Clickety Clack Designer: Ralf zur Linde Publisher: NSV Players: 2-4 Age: 8+ Time: 25 minutes Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/48Z2lFL Played with review copy provided by publisher In Clickety Clack, you score points by making dice combinations that allow you to … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/21/dale-yu-review-of-clickety-clack/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
<p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=19535" >NicoleMaynard</a></p> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9121246"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/1Lgw3CQFAdEgVkOu4j7P8g__small/img/DgOX0W-7D5RNW4h85c_ZN5ZDHaw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9121246.jpg" border=0></a></div><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/454577/frog-faire" ><b><i>Frog Faire</i></b></a> began as a Renaissance Faire/Olympics-themed card game in 2023.<br/><br/>Tapping into the athletic nature of frogs and a fairytale setting like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/381249/rebel-princess" ><i>Rebel Princess</i></a>, I brainstormed a list of Olympic-inspired activities frogs might be good at and activities found at Renaissance Faires. My list included the long jump, swimming, tree climbing, rowing, baking, karaoke (kara-CROAK-e), dancing, and pie eating (fly pies), among others.<br/><br/>I entertained the idea of acquiring skills in the game and researched which would apply to each activity, such as balance, co-ordination, and rhythm. Could equipment factor in: ropes, carabiners, cooking utensils, a microphone? Could all these be boiled down to "agility" or "style"? I was lost.<br/><br/>I shelved the idea for a year and a half. As an artist (a painter), I was new not only to game design but to the modern board game revolution, and didn't have the necessary skills to move the game forward.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, I did a deep dive into every resource I could find. I read, watched, listened to, played, and playtested, immersing myself in games. As I worked on other game ideas, I came across the concept of mini-games. The frogs were back!<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9217561"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/-58WW8kbN90eAbcRsy5UkA__small/img/semaXhNmYSV6u4OneNfNDyX3xLI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9217561.png" border=0></a></div></center><br/>A fan of efficiency, bento boxes, and minimalism, modularity appealed to me. The design challenge excited me: designing not one but three games, all of which could be played sequentially or independently. This would allow players to learn the game over multiple sessions, which could benefit adults teaching children or encourage players who have just enough time to try something new if it's quick.<br/><br/>There were big questions to answer: Could I create a welcoming family game and offer interesting decisions to gamers? How would the three games be similar yet different? How could they connect thematically and mechanically? Minimum set-up in between games and game flow were also necessary conditions.<br/><br/>I connected with designers and playtesters from <a href="https://www.breakmygame.com/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Break My Game</a> and the <a href="https://www.meetup.com/princeton-board-game-playtesting-design-group/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Princeton Board Game Design Group</a>, and others online. As all designers know, these important people become one's teachers, and iteration in response to feedback is key to unlocking a game's potential.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9217547"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/7UcDexU65Nu0qr3lFuTfwA__small/img/chg-Nyg7cxWAdis3OlKheZEX4wA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9217547.png" border=0></a></div></center><br/>It started to come together slowly. YOU are a frog, competing in three interconnected mini-games: The Long Hop, Tree Climbing, and The Talent Contest.<br/><br/>I eliminated the first ideas about equipment and the convoluted way I was thinking about skills. Traditional card games with set collection offered a starting point. I decided to work with a deck of cards consisting of only numbers — no suits or red and black cards like in a traditional deck. Jokers became Wild Frogs. Six sets of 1-10 allow the game to be played with up to four players. I created a special deck of "talent cards" to use as goal cards.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9217528"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/1IpD4uBRv7dYxWc6fsJm_w__small/img/RsI3I0qHnD7dAQf6YPgpMBLudmw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9217528.png" border=0></a></div></center><br/>Everyone agreed that Tree Climbing was a dud. It was a shedding game with the winner being the first to get rid of all their cards. It was the least satisfying and most luck-based of the three games, so it had to go.<br/> <br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9216942"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/7Qy_9H-XlvFosRmx7t2f-g__small/img/uZ0gGBxOTAh7ye-gssfa8FW71yo=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9216942.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/>Swimming took its place. It had to be easy to start playing, so in both The Long Hop and Swimming, you draw two cards and discard one. The goal of each is to hop or swim the farthest by collecting card combinations to score the most points. When you reveal your hand, the cards are laid out on the table in a row, like in the long jump or a swim lane.<br/><br/>To connect the games, players select cards from their hands to use in the next game and prizes from each carry over. The scoring of The Long Hop has similarities to classic card games, such as two-, three-, and four-of-a-kind. The twist is a <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/2/reiner-knizia" >Reiner Knizia</a>-inspired score of 0 for collecting three-of-a-kind. Hold out for a fourth card in the set, and you will be rewarded with a whopping 6 points.<br/><br/>The push-your-luck effect makes the game fun. Swimming is peculiar in its basis of collecting even- or odd-numbered cards, and it makes you look at your hand of cards differently.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9216969"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/uQ_oLGrihXdenu4yNBDsrw__small/img/3pkaWvBpwu_PZwMpaqL7hysa0TI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9216969.png" border=0></a></div></center><br/>I learned about games that allowed a player to spend their victory points. Fly pies would serve as points and prizes. I worked to get the point system right so that players could still win if they lost the first two mini-games, but it had to be difficult because the first and second games had to matter. I learned how changing the scoring motivated players in different directions and made those decision trees branch in ways that were equally viable strategies.<br/><br/>The Talent Contest is inspired by drafting cards from a grid, like in <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/5782/coloretto" ><i>Coloretto</i></a>. The talent cards are set up in combinations that inform the players of which row of cards to take. Thematically, this is a celebration of the arts, the grand finale and performance after the jocks have had their moment in the spotlight. Each numbered card features a talented frog.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9216971"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/w8v6nx0RCBc2ji_Aj4s8RA__small/img/O3SzbrwOd9UgWfSRkdGYa3d3tGw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9216971.png" border=0></a></div></center><br/>Lastly, a note on the art. Most published games pair an artist with a game designer, and I'm willing to have another artist create the art, should a publisher be interested in <i>Frog Faire</i>. Producing the game in a small edition as an indie designer allowed me to have a version of the game as I envisioned it, and it was important to me to have the frogs be reminiscent of classic children's book illustrations.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9217546"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/3aZaNRvmhNRi_T350HrnOw__small/img/TDbxQwn8pcPXpr4KXmPpZQVkH6I=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9217546.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/>I drew them directly using Procreate on the iPad and did the graphic design in Adobe Illustrator and InDesign. In terms of graphic design, it is important to me to include everyone, so the rulebook and player aid are large in order to use 16-point font for accessibility.<br/><br/>In my work as a painter outside of the game world, I created a series of triptychs, three oil paintings displayed next to each other, often in a row, in which design elements (shapes, lines, and colors) as well as the theme related to one another from canvas to canvas. The visual structure functions as a backbone, like game mechanisms. The format echoes narratives with the three parts suggesting a beginning, middle, and end, as well as the overarching experience of the whole.<br/><br/>If you try <i>Frog Faire</i>, which will debut at the <a href="https://www.newmillindustries.com/ignm" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Indie Games Night Market</a> during PAXU 2025, I'd love to know about your experience!<br/><br/><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/170991/nicole-maynard" >Nicole Maynard</a>
Movie Tricks Designers: Vegard Eliassen Stillerud, Eilif Svensson, Åsmund Svensson Publisher: Chilifox Games Players: 2-5 Age: 10+ Time: 20-30 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher Movie Tricks is a unique trick-taking game: Play cards to determine turn order. … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/20/dale-yu-first-impressions-of-movie-tricks/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
In 2025, Game Market is hosted at Makuhari Messe in Chiba, about forty kilometers east of Tokyo, with the event often still being referred to as "Tokyo Game Market".Exhibitors will have their titles — board games, card games, tabletop RPGs, and more — on display and for sale, and beyond the games themselves, you will find a plethora of game accessories such as meeples, dice, and more available for purchase.2. Who are the exhibitors?Most of the exhibitors are from Japan, ranging from first-time d
Only the most cunning leader will emerge victorious as "The Golden Blade".Diplomacy: The Golden Blade is a standalone card game for new or experienced Diplomacy players that features no player elimination.▪️ To follow up another Gen Con 2025 revelation, Renegade has announced that in addition to the promised Dungeon Crawler Carl Roleplaying Game, the second title using that license will be Dungeon Crawler Carl: Unstoppable, a one- or two-player game based on John D. Clair's 2025 title Unstoppabl
Yum Yum Trouble Gum Designer: Axel Streubel Publisher: Loosey Goosey Players: 2-5 Age: 8+ Time: 20+ Played with review copy provided by publisher The troublelicious heist game with just one loser! YUM YUM Trouble Gum is a card shedding game. … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/19/dale-yu-review-of-yum-yum-trouble-gum/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
More importantly, each card has a partial sentence such as "This ______ a pipe" or "This ______ winning" near the bottom of its face and either "is" or "is not" near the top.When you lead to a trick, you use two cards, with the top card indicating the suit and the bottom card completing the sentence. If you lead with a card in the "winning" suit, for example, you must flip around the second card (which can be any suit) underneath the winning card so that the sentence will read "This is winning".
Five days. Forty-six plays. Four prototypes plus thirty games that were new to me. Unless otherwise noted, these are FIRST impressions… I only had the opportunity to play many of these games a single time with a physical copy. If … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/18/marks-bundle-of-2025-essen-game-thoughts/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
My family, childhood friends, college friends, even my dad (who taught me chess when I was four). No one was interested.The experience Magic offers can be transformational, but the barrier to entry is high. For the past decade of my life, I've been trying to bring that experience to a wider audience so that others could share it with their closest friends.With Nature, I finally feel like I've arrived. It accomplishes everything I originally intended for Evolution.Why I Redesigned EvolutionNature
Toy Battle Designers: Paolo Mori, Alessandro Zucchini Publisher: Repos Players: 2 Age: 8+ Time: 15 minutes Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/43EJ20K Played with review copy provided by publisher On land, on sea, in clouds, and even in space, battles are breaking … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/17/dale-yu-review-of-toy-battle/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Eric Martin Given how much I liked designer Mark McGee's first release through his company How to Steam Broccoli — Tether, which I had backed during crowdfunding — when McGee offered a review copy of his second title ahead of its debut at PAX Unplugged 2025, I said, sure, let's give it a go.On the surface, Don't Botch the Broccoli has nothing in common with Tether aside from both being card games, but in practice both designs encourage you to bait opponents, then hope they'll make the move you w
Light Speed Arena Designer: James Ernest, Tom Jolly, Leonardo Alese, Emanuele Santellani Publisher: Pegasus Spiele Players: 1-4 Age: 8+ Time: 5-10 min Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher A real-time tabletop shooter in which you aim … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/16/dale-yu-review-of-light-speed-arena/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
I liked it so much that I decided to include an advanced mode in the rules as well.ConclusionAfter this entire journey, Khlor has become a game with many possibilities, but always guided by a clear design principle: simplify as much as possible to leave only the essential.This philosophy also helped me solve the final turn issue. I tried making the game last a fixed number of rounds, but it was messy; players put more effort into counting than playing, and depending on the number of players, the
Ghostbumpers Designers: Inka Brand, Markus Brand Publisher: Deep Print Games Players: 3-6 Age:8+ Time: 15-20 minutes Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher The monsters are terrorizing the fairground. You dive into a crazy bumper-car ride and … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/15/dale-yu-review-of-ghostbumpers/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Maybe everyone moves two elephants to their ready area, maybe you get four and no one else gets any, or maybe you get five, while another player must return two.By playing a matriarch card, you somewhat reset the board, with the matriarch elephant moving to the far edge of the herd, all played elephants being returned to the reserve, and fallen trees placed upright to symbolize you moving to fresh lands with new food. You want to hold off playing matriarchs since the herd shrinks to one space, m
I knew the game needed a feeling of exploration and that players should be revealing the world tile by tile and finding various paths to follow, so I started drawing all sorts of possible map tiles in a notebook, experimenting with how different pathways would work, turning and intersecting with each other across tiles.Some early notes where I was experimenting with map tile design.One inspiration here was Tsuro as I have always loved how this game's tiles are almost a design lesson in how four
I’ve played some great games this fall, so it’s time for another round of mini-reviews about the 32 different board and card games from the last two months.  It looks like I haven’t done a set of mini-reviews since I … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/13/talia-rosen-fall-mini-reviews/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
The game is won by being the first crook to get into the required number of different prisons.Image: Tony BoydellFrancis said himself that winning this game is morally disgraceful and don't blame him if your teenage daughter or maiden aunt cotton on to the essential facts of a successful career quicker than you, but if you lose, it can still be fun, and winning will give a sense of achievement.The first thing I had to do was to find out how much work I was taking on. When returning from a drivin
<p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=18977" >Johnny Chin</a></p> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8353121"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/tv_52ZpOYjMNIcrQcrj3-g__small/img/6k9J7FyarAXeZ0XwH5yF5utmIdE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8353121.png" border=0></a></div>In September 2025, <a href="https://www.gamemarketwest.com/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Game Market West</a>, a tabletop game market where independent designers showcase and sell their newest games, returned to Guildhouse in San Jose, California. The venue received a lot of compliments this time around from both attendees and designers. Throughout the event was the usual steady stream of attendees, chatting with designers and playing their games. We had quite the line-up of games from a fan-made expansion to a social deduction and area control crossover. There was also a new drawing game, a genre we're a big fan of, along with trick-takers and climbers.<br/><br/>The aforementioned drawing game is <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/453195/paper-pencil-stencil" ><b><i>Paper Pencil Stencil</i></b></a> by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/170543/jestin-brooks" >Jestin Brooks</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/170419/jeremy-schichtel" >Jeremy Schichtel</a>. You use stencils to draw the word you've been randomly assigned. It's always nice to have a handicap, especially for terrible artists like myself. Usually it's time or difficulty in word choice that evens the playing field, but the predefined shapes are a cool twist.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9133031"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/MqGW3kwsRI3c91CTe98RMQ__small/img/5m0cpKcmZXjdAiDXA162KiOzXx4=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9133031.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/>Next up, we have <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/450424/okay-duckies-now-lets-get-in-formation" ><b><i>Okay, Duckies, Now Let's Get In Formation</i></b></a> by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/169889/ted-mann-schaller" >Ted Schaller</a> — a cute rubber ducky game that had a giant edition on display for all to play. Don't let the cuteness fool you, though, as the game is actually quite the crunchy spatial puzzle for two players. You're arranging your duckies on an ever-changing board to win. I was lucky enough to playtest it when the game was in development, so I had to grab a copy.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9133032"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/vPggYLUfaiSY9NblTjbZUw__small/img/3vtUgi5EHI3VrtwFFFCJXIYm9IQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9133032.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/>Lastly, we have <b><i>Side Quest</i></b> by Sean Nakada, a classic feeling RPG board game with the customization of trading card games. This first version starts with a more level playing field in terms of the cards and scenarios for a better onboarding experience. There's a ton of different classes with thematic abilities and stat tradeoffs that have already been developed.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9133035"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/2OyokC3XGFmajxLJLt28Jw__small/img/rsTbs2l1HdlJ6uy2wysLci8mYcw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9133035.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><br/>For more pics of presenters, head to <a href="https://www.gamemarketwest.com/fall-2025-recap" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">the Fall 2025 recap</a> on the GMW website.<br/><br/>Thank you for supporting this indie movement. We always love to hear how we've inspired others to turn their idea into a game. In fact, a few designers were present who mentioned that, and even some attendees asked how they could be a designer for a future game market.<br/><br/>We'll see you at the next Game Market West on March 22, 2026! You can sign up for <a href="https://www.gamemarketwest.com/updates" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">updates</a> or as a <a href="https://forms.gle/oLFUPwkqKWDr1vPz7" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">designer</a>.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9133027"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/RcEnJHeDPyNQQBbJGI2oFA__small/img/-3TbAizrWNMMBGOZAxfw1Q2_VN4=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9133027.jpg" border=0></a></div></center>