Board Game News

Designer Diary: Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, or Throwing out the Bathwater and Keeping the Baby

Though it is bigger than most game boxes, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion still feels small. This is, of course, due to the fact that one naturally compares it to its predecessor, Gloomhaven, the...

Designer Interview: Tristan Hall on Gloom of Kilforth and 1066, Tears to Many Mothers

[Editor's note: This interview was first published on Diagonal Move. All photos were provided by Tristan Hall. —WEM]Tristan Hall, designer of the Kilforth series and 1066, Tears to Many Mothers...

New Game Round-up: Collect Stefan Feld's Cities, Play Pandemic More Quickly, and Check in on Gaming Friends

• On Twitter, Queen Games has started teasing a series of games from designer Stefan Feld — the "Stefan Feld City Collection".Queen has revealed to me that this series will encompass games...

From Revisiting Lewis & Clark to Welcoming Lost Explorers

Oldest, less old, and newFrench publisher Ludonaute has released a new edition of Cédrick Chaboussit's Lewis & Clark in Europe, with this version of the game scheduled to reach the U.S. market...

Bring Heroes, Villains and Princesses to the Table in Munchkin: Disney

In 2019, U.S. publisher The Op released Munchkin: Disney DuckTales, the latest in a series of licensed Munchkin titles released in partnership with originating publisher Steve Jackson Games, a...

New Expansion Round-up: Build More Tiny Towns, Fight More Wars on Terror, Produce Better Smartphones, and Conquer Different Polar Seas

• In June 2020, GMT Games is releasing Labyrinth: The Forever War, 2015 - ?, Trevor Bender's second expansion for Volko Ruhnke's card-driven, modern warfare hit, Labyrinth: The War on Terror,...

Space Cowboys Unlocks Star Wars Escape Game

Cyril Demaegd's Unlock! has been a huge success since the game debuted in 2017, winning the 2017 As d'Or — France's game of the year award — almost immediately after its release.The seventh...

New Game Round-up: Connect Pipes to Deliver Curious Cargo, and Close Your Eyes for Ultimate Werewolf Extreme

• In 2019, U.S. publisher Capstone Games published Pipeline, a tile-laying game from Ryan Courtney about purchasing and selling refined oil.In 2020, Capstone and Courtney have teamed up again...

Hedgehog Roll Wins 2020 Kinderspiel des Jahres

Hedgehog Roll from designer Urtis Šulinskas and publisher Piatnik has won the 2020 Kinderspiel des Jahres, Germany's game of the year award for children's games.In the game, which goes by the...

Game Overview: Modern Art Card Game / Masters Gallery

[Editor's note: On June 12, 2020, CMON Limited released Modern Art Card Game, a new version of Reiner Knizia's Masters Gallery, a.k.a. Modern Art: The Card Game, which was first released in 2009....

Reiner Knizia on Keltis, Masters Gallery, and More

[Editor's note: This article first appeared on Boardgame News on January 31, 2009. I'm reprinting it thanks to the release of a new edition of Modern Art: The Card Game from CMON Limited, my...

Designer Interview: Frank West, Creator of The Isle of Cats

[Editor's note: This interview was first published on Diagonal Move. All photos were provided by Frank West. —WEM]The Isle of Cats designer Frank West joins Neil Bunker from Diagonal Move to...

Convention Previews Are Out; New Game Release Previews Are In!

Origins Game Fair, Gen Con, and SPIEL aren't taking place the same way that they normally would — Origins more than most, but that's a topic for another post — so instead of assembling...

COVID-19 at the Gaming Table X: New Ways to Play Carcassonne, Space Base, and Ticket to Ride

• In the previous COVID-19 round-up, I included a link to a free Carcassonne expansion — The Land Surveyors — that you could download, print, and play.Almost immediately after that post...

New Game Round-up: Slip Through Time, Escape Changing Mazes, and Rebuild Ginkgopolis Anew

• In March 2020, Belgian publisher Pearl Games confirmed that it would reprint the long out-of-print Ginkgopolis from designer Xavier Georges in 2020.Original artist Gaël Lannurien has created...

Freedom Five Returns Sentinel Comics to the Game Table in 2021

Richard Launius' Defenders of the Realm debuted in 2010 from what was then Eagle Games, and this co-operative fantasy game has been well-loved over the years, with numerous hero and minion...

Vote for the Charles S. Roberts Awards for the First Time since 2013

After a seven-year slumber, the Charles S. Roberts Awards have been reawakened thanks to director Tim Tow!Named after the founder of the Avalon Hill Game Company, the Charles S. Roberts (CSR)...

Game Previews: Back-to-Back with Back to the Future: Dice Through Time and Back in Time

In March 2020, I wrote about competing games based on the Back to the Future movie series. The two games are due out in June 2020, and I've now had the chance to play and record overview videos...

Masters of the Universe Coming to the Tabletop from CMON Limited

I thought that every IP from the 1980s had resurfaced in board game form by this point, but I had overlooked one franchise that was ripe for the relaunching: He-Man and the Masters of the...

Terraform Mars Anew in 3D

Since its release in 2016, people have not been able to get enough Terraforming Mars, so designer Jacob Fryxelius and lead publisher FryxGames and Stronghold Games have released five expansions,...

Build a More Epic Civilization with Through the Ages: New Leaders and Wonders

Through the Ages has some serious history, and I'm not just referring to its theme. In 2006, the first edition of Vlaada Chvátil's card-drafting, civ-building magnum opus — Through the Ages: A...

Advice for Designers and Publishers: How to Submit Listings for Games, People and Publishers to the BGG Database

Some of the articles in this series will be relevant to designers and publishers whether or not they're active on BGG, such as the introductory article on how to write a press release; other...

Game Preview: Dragon Gyas, or Chopping Down Giants

Susumu Kawasaki's card game R-Eco was a revelation to me when I first played it in the late 2000s.The subject matter of the game — recycling — is tightly integrated into the gameplay, with...

Designer Diary: Abandon All Artichokes, or a Heartless Card Game

What did artichokes do to deserve this? What could anyone possibly have against them? What kind of existential crisis inspires the consternation of this particular edible flower bud?Well,...

Designer Interview: Julian Courtland-Smith, creator of Survive: Escape from Atlantis!

[Editor's note: This interview was first published on Diagonal Move. —WEM]Survive: Escape from Atlantis! designer Julian Courtland-Smith joins Neil Bunker from Diagonal Move to discuss his...

New GMT Game Round-up: Command U-Boats, Struggle for Glory, Raid Anglo-Scottish Borders, & Write the Versailles Treaty

• In a May 2020 newsletter, GMT Games announced its latest P500 addition: Border Reivers: Anglo-Scottish Border Raids, 1513-1603 from designer Ed Beach. Beach is known for designing deep,...

Links: Distinguishing Between Red and Anthrocite, and Choosing Games for a Pandemic

• Following the May 18 announcement of the 2020 Spiel des Jahres nominees, jury member Udo Bartsch has written an article that explains why certain games are nominated for the Spiel des Jahres...

Ride Whales, Collect Artifacts, and Sail Northwest with Reiner Knizia

Australian publisher Grail Games has had a steady partnership with designer Reiner Knizia for years, starting with a new version of Circus Flohcati in 2015 followed by a new version of Medici in...

Scooby-Doo and Jack Torrance Hit the Game Table — Again

• In February 2020, U.S. publisher The Op announced Scooby-Doo: Escape from the Haunted Mansion from Jay Cormier and Sen-Foong Lim that was labelled as the company's first "Coded Chronicles"...

"New" Game Round-up: Two-Player Sequels & Second Editions

Let's face it — sometimes it's much easier to get two-player games to the table, especially nowadays as we all continue to distance ourselves from larger social happenings.Eric gave us a sneak...