Council of Four

Council of Four

Some countries just don’t manage to form a stable government, but the unnamed kingdom of Council of Four is ridiculous even by those standards. Influential merchants, the players, exchange councilmen in any way that best serves their interest. If the current council can’t be bullied into writing a business permit, they just replace them. And whoever does that best wins the game.

Read more
Codenames

Codenames

I still think Vlaada Chvátil has this little check list on his desk where he goes “Oh, here’s a genre I didn’t make a game in yet” and then just sets out to design a game for that genre. And whatever genre he picks, he’s good at it. The latest example of that is Codenames, a word association game. And if you think that word games are boring, like I did, then maybe Vlaada can change your mind.

Read more
7 Wonders: Duel

7 Wonders: Duel

Mighty empires are fighting for supremacy over the ancient world. But where once up to seven empires where in contest, now there are only two. 7 Wonders: Duel condenses the action of 7 Wonders into a two player game, playing in two being the one weak spot 7 Wonders always had. To make that happen, many things had to change, but the game remains the same.

Read more
Black Hat

Black Hat

There have been many different ideas to spice up trick-taking games over the years. Black Hat’s way to do that is to add a game board where you move your pawns when you take a trick. A lot then depends on proper timing, you want to take a trick when moving on the board is the most beneficial for you.

Read more