What does “elegant design” mean to you? For me, it is a game that has been well-fleshed out and the rules, components, and mechanics are not over-fluffed. I hear and see so many games being described as having elegant design, and I sit and ponder sometimes because I have played…
Author: travis
When choosing board games to either play or purchase, how much importance should one put on box cover art? It is important to ME, but I lump that all in with the components and art/art style of the whole package. Why do I bring this up in the intro today?…
In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection. This breakdown is for the excellent bidding and castle building game Castles of Mad King Ludwig, and the expansion is named Secrets, from Bezier Games. This…
The original 7 Wonders was my #1 game of all time for a long while. While it has since dropped off my Top 10, I still have so many fond memories of it. Now, I know I am not breaking any stories here by finally reviewing its 2-player successor, but…
As I am wont to do at the beginning of reviews, I have to make a confession. I have not played many games set in a war. I have not played many WW1, WW2, Vietnam, etc. games, because I am under the impression that most of these are, in fact,…
Are you a boat person? As in, do you enjoy lounging on a boat, floating to nowhere in particular, just enjoying the day? Or are you a thrill-seeking water-skiier or tuber that enjoys shredding the waves and nearly drowning? Perhaps you are neither. I am definitely in the first category.…
How many times have you felt absolutely confident in your convictions, only to have one tiny piece of information tear down stance and make you feel a little sheepish? It happens to me all too often, especially when playing games. Enter the Crime Zoom series coming soon from Lucky Duck…
I have often wished to have been born in a different era of time. For me, I would have loved to have seen the birth of jazz in the US early 20th century. Or to witness the Renaissance first-hand. Another wish of mine was always to somehow discover something amazing.…
What kinds of pets did you have growing up? My family was allowed one dog throughout my formative years, and I even tried to keep a turtle once in college. I have not ever had rabbits, but my brother did – Brewster. He was a cool bunny. Kinda freaked out…
In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection. This breakdown is for the excellent game Revolution! and the expansions The Palace and Anarchy, from Steve Jackson Games. Both expansions add new bid boards that…
Ancient Medieval books. We all love ’em, right? Full of bright beautiful pictures of angels fighting demons, knights fighting dragons, dogs fighting squirrels(?), and monks fighting armed bunnies?? Hey, what’s going on here? Okay, I have played enough Alf Seegert games to know that everything comes with a hint of…
I am not a sinless man. In fact, it’s been years since I’ve been to confession, and at this point I’m afraid I would be there for hours just spilling the beans. I know many pious people, but alas, I am not one. However, I do appreciate those that attempt…
Deeply consider this question: what is your natural predator? We are the top of the food chain, right? Right? And what we all learned in school is that some animals are herbivores, some are carnivores, and some are omnivores. At least in the Midwest, that’s what we were taught. Now,…
In the expansion review series, we take a look at a game expansion to discuss whether it is a necessary purchase/addition to one’s collection. This breakdown is for the super popular tile-laying game Kingdomino and its Age of Giants expansion. Included in this strangely-dimensioned-box-when-compared-with-its-base-game is a plethora of components. Most…