Age of Comics: The Golden Years

I backed Age of Comics: The Golden Years for the theme alone, which is the sort of thing a grown adult with a soft spot for comics will admit to only after the parcel has arrived. Happily, it is not merely a handsome box: the production is carefully handled, and the cover-shaped markers for each creation are the kind of small, right detail that makes the table feel alive.

Each player runs a comics studio, and the central rhythm is easy to follow: recruit writers and artists, publish new titles, then push them into the market. There is no nuclear physics here, nor a system demanding that you keep your work diary beside the board.

Its economic side still gives you something to consider, since the choices you make for your studio need to become titles that can hold their own in the market, while the other publishers keep the setting competitive without turning it into a row. This is a contest to build the strongest catalogue, not an excuse to knock over someone else’s desk, and it suits the game.

It might have reached one or two clicks higher, but not every game needs to overflow with rules and brain-burn to deserve its time. For a Tuesday evening after work, Age of Comics: The Golden Years is quietly excellent.