This is unfortunately a pretty miserable set of games to explore, with Tea Garden the only one that wanted to draw me back. So let’s talk about other stuff instead. My favourite new-to-me series this year was catching up on … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/12/01/alison-brennan-game-snapshots-2025-part-30/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
TWELVE new businesses have been inducted into the latest pack of Henley Playing Cards. A “reveal” night was held at the Flyte bar in Henley last Fri...
Alphabet Code Designer: Shota Hasuike Publisher: playte Players: 2-5 Age: 8+ Time: 20 minutes Spiel 2025 order link: https://tally.so/r/mBYNZe Played with review copy provided by publisher Alphabet Code is a fast-paced logic and deduction game for 2 or more players. … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/30/dale-yu-review-of-alphabet-code/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Burgle Bros Blackjack Designer: Tim Fowers Publisher: Fowers Games Players: 2-4 Age: 10+ Time: 30 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher The Burgle Bros are back—this time, the heist is at the Blackjack table! In this cooperative twist … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/29/dale-yu-review-of-burgle-bros-blackjack/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
That award went to designer Amabel Holland for her video essay "Vonnegut's Board Game: Preservation, Annotation, Context", which starts by talking about Vonnegut's game GHQ — which developer Geoff Engelstein helped bring to print as he wrote in this November 2024 diary — then moves on to talk about the preservation of art, as well as the quest for understanding how that art came to be.Youtube Video▪️ KOSMOS celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of Klaus Teuber's CATAN by introducing CATAN Connect
La Cuenta Designer: Litus Carreras Publisher: 2 Tomatoes Players: 3-8 Age: 7+ Time: 15 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher In La Cuenta (“The Bill”) you go tapas bar hopping with your little group. At each bar someone … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/28/dale-yu-review-of-la-cuenta/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
We settled on a name for this first version of the prototype by searching for the translation of "princess" and finding "Kōjo".About three months after we began working on "Kōjo", in October 2023 I went to a small game festival near my hometown in Rennes, France. There, I hoped to get player feedback in order to improve the game as we wanted to have a polished prototype for the International Game Festival in Cannes. This is where most designers pitch to publishers to maybe later sign their proto
We’ve started a tradition of writing a group document with very short takes on the games that we play. Of course, you’ll not get as much info as in a full review, but as our reviews likely won’t start … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/27/opinionated-gamers-quick-takes-2025-part-1/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Klaus Teuber's Catan Dice Game, which first appeared in 2007, will be re-released as CATAN: Das Würfelspiel, with this edition featuring embossed dice and graphics that match the newest edition of the CATAN base game.▪️ That title will be accompanied by CATAN: Das Kartenspiel, which is not Klaus Teuber's 1996 Catan Card Game, but a new design by Benjamin Teuber for 3-4 players.In this standalone game, you'll use and trade the 120 cards to build roads and settlements, then develop the latter into
<p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=17" >W. Eric Martin</a></p> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/5948"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/ygVQlepjPxyg7IizSCM_Tw__small/img/1qmNhxNzPDSu_Am2rmIobVe9J1M=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic5948.jpg" border=0></a></div>▪️ As German publishers prep for Spielwarenmesse — the annual toy fair in Nürnberg, Germany at the end of January — they're starting to promote what's coming, with <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/8/amigo" >AMIGO Spiel</a> teasing the four titles it plans to release in early 2026. These games are:<br/><br/>• A 30th anniversary edition of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/618/ken-fisher" >Ken Fisher</a>'s trick-taking game <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/1465/wizard" ><b><i>Wizard</i></b></a>. (Fisher self-published <i>Wizard</i> in 1984, but AMIGO's German edition didn't appear until 1996.)<br/><br/>In <a href="https://blog.amigo-spiele.de/2025/11/12/30-jahre-wizard-2/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">a Nov. 12, 2025 press release</a>, AMIGO noted that this edition will include two new special cards: the Vampire, which copies the trump card, and the Witch, which lets you exchange one card in the trick. Special cards from other editions — Dragon, Fairy, Werewolf, Juggler, Bomb, Cloud, and Shapeshifter — will also be included. What's more, "new scoring chips provide a quick overview of the game's progress and simplify the final scoring".<br/><br/><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/11883/franz-vohwinkel" >Franz Vohwinkel</a> will be handling the illustration, as he has done for previous AMIGO editions.<br/><br/>• <b><i>Matter Matters</i></b> is a 2-4 player card game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/82725/tsutomu-dejima-chu-dao-mian" >Tsutomu Dejima</a> that plays in 20 minutes. (I don't know whether this will be a German edition of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/424957/milkuro" ><i>milkuro</i></a>, a trick-taking game in which you try to take the same number of tricks in two suits, but that would be my guess.)<br/><br/>• <b><i>Koffer, Katze & Sombrero</i></b>, a 2-4 player card game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/139861/christian-kudahl" >Christian Kudahl</a> that plays in 20 minutes.<br/><br/>• <b><i>Greedy Goose</i></b>, a card game for 2-6 players from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/148428/george-feledichuk" >George Feledichuk</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/148360/david-duvey-rudow" >Duvey Rudow</a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/148359/leo-taylor" >Leo Taylor</a> that plays in 20 minutes.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9250651"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/WEL5-wUc6Lo6HInXr4L5Gw__small/img/x4pKXiX_tj4C39q_UP15t4P7A9w=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9250651.jpg" border=0></a></div></center>
In card games, you play the hand you’re dealt. Maayan Segal wants that hand to be more diverse. At 16 years old, she’s released the second iteration of her gender-equal playing card deck, Queeng – ...
Counties use a variety of methods to cast lots, but it typically involves drawing a numbered object — a piece of paper, ping ...
Ninety Nine Designer: Reinhard Staupe Publisher: Kendi Players: 2-4 Age: 8+ Time: 30 minutes Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher Ninety Nine is a race to 99 points, with players scoring for both smart card playing … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/26/dale-yu-review-of-ninety-nine/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Eric Martin Sjoerd Yska's Badass Bunnies from 999 Games gives you a simple goal: Reveal at least ten bunnies from your deck of cards in a single turn.You start with only two bunnies, though, so you'll need to pick up more as quickly as you can...and to get bunnies, you'll need carrots. Your deck starts with four carrots, and you can use them to buy more cards, but foxes await in your deck as well, and as you reveal cards one by one, if you reveal two foxes, you must race back to your burrow to h
Tropicalia Designer: Phil Walker-Harding Publisher: Mojito Studios Players: 2-4 Age: 10+ Time: 45-60 mins Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher Even this morning, the sky is clear and the sun is high over Tropicalia Island. It … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/25/dale-yu-review-of-tropicalia/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
The game's core remained the same, but its theme changed to one in which the game's payoff was in solving its puzzles.The game funded on Kickstarter, and players were able to table the game I had dreamt of, with its deck-building and evolving board pieces intact, albeit in a new setting, with renegade hackers fighting an evil corporation intent on controlling the citizens of a cyberpunk Japan.Unfortunately for Alan, Tylar, and the rest of the team, Victory Point Games was subsequently acquired,
I’ve recently had mixed feelings about being the gaming organiser/leader in my groups. The upside is that I ensure enjoyable gaming. The downside is that I started perceiving that friends might think it too directorial, which then got me a … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/24/alison-brennan-game-snapshots-2025-part-29/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Harvest Valley Designer: Bruno Faidutti Publisher: Grail Games Players: 2-5 Age: 8+ Time: 15 min Played with review copy provided by publisher Harvest Valley is a farming game in which players are trying to build up their farms as their … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/11/23/dale-yu-review-of-harvest-valley/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
You can find more about me by checking out my designer profile.Here are features of the games I create, and what defines Paddy:• Simple rules.• With strategic depth.• Quick set-up.• Easy to remember how to play.• With direct interaction between players.• Better player decisions than sheer luck.• Suitable for all types of players: new, casual, and experienced.• Language-independent components.But today, let's focus on the creation of Paddy.June 2019: BackgroundI had spent a year working on my fir
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>