Browsing Category
Reviews
Tenby is a crunchy point salad whipped up by a solo designer and artist
Tenby, designed (and illustrated) by Benji Talbot and published by Mighty Boards, is one of those rare family‑weight games that manages to feel breezy and inviting while still offering a genuinely satisfying puzzle beneath the surface. It’s…
Countless Army – A Reminder of a Bygone Era
Countless Army scratches a part of my brain that hasn't itched since I was a teenager. A lot of us can remember those days, stuck in a creaky chair in the computer room (don't age yourself too much here James), scrolling sites like…
Dobble Stitch brings the little blue alien to the classic pairing game
At the end of 2024, Lilo and Stich hype suddenly shifted a major gear, culminating in the release of the live-action remake in 2025. Dobble Stitch might not tie into the film — rather the animated series — but it still arrives while the…
P for Pizza Kids Menu is the perfect example of how to make a game approachable for all ages
One of the few, common complaints that we make against party and word-based games is that they sometimes don't understand their target audience. Luckily, there's a recent resurgence in board game designers releasing kids versions of their…
Unity of Command II – Ardennes 44’s meta plays smart on multiple counts
This major battle is also known as “The Battle of the Bulge” and/or “Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein”.
Fancy footwork matters more than grinding levels in Crimson Capes
With a flash of steel, you manoeuvre towards the enemy swordsman, your two daggers falling first thanks to the Combination attack that combines movement with a downward slash. The opponent isn’t out of the game yet, though, and raises their…
Twinkle Twinkle is the perfect mix of accessible and thoughtful
Twinkle Twinkle, designed by Ammon Anderson and published by Allplay, is the much-loved and fairly rare family game that manages to be genuinely charming for children while still offering enough structure and replay value to keep adults…
Timberborn Review – A Brutal Beavers City Builder
For four and a half years Timberborn has been in Early Access, and now, the dam has burst open and Timberborn is flowing right at you. There’s a certain comfort in city builders. Orderly grids. Predictable growth. The quiet satisfaction of…
Bloodthief is an unforgiving masterclass in speedrun level design
I’d not thought that a game about running across walls and zipping through the air at the speed of sound would end up at the top of my list for this year, then came along Bloodthief, and my brain chemistry has forever been altered by this…
The psychedelic world of Dread Delusion is a flawed masterpiece
For many RPG fans, Morrowind is the go-to for describing what an experience should look like. An open world, interrogatable characters, simple combat that is more about player choice and preparation than minutiae like “Movement” or…
Here Comes the Swarm rewrites the RTS progression rulebook
The last RTS I played with any consistency came out the same year as Shrek 2, when I was just a wee lad of age . Dawn of War, from 2004. I learnt how to assign units to control groups, how to manage two resources (Or more, as certain…
Birdy Call is a quick, noisy game of pairs
When it comes to games for younger audiences, a little bit of physicality — or in the case of Birdy Call, silly noises — can make the difference between a shelf hog and a game that gets played with regularly. Birdy Call's whole thing is…
Poppy Playtime Chapter 5 – Spooks Galore at the Toystore
Poppy Playtime is an episodic horror game that has you taking on the role of a former employee of Playtime Co who returns to the facilities to discover that the toys aren’t quite as docile as they remember. As you venture around the now…
NuloNiku: Bowl Up! – Lots of Cooking Gameplay!
Over the years I've come across so many, varied cooking games. Many of these feature foods that I love dearly, such as hot pot. I've got, as you can likely tell, a soft sport for cooking games, as I love cooking so much and quite enjoy…
Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime – A Comedy Oddity for the Discerning Toad
Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is an odd proposition. The game is witty, charming, and is clearly well-crafted. So why am I finding myself bouncing off it? Bonnie Bear is one of those genre-bending games that will end up being given a generic…
Cthulhu: The Cosmic Abyss – Mad fer it!
Finding the solutions to a puzzle will involve you finding and reading a great deal of those logs, as well as esoteric objects, and human or otherwise remains. As you find these, they’ll be added to your vault, with some of them posing…
Ancient Knowledge Review: Strategy, Decay, and Engine Building Done Right
Time might be the fire in which we burn, but with Ancient Knowledge, how much of that knowledge can you save? Ancient Knowledge is the kind of board game that doesn’t shout for attention with flashy miniatures or overproduced theatrics.…
Screamer – Drives like a scream
Screamer is absolutely gorgeous to look at. The environments fly by at a hundred miles per hour and still manage to look great, but it’s the cars that steal the show. They’re all absurdly proportioned, with every colour in existence on them…
High On Life 2 – Fun, Sun and Space Guns!
High on Life 2 is a direct continuation from the events of the first game, with you taking on the role of a bounty hunter, making space civilisation better one kill at a time. In the sequel you’re back to do it all again, with your freedom…
Boss Fighters QR is a satisfying boss battler with fantastic app integration
Boss Fighters QR, designed by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach and published by Pegasus Spiele, is a cooperative boss‑battler that blends traditional card‑driven gameplay with a clever and straightforward digital layer. Boss Fighters QR has a…