Board Game News

Can You Remain Undaunted by What You'll Face in Stalingrad?

UK publisher Osprey Games has announced a new title in its Undaunted series of games from designers Trevor Benjamin and David Thompson — Undaunted: Stalingrad, with this game taking place on a...

Stand on Your Own in Legacy of Yu, Wreckland Run, and The Hand of Destiny

• Designer Shem Phillips of Garphill Games has included solitaire rules in nearly all of his releases dating back to 2016, but for 2022 he's going to release his first one-player-only game:...

Ride or Die in Skull Canyon: Ski Fest or Skate Summer

If you want to be reckless on the slopes no matter the weather, U.S. publisher Pandasaurus Games plans to satisfy those desires in 2022.• Assuming shipping goes as planned, ha ha, April 13,...

Designer Diary: Zapotec

I started working on the game that would become Zapotec in early 2019. March 31st was my last day of work that year, after which I took some time off so that I could focus on board games full...

Game Overview: Ankh, Gods of Egypt, or Simplicity Made Complex

As I noted in my 2022 new year's resolution post, I'm trying to play, write about, and record videos about a wider spectrum of games than I would normally play. I know what I like, sure, but...

Links: Damon Stone Takes You to Haiti, and Ian Livingstone Gets Knighted

• In December 2021, Inverse's Zeb Larson profiled designer Damon Stone and his game Liberation—Haiti, one of the Zenobia Award finalists for 2021 in an article titled "This Surprising New...

Flashback to 2018 with More Quacks and Cleverness from Wolfgang Warsch

If you pay attention to game awards, you might recall that in 2018 Austrian designer Wolfgang Warsch took half of the Spiel and Kennerspiel des Jahres nominations thanks to The Mind, Ganz schön...

Revisit Old School World War II Tactics, Conquer the Streets of Bastogne, and Command German Submarines with Your Team

• Flying Pig Games launched a Kickstarter campaign (KS link) on January 13, 2022 for Old School Tactical: Volume 1 - Second Edition, a new version of Shayne Logan's 2016, 2-player, tactical...

Spielwarenmesse 2022 Has Been Cancelled

To follow up news from, wow, was it only yesterday when Toy Fair New York got axed, the 2022 Spielwarenmesse toy fair has been cancelled — or as the headline on the press release puts it, "the...

Time to Develop First Empires

Empires are all the rage for two French-speaking publishers that have announced games for release in 2022.• In August 2022 Belgian publisher Pearl Games plans to release Time of Empires, a...

Toy Fair New York 2022 Cancelled

The Toy Association, a not-for-profit trade association, has announced the cancellation of Toy Fair New York, which was scheduled to take place February 19-22, 2022. Here's most of the related...

Paper or Plastic? How to Create Less Waste in Game Shipments

In December 2021, I received a review copy of Berried Treasure from Restoration Games in the most visually arresting packaging that I've ever seen:The material above was shipped in a box, mind...

Designer Diary: Tabannusi, Builders of Ur

My name is David Spada. I am an Italian game designer and the creator of Tabannusi: Builders of Ur, together with Daniele Tascini. Before beginning my journey as a game designer, I used to be a...

SPIEL Acquired by Spielwarenmesse eG

As of January 1, 2022, the annual SPIEL game fair in Essen, Germany is under the control of Spielwarenmesse eG, the organization that runs the Spielwarenmesse toy fair in Nürnberg,...

Become the Greatest Scholar of the Ming Dynasty, Compete Inside a Plant Cell, Run an Asteroid Mining Corporation, and Build Monsters, Potions, and Devices

• In January 2022, Moaideas Game Design is re-launching a Kickstarter campaign (KS link) for Jiangnan: Life of Gentry, worker placement, bag-building game designed by DuGuWei, which can be...

Stack Animals in a Line, Play Your Colors Right, and Earn a Meatball for Relationship Bliss

• In September 2021, Thai designer Khanat Sadomwattana successfully completed a Kickstarter campaign for the two-player abstract strategy game Iro, which will be shipped to backers in Q1...

Stack Fruit, Pack Hotels, Manage Gondolas, and Build a Roller Coaster

Let me follow up my recent post about new titles from German publisher HUCH! with a few other games in its 2022 line-up, starting with Gondolieri from designers Michael Kiesling and Andreas...

Tonight's Gaming Menu: Killer Tacos, Numbered Melons, and Chai Garam

• What's hitting the table today? Maybe a few games that can be played with a matching food or beverage, such as Tacopocalypse, which is due out in Q1 2022 from designer Mike Richie of U.S....

Control East India Companies, Risk Taking Countries, and Go in Circles to Score

• Designer Thomas Sing has become best known for the co-operative trick-taking game The Crew: The Quest for Planet Nine (my overview), but he's published a variety of games over ten years and...

Discover New Witchstone Powers, Convert More Locations to Maglev Metro, and Expand All Things Board&Dice

Do you want more of what you already have? Game publishers are happy to accommodate you with a wide range of expansions for titles in their catalogs. Here's a round-up of 2022 expansions I've...

Corey Konieczka Creates Voices In My Head

Designer Corey Konieczka, who launched the Unexpected Games publishing studio in April 2021 with The Initiative, has announced the studio's sophomore effort: Voices In My Head.Here's an overview...

Designer Diary: Last One Alive

I have always had a thing for thematic games, so I have always end up designing those: Police Precinct, Spurs: A Tale in the Old West, and Champions of Midgard.Ever since I became a parent, I...

Answering the Critics — More on The Smart Gamer's Guide to Putting Away Games

In December 2021, I published an overview of how I tear down and set up games, and I invited others to give this system a try.Few people seemed interested in doing so, and dozens, if not...

Fight for Housing in Spain with Gall Negre

Barcelona-based publisher Gall Negre ("Black Rooster") has released two games since its founding in 2020, both meant to "provide a critical perspective of the society in which we live,...

In 2022, I Resolve to...

Here we are with another January 1 in our faces, the start of yet another year, the prospect of which might be somewhat soured by the events of the past couple of years.How different will things...

Defend Lanzerath in World War II, Explore More Empires of the North, Design a Submarine, and Take Down Crime Bosses in the Wild West

For the past several months, I had been looking forward to having a wee bit of downtime around the holidays so I could dive into my ever-growing solitaire game collection. I had visions of...

Imitate Animals, Tell Stories about Colors, and Frame Uwe Rosenberg

• Uwe Rosenberg's Framework, due out in March 2022 from Edition Spielwiese and Pegasus Spiele, features many similarities to 2019's Spiel des Jahres-nominated Nova Luna, which was co-credited...

Tokyo Game Market 2021 Autumn: Report from Table Games in the World

Editor's note: Game Market took place in Tokyo on November 20-21, 2021, and Saigo — who translates game rules between Japanese and English and who tweets about new JP games — has translated...

Designer/Curator Diary: A Museum of Curiosities

I often relate my experience of SPIEL not just in terms of the people that I meet or the games that I play/buy, but with reference to the sheer inspirational kick the event gives you as a game...

Game Overview: Cross Clues and Crossed Words, or Game Design at Cross Purposes

Knowing that I'm a fan of So Clover! — which I reviewed in June 2021 — at BGG.CON 2021 my boss, Scott Alden, had me try Cross Clues, a game from Grégory Grard and Blue Orange Games that...