Betrayal at House on the Hill

Betrayal at House on the Hill

Why did I want this game so badly? Mainly because I am a huge horror movie geek, especially for haunted house movies, and Betrayal at House on the Hill lets you play through exactly that kind of story. It is also a classic American style boardgame, so it focuses strongly on narrative over mechanics. It’s halfway to a role-playing game, really, exactly what I would want from this experience. And I’d been wanting it for a long time before I finally got it.

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Attika

Attika

It’s time for some nostalgia. A long time ago, all was still right with the world in ancient Greece. Then, the city states sprang up and started expanding, building stadiums and temples all over the place, inventing modern civilization. That must have been around 2003, at least that’s when Attika came out, a boardgame about the ancient Greek city states.

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Monopoly

When you mention modern boardgames to people who don’t play The Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride or any of the other thousands of games we call our hobby, then this is what 90% or more of them will think of. Admit it, you’ve heard that reply yourself when telling your non-gaming acquaintances about your hobby: “What, like Monopoly”?

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Mississippi Queen

Mississippi Queen

Mississippi Queen is a game about boats – paddle wheel steamers, to be precise – and their movement. As a matter of fact, that’s pretty much it if all you are looking for is the basic playing principle. For the curious among you, however, we urge you to read on…

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Incognito

This week, we’re going on another trip to the past, specifically to 1988. Also to Venice. Incognito won the award for most beautiful game at the Spiel des Jahres awards that year, and it’s well deserved: it’s one of the prettiest deduction games I’ve ever seen, with all custom components. And it’s a clever game as well.

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Junta

Republica de los Bananas is a peaceful country. About one day out of twenty, at least. The other days, the country is in the grip of a revolution, counter-revolution, counter-counter-revoultion, insurgency, rebellion or upheaval. Since 1979, when Junta in its current form was firts published. This is an entry in the series “How to lose friends very quickly and with maximum drama”.

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6 Nimmt!

6 nimmt! (or Category 5, as it is known in some parts of the world) is one of the great gateway games, a game that brings people who never played anything besides Poker (or Skat, or Mahjonng, depending where in the world you are) to modern games. And after years of playing, I still didn’t find the point where I’d get bored of it.

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Elfenland

This week we have a nostalgic look at Elfenland, a game about the invention of route planner software and a game from the US that made it to the German market before that was a common occurence.

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