Getting deeper into this hobby usually starts with a gateway game. For us, that was Carcassonne. It was the game that got us interested in board games beyond the basics. Then we decided to try being actual board gamers. It was the week before lockdown and Wingspan looked pretty. We couldn't figure out the rulebook 🙈 Enter Rodney Smith (thank you for existing!). Looking back, the rulebook isn't bad. But when you're brand new to modern board games and everything you've ever pl

DNUP is new, the art and typography are top notch, the box is bright green, and it is durable. Sorry, newer games that come in a UNO style box. They don't last, and I hate having to 3D print replacements or shove new games into deck boxes. Playing DNUP made me think about three other games sitting on my shelf that scratch a very similar itch. So let's talk about them Card shedding games are pretty much what they sound like: you're trying to get rid of all the cards in your ha

When my wife and I were brand new to board gaming, we tried the original 7 Wonders and, honestly, it was a lot. The drafting, the iconography, the neighbor scoring. We were still figuring out what half the cardboard in front of us meant. On top of that, we mostly played at two players, so it didn't exactly become a regular. Then came 7 Wonders: Architects The idea of taking that iconic universe, simplifying the gameplay, and making it work beautifully at two players immediate

I got Paris: La Cité de la Lumière for Christmas a few years ago. We played it once, put it on the shelf, and apparently decided that was enough. Then I stumbled across a video featuring the game. Suddenly, I remembered that little box sitting on the shelf and thought, Wait. We own that So I dusted it off and brought it to our date night. Social media is constantly pushing the next shiny new release, but sometimes it does something even better. It reminds you about the games

I follow a few hashtags on Instagram (my handle is @kacoplays) and #TopicTuesday🎲 prompt really stuck with me: Do more options on the shelf make it harder to choose what to play? I don't think so. Then again, I might not be the best person to answer because I track everything Plays? Tracked H index? Tracked Acquisitions? Tracked Games in shrink? Also tracked There was a point when we realized we had games sitting in shrink longer than we'd had Elphaba. That's when we knew we

Zooloretto is a game with a clever twist on spatial planning and drafting. On the surface, you’re placing cute animal tiles into enclosures to build the most charming zoo on the table. But beneath that peaceful theme lies a surprisingly cutthroat game of tile drafting and push-your-luck decisions. Even though it's nearly twenty years old, it doesn't feel dated at all and still delivers an awesome experience every time it hits the table 🎲 Zooloretto published by Rio Grande Ga

Gen Con has a habit of making my birthday and holiday shopping lists months earlier than planned. Every year my social feeds fill with new releases, demos, and games that suddenly jump to the top of my wishlist If you're not familiar with it, Gen Con is the biggest tabletop gaming convention in North America and the longest running tabletop gaming convention in the world. What started in 1968 as a small war gaming convention has grown into one of the largest celebrations of t

I'm a sucker for games that do something fun with their components, and Beer Mug Dice is one of my favorite examples. The dice are chunky little wooden beer mugs that either land standing upright or flop onto their side. It's such a simple gimmick, but it gives every roll a little extra excitement. Add in a tiny box that's easy to toss in a bag, and I was all in 🎲 Beer Mug Dice published by 25th Century Games and Playte Games 🏛️ Designed by: Andreas Schmidt | 🎨 Art by: Wan

When people think of word games, Scrabble is usually the first one that comes to mind. It definitely is for us. As much as I love word games, it's also why a lot of our friends don't. Eventually someone gets stuck staring at the board, trying to squeeze a tiny word into an impossible spot while everyone else waits. You end up spending more time looking for a place to play than actually coming up with clever words Vocabularian takes a completely different approach. There's no

Though my cooking history suggests otherwise, Cook It! has taught me that confidence is apparently the secret ingredient to becoming a world class chef. This game will challenge you to think that confidence is the secret ingredient to becoming a world class chef. At its core, Cook It! is a party game about building ridiculous recipes and convincing everyone else they're brilliant. You'll draft random ingredients, occasionally throw a wrench into someone else's plans with an a

Every board game has to start somewhere. For first time designer and illustrator Ovi Nedelcu, it wasn't a childhood dream of publishing games or years spent filling notebooks with prototypes. In fact, before last year, creating a board game wasn't even on his radar. "I thought to myself, 'Huh, that seems easy enough,'" Ovi laughs, recalling a game design talk he stumbled upon. "And was I ever wrong about that" Looking back, Ovi admits that if he had known how much work goes i

Mindbug: First Contact is a fast-paced two-player card game that captures the excitement of Magic: The Gathering without deck building. Learn why its clever Mindbug mechanic, unique creatures, and strategic gameplay make it one of the best 20-minute dueling card games for beginners and experienced players alike

Had a midweek escapade to play board games and temporarily ignore all my adult responsibilities. This was a lovely way to support a friend that is recovering from surgery and cooped up at home during the day, but also any excuse to get cardboard to the table is a good one, right? There is, however, a dangerous side effect to these sessions: immediate buyer's remorse. I literally left our post-breakfast session and the first moment I was able to, I drove straight to Millennium

I grew up playing Magic: The Gathering. I loved building decks and dreaming up ridiculous card combinations, even if I either never drew the mana I needed or the combo never came together the way I imagined. I don't own any Magic cards anymore, but every now and then I miss that head to head card battling. That's where Mindbug comes in. It scratches that nostalgic itch in about 20 minutes without the cost of chasing new cards. Battlefruit Kingdom can be played as a standalone

We had the opportunity to playtest Pairloopa. As my niece gets older, I'm always looking for games that help me keep my title as the cool aunt. Pairloopa is a family friendly card game where players combine two words to create compound words. Think: SUN + GLASSES = SUNGLASSES The gameplay itself is simple, but what stood out to me was the trading mechanic. Because anyone can offer a trade when a card is discarded, every discard matters. Instead of waiting for your next turn,

I love board games, but I also love data A few years ago, I started tracking every play in BG Stats to make sure our collection wasn't just gathering dust. Sure, part of me wanted to be able to objectively say, "I'm not playing this game with you because the numbers guarantee I'll lose." (Just kidding... I think 🙈) But the real magic of tracking our plays is seeing the stories behind the numbers. It shows me what our friends keep asking to play, what games quietly become sta

👩🏻‍🎨 Designer: Uwe Rosenberg | 📦 Publisher: Lookout Games ⚙️ Abstract strategy, rondel puzzle, open drafting, polyomino ♟️ 2 players | ⏳ ~10-15 minutes Patchwork is an absolute classic in our house. Six years ago, it was our very first Uwe Rosenberg game, and our introduction to polyominos. I was obsessed with Tetris growing up, so finding that same feeling inside a cardboard box was kind of magical. It manages to feel cozy and calming while still being rewarding every

I’ve had a weird long standing relationship with sugar skulls and I honestly cannot explain it. About 20 years ago my childhood best friend and I were traveling through Colombia when we walked past a tattoo shop with a sugar skull in the window. We looked at each other, made a very questionable life decision, and walked out with matching tattoos. I was barely 18. My family was thrilled, obviously 😒 Fast forward to now and nothing has changed. If I see sugar skull art, I’m in

The Mindbug obsession continues. I grew up playing Magic, so when I learned there was another game that streamlined the process, made it pretty, was accessible, and still played well at two players, I was bought in. King of Tokyo was our first board game with dice rolling, so combining the two felt like pure nostalgia crashing together on the tabletop 🎰 THE DATA ROW Game Title: Mindbug: King of Tokyo Publisher: Nerd Lab Games and IELLO Designer: Richard Garfield, Christian K

I am the person who always has a board game with me. Going to a brewery? Game in the bag. Waiting for food? Game in the bag. Family gathering where someone inevitably says "we should play something"? (Even if that person is me) Game in the bag For a game to earn permanent residency in my purse, backpack, or meeple bag, it needs to be easy to teach, quick to play, and small enough that I don't think twice about bringing it along PUSH checks every box The box itself is a little