Cadence

EPOS: A Gentes Game brought a much-loved designer and an even more loved foundation to my table, along with so much material that proper organisation became part of the experience. The campaign and scenarios seem to genuinely add something on top of Gentes.

Red Dust Rebellion is a heavy, demanding COIN that makes a strange, fully asymmetric balance of powers work where I would expect it to fall apart. Of the entries in the series I have played, it may be the best—though it is certainly among the hardest.

Imperial Borders stayed with me more as a promise spread across a table full of flags and cannons than as a completed game. Even so, that unfinished encounter produced enough smoke to make me want an immediate return with six players.

A nicely produced, quick city builder strictly for two that makes no grand claims of originality, but is pleasant to play. Its ease makes it particularly friendly for children and non-gamers.

Cold War: CIA vs KGB is not the grand simulation of the Cold War, but at the right table it did exactly what it needed to do: it gave a child a first, enjoyable way into both the subject and the hobby.

Shards of Creation is exactly what I want from a trick-taking game for a group of young players: good enough to fill a holiday and a twelve-hour ferry journey. Better still, it seems to grow alongside them.