It’s a dog-eat-dog world out there, and plenty of games have picked up the theme with one v. one combat. Co-op? That’s for softies! If you’re really tough, if you’re gaming with equally tough folk, you want to battle for dominance. Sure, most of your characters might die in the process, but hey, that’s why they invented the concept of collateral damage, right? As long as you come out on top when the dust settles,…Read More

You’d need to have hidden under a rock not to bump into the engaging and popular mathematical puzzle game Sudoku. Invented by Japanese puzzle enthusiast Maki Kaji, it’s a 9×9 grid comprised of 9 3×3 boxes. Each 3×3 box, each row, and each column can only contain a single occurrence of the digits one through nine. Each box, then, ends up filled in with 1, 2, 3, … 9, as does each row and column….Read More

It’s 1600s feudal Japan and you’re a warlord, preparing your troops for battle. Battles in this era are quite formalized, however, with troops trained to be offensive or defensive. Rather than squads and battalions, specialist teams are known as “Kumi” and are generally categorized as polearm units (melee), ranged units, and cavalry. A group of nine Kumi are known as a “Sonae” and they were expected to demonstrate ingenuity and adaptation to changing battle conditions,…Read More

THIS GAME REVIEW HAS MOVED TO PLANET DAVE! Please find it here: Game Review: Fun Push-Your-Luck “Hamsters vs. Hippos”. Thanks.Read More

What if our exploration of the moon didn’t stop with Apollo 17 but actually revved up? By 1977 we could have had colonies on our lunar neighbor, all ably managed by the popular Lunar Colonization Authority. That’s the premise of Luna Capital. Manage your colonization efforts, create the most appealing colony, and your region of the moon will be selected as the Luna Capital. Luna Capital is a new game is from game publisher Devir,…Read More

Sliding solo puzzle games like Rush Hour can be great fun, challenges that require you to plan long sequences of moves, along with an element of physical playing piece manipulation. It’s very satisfying to solve a level and move to the next one! About a year ago, I had a chance to review a prototype of an entirely new entrant in this category called Relics of Rajavihara, a shifting blocks puzzle. I really liked it…Read More

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with jigsaw puzzles. Most of the time I enjoy the slow, detailed process of puzzle assembly, but every so often there’s a moment when I swear that a piece is just missing and that somehow the company omitted that piece from the box. Of course, somehow it does all work out in the end and I’ve never yet had a puzzle actually missing a piece, but the…Read More

Fermentation is probably one of the most important chemical reactions known to humankind. Since the dawn of civilization, people have been taking advantage of how sugars change into alcohol, the process that underlies every alcoholic beverage, from the lowliest moonshine to the fanciest aged cognac. Fundamentally, though, it’s straightforward: water + yeast + sugars = alcohol. Want to make a specific spirit like vodka, gin, or brandy? You’ll need specific sugar sources (grains versus fruits,…Read More

Ever since their introduction, there’s something about submarines that fascinates people. Maybe it’s the unimaginable experience of being in a metal tube thousands of feet under the ocean’s surface, skulking along, waiting for a chance to surface and BLAM! attack with a well-placed torpedo. Or maybe it’s the fact that submarines are the wild card of modern warfare, able to sneak up on ships without warning in a way that no other craft or vessel…Read More

As if having roommates isn’t enough hassle, now you have to worry about whether Cthulhu is encroaching on your living space. Man, what a hassle. And are the Old Ones going to pay rent and do their share of the chores? In the wacky card game Chez Cthulhu you and up to four of your friends are drinking and harassing each other, I mean, living together, worshiping Cthulhu, and being massive slackers. The most slack…Read More

When America declared its independence from Britain in the late 1700s, there were a lot of subtle consequences around the world, most undoubtedly unanticipated by the new nation. One area particularly hard hit was the Mediterranean Sea, where merchants endlessly picked up exotic goods to sell throughout Europe and the new citizens of the United States of America. Prior to the Revolution, pirates were cowed by the presence and might of the British Navy, but…Read More

Those poor pandas, stuck in the zoo when they want to be out and in the wild. Who wouldn’t prefer their natural habitat to a zoological park where everyone just stares at you all the time? Fortunately, these pandas are savvy and have cut a deal with the sneaky meerkats just over the wall; it’s a zoo break! In Pilftering Pandas from Wren Games, it’s your job to help your panda collect sets of food…Read More

Gaming can be an expensive hobby. Check out the latest well-funded campaigns on Kickstarter and you’ll assume you can’t get a new game for under $150 and to have all the cool components it can cost twice that. Daunting! Fortunately, there are people who are fighting this tide, game designers more interested in having others play their games than in making lots of money. People like Charles Ward at Ex1st Games, who creates “Forever Free”…Read More

Deductive puzzles based on a process of elimination are a mainstay of family games, best represented by the popular Hasbro game “Clue”. Everyone’s racing around the board trying to collect as many clues as possible to eliminate suspects, weapons, and locations to be able to narrow down that classic question: whodunit? This entire class of games requires patience and a good memory, and you typically need to know the entire field of suspects (weapons, locations,…Read More

You’ve probably heard of Tangrams. It’s a puzzle with seven shapes, called tans, which are put together to form shapes. Mostly triangles, they might include a square or a rectangle. Katamino is the next evolutionary step of this type of puzzle; a collection of a dozen different “pentaminos”, each of which is five units in size, that you have to fit together to fill a rectangular space. The bigger the grid, the more pieces you…Read More

Who doesn’t love pirates and the exotic adventure of tropical seas as a theme? From the mythic stories of legend to the surprising reality of how ships had efficient and egalitarian crews, there’s something appealing about bold galleons, schooners, and brigantines as cannons blazing, they unfurled their sails in a desperate attempt to outrun the fast-approaching enemy with its cross-and-bones flag flutterin’ in the wind! Heave ho, me maties, heave ho! That’s the spirit caught…Read More

Gamers love their dungeons to explore, their fantasy worlds that include monsters and dangerous terrain both. Sprinkle in some occult and a dash of Lord of the Rings and you’ve got an ecosystem that can be the basis of a wide variety of games. While many are focused on what I call reveal, explore and battle games (like the granddaddy of ’em all, Dungeons & Dragons) the terrain itself offers additional possibilities, including tile placement. And…Read More

It’s hard not to have at least an occasional moment of existential dread when you think about the events of the last year or two. Between world politics, killer weather patterns, and a deadly pandemic, there are legit reasons to be anxious about what’s going on. What better reason to play a game than to enjoy the pleasure of interacting with friends or family over a known scenario and written set of rules? Turns out…Read More

It’s the doldrums of summer and you’re just hitting the tween years. You could stay glued to your gaming console but your folks have a better idea: It’s time to head up in the mountains for summer camp! This year, like every year, your goal is to earn all those cool achievement patches and be head of the camp, loved and admired by all! Well, I can’t send you to summer camp but the fun…Read More

Hang around board gamers long enough and you’ll learn that there are names for certain types of common gaming mechanisms. “Area control” games are those where you compete to gain control of a specific region on the playing board, for example, and “push your luck” games reward bold players, with increasing rewards, against increasing risks. Catan is an example of the former, while Zombie Dice is a classic push-your-luck game. Another very common game mechanic…Read More

All those books about surviving in the Amazon rainforest turn out be darn useful when you’re stuck in the jungle, fighting to escape! A card collecting game for 1-4 players by BuddyPal Games, The Amazing Jungle Run is quick and fun for family play, a zippy filler game for game nights while waiting for the rest of the group to show up, or as an entertaining solo play. I opted to compete against the dummy…Read More