Reviews

Andromeda’s Edge takes the core of Dwellings of Eldervale and pushes it in a more lavish, more demanding direction. Its first outing tired me and made me wary of faction balance, but later plays made me revise my opinion considerably.

Endeavor: Deep Sea Deluxe Edition is pleasant, variable, and generous—perhaps too generous for my taste. The player-generated map and scenarios are interesting, but the introductory game left me with very little friction and far too much comfort.

Vinyl is a pleasant, simple action-selection game about record collectors, though it arrives at the table with unnecessary confusion around its editions and expansions. It does not reinvent the wheel, but my first play was interesting and fun.

The Ruhr: A Story of Coal Trade is a tight, twisty old-school economic Euro, full of fair funerals and sharp cut-offs. It may no longer be fashionable, but I will happily play it anytime.

A fantastical 18XX with a player-built map, fixed companies and privates, and plenty of pressure despite its modern round cap. I liked it a great deal, and already see it ranking highly among introductory 18XX games.

Autobahn: Kickstarter Edition arrived after a rough journey and with a Deluxe production that hardly feels deluxe, but it has enough depth on the table to make me forgive it.

Silverton is a sprawling, dice-driven claim-jumping game that needs space, time, and—above all—the right mood. With a relaxed group it became a riot; on the wrong night, it could very easily have rubbed me the wrong way.

Honey Buzz: Fall Flavors ends a game night on a sweet note: charmingly produced, but with enough substance that it never feels like a game for six-year-olds. Its five modules make it fuller without disrupting its flow.

Slay the Spire: The Board Game is a very successful cooperative adaptation of a digital game that had already kept me awake for countless nights. It does not contain the full depth of hundreds of mobile/PC hours, but it delivers quick, satisfying runs with plenty of strategy at the table.

Dinosaur Island: Rawr ’n Write won me over as a roll & write that retains the flavour of the larger Dinosaur Island, with a smart blend of dice and drawing. My first play was positive, although the special characters and buildings may make it a little too easy.

Path of Civilization came to the table under low expectations and left it as a pleasantly brisk, simultaneous civ experience. It has its flaws, but at five players it delivered exactly what it promised.

A return to Keyflower with Merchants: an enjoyable game, but with a few buildings that felt overly strong once score-doubling entered the picture. Counterbidding is there to keep things fair, provided you are not rusty.

Skyrise is an extremely accessible continuous-bidding game from Roxley, with racing and area-dominance elements that produce surprisingly lively sessions. And yes: the more comfortably your group teases one another, the better it gets.

Ra is a classic Knizia piece that I would happily play, though it did not blow me away. With four players, the randomness of the tiles coming out of the bag felt excessive to me.

The Barracks Emperors is the best game I have played in quite a while: a GMT trick-taker whose rules are simple but whose decisions are deviously complex, and which turns into utter chaos with four players.

Lofoten is a filler that stubbornly refuses to stay light: in 45 minutes it packs in crunchy set collection, clever choices, and reversals right to the end. It does not become a main course, but it has real character at the right summer table.

Border States is a symmetrical area-dominance game about the American Civil War, with clever ideas but limited staying power. It works as a pleasant short break for two, though not as something I will often ask to play again.

Homeworld Fleet Command trades on nostalgia for the PC Homeworld games, but its Kickstarter execution feels more like an unfinished product than a space battle ready for launch. The first games have some charm; then the fight with the rules begins.

Age of Steam is an incredible game, provided you give it the right map and the right group. On the Germany map with five players, we got plenty of thoroughly fair table warfare.

Inventions: Evolution of Ideas gave me, across its first two plays, the impression of an excellent medium-heavy euro—perhaps the best Lacerda so far. It is streamlined and approachable; the only serious thorn I have found is the rulebook.

Vijayanagara is the first game in ICS, GMT’s COIN spin-off, and it proved far more interesting than its theme initially promised me. It is a tight, strictly three-player conflict game with a clean running time, room for planning, and dice in combat.

Salton Sea is one of those small Devir boxes that makes you look at its size and then wonder how so much game fit inside. It is a clean, luck-free economic game with an interesting central idea, even if its overall feel is a little dry.

Fleet: The Dice Game has become my kid’s favourite roll & write, and honestly, I can see why. It is a smart, enjoyable game that shines brightest with three or four players.

Autumn is a tiny ten-minute card game for two, in which two trees compete for space with their falling leaves. It is light, thematic, and small enough to fit on a summer ferry table.