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Mindbug First Contact Review: The Card Game That Stole My Best Creature

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

Coty

5 days ago3 min read

Four Games Later... My Wallet Is Nervous

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

Coty

6 days ago3 min read

Mindbug Battlefruit Kingdom Review: Quick, Tactical, and Surprisingly Clever

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

Coty

Jul 73 min read

Why Patchwork Still Hits Our Table After 100 Plays

👩🏻‍🎨 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

Coty

Jul 13 min read

Shuffle and Suffer: Mindbug King of Tokyo Review

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

Coty

Jun 303 min read

Lacuna: A Quiet Game of Tactical Tension

👩🏻‍🎨 Designer: Mark Gerrits | 🎨 Artist: Nick Liefhebber | 📦 Publisher: CMYK ⚙️ Abstract strategy. Spatial reasoning. Quiet chaos ♟️ 2 players | ⏳ ~10-15 minutes My local store rotates their displayed games, and the second I saw the cloth mat and the colorful flower-like components, I was sold. I had no idea what this game was, but I just wanted it. Plus, it comes in a cylindrical box. Does the box feel bigger than it should be? YES, but it fits in a backpack, so why n

Coty

Mar 223 min read

My First 2-player board game without a board

When we think back on board games, people usually jump to the big names: Monopoly, Checkers, Chess. The classics with boxes and boards and pieces you can lose under the couch I’d beg to differ. I think the first board game most of us ever played didn’t even have a board. It was tic tac toe! It's a weird one. It’s considered a board game, but also not. It doesn’t have a board. Sometimes it’s a napkin. Sometimes it’s a chalkboard. Sometimes it’s lines scratched into sand or sno

Coty

Feb 22 min read