Board Games Reviews

It’s been a while since we tackled a Leder Games title, but today we are playing what I like to refer to as Root-Lite! Ahoy uses unique player objectives and powers as players sail across open seas visiting islands, sinking ships, smuggling treasure, and so much more. If you want an experience that is lighter than Root, but still heavier than your average board game experience, look no further than Ahoy! Ahoy is a game for up to four players,…

Heat is one of the more popular racing games currently available at retail and for good reason – the game is great fun and really simple to play. There is some strategy in how your deck gets built out and when you risk those stress cards, but overall the game is pretty accessible to a wide variety of ages and folks with varying degrees of board game knowledge. We missed out on the Heat: Heavy Rain expansion which added a…

Settlers of Catan is a classic in the board game space at this point, and while you might not lump it into the likes of Monopoly, The Game of Life, and CLUE, it’s almost in that spot for me. It’s a game that almost everyone in the industry has played, and the game people share with their “non-board game friends.” Over the years, the Catan experience has stayed relatively the same, with new expansions bringing about new ideas and concepts.…

A few weeks ago, we wrote about the components of Shelfie Stacker and praised Arkus games for a splendid package. Like with Dreadful Meadows that we just reviewed, there isn’t a ton of rules to think about when playing Shelfie Stacker. Despite the simplicity of play, the game felt a bit too random for a few folks, and wasn’t everyone’s cup of tea. That being said, what I love about doing board game reviews is that I’ll almost never say…

While I would have preferred to email this game in a few months when it was time for Halloween, I didn’t think I could sit on this package from Arkus for so long. So we got into the Halloween mood and got this table. With all the candy we are growing, do we even need to Trick or Treat? Let’s take a look! In Dreadful Meadows, players are building a patch in front of them and will grow candies to…

Chip Theory games are well known for their games that use, well, chips! And while I’ve always been impressed with the production of their titles, I’m not sure I would say I ever longed to play things like Too Many Bones. It seemed interesting to me, but what was the hook to keep some of the friend group playing when we had so many other campaign games to finish. Enter the Elder Scrolls, a theme so good it made me…

Before we even get into the nitty gritty of this review, I think it’s important to highlight the only major flaw I’ve found in this game so far. It’s too long. This game is full of great, cascading actions, choices, strategic opportunities, and so much more. It’s been a while since I had a game that made each turn feel so memorable and fun, but yet I need to complain – it’s so, so long. Listen, that’s not a knock…

Azul Duel takes the beautiful, strategic mechanics of the original Azul and breaks it down into a fantastic two-player experience. The very popular acrylic components that made the original Azul so appealing are present here again, maintaining the high-quality craftsmanship that fans have come to love. The game continues to be a treat to play, with the vibrant colors and tactile pieces that elevate the experience. Just now, it’s available in a two player variant. It is worth noting before…

Heat: Pedal to the Metal will be getting a tunnels expansion later this year, and in anticipation of that coming, we were sent the base game to try out and review. I’ve never been a huge fan of racing games, likely because I’m not very good at them. However, after a few rounds of Heat, I can safely say that perhaps some racing games are in fact for me. What I think wins me over here is the simplicity of…

Kids games are becoming a dime-a-dozen situation in the board game space, which is both good and really, really bad. Poor productions, uninspired gameplay, and loads of ‘shovelware’ are ruining the kids board games space, requiring parents – some of them with little to no knowledge – to sift through piles of crap to find great games for their kids. My one goal in looking for kids games is that it fulfills one of two purposes: 1) it either teaches…