Trepanation

Trepanation has the pleasantly wrong feel of a macabre theme that does not pretend to be more serious than it needs to be, and it borrows a little of Trickerion’s theatrical table presence without importing the weight or the commitment. It is the sort of game I would happily bring out on a Tuesday after work, when I want a touch of ceremony without having to unpack a second brain.

At heart it is worker placement: you put your workers into the available choices and try to fit your actions into the space the game leaves you. The structure is compact and clear, enough to create decisions without turning every round into an exercise in bookkeeping.

Interaction arises naturally from the shared spaces and from getting to the spot someone else wanted, rather than from any heavy confrontation. That gives a game a pleasing edge of tension, while asking no one at the table to learn a vast system before it begins to make sense.

It is not a filler, nor is it the game that will occupy an entire evening; it does, however, contain several genuinely cheerful plays, provided your group has not already had its fill of worker placement. At its price, it feels like a fine addition to DLP’s light brigade: quietly well made, and with enough character to linger after the box is shut.