Reviews

Gandhi is an odd, advanced COIN that makes no effort to ease newcomers into the series. Its awkward rules and unusual balances are precisely what make it worth a look for experienced players.

Transatlantic is too readily dismissed as a dry Concordia copy. It has its own strategic cadence, meaningful interaction, and a variant that is well worth putting through its paces.

Captains of Industry remains a solid economic game that is especially good at five. Prices, property and production give players plenty of ways to get in one another’s way.

Escape Plan is a eurogame that tightens the table rather than letting everyone quietly solve their own puzzle. At five players, it gets properly wild.

Mega Civilization returned as a vast seven-player table of trade, calamity, and increasingly obvious rivals. We did not finish, but Rome and Greece had already turned the game into their private race.

1883: Building Railroads in Northern Italy is a hard Italian railway game where random events keep turning the table over from round to round. It is a distinctive experience for players tired of the usual fare, but not a safe recommendation.

Glorantha: The Gods War takes the Cthulhu Wars frame and tightens the parts that needed it: less runaway snowballing, more decision-making, and runes and fragments that genuinely add to the game. Its miniatures, regrettably, do nothing for me.

Underwater Cities is plainly excellent, and its three-player game has a sharper edge. Four players works perfectly well; three makes every choice bite harder.

Cthulhu Wars delivered an honest bloodbath on an odd map, with new factions and plenty of reasons to watch the player beside you. It also demands time, appetite and a close eye on special effects that can tilt a game before it has properly begun.

Patchistory has not yet given me a full game from which to deliver a final verdict, but it already looks like a serious contender for four players. Its scoring balance needs to be tested through the third era.

Yinzi feels like a proper return to form after a few unconvincing efforts from the same company. It is not perfect, but it is a satisfying, demanding Heavy Euro with enough bite to justify the evening.

SiegeStorm: SiegeMode is a fast, aggressive card game with themed decks, satisfying combinations, and a siege that puts movement into the duel. For fans of the genre, it is an easy recommendation.

Black Rose Wars is a substantial, carefully presented game with respectable miniatures and a pleasing mix of strategy and gleeful aggression. It is not, however, the Mage Wars successor one might expect.

Forged in Steel presents itself as a low-luck city builder, then starts demolishing its neighbours with enthusiasm. It will not make your group closer, but it may give them a memorable evening.

Druids feels far more at home with the original Caverna than Journeyman does. It is an excellent early impression, though some druid tiles may yet prove a little too generous.

A light family euro about goblin shopkeepers, gullible heroes, and the loot they can be persuaded to part with. It has a charming premise and a steady hand, though the theme could stand to misbehave more.

Architects of the West Kingdom earns the noise around it: a substantial cathedral-building game that keeps its scoring rather better hidden than you expect.

Time of Crisis: The Roman Empire in Turmoil, 235-284 AD is still a cracking game: light GMT by appearance, but perfectly capable of making Rome feel personal. When the dice start performing miracles for the wrong person, the tension needs no introduction.

An interesting trick-taking game with a railway coat of paint, though it takes a little patience before its priorities come into focus. The trains are why I sat down with it; they are not quite why I would return.

Northern Pacific is a small, fast game that becomes far more tangled than it looks, especially with a big group around it. It has almost no rules, plenty of player pressure, and perhaps only so much life in it.

Red Light: A Star is Porn looks like a provocative joke, then reveals enough game beneath the artwork to become a small surprise hit. It is not a landmark design, but it gets the right group laughing and knows when to end.

Conan brings honest dice, an Overlord who gets to be properly wicked, and a group quite willing to take a beating. It is a loud, grand evening of adventure.

Cryptocurrency is an honest little game, provided you bring the right group. It works noticeably better with four than with three.

Dungeon Derby is loud betting chaos for a group prepared to leave dignity at the door. In the right company, its traps and dice produce stories that outlast the game itself.