Board Games Categories

I've always been a huge fan of tile laying board games, whether that be Carcassonne, Between Two Castle of Mad Kind Ludwig, or even an older more obscure title, La Strada.  What these games tend to excel at are providing a varied, highly replayable experience that never feels exactly the same time-after-time. These are the kinds of games are easy to teach, but often times somewhat difficult to master. When getting Carpe Diem from Ravensburger to the table a few times this weekend, I knew I was in for a good time. But how good? Let's dive in!

I'm sure you are all familiar with the Kyoto Accord at this point, and if not...well, look it up. In Kyoto the board game, players will choose to represent one of several countries included in the game, and do their best to represent the interests of their country while also attempting - or not caring in some situations - about the environment as well. Players will have to balance the desires of big business that makes the profits, with the desires of their people for a clean and sustainable environment. Can you make the best decisions? 

Backgammon is one of the oldest board games! It’s said that the game dates back 5,000 years and originated in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq). Variants of the game have been played by many cultures over the years and today it is a classic that everyone loves! Spin Master Games has released a classic wooden game set that includes chess, checkers, and backgammon. Are you ready to pick yours up and learn the popular game, or teach someone you know how to…

Asmodee, one of the world leaders in board game publishing and distribution, announces the acquisition of Plan B Games Group, an important player in the board gaming industry. Founded in 2016 by Sophie Gravel, with 18 employees based in Canada and Germany, the group operates 4 internationally renowned game publishing companies: Next Move, Plan B Games, Pretzel Games and Eggertspiele. The group publishes successful titles that have won or been nominated for top industry awards including Spiel des Jahres and…

We have been working our way through some of GameWrights newest titles, and been loving each and every experience. We've played a fair amount of Shifting Stones and Abandon All Artichokes, and praised both titles for simplistic yet addictive gameplay. While Dragonrealm definitely ratchets up the complexity to another level, it's still an easy-to-learn experience that can be learned in played within 30 minutes. And it's fun, so it's a great recipe for any game night with family and friends!

Shifting Stones is another strong example of the quick yet fun board games that GameWright is publishing and pushing to a wider audience. GameWright's titles scratch that 'premium' board game itch while remaining easy to play and relatively inexpensive to purchase. When you want to play a strategically deep, but easy to learn board game, Shifting Stones is almost all you'll need.

GameWright has mastered the ability to launch easy to learn, fun to play board and card game titles that are appropriate for a variety of ages. While often easy to learn, the games take a fair bit of strategic skill to win, and most can be completed within 30 minutes or less. For folks as busy as my wife and I, finding a few spare minutes to play a GameWright game is becoming a daily exercise. Abandon All Artichokes falls into the same mold as other GameWright games, and is an easy recommendation for card game enthusiasts.

Stonemaier Games is in the business of creating fantastic titles that are not only beautiful to look at, but are extremely fun to play, with deep mechanics that will have you playing game after game. Although an older title in their catalogue, Euphoria is a deep worker placement game that doesn't limit players actions like some worker placement games, and can be an enjoyable time for all. And yes, that includes folks that 'hate' worker placement games.

I've long been a fan of Stonemaier games, and so have many of my friends and family members. So often I'll ask other board game aficionados which developer and publisher they like the most, and consistently the folks at Stonemaier are at the top, or at least near the top, of that list. So it made me wonder - why is Stonemaier so successful. I chalk it up to a few key points, all of which have created one of the best board game teams of the last decade.

Asmodee is known the world over for all the board and card game it publishes, and I'm constantly astonished at the range of games the company has in it's portfolio. Over the holidays, we reviewed many of these titles, and are continuing trough a few other now. Last night, it was all about the kid friendly game, Spot It! where players do their best to find the matching symbols between cards, collecting the cards and ultimately winning the game.