Looking through the window into the garden, you see two rivalling gangs of geishas fighting for control. Wait. WHAT? The setting doesn’t always have to make much sense for a beautiful game, especially not when it’s a very short and fun abstract.
Read moreTag: 2012
Kalua
It’s not easy being a god. Unless you already established monotheism, then it’s all easy sailing. But to get there, some hard work will be necessary. Summoning tornados and tsunamis, ensuring a good harvest for your people and fighting the eternal danger of atheism, it’s all in a days work for a god.
Read moreMafia City
In a city where the law is nothing but letters in a book, where not only city hall but even the police itself are under the control of rivaling gangs, in a city where everyone with a bit of importance is wearing a fedora – that’s where you play Mafia City.
Read moreCopycat
What comes out when you take two popular games, add some dashes of more games, and then run that mix through a cocktail shaker? That’s what Friedemann Friese wanted to know when he created Copycat from odds and ends of the Top Ten games on BoardGameGeek. And what came out … well, read for yourself.
Read more1984: Animal Farm
The new world leaders after the 1984 revolution: Pandas, Eagles, Frogs, Bears and Pigs. You may or may not be surprised to learn that, other than the species, nothing has changed. The world is struggling in a five-way Cold War, permanently on the brink of thermonuclear destruction, and your goal in this game is not to save the world and bring lasting peace – except maybe by eliminating the competition. 1984: Animal Farm may be one of the games least conductive to maintaining friendship since Diplomacy.
Read moreTzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar
The Maya people had a very sophisticated calendar system, consisting of multiple counts with different lengths. One of these counts is the 260-day tzolk’in. It’s also the driving force in the game, everything is moved by the turning of the tzolk’in gear, and timing your actions to make the best use of that is essential.
Read moreRobinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
Beign shipwrecked is bad. Being shipwrecked on a deserted island is worse. Being shipwrecked on the Cursed Island? That sounds like trouble. Enough trouble, actually, that we should all work together. And here we are in Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island, a cooperative adventure game.
Read moreKeyflower
In 1620, a ship full of brave meeples set sail to cross the ocean and build a new life in the new world. These meeples who crossed the ocean on the Keyflower built a number of settlements competing for everything, including the buildings their settlements may have. In their first year, these meeples created their new lives.
Read moreDocker
Small and quick games – we don’t write about them much just because they are small and quick. But we all play them. Between other games. Before dinner. Sitting in a pub waiting for people to show up. And then, sometimes, we do write about them.
Read moreColumba
Rearing pidgeons is such a peaceful, placid hobby, isn’t it. A game about it must be full of zen, a meditation exercise with tiles. Wrong! Columba is a very interactive tile laying/area control game with lots of options to mess with your opponents.
Read more