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Mada WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-5 You’ll like this if you like: Port Royal, Kariba, Kawaii. Published by: Helvetiq Designed by: Sophia Wagner Helvetiq have made a number of beautiful small box games that I love. Tucano and Kinoko are two recent favourites. Whenever a new one comes out, I am always instantly intrigued. They always seem to pack so much game into these tiny boxes. When Mada was announced, I was instantly intrigued. I googled what the word meant. In Hindu theology it means "arrogance, excessive pride, obstinacy, stubborn mindedness" so I was interested what this had to do with a card game. Then I checked out the mechanics. Push-Your-Luck! Ah! That all makes sense then. Let's get it to the table and see how it plays. Set Up This has to be one of the easiest games to get to the table. Shuffle the deck and deal three cards to each player, then place the remaining cards face down on the table. You are now ready to play. That really is it! Maybe use the time saved to pop the kettle on? How to Play Players will then take it in turns to either pick up a card or place a card down in front of them. You can only place a card if you have one that either matches the current face up card previous placed, or raises it. You can only have three cards in your hand at a time, so if you have three cards already, all you can do is play a card. If you do no have a card in your hand that you can play, and you already have three cards, your only option is to take the top card from the deck and play it blind. If it matches or beats your top card you play on. If not, you are out. Whenever someone is out, all other players will then remove their top card and keep it face down by them for end game scoring, and then place the rest of their pile into the current discard pile. All players that didn't loose can then discard as many of their current hand as they choose, or keep them for the next round. The loosing player must keep all their hand. The next round then begins with some players starting with some cards in their hand, and others perhaps not. There are three extra cards in the deck. The single Lemur card that allows you to take the top card from your pile and place it with this Lemur card at the bottom of your deck, thus lowering your current top card. If you have a few cards on top of your pile with the same number, this card will drag them all to the bottom. The Scorpion card must be instantly discarded as soon as it is drawn. You must also discard one of your hand cards with this if you have at least one more in your hand. A great way to get rid of a card from your hand that you don't want. The double Lemurs card allows you to swap your current deck with any other player, discarding the Lemur card into the general discard as you do. Some real mischief can be done with this game. Rounds will run until someone has five face down scoring cards and then the game ends. The cards score not for their numerical total, but for the number of flowers on the cactus. So the two would score one, the seven would score three, and the 13, the highest card in the deck, would score six. Is it Fun? Playing Mada is so much fun. Deceptively so. As it is such a simple game to learn and teach, and as there are so few options on your turn, you may be forgiven for thinking this won't be that entertaining when you play. But as you get into this little beauty, you will realise just how entertaining a few cards with a few simple rules can be. The push-your-luck element is clear. But changing decks with other players, drawing a 13 blind, when that was the only card that could save you, or using a wild card to extend your run a few more turns is so satisfying. There is a little bit more strategy that you first think in this game too. When you can see other players all with higher numbers down, you can safely assume the end is nigh. So, at this point, it may be a good idea to play one of your higher cards, even if you could play a lower one, so that when the round ends you score more points. But of course, the game could run on longer than you anticipate, as other players play 13 after 13, use wild cards, or get lucky with the blind draw. So, you must always plan a few turns ahead when possible. Looking at your cards, you feel like you have so few options. Play a card, or draw a card if you can. But that limitation creates tension. And that tension creates a real enjoyment. Of course, it won't always go your way. But rounds of this game can be very quick. An overall game can run between 10-20 minutes depending on player count and the luck of the draw. So, you can always just play again if you didn't get the cards you wanted. And I am certain that most times, the winning player will fancy another game too. The games are fast, fun, and full of great moments. The surprise of a late deck switch when you have a nice build of numerical cards to play on top of your current low card, to then have that switched to a high card you cannot beat with your current full hand, only to then draw blind and hit a 13... The cries of joy and shock from the other players will fill the room constantly from moments like this with Mada. I have really enjoyed playing this game, and would rate it as one of my favourite small box games from Helvetiq so far. It is so quick to play, but offers to much, I find myself reaching for it before, between, and after most game sessions right now. And seeing as I play pretty much every day, that's a lot of plays. I would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys short filler card games and is looking for something new to add to their collection. It is perfect for anyone who enjoys push-your-luck or hand management games, or games with lot's of thrills and spills. I am truly enamoured by this wonderful little game, and can see myself playing many, many more times. Being so small, with such a simple game mechanic, it's perfect to take with you to restaurants or pubs too, no mada the space available, this games works. (Sorry, I had to do it at least once).

Toko Island WBG Score: 7.5 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: Hanabi, Dodo, Memory Published by: Helvetiq Designed by: Marie Fort, Wilfried Fort How to play video here Designers Marie and Wilfred Fort, are the team behind many successful family games. Dragomino, Valley of the Viking, and Unlock Kids to name just three. I was excited to see what their partnership with Helvetiq was going to bring, seeing as Helvetiq always make such aesthetically pleasing games. Seeing this set up at Essen intrigued me. The box art is quite mystical to me, and board has some real table presence. Let's get it to the table to see how it plays. Set Up Place the two boat titles down together and place the island board into the box to form the main playing area. Shuffle all the treasure pieces and place them into the holes face down on the island, making sure to fill in all the gaps. Note, some spaces hold up two or three treasure pieces. Then lay the Cupboard of Curiosities sheet down on either side A or B depending on which mission you are trying. Draw the square action tiles from the draw string bag and place them face down at random onto the boat onto the 16 spaces, then flip them over. Finally, draw the cards you are using the for current mission. There are four missions in total, each with their own ruleset and scoring mechanisms, with three levels of difficulty for each. Simply pick the cards with the correct coloured symbol on the reverse to match your desired level and adventure. Shuffle these card and place them face down into the boat, flipping the top card over. You are now ready to travel to Toko Island. How to Play Toko Island is a cooperative experience. Starting with the first player, then in turn, each player must choose one of the tiles on the boat. These represent two things. First, the symbol on the tile itself shows where on Toko Island you can dig. The rake lets you dig on the sand. The Shovel is for the forest. And finally, the pick axe lets you dig on rock in the centre of the island. And secondly, the x1, x2, or x3 symbol next to the tile tells you how many times you can carry out this action. Either digging up one, two, or three treasures from the area shown on the tile. You can then flip over the set number of tiles in the designated area. You are looking to match a treasure token with the current card shown on the boat. If you do, you can move that token over, placing it into the cupboard of curiosities. This not only shows you what you have collected thus far, but also what is left on the island. Then, move the card you collected from the top of the pile and place it next to the boat, flip over the next card, and the turn moves to the next player. If you do not flip over any matching tiles to the current card, then you must flip them all back over. Trying to remember what each one was, in case one of the upcoming treasure cards shows that symbol. The next player must now choose their tile and so on. This continues until either all of the treasures have been found, or you run out of tiles. Each mission has its own way to score and interpret your success, but as with most family games, the fun comes from the matching of symbols. And the drama, when with only a few turns left, you manage to find that final symbol. Which seems to happen a lot on this game. The balance is spot on. Is it fun If you enjoy memory games, then yes. You will have a lot of fun with this game. It is quite simple, being advertised as for ages 6 and up, which I would very much agree with. I enjoy the beautiful aesthetics of this game, and the high production value with all the components. And I like the sense of adventure and history in this game. Each of the four missions is based on four real adventurers from history, and the prizes you can win are all based on real instruments used in the past. I enjoyed discussing these people and items with my children as we played... Prizes you say? Yes, I will get to that! As you complete each mission on each difficulty you will be rewarded with cards to place into a folder that tracks your success through the game. These cards are double sided and can be flipped over to their silver shiny side when you complete missions at harder levels. Show me a child that won't get excited about this! To be fair, show me a gaming adult that won't get a little bit excited about this! I know I did. As you complete rows and columns in this book with your cards, you can unlock special powers to use on later games. These comes in the form of tiles that can be placed into the front of your boat in subsequent games. They all have a one time only use, but offer a nice option to either carry out additional actions, flip over extra treasure cards, or transform any tool into one other type. This is a nice development in the game, and you feel genuinely rewarded (both in shiny and useful things) for playing the game multiple times. Something I think is sometimes missing in other games. You should want to play games again because they are fun. It should be as simple as that. And this game is fun. But with a family game, it is nice to offer some gamification into the process. It works very well and adds to the replayability and satisfaction from 'completing the game' in a huge way. Toko Island is a very simply game. There is not a lot of strategy in it. But there is more than you first think. As the cupboard if curiosities shows all the possible tiles available, as you mark them off as you gather treasure from the island; you can use this knowledge to increase your chances of success. For example, if you are looking for Fossil, and you have so far gathered two large fossils, you know from looking at the cupboard of curiosities that there are two medium and two small fossils left. As such, you want to pick a tool that will allow you to flip only this size of tile over. It is a simple strategy to employ, but it works well, increases your chances of success, and makes the hunt feel less random. But of course, the main tactic and strategy is your memory. Working as a team to try and remember where that fossil was when you flipped it over three turns ago is the key. It is a fun team game to play and helping each other out in this way feels great. It is highly rewarding to remember correctly when others have not, and you manage to get the treasure you were after. There are many team cheers and high fives as we play this game. Thankfully, my children have a much better memory than I do, so we do ok most of the time! I would recommend this game to any family looking for a new game to play as a group. It is perfect for younger gamers who want to feel like they are playing a more complex and heavy game, when in fact the rule set and strategy is very simple. But it looks and feels bigger as you set up and play Toko Island. And the rewards from the trophy cards and tokens keeps you coming back for more, game after game. There is a delightful calming nature to this game. It just looks and feels so relaxing. But the later stages can be tense. When you only have a few tiles left to find the final few treasures, turns can be dramatic, stressful, but highly rewarding if you can remember correctly where the right treasure is. Or, just get lucky! Toko Island is a wonderful experience and a great game to win together as a family. If you loose, it sure is quick enough to just rack up and go again. Which you will want to do, game after game, to get all those shiny cards into your trophy booklet.

Wonder Book WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 1-4 You’ll like this if you like: The Goonies: Never Say Die, Scooby Doo: Escape From The Haunted Mansion, Cantaloop. Published by: dV Giochi Designed by: Martino Chiacchiera, Michele Piccolini Rule book here Disclaimer. This game was provided for free for purposes of a review by the publisher. This review will only show parts of the game available to you at the start of chapter one to avoid any spoilers. Open up the board in Wonder Book, and you will be treated to a pop-up delight! It is seriously impressive and will draw you in from the off. The box art is stunning... And the inside is even better. Just check this video out to see how impressive this is! OK, with all that peacocking out of the way, let's get the game to the table and see how it plays. Set Up Starting Wonder Book is very easy. There are six chapters (called adventures) for you to go on. Each neatly arranged in a different deck of cards. Take the first deck out of the box and open it up. This will talk you through the basics of how to play the game. It is worth having a quick read of the short rules too, that will explain the basic premise. But you will pick it up pretty easily if you have played similar games before and you could go straight to the cards and use the reference guide on the back of the the rule book if you wanted. Lay out all the health tokens, two bad guys (Wyrm's) for each player playing, and the different decks of cards, shuffled and placed face down. You are now ready to start your adventure. read the opening dialogue and intro on the first few cards. Welcome to Oniria! Or at least, the gateway to it. It wasn't going to be that easy now was it? How to Play I cannot say too much about this game without giving away spoilers but I will give you the basics so you can get a flavour. You will be working your way through six chapters in a cooperative adventure. On your turn, you can take three actions. This is mainly to move, fight, pick up sparks (to activate your special power), interact with an item, or use a special skill (with your sparks). Players can play in any turn, whatever the group feels will best suit them in the game. When all players are done any Wyrm's present will then take their turn. You do this by flipping one card from the Wyrm deck. This will show how many Wyrm's to add to the play area and how many actions they will take. There are sometimes some special actions as well, but again, no spoilers here. As you progress through the game, more cards will be added to the Wyrm deck that increase their powers, but below are two cards from chapter one to show you how they look and work. As you play through the cards used in each chapter, new characters will be introduced, magical items will appear, and all sorts of surprises will be encountered. As new powers, items, and objects come into the game, it will all feel very simple. Just follow the cards. I would love to share all the exciting things you will see in this game as they are amazing, and also quite unexpected at times in terms of how they are delivered. But I wouldn't want to spoil anything for you. All I will say is there is something very cool each chapter. Below is a very minor spoiler, but you will learn this very early in chapter one, but skip on to below this picture if you prefer. At the start of chapter one, you will be asked to flip over the book to show the back page. This becomes the play area for this first part of the game. On it, you will be collecting sparks to activate your skills, interacting with objects you place there, collecting items, and fighting the Wyrm's! But more will come, very soon! Ok, you are safe again. Fighting is the only disappointing part of the game. It's pretty basic. Just rolling some dice that show either success or failure. But you can re-roll for the cost of one health. And you will get extra powers as the game progresses. But the initial fights feels a little stale. However, each character has their own way of fighting, using different numbers of dice in different ways. It's just a shame there are not more options for each individual character. The dice create the main issues in the game. If you win, it is largely because you rolled lots of hits. If you loose, it is because you rolled lots of fails. And loosing means you have to go through the chapter again. It won't take that long to complete each chapter. Between 40-60 minutes depending on player count and player age. But repeating missions for younger players can be frustrating. The rules suggest that when you are done with the six chapters, you may want to play the whole thing again, to see what you missed and maybe get another ending. There are six in total. But I am unsure if this will be that appealing to most. It feels like a one and done to me. Which is fine. I loved the five hours I had playing through these chapters. I felt there was a lot of value to this, and have reset the game to gift to a friend to play with their family. But, repeating missions or the entire game is not something I can see myself doing. However, going through the game this first time was wonderful and very much enough for me to justify the cost of the game. It really was quite magical. Is it Fun The sense of adventure in this game is high. Superseded only by the huge sense of discovery. Some of the tricks this game throws at you are sensational. I was blown away at some of the little things you could do, or find as the game developed. When it was over, I was gushing and wanted to tell everyone about what I had done. I want to do that here too! But, you know... spoilers!! So, all I will say is that if you have children between six and ten, there is no game right now I would recommend higher if you want some quality family time based around a game. The dice throws are luck based of course and may put people off, but this is the only down side to the game. The rest of it is brilliant, and I think most people would really enjoy it. My family certainly did. We played through the six chapters in three nights. Only one chapter needed to be replayed as we lost, and we enjoyed doing it again. Although we did race through it the second time somewhat, knowing what was needed and how best to navigate through it quickly. There are certain points in the story where you must make a choice, stay and fight, progress forward, help a friend. That sort of thing. Playing chapters again gives you a chance to change your decisions here and see what path the story weaves this time. It is fun to do this, but there are not enough changes in each chapter to really make you want to do it again. But if you have to repeat a chapter then this is a nice option to have. The game will throw some interesting dexterity based mini games at you and your fellow adventurers. These are fun to try, quite unexpected, but link into the story very well. Playing these the first time is a a lot of fun. Repeating one mission, I did enjoy having another opportunity to do these again. I would highly recommend this game to anyone looking for a story based adventure game to play with their children. Anyone who wants a game to add an element of discovery to their table will be very happy with this. Wonder Book looks amazing from the off, and continues to deliver with some exciting surprises along the way. The story is interesting, and winning the game feels highly satisfying, if somewhat easy. It feels like you are completing a story. Your actions affect your ability to progress your characters through the adventure and your reward is a (blank) ending. Remember, no spoilers! I look forward to see what the publisher and designer does with this game next. A new version? Expansions? Added chapters? I hope I am not done with it. I enjoyed my time on Oniria immensely, and cannot wait to go back.

Something Wild WBG Score: 7 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: Simple card games, Kompromat, Fluxx. Published by: Funko Games Designed by: Prospero Hall Something Wild is a series of card games, themed across multiple IP's, including Marvel, Disney, Star Wars, and Dr. Seuss. They all play the same, but can be mix and matched into bigger games. This review will cover the basics of the game, as well focusing on the Baby Groot version I have. That's right, Baby Groot! I know!!!! So, let's get it to the table and see how it plays. Set Up Separate the playing and bonus cards. Shuffle both decks and deal three cards to each player. Then place the bonus cards face down on the table next to the Baby Groot and turn one face up. It should look something like this. Have a play with Baby Groot for as long as you feel necessary, then start the game. How to Play On each players turn, they will draw one card, then place one of their cards face down in front of them. Players are looking to create sets of the same numbers, or runs of the same colour. If you create a set or run of three cards, you can discard these cards and take the current face up bonus card as your own. The first person to get three bonus cards wins. The bonus cards all have a colour matching the cards in the deck. When you play a card down that matches this colour, or any card with the Baby Groot symbol shown on the 'one's,' you can take the Baby Groot mini and place it in front of you. The player who has the Baby Groot mini is about to use the face up power card, or any power card they have previously taken, if you choose, on their turn. You will either take Baby Groot from another person, or from the centre of the table if it is near the start of the game and no one has claimed him yet. Is it Fun Playing Something Wild is fast, fun, and quite addictive. Games can be over very quickly, sometimes in less than five minutes in a two player game. I often play multiple games, playing a best of three of five. The bonus cards offer very strong powers that affect the game a great deal. You can complete sets with any number, have extra turns, or even swop cards with other players. Using the power cards well will greatly increase your chances of winning. The art on the cards is bright, and a lot of fun. The characters all look like the Funko Pop characters you can collect, and are very appealing to younger players. The icons on the cards are very clear, with just the number and colour needing to be identified. But they have symbols too to make the game work for people who suffer from colour blindness. The baby Groot is adorable and worth buying the game for alone! He is useful in the game, identifying who can use the power cards, but just looks so cool as well. I can see how collecting these games could become as much fun as playing them. I want all the little characters now! The only other icon to look out for is the symbol on the Baby Groot cards, but this is clearly labelled. Making this game very accessible and suitable for children from six and up. With my family, when finished playing, they will just 'play' with the cards for ages afterwards. Organising them into colours, or groups. Playing little games with them. It's how I got the idea for these photos. However I would say the icons on the power cards are a little less clear. There is a very simple to use and understand reference guide in the rules that you can leave open for your first few games as you learn. But I do feel this could have been made easier for younger players with more clear icons. Or even just if they had written the meaning on the card itself! There is plenty of space. If you collect multiple versions of this game you can mix any two sets. You will shuffle all the playing cards together and give each player one pile of power cards for a more varied game. The concepts are all generally the same, but the theme obviously changes from box to box. Something Wild is one of those games I would recommend to anyone. I can see myself gifting multiple copies of this game in the future. It is perfect as a gift for a child's party, or a stocking present. The game is so accessible with light and easy to understand rules that anyone could play this. And there is a theme to suit most people. My children are already eyeing up a few more sets! As am I in truth. And the game is fun to play. It's quick and easy, and the perfect filler game. It will fit in most bags, or any pocket out of the box. I can see this coming to a lot of restaurants and pubs with us in the future. Although not Baby Groot. No, he is staying proudly on display atop my gaming shelf.

Wow! What an epic few days that was! There is something special about the Essen Spiel. It feels bigger, more significant, and more of an event than any other convention or expo that I have been too. And why is that? I cannot say for sure, but there are a number of contributing factors. The physical size. This year we had six main halls to explore and play in. All mostly used up. It’s a massive event in the literal sense. The number of new games launching at Essen is vast. It fits perfectly into the run into Christmas so publishers aim to launch at Essen to get the big PR push right at a peak buying time. The location. The fact that many see Germany as the spiritual home of modern board games, with so many great designers, publishers, and games coming out of Germany over the last 30 years. And of course, some of the biggest awards and prizes in our industry are of German origin. But all in, none of this really sums up the feeling created by going to Essen for this bonanza of games! Meeting friends from all over the world at Essen feels special. People flock to this convention in their thousands and it’s a wonderful opportunity to meet old friends and make new ones. It’s the people that make it. So, with that, here is my run down of my experiences of Essen with my own personal highlights. I will also include a few tips for anyone who plans to go in the future. Highlights. Best Game I played – Excavation Earth. Oh my! What a beauty this is! And the choices available are numerous and wonderful. Best Game I bought – Golem. I am stupidly exited about this one and look forward to featuring on more detail soon. Although Bitoku looks amazing too. Best small box game – Riverside is a delightful roll and write from the designer behind The Magnificent. It plays beautifully and has some wonderful options. Best Party game – Taco, Cat. Goat Cheese, Pizza. Every time I walked past this stand I stopped for a quick game and had some hilarious experiences with different people. I bought two copies! Best Game coming to Kickstarter soon – The Fog: Escape from Paradise. This game looks amazing and is coming to Kickstarter 2022. I hope to feature more on this here soon. But in short, its fantastic. Best Stand – I liked the IELLO stand where they had many games set up and multiples times for each one, and the box for each game set up was raised up high so you could tell from afar what was there. There was plenty of people on hand to each you, and a separate area to buy so the queues for each didn’t cross over. The Paleo stand was probably the most physically impressive with a large and very cool set-up. Top Tips Parking – Book your parking before hand and get to the spiel around 9-9:15 if you can. The show starts at 10, and the near by car parks get busy. Parking on site is not expensive, and there are plenty of sites if the closer ones are full up. But there will be queues forming if you come later. But be mindful of the local traffic too if it’s a weekday, it’s a little busy around 8:30 due to commuter traffic. Although this year, everything seems quiet most the time due to the reduced numbers. How busy is it? What’s the best day to go? – Thursday and Friday are typically quieter due to the locals coming for weekend. So, if you want a slightly more sedate experience, Thursday should be your day. But it will still be packed! However, this year was an anomaly with the covid restrictions for international travelers and high risk visitors making numbers overall seem way down. And of course, even with less halls and space being used this year, it was still busy and on occasions crammed. But even at its peak in 2019, it still felt large enough to cope with all those people and stands or queues never get too crazy. How to get in – There are a number of entrances, and everyone tends to go to the one by hall 1 as they want to get into the main part first. As such, the queues here are bigger and fill up quicker. If you head round to the entrance by hall 8 you will find the queues much shorter and move a lot quicker. You will obviously enter the convention in a completely different place though. But this year, it was handy as it was right by the stand for Golem which was the game I wanted to get first! Where to stay – There are several hotels close by and in the near by town, but they get booked up quick and are expensive for this period of the show. But there is an after-show buzz to enjoy! I have stayed both times in Dusseldorf. It is a 25-minute drive and has a lovely Old Town to visit in the evenings. And the hotels are much cheaper. But it does feel like you are out of it in the evenings, and you miss some of the buzz. Sold Out! – Prior to the Spiel, there will be many hyped games. The BGG hot list is the main way this seems to happen, and with just a few hundred thumbs up, a game can rocket to the top of the list. This will then often lead to long queues at these stands on the first morning. This year, this happened for a few games, and some of these sold out. The UK edition of Ark Nova going before the show evening opened, with the 9-10 am slot reserved for exhibitors, seemingly being enough to shift all copies of that game! So, if you want something specific, get there early on the first day, or pre-order. Even if the publisher is not advertising a pre-order, you can still reach out to them directly and ask to do that. Language barrier – Every person seems to speak multiple languages at the show. Exhibitors often have handy badges with national flags on showing their spoken languages. If you are looking for a demo or help, it will always be close by. The staff at all stands are amazing. If you are looking for a copy of a game in a specific language, again, this will be possible. Most are German language, but there are plenty in English too. But often the price will be better in German, so look out for those language independent games! And don’t forget, you can download most rule books in any language online. Food – In between some of the halls there is a long thin hall with a few exhibitors, but mostly food stands. Donner kebabs, Burgers, Burritos. That type of thing. There are a few tables and chairs to sit on, but not loads. A lot of people end up on the floor. You can bring your own food if you want. The prices are all reasonable. But the choice isn’t huge. Queues are fine. People seem to eat at various stages in the day. There is nothing really local bar a nice bakery about 10 minutes’ walk south, unless you want to drive. Playing games – Exhibition space at Essen is at a premium so often stands will only have a few tables to play games on. They obviously fill up quick for the bigger and more popular games. Some stands will have sign up sheets to book in slots, but if you want to try something specific then I suggest you go there early. Waiting for a slot is a chance to learn the game and still a great experience watching others. When playing yourself, be mindful, if you are playing a long game, the person demonstrating the game may not want you to play the entire game. They will want to maximise the amount of people who get to try it so may only want you to play a few rounds or turns. Most of the smaller or less popular games you can play the whole thing, but just be mindful of this expectation upfront for the bigger ones and perhaps clarify that at the start so you don’t end up disappointed. If you want to play a game that requires more people than your group, then most stands work this out quite well for you and group people together. Buying games – This is easy. Buy what you want! But I would suggest you try and seek out the popular ones first. And any that you are unsure on, try to play it first. Also, don’t be suckered into deals you don’t want. Many popular games will be at a stand with a 3 for 2 deal. They know they have a hot property and will try and use that to encourage you to buy other games from their archives. This is all fine if you want them, but we all have limited budgets right! Carrying games – This is the hardest part of the show. You will see people with trolleys, suitcases, all kinds of ways to get their purchased cardboard home. There are stalls selling great cases and portable fold up trolleys at the show. So, if you don’t have one, you can still get one. They are very reasonably priced. There are also shipping companies there, ready to package up your new games and send them to you, again for very reasonable prices. Or you can just put them into a carrier bag provided by the publisher that sold them to you! But be mindful, if you buy a few, and you buy early, then your arms, shoulders, and hands are going to hurt! What to bring – Comfy shoes! You will do a lot of steps! A drink. There are not that many places to buy them and you will be talking a lot! As such, perhaps some throat sweets too! Wear light, comfy clothes. Its warm enough inside for t-shirt only. But be mindful that outside, it’s the German Autumn, so a coat or jumper for the evening or queue outside in the morning if you plan to get there early will be welcome. Cash v Card – Obviously this is your preference. But note, some stands unbelievably only take cash. Even some of the bigger stands and they won’t always display this clearly. Worth checking before you queue up if you don’t have both. There are cash points here, but not many and they are hard to find with terrible sign posting! Worth having a bit of both and bring it with you! __________________________________________________________________________________ That’s your lot. Essen is an amazing experience and one I hope everyone gets a chance to have at least once. If you plan to go next year and have any questions just let me know or drop them in the comments below. See you there in 2022 and happy gaming!

Flee Fi Fo From How many games are there about immigration and the racist attitudes towards this? Yeah, none is my guess too? I was very interested to talk to the team behind Flee Fi Fo From when they contacted me and told me they would were set up at the Essen Spiel of 2021. Speaking with Hash at the fair, it’s clear that the team behind this don’t want Flee Fi Fo From to be seen as a controversial game, or even overtly about immigration. But it is. This does not stop this being fun. This is a really enjoyable game despite the serious theme. And the game handles it very well. It doesn't take this serious matter and disrespect it or make light of the matter. Nor does it throw it in your face. It just raises the debate. Playing Flee Fi Fo From… actually, before I get to that, I have to cover the name. It’s obviously a bit of a play on words. And I get the idea behind it, but I am not a fan. I hope the name doesn’t affect the games chances of success. But I fear it may. There is a tenuous giant theme in the game which this name builds on, but there are no actual giants seen or used when you play this game. It's more the threat they are bringing. However, I played a very early prototype so maybe this will change. But even if giants do appear, I still worry about this name. It is too much of a gimmick for me. Ok, onto the game. But before I do, I must say the board is an early pro-type and does not include final artwork. In Flee Fi Fo From, you play as an all-seeing clan leader, trying to re-order the entry of various villages, fleeing the never seen giants, to seek safety within the confounds of the town walls. During set up, various meeples of different colours are randomly set up in a pyramid shape, gathered outside the doors to the city. On your turn, you will be able to choose from a variety of actions depending on if you are in the action or reset phase. Players will take it in turns in these two roles, a clever way the game makes one player do the game admin but make it feel like part of the game. This works very well. If you are in the Action phase, you can choose to take two actions from four options. This is largely about authorising villagers to come into the city and swapping villages positions in the queue outside to make sure you let the right ones in. A key part of the game, and the underlying theme is the colour of the meeples. There will be a “priority” set up which will determine the class structure in the game based on the meeples colour. This can change throughout but if you ever break priority, in that you move a lower-class citizen before you move a higher class one, you will be penalised. Sound familiar (insert name of localised and relevant politician to where you live here)! If you can manipulate three meeples of the same colour to be in a group, you can then use the riot action to move them all into the castle. Again, the priority rules will come into effect here. You can always break priority, but the penalty will affect your rating shown on the top of the board which has a swing of points from positive 12 to negative 12. You are punished if you don't follow the law and prioritise the higher class citizens. As you move the meeples on the board, players will also be looking to complete objectives, dealt to them at the start of the game. This could be certain marching orders of meeples on the board, attaining a certain order to the priority positions, or getting a certain colour of meeples into the castle. As you move the meeples through he different actions, you will be trying to maintain the order set in the priority to avoid being penalised, whilst fulfilling objectives, and rescuing villagers. The first player to do set numbers of these will also score additional points. The Reset player will then run through two of four options themselves. They can maintain the flow of the villages or bring the knights into play by adding them to the board. This could be as it is a side objective for them or they want to change the order of the meeples. The game ends when either all villagers have been saved or too many knights have retreated from the battlefield. Players score based on their completed objectives, end game bonuses, their penalty or positive points based on the priority, and the total amount of villagers saved. Playing this game feels familiar and fresh at the same time. I love games where I am thinking about different things at the same time. The private objectives you are looking to complete are simple enough to rattle through a good few in a game, but not so easy they don't give you that little endorphin rush each time you tick another off. The movement of the meeples and the patterns you try and create feels a little abstract in parts, but the theme is always present. It is hard to pin this game down. It has parts of many different games and mechanics within it. But the overall package is one that I very much enjoyed playing. I look forward to seeing what the final art for this looks like, and if the team behind this stick with the name. They certainly seem like smart bunch and have come a long way already with this clever and enjoyable game. I hope it does well and successfully funds. Not just for the fun it will bring to many tables around the world, but the conversations it will start too. When the kickstarter goes live I will add a link here.

I spoke with Mark Cooke, the founder of AireCon, about how his convention has been set up in a very special way. Like many people, I find conventions daunting prospects. I love them. Don't get me wrong, but the size, noise, and huge numbers can be a difficult thing to face. Mark has thought about this and has created ways to play with strangers that is simple, non-confrontational, and hassle free. If you are travelling alone or in a small group and want to find other people to play with, Mark can help! Mark has considered the noise and how this affects some people, and created side rooms for quieter gaming. Mark has even introduced specialist support to give those with social anxiety the help or just listening ear they need. You can find out how Mark has done this, and his top tips for what to wear and what to pack to a convention here. What a guy!

UKGE 2022 just came and went and it was epic. As the UK's largest board game convention, it was great to see UKGE back to its full scale best after the lock down pause and small scale 2021 show. There were over 20,000 unique attendees with close to 40,000 visits to the three halls and Hilton hotel over the weekend. Pretty impressive considering the way the world is right now. As I said in my show article "Are we still geeks" we are rolling with the mainstream now! 100,000 go to Comic Con in the UK each year, Crufts gets 160,000, and 50,000 go to the British Motor show each year. We are getting there! Article from UKGE show guide. The show was a huge success from what I could see. But it doesn't go unnoticed to me that not everyone had a great time. Some games looking for kickstarter support at the show have cancelled and some attendees looking for other gamers to play with have commented on how hard it was to find people. Nothing in life is ever perfect for everyone, but speaking from my own experience, I had an absolute blast and found it to be incredibly well run. But I hope all the below games find huge success soon, they deserve it. And I hope my tips below may help you if you plan to go in the future. So, without further ado, here are my top 5 independent published games on UKGE 22 and my suggestions for future visits on how to make the most of your time at a busy convention. Top 5 Independent Games at UKGE 2022. Amulet of Thrayax - Trolls n Rerolls - Sadly they just cancelled their kickstarter but I am sure it will be back better and stronger soon. More info here. I love this game, and Tom, the man behind the Amulet, is an absolute gentleman. I saw this game last ear at UKGE and at Airecon this year but didn't have the chance to play it. I met Tom this Thursday at the press event and was blown away by his passion, enthusiasm, and dedication to this game. He was packing up at 10pm Thursday night as I was sitting down to play games so he could drive back from Birmingham to London to then drive back with his volunteer crew ready to set up for the show the next day. I saw Tom on Friday for a demo and the guy was running on fumes after 20 minutes sleep. But this is the reality for an independently run and funded game. A lot of blood, sweat and tears. But thankfully, after my demo of Amulet of Thrayax, a great game too. I instantly backed it. But it has sadly had to cancel due to a lack of momentum, but will be back soon. I would heartily recommend it. Amulet of Thrayax a mix of take-that, area control, very clever card play, and smart timing. The amulet moves around the circular board made up of six districts, affecting all tokens it shines down upon. Playing as one of six eccentric cults, you need to work your way around the board collecting points from harvesting the souls of nobles and peasants in the dystopian city of Bleakpire. Peasants are worth one point each, but are also used for movement each round, and a bidding mechanic for being first player between rounds. The Nobles are worth ten points, but are a lot harder to acquire. On your turn, you can move and must play or burn one Murder card and one Counter card. Moving costs one Peasant for one space, two for two, three for three etc. You can play the cards at any point or burn to play one of you inconvenience tokens. Inconvenience tokens activate at the end of your turn and are another other way to harvest peasants but they wont necessarily all go to you. It depends what players are in the area that the inconvenience token has been placed. Each card has various stages on it, with even more higher powered options if the Amulet is facing your way when you play it. Each district is divided into a protected and unprotected side. Peasant's and Nobel's can move from either side, or be moved into neighbouring distracts. It's a clever, ever changing board, that looks gorgeous, but every part does something functional. It is very easy to learn this game thanks to the layout and thought behind the art. I am gutted this cancelled, and cannot wait for it to launch again. I loved everything about this game. The art, the gameplay, rules, mechanics, and team behind it. 2. ISLA - Ocean City Games - Check out there upcoming kickstarter here. ISLA (pronounced Iz-Lar before we start at Jurassic Park style argument) is from Ocean City Games, the team behind 2020 hit Salvage Hidden Treasures. They are also working on Towers of Ra which looks fun, but next up it's Isla, an explorative roll-and-write using polyhedral dice. Each turn, players roll five dice, and chose to either move to explore the Island, rest to recover their lowest die, or research to select a card showing either the flora or fauna in the island, or maybe even a fossil they discovered. These get you points. The further you travel into the island, the trickier things get. It looks gorgeous, and plays very smoothly. I cannot wait for this kickstarter to launch. 3. Go Ahead Punk - Next Dimension Games - Coming to kickstarter soon. Find out more here. I love hidden movement games and I love the theming of a 1970s American cop film. Add the two together with some really clever mechanics, and I am sold. Similar to other hidden movement games, there are plenty of ways to move around the city. In this game using the freeway, trolley bus, or famous San Francisco Cable Car systems. But, unlike other hidden movement games, this isn't just about finding the other player. One player plays as the assassin and needs to take out three victims. The other player, playing as the cop needs to track the assassin down, and stop any more killings. But each time you find the assassin, they wont just come quietly, they will fight back! The game looks stunning and has some very smooth and slick rules. I am very keen to get this one soon! 4. Psychobabble - Cheatwell Games - More info here. This game draw me in with the gorgeous art, but the simple rule twist made me stay! This is a social deduction game set in the Arkham Asylum where it seems a mass hysteria has plagued the town. But not everyone is mad, and the players have no idea what role they are playing! As a therapist in the asylum, you find a pattern and realise that your patients are not mad at all, in fact, they are all cursed! Well, some are! Their visions all seem the same and you need to solve the riddle of their shared nightmares. Although, real patients who are suffering from insanity bring their random dreams to you as well, which will affect your ability to make a rational deduction. And the other players wont help. No one has any idea if they are insane or not! Designer Kedric Winks was an absolute gentleman, and it made me realise how much the people behind a game mean to me when it comes to the games I enjoy. 5. Cursed Empire Universe - Cursed Empire - A 30 year old RPG that inspired a Dungeon Crawler, two cards games and many more! Find out more here. I love a sprawling universe and there are not many bigger worlds to explore than this. 30 years ago, designer Chris Loizou created an Table top RPG set in the world of Thargos. The universe he created was deep, full of adventure, and has since spawned multiple spin of games, all set in the same world. I was drawn in by this gorgeous map, but the story behind the various games all set in the same world really captivated me. The art is wonderful. So thematic, deeply engrossing and vibrant. The games all looked highly linked to every part of this world, and intrinsically inter-connected. There was so much to explore, and so much to come. Top 5 suggestions to have a good time at a convention - based on things I witnessed there and many complaints I have heard since. The vibe in every convention I go to is generally 99.9% positive. But you get the odd spat here and there. Inevitable really. With so many people, and the physical and mental challenges a crowded, loud room brings this is to be expected. But there are things we can all do to avoid this. Each convention has its own style. Airecon is more for gaming. Essen is all about the exhibitors and international relationships. UKGE seems to sit between these. I sense some always want a convention to be all about one thing over the other. Which leads me to tip number 1. Know what you are walking into. If you are a solo gamer looking for other players, UKGE is not perfectly set up for this. But there are ways you can still have a great time and meet other gamers. Play some demos and start chatting to the other gamers around you. Try some of the talks and events, and see who else may be sat alone there and go say hello. Although, I appreciate, this sounds incredibly daunting to some, so I also suggest reaching out to other like minded people who are going prior to the con on Instagram. Instagram is a very supportive and inclusive community. But sometimes you may need to make the first step as people may not know you are going or going alone and looking for friends. Reach out and say hello to people who you know are going. This is a great way to start a conversation that could end with them asking you for a game when you are there or introducing you to a group that will be present at the show. I for one would be happy for anyone to reach out and say hello to me on insta, and I know many others who would be the same. Jenny from Board Game Family Uk for one. She is amazing at bring new people in and making them feel welcome. Understand the reason for the show. Exhibitors are there to try and cover the huge costs they have put into the last four or five years or their lives, trying to make a game. I appreciate getting to the fair is not cheap and easy for the visitors either, but I saw some unjust behaviour when people were not able to haggle an already discounted price to be even lower from a small independent seller, or got upset when they were asked to cut a demo short for others to sit down and try their game. Just be mindful that they are humans too and probably operating on a tiny budget with minimal profits if any. They desperately need to get as many people to try their game as possible. It's a demo, not full play. But if you want to try the full game, talk to the team there, most I am sure would find time to meet after the convention in open gaming and set up a full game and they would love your enthusiasm. The larger stalls with the bigger publishers and distributers will have less pressure on them but the staff will be mainly volunteers that don't work for the company and are not being paid to be there. They are just having their costs covered so they can experience the show too. If someone cannot teach you the game perfectly have some patience. They are not a professional, probably only just saw the game that day, and may be suffering from the same anxieties many others at the fair have too. Bring your own food and drink. Food and drink is often expensive at a convention due to high rents. Queues can often be long too. So, instead, perhaps bring some food of your own and use this as an opportunity to get some fresh air. Relax outside for a bit, take some time for yourself, refresh, and come back stronger. Still with money in your wallet for games and no time wasted in lines. If you have travelled far, then you can always look at going to a local supermarket, or if that is not possible, reach out to locals who could help. I'd happily bring some sarnies along if only I lived closer myself. Slow down and be open to new things. There is so much going on, you will find it hard to stick to a pre-arrange schedule all the time. Rushing from one end of the hall to another to try and get somewhere will cause you stress, and potentially others too. Moving through the isles can be tricky as it gets busy, some have children or buggies and many are carrying lots of bags! Be mindful of this and don't expect to be able to glide through long distances quickly. Take your time. See what you can spot on the way. Something cool may catch your eye! Hopefully see you at the next one!

Chicken vs Hotdog WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count 2-10 You’ll like this if you like: Silly party game fun Published by: Big Potato Some games just instantly grab you. Perhaps it is a clever use of a new mechanic, or a cool component. Or maybe even a design team you love. In the case of Chicken vs Hotdog, it was the crowd of laughing people around the stand at UKGE 2022 that first attracted me. Everyone who walked by this stand seemed to want to try this game out. And I was no exception. But does it last beyond a few fleeting flips at a stand? Let's get it to the table and find out. Set Up Split your players into two equal groups. Each team must first decide if they are going to play with the Chicken, or the Hotdog. This may cause huge arguments, and rightly so. It's a big decision. But fight it out as best you can, mainly so the game can start. The pizza will be here soon. Then, divide the cards into the challenge cards, character cards, and bidding cards. Shuffle, then give each team four bidding cards of their colour, and their character cards so they can be laid out, grey side up on the table. Lay the challenge cards face down on the table. Stretch out a little. Death stare the oppositions star player. And you are ready to go. How to Play The first challenge card will now be revealed. Each team will then decide based on the challenge cards potential difficulty to their starting player, how high they want to bid to attempt this card. They will have bidding cards showing various numbers between one to four. The higher their bid, the more likely they are to win, and they will then have to attempt the challenge. When both teams are ready, they will reveal their bid, and the highest bidding team will then have to give it a go. If it is a draw, a Flipperrama ensures. Both teams must quickly grab their Sling'em (Chicken or Hotdog) and start flipping. The win will go to the first team to land two single flips successfully. The winning team gets to decide if they want to try the challenge or hand it to the other team. The challenge will then be attempted. This could be a simple flip, or perhaps one under the legs, or maybe even with your eyes closed. There will be a certain amount of attempts that you can use to try and complete this challenge. If you are successful, you will be able to flip over the bottom gray character card. If you fail in the challenge, then the other team can flip their bottom gray character card over. The bidding cards used that round are then removed from the game, and the next challenge card is revealed. You will now have one less bidding card to use. When all of your bidding cards are used up, you can draw four new ones. When playing in a team, you cannot choose who attempts the challenges, you have to simply take it in turns. The first team to flip over all of their character cards to the coloured side is declared the winner. They will be lauded at the true champions by the other team, and will have first choice of what movie to watch that night. You can even invent your own challenges using the blank challenge cards in the box. Or play a dueling game. Whereby two players stand six to eight feet apart. You must attempt to flip your sling'em trying to land it in front of your opponent on the floor. If it sticks, then they can try and flip one back. If their flip fails, you get a point. You can play this up to three, or however you so decide. This game can even be played late into the evening after a few drinks. Not that WBG endorses that at all! But, from strict market research purposes, it has been proven to be a lot of fun. Is this Fun? Yes. Any other questions? Chicken vs Hotdog is nothing but fun. There is no strategy. Zero mechanics or rules to learn. Just throw the thing, try and make it do a thing, then celebrate wildly either way. It's just hilarious. My kids love it for quick bit of family fun. I love it for a game to play with friends when we are too "tired" for anything else. The game is just so accessible. Everyone has tried to do a "flip" with a half full bottle of water. This game just takes that idea and adds a few extra challenges and a scoring mechanism so it is a "game." And it works so well. I would strongly recommend that anyone who regularly plays in larger groups try this one out. It's the perfect game to get out at the end of a long day, that anyone can have a try at, that will almost certainly guarantee laughs. You will be up and running with new players within minutes, and people will be focusing on trying to do something relatively easy with a bit of plastic but that gives huge pleasure when you succeed right away. And I am all for that! I have taken so much pleasure from playing this game. Even after many turns, I am hilariously still terrible at it. But the odd occasion I do land a flip, it feels great! But what feels better, is cheering on my team and laughing when the opposition team bids high and fails on their turn. This game brings a brilliant level of friendly competition to the room. Winning and loosing means absolutely nothing. But at the time, when the chicken is in your and, and one flip could guarantee you and your team victory, it means everything. EVERYTHING! As such, I cannot recommend this game enough. It won't be for everyone. It really is very silly. But if you have got this far, I would wager it may well be something you and your friends could be talking about for a long time to come. I can see the twinkle in your eye now as you think about bringing this box out after a nice relaxing bottle of your favourite red, and you place it down in front of your friends ready to do battle, Chicken Vs Hotdog style. From this point onwards, I feel the board game community will be split into people who have landed a reverse, double, wrong hand flip and those of us that haven't. BGG should probably create a badge for this. it's kind of a big deal.

Living Forest WBG Score: 8 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: Port Royal, Furnace, Mystic Vale. Published by: Ludonaute Designed by: Aske Christiansen Distributed in the Uk by: Coiledspring Games. Each year in Germany, a group of very knowledgeable and influential people within the board game industry come together to discuss, play, and vote on the best games that were released within Germany that year. The spiritual home of modern board games. They have three awards. Game of the year. Children's game of the year. And then the Kenner spiel. The "Gamers Game" of the year. The game that they think is the best for more serious board game enthusiasts. Previously, this has seen winners such as The Crew, Istanbul, and Paleo. This year, the winner was Living Forest. A game from 'new kid on the block' Aske Christiansen. The win didn't surprise many people, but there was comment that it was perhaps better suited to the main award aimed at more family gamers. Particularly as that category was won by Cascadia, a game ranked with a weight of 1.87. Living Forest has a weight of 2.2. But in fairness, previous winners of the Kenner spiel had similar rankings. Paleo is 2.67, The Crew is 2.01. And Istanbul is 2.58. So, if you can get over the fact that the "Gamers Game" award is for a mid to low weight game, and not a mid to heavy weight game as many may prefer, we can all just move on with our lives and get to the review. Cool? Great. Let's get it to the table. Set-Up Living Forest has a bit of set-up the first time, making the trays for the trees, and a fair bit of popping. But once this is done, it is a relatively simple process. And who doesn't love a good popping session!? Place out the main Circle of Spirits board, tree dispensers, and smaller Fire Varan board in the centre of the table. Give each player a forest board, three victory tiles, a Spirit of Nature standee and protective tree in their chosen colour. The tree is placed in the central space on the Forest board and the standee goes onto the specific spot on the central board based on your player count. Then give each player their 14 starting animal guardian cards in their colour. These are shuffled and placed face down in front of each player. Place the Fire Varan cards onto the Fire Varan board along with the Fragment tiles. Then lay out the Guardian animal board and after sorting the cards into the three groups, of level one, two and three, lay out four cards face up on each row and leave the rest face down on this board. Place the fire tiles divided into the three values on this board. Finally, decide the first player and give them the Sacred Tree standee. You are now ready to begin the game. How to Play Living Forest works incredibly simply and fast. There are three main phases. The first phase, all players play simultaneously. Players will take their 14 cards and flip them over, one by one, forming a line running left to right from the indent on the right of the Forest board. This is called your "help line." They can stop at any point, but for each card they flip, more symbols are revealed allowing for a stronger set of actions in phase two. However, in each deck, five solitary animals reside with a dark round symbol. If three of these are revealed then that player can only use one action on the second phase. If they stop with two or less, then they can take two actions. Later in the game, players will be able to add new cards to their deck. Some of these cards are Gregarious cards. These act as a way to neutralise the Solitary animals. One Gregarious and one Solitary animal revealed into your cards in a round would mean you are still on net zero. Once all players stop or bust, they move into phase two and can take either one or two actions. The actions include taking a fragment tile, which can be used to place a card drawn in phase one into your discard, avoiding a solitary animal. The fragment tiles can also destroy the fire Varane cards if you get these. More on that later. Other options are to buy a new Animal Guardian card from the 12 face up choices. Based on the cards you draw in phase one, each player will have revealed a number of Sun symbols. Each Animal Guardian card has a Sun value you need to match in order to draft that into your deck. Any new cards you add will increase your ability to get more symbols in the first phase. On the Circle of Spirits board there will always be at least one fire token with a value of two. Another option for an action in phase two is to extinguish these fires. Using the water symbols you revealed in phase one, you can put out as many fires as you have water symbols. Removing the fire helps in phase three, which we will cover later. But also is one way to win the game. Again, more on that soon! Using the stone symbols revealed in phase one, you can move around the Circle of Spirits board as an action in phase two. The space you end on will give you an action such as buying a card, putting out a fire, or taking a fragment tile. But if you ever hop over another player, you can take any one of their Victory Tiles from them. The final action you can do in phase two is to plant a tree. Using the tree symbols in phase one you can now buy one tree. The trees are immediately placed into your Forest board, touching orthogonally one tree you already own. They can cover a bonus which gives you an immediate bonus action such as to buy a card with an extra three sun symbols, or put out a fire with an extra two water symbols. The tree also offers an ongoing bonus, with extra, permanent tree, sun, stone, or flower symbols. We will come onto the flowers soon! Also, when completed, some rows and columns offer additional ongoing bonuses too. Players takes these actions in turn order, moving clockwise around the table starting with the player with the Sacred Tree. Once all players have taken all actions, play moves to phase three. First, all fire left in the Circle of Spirits is tallied, and any player who does not have enough water symbols in their cards turned over that turn, or from their trees or forest board will have to take a Fire Varan card into their hand. One for each fire token present. Then, new fire tokens must be added to the Circle of Spirits for each card that was bought that round. A two value fire token for a card from the top round, a three value for a card from the middle, and a four value for each card from the bottom. If no cards were bought that round and there is no fire in the Circle of Spirits, a single fire token to the value of two is added. Next, add new cards if any animal cards were bought that round. Move all your cards from your help line into you discard. Then pass the Scared Tree to the next player clockwise round the table. You are now ready for another round unless someone has won! How to Win OK, hope that all makes sense? If not, don't worry. When you play, it really is very simple. But how do you win this thing? There has been no mention of victory points, or health meters or damage. No talk of a finish line. Well, herein lies the reason I think this game won the Kenner Spiel. There are three ways to win this game. The first person to achieve either one will trigger the final round, all players will finish their actions and then the person with the highest score after this final round in either of the three areas wins. If there is a tie, is is the person who scored the highest overall in all three areas. The three areas are fire, flowers, and trees. You need twelve or more of one to trigger the end game. In the case of trees, they must be unique. In the case of flowers, these can be on trees you have bought, lines of trees you have completed in your forest, and from face up cards in your line that turn. In the case of fire, this is from the fires you have put out in the game. A three or four value fire still counts as a single fire token, just like the two fire token. They are all just one token when it comes to final scoring. Now, don't forget the three Victory tiles you were given at the start of the game. These count as one for each area you have in your possession. And you may have more or less of these at this point, depending on how many times you hoped over other players on the Circle of Spirits board and taken one from another player. Or in turn, how many times you were jumped over yourself. This can be a fun, and significant varying swing in reaching this goal of 12 in the later stages of the game. Say you start your turn with just seven fire tokens, but you draw enough water to put out three fires, and then hop over two opponents and steel both their fire Victory tiles. This would allow you to reach the goal of 12 after starting at seven in one go. Pretty cool huh! Is this fun? Playing Living Forest is a lot of fun. The process of learning this game is very smooth. The bulk of the above is explaining the actions available in phase two, which really are more simple than it sounds. And once you have played this for one round, which will take five minutes, you will fully grasp it. With your mind free of any rules queries, you can focus purely on your strategy. Will you chase fire, flowers, or trees? The options for the way you want to play, and ultimately, try and win the game, is highly satisfying. I very much enjoy the strategy this game asks you to deploy. Do you focus on just one of the three goals? Do you try and run an even game, looking to build up all three areas? Or do you follow what other players are doing to try and counter their strategy? If another player focuses early on in the game on fire, you certainly need to bare this in mind. If you don't they will have free reign to get as much fire as they like each turn, and will probably win. If multiple people go for fire, they will neutralise this elements ability to grow to a high number quickly, and force players to look into another approach. Trees works well, you can acquire two trees on some turns with clever play using the Circle of Spirits. If you get the tree with a value of 11, this then allows you to do the same action twice, which makes getting two trees per turn even easier. The trees of course also increase your abilities to grow the power of your turns with additional symbols. There is an element of engine building here that is very rewarding and ultimately I think the best way to play, for me at least. Along side this, there is obvious hand management, push-your-luck, deck building, tile placement, and of course a race element to this game. This smorgasbord of mechanics works very well together. It doesn't feel clunky or disjointed. Everything works together in harmony for one highly polished and seamless game. Everything in the game looks gorgeous too. The nature setting is a very popular one in modern board gaming. And the artist has done a phenomenal job with the cards. The icons are clear but unobtrusive. The symbology is simple and easy to understand. The artwork on the characters is stunning, atmospheric, and deeply absorbing. I would recommend this game to anyone looking for a light, filler game, that works well in a family or adult scenario, for players who enjoy games that are light on rules, but rewarding in strategy. You have to enjoy push-your-luck games too, but unlike other popular games that employ this mechanic, failing in this part of the game does not punish you so much that it becomes a chore. Two actions is of course preferential to one, but another card that bumps your line over the three solitary animals maximum doesn't just block your second action. It of course adds new icons to your line too, there is one more card. Which could make your one action now more powerful than taking two actions without these symbols. This in truth, is not that likely, but it is not a black and white situation. And one action can still sometimes deliver a second bonus action when placing trees onto certain parts of the Forest, or landing on certain spaces on the Circle of Spirits. Living Forest deserves its fame driven from the Kenner Spiel victory. It perhaps is not the best "gamer game" this year. But "gamer game" doesn't mean what we all think, or perhaps want. We already established that in the introduction didn't we. Calm down... Haha! OK, but for a low to mid-weight game, it looks beautiful, plays quickly and smoothly, and rewards multiple plays with different strategies being developed. I would predict that more than 50% of people who play this game will go after Fire on their first few turns, and will probably win. They will then try Trees, and see the benefit to having your action not only advance your progress in the game but also increase your engine. This is a good thing. It shows a learning curve for a game, rather than a game you instantly get and can do well at. I enjoy this process, and will enjoy playing this game many more times, to try and figure out how to win with a flower strategy!

Village Rails WBG Score: 8.5 Player Count: 2-4 You’ll like this if you like: Sagrada, Century Spice Road Published by: Osprey Games Designed by: Matthew Dunstan, Brett J. Gilbert By Steve Godfrey It’s not often that I’m immediately sold on a game based on a tag line alone. In fact I think this might just be the first time. When I first saw this game I saw emblazoned on the box the words “A game of locomotives and local motives' and I was immediately sold. The problem is I've been excited by tag lines before and been disappointed, yep I’m still mad at you Phantom Menace! So has this one drawn me in and kept me engaged? Does it locaMOTIVATE me to keep playing it? Only one way to find out. Rules of the Village Each player receives a lettered border tile at random and then takes the rest of the tiles for that letter and pieces them together. If you’re a fan of jigsaw puzzles then consider this a tiny bonus. Place down the deck of double sided cards, track face up and lay out seven track cards in a row and then place out four goal cards both going away from the deck. On your turn you must take a track card and you may also take a goal card. The track card furthest from the deck is free but if you want one closer to the deck then you pay one pound onto each card you skip to take it. Goal cards always cost three pounds but again you pay an extra one on every card you want to skip. Goal cards are placed on the outside edge of the border tiles and there can be a max of two per line. Track cards are played on the inside of the border tiles which will eventually create a 4x3 grid. They must be played next to an existing track, this includes the border tiles. If, when you place a track down the line connects from a cardboard edge to one of the two invisible edges then you score for any features on that line and any trip cards attached to that line. Features may give you straight points, some will score for terrain types, either the same or different and the signals will score based on how many you have on a single line. Lastly you’ll have the sidings which will score at the end of the games based on how many lines have sidings on them. You’ll then play a terminus card on that line which will earn you money based on the cards criteria (always a minimum of £3) and then will be placed on that line to indicate that it’s closed off and can’t be scored again. After twelve rounds when everyone has filled their tableau and scored their tracks, every player will score for their lines with sidings and one point for every £3 they have and the player with the most points wins. Meeting in the Village hall When I first read that tagline and saw the art it immediately evoked images of small English village mystery tv shows where crimes are often solved by nosey citizens and not the local constabulary. The game is nothing like that of course and that’s not how it’s trying to sell itself, but that’s nothing that should put you off of it. You may not be solving crimes with Father Brown but you will be spending time with a fun brain burner of a puzzle. Much like a passenger staring at the frankly ludicrous amount of train ticket options, your first turn in a game of Village Rails may seem a bit scary. You'll be faced with a blank board, track and trip cards with all sorts of scoring options on them and your terminus cards all screaming at you to make a commitment to a strategy. You’ll have a lot of options of where to start but luckily the game will give you a few hints. Your border tiles have all the terrain types and one without a terrain type but with a scoring type on it. The terminus cards in your hand are a good place to start for a nudge in how you want to approach a couple of your lines and even the mix of trip cards and track cards could give you a good foundation. What seems quite intimidating at first may actually turn out to be a pretty simple choice. They’ve even simplified the track cards into two distinct types so the only thing you have to worry about is which way you want to rotate them and not if they’re going to actually connect. There’s a strange thing that happens though. Because the second you lay your first track down you get this instant sensation that you do now have a plan and you’re not sure what you were worrying about in the first place. I've likened this to Sagrada and while that may sound a bit odd hear me out. Both games start with a similar blank canvas. But, as the game goes on the decisions you make are easier. That’s not to say you’ll be breezing through them, you won’t and the great thing about this game is you’re faced with this brilliant puzzle as to where you’re going to lay cards to maximise your score. What I mean is that as the game goes on and you begin new lines you’ll know exactly what you need and where it should go. Of course knowing what you want is easier but the real trick is being able to get what you want and that’s why money is so important. We’re having a bake sale to raise money! As Pink Floyd once sang “Money, it’s a gas. grab that cash with both hands and make a stash” and I’m fairly sure they wrote that line based on Village Rails. Money management is just as important as the cards your drafting. So much so that you may want to sacrifice a couple of lines just to bring in the cash. Without a half decent stash of cash you could easily end up stuck with taking no trip cards and only taking the free tracks which, in turn, limits your choices and how you maximise your lines. It creates this really fun balancing act that gives this game a little economic twist. Do you choose between taking that track now for a couple of points or doing something that gets you money in the hope you can get bigger points in the future. The thing that brings this all together for me is this system of drafting. Coupled with everything else going on in the game it works really well in helping to create a bit of tension and giving more credence to your choices. Even more so than in some games with this particular mechanism. Take Century Spice Road for example. It’s easy there to take a card and then barely use it if at all. In Village Rails every card you take, certainly the tracks are important to what you're doing so it won’t be uncommon to see people agonising over those choices. This is because every track card you take you HAVE to use. It means that you’re less likely to hate draft because you’re going to want to squeeze every last point from your board. That and the fact that you’re spending so much time trying to figure your own board out that you won’t be able to spare the brain power to work out someone else’s. In terms of tension I’ve had many turns where I’ve had no money (nice to see life imitating art here) and desperately needed a card a few spaces along. It’s pretty tense watching and hoping that everyone takes the cards in front so it slides down enough to make it free so you can complete your line for maximum points. We’ve had a village council meeting and…… There is one major gripe I have with the game and I’m pretty sure I won’t be the only one to have this. The terrain type symbols on a majority of the cards are really difficult to see and in some cases nigh on impossible unless you bring the card right up close. For example the forest card art is mostly dark green and the symbol in the corner is a very close dark green colour, the same with the water type and the water symbol. I’d say in each of these cases they’re as different as space grey and military gray. The art on the cards is different for each terrain and you will most likely get used to it after a few plays but it would have been nice to have the symbols clearer so that players could make that association a lot quicker. These symbols are so important for scoring that they should be prominent on the card. I’m all for showcasing the art on cards and it is beautiful art, but I would much rather sacrifice a bit of that for functionality and ease of use. I think the gameplay stands out more than enough that most people will persevere with it but it’d be a shame if something that is such an easy fix would be the thing to put some people off of a game that they might otherwise love. Choo choo choose Village Rails When I first pulled this out at my game group, one of my friends said something along the lines of “ah a game about trains that looks really dry but it most likely brilliant” In some sense he’s kinda got a point. The art is lovely and for me perfectly fits the tone but I can see a lot of people maybe passing this game by if the art doesn’t grab them and I think that would be a mistake. What you get in Village Rails is a wonderful little puzzle that’s fairly quick, easy to teach and will keep the old grey matter chugging along nicely.

Song of Tales from Man O'Kent Games is a new story telling game from the team behind SSO, Turing, and Moonflight, one of the most clever deck-building (or un-building, check the review for more info there) games I have played. I am always keen to see what is coming next from the team at Man O'Kent. Song of Tales will come to kickstarter soon, you can find out more information from here. This is an early prototype provided for free for a preview, that does not have final artwork and the rules are subject to change. In Song of Tales, players compete to be the best story-teller. This is done in a very clever and engaging way. As much as the bulk of this game is made up by the players own creative thinking, there is a real game in this box. That is not something that can be said for other story-telling games. Let's get it to the table. Set-Up First players need to choose which character they want to play as. This is more than an aesthetical choice. Although the art is stunning! No, this is about how you want to tell the story. Each character rewards you for weaving your tale in a certain way. For example, Shahrazad has to rhyme every fifth thing they say with a word on the current story card. Tanuki must include at least two sound effects, a good one for younger children! And Kitsune has to recite their story in the form of a Haiku, which is a little more tricky! Once everyone has made their choice, or the cards have been randomly assigned, however you want to do it, each player is given the start and end card relevant to their character, and their oh so cute meeples. Then finally, all players are dealt four random story cards. The first player is randomly determined or you can pick based on whomever has the best seat! And the person to their right is given the last player marker. Flip the box lid to show the score chart on the reverse side, and place one large and one small meeple for each character on the zero space. The game can now begin. How to Play Song of Tales begins with the starting player placing their start and finish card in front of them on the table, with a gap big enough to fit their four other story cards in-between. They can then place those other four cards in any order they see fit, creating the best flow for the story they want to tell. This forms the story tellers core story line. Each other player, starting with the person to the story tellers left, can then add one card from their hand, either above or below one of the four core story lines. When doing so, they may add as many of their meeples, known as envoys. This is to show that this card was laid by them, but also to tempt the story teller into allowing this player to use this card to take over the story, giving them a chance for some points on this round. Each Envoy placed gives the story teller one point that round if they choose it. You are bidding for the chance to join in and score some points yourself, but need to provide a reason for being chosen. Players will add cards above or below the core story cards until there is no more space, or all players pass. Then, the story can begin! The story teller will then place one of their Envoy meeples down between the first two cards and begin weaving their story. Each player has key words on their character card, that if said, gain them a point if they have a spare envoys left to mark the word. The story teller needs to use specific words, all other players just need to have a synonym from a certain category said. A food for example. As such, all players are involved at all times. Not just the story teller. All players can score at all times. Plus, you would hope, they would be enjoying listening to the story! The story teller needs to keep their own key words in mind when weaving their story, whilst thinking about what the previous and next cards are, but most importantly at all times keeping in mind their characters story telling style. You must not forget to construct your story in the way your character wants, meeting the requirements of your character for each card. If you think you are done, you rotate the card you were on 90 degrees. If the other players agree and are satisfied that you have met your criteria, they rotate it a further 90 degrees so that is it now upside down, and completed. When a card is finished, if the next card in line has one either above and/or below, the story teller has a choice to make. To continue their core story, or take the path offered by one of the listeners. If they choose one of the other players cards, they can then take any envoys placed on the card as points for that round, and then the story telling duties pass to the player that played that card. If a new story teller takes over, they can place as many other cards that match the current card paths colour as they like below/above the card they are on, in the same column, so long as they keep the story moving to the usual rules. When they are done, the envoy meeple moves back to the core path, and the story ends when the meeple hops over the last card in the line. All players will then score one point for each envoy meeple on their character card showing a word was used, or envoys collected from other players played cards. One point is also awarded for each card of each players colour that was used in the story. The main reason you would play more cards when you take over as the active story teller. Players will then draw back up to four cards, collect back all their envoys, and pass the story teller marker to the next player. The game ends when each player has had one turn starting a story, and the player with the most points wins. But hopefully, everyone wins, with the funny and engaging stories that have been told. This game won't be for everyone. When you play Song of Tales there is some expectation on the story teller to weave an entertaining and coherent story which not all players will enjoy. But if this is your idea of fun, then this game will create a wonderful experience for you to do this in. Essentially, I think this is a marmite sort of game, in that you will either love it or hate it. (British reference to a food product that polarises the consuming public) Your feeling wont have much if anything to do with the game if you don't like this sort of thing, it's just that making stories up isn't for you. But if you do enjoy telling stories, then the reason you will love Song of Tales will have everything to do with the game. The characters feel so well crafted from history, folk lore, and stories passed down the generations. The art is thought provoking, full of mystery, and just so beautiful. The flow of the game is brilliantly constructed. All players feel connected at all times. All players can score at all times. And each story woven creates a new memory, unique only to this game, and your friends and family that witnessed it. I love how the box is used as the scoring board. But the star of the show for me is the unique character meeples. They are all specifically made, linked to the characters, and look stunning. Everything about this production screams of passion, care, and attention to detail. My family enjoy story based games, and have enjoyed many hours with story cubes and DnD. Song of Tales feels like it sits somewhere in the middle of those two experiences. I have enjoyed trying the game out with different characters, and seeing how different members of my family react to the different challenges each one brings. I like the sense of a game this brings to a story telling experience. But would like more control over my character. If you are looking for something different to play with your family and friends that involves creative story telling, I cannot think of anything that would deliver a better game experience than Song of Tales, other than DnD. There is a solo and cooperative mode too, and so much replayability on this game, from your imagination alone. I look forward to seeing how this game does on Kickstarter and would urge anyone who feels inspired after reading this to go check out Man O'Kent on instagram to follow this games development.