Contributor
TheCuttlefish
Cares about the box, the insert and the rulebook as much as the game. Has a particular weakness for tidy rules and gleeful take-that.
🎁 1 kudos from readers
274 reviews
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The Ruhr: A Story of Coal TradeThe Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade is a tight, twisty old-school economic Euro, full of fair funerals and sharp cut-offs. It may no longer be fashionable, but I will happily play it anytime.
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KeyflowerA return to Keyflower with Merchants: an enjoyable game, but with a few buildings that felt overly strong once score-doubling entered the picture. Counterbidding is there to keep things fair, provided you are not rusty.
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SkyriseSkyrise is an extremely accessible continuous-bidding game from Roxley, with racing and area-dominance elements that produce surprisingly lively sessions. And yes: the more comfortably your group teases one another, the better it gets.
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The Barracks EmperorsThe Barracks Emperors is the best game I have played in quite a while: a GMT trick-taker whose rules are simple but whose decisions are deviously complex, and which turns into utter chaos with four players.
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Border StatesBorder States is a symmetrical area-dominance game about the American Civil War, with clever ideas but limited staying power. It works as a pleasant short break for two, though not as something I will often ask to play again.
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Age of SteamAge of Steam is an incredible game, provided you give it the right map and the right group. On the Germany map with five players, we got plenty of thoroughly fair table warfare.
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Inventions: Evolution of IdeasInventions: Evolution of Ideas gave me, across its first two plays, the impression of an excellent medium-heavy euro—perhaps the best Lacerda so far. It is streamlined and approachable; the only serious thorn I have found is the rulebook.
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Vijayanagara: The Deccan Empires of Medieval India, 1290-1398Vijayanagara is the first game in ICS, GMT’s COIN spin-off, and it proved far more interesting than its theme initially promised me. It is a tight, strictly three-player conflict game with a clean running time, room for planning, and dice in combat.
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Battle Line: MedievalBattle Line: Medieval is poker with knights, and I mean that as a compliment. It is quick to teach, tight in play, and far more stressful than it initially looks.
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Starship InterstellarStarship Interstellar entered my collection by circumstance and with very low expectations, but it turned out to be substantial and rewarding. It demands a serious teach and plenty of table time, yet it never drains the players as much as its weight suggests.
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Sankoré: The Pride of Mansa MusaSankoré: The Pride of Mansa Musa is, for me, a serious contender for euro of the year: a demanding yet pleasantly brain-burning engine builder with excellent synergies. Ideally, someone else will have set it up already, and I will never have to teach it from scratch again.
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Prussian RailsPrussian Rails is an honest, quick dip into train games with shares and a few interesting mechanisms. It does not reach Iberian Rails, but at its price it is hard to dismiss.
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EvenfallEvenfall is an enjoyable but uneven blend of worker placement, set collection, and light engine building with witches and spells as its theme. It is not a bad game; I simply expected something tighter and better balanced.
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PestPest is an unusual euro about Plague Doctors, patient management, and sustained pressure, but the randomness of its plague-spread cards can push it toward either crushing difficulty or excessive abundance. It is an honest big production, though not necessarily a must-have.
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ObsessionObsession initially won me over as a tight, thematic worker-placement game, but its excessive Victorian packaging makes learning it harder than it needs to be. With the expansions, the experience became wordier and more random for me rather than better.
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Fallen Land: A Post Apocalyptic Board Game – 2nd EditionFallen Land: A Post Apocalyptic Board Game – 2nd Edition is a substantial, fully sandbox post-apocalyptic RPG-like game, finally smoother and more streamlined. It will not suit every group, but for connoisseurs of the genre it is a top recommendation — and an excellent solo game.
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Prime MinisterPrime Minister is a thematic GMT political game with approachable rules and a clear idea: keep your faction alive, but ultimately come out a little better than its leader. For me, though, repetition defeated the political intrigue long before the game was over.
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18 India18India is a shorter, more approachable 18XX with an interesting share-drafting twist, but crucial rules ambiguities and an abrupt ending hold it back. Still, I had a good time and would happily play it again.
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Heat: Pedal to the MetalHeat: Pedal to the Metal is not a bad introductory racing game, but for me it leaves far too much to card draw and too little to decisions with real weight.
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Lewis & Clark: The ExpeditionLewis & Clark slipped under my radar when it first came out, but a random game at Playscape reminded me why some titles are worth chasing years later. It is a tight deck/engine builder with ideas that still feel fresh and enough interaction to keep everyone alert.
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BärenparkBärenpark is a pleasantly accessible polyomino game for children aged 6–7, simple enough for them to play on their own. For more experienced players, though, even the advanced mode leaves rather little room for genuine interest.
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3 Ring Circus3 Ring Circus is a brisk, thematic euro that fits comfortably into an hour without giving away its decisions. It combines engine building, area control, and racing, with card randomness as its one meaningful thorn.
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Planet BPlanet B is a pleasantly packed eurotrash worker-placement game, with futuristic contractors, construction, workers, and enough interaction to keep the table lively—provided you do not demand surgically fair scoring.
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Vs. System 2PCG: AEWA sinful return to VS. System 2PCG with AEW and The Boys turned into ten games and one more person spending money. AEW is an ideal way to learn the system, while The Boys has more depth; neither, however, matches the chaos of Marvel Battles.