Board Game News

Deliver Mille Fiori with Reiner Knizia and Schmidt Spiele

• The latest handful of games added to BGG's SPIEL '21 Preview come from German publisher Schmidt Spiele, with the splashiest title being the big-box design Mille Fiori from designer Reiner...

Designer Diary: Messina 1347

Editor's note: Diary written collaboratively by designers Raúl Fernández Aparicio and Vladimír Suchý —WEMRAÚL:I feel like I've been designing Messina 1347 my entire life — or at least...

Game Overview: Hammer Time, or My Hammer Awesome

In July 2021, I posted a tweet about Hammer Time, a game from designers Scott Huntington and Shaun Graham and publisher HABA, that perfectly summarizes what's going on:In Hammer Time (@HABA_usa),...

Build the Tholos of Delphi, Manipulate Espresso Dishes, and Insert Bruno Cathala in Your Collection

• One of the newest titles on BGG's SPIEL '21 Preview is Walter Obert's Espresso Doppio, this being a two-player game from German publisher HUCH! that includes actual espresso cups, spoons, and...

Collect Cabbages, Fight for Energy, Decipher Codes, and Bogart the Buffet

• Cabbage Farm is (as far as I can tell) the first release from Thai publisher Aroi Games, with this design by Vatcharis Thanomsub being a 2-4 player game in which you have a large worker in a...

Game Overview: Dominant Species: Marine, or The Aquatic Species Smackdown

I'll never forget my first game of Dominant Species in which my friend AJ almost wiped out my entire bird species with a single action. Thankfully he didn't have the heart to go through with it,...

Become the Rocketeer, Join the Goonies, and Live Life as Beth Harmon

• The quest to sell a chess-like game that will bring chess fans and chess haters to the table is decades old and will likely never be achieved, but that doesn't stop designers and publishers...

Create Settlements, Become King of the Valley, and Use Mindbugs to Take Control of Battle

As a constant behind everything else I do, I've been updating BGG's SPIEL '21 Preview, which contains "only" 289 listings at the time I'm writing this due to publishers and organizations deciding...

Designer Diary: The LOOP

In this diary, co-designers Maxime Rambourg and Théo Rivière take you on a journey through their game design process for The LOOP, a quirky co-operative game that debuts in the U.S. in...

Game Overview: A Gentle Rain, or Every Flower Blooms at a Different Pace

Let's take sixty seconds to run through how to play Kevin Wilson's A Gentle Rain, which was released in May 2021 by Mondo Games:1. Shuffle the 28 lake tiles and place them face down.2. Place a...

Circle Through Life as a Pilgrim, and Demonstrate Resurgence Following the One Day War

• Some people research games and know every edition of a design that's ever been released — but that's not most people. Most people look at titles on retail shelves (or projects on...

Industry News: Floodgate Finds Fog of Love, and the Fantasy Flight Games Center Becomes Gamezenter

Let's catch up on game industry business news, both old and new — mostly old — in this round-up:• U.S. publisher Floodgate Games has acquired Jacob Jaskov's Fog of Love, a two-player game...

Simulate Northern Ireland Conflict, Defeat the Reich, and Fight in the Spanish Civil War and Guadalcanal

• Sometimes seeing a game's box cover image instantly floods my mind with curiosity, and I have to know what it's all about. Such is the case with The Troubles: Shadow War in Northern Ireland...

Practice Virtù in the Italian Renaissance, and Help Others Explore the Unconscious Mind

• French publisher Super Meeple has announced a large-scale, seemingly old-school Eurogame by first-time designer Pascal Ribrault. Virtù is for 2-5 players, takes 30 minutes per player, and...

Bohnanza Is Rebohn, and Bruxelles 1893 Welcomes a Belle Epoque

• Etienne Espreman's Bruxelles 1893, which debuted in 2013 from Belgian publisher Pearl Games, is a well-loved game that's been off the market for a little while, with prices starting to rise...

Be Wicked & Wise, Place a Bet on Reapers, and Control the Bug Council of Backyardia

• On December 31, 2019, I published a designer diary from (then) up-and-coming designer Fertessa Allyse, a diary about a trick-taking game that I had heard buzz about during BGG.CON 2019 when...

Game Overview: Iberian Gauge, or Causality, Action, and Reaction

Normally when you learn a game, the first playing or two are practice games in which you learn how the system works, how the consequences of an action roll out, and what the pace of the game is...

In 2022, Dr. Finn Prescribes Flowers, Farmers, Fisheries, and the Feds

In September 2020, designer Steve Finn of Dr. Finn's Games Kickstarted four titles at once — Biblios: Quill and Parchment, Mining Colony, Nanga Parbat, and The Butterfly Garden — allowing...

Game Overview: Get Bit!, or Chomping Your Way Through the Years

With U.S. publisher Greater Than Games Kickstarting a new edition of Get Bit! for release in Q3 2022 (KS link), I dug through the Boardgame News archives to find my July 5, 2007 preview of the...

Zenobia Award 2021 Finalists Announced

In November 2020, I was excited to announce the official launch of the Zenobia Award, a historical board game design contest for underrepresented game designers covering underrepresented...

Nominees Announced for the 2021 International Gamers Awards

The International Gamers Awards, which named long-time game reviewer Alan How president in October 2020, has announced its nominees for the 2021 IGA Awards, with these nominees being divided into...

Complete Prehistoric Milestones, Employ Your 6th Sense, and Help Your Neighbors Play

While I play games of varying sizes, I often feel that I'd be fine playing nothing but card games for the rest of my life. I love having 2-3 tiny boxes in my shoulder bag that I can pull out in a...

2F-Spiele Goes Full Throttle!...Away from SPIEL '21

German publisher 2F-Spiele has decided to cancel its appearance at SPIEL '21, issuing the following press release:Quote:As much as we want to present our new games to you, we still decided to...

Designer Diary: Choo Choo Hullabaloo, or Designing Luzon Rails

Luzon Rails is a cube rail game set on the island of Luzon — the largest and most populous island in the Philippines. It puts the players in the shoes of rail investors who buy stock in...

Game Production and Shipping Woes: A Round-up

Each week, BoardGameGeek publishes a "Gone Cardboard" newsletter that highlights titles that have reached widespread retail release in the United States. To do this, we automate data that we...

Game Preview: Collecting Criminals, Bribing with Bottles, and Scoring for Second Place

In June 2021, I previewed a trilogy of Reiner Knizia designs coming from new U.S. publisher Bitewing Games, with a Kickstarter project for those games suggesting delivery in mid-2022. Thanks to...

Don New Duds in Mascarade, Develop Mobile Markets for Smartphones, and Join the Earthborn Rangers

• Belgian publisher Repos Production will release a new version of Bruno Faidutti's hidden role game Mascarade with new art by Diana Chen, a.k.a., Things by Diana. Here's the glorious cover:In...

Save Palisade as a Rat Queen, Conduct Total War in Rome, and Survive a Green Hell

• UK publisher PSC Games has announced a 2022 release date for Total War: ROME – The Board Game, a tabletop adaptation of the Rome: Total War video game from Creative Assembly and SEGA, with...

Deep Print Games and Capstone Games Welcome Corrosion

German publisher Deep Print Games launched in 2020 with Renature, a domino tile-laying game from Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling that I previewed here, and to date it's released games of...

Catch and Sell Fish, Be the Best Architect, Build the Moon's Capital, and Expand Your Museum

I have a bittersweet relationship with tile-laying games. I love the puzzle aspect and tactile experience of them, but I rarely do well playing them. Regardless, there's something that draws me...