Reviews

Alubari 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.

An 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.

Tzolk'in sat shrink-wrapped on my shelf for years alongside its expansion, until a night calling for a heavy euro and the option to play with five finally brought it to the table. It immediately proved to be one of those games that becomes a group classic — even if it makes you suffer over corn.

We revisited Agricola: Revised Edition through BGA and, although I still prefer Caverna, I completely understand why Agricola remains a classic. The digital version makes the bookkeeping wonderfully easy, even if it slightly strips away the tension of final scoring.

Brian Boru quickly filled a gap for a trick-taking game with real substance, pairing the mechanism with area control without sacrificing pace. It is lean, quick, and beautifully produced, even if trick-taking itself is not quite its strongest feature.

Kemet: Blood and Sand arrived as the supposedly superior version of a game I had barely encountered before. One play was enough to leave me feeling that the setup had already written the ending.

Core Worlds: Empires is a heavy worker-placement game with an honest 3X flavour, minus exploration, and it rewards a group willing to commit to a full three-hour session. It stays engaging with almost no downtime and several genuinely well-constructed ideas around conflict and force management.

Khôra: 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.

18Chesapeake 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.

Illumination 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.

Plunderbund 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.

Virgin 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.

Expedition Leaders does not feel like an add-on that merely piles more material onto Lost Ruins of Arnak. It integrates so organically with the base game that, for me, it clearly raises it by another level.

At the Christmas BLTG extravaganza, War Room delivered another huge, spectacular war story. It needs space and time, but when you have both, it is one of the greats.

Galactic 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.

On 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.

Ankh: 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.

Titans of Industry was dug out of the shelf of shame and proved far more enjoyable than its rating suggests. It is a simple, brisk economic game that accommodates six players without leaving anyone staring at the ceiling.

Dwellings of Eldervale is one of those games that made me regret passing on its Kickstarter. It is a clever area-control game with spectacular production, even if its price hurts.

Anno 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.

Euthia is an oversized sandbox production, packed with cardboard clutter and satisfying adventures. It demands commitment, table space, and a group willing to face setup, teardown, and exceptions.

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.

Boonlake remains, for me, a lavish and satisfying euro: it lasts a little longer than I would like, but it fills both table and mind without exhausting me. It is not for players looking for confrontation; it is a delightfully personal ride with plenty going on.

Ore: 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.