Opinionated Gamers

  • Two 2 player Small Box Games: Cacti and Exordium

    Both were designed by John Clowdus Art for Exordium by Aaron Nakahara Art for Cacti by Liz Lahner All published by Small Box Games Exordium and Cacti are 2p games Each takes 20-30 minutes. Review by Jonathan Franklin Review copies … Continue reading →

  • Dale Yu: Review of Exit: The Game Advent Calendar – The Hunt for the Golden Book

    Exit: The Game Advent Calendar – The Hunt for the Golden Book Designers: Inka and Markus Brand Publisher: Kosmos Players: 1+ Time: 5-10 min/day x 24 days Played with review copy provided by Thames and Kosmos Amazon Affiliate link – … Continue reading →

  • Dale Yu: First Impressions of The Vale of Eternity

    The Vale of Eternity Designer: Eric Hong Publisher: Mandoo Games Players: 2-4 Age: 14+ Time: 40 minutes Played with review copy provided by Mandoo Games In The Vale of Eternity, players are tamers who hunt various monsters and spirits to … Continue reading →

  • Preview of Justice

    Preview of Justice Designer: Ren Multamäki Artist: Sampo Jumisko 3-5 players 45 minutes Played 3 times at 3 & 4 players Unpaid preview by Jonathan Franklin Justice is a hidden role game that uses trick-taking to hide some information while … Continue reading →

  • Dale Yu: Review of Oh No, Volcano!

    Oh No, Volcano! Designer: Phil Walker-Harding Publisher: Buffalo Games Players: 2-4 Age: 7+ Time: 20 minutes Played with copy provided by Buffalo Games Says the publisher: ‘In Oh No, Volcano!, you race to climb and collect ancient treasure while dodging … Continue reading →

  • Catching Up: Results for the Dice Tower and Spiel der Spiele Awards

    Even though we love tracking all the annual board game awards, the results aren’t always that well publicized and we sometimes miss the announcements.  But in the interest of “better late than never”, here are how two of these awards … Continue reading →

  • Dale Yu: First Impressions of OTLO Stones

    OTLO Stones Designer: Jeppe Norsker Publisher: Norsker Games Players: 1-4 Age: 8+ Time: 15 minutes Played with copy provided by publisher at SPIEL 2023 OTLO Stones is an intense brain teaser where up to four players compete to reproduce patterns … Continue reading →

  • Review of the 2023 Spiel Fairplay Ratings:

    by Ben Bruckart The Spiel convention in Essen is a great place to see most of the shiny new games for the coming Christmas and gaming season. I still have never attended, but I keep my ear to the ground … Continue reading →

  • Dale Yu: Review of Chomp

    Chomp Designer: Clarence Simpson Players: 1-4 Age: 8+ Time 20 minutes Played with copy acquired from a friend From the publisher: “The era of the dinosaurs is here! Your goal in Chomp is to form herds of dinos and make … Continue reading →

  • Dale Yu: Review of Noobs in Space

    Noobs in Space Designers: Johannes Krenner, Markus Slawitscheck Publisher: Kosmos Players: 3-5 Age: 10+ Time: 15 min per chapter x 8 chapters Played with review copy provided by Thames & Kosmos Says the publisher: “You are a team of newbie … Continue reading →