Board Game Reviews

Our world runs on electricity, whether it's powering the lightbulbs that let you enjoy nighttime activities, the machines in a factory making tractors so we can eat, or any of a million other uses for this lifeblood of our modern era. Electricity has to come from...

There's something inherently appealing about undergrounds. The idea that you can move lots of people around a city with just a few doors on the surface is pretty magical, a rather sci-fi approach to transportation. And it works! Many cities are defined by their...

Three-in-a-row games date back to ancient Egypt with the earliest boards dating back to 1300 BCE. Three millennia later, have we figured out how to take a fundamentally simple game and make it complex? Yes, yes we have. Tic-tac-toe still has the benefit of requiring...

Poker is probably one of the most popular card games in the world. With its straightforward play, simple betting, and standardized - and very inexpensive - decks of playing cards, it's a solid option for people who want to have a game without table-size boards and...

Our planet is facing unprecedented changes in climate and while many of us are seeking to do what we can to help mitigate the crisis, others are plowing ahead with their industrial efforts, convinced that it's all cyclic and the Earth will heal itself. But we can't...

To Mrs. Saville, England, Dec. 11th, 17--: You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings. Yes, we have managed to create a spot for you in the Global Abomination...

Imagine being the Emperor of the known world with a territory so large that it's impossible to rule successfully. Worse, there are always uprisings (heavy taxation and imposition of foreign culture turn out to be unpopular, go figure) and massive hordes of barbarians...

We at Abducktion Labs Intergalactic love ducks. Not only that, but our shareholders really adore ducks too. That's why it's your job as the newest unpaid intern to figure out how to rearrange all the ducks in your little pond into specific formations so you can...

Let's face it, most competitive games come down to combat in one form or another. Whether it's troops moving into your territory, aliens vying for prime planets, or animals battling over the best den in the meadow, there's something fundamentally satisfying about...

It's hard to imagine a meal that had more importance for the history of the Western world than the Last Supper with Jesus of Nazareth and his apostles, including the turncoat Judas. It was literally the last meal for Jesus because he was arrested by the Romans the...

Congratulations! Your team of four Founders just got dropped on an alien planet. Their goal is to create a self-sustaining outpost but the clock's ticking: They only have eight days to get the base shield up and running before a destructive meteorite shower arrives!...

Urban planning is a surprisingly popular theme for board games, particularly tile laying games. It's tricky to set up a town where all the homes are near parks and schools, but far away from any industrial facilities or office buildings. This goes back to one of the...

One of the marvelous things about a 52-card, 4-suit deck of playing cards is just how many different games you can play. From the complex to the rudimentary, there are card games for all skill levels. Some are so simple, however, that the entire game relies on the...

It's hard to disprove a conspiracy. Present factual evidence that there are no lizard men, no UFOs, the Earth isn't flat, or that jet contrails are not, in fact, dropping psychotropic drugs on an unsuspecting populace, and the believer responds "of course they want...

We're back in the Middle Ages and you're lucky to be one of the merchant class in a tough, resource constrained era. Being an entrepreneur, you also enjoy constructing various types of buildings and, of course, what merchant doesn't have an entourage of fellow...

Let's start by going back to the Bible. In the Book of Esther, we learn that Persian King Ahashverosh married Esther without knowing that she was Jewish. Her cousin Mordechai was also an advisor to the King, and things went well in the kingdom. Except there was...

The British Special Air Services were a rogue military unit formed in North Africa during World War II. Ben Macintyre has an excellent book on the history of the SAS that's also been made into a fantastic and gritty BBC series, the former called "Rogue Heroes" and the...

Anyone who's owned a pet knows that they have a psychic ability to detect when you're heading to the vet and suddenly be scarce or need to go outside for an extended period. With cats, it's even more fun because you need to get them into a cat carrier so they're safe...

Humanity has split into four tribes based on the four elements: Earth, Fire, Air, and Water. A small group of people in each tribe, called "benders", have the ability to manipulate a specific element. A firebender can command fire, a waterbender controls water, and so...

There's something enjoyable about having a board game with tons of miniatures and a complex board to set up, and many modern board gamers love titles like Gloomhaven, Twilight Imperium, or Railways of the World because of the immersive nature of having a 4'x8' table...

Jurassic Park was a blockbuster movie that instantly made dinosaurs cool again. Who wouldn't want to visit Isla Nublar, enjoy the Disneyland-esque facility and gawk at actual living dinosaurs? Okay, it didn't work out too well for the first group of visitors in the...