Board Game News

CMON Limited Hires Eric M. Lang as Director of Game Design, Announces A Song of Ice & Fire: Tabletop Miniatures Game

At the 2017 GAMA Trade Show, CMON Limited has made several announcements of note, starting with the news that designer Eric M. Lang has been hired as Director of Game Design. Lang will both...

New Game Round-up: Become an Online Detective, Blueprint a Palace, and Build a Roman City

• With the 2017 GAMA Trade Show kicking off this week, several publishers have announced new games in their line-ups, such as Portal Games' Detective: A Modern Crime Boardgame, coming in 2018...

Game Previews from FIJ 2017 III: Dice Forge, Jelly Squad, Mysterium: Secrets & Lies, Mafiozoo, and Seeders from Sereis: Exodus

I'm almost through posting game demo videos recorded at the 2017 Festival International des Jeux in Cannes, France, leading off this time with a trio of games from French publisher Libellud, with...

New Game Round-up: Modern Art Returns to the Gallery, and Custom Heroes Has Clear Tricks

It's been a while since I've done a straight game announcement post that wasn't a convention round-up, and so many games have been announced that I don't know where to start — other than to...

Game Previews from FIJ 2017 II: Secrets, Unlock!, Go Cuckoo!, Oh Captain!, and Not Alone: Exploration and Sanctuary

• Let's check out more upcoming games that were previewed — or in some cases released — at the 2017 Festival International des Jeux in Cannes, France, starting with Secrets from Repos...

Game Previews from FIJ 2017 I: Batman: The Boardgame, Otys, Booo!, Princess Jing, and Captain Sonar: Upgrade 1

• Didn't I just finish posting game preview videos from Spielwarenmesse 2017 the other day? Yes, yes I did. I have a lot of preview videos in the can, though, so here's another batch for you,...

Videos from NY Toy Fair 2017: Emerson Matsuuchi on Century: Spice Road and a Walkthrough of the Javits Center

As I explain at the beginning of the walkthrough video below, I don't normally record videos at NY Toy Fair. The event doesn't have an overwhelming amount of game announcements — at least not...

Game Previews from Spielwarenmesse VII: AXIO, Torres, Legacy of Pirates, Professor Evil and the Citadel of Time, and a Hall 12 Walkthrough

• After a brief interlude caused by me attending two other conventions, I've finally finished posting all the game overview videos that BGG shot at Spielwarenmesse 2017, the annual toy and game...

Game Previews from Spielwarenmesse VI: El Dorado, Photosynthesis, Kero, Donner Dinner Party & Catan: Seafarers 20th Anniversary Edition

• The most eye-catching cover at Spielwarenmesse 2017 might also have been the most serene, that being Blue Orange's Photosynthesis from Hjalmar Hach. This title isn't due out until SPIEL 2017,...

Game Previews from Spielwarenmesse V: The Hunt for the Ring, Rhino Hero: Super Battle, Frogriders, Mistkäfer, and Monster-Pups

• Time for another round of preview videos from the Spielwarenmesse 2017 fair in Nürnberg, Germany, starting with one of the titles that brought the most cries of excitement when announced:...

Tweets from FIJ 2017 in Cannes, France: Cities of Splendor, Batman: The Boardgame, Otys, The Grizzled Campaign, Dragon Ball Z: The Board Game, and More

The 2017 Festival International des Jeux took place in Cannes, France on February 24-26, and between my young assistant and myself we took more than three thousand photos of the games, publishers...

Designer Diary: Gloomhaven, or Trying to Fit a Full RPG World into a Board Game Box

I'm a Eurogamer, but I like dungeon crawls. That's okay, right? I can like two completely different things?I play games to challenge myself, to engage my brain in solving the complex system the...

Tweets from NY Toy Fair on Pandemic Legacy: Season 2, Firefly Adventures, Dice Forge, Ashes Deluxe Expansions, DC Spyfall, The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31, and More

I jetted into NY Toy Fair this past weekend for 1.5 days of exploration, note-taking, pics, and even a couple of videos. I've been sharing those images and notes on BGG's Twitter account for the...

Game Previews from Spielwarenmesse IV: T.I.M.E Stories, Unlock! & More from Space Cowboys; Teasers from IELLO; Messe Walkthrough

• Some publishers had little to show at Spielwarenmesse 2017, but a lot to talk about, as with French publisher Space Cowboys, which had these mock-ups to show as a teaser:Non-final covers for...

Codenames to Get Disney/Pixar and Marvel Comics Editions in Q4 2017

In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, licensed versions of Vlaada Chvátil's Codenames have been announced, specifically Codenames Disney Family Edition, which will include characters...

The Board Room: A Retrospective Part 3 - The NY Toy Fair & "German Games"

This is part 3 of my retrospective on The Board Room - an internet based video show that ran from 1999-2001. Check out my initial post for more info about the show.As we are going into convention...

Game Previews from Spielwarenmesse III: IELLO Welcomes New Kings, Arena Fights, Mad Mountains, Land-Hungry Bunnies, and Celebrations of Your Own Death

• The atmosphere of the Spielwarenmesse toy fair in Nürnberg, Germany is nothing like that of Gen Con or SPIEL. I booked nearly every moment that I had available for the three days that John...

Game Preview from Spielwarenmesse II: Cities of Splendor, or New Gems to Admire

After a hiatus caused by terrible internet service in the Martin household, the preview videos from Spielwarenmesse 2017 are flowing once again. You can see them all as they're posted if you...

New Game Round-up: Leaving Terra Mystica for Space, and Welcoming Sentinels to Earth-Prime

• If all goes well for Feuerland Spiele, at SPIEL 2017 we'll see the ludic debut of PIGS...IN...SPACE!!!!! Okay, perhaps the game won't actually contain extraterrestrial porkers, but Jens...

New Game Round-up: Guess Werewords After Dark, Then Build a Tiny Caverna for Two

• Unless I've misjudged the guy, Ted Alspach of Bézier Games seems determined to introduce werewolves into every game genre possible. Witness the announcement of Werewords, a party game due...

New Game Round-up: Take a Train to Ride the Empyreals, and Fluxx Your Way Through School

• Designer Trey Chambers and artist Nokomento worked together on Level 99 Games' Argent: the Consortium in 2015, and now the pair has a new game in the offing for release in 2018, a game that...

Game Preview: LYNGK, or Bringing Everything Together for Success

I first played Kris Burm's games in 2000 during the Mensa Mind Games in Atlanta, Georgia. My parents lived in the area, so I visited them to put in filial face-time (and save money) and traveled...

New Game Round-up: Garden Gnomes Finally Start Invading, Lang Readies More Bloodborne, and Alderac Keeps Smashing Up

Old cover and new logo• Sometimes announced games vanish into the mists never to be seen again — and sometimes they re-emerge in unexpected places, as with the announcement by Asmadi Games...

Game Preview: NMBR 9, or Stretching Your Digits

Some games are so influential that they become part of our shared vocabulary shortly after their release and continue to make their presence felt for decades to come, with anything even remotely...

Game Previews from Spielwarenmesse I: Gentes and The King's Will

• BGG sent a small crew to the Spielwarenmesse 2017 trade fair in Nürnberg, Germany this past week, and given that I'm also headed to shows in New York and Cannes this month, I aim to publish...

Game Preview: Century: Spice Road, or Splendorous Trades on the Path to China

Plan B Games came to be following Asmodee's purchase of most of F2Z Entertainment. In addition to holding onto the Pretzel Games portion of the F2Z business, former F2Z owner Sophie Gravel kept...

Game Preview: Professor Evil and The Citadel of Time, or It Takes a Thief to Catch a Thief

Given how many games I look at, I often appreciate it when a publisher puts a game on the table and I can't fathom how the thing even works. Yes, I'm a jaded soul and I crave newness and...

Game Preview: Valletta, or Deck-Building Meets Building-Building in Malta

German publisher Hans im Glück tends to release one or two big box titles annually, old-school German games of a type that seem hard to find elsewhere on the market. Their release for the first...

Game Preview: Carcassonne: Manege frei!, or Gather One, Gather All in This Tiny Tent

BoardGameGeek has a small crew in Nürnberg, Germany to record game overview videos of several dozen titles that will be released in the first half of 2017 — and later in the year, too, since...

Game Preview: Crazy Race, or Running on All Fours

If you boil games down to their winning condition, you can usually describe them as being a First, Last, or Most — that is, games in which you want to be first to some goal (racing games),...