Tabletop Games Blog - board game reviews and discussions with a personal touch

If you've been following me for a while, you'll know how much I like small box games. From wallet games to mini mint games to mint tin games to Oink-sized games to a deck of cards to any game that you can repackage into a smaller box and take with you anywhere. The other thing I like are games that are very quick to teach and learn and very quick to play, but still provide a lot of fun and excitem...

We were going to fight it out head to head or rather golem to golem. Using our magic control grids, we would steer them around the arena and inflict damage on each other until one was mortally wounded. It was going to be a quick fight, but the battle would take longer. We would fight over many rounds to decide the victor in this Earthenwar by Lazy Poet Games. Read the full article here: https://ta...

Many of us have taken to playing online when the pandemic started to take hold and moved regular games nights into the digital world. I have written about different online board game platforms and their pros and cons in previous articles and you can find out which games I personally play online, but this time I want to focus on so-called play-and-pass games, where you don't play a game with others...

March on the Drina by Princep Games is a war game set during World War I, or more specifically the Serbian campaign, where one player controls the Serbian forces, which are technically supported by Montenegro, but that country has no forces or financial power of its own, while 1 to 3 other players control the opposing side of Germany, Austria-Hungary and Bulgaria. Read the full article here: https...

As someone who has a slightly addictive character, collecting pretty much anything comes quite easy to me. "You never know when you might need it again," is what I tend to say. The same is true for board games, of course. "We might play this again at some point," is how I justify not letting a board game go that I haven't played in months. So, in this article, I want to talk about how I overcome m...

In the jungle, the mighty jungle, there is no lion, but a bunch of four, intrepid explorers trying to make their way through. The paths they cut into the vegetation will cross each other and wind their way almost aimlessly from the edge of the forest to finally emerge at four different temples and each explorer is trying to get to their specific temple. It's not clear why each explorer has their h...

Good customer service is always welcome and nobody likes bad service. In fact, we're more likely to complain about bad service than we are to praise good service. In this article, I'm trying to redress the balance a little and talk about the good customer service I have come across in the board game hobby and give some extra praise to those companies who have gone above and beyond. Read the full a...

The seasons had been disrupted, a clear indication that climate change was taking its toll. Animal migrations were affected and everything was out of sync. We had to do everything we could to restore order in the world and make everything right again. However, we only had 15 Days by ThunderGryph Games. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/08/07/15-days-matchbox-collection...

White, straight, cis men are everywhere - not just in board games. I'm one of them. My voice doesn't add anything new. My experiences may be unique to me, but they're probably not much different to those of every other white cis man. I may not be rich or live in luxury and I feel that I have put in the work to get to where I am in my life, but I have grown up with privilege - and that privilege ha...

We were on Mars. Our colonization team had arrived. The mission of our corporation was to make this planet inhabitable and do so in the most economical and efficient way possible. There were many challenges ahead, but we had a great mix of engineers, researchers, technicians, managers and construction workers and everyone was fully committed to our goal. We were fully aware that this project would...

If you have followed me for a while, you probably know that I like to have metal coins in games, instead of cardboard chits or paper money. Recently, I purchased the wonderful Iron Clays poker chips when I bought the deluxe edition of Brass: Birmingham and I must admit, I really like those as well. In this article, I want to talk about how board game components can change the enjoyment of a game -...

We had reached the planet Earth. There were many of us who had been watching the people of Earth for a long time, sometimes interacting with humans, sometimes influencing events on the planet. We had come from different worlds, many light-years away, because we felt mankind was an interesting species and we wanted to help them become a great people. We just had to be careful, as we had been spotte...

Playing a game for the first time is often quite an undertaking, unless the game is quite light. There is a lot to learn and take in and the first few turns can feel a bit awkward, because you don't really know what you're doing. You have a vague idea of what you're trying to achieve, but how you get there is usually unclear. In this article, I want to look at the expectations people often have of...

It was unheard of, but here they were: cats and dogs working as a team. They were busily scouring the village green for toys to take home or return to the Lost & Found. It was really hard to believe and when you looked closer, things weren't quite as peaceful as they seemed - and they were even stranger than you could imagine. The cats and dogs weren't all working together as one big pack or...

When you really enjoy something, when you have something that you get a lot out of, that makes you happy or otherwise has a positive impact on you, you probably want to share that joy with others. For me, board games are one of those things that I really love and want to share with others. It's something that has been shared with me, that one of my friends introduced me to and it's wonderful when...

Look! There's another shiny toy! I'm going to grab it and take it home. It's mine! Oh, I could show it off to the other cats in the neighbourhood. Then they can see my amazing new toy. It's extra special after all. Look over there though! Another toy. I need to get that one too. All right, it's not strictly mine, but it will be. Well, at this rate, there will be plenty of Feline Felonies by Atikin...

Melissa Douglas, also known as Kittykatmaniac, or Kitty for short, is a 2D artist known for neon art and their love of villains. They have been an artist for almost 30 years and will continue to be for many more years to come. Currently, Melissa is a full-time toy designer and not working or doing freelance. Melissa has got a dorky cat named Venom, after one of their favourite comic book character...

Our weekly games night has been running for many, many years now and even though the day of the week has changed over the years and we've had one person leave while another one joined, in its core, it's become something of an institution. It's something I always look forward to, because it's time I can spend with friends, talking about what they have been up to and immersing myself in the game, or...

There was something iffy going on in our little country village. My nose was twitchy and I was soon on the trail of some interesting clues. It was clear it was going to take some time and some clever snooping, but I was on a roll and knew I would be able to solve the Canine Capers by Atikin Games. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/07/03/canine-capers-saturday-review/ L...

We probably all have a favourite children's story that we loved as a child or maybe a favourite book that we've read many times or a favourite film or TV show that we love watching and that takes us away from our day-to-day. In this article, I want to look at how games tell stories and how they draw us into their world. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/06/29/storytell...

Progress was slow, but it was very satisfying seeing the little pea seedlings grow and then, eventually, flower before finally producing pods that slowly swelled up to bursting with new peas inside. We carefully crossed different plants in the hope that they would create new varieties and over time we were able to predict the height of the plant, its flower colour, the pod colour as well as whethe...

When you're starting out as a freelancer, things can be tough. You haven't got any clients yet, you probably also have no prior work to show to prospective customers, at least no professional prior work and you're probably still working out a few things to make sure you can work effectively and efficiently. After all: time is money. At least that's how it should be. In reality though, as a new fre...

Having played Oath by Leder Games a few more times since my review, I felt it was time to share with you what I have learned since and to see if my view of the game has changed in any way, which is why this article is under the Takebacks heading. There is a lot of ground to cover and for me to put the cards on the table so let's begin. Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021...

When you play board games, you usually don't think about the wide variety of emotions that they can create. Playing, board games or otherwise, is mostly associated with fun. Yet, board games aren't always fun, as we all know. They're sometimes frustrating or disappointing. They can be calming. They can create anticipation and excitement. There can be tension, love, hate, surprise and much more. In...

A massive magnetic storm had hit our moon base. All of our supplies had been hit and were now scattered in a 20-mile radius around the base. The base itself was intact and secure, but we only had a handful of supplies left, including oxygen. We had to work together to recover as much as we could to have any chance of leaving the Moon and returning to Earth. It was going to be tough, but we were al...