Fromage

Fromage and Formaggio are the sort of games that make the table feel a little more important than an ordinary Tuesday after work. The modular cheese board travels around the players, and it is a thing you genuinely enjoy watching move rather than mere production theatre. The two versions can also be mixed and matched, leaving plenty of room for replayability.

The game is built around that board shifting its position around the table, continually changing the frame in which you make your plans. You are not simply staring at your own corner; the circular movement asks you to adjust your strategy as the game develops.

Everyone plays simultaneously, and that choice keeps the session moving. There is interaction and proper thought involved, but nobody is waiting for one heroic turn to finish and nobody is drowning in analysis paralysis; every player has something to do at once.

This is a game with strategy, interaction and a clean pace, wrapped in a production that catches the eye without apologising for it. I recommend it without reservation: quietly excellent, and rather more ambitious than it first appears.