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

I previously shared my experiences of games nights with friends who are all in different places, briefly touching on the different platforms available, but focussing more on the experience and what to do to make it feel as close to being together as possible. Now I want to look at the different ways I have played games remotely with others in more detail. I hope it will help you find a solution to...

Four mighty rulers compete to create the most wonderful dominion of them all. They stand proud at the top of their keep and survey the blank canvas of their lands below them. They want to create beautiful lakes full of fish to cater for many fishermen, large forests with mighty trees that will keep their many woodcutters supplied all year round, expansive meadows full of content sheep and happy fa...

In last week's article, I talked about what is involved in designing a game. Now I want to continue the story of how a board game is made with the development stage, where a working game is polished to make it sparkle and shine. This step in the process can be informal and something a game designer does themselves as part of making their passion project a reality, or it can be handed over to a ded...

Everything felt new and awkward. You had practiced for this as much as you could. Yet, you didn't feel confident. "You can do it," Dawna whispered into your ear piece, as if she knew what you were thinking. "Let's get 'em," came the roar from Farg over the comms, bringing you right back down to earth and giving you the extra nudge you needed to do this. With these two Mo'kons by your side, you sto...

Making a new game is a very long process that can take anything from a few months to many years. It usually starts with a spark of an idea, that slowly glows in the mind of a designer, getting bigger over time until eventually becoming a flame that burns for many months before finally lighting the fire. However, a new game can also come in a flash of inspiration that rapidly spreads and lights up...

Lightning strikes around you every few seconds, a hurricane is howling around you and visibility is almost zero. Add to that the fact that you're on a rickety platform 7,000 feet in the air, barely tethered to the barrier rail by rope in an almost vain attempt to stop you from being blown off and plummeting to your death, and it's obvious why the situation is so precarious. You are desperately try...

There are many reasons why people play board games. I have written about this before, but in this article I want to dive into it a bit deeper. Like with any activity, and apologies if I upset anyone when I call playing board games an activity, people do them for varying reasons. Just think of physical exercise. For many, it will be for health reasons, but it's more faceted than that. Some people m...

You and your fellow experts had been dropped off by helicopter on the island. It was going to be a rush job, but you were used to it by now. You had to work together to explore the area, find the artifacts and get them and yourself back to the helicopter. The problem was, the water level was rising all the time and this small island was disappearing fast. You did have a diver amongst the group, wh...

The last time I checked my board game player profile on Quantic Foundry was back in October 2019, so just over six months ago. I must say, I knew there would be some changes, because I was playing more types of games and with different groups of people, but I didn't quite expect the types of changes there were. So let's delve into the results from my most recent survey. Read the full article here:...

The monsters are on the rampage. Military jets fill the skies while tanks rumble through the gridlocked streets. There is the endless noise of sirens and people screaming. It's absolute chaos on the ground, but to you, it's more of a minor irritation than anything much to worry about. The jets are like wasps with a painful sting and the tanks like cockroaches trying to bite you. Your real worry ar...

Games nights are about social interactions, catching up with friends, maybe some ribbing, eating snacks, enjoying a drink, holding cards or moving pieces, maybe rolling dice and enjoying how a game unfolds, its twists and turns. It's about a shared experience and coming together. Yet, at the moment we have to stay apart, which changes how we interact and how we behave at games nights. It also chan...

If you don't have much room for games in your house, like me, then small box games are ideal. Of course, what one person considers a small box might be a medium-sized box for someone else, but I will go with what I consider small boxes, which is really small, and list five great small box games that will cover a wide range of tastes and experiences. They're listed in alphabetical order, so there i...

In open, or perfect, information games, everything is there for everyone to see. Nothing is hidden. The whole state of the game is right there in front of you. Chess is probably the most famous perfect information game - and the most classic one. However, just because all the information about the game state is available to you, doesn't mean you actually know everything. In this article, I want to...

The dive team was getting ready to leave the submarine. The oxygen tank was full, but it was limited. Everyone's lines were connected to it, so everyone had to be frugal and be aware that the air was shared among the team. It was going to be risky, but nobody was under any illusions. After a few last checks, it was time to leave the vessel and hunt for treasure - and make it back alive. It was goi...

There are many things that affect our mental health in some way. It could be a life-changing or otherwise significant event. It could be certain habits we have or things we do - or don't do. Our physical health can also affect it, as well as the health of someone close to us. Our relationships also have an influence on our mental health. These are all very broad stroke headlines and there are many...

It feels like a long time ago now, but thinking back to AireCon, which took place last month, still puts a smile on my face. It meant a long car journey for me, travelling over five hours from the South Coast all the way up to Harrogate in deepest Yorkshire. I started early, around 6am, on the Friday, because I was aiming to get there by lunchtime. I wanted to see a few people who were going to be...

I have always hoped that our community would work together to help each other through tough times, and it seems that my hopes have been answered. I don't think I need to describe the recent, global events, but when many of us had to stay at home and our social bonds were put under pressure, a lot of people did what they could to bring people together again and create a fresh sense of community. Re...

Ensuring you can continue to stock the display cases with new exhibits, while also being able to pay your loyal and hard-working staff, is very hard. It is all about getting as many people through the door to raise income, as well as have a better chance of attracting funding to see you through another month. However, at the moment your museum isn't in great shape and you need to expand to make ro...

Text and board games are inextricably linked. You find text in various places in every board game to a greater or lesser extent. I can't think of any game that doesn't have some text somewhere, but feel free to prove me wrong in the comments below. At the very least, there will be text on the box, stating where the game was made or what its player count is. At the other end of the spectrum, you'll...

We all love to play board games. We each have our favourite genres, themes and mechanisms, and ultimately our favourite games. Over time our favourites change of course, as new games come out and we get a chance to play them. Yet, when we play a board game, we don't usually think about how this game came into being in the first place. Chances are we know the designer of the game. In fact, we might...

The list of tasks a game designer has open at any one point in time can be very long and it is constantly evolving. Designing a game is a long journey, even for the simplest of games. It can be a battle between what's good for the game and what the game designer wants the game to be. It comes with a lot of changes, some of them very painful, some of them creating the long-needed breakthrough that...

The air is still and the sky is mostly clear. There are only a couple of fluffy clouds and sparkly stars fill the firmament. The forest is flourishing, stocked with many great, big trees with long branches colonized by many fragrant flowers, marvellous mushrooms, wriggly worms and fantastic fireflies. You are proud of what you have achieved in the three preceding growing seasons. It wasn't easy to...

We all love high quality, gorgeous game components. Chunky dice, metal coins, thick cardboard, linen finished cards, detailed miniatures or custom meeples. However, what we often forget is how components are used in games. We all know about rolling dice, playing cards and placing workers, but there are other, much more inventive ways of using components in games that can make playing them more mem...

Your stable is ready. You’ve chosen three creatures from your selection of 30. There are the Chill Wraith, the Stasis Golem and the Skinling. You know that some of them will lose and some will win, which is fine. In fact, it’s what you’re betting on happening, because if you win your bet, irrespective of whether the creature wins or loses, it will give you a strategic advantage in the next round o...

Of course it is important to make sure everyone knows about the game you’re planning to release very soon or the campaign that’s going to launch on Kickstarter shortly. You want people to be excited, so they share it with their friends. You want people to think your game is the best fit for them, so it can compete with the myriad of other games vying for people’s attention all the time. In fact, y...