A friend of mine recommended the Battlestar Galactica board game to me years ago, back when it was in print and I was new to the hobby. At the time it was a beast to wrap my mind around, with a long rulebook and so many components to manage. But even while trying to comprehend … Dawn Review Read More » The post Dawn Review appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

It was the best of times, it was the PAX of times. No no no. Sorry, that was bad. Delete! I suppose such an atrocious joke might be some sort of consolation that I didn’t use an AI to write this. I suspect that language models might have some difficulty with humor, particularly intentionally bad … A Tale of Two PAXes Read More » The post A Tale of Two PAXes appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

Oceans: Legends of the Deep will be on Kickstarter November 1 If there’s any doubt that Oceans is the wilder, freer, more combo-tastic game in the Evolution series, the Legends of the Deep expansion puts that doubt to rest. The original Evolution game is a rather stolid experience, albeit one that rewards repeated play and … Oceans: Legends of the Deep Review Read More » The post Oceans: Legends of the Deep Review appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

Wind the Film, blandly re-named “Photograph” in its English printing, is one of the best card games I’ve played in years. It’s the kind of no-nonsense, airtight design you expect Knizia to pull out a couple of times a decade and most other designers to dream of making once in their career. Along with Let’s … Wind the Film (aka Photograph) Review Read More » The post Wind the Film (aka Photograph) Review appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

Silent Ships, from independent designer Jorge Zhang, tries to capture the sneaky mind games of Stratego in a small-box card game. In doing so it, unfortunately, reminded me of how much I disliked my one play of Stratego a decade ago. To Silent Ships’ credit, it’s a lot quicker than the game that inspired it. … Silent Ships Review (w/ bonus: Can’t Touch This) Read More » The post Silent Ships Review (w/ bonus: Can’t Touch This) appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

Let’s embrace creativity! These 7 games are all interesting and unique in their own way, and I hope they serve as inspiration to other game designers to push the boundaries and chart new territory in board game design. The post 7 Games I’m Glad Exist (because they’re interesting and quirky, even if they may not fully succeed) appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

Some thoughts after my first play of this small-ish box pick-up-and-deliver game. The post 3 Impressions, 3 Questions: Small Railroad Empires appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

Knizia’s Medici: The Card Game rides a thin line. Like so many other simple games that rely on a healthy dollop of luck, it’s at constant risk of feeling arbitrary, leaving players with the impression that they’ve wasted their time. It can also inspire moments of genuine thrill as someone decides to defy the odds … Medici: The Card Game Read More » The post Medici: The Card Game appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more

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if you’re not exploiting your cat for internet clicks, what are you even doing with your life? The post Nonsense Short 5 – Box Lid Championships appeared first on The Thoughtful Gamer ..read more