Toys

As a longtime fan of board games, it was shocking to me that I’d never played something from Arcane Wonders. My eyes were opened to all the fantastic games they have on offer at GenCon 2023, and over the past few weeks I’ve been making my way through their catalogue? Here are my two favourite titles from Arcane Wonder as of writing! Neotopia I love an abstract tile laying game, and while Neotopia attempts to get you invested in building…

The words affordable and board game table are likely things you never expected to be in the same sentence. Even if you wanted one of the impressive Game Toppers for your standard table, you were still going to spend over 1000 dollars for a 3×5 table. Most tables today are in the range of 2000-3000 dollars, and that’s before you pay to ship a product weighing hundreds of pounds. Enter Project Ironwood, a project we have written about many times…

Set collection games come in a myriad of different forms. Most are small box games, and only include a deck of cards. This makes sense as set collection games are, for the most part, a more complex card game! Still, every once in a while a game comes around that changes up the formula a bit, and Archeos Society is that game. Let’s take a look at this fantastic game from Space Cowboys! How to Play In Archeos Society, players…

A few weeks ago, a massive box from Arcane Wonders arrived full of great games to play, many of which we have already written about on the website. We’ve loved them all so far, with Neotopia being one of the highlights! Furnace was another game I was really excited about, and thankfully the lovely folks at Arcane Wonders even sent over the additional – although unnecessary – playmat which nicely organizes the cards and makes them easier to pick up.…

Castle Panic is such an easy to understand game that is great for all ages. When the original Castle Panic released, I remembered not loving it because of the semi-cooperative nature of the game. That is, you all can win, but whoever killed the most monsters is the ultimate winner. Now with multiple ways to play, and tons of additional content, the 2e Big Box version of the game is the perfect family gift this holiday season! What’s in the…

Noetopia is one of my favourite tile laying games to come out this year, and I've bought a good number!

I used to dismiss small card games as uninteresting or not worth my time, but as I get older and as we play more games as a group, I realize how valuable a quick card game really is. The other night was a great example of this – we were waiting for a 4th person to arrive to play Neotopia (review soon!) So while we waited we busted out GAP and started playing. How to Play This is not an…

Negotiation games are not generally my cup-of-tea, but if a game experience is short enough, I feel less ‘robbed’ if I end up losing because I couldn’t get someone to trade with me. With negotiation games, the reasons why players may or may not negotiate with you can extend past the actual game you are playing. Best board game player in the group? Probably getting less trades. Still, since Waterfall Park is such a quick and streamlined experience, I feel…

I sometimes find it hard to review the components and the quality of components in a full length article if the game is nothing more than a set collection. That being said, Archeos Society comes with so much more in the box, and with environmentally friendly packaging. Still, does this one from Space Cowboys deserve a spot on your shelf, at least as far as component quality is concerned? Let’s take a look!   Ultimately, Archeos Society is a set…

Repos Productions makes some pretty nice games, and the production quality of those games are always pretty good. When I saw what Waterfall Park was, I was a bit skeptical of the entire system. It all felt really gimmick to me, and I quickly assumed it likely wasn’t going to work well. Now that I’ve played and checked out the components myself, here is what I think! I love how everything in this game is really bright and vibrant. This…