Contributor
WhiteColarGamer
Suave, flamboyant, and unrepentant about it. Drawn to deluxe editions, upgraded components and a table that looks as good as it plays.
🎁 2 kudos from readers
164 reviews
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Review Beyond the Sun
Beyond the Sun has lost none of its pull with repeat plays; a teaching game merely confirmed how readily it brings a new player aboard. The basic corporations are a sound way in, but the advanced boards are now the version I want on the table.
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Review Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar
Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar finally came off the shelf, expansion and all, and went straight into our regular rotation. It is the sort of heavy euro that makes a shortage of corn feel personal, then makes you ask for another game.
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Review Agricola (Revised Edition)
Agricola (Revised Edition) remains a classic eurogame, even if I still give Caverna the slight personal edge. BGA makes it wonderfully painless to revisit, though its live scoring takes a little suspense out of the finish.
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Review Brian Boru: High King of Ireland
Brian Boru: High King of Ireland gives trick-taking the substance it has been asking for: brisk, tidy, and handsomely made. It does not quite make the trick itself the star, but there is plenty around it to enjoy.
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Review Lost Ruins of Arnak: Expedition Leaders
Expedition Leaders does not feel like extra material piled onto Lost Ruins of Arnak. It feels like a remarkably natural extension for anyone already taken with the base game.
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Review Dwellings of Eldervale
Dwellings of Eldervale pairs lavish production with an unusually smooth area-control game. It is painfully expensive, but it makes a persuasive case for itself every time it reaches the table.
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Review Euthia: Torment of Resurrection
Euthia: Torment of Resurrection is a lavish fantasy sandbox that needs table space, patience, and a group willing to learn it properly. Give it that commitment and it repays the effort with properly substantial adventure gaming.
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Review Boonlake
Boonlake is a generous, mostly solitary euro that runs a little longer than it ought to, yet repays the time with steady, unhurried tension. Its density becomes far more welcoming once the game has had a chance to settle in.
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Review Le Havre
Le Havre returns to the table with the satisfying weight of a game that still asks you to think ahead. It is not flawless, but its tempo remains wonderfully alive.
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Review The Belgian Beers Race
The Belgian Beers Race turns a three-day Belgian beer tour into a cheerful little chase. It is not a tightly engineered euro, but it has enough care and personality to earn a place on a trip with the right group.
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Review Cogs and Commissars
Cogs and Commissars is a troll game powered by puns and communist fury. It gets laughs from its cards, but can spend too long circling the finish line.
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Review Dale of Merchants
Dale of Merchants is a clever, light deck-builder with more depth than its quick explanation suggests. It now sits just behind Trains among my favourite games of this kind.
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Review 1960: The Making of the President
1960: The Making of the President is a lighter, brisker cousin to Twillight Struggle, with a handsome new edition and a couple of worthwhile ideas of its own. But when there is time for the bigger political contest, Imperial Struggle is still the clearer choice.
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Review Catapult Feud
Catapult Feud is not really about its serious card-and-rounds mode; it is about small castles, flying shots, and the immediate demand for another go. Give the forts enough room and it becomes a safe, gloriously silly little siege.
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Review Praga Caput Regni
Praga Caput Regni is a substantial, beautifully made euro that earns its reputation with disarming ease. It has a lot going on, yet it keeps moving even when not everyone at the table knows it already.
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Review GWAR vs. Time!
GWAR vs. Time! is a small treat for GWAR fans who want swords, blood and noise on the table. It is plainly built in Ascension’s shadow, but the theme wears that fact remarkably well.
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Review Grand Austria Hotel: Let's Waltz!
Let's Waltz! is the long-awaited, generously modular expansion for Grand Austria Hotel, and it feels woven into the original rather than laid on top of it. By giving players more room to recover through the dancers, it makes an already beloved game easier to live with at a full table.
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Review Nemesis
Nemesis is a lavish production whose real strength is not its systems but the stories it leaves behind at the table. With the right group and the right mood, its ship becomes a stage for panic, betrayal, and the sort of debrief that deserves another beer.
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Review Inca Empire: The Card Game
Inca Empire: The Card Game packs the road-and-city building of its larger namesake into an honest, light card game. It asks for more planning than its size suggests, then pays that attention back with replayable, satisfying little decisions.
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Review Android: Netrunner
Project Nisei’s System Gateway was enough to bring Android: Netrunner back to the table, and six games promptly reminded me why I still rate it above every other CCG/LCG. Even when you know the decks too well, its pulse is still there.
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Review Kanban EV
Kanban EV does more than polish a demanding design: it makes it legible, with targeted gameplay changes and a thoroughly rebuilt rules presentation. It is still a dense euro, but its mental load now feels earned.
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Review Honey Buzz
Honey Buzz, particularly in its deluxe edition, is a lovely piece of table presence that initially looks more intimidating than it is. Beneath the hexes and market prices sits a smooth, accessible racing economic game with satisfying challenges.
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Review Tortuga 2199
Tortuga 2199 is better judged at the table than by the noise around it. It has its rough edges, but gives deckbuilding fans who are tired of the usual options a reason to deal a fresh hand.
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Review Fleet Commander: 1 – Ignition
Fleet Commander: 1 – Ignition has a clever dice core and enough miniature-fleet presence to earn a place on the table. The expansions add welcome depth, but the retail price remains an awkward thing to defend.
