with the retail version. So, you may not be able to get your hands on it for a while. But when it does become available, I will add links here. It all fits, just, into the main box, although you may need some minor skills in packing to do get the lid flat!

Moon WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Streets, Villagers, 7 Wonders. Published by: Sinister Fish Games Designed by: Haakon Gaarder This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. Moon Board Game Review - Buy the game here - Sponsored link Moon is a new standalone game from Sinister Fish, designed by Haakon Gaarder. It completes what has become an unofficial trilogy of successful Kickstarters from this design and publishing pair following Villagers and Streets. All of which come in this funky shaped box. Although, no one is saying this will be the last! Each game works on its own, and has its own lore, design, ruleset, and theme. But they do share one thing. Bundles of card based fun in a small but long box that will hate your current shelf layout. Let's get this one to the table and see how it plays. How To Set-Up Moon Place the Rovers, Water, Biomass and Energy into a central general supply, accessible by all players along with the Flag Reward board. The resources come in some very handy boxes, so this is pretty simple. Add three Hearts face up under the five flag spaces on the Flag Reward board and also three face down Hearts onto the X space. The X in referenced on a number of cards. The current value of X will be represented by however many Hearts are on this space at that time in the game. Then stack the four and five value Hearts next to this board ready for the later rounds. Next, add the three levels of Reputation cards, one card per player of each. For a two player game, set up as you would a three player game with three cards for each level. Next to this, place the three Era Structure cards into three separately shuffled face down decks. Take the top card from the Era 1 stack and place it face up next to the Flag Reward board to start the discard pile. Then take the three Era Expedition decks, shuffle these and place them into three separate face down stacks by the general supply. Now, give each player a Base card, Player Aid, and two Rovers. The Base cards are all a little different adding a small bit of asymmetry to the start up and each game. One player takes the First Player Expedition card. Ensure you use the right one for your current player count, there are two in the box. The game suggests you decide who goes first by seeing who has the loudest voice. Depending on the environment you are in and who is around you, you can decide yourself if this is suitable! You are now, subject to any disturbance just caused and any remaining issues that still need to be resolved from this, ready to play. How To Play Moon Players will battle it out over three rounds known in the game as Era's, to try and make the best Moon City, earning the most popularity as they go. You will start with a Production phase, where players will produce any Resource shown on their Yellow cards. This includes their starting Base card, so they will produce one thing in round one. Each person will produce a different thing based on the base card they were dealt during set up. In subsequent rounds, players will produce a lot more in this phase, as they will have added extra Yellow production cards to their base. Players then move onto the main action phase, the Construction phase. Here, players will be dealt cards from the current Era Structure deck. Eight each for a two player, seven cards for a three of four player, and six cards for a five player game. The first player will add the first player card to their deck, and the other players will add one card from the current Era Expedition deck to their hand. Players will then draft one card from their hand and play that card. Cards can either be played to Build or Assimilate. Build means adding to your Base area by paying the cost shown on the top of the card and taking the shown benefit. You also need to ensure you currently satisfy that cards Flag requirements. As you add cards to your base, you will increase the Flags you have shown on the bottom of the card. You need to develop your control of each of these to add higher power cards to your base and for end of rounds bonuses, more on that later. The cards are mainly made up of four types. Blue cards that produce resources. Grey cards that produce points. Yellow cards that produce Flags. And Pink cards that have a Flip ability that will offer a chance to score additional resources or points. Assimilate means discarding the card. Each card will offer a discard bonus, shown on the bottom left of the card next to a trash symbol. If you Assimilate, you simply take this reward for free. It is a good option if you are low of resources and or flags, but some of the Reputation cards reward this action too. Either before or after you have played your card you can also take one of four bonus actions. The first is to use the action shown on your Expedition card. The first player card always allows players to swap a card from their hand with one from the current Era deck. Other Expedition cards offer more interesting opportunities, such as to increase the value of the Flags. Again, more on that soon. The second option is to Park a Rover This means moving one of your Rovers from your Base to another players base, and placing it on the parking space shown on the bottom of the blue and grey cards. You can then take the action shown next to that space. This will be to gain additional Resources or Flags. The Flag you gain this way can only be used to add to your Flag requirements for this current turn. It is not a permanent Flag for the round. The third option is to claim a Reputation card. The Reputation card dealt during set up show various challenges that need to be met. If you ever fulfil a cards specific requirements, you can then take that card into your play area. It will reward you with end game points, but also an instant or ongoing reward as well. This will be clearly shown on the card. The last option you have is to flip over one of your pink cards to gain that cards flip benefit. This card will stay flipped for the rest of the Era but will comeback to you at the end of the Era. If the card produces Hearts, place them onto the card itself. This is important when it comes to end of round and game scoring. When the first player has played a card and taken the additional action if they chose, the next player in turn will do the same. When all players have done this, players pass the deck clockwise, and now take a card from the next hand passed to them. This continues until only the Expedition cards remains. Players then move all Rovers played on their cards that round into their supply for the next round, you don't get the ones you played back, just the ones played onto your cards. Tidy up the cards discarded that round, shuffling them back into that rounds Era deck, and pass the first player card to the next player. In the Scoring phase, players will now score the five Flag bonuses. Based on the player who has the most of each of the different flags on cards in their base, players will take the Hearts underneath each Flag on the Flag Reward board. Each round this reward grows, and some cards allow players to increase certain Flag rewards if they choose. Any ties are broken by the most amount of Rovers. Any ties after that mean the Hearts carry over for the next round, meaning the battle for supremacy in that particular flag increases. Players will then score for any Hearts on their cards. Do not remove the Hearts from the cards, they stay there all game. Add the equivalent amount into your soring area. This means the Hearts on the cards will score again in the later rounds. Now ready the game area for the next round. Remove one Heart from the X space on the Flag reward board. X is now worth one less Heart. Refill the Hearts on the Flag reward board with either four Hearts for Era two, or the five Heart tokens for the final Era. Once you have completed the third Era players will total all Heart points. Hearts will be scored from those earnt during the game, anything printed on the grey cards in each players base, and the Hearts printed on the Reputation cards acquired. Most Hearts wins. Is It Fun? Moon Board Game Review Moon is by far my favourite game out of the three. Villagers and Streets are good, but Moon offers something a little more. The small engine building, and development of your resources ramps up so quickly. Although, with only three Era's, that is essential! But that makes the game incredibly satisfying and fun to play. You see your development instantly. All players will build something cool in this game. Win or lose, you will have a sense of achievement playing Moon. Everything fits just right too. The boxes are all the right size for the bits, and fit nicely into the box, and come out nicely onto the table. The cards are all high quality and slide nicely into place, shuffle well, and looks great on the table. These are small things, but make set up, tear down, and playing so much smoother. With the expansion in, the box is a little snug, but it does all fit, but more on that here. However, the box shape won't be for everyone. But they do look cool lined up next to each other if you have all three! Probably part of the thinking here. I love the way the game scores. There are multiple ways to build up your Hearts throughout the game, which is similar to 7 Wonders. As is the drafting mechanic of course. And in a way, Moon feels a little bit like 7 Wonders in space. It's a great game, and I like 7 Wonders as well. They feel similar in mechanic, but very different in theme. And perhaps this leaves the main question for anyone who has 7 Wonders already. Do you need Moon as well? I would argue yes. I have both, and am keeping both. But why? Well, I can easily see myself playing both in the same night with the same people. Maybe Moon is the unofficial sequel, set years later in a later era? For this reasons, like the idea of both games hitting my table back to back. And if I can only play one? Well, 7 Wonders is here for when I have larger player counts. Moon is here for when I want a little less admin or have a two player requirement and don't fancy Duel. I would recommend Moon to anyone who enjoyed any of the previous games from the same designer. It has a similar look, feel, weight and style. Although of course, each game is quite unique in theme. If you enjoy space related games, this may appeal, but it does not scream space travel or exploration as you play. It is more of a solid resource management engine builder with a solid draft mechanic. Mechanisms that are universally used because they are fun to play when deployed well, such as the case here with Moon. Villages became Streets, and then we developed Moon travel. What's next? I cannot wait to find out.

Kavango Board Game Preview - This is a prototype version and may not represent the final quality of the game. This porotype also uses the deluxe components rather than the standard ones such as the card trays which will be punchboard in the normal version. Kavango is from new kids on the block Mazaza Games. You can find more about them and the game here . It was made by two first time designers, Matt Brown and Zara Reid which blows my mind considering how tight and well produced this game is. They have been working on it for 3.5 years and clearly have a passion for the subject matter, conservation. Zara is currently working as the Head of Climate and Nature Team & Illegal Wildlife Trade Adviser in Southern Africa. So, it makes sense the game is sound thematically. But mechanically Kavango oozes class too. Kavango is essentially Ark Nova 'lite'. If that is not enough for an instant back, read on. The game is incredibly simple to learn and teach. There are three rounds in which players will draft one card per turn from a deck of 12 or 15 cards, depending on player count. Each round lasts ten turns. So, only ten cards will be drafted per round from these decks with 12 or 15 cards in. This is a simple rule that can be easily overlooked as players continue to draft until the hands are empty. So, try to remember to stop after ten turns! We missed that a few times in our first game. The cards can either be used to increase your habitats overall ability to host new animals, add new animals into your habitat, be discarded for money, or played as an action if it is an action card. Once you have drafted and played your card, you can then if you wish, spend some money to increase your habitats protection level, score any of the four research tasks set each round, or contribute to the overall Climate level for all players. That's it. If it sounds like you are missing something, you are not. This is the classic easy to learn, hard to master game. But where it is low in rules, the game is very high in strategy and most importantly, fun! Let's delve in a bit deeper. To increase your habitats land and food production in order to host higher scoring animal cards on your board, Producer cards need to be played. These cards have zero cost and are simply slipped under one of the four production areas of your landscape board. Each board starts with two unique Producers, Trees, Grasslands, Invertebrates, or Fish. Adding more by tucking Producer cards under the board will build your own personal engine. But there will be Animal cards that require certain things that these four producers cannot provide. They will need things that only other Animal cards can provide. A Lion for example will require four prey animal cards to have been previously played. A Tawney Eagle requires other birds, small mammals, and prey to have been played. You need to develop your landscape to get the right animals into your habitat in order to then later add higher scoring bigger animals that feed of the previously played cards. It's a glorious, interlinked, cascading, connected puzzle that will fill your heart with song every play. There are four research tasks each round and they typically require a certain number of animals of a certain type to have been played onto your board. Animals of a certain size, weight, type, or some focus around the producer cards. Most research tasks have three different scoring tiers based on how many of the required type of card you have. You can only score each research task once, so you need to decide when to complete it, either when you have reached level one to gain the much needed money and points to help you in other areas, or wait, gain nothing now, and try to reach a higher level for bigger rewards later in the round. Gaining money is crucial because most cards have a certain level of protection needed in order for it to be legally placed onto your board. Either focused on the group Climate level, or your own Habitat and Poaching protection level. In order to advance in these four levels, you need to move money cubes gained from Action cards and completing research tasks to these boards, filling up the required spaces for each level in complete groups. If a level needs two cubes to fill it, you have to place two at once, not one at at time over various turns. Reaching the higher levels will allow you to place higher value cards. But there is a secondary reason you would want to do this. There is a shared overall game goal that rewards ten end game points to any player who can reach the final level for each protection category. There is also a shared ten point end game goal for adding at least eight cubes to the shared Climate level. Thus encouraging everyone to help with this, and not leave it to just one or two players to contribute. There will be many times when in order to get a certain Animal into your Landscape, you will need to increase both your production level in a certain area, as well as increasing your protection levels, and also add other cards your target card requires. This all takes time. You can only play one card per round, and you can only spend so much before your financial reserves run dry. In these situations, to avoid missing out on the card you want, you can add it to your Sanctuary. You have space for three cards here, essentially a holding area for cards until you can meet their required criteria. You will start with two cards in your Sanctuary, that's part of the setup process. But some Action cards will let you swap them with other players cards, which can be a key way to help your own game whilst also potentially slowing others down. But generally the cards given to you for free at the start in your Sanctuary will give you a focus for what you need to aim for at the beginning of the game. However, it may be best advised to ignore these cards, and divert your focus instead towards each rounds Research tasks. The research tasks will score you points and gain you money in a far more efficient way. But this all goes to show a good example of how your head will be full of various strategies and multiple-step plans to achieve many different things as you play. It's a fun feeling, if you like that sort of thing! Adding Animals to your Landscape board not only increases your production levels for other Animals, but will score you end game points. The Animal card points range between one and ten. Typically the best strategy each turn will be to play the highest scoring card possible. But you will need to start thinking about which cards will help with other cards in this hand, the other hands you have seen this round, or the cards you have in reserve waiting in your Sanctuary. You need to be constantly building up your production and protection levels, as well as the things you need on your board to assist you with the bigger scoring animals that you have your eyes on. It's one big continued problem that you need to work out, that will have your brain racing once you see the connections. The only part of the game that can be frustrating on occasions is the shared Climate protection levels. Some players may not need to advance in this at the same rate as others, and can focus on other areas for the earlier parts of the game. This can lead to one player being forced to develop this on their own if they want to place certain cards. However, the game does reward players with ten end game points if they have added at least eight cubes here, so this does mitigate this to some point. You can also simply not draft the cards that need a higher Climate level, and swap cards in your Sanctuary with high Climate levels with the players who are not helping, to encourage their assistance in this area! And there are some conservation cards (more on them later) that will encourage more interaction with this too. But I think I would prefer this to be a solo goal like the other two protection levels. There is enough player interaction with the drafting. This did not need to be included for me. But I asked Matt about this and he said that "the game is designed to be as true to real-life as possible. This was semi-coop to show the challenges of climate action." Which is a pretty darn good answer! The game is trying to make a point. It's not preachy. And very fun to play. But it does also have a serious message which this clever mechanic and rule underlines. If at any point during the game you feel you need a quick rule refresher, or between rounds you want to remind yourself of the actions, there is a very clear and handy guide for all these things that you can leave on the table. But the star of the show in this game are the cards themselves. The art is gorgeous. The animals really stand out and pop against the muted backgrounds. The art style makes them all seem so exciting and wonderful. It's nice to have a little bit of information about each one, and the stats help you with your research tasks, as well as educating you as you play. The art for the game was done by Matt, one of the designers. And remember, this is his first game. His first! Let me just let that sink in a bit as you gaze as the cards below. As well as the small part of asymmetry found with the Landscape boards, each player will be dealt a Conservation expert card at the start for the game to add to the variety. These cards will grant you small powers, unique to you, that will add some focus to your play, and assist you through the game. None of the powers are that strong, and I found for some, I simply forgot about them as I played as they did not help that much. They are a nice addition and do add some variety to the game, and will help you if you remember you have them! But this is not game changing asymmetry. More gentle nudges to to help with variety, and keep the game fair and even. The research tasks are somewhat akin to the round goals in Wingspan. They are all very clear and offer a strong focus for each round. Gaining mid-game points helps of course, but the real win here is with the money that can be earnt from completing these. Money that will be very much sort after by all players as you play. The money will be essential to developing your protection levels and gaining the higher scoring Animals. You can also use money to buy production levels in areas you are low on, if the cards available to you in one round happen to be light in one production area. It costs £4m to do this, unless you have the Ecologist card, as seen above, so it is not a cheap thing to do. But sometimes essential to get the cards you want. And a clever addition to the game to avoid that frustration found in other games, when the cards dealt simply do not have many of one type of category you need. Kavango is a remarkable game. Coming from first time designers, the game feels so much more polished and developed than a first time game usually would. Huge credit to Matt and Zara for this. I can see this really taking off when it comes to Kickstarter this month. It offers a similar experience to many other popular card based games on the market, such as Wingspan, Splendor, Terraforming Mars and Ark Nova. It's a fusion of all of these really, with a 7 Wonders style draft system thrown in. But this is very simple to learn and teach. It has10% of the complexity, rules, and game length of a game like Ark Nova, but a fair chunk of the strategy and fun. If you want a quick, easy to play game, that still offers a satisfying and strategic experience, Kavango could well be for you. It’s wonderful to see a game made by experts in their field who clearly understand the subject matter at hand. Both the Animals and conservation matters are handled with authority and authenticity, which brings an added sense of gravity and honesty to the game. Mechanically, it is a fusion of drafting, tableau building, hand management, set collection, and contract fulfilment, with an added element of asymmetry added for fun. But it all comes together in a wonderful package that has swept me up in its simple beauty, and I think it may well do the same for you.

Circadians: First Light Specialists Expansion WBG Score: 9.5 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Alien Frontiers, Euphoria. Published by: Garphill Games Designed by: S J Macdonald This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. Circadians: First Light is a wonderfully strategic game that I have reviewed here. There are two main expansions for the game. Chaos Order that introduces six asymmetric factions. And Specialists, that we are reviewing here, that introduces two new alien factions to add to the Negotiation board, a new Temple location to visit, and a new Outpost board to extend players bases. It also introduces new characters, contract cards, and excitingly, new specialist dice. Let's get to it. The expansion rule book opens with a story of how, after 33 rotations on the planet of Ryh, the intrepid explorers have now met new alien races. I like how it is even attempted to be explained how or why new races are being introduced at this stage in the game. The theme doesn't exactly leap out of this game. But it is there, and this small bit of world building in the rule sis certainly appreciated here. This game is not a narrative story based game, but an element of story telling is being attempted to build the lore of the game and it works well. How To Set Up Circadians First Light Specialists Expansion On top of the usual set up for the main game, add in the following set up steps. First up you need to modify the Negotiations board, which is now a whole lot bigger. Place the Negotiations board extensions on either side of the Negotiations board, using the side suitable to your player count. Make sure that Oxataya is of the left and Ahzuri is on the right. Either side of these two new races can be used, just like the main game with the existing three factions. The bottom of the board is also increased, adding in space for four extra Incident tokens which reference the new Specialist dice. The Event deck has six new cards to add in. Shuffle these into the deck but still draw the same amount. The new event cards are not especially linked to the new expansion. They just bring more variety to these cards. Likewise, add in the new Farm and Ship tiles when setting up these stacks and the 12 new Leader cards to the Leader deck. These are awesome, more on that soon. Alongside the six main boards in the game, there is now a seventh Temple board. Add this to the table along with the others. The Temple brings a new location to visit that allows players to gain the new type of Specialist die. This is also a new place where Contract cards can be gained and fulfilled. Something that was certainly required from the base game. Players now gain one extra Outpost board, two Outpost Tiles, and three Specialist dice in their chosen colour. The Specialist dice are placed onto the spaces on the outpost board which is placed to the left of the research base during set up. players need to decide which of the two outpost tiles to keep, returning the other to the box. You are now ready to play. How To Play Circadians First Light Specialists Expansion The game plays as usual with a few minor changes. During the Planning phase, players must assign Specialist dice if they have them. You can only have one active Specialist dice at a time. The Specialist dice do not have pips on, so you can treat the dice as being any number you like. They are Specialists you see. In the Execute phase, assign Specialists dice just as you would with a normal dice, other than the fact that they can break normal turn order of your own dice. A Specialist dice in the third garage for example, could go out first if you wanted. They can also move from a Garage to a Farm if you want. They then act just like a normal dice in the Farm during the Harvest phase. Specialist can be used as any number, apart from when sent to the Negotiation board where they have no number so do not count towards the base game Setbacks. But there are now two new rules at this juncture focused around Specialist dice. First, the first two Specialist dice sent to the Negotiations board gain one advancement. Second, if you place a Specialist in a column where there is already one other Specialist presence you will suffer one Setback. Players gain Specialists in a few ways but mainly from visiting the Temple. When you gain your first one, you must replace a regular dice with one of the three Specialists you placed on your Outpost during setup. Add the new Specialist die to your active collection of dice. One regular die is placed back into your supply in place of this. When you gain your second or third Specialist you need to move one of the Specialist die from your Outpost to one of the lock spaces on the outpost board. You don't get it quite yet! Later, when you move another Specialist to the Negotiations or Depository board, you can then unlock one Specialist from the lock space. This essentially means you don't lose a die as you usually would. You spend one regular die then get one Specialist back right away. The Outposts are not just left for your own use though. You can visit other players Outposts with your Specialists by placing it onto the top space on the Outpost board, you will then gain one Contract card and two Water. But this can be upgraded by gaining extra Specialists, which when removed from the starting spaces on the outpost board, reveal added benefits given to you when moving to other players Outposts. This will also reveal added end game points. Players can also gain Specialists from new Farm tiles and from the new rewards at the Negotiations board. Players will score as per usual, simply adding the extra points gained from the new Outpost board. Is It Fun? Circadians First Light Specialists Expansion Review The base game is already pretty wonderful in my opinion, and did not need anything specific done to it to fix any issues. However, adding more Leaders, the best part of the game, is a no-brainier and simply adds more variety and fun. The added Aliens to deal with are interesting, and it is nice to now have one that trades in Water. Something you previously could not use on the Negotiations board, and this could be frustrating, especially if you were Water rich and light in the other resources. I like the new Specialists dice. It's cool to have a dice with out any pips. That is a novelty in itself. But it works well in a game like this, that is so heavy in strategy, but can, on very few occasions, be governed by the luck of a die roll. Now, with pip-less dice, this is removed. Just use whatever number you want if you have earnt the right to do so. I like that. It's a great solution to a very small problem in this game. But only rewarded when you deserve it. The Outpost and Temple serves simply it seems as a means to get the new Specialist dice and bring them into your ownership. I like the process of moving them to the lock space and replacing used dice later in the game. On occasions, you could previously spend a die that you don't get back and then not have your full allocation of Dice on your next round as you ran out of turns or resource needed to get a new die back on that round. That was on you as the player to plan ahead, but it is nice to now have another option to keep you full allocation. More so when the replacement die is a Specialist. Charlene Fortin, a new Leader also offers some new flexibility here with the luck of the die rolls, by allowing players to increase one die up to two pips or two dice for one pip in the planning phase. A nice option to have. The other new Leaders are also a wonderful addition. I like Corey Ahrens who provides you with one Gem every time you don't have dice in your Outpost during the Harvest phase. Luna Morrison is my new favourite though, who allows you to gain a Gem when you negotiate with the Ahzuri, or three Water when other players do. The Ahzuri let you either discard two contract cards to move your Harvester or move the Harvester one space closer to the centre space in order to gain a Gem, powerful options. So this is a highly common negotiation and as such Corey Ahrens power comes into play a lot. For a game that is so solid without any real issues, I am surprised how good this expansion is. I would not say it is a must have. That depends on how much you like the base game. It won't make anyone who did not enjoy the base game change their mind on the overall experience. But if you did enjoy Circadians, then I would say Specialist is an essential expansion as it simply adds more fun with minimal extra rules and does make the game better. Personally, I wont play the base game without this expansion and have increased my overall score of the game by 0.5 which is a lot when I was already at a nine!

Circadians: First Light WBG Score: 9 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Alien Frontiers, Euphoria. Published by: Garphill Games Designed by: S J Macdonald This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. Circadians: First Light has an interesting history for its short time on this bright green earth. First published in 2019 via a Kickstarter campaign with 1,673 backers. The game received largely positive feedback, although Tom Vasel didn't like the art or the small box it came in. The same type most Garphill Games use. Then in 2021, a second edition and the first major expansion, Chaos Order was released. This received over 1,000 backers again. The second edition has since been released and comes in a much bigger box, with 90% of the art updated. You happy Tom? No, he still doesn't like the art. The rules remain largely the same but the first mini expansion, Allies, is included and a few small tweaks have been updated in the rule book. There is also a new expansion, Specialists, that came out in 2023 that we will cover in a separate review. The first edition is back compatible with the new expansions via an upgrade kit, or the publisher suggests you sell it and buy a second edition. In this review we will cover the second edition of the base game. Lets get it to the table and see how it plays. How To Set Up Circadians First Light It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is to set up Circadians. That is because there are a lot of moving pieces. But stick with me! We can get through this together. Place down the main planet board and fill the spaces marked with the three Water and one Gem icon with Water and Gem tokens. Then take the Gem cache tokens and place six at random, face down in each of the spaces for them in the corners of the planet map. Place a Rover marker into the central space, one for each player. Then place the negations board (the right side up for your player count) along with the faction boards. Each faction tile is doubled sided to allow for variation between games. Pick which ever suits you. Then add the 12 grey incident tokens into the spaces on the left side of the Negotiation board. Next, add the Spaceport board which shows the Depositary and Headquarters. Again, make sure you have the right side up for your player count. Then take the Event cards, remove the End of an Era card and shuffle the rest. Place the End of an Era card face down on the space for this on the Headquarters board then add six other event cards at random, face down on top. Place the left over cards back into the box. Now add the six other station boards, again with the appropriate side for your player count. You can place these anywhere and in any order. Just make them all within easy access of all players. Unless someone has particularly long arms. or one of those grabby arm device things. Now shuffle the Farm and Ship tiles and separate each one into three equal stacks, adding them to the three spaces for each on the Laboratory and Foundry board respectively. Then shuffle the contract cards and place them face down in a pile in the central playing area. Now it's time to set up each player. Give everyone a research base mat and screen, along with 13 dice in their colour. Three of these dice are placed onto the research mat, the others are left in a nearby supply. Each player starts the game with 15 Water, four Algae and two Energy. Then randomly determine the starting player and give them the Radio token. Each player will now be dealt three Leader cards. You can keep one, returning the others to the box. Or if you are playing the Dyad Alliance variant, you can keep two leaders. However, with this rule, you would have only received Ten water, two Algae and two Energy. I highly recommend playing with this variant from your second game onwards. It's not a great way to learn the game but a way more fun way to play after that! Finally, players will now draft their contract cards. Make sure you do this after your Leader cards have been chosen. It's handy to know who you Leaders are before you choose these. Each player draws four cards and selects one to keep, handing the other three to the player to their left. From these three, each player will keep one and pass the other two. From the final two, each player keeps one and discards the other, leaving each player with three contract cards. You are now ready to begin. How To Play Circadians First Light Playing is a lot simpler to explain than the set up. It is also very conveniently displayed in each players screen. There are seven rounds in the game as indicated by the seven event cards. And in each round, there are four distinct phases. Three of which are very simple, the other is where the main actions happen. Let's go through them all one by one. Plan - During the Plan phase the top event card is flipped and read out by the first player. This event will add a unique rule to this round, either helping or hindering the players progress. All players will now role the dice they have, you start with three but can get more during the game, up to five, in later rounds. Roll your available dice behind your screen so other players cannot see, and then assign each one to one of two areas on your mat. Either the Garages at the front, which means you will send them out to take actions in the next phase, or onto the Farms on the bottom of your mat, which means they will stay back at base and create resources for you to use in a later rounds during the Harvest phase. Execute - When all players are ready, remove your screens simultaneously, so all players can now see what each player has done. Then in turn, starting with the first player, everyone will move one dice at a time from the dice assigned to their Garages, starting with the left most Garage. The first Garage has no cost to send a dice out from. The rest have a cost starting from one Algae, then rising to two, then three. The first player takes one dice and adds it to one of the nine locations, paying the cost and taking the benefit. Then the next player moves their first dice, and so on until until dice in all Garages are allocated. The nine buildings offer you the following options. Mining Camp - This is Where you can gain extra gems. paying the cost of Water less the number shown on your die, either six or ten less the dice face for one Gem (based on player count and space available) or 16 less the dice face, for two Gems. Laboratory - This is where you can get new Farm tiles to add to your own board. This is the only space where two dice must be sent at once, rather than just one. The two dice must be the same number. You will then pay a cost of either three Algae or ten Water. So, the higher the dice, the cheaper the Gem cost will be. Foundry - This is where you can acquire new Ships to upgrade your Garages. The number of the dice dictates which of the three piles you can take a new Ship from. The Ship tiles offer extra benefits when added to your mat and dice are later assigned to them. You will pay a cost of either two Energy or ten Water to acquire them. Market - This is where you can exchange resources for other resources, based on two different exchange rates. Academy - This is where you can gain extra dice. You will pay the cost depending on which space you place your dice, and if you want to now take back one or two extra dice. The dice are added to your mat but cannot be used until the next round. Control Room - This is where you can control your Rover. Placing a dice here means you can move your Rover one space on the main planet board. The number of the dice dictates the direction you can move the rover as shown on the Control Room mat, as seen below. Headquarters - If you place a dice here, it will not return to your at the end of this round, but it can be used in the next round. The benefit being that as you are already out in the planet, you will be able to go first, before any dice from Garages are executed. This is essentially a way to break turn order. The dice in the first space can also be flipped, so a one could become a six. Negotiations board - Dice placed here do not come back to you afterwards, but will reward you at the time of placing them. There are three rows, each governed by one of three different alien races. Placing into one of the three rows, means you can gain the benefit of talking to one of these races. When you place the dice, any number can be placed, but you must pay the cost shown next to the row. The costs go up steadily, either in Algae, Energy, or Gems, but the more you pay, the more end game points you will get. Once you have placed your dice, if it was the first time a dice of that number was placed, you can move one of the grey markers from the top row on the left to the right, and claim the benefit. Either to take whatever resources are currently shown on your harvester location, take a Ship tile or Farm tile, a new dice, or Gem, or move your Rover one space in any direction. If a dice has already been placed with the same number then you cannot do this. There may also be a 'set back' if the dice you place means the column you are in now has a combined total of eight or more, or if the dice is the same number as another dice in this column. If this is the case, then you must move one of the grey tokens from the bottom set back row over to the right to lose one benefit of your choice. Depository - When you send a dice here, it stays there for the rest of the game. You must also fulfil a contract when you visit the Depository paying the required resources shown on the contract card but then gaining the end game points and/or in game bonus from the card. The dice can be placed in one of three rows. Each row offers a different benefit, either to move your Rover, gain an extra dice, or take two new contract cards. You can only put a dice in a row if you have the matching number in the top row. Contact cards can be used as a permanent power, such as the Fuel Refiner below which reduces the required cost to carry out actions by one Energy, particularly useful when used with a Ship that has the same power as seen below. Once all dice are assigned, and all players have passed, all players will then move onto the Harvest phase. Harvest - During this phase all players will simultaneously take the resources shown on the space on the planet board that their Rover currently occupies. As well as gaining resources for any dice placed into their Farms in the Plan phase. Each player starts with three Farms that generate either of the main resources and one Farm that simply adds an additional three pips to another dice on your Farm. For example if you placed a dice with a single pip into the left Farm which adds three to another dice and had another dice in another Farm which was a three, this second dice would now become a six. The mat shows clearly the exchange rate for each dice when you farm as seen below. The higher the number, the more resource you produce. Rest - All players will now take back all dice on the retrievable spaces on the board and add them back to their mat ready for the next round. All players must discard down to a maximum of five dice and eight cards, if they have more. The first player token will move one space clockwise and the next round will begin. If this is the final round then scoring takes place. Final Scoring - Players will score for five main areas. Any dice on the Negotiations board will score points based on the printed value. All fulfilled contracts will score points both for the printed value and any end game forcing bonus. If your Harvester ended on a Gem cash such as in the example below, this will now score you points based on that tiles icon. You will score points for your right left most uncovered Ship and Farm. And finally, one point for any Gem. Most points wins! Is It Fun? Circadians First Light Board Game Review Its takes a few turns to get to grips with the strategy of this game, but there are only seven rounds, and in the first few rounds, you may only take three actions. So you may not get it on the first play, games can be quite fast. This game certainly needs to be played fully to learn the strategy. But once you have done that, you could well find this is one of your favourite board game experiences. It won't be for everyone, but if you enjoy making strategic decisions that feel tight and meaningful, resource management, and working towards multiple small goals, this will be an absolute joy for you. The flow of the game feels beautifully balanced as you play. You won't get a full view on how you are doing against the other players until the final scoring, but you can track how many contract cards they are fulfilling, and when they place dice onto the Negotiations board. But you need to focus on your own goals, but watch out! Other players will regularly block you, inadvertently or not so you need to be able to adapt your plans. Some spaces on the boards are limited, going first can be important, and using the Headquarters spaces to go first can be very important. The real joy though comes with the Leader cards. The Dyad alliance rule where you get two of these cards brings even more fun to the table with these game changing powers. Gaining free dice, ignoring certain costs, or turning all dice into sixes in the Farms, the Leaders powers are huge and are brilliant fun to play with. In a tight game with a lot of tough restraints, it's wonderful to have a large bit of freedom in one small area. There is a robust and wonderfully engineered solo mode in the game. Each of the player mats reverses to be used in the solitaire game, with four options for varying difficulties. It works incredibly smoothly and offers a brilliant challenge that is both absorbing and a lot of fun. The AI always acts first, unless you use the Headquarters, and operates through the use of a small deck of Scheme cards. They give the AI various actions that allow it to play the game just as a human player might. I would recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of Garphill games. This feels very much like a Garphill game production despite not being designed by Shem himself. Multiple scoring options, clever worker placement, some exciting combination turns, and plenty of wonderful strategy to unlock and enjoy. On your turn you will plan out a juicy turn, full of exciting options, but will then quite often have to adapt and pivot as the other players or the AI stop you in your tracks. Later in the game when you start to build longer turns, it may be hard to keep a track of what you want to do. The planning phase can be tough for some, simply by the process of having to remember what you intend to do and in what order! I have had to use notes a few times to remind myself of what I was planning to do, which is fine. I only mention as this comes from the fact that there are always good options open to you. But a few will be better. And when you have four or five turns lined up, it can be hard to remember which you were planning on doing, and in what order because everything feels juicy. Circadians First Light is a wonderful game, and one that could easily creep into my top ten of all time. It certainly sits right now just outside, but with more plays, and the expansion, I think it could climb higher.

Tiny Towns WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 1-6 You’ll like this if you like: Sagrada, Cascadia, Azul Published by: Alderac Entertainment Group Designed by: Peter McPherson This is a free review copy. See our review policy here. This review also contains a sponsored link at the beginning of the Set up section. Space Base, Calico, and Cascadia are all wonderful, low to mid-weight games of the highest calibre. When AEG aim to make a game in this niche, they tend to deliver. When Tiny Towns was released in 2019, the general opinion was they had delivered again. But, I did not enjoy my first few plays. It felt generic and lacking in any real satisfaction. But after multiple plays, I became a little obsessed. I think I know why I did not enjoy my first few games, and I certainly know now why I like this game. Sounds like this has all the making of what I will now call a "review". Let's get this to the table. How To Set Up Tiny Towns Board Game Tiny Towns is all about building the most efficient town, based on the cards that were drawn. In this respect, it's very similar to Cascadia. In this respect, it's very similar to Cascadia. Each game, you will need to draw one card from each of the six types, and lay these out with the Cottage. The Cottage is present in every game. Lay out all the resources and buildings accordingly, and give each player a town play mat and two special building cards. From these, each player must chose one to keep and discard the other. One player is given the starting master builder hammer, and you're now ready to play. Starting with the master builder, one player will call out one of the five resources. Each player will then take one of those resources and places it onto their board. It can go onto any free space. Then, each player can convert resources into buildings (not possible on turn one!) if they so choose. The hammer is then past one space clockwise and the round begins again. This continues until all players have filled their board, at which points the total points are calculated. The game really is that simple. When placing resources, you are looking to match the patterns that each building requires. Such as the below Abbey. Once you have done this, you will remove all pieces that made up the building, and then place the building onto any of the spaces that you just removed a resource from. The buildings will slowly block your spaces to add and new constructions, so you need to be careful where you build. Each building will only score if placed in a specific location, or with certain other constructions added to your mat too. You need to be mindful of where you place each building in relation to all the others you have built, and all those you plan to build. Planing of course is not always as easy as you would hope. Remember, you only get to chose which resource you use each turn when you are the master builder. In a six player game, this obviously does not come around very often. As such, the game provides cards which you can use instead where by the resources are randomly determined. These also work for the solo game. Is It Fun? Tiny Towns Board Game Review There is some theme around tiny animals making the perfect village for or some other such thing you will instantly forget. You absolutely wont 'feel' this as you play. The resources are also 'Wheat', 'Brick', 'Glass', 'Stone', and 'Wood', but you will quickly call these yellow, red, blue, grey, and brown! But, none of this is a problem. This is an abstract strategy game, and theme is not relevant. But it perhaps is one reason some players won't get on with game one. There is a distinct lack of charm when compared to games like Calico, and Cascadia. It feels more formulaic. A little more structured. And a lot less attractive. The building's scoring requirements are initially quite frustrating. Building A will only score if Building B is here. And building B will only score well if you build building C here. The building's requirements are all interlinked, and initially I just found this annoying. Initially I also found it too simple. I thought you cannot make them all work together all the time so if you pick two or three to focus on, build lots of those, you will still score highly. This works for a while, but other players can quickly stop this from working for you. However, after a few games, I realised I needed to focus more on what other players were doing. They pick your resources for you as well after all. This was picked up by all the other players around the table too. And as such, the games became a lot more strategic. We were choosing not just what we wanted, but what we knew other players didn't want. We were focusing on constructing buildings that we thought may work with other players strategies. As in, if we knew another player was going to say a particular resource based on a building it was obvious they were building, we would start to build a building that could use that same resource too, knowing we would be getting one from them soon. This made it harder for other players to block you by picking resources you didn't want. Working out each game how the building's work together is a real joy. There is a pattern to be found. A way you can link them up to maximise your points that is both beautiful and excruciating. In early games I avoided looking for this. Instead focusing on just a few buildings. And it works for a while. But it's not much fun, and easily blocked by other players. If you embrace the full game, not only will you enjoy the process a whole lot more, but you will take a great deal more satisfaction when you score well. In some two-player games, I did find that both players were building the same buildings, calling out resources that they knew the other player needed, because they were doing exactly the same thing. It is hard to stop this. You don't want to change your plans just because someone else has the same idea. It may be the best strategy! But you won't win every game this way. To avoid this, the game encourages players to focus on different things through the special Monument buildings. Each one not only needs a completely unique construction to get it completed. But each one also offers a specific scoring mechanic which often out-ways any other building in the game. Ignore your monument at your peril! The monuments are so powerful that some say they can break the game. If one players gets a particularly powerful one such as the Obelisk of the Crescent for example, and another player gets the Grand Mausoleum of the Rodina, it can lead to a big swing in points. However, you do get to chose from two cards, and there will be seven other buildings with unique scoring opportunities for you. And games are quick. If you really do get an unbalanced game, just rack-em-up and go again! Each game feels very different in this way. Like Cascadia, the game very much evolves around which scoring cards you have randomly dealt that time. The game has a suggested start set, and the rest all feel significantly different. How they all work with each other of course makes the combinations for set-up almost endless. Working out the best way to combine each different group of buildings to maximise your scoring is a highly engaging, rewarding, and satisfying experience that I only really started to full appreciate from game four onwards. The patterns cleared in my mind, and I went from really not enjoying this game to loving every minute of it. I have not had such a large swing in a game like this before. I think Tiny Towns is a lesson to me that playing games can often be a learning curve. Some games I love from game one, and then tire of after10 or more plays. As such, I always try and get into double digits for plays before I review anything to avoid over hyping something from the new game shine. But, other games like Tiny Towns go the other way. If i had reviewed this after two or three games I would have scored it low. Very low. But now, after multiple plays I can safely say this is a good game. A very good game in fact. It's so simple to set-up and get to the table. Incredibly easy to teach and start playing. And like other games of it's ilk, it rewards multiple plays as you learn better strategies. Increase your understanding of how to manipulate the board to your advantage. It's initial lack of charm is found as the game grows on you, game after game. I can see this game being played a lot in the future by myself. It works so well in a two, and is a perfect filler game when you want a nice satisfying quick game. I would like for the art on the player mats to be more exciting, and the variation here could be easily improved with larger boards, or mats with obstacles on. Although, there are a few expansions out that bring in some added variety. Fortune, which adds in money, and Villagers which brings in new abilities. Overall, I would say this is a good game that I will certainly keep in my collection. I prefer it to Calico as it is runs a little more simply, but it sits just below Cascadia, mainly down to aesthetics. But if I were to remove this from my thinking, Tiny Towns would edge it. Both games can work in the same collection if you enjoy this sort of abstract puzzle game, but I see Cascadia as being much more popular from it's theme. Tiny Towns certainly is a game to seriously consider if you have Cascadia and Calico. If you enjoy those, I would wager you will like this too. If you have neither game, you may want to consider the theme as the way to choose, despite the fact that they are all quite abstract. Simply as they are all quite similar games. But I like how in Tiny Towns you interact more with other players as you choose resources for all players. And this reason is why I like this one the most when I remove theme and art from my consideration.

One Card Maze Card Game Preview - This is a prototype print and play version and so it may not represent the final quality of the game. One card maze just might be the simplest game to learn that I have ever played. Your job is to find the exit. You do so my moving through the open paths. But many doors will block your way. To unlock them you need to rotate the card in your hand by moving over the Spin icons so that door has an upward facing arrow. There are Flip icons that let you move to the other side of the card as well. Keep going until you find the exit. That's it. Want more? Well here are the rules printed on one of the free to play print and plays you can find at their website. Just print out the page, cut out the maze, either size, and fold it down the middle and begin playing. For the Kickstarter there will be a lot more mazes, nine in total, colour mazes, and a whole lot more treats I'm sure. All in the glorious print and play option. Check out the preview page here. I have tried three mazes now, and had great fun with them. It's so simple. Just print the page, cut out the square, fold the map, sleeve or laminate the card if you wish, and away you go. You can take them with you in your pocket when you go out and play anywhere, and enjoy playing the same maze over and over. It takes a while to learn them by heart, so repeat plays works just fine. Especially if you are trying more than one maze during the same game session. We have had fun timing our escapes against each other. You may be surprised at how, under time pressure, the seemingly obvious flips and turns become very confusing! It makes for a great group experience. It's such a lovely concept and one that is infinitely expandable. I hope hundreds of these little mazes get made. I want them all! A deck of one card mazes I can pull out and play when ever I want. A fun solo experience. An enjoyable group timed challenge. Something that works in any environment with nothing needed other than the card itself. You can play in the car (as a passenger obviously!), without a table, even when out and about walking, although please do be mindful of roads and the such! It would be fun if they could think of a way for the cards to link up. Either in a campaign mode or perhaps even joining them up for bigger mazes and surprises! The print and play experience is so simple too. It's one page, with one rectangle shape to cut out. And then one fold. You will be up and ready from download to rules learn in under 5 minutes. Even if you have a terrible paper guillotine like me! There is something so nice about holding a single card in your hand like this, and that be the complete game. Being able to turn and flip the card in your hand gives you complete control of everything, all with five fingers. It really is quite a unique, but delightful experience. Here are two sides of one of the early mazes. Have a try yourself. Can you escape? Set the rotation lock on your phone and have a try! Playing the mazes themselves is a lot of fun. Some will be a lot harder than you first think, and you will get a little disorientated at times, but this is all part of the fun. Flipping and rotating the cards, you will loose track of where you are and where you are going on occasions, but generally this is just something you can follow with your eye. Although my kids do like to use a pencil to mark their tracks, then rub out after playing. The entire experience will take a few moments, but this is not about a long sit down strategic experience. This is about portable, flexible, engaging fun for a few moments. Something you can share with friends at the pub, or play with your family when on a journey somewhere. I cannot wait to see how the Kickstarter goes and will be very keen to try as many of these mazes as I can get my hands on.

HexaGram Word Game Preview - This is a prototype version and so does not represent the final quality of the game. The box and tiles will change in the final version. No, it's not a new social media platform, HexaGram is an new word game and it's live on Kickstarter now (as off early September 2023).And it just may be my mums new favourite game! HexaGram is essentially a new version of Scrabble. Letter tiles are placed onto the board in turn, forming words, and scoring points based on the letters used. There are, of course, a few twists. First, you can only ever put one letter on the board at a time. Second, you can add letters to empty spaces or on top of other letters. And third, the letters already placed on the board from previous turns can be on later turns moved onto other letters, so long as they move higher than they were before. And with those three rule changes, you have essentially learnt how to play the game! There are four ways to play with these tiles, however the game I explained above is the main WORD version. The other three will be released as and when the game gains new backers. You can find information out about this here. But other than a few extra rules on plurals and tile placement, this is the full game. You can be playing within seconds. I love Scrabble. I mean, who doesn't? It's a classic, and has stood the test of time for very good reason. However, it does massively favour players with a better vocabulary and that have learnt the tricks of the game, such as the double letter words! Restricting HexaGram to just one letter each time completely opens up the game to new players. Now, don't get me wrong, you will still have a massive advantage if you have a better vocabulary, and can learn the tricks, but there is not much word games can do about that. These people read all those books, they deserve the wins! But, the one tile per turn rule does mean most players will always be able to find a word, and they can do so with less intimidation. In Scrabble, I find the expectation to build a longer word is quite high. And when you place a two or three letter word you feel bad. However, in this game, only being able to add one letter changes this. Now you can of course still create longer words, adding a letter onto the end of others already there, and you can build five, six, seven, even longer words. But this happens less frequently at the start of the game to ease players in. But most importantly, the expectation isn't there as you only ever have one tile to add. You are not sat there staring at your own seven tiles thinking what can I do with these seven tiles? Instead you are looking at all the available tiles and asking yourself, which single tile could you add to create the best word. It's a lot more accessible. The building aspect is a lot of fun too. Being able to add tiles onto others opens the game up immensely. Turning GOAT into MOAT is not something you could do in Scrabble but is an obvious and fun way to score in HexaGram. And you don't just score the letter you add, you score all the letters in the word you created. Words can be created in any direction as long as they connect on the board. Tiles can be placed anyway, as long as they touch one of tile. If you can get an ING down, then the opportunity to create a lot of big high scoring words opens up for all players. You can use the letters on the board over and over. Which means turns can be quick, and scores can build fast. You know, exactly NOT like Scrabble! The board is currently made up from the box which works well and makes set up a breeze. Simply open the box, empty out the tiles, flip the box and begin. If you get it onto a flat surface it works very well. What the designer Motti told me was that "the box is not the final product as we will redesign it to include the other items necessary to play all the four games in this box, however, it will be a box/board-game combination in the final product." Which is fun. I like boxes that are used in games, and that is certainly the case here. The one thing that I think could be developed is the tiles themselves. It seems like a better tile that stacks in a more stable way would greatly enhance this game. The tiles can slide a bit of each other when you begin to stack. Which is fine. They don't ever slide all the way off. It does not affect the game. But, if you are like me, the aesthetics being compromised this way may bug you. Speaking to designer Motti, they said the plan in the final version is for the tiles to have a rougher bottom so they do not slide as much. Hopefully that fixes the issue. It will be interesting to see how well this game does. The Kickstarter starter began without me even knowing. I had not seen this game anyway. But a friend sent me the link and I was intrigued. I am delighted I have had the chance to play this as I really enjoy it, and my mother, a big scrabble fan, loves this. And it has opened up the chance for us to play a lot of games together. We play Scrabble too, but it can be a bit long sometimes, and tough when she destroys me every game! Whereas HexaGram is a much quicker game. You can play until neither player can make a word, a points target or time limit, However you wish. You could do that in Scrabble too, but it would feel weird ending Scrabble with tiles still in the bag. The ruleset there is so established. But HexaGram is a new kid on the block, and with that, it brings fresh ways to play. Something very much needed in the word game market I would suggest. I would encourage anyone who enjoys Scrabble and any word game to check this one out. It is up on Kickstarter until the beginning of October 2023, so if you are interested, move fast!