Second editions speak. For a game that has circulated and expanded for years, they speak of the desire for a consolidated experience, like Camel Up, London, or Nemo’s War. Of course, sometimes they stir mixed reactions, creating a clamoring for the original (Sheriff of Nottingham, anyone?). For a newer release, second editions might speak of unrelenting demand or lessons swiftly learned from a wide release and the ensuing abundance of consumer feedback.  In the case of I C E, the forthcoming Second Edition speaks a message of access—budgetary access. The original campaign boasted one of ..read more

Have you ever been introduced to a game that you immediately knew you had to have? My first time playing Nuts a GoGo! was like that. You can teach, and play, a game in about 5 minutes—it’s one of those games that benefits from playing it multiple times in a row. In fact, you could almost say it’s not a game at all… In Nuts a GoGo!, 2-5 players attempt to be the last one left after 2 stages of play. In the first stage, players each take one of the small dixie-sized paper cups included with the game. When gameplay starts, you reach into the box to grab, one hand at a time, as many wooden piece ..read more

The first thing you notice about this game is the gorgeous box. The colors are somewhat muted, but perfectly in theme. The box comes with a slip cover that keeps it closed. The inner box has a nice wood-grain tone with gold foil writing. Someone over at Mentha Designs loves this game and has taken some care to ensure that the presentation is welcoming and at the upper end of modern design. [caption id="attachment_300068" width="600"] With slipcover (left). Without slipcover (right).[/caption] The second thing you notice is that the components continue to deliver on the expectations the box cre ..read more

Within the larger family of shedding, climbing, and trick-taking card games, there aren’t many that are well-suited (heh) to two. The Fox in the Forest and Sail are two notable exceptions, but there’s a dearth. Haggis, which first came out in 2010, aimed to change that. I became aware of the game about two years ago, whilst digging around the Internet. It is a cult classic among the trick-taking enthusiasts whose enthusiasms predate the current vogue for the genre. As is often the case with cult classics among the trick-taking enthusiasts whose enthusiasms predate the current vogue for the gen ..read more

If you’ve followed any of my family-weight review content over the last three years, you know my general rules regarding these products: if my kids keep asking to play the games, it’s going to get a high score. Here’s the surprise with Wandering Towers (2022, Capstone Games): the adults who tried it loved it even more than the kids did. When Wandering Towers arrived, my seven-year-old son wanted to try it out. Wizards on the cover, some animals running around? That was enough to bust it out. We learned the rules, then played a two-player competitive game. That went well, so we did a two-player ..read more

Unmatched as a series is based on a simple, perfect premise, one as old as humanity: Who would win in a fight? Throughout the six years the system has been available at retail, this two-to-four player dueling game has allowed players to throw together an impressively wide variety of characters, both licensed and un-. If your grade school recesses were consumed with purely theoretical conversations about matchups between Achilles and Doctor Strange, you can finally put those ideas into praxis. Ever since its release, I’ve danced around Unmatched without committing. I’m not big on the licensed s ..read more

You’re likely to be familiar with deckbuilders, those games where you start with a small deck of cards and then work to increase the size—and, therefore, the abilities—of your deck. As for me, with 60 plays of Dominion listed at BoardGameGeek (and many more uncounted), it’s a mechanic I enjoy. Chiseled (2020, Copper Frog Games) is something different. Here, your goal is to get rid of certain cards from your starting deck to maximize your score. (Does that make it a Deck Shredder? Or a Deck Destroyer?) [caption id="attachment_300256" width="500"] Chiseled: The Box[/caption] Setup & Play In ..read more

“It’s like Ticket to Ride meets Get On Board meets Caesar’s Empire,” I said to our friends as we sat down to their first play of On the Underground.  I enjoy all three of those titles on one level or another. The game On the Underground: London / Berlin dropped in 2019 as a reimplementation of the 2006 original, which was titled without reference to its London locale. The box design is clean and attractive, with splashes of watercolor creating a recognizable London skyline. In a break from convention, the box bottom is the Berlin edition of the graphic, a second cover. The map is enormo ..read more

[caption id="attachment_300059" width="300"] Stephan Michael Sechi. SMS to his friends.[/caption] Recently, I have been working on various passion projects. In that capacity, I am not only K. David Ladage, I am also ZiLa Games. While managing my online presence (be that the web page for my little imprint, the web page for my upcoming edition of the classic board game Bin’Fa, or the various elements that exist on Facebook), I was discussing with friends and collaborators the history of The Arcanum. Part of that history is Bard Games and its creator, Stephan Michael Sechi. Disclosure: Back in t ..read more

Delta - Justin Bell I picked up a review copy of Delta at SPIEL last year; our friend and former colleague Brody Sheard reviewed the game during the game’s crowdfunding campaign. Published by Game Brewer, Delta is a hand management game that tasks players working to discover the mysteries and potential of the Perpetual Steam Engine in a steampunk future featuring workshops, animal collection, and map exploration in a Euro-style game totaling 18 turns per player. Delta is a tricky cat. It does many things well, but it is complicated by a number of issues that are unique to a production handled ..read more