Reviews

Connecting Flights has the right sales pitch for an airline-game enthusiast: auctions, route building and planes. It then flattens those promising ingredients into a wearying experience with very little at stake.

Circadians: Chaos Order takes the risk of asymmetric 3X area control and, unusually for the genre, makes its systems cohere without allowing one faction to run away with the table.

The Red Cathedral is a remarkably clean, airy medium euro whose altered rondel makes each choice matter. The contractors expansion is well made, but it moves the game into a noticeably heavier bracket.

Firefly: Misbehavin' arrived under a cloud of suspicion and turned out to be a pleasing surprise. It is a thematic faction deck-builder with real player pressure, and it is not shy about letting a crowded table get messy.

The Shadow Planet: The Board Game is a relaxed semi-co-op deduction game with handsome pulp art and a few genuinely fresh ideas. Its first play is spent finding the edges of the rules, but there is a pleasingly suspicious game waiting on the other side.

Front Line No Komrades is a Soviet-flavoured party-game twist on Guillotine with some good ideas, but not enough development to carry them all. We laughed, but it outstays its welcome and its flavour text promises more comedy than the game delivers.

Xia: Legends of a Drift System is a remarkably convincing space sandbox: messy, random, and quite willing to turn into a missile fight. Its freedom comes with downtime, especially once the table grows.

Brazil: Imperial is a streamlined 4X with several clever ideas, but a corrected second play confirmed that they never become a finished design. It may be better than Scythe; that remains a fairly modest distinction.

My Father's Work is an ambitious, thematic app-driven worker-placement game with production values turned well past sensible. There is plenty of game here, but its story and scenario knowledge do not integrate as neatly as the presentation promises.

The Transcontinental does not invent a new mechanism, but it assembles familiar ones with impressive care. At three players, it is a tight economic game that rewards planning and punishes inattention.

Bitoku is an ambitious, overstuffed euro with a genuinely clever core, but it does not feel as polished as its reputation suggests. I had a good time with it; I simply expected more.

A welcoming tableau builder with clear iconography and more than one way to chase points. It is lighter than Furnace without feeling like a bowl of points salad.

Kingdom Builder is an older, slightly odd game that settles into an honest, undemanding puzzle. Its Big Box supplies plenty of variety and solid value, even if it does not always arrange its expansions with much grace.

Pingyao: First Chinese Banks is far better than its bruised reputation suggests: a tight, competitive dice-placement game with genuine economic pressure. The English rules need patience, but the game earns it back.

Conquest & Consequence promises a more immediate and combative three-player contest than Triumph & Tragedy. On first contact, though, its rules manage to stand between the players and the game.

La Belle Époque is a lean, historically asymmetric area-control game that plays far more smoothly than its rather rough production suggests. It asks for patience with its running time, but Quartermaster General groups should find plenty to like.

Car Wars (Sixth Edition) trades the old game's heavy lifestyle-game ambition for a fast, noisy vehicular arena. It may not carry a grand campaign, but it makes a fine case for blowing off steam — especially when the miniatures look this good.

Founders of Teotihuacan is an unusually light, brisk Board & Dice release with a few sound ideas and not quite enough substance to distinguish itself. Its action-selection system does the rescuing; much of the rest feels like a draft that escaped before revision.

Zapotec is a tightly constructed light-medium pyramid builder with a satisfying escalation, but its opening is rather too willing to punish one false step. It is good, brisk, and worth recommending, with a real reservation about replayability.

878 Vikings: Invasions of England is a rowdy invasion game where dice arrive by the bucketful and bold timing matters more than keeping a cool head. It deserves more attention, provided you are prepared to be tried and sentenced by English peasants.

Almoravid retains the striking thematic pull of Volko’s system, but makes you work too hard before the campaign can begin. Its lords and battles are strong; its supply rules are still getting in the way.

1822CA is a heavy, demanding game, and a very good one for a group that wants its auctions to have teeth. Its Canadian wrinkles make it more complex than 1822, so it is better treated as a next step than an entry point.

Ascension: Deckbuilding Game shows its design seams more clearly once everyone at the table knows what they are doing. It is still a deep, lively choice for a proper scrap with two or three players.

Dead Reckoning gave our table cannon fire, aggressive rivalries, and a victorious Mariposa determined to make purple look unbeatable. Its campaign still lands just short of the finish its journey seems to promise.