Games of the Alphabet
Each Thursday we will be featuring a game starting with a different letter of the alphabet. We will highlight one of our favourites and invite you to tell us your favourite "letter game" and a bit about why you love it!
Overview
Released in 2017, 2-4 players, 120 minutesDesigner(s)
David Turczi, Richard Amann, Viktor PeterWhy We Love It
This futuristic, time-travelling, worker placement game hits a real sweet-spot of euroy-goodness, meets lovely aesthetic, meets an appealing theme. Arguably, that theme might not be fully entrenched in game-play, but the time-travel aspect is certainly an enticing concept and the incredibly solid game mechanics then work brilliantly to maintain that engagement, even when the theme fizzles a little during gameplay.Variable player powers, different end-game scoring objectives, and alternative setups offer remarkable variety and replayability. Not to mention the additional elements offered by the Doomsday Enhancement Pack and the excitement of the upcoming Fractures of Time expansion!
This one can be a bit of a brain-burner, but if you're a fan of deep, strategic euros with unique art and theme, then Anachrony might be for you!
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'A' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'A' game is!
Overview
Released in 2015, 1-4 players, 30-60 minutesDesigner(s)
Nicolas RobertWhy We Love It
This uniquely themed card game has stunning (though admittedly macabre) artwork, a dark and quirky theme and truly interesting hand-management and economic mechanics.In this game, set in the 1800's in France, you are a proprietor of questionable morals at the "Bloody Inn". Optimizing your revenue commonly entails bribery, theft, money laundering and ultimately murder! Of course, you must also work to avoid police suspicion - bribery may work, or if all else fails, just find a tidy location to bury THAT body as well! This game creates an atmosphere of constant tension and struggle and offers up heaps of dark comedy as you find yourself knee deep in corpses with law enforcement checking in and limited access to suitable burial locations!
For a game comprised almost entirely of cards, The Bloody Inn is simply entrenched in theme with superb artwork that really draws you into the story. If you relish absurdity and thrive on tension, this might be one to check out!
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'B' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'B' game is!
Overview
Released in 2016, 2-4 players, 30-60 minutesDesigner(s)
Paul DennenWhy We Love It
Mixing humor and fantasy, this deck builder is a great gateway game for families and a nice palette cleanser or starter for experienced gamers.Up to four adventurers use the cards in their hand to move, fight and loot their way through the dungeon. But beware! Your actions can be pretty noisy! Stumble? Steal a treasure? Every clank on your cards or looted items will contribute to rousing the dragon. The more clanks you make, the more likely the dragon will attack you next!
Chuckle along as you tattle and force friends to make noise, or your flash of brilliance lets you draw extra cards. Groan as a mesmerizing crystal cave impedes your rush to the surface, or you take the brunt of the damage from a dragon attack. Swear to get revenge when someone else nabs the backpack, potion or magic wand you wanted!
But with a combination of luck, looting (and fighting off the ever present goblins), you'll use your skill to gain cards with handy equipment, better weapons, stronger allies and powerful magic. You'll make your way to the dragon's lair, seize an artifact and escape above ground for your reward! (Or maybe you won't, because sometimes you don't). But you'll have fun trying!
For more fun, check out the expansions for the base game (underwater, pyramids, gold, spiders and more!), the Legacy variation or the slightly more challenging sequel Clank! In! Space! Renegade also has a great app that allows you to play the dungeon solo or the spaceship as a solo campaign.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'C' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'C' game is!
Overview
Released in 2017, 1-4 players, 90-120 minutesDesigner(s)
Jonathan Gilmour, Brian LewisWhy We Love It
Let's genetically engineer some dinosaurs and build them their very own theme park! Do I hear the 90's calling? What could possibly go wrong?!This funky, nostalgia-inducing worker placement and dice-drafting game (complete with slap-bracelet first player marker) comes with impressive dinosaur meeples and has huge table presence. Take note: this giant footprint game in no way offers a quick, easy set-up and tear-down! But if you're prepared to invest the time, this game has a truly fun vibe and flows beautifully.
In Dinosaur Island, you will progress through phases of collecting dino DNA, building theme park attractions, adding workers, creating dinosaurs, refining DNA, adding visitors and dealing with safety issues. It's very important to keep a close eye on your threat level and security level - beware ESCAPING DINOS! And yes, those escaped dinos WILL eat your innocent park visitors if left unchecked!
A variety of end-game objectives makes it easy to keep the game fresh and these objectives also allow you to vary the game length to some degree with a choice of short, medium, or long objectives.
The neon art and overall style of this game is so fun! There are few games with this level of flair and aesthetic, especially if you have the Deluxe Edition with a huge variety of Dinosaur Meeples, Scientists, metal coins, etc. This game has a LOT going on - in a four player game, there are no fewer than 11 boards on the table! That being said, it is not overly complex and turns progress smoothly from one phase to the next. If you love a solid worker-placement game with lots of flair and theme, check this one out!
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'D' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'D' game is!
Overview
Released in 2018, 1-4 players, 40-80 minutesDesigner(s)
James A. WilsonWhy We Love It
Everdell transports you to a beautiful forest city in an enchanted fable world. It is one of those games where you can spend as much time ogling the design and whimsy of the anthropomorphic forest creatures as you do planning your next turn! It is visually stunning, from the breathtaking art to the first-rate components. But, make no mistake about it, Everdell does not rely on beauty and skimp on design. This tableau-building, worker-placement game has players taking turns to collect resources (twigs, berries, pebbles and resin) and/or playing cards from their hands or common area to place critters or buildings into their tableau. Personal tableau space is limited, but some critters can share spaces and all critters provide special abilities interwoven with incredible thematic relevance. Generally, you pay for buildings and critters with resources, but each building has an associated critter that you can play for free once that building is constructed.While Everdell uses well established mechanics, there is an ease and familiarity to gameplay that feels very inviting and jives well with the cozy critter theme. There is not much interaction amongst players in this game, but there are a few cards that allow you to place workers in other players tableaus to use their buildings and cards that allow you to take up space (which is limited) in opponents tableaus.
There is certainly an engine-building aspect to Everdell as well and you may find yourself a little stymied during the first few turns, wondering how you will ever gather sufficient resources to place your critters and constructions. You start the game with just two workers, but your pool grows as you progress through the seasons. The engine quickly ramps up and the payoff is well worth the patience required!
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'E' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'E' game is!
Overview
Released in 2018 (latest edition), 2-5 players, 120-180 minutesDesigner(s)
Frank Brooks, Stephen Hand, Kevin WilsonWhy We Love It
Eight years after Bram Stoker's Dracula, the Count has returned to un-life and seeks to make the story's protagonists pay for what they had done to him.Fury of Dracula in a one-vs-many game where one player takes on the role of Dracula while the rest play as characters from the novel (Lord Godalming, Dr. Seward, Van Helsing, and Mina Harker). Much like the story, Dracula's whereabouts are often shrouded in mystery and Dracula if usually never on the board which is a map of Europe. Instead, Dracula moves about the continent by secretly playing cards from his location deck to a card row called the trail. If a hunter enters a location on the trail, they gain some knowledge about where Dracula at least has been and possibly which direction he may have been heading if they can reveal 2 cards in a row.
Dracula's goal is to produce 13 influence points during the course of the game. This is a challenging task as it often comes from defeating hunters which can be a dangerous challenge, and by producing vampires which involves keeping them hidden from those nosy investigators. The investigators win by dealing 15 damage to Dracula.
Dracula is probably most powerful when he is hidden as he can lay traps for hunters and sow despair which makes defeating hunters generate more influence. He can also create lesser vampires in his wake which he can use to ambush hunters that stumble onto their location or hope that they "mature", meaning they eventually leave the trail card row and earn him more influence. Dracula may also play cards that let him move a little faster, feed to regain health, or even break up part of the trail by replacing a location in the trail with a false lead.
Conversely, Dracula is probably at his weakest, though still a formidable foe, when directly confronted by the hunters which happens if an investigator ends their movement in Dracula's location. Quite this often this happens once a hunter has had a chance to prepare themselves for the confrontation.
Combat is resolved through Dracula and the hunter secretly selecting and then revealing a card from their hand, each of which has a number of symbols on them. If any of the symbols on the 2 cards match, Dracula's action is canceled, and the hunter gets to resolve their card without consequences. The hunters often have access to traditional tools like crucifixes, silver bullets, and holy water that can do some serious damage. If Dracula's card gets resolved, it can often result in the hunter taking damage, having their action canceled, Dracula regaining some health, or even escaping from the hunters. This often becomes a game about anticipating what your opponent might be trying to do and playing the card to not only negate their action but try and get your action through.
Fury of Dracula is a slow but intense game. While turns are generally simple, the decision and deduction process can be slow on both sides of the table. This is balanced out by the thrill of trying to track down Dracula and get a few more jabs at him before he slips away again, or from the rush of playing Dracula and trying to stay just one step ahead of the hunters. It's hard to play it cool when the hunters are just one town over from you and don't seem to realize it.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'F' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'F' game is!
Overview
Released in 2013, 2-4 players, 30 minutesDesigner(s)
Brian YuWhy We Love It
Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters is just one of those games that we quickly recognize as a kids game, yet just as quickly gravitate towards, as it so aptly appeals to our child-like curiosity: "ohhhh ... ghosts!....ghouls!.....a haunted house!.....Can I play too?!".I distinctly remember spotting this one in 2012 (where it was released at Essen in German as "Geister, Geister, Schatzsuchmeister!") and immediately wanting to get a closer look. The truth is, this one doesn't disappoint the adult audience - there's a really fun game here and it's more challenging than you might think!
The cooperative play style of this game is perfect for family-play, even with the little kids that need some assistance. Two to four players work together to collect the eight gems hidden throughout the house before it is overrun by ghhhoooooosssts! There's some fun dice-chucking that engages the kids and some strategy that can be optimized by the adults to keep those ghouls at bay. Winning really requires that right combination of strategy and luck. Communication between players is the real key to success!
There are challenge cards that you can add to adjust the game difficulty as your family becomes more skilled at fighting those ghosts. The cards might lock certain colour doors or require you to add more ghosts to the mansion, etc. The gems that the Treasure Hunters need to collect are also numbered, so you can require your team to collect these from the mansion in numerical order to up the challenge as well.
Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters won the prestigious Kinderspiel des Jahres (basically the "Children's Game of the Year") in 2014. The quality of the components is second to none. This game has cartoony-style art and very high-quality minis. I just love how the gems fit right into the backpacks of the treasure hunter figures - adorable!
There's now an expansion out for Ghost Fightin' Treasure Hunters called Creepy Cellar that adds cursed treasures, a basement and the "Ghost King" - sounds great!
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'G' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'G' game is!
Overview
Released in 2000, 2 players, 20 minutesDesigner(s)
John YianniWhy We Love It
This game is a travellers' delight! It has a small table footprint, easy to store and transport and requires no game setup. This one can be played almost anywhere on any flat surface!Hive is an abstract strategy game with ceramic hex-shaped tiles representing different insects, each with a unique way of moving. The game begins when the first piece is placed. Ultimately, the pieces themselves become the board. The object of the game is to surround your opponent's queen bee. At no time can one piece move in such a way that the "hive" you are building splits apart.
Like many abstract strategy games, it is deceivingly simple to learn and difficult to master. It's truly a unique game with a distinctive look, durable pieces and a ton of strategy. We always keep a copy of this one in our travel-bag - it's our airport go-to game!
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'H' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'H' game is!
Overview
Released in 2010, 2-4 players, 45-60 minuteDesigner(s)
Carl ChudykWhy We Love It
Prepare yourself to proclaim: "This is a TERRIBLE game!" at the end of game one (I did). And truly, that might be the end of it for some players.However, there will be another faction who (after said proclamation) have a funny brain-tickle that urges them to begrudgingly utter: "Okay - let's try it just ONCE more".
This tableau-civilization-building game can feel incredibly unbalanced with cards that make you want to scream "What?! There's no way that card ability is fair!". The hidden brilliance of Chudyk's design is that each unbelievable power has built into it, its own demise. It's a powerful asymmetry that is vaguely reminiscent of Chudyk's better known and revered, Glory to Rome. He really is a master of this mechanic and there's a truly worthwhile payoff for players willing to endure the rollercoaster of apparent chaos and come out on the other side with the realization that ALL the cards have the ability to "break" the game. Admittedly, it can be a game with a runaway leader, but it's important not to give up hope too early. No matter how dire your situation appears, there's almost always a possibility of comeback in Innovation.
Innovation seems like it should be an easy learn. And in some respects, it is. There are only a few actions to choose from on your turn: play a card, draw a card, activate a card, or dominate an age.
However, the strange terminology ("dominate an age", "splay", "meld", "archive", etc.) coupled with the increasingly complex choices as your tableau continues to grow, can certainly become complicated to understand and strategically challenging. It might not be a great fit for you if you are a player who prefers to plan your turns well in advance, as you will likely be thwarted at almost every turn by your opponent. You absolutely need to be up to adapting to the mayhem and almost constant change in game-state. The great news is that your "Plan B" doesn't often carry a feeling of failure, as there are so many opportunities to make incredibly powerful decisions. There's a lot of zig-zagging in a vague direction towards your goals in this game, but it's a really fun ride that always leaves you with a twisted story to tell by the conclusion of the game because somehow the theme comes through on the cards despite the abstracted concept. The card combos offer almost endless replayability, even without the expansions, but I highly recommend Echoes of the Past which adds over a hundred new cards and enriches the gaming experience.
After my first play of this game, I never thought I'd be saying this, but: "Check out Innovation - it's one of my favourite card games!"
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'I' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'I' game is!
Overview
Released in 2018, 3-7 players, 20 minutesDesigner(s)
Ludovic Roudy, Florian SautterWhy We Love It
If you are looking for a game that can be played with almost any group of people, spanning ages, cultures and can also be played remotely, have I got JUST the ONE for you!.The rules are very straightforward. The current player (the Guesser) shows the rest of the table JUST ONE word answer (the current player is not aware of the word they have chosen). Secretly, the rest of the players come up with a JUST ONE word clue to help the player guess their answer.
Next the players show each other (but not the Guesser), their clues. If any match, they get removed!
The guesser then gets to see the rest of the tables' answers and tries to guess the clue.
There is some sort of scoring, but most people don't care, they just keep playing, laughing and guessing throughout the night.
This game can be played with almost an unlimited number of people, but there will be a point where someone will duplicate all the answers, so we recommend sticking to the stated player count, but Your mileage may vary.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'J' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'J' game is!
Overview
Released in 2012, 2-6 players, 90-120 minutesDesigner(s)
Sebastian Bleasdale, Richard BreeseWhy We Love It
Keyflower is one of those games that just shouldn't work, but it does. The Theme? Build the most prosperous village... Been there, done that. The Mechanic? Auctions... Yawn... Graphics? Very rustic and almost washed out.Despite that, or maybe because of all that, the combination of all of this, gels into one of the most interactive, interesting and innovative games that is in the library. (I tried to find alliterative 'K' words to describe it, but it didn't work out :))
Some of the reasons why this game works so well are the fact that you don't have your own player colour. There are 3(4) meeple colours that players use to bid with, and take actions with. Once a meeple colour has been linked to a tile (either by bidding or by using its ability), then you can only overbid with that colour. This leads to much gnashing of teeth, as inevitably, you are 1 meeple short of doing what you really wanted to do!
There are two expansions in the game, and personally, I find that they just muddy what is a well-balanced, game, but your mileage may vary.
The designer has also tried, many times to recapture the essence of this game in his later designs (Key to the City, KeyPer, and even KeyFlow), but I think this is the pinnacle of his Key Series of designs. This hasn't stopped me from exploring the others though.
In the end, so long as you don't mind a fair amount of take-that, and player interaction, I highly recommend that you give Keyflower a try. There is even a great implementation on BoardGameArena for you to try out in the meantime.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'K' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'K' game is!
Overview
Released in 2012, 2-5 players, 60-120 minutesDesigner(s)
Peter Lee, Rodney ThompsonWhy We Love It
We love the quests, coloured cubes & money shaped like moons! To win this game, you will need to gain the most points by completing quests. Quests require money and adventuring parties with a specific combination of rogues (black), clerics (white), fighters (orange) or wizards (purple). Use your meeples to recruit adventurers and raise funds by visiting different locations in town, but watch out that your competition doesn't get there first or stall you with a mandatory quest.Easy to learn and with thematic art and quest names, this is a good introduction to the worker placement mechanic. It is also well implemented on mobile platforms and Steam, which is great for anyone interested in playing solo or remotely. The expansion (Scoundrels of Skullport) takes the player count to six, and adds more locations for recruiting, including some with penalties (corruption) as well as resources. (And for those of you that love bits, you can get thematic meeples (DnDeeples!) to replace the cubes...)
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'L' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'L' game is!
Overview
Released in 1992, 3-5 players, 45 minutesDesigner(s)
Reiner KniziaWhy We Love It
Modern Art is a classic auction game by Dr. Knizia that has been reprinted by many companies all around the world, incorporating different themes and art styles. Fitting, as this is an auction game that revolves around you speculating and bidding on pieces of art that may or may not score you any money at the end of each round.There's high interaction in this game as players choose which piece of art from their hand to be bid on, trying to gauge the table for which pieces will net them the most money while bidding shrewdly on other people's pieces to build their own collection. Only the most popular artists' pieces will sell for money at the end of the round, and as artists' pieces sell, their value will go up in later rounds, changing the dynamic of how you would judge the value of each piece.
Finally, this game features multiple types of bidding too! Blind bids, once-around-the-table bids, a fixed price sale, the classic 'people shouting out bids' (which is awesome with the new CMON version including a wooden gavel), and my personal favorite: the 'double' where you put out two pieces of art to be sold that turn instead of one.
If you're a fan of auctions, you owe it to yourself to check out this classic.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'M' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'M' game is!
Overview
Released in 2017, 2-6 players, 30 minutesDesigner(s)
Peter Lee, Rodney ThompsonWhy We Love It
New York Slice is a pizza theme game that utilizes the rarely seen "I split, you choose" mechanism. Played over several rounds, a master slicer divides a pizza into multiple portions, one for each player to choose. Each player in turn order then takes one of those sections, choosing to keep the slices to score points at the end of the game or to consume immediately. The master slicer has to divvy up the portions carefully because they have to keep the final portion for themselves! The pizza slices are different types (veggies, pepperoni, Canadian, etc.), and only the person that has the most of each type will score points for it at the end of game.Beyond the tough decisions of how to slice up the pizza and ensure you'll get the pie that you want, special 'menu' tiles are tossed into each round that can give you additional scoring opportunities, extra points, a one-time ability, and more. Add in the push-and-pull of jockeying for the most slices of each type, and this short filler game will have you constantly watching what your opponents pick and have you engaged at the dining table the entire time.
This game is also dripping with (greasy?) theme. The game is packaged in a box that is opened like a pizza box, each pizza slice looks tantalizing and delicious, the rulebook opens up like a menu, and the scorepad looks like an order form for food! Whether you're a fan of pizza or not, this wholesome game is a worthy spread on any gamer's table.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'N' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'N' game is!
Overview
Released in 2014, 2 players, 20 minutesDesigner(s)
Peter Lee, Rodney ThompsonWhy We Love It
Onitama is an abstract game that satisfies the Chess-itch that players might have without the complexity of that classic game. Players each control five pawns on a 5x5 grid, with one pawn being their 'sensei.' The goal is to either move one of their pawns onto the opponent's sensei or their sensei's starting space. Pawn movements are dictated by a variety of cards that indicate how each pawn can move on their turn.What makes the game unique is that each game only utilizes five movement cards out of all the cards included in the game, two for you, two for your opponent, and one to the side. Once you use your movement card, you swap that card with the card at the side. This limits the number of options you need to consider on your turn, while also ensuring that your options and your opponent's options are constantly shifting as you attempt to outmaneuver each other. The variability in play due to the different sets of cards you can choose (I did the math, it's 3003 combinations in the base game alone) ensures that no two matches will be the same.
The game is also smartly packaged in a box where the lid is held down by magnets. Unfolding the box brings you to 10 nicely sculpted pawns that are visually clear in which ones are your senseis, and the game comes with a neoprene playmat rather than a board, so the playing on that surface feels extra nice.
If you're a fan of abstract games to any capacity, Onitama is an affordable game (with two expansions when you want them!), that packs plenty of variety in a portable package.
Calling all component geeks: Do you know what game our letter 'O' component is from? You can head over to our post on Facebook to take a guess and let us know what your favour 'O' game is!