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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Twilight: 2000 (4th Edition)Twilight: 2000 Fourth Edition gave my group the grounded, tactical RPG change of pace it wanted after a Dune campaign that was not holding our attention. It is polished and entertaining, provided the GM is ready to put in work once the core box material runs out.
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Gaia ProjectGaia Project gave me exactly what I expected: a smoother Terra Mystica, with a satisfyingly brain-burning session that still did not completely win me over. A good mental exercise, but a fairly dry experience.
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Alubari: A Nice Cup of TeaAlubari feels like a lighter, less cumbersome version of Snowdonia, with tea providing its one meaningful mechanical twist. It is not a bad game; I simply know which one I would prefer if I owned the original.
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One Card WonderAn ultra-light civ bag builder about racing to complete a wonder, with more honest interaction than expected at lower player counts. Just do not touch the KS mini expansion with the leaders.
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Khôra: Rise of an EmpireKhôra: Rise of an Empire is a charming, light Civilization game with a racing pace and a much friendlier level of difficulty than Iello’s “expert” label suggests. Its tilt toward military development, however, gives Argos and Sparta a noticeable edge.
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18Chesapeake18Chesapeake felt simpler than the 18XX games we usually play, but not remotely slight: it delivered the whole expected spectacle in a very fair playing time. Our first game was an enjoyable YOLO mess of opening choices that I would like to revisit more seriously — probably just once more.
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IlluminationIllumination is a strange, thematic, intensely brainy two-player game with clever ideas that demand more tracking than I would like. I would enjoy it much more in a scripted digital version that handles the details.
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PlunderbundPlunderbund does not make a strong first impression, but with five players it quickly turns into a very enjoyable mess. It is a fast deck builder with few but meaningful choices and virtually no downtime.
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Virgin QueenVirgin Queen gave us an exhausting but immensely satisfying evening, with Europe turned into a stage for piracy, marriages, religious threats, and highly suspicious diplomacy. It needs a group ready to track everything — and someone willing to look up rules.
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Galactic EraGalactic Era is a lean, luck-free 4X space game that earns its place through hidden fleets and disputes around a full table. It is not groundbreaking, but with six players it moves quickly and delivers the required amount of bickering.
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Messina 1347On my second visit to Messina, this time with four players, Messina 1347 once again left me with an excellent impression. The more you learn it, the clearer it becomes that it still has more depth to offer.
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Ankh: Gods of EgyptAnkh: Gods of Egypt is a simple but coherent area-control game, with a theme that comes through and twists that keep the session alive. It also has a particularly clever catch-up mechanism, even if its price stings.
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Anno 1800: The Board GameAnno 1800 had all the right reasons for us to anticipate it eagerly, but its first play left me with a sense of routine rather than excitement. It is not bad; I simply have not yet found the interaction, beyond trading, that would make it stand out.
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Tinners' Trail (Second Edition)Tinners' Trail returns in a very carefully produced second edition, with small refinements that make it flow nicely at the table. It is still an older design, though, and its mineral-pricing system reveals some of that age.
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Ore: The Mining GameOre: The Mining Game has two good ideas at its core, but does not find enough ways to keep the group invested until the end. It is a decent mining game that works particularly well with five players, though it is far from essential.
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UnfathomableUnfathomable is a well-produced, slightly more streamlined Galactica-like game that pleasantly surprised me. But once the hidden enemy is identified early, much of its tension and fun drains away.
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Star Scrappers: OrbitalStar Scrappers: Orbital is a tight, aggressive card game of around an hour, with enough variety to make me want to revisit it. It does not promise world-changing depth, but it knows exactly what it is: an enjoyable game for opening or closing a game night.
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Maglev MetroMaglev Metro is a clean, well-produced pick-and-deliver game of rail networks, with a clever use of passengers as resources. It lacks the polish of Suburbia and does not surpass the heavier Tramways, but it remains an enjoyable recommendation—provided you stay away from the second map pack unless you are already a devotee.
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Le HavreLe Havre is not perfect, but it remains an enjoyable, demanding Uwe game with a pace that keeps me constantly engaged.
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After the EmpireAfter the Empire has an appealing premise: worker placement combined with castle defence against invaders, in a fairly manageable playtime. But its rules and flow details sent us into two entirely different games—and neither version fully convinced me.
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The Conquistadors: The Spanish Conquest of the Americas 1518-1548The Conquistadors has an intriguing sandbox core and unusually ruthless interaction, but its development burdens it with needless friction in its dice procedures and player aids. I want to play it again precisely because, underneath that hassle, there is a game unafraid to let players be awful to one another.
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Florenza: X Anniversary EditionFlorenza: X Anniversary Edition is an old, charming, mildly brain-burning worker-placement/resource-management game: easy enough to learn, but demanding when you try to play it optimally. Tight at the start and sharper once the group knows it, it remains a pleasant blast from the past.
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Trickerion: Legends of IllusionTrickerion returned to the table with all of its additions and delivered another strong, chaotic game. It remains a joy once it gets moving, but its teach and the Academy can do real damage to it.
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Dominant Species: MarineDominant Species: Marine remains, for me, a very successful and smoother successor to the original. It can still run long, but its fluidity and big, close games keep it firmly high in my estimation.