Contributor
WhiteColarGamer
Suave, flamboyant, and unrepentant about it. Drawn to deluxe editions, upgraded components and a table that looks as good as it plays.
217 reviews
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Red Light: A Star is PornRed Light: A Star is Porn is an unexpectedly entertaining, provocative little game that wins you over first with its artwork and then with its silliness. It is nothing remarkable, but with the right group it can produce plenty of laughs for two or three plays.
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ConanConan became the right, noisy holiday ritual: honest dice, a diabolical overlord, and a group having an almost unreasonable amount of fun.
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CryptocurrencyCryptocurrency was the last loukoumades bite of the trip: honest for exactly what it is, without trying to be something grander. I clearly prefer it with four players; at three, the RNG weighs more heavily, though it is still perfectly enjoyable.
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Dungeon DerbyDungeon Derby took me from “I’ve bought another dud” to still laughing about moments from the game two days later. It is not a game to take seriously; it is one to put on the table with the right, loud group.
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Popular FrontPopular Front remains an epic six-player game: harsh, brutal, and perfect for groups capable of turning the Spanish Civil War into a historical argument and a political discussion around the table.
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Millennium BladesI brought Millennium Blades to a rare gathering of old competitive Magic players, and the nostalgic joke landed for most of the group. It was not unanimous, though: one player never connected with its appeal.
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Terraforming Mars: Hellas & ElysiumTerraforming Mars with the Hellas map was an ideal way for three players to close out a Saturday night. And for me, it remains clearly better as a tabletop experience than as a game on Steam.
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Tulip BubbleTulip Bubble remains a tried-and-true favourite of my group: with the right people around the table, it can be genuinely epic. This evening also showed how brutally the market cards can sweep it off course.
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Mage Wars Arena: Battlegrounds DominationMage Wars Arena returned to the table as an old, complex love that was never really forgotten. And Battlegrounds: Domination turned out to be a much better reason to revisit it than I expected.
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AuZtraliaIn AuZtralia, once again, we ended up on the menu. And this time, the revelation came at the eleventh hour.
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Ground Floor (Second Edition)Ground Floor: Second Edition is an honest heavy euro that showed me its best side at five players. It is expensive, but my two plays did not confirm the reservations I had heard about the first edition.
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Winner's CircleWinner’s Circle may not look like much at first, but at the table it proves to be a rare kind of great party game: loud, funny, and completely carried by the atmosphere of the racetrack.
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Symphony No.9Symphony No.9 felt to me like the logical, more euro-style evolution of Tulip Bubble: a complete bidding eurogame in a box so compact and elegant that it won me over before I had even started counting points.
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Stellar LeapStellar Leap is a light and very interesting space game, with lovely production and a flow that rewards repeat plays. For an impulse buy, it definitely left me happy.
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Brass: BirminghamBrass: Birmingham is finally the Brass I want to see on the table: a production masterpiece that does not force me to stare at a map that hurts my eyes. Roxley’s new edition makes this beloved experience shine the way it deserves to.
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LowlandsI played two more games of Lowlands, this time with different groups, on an evening when the table had already seen plenty of brawling. I did not have a bad time, but after four games in total, fatigue and boredom were already beginning to show.
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Pendragon: The Fall of Roman BritainAfter several attempts to get it to the table, I finally played Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain, right at the last minute. It is as heavy as the rumours say, but I found the experience enjoyable and genuinely interesting.
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Concordia: Gallia / CorsicaConcordia has become our game of the year, somewhat belatedly but deservedly. Gallia delivers a tight, strong game that works wonderfully as a warm-up too.
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Empires: Age of DiscoveryEmpires: Age of Discovery remains a solid game for six, especially when everyone around the table already knows it. This time, with clearer heads, the session was noticeably more competitive and once again came down to the details.
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ArkwrightOn my sixth play, Arkwright remains perhaps the best economic game I own, even if it leaves me exhausted. This one was decided by a single point and kept us under constant pressure well past midnight.
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Railways of NipponRailways of Nippon is, for me, a more manageable four-player entry in the Railways/Railroad Tycoon series, but not a particularly fresh addition.
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FleetFleet still makes it back onto my table now and then, although I probably ought to have that checked. My recent return to 40K, by contrast, reminded me how much I need there to be substance beneath the spectacle.
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The Sands of TimeThe Sands of Time is a pleasantly familiar civ game with action selection at its heart. It has nearly everything I look for in the genre, yet it left me feeling that something was missing.
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My Fair PrincessMy Fair Princess never quite makes it to the table here: the real star is my old mancave, apparently student-poor enough to serve as a documentary set. It is a reminder that a collection can look very different to us than it does to a TV crew.