The Red Cathedral – Small board game Great fun?
Already at the SPIEL 2021 it was said that you have to have a look at The Red Cathedral by Shei S. and Isra C. from the DEVIR publishing house and definitely play it. Well, unfortunately we didn’t get to play a game at the SPIEL, but in the meantime we have played a few games, so we can give our personal subjective verdict on the board game in our usual professional manner. Of course, you can only find out how it turns out when you read our review of The Red Cathedral.
Have fun reading!
Meadow – nature, fresh air and a board game
It was only a matter of time before more and more board games with a nature theme appeared on the scene. This theme became popular with Wingspan, but a nature theme does not necessarily make a good game. Now the Polish publisher rebel.Studio, which belongs to the Asmodee Group, is trying its hand at this theme with Meadow. At first glance, it seems as if the Polish designers have done their homework, because already the illustration catches you and the scent of the forest seems to get into your nose immediately. But can Meadow also convince playfully besides pretty illustrations?
Cascadia – On the road in wild board game landscape
Even when Wingspan won the Kennerspiel des Jahres award, I suspected that this was just the beginning of a new board game trend. And now, just under 3 years later, board games with a nature theme have established a firm place for themselves in the board game bubble. Cascadia from AEG joins the ranks as another board game in which we relax and enjoy nature while competing with others around the table. Randy Flynn’s first board game seems to use quite simple mechanisms and still trigger a certain replay appeal for enough players. You can find out why this is perhaps the case and how we liked the hike through Cascadia in our review of the nature board game.
Living Forest – Forest spirits, fire and a board game
Living Forest by Ludonaute was already on my wish list for SPIEL 2021, but the final urge to buy was missing. On the one hand, it was because the board game from Ludonaute was only available in French or English, and on the other hand, I had the choice between Welcome to the Moon and Living Forest at the same booth.
In the end, I chose Welcome to the Moon, and since we have enough board games in the house, it wasn’t a big deal. And as the article here shows, it was only a matter of time before Living Forest found its way into the household. Whether it was worth it, I will examine in more detail in my article.
The King’s Dilemma – How we burned Ankist
Negotiation games are rarely or never on the table with us. When I discovered The King’s Dilemma by Lorenzo Silva, Hjalmar Hach and Carlo Burelli from Horrible Guild in the preview for the 2019 SPIEL in Essen, I was immediately excited about the idea. Unfortunately Jan was not so easily convinced. He couldn’t imagine that the simple gameplay could be fun for an entire campaign. In the meantime, the campaign has ended with the German edition from Heidelbär Games. We had a lot of fun with this great game and this is mainly because of the story it tells. Our aim now is to explain why we liked The King’s Dilemma so much without spoiling the story for you. Challenge accepted.
Tiny Towns – We build tiny cities for critters
Board games in which cities are built are always well received in the board game scene. Tiny Towns by Peter McPherson takes up this topic and thanks to the publisher AEG, we are allowed to play city planner once again. But somehow there is something different about this board game. Everything is tighter and quite tricky and puzzling. We took a closer look at Tiny Towns. In our review we want to explain to you why setting a single wooden cube at the beginning of the game can already mean the lose for you.
Unlock! Epic Adventures – On Mission in the Far East
It won’t be long before the 10 is done. With Unlock! Epic Adventures, the seventh part of the adventure series comes to the board game table. Once again the Space Cowboys have packed three different adventure scenarios into one box and challenge us. Of course we want to explain to you without any spoilers how the individual parts prove themselves or not. Which of the three parts left us breathless? You can find out in our review about the escape game Unlock! Epic Adventures.
Escape Tales: Low Memory
Escape Tales: Low Memory is the successor of Escape Tales: The Awakening from the Polish publisher Board & Dice, which we were able to play last year and which we liked very much. So of course we were really looking forward to the new part, especially since it was supposed to be a sci-fi setting this time. In Low Memory we play three individual stories, each of which has its own view of the all-encompassing story and in which we act from the perspective of another character. With this escape game in episode form the authors Jakub Caban and Bartosz Idzikowski have set themselves this time quite a task. If it convinced us, you can read in this review free of spoilers.
Imperial Settlers Empires of the North – A hot board game upgrade
Imperial Settlers can be found in my personal top 3 board games. When Portal Games announced last year that Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North would be a new spin-off of the already well-known game principle, I was of course immediately hooked. But could the new spin-off replace my beloved board game? And what exactly are the differences between the two games? Answers to these questions can be found in the following review of Imperial Settlers: Empires of the North.
Have fun reading!
Obscurio – A visually stunning board game for traitors
There are several association games with beautifully illustrated cards on the market. Starting with Dixit, Mystery and Shadows Amsterdam, there is a good selection of high quality board games. But Obscurio from the designer team L’Atelier and published by Libellud wants to bring a fresh breeze into the genre and comes up with a traitor mechanism. How we enjoyed the escape from the dark library, you’ll find out in our review.