Playing Card Information

Dale Yu: Review of Questline

Questline Designers: Marc-Andre Lavoie and Martin Lavoie Publisher: Thunderworks Players: 1-6 Age: 14+ Time: 15 minutes Preorder link – https://thunderworksgames.com/products/questline-card-game Played with review copy provided by publisher In Questline, players compete to earn the most reputation stars by … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/05/05/dale-yu-review-of-questline/">Continue reading →</a>

Designer Diary: Colossi

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=20006" >John Drexler</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7591462"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/PeX341Ah5O4DBUNphPWgRA__small/img/2mljdsXohFJhoA_8uFXYAi0H2iI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic7591462.png" border=0></a></div> This is the story of how I published my first game <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/393230/colossi" >Colossi</a>. I learned 100 hard lessons along the way. But the most interesting are the bookends: how it started, and how I eventually realized I was done designing. The Conception In 2016, I was trying to design a huge, wildly ambitious superhero RPG with my friend Walter Somerville. Being new designers, we of course picked the hardest possible first project. The game was doomed, but it got our creative wheels turning. One afternoon I was on a walk with my friend Mitch, and I tried to explain a combat system I'd been developing. It was just one piece of this massive, sprawling idea. The explanation came out garbled. Mitch nodded politely, tried to play it back to me, and his version was completely wrong. It was also better than mine. That's where Colossi started. Years later in 2020, humbled by several other failed ambitious projects, I excavated just that one combat mechanism: preparing cards in three environments at once, because you don’t know which hand you’ll play next. And that was a good enough idea to build a much smaller game around. I think a lot about <a href="https://catacombian.com/blog/where-do-good-ideas-in-game-design-come-from" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">where good game ideas come from</a>. Good game ideas are everywhere, for those with eyes to see and ears to hear. A painter sees the world in color, light, and shadow. Game designers see games everywhere: complicated real world systems, war, funny social situations, etc. Our job is just to stay open and pay attention. In this case, a great idea came from a friend's misunderstanding of my bad idea. Sometimes you get lucky. Day 1 <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9542965"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/2FKSJprsC7hxe8sRyaRCFw__small/img/ezZ0wX1AOSuUa1RXDpg5KTYcfxc=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9542965.png" border=0></a></div></center> The picture above is literally day one of Colossi. Pencil, paper, and the simplest possible implementation. I prototype fast and furious: get the idea out of my head and onto the table so I can see whether it has legs. <a href="https://catacombian.com/blog/escape-the-mind-palace-keep-your-game-prototype-playable" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">I've written about this at length elsewhere</a>. A game only becomes a game when someone can pick it up and play it. Before that, it’s merely a thought experiment. Colossi came to life because I kept putting it in front of people, starting on day one. From that first sketch, the structural hook was already there. Three Environments. Both players have identical starting decks. And, critically, you don't know which Environment will resolve first. So you're preparing three hands at once across three lanes, hedging across all of them. Because when a fight breaks out, you better have a well constructed hand with synergies and combos in that environment (originally called “Zone”). "How much craziness can this scaffolding hold?" My design process is typically: 1. Build a strong and compelling base scaffolding. 2. Pressure test how much wild stuff the scaffolding can hold. I strive for the experience where a player picks up a card and says, “No way. Am I seriously allowed to do that? And if I combo it with this other card… that must be broken…” And then it works. A lot of the cards from my first iteration were simply elemental cards like water, fire, and electric, to build up power to win an environment. But I gradually started layering in crazier card types with big exciting effects. The Colossus cards represent your special abilities as a Colossus. These cards all feel like cheating. Heap lets you tuck any number of your cards under itself and count them all toward its power. This allows you to make use of low power cards, dramatically change your hand size, and negate negative effect cards all at once. It’s a great example of a huge, out of the ordinary moment that makes Colossi feel so exciting. Manifest literally says "play another card from your hand, even if you're not allowed to play that card right now." I kept waiting for Manifest to break the game. But it just worked. Another breakthrough was Abduct. There is a set of Beast type cards, that directly attack your opponent by forcing them to lose cards. Everyone starts Colossi with identical decks, which I was attached to because it puts tactics ahead of luck. But the game really came alive when I introduced a Beast card that lets you steal a card your opponent has played and making it part of your deck. Slowly, over the course of a match, the decks drift apart. By the final Skirmish, the composition of what you're drawing from is meaningfully different from what you started with. In a few games, testers abducted their opponent’s Abduct card! Things got crazy, but the game didn’t break, and it was still pretty fair. That gradual asymmetry was a breakthrough. The identical starting decks give the game its fairness. Abduct (and eventually other cards that warp the decks) gives it an arc. Now that Colossi’s foundation felt solid, I started asking how many crazy cards I could fit into the game. The answer, it turns out, is quite a lot. I developed the player decks quite a bit, and got it to a place where there was a fun and surprising set of synergies and counters. But the game needed more. The first big addition came from a test with Walter. He suggested that every Environment should have its own unique rule, something that rewrites a part of the game. That single observation cracked the project wide open. Sacrifice Mountain makes you discard cards onto an opponent's deck. Magnetic Maar pulls cards from other environments into play. Glass River has you prepare cards face-up, totally inverting the strategy. Suddenly every session played like its own mini-game. Each Environment now had personality, and felt like a real place. This was the right level of complexity for new players. But some of my testers had now played the game dozens of times. I had lots more ideas for things that were too crazy to fit into the base deck. Things that you don’t want to happen four times in a game. So I added Items: single-use cards that are randomly distributed to Environments and let you pull off enormous, game-warping plays. A few of my favorites: Ebenezer: Discard your entire hand. If you discarded at least 4 cards, this card gives you +15 power. Wager: Guess out loud who will win this Skirmish. If you're right, draw 2 cards from your deck and prepare them on the next Environment. If you're wrong, discard all the cards you have prepared on all Environments. Terraformer: Destroy both non-active Environments, and replace them with new ones from the deck. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9542966"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/UTbug7yVeqvbGGrgD9sbVw__small/img/i7BMw1nR7EZMF7d6hJi4KHUe188=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9542966.png" border=0></a></div></center> The random combinations of Environments and Items created a genuinely dynamic problem to solve. Matching the synergies and counters in your deck to the environments and items available turned into an addictive game loop. Layer on the dynamic of your opponent bluffing and putting together counters of their own? I had a good game on my hands. Hiring an Artist These environments were the centerpiece of the game. They deserved oversized cards and gorgeous art. I found my artist <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/71550/sean-thurlow" >Sean Thurlow</a> (<a href="https://www.instagram.com/seanthurlow/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a>) right here on a BGG forum! Sean does environment art professionally for video games and animated shows. Handing Sean the brief of "here are twenty ridiculous Environments, go nuts" was a dream. Art sells games. Without Sean, I would not have had a successful Kickstarter. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9542974"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/sklKWIZlcdlxdqHZyhOp9w__small/img/WRFJrO8Hs1dLxTJZygLUxOwppR8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9542974.png" border=0></a></div></center> The Graveyard For everything that made it into the final game, two or three things got cut. My list of cut content is bigger than the game itself. Most of the cut cards fell into the following categories: 1. Too many edge cases: The most instructive cut was a card called Hypnotize: "choose an opponent; for their next turn, they must play three cards in a row." It was a fun deviation from the normal gameplay. It was also an edge-case machine. What if the hypnotized player also has a Hypnotize? What if another card interrupts them mid-turn? What if they only have two cards in hand? Every playtest produced a new ruling, so out it went. 2. Redundancy / too same-y: since I’m optimizing for big, crazy, exciting moments, it was critical to not have a lot of cards that do nearly the same thing. I even had a good number of cards like Recreate that let you copy a Divine Gift or Beast effect an opponent had just played, and it was fine, but it just repeated an effect you just saw, and it fell flat. 3. Mechanically sound, but a vibe killer: I like games where you can really mess with your opponent. But I ran into some ideas that just felt awful. Some cards felt like you were a big brother bullying your little brother, and at the table it just felt bad. Putting It Down After 18 months of grinding on this game, I burned out. Colossi was close to done, but I couldn't tell what "done" meant anymore. It felt like there was no end to testing and idea generation. I got overwhelmed and tired, and went to work on other games. I made a web based <a href="https://thesocialgame.gg/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">social game</a>. I developed new board game ideas. I set Colossi aside for nearly a year. The revival happened at a work retreat. A coworker had heard I made games and asked me to bring one along. I was down on Colossi at the time and brought it reluctantly. They loved it. They pushed me to finish it. It had problems, but I had fresh eyes and more design experience. This was the test where I really honed in on Items, and refined how you use them. I was ready for the final stretch. Testing and development are arduous. Progress stalls. You lose perspective. You need kind people around who will remind you that the thing you made is worth finishing. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9542972"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/0xtPe0enSgXpwRLKr-0bqg__small/img/F9-vdICAJma6nnVJYK_SZia2JSE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9542972.png" border=0></a></div></center> Knowing When To Stop When I came back to Colossi, I was energized and started piling on new ideas again. Now that I had the right form factor for Items, the ideas were flowing. I played it dozens more times, mostly with my friend Chris Thornton. Chris is a star playtester and a brilliant designer in his own right. He'd been brainstorming alongside me for years. After one test he said, “Every new idea either breaks the game, is redundant, or would turn Colossi into a fundamentally different game." The graveyard was bigger than the game. It was extremely difficult to come up with new crazy things that made the game better. And that was the sign that I was done. This is a great heuristic to know when something is done. There’s no stone left unturned. You’ve tried everything. And every new idea hurts the game instead of enhancing it. It was a weight off my shoulders. Because he was right. The foundation was holding absurd amounts of crazy: players stealing each other's cards, cycling half a deck in a turn, manifesting Beast cards out of nowhere, forcing mass discards, and the game still played fair, fast, and exciting. The cup was full of water, and it wouldn't take any more water. Time to print. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9542975"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/oYCTQlI2xugP85VT5ZfPUw__small/img/fJTuEtefBzTPvtQHFMl800bRwwQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9542975.png" border=0></a></div></center> Self-publishing I ran Colossi as a <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/catacombian/colossi?ref=bggforums&term=colossi&total_hits=27&category_id=34" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Kickstarter</a> through my own publisher, <a href="https://catacombian.com/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Catacombian</a>. Many backers took a chance on the game, got it into production, and carried it across the finish line. Self-publishing means you learn every part of the pipeline whether you want to or not: manufacturing overseas, freight and customs, CE testing, warehousing, fulfillment (domestic and international), distribution, retail outreach, reviews, advertising, and the long, slow work of getting the game onto shelves. Each of those is its own game, with its own rules, and most of them do not come with a rulebook. I would not have done any of it without the playtesters, the backers, and the wave of designers and publishers I pestered for advice along the way. The board game community is weirdly, disproportionately generous. If you're working on something, keep asking people for help. They will help. It is noteworthy that the story of Colossi mentions so many other people. Game designers have nothing without friends, testers, and collaborators. Thanks Colossi is available now on our <a href="https://catacombian.com/colossi" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">website</a> and in select retail stores. If you'd like to go deeper on the design process, including a longer conversation about where good ideas come from, I talk extensively about this process in my <a href="https://catacombian.com/blog" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">blog</a> / <a href="https://notesonplay.transistor.fm/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">podcast</a> / <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@catacombiangames" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">YouTube</a> / <a href="https://www.instagram.com/catacombiangames" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Instagram</a> / <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/catacombian.com" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Bluesky</a>.

Discover Anthropologie's unique watercolor dog playing cards that double as art

Everybody wants them.

Josiah’s Monthly Board Game Round-Up – April 2026

April 2026 Games I played for the first time this month, from worst to best, along with my ratings and comments. Barcelona – 7/10 Barcelona is the third Dani Garcia game I’ve played. My first was Arborea, which is well-loved … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/05/04/josiahs-monthly-board-game-round-up-april-2026/">Continue reading →</a>

Patience is a Virtue

Often, that meant Schmeven and I were explaining what actions were possible at each of the three locations available to Slim on that turn, which meant talking through the possible outcomes of SIX different actions.Every turn.When I do a full teach of any serious strategy game for new players—this exact scenario happened just two weeks ago, when I got to play Chicago 1875: City of the Big Shoulders with a couple new players—I just turn my brain off completely when it comes to building my own in-g

Adaptation Diary: Making Witchcraft! Digital

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=19992" >Mantita Games</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7442805"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/sfgo3BXIx9lE_OP1sOnzwA__small/img/R3D3u6uZQ2cUI8ehs3c-VxUzXy0=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic7442805.jpg" border=0></a></div> We'd been kicking around the idea of a digital card game for a while, and when we landed on <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/383499/witchcraft" >Witchcraft!</a> it all clicked. It's a fantastic game, with a really powerful card mechanic, and on top of that it has the kind of complex, demanding strategy that hooks us. We love hard games — the ones that make you think — and Witchcraft! was a perfect fit. So we got to work. [heading]The challenge we thought would be the big one: the interface[/heading] The first thing that worried us was how to translate the reveal/hide card mechanic to a screen. It's the game's most distinctive feature, and on the table it's completely intuitive — the card is split in two and you can see both sides clearly. In digital… well, that was another story. How was the player going to keep track of which side they were playing? How would they choose? Our first instinct was drag-and-drop. We went all in and built a system where, when you picked up a card, two distinct zones appeared and you dropped it into one or the other depending on the side you wanted to play. On paper it looked great. We tried it on mobile and it fell apart: clunky, unclear, artificial. Our second idea was to put two little buttons, one on each side of the card. Our designer really went for it here — he came up with some lovely buttons, full of personality — and with that solution we reached our first testing phase feeling pretty good. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9531720"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/ZYgqBv7ny3oI216i9E9Mkw__small/img/Sm9yKKZrYQPiyjTCiD7O6JWtxrU=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9531720.png" border=0></a></div></center> And then the first two people who tried it told us the same thing, with almost the same look on their faces: why can't I just tap the side of the card I want to play? We looked at each other. We felt a bit silly. And right then it hit us — the solution had been right under our noses the whole time. No dragging, no buttons, no inventions. Just tap the card. Sometimes the road to the obvious is longer than it should be. [heading]Meanwhile, on the visual side[/heading] While we were tangled up with the interaction question, there was another thing on our plate: how all this was going to look. And here we had a huge head start — <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/34140/albert-monteys" >Albert Monteys's</a> illustrations. Honestly, just dropping them into the mobile layout already did half the work. I mean, wow. With illustrations at that level, the question wasn't whether they'd hold up — it was how we were going to make the design around them live up to them. Luckily, the original game's graphic design was done by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/119639/meeple-foundry" >Meeple Foundry</a>, so we weren't starting from scratch — not even close. Everything was very well prepared to edit and tweak, and there was a clear design language that helped us enormously in figuring out where to take things. From there, we put together some pretty scrappy wireframes — really scrappy — and handed them to our designer, Lorenzo Berzosa, who helped us pull it all together in a consistent, coherent way. We knew what we wanted on each screen; he turned those sketches into something that actually holds up visually. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9531731"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/s6IfGwL3nb9f1xDq8hHdYQ__small/img/-ekBdBwN0_CDiqLVNZFI6Y0LXyc=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9531731.png" border=0></a></div></center> <center>Ugly wireframes</center> <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9531732"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Yf0Df9zBm5xhR1KjtdaTRg__small/img/Z8vrvGJ5S29U4L8rhnHqtylugE8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9531732.png" border=0></a></div></center> <center>Actual designer work</center> [heading]The challenge we didn't see coming: the tutorial[/heading] In our heads, teaching people to play Witchcraft! wasn't going to be complicated. The rulebook is short. The mechanic didn't seem convoluted to us. We had it figured out. Our first tutorial was a disaster. Most of our early testers got lost in the tutorial. Yes, lost. They understood the individual actions, but not how they connected to each other or why they mattered. That's when we remembered one of the harshest lessons in development: just because you understand something after months up to your neck in it doesn't mean it's easy to explain. If anything, it usually means the opposite. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9531740"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/79F8ZZeLcGjRLImcbMtl-A__small/img/NZL5Eu3iMjLLyHSRmO4a2PL5TtM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9531740.png" border=0></a></div></center> We went back at it. We rethought the pacing, changed the order of the concepts, cut things, swapped explanations for playable examples, cut again… and bit by bit the tutorial started to work. There was no single magic change — it was pure iteration: try it, see where people get lost, adjust, try again. Even now there's still room to grow, especially because the game has so many strategic layers and it's hard to cover all of that in five steps. [heading]And then came the fun part: the campaign[/heading] I'll admit, the campaign was by far what I enjoyed programming the most. It was exciting and challenging in equal measure. On the architecture side, we were able to put together something pretty solid that let us configure each tale almost automatically, and from there it was test, test, and test. I got pretty obsessed with the final tale. In fact, I started to believe it was impossible. I remember anxiously asking Salt & Pepper: but has anyone actually beaten the game? Is it even possible? Until one night, at three in the morning… I did it. The achievement system popped up right on cue telling me I'd completed the campaign, and I almost teared up. An epic moment I keep with a lot of fondness. [heading]Magical challenge unlocked[/heading] It's been a long road. A lot of design revisions, a lot of hours in front of the code, and the involvement of a bunch of testers who got really invested and contributed ideas and suggestions that ended up shaping the game you can play today. This digital Witchcraft! is, in large part, theirs too. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9531734"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/f6ZZvk6T-ogQbhSy9K-diQ__small/img/YcZTpHgewRqPPOReYhPXwMsDBHI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9531734.png" border=0></a></div></center> On April 15th, 2026 we went live in the <a href="https://mantita.games/witchcraft/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">stores</a>. And with the launch comes another pile of lessons learned… but that's for another day. Thanks for reading.

Race for the Galaxy: Xeno Counterstrike Designer Preview

Introduced in the Xeno Invasion expansion, the Xenos are a violent xenophobic alien race that cannot be negotiated with.Taking place after their invasion of galactic space, Xeno Counterstrike portrays the galactic empire's expansion through the frontier zone into Xeno space.Xeno Counterstrike features two play experiences: a frontier game, with powerful new worlds to explore and settle, and a bonus counterstrike game, which continues the invasion game from Xeno Invasion and takes the fight to th

On-The-Go with the New Releases from Hachette Boardgames USA

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=10014" >Steph Hodge</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/7268927"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/vz_DTOzh6LL1InIq3653rg__small/img/Q1z8kA8BBno3u9_x-4SqtVWntKM=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic7268927.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/16092/hachette-boardgames-usa" >Hachette Boardgames USA</a> has been on it with announcing new games! Today, I will highlight some of the smaller games coming out in the next several months. [imageid=8969959 medium Rep]▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/404845/canal-houses" >Canal Houses</a> just released this April and should already be hitting the stores. From the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/155/gigamic" >Gigamic</a> catalog, Canal Houses is a 20-minute game where you build up the beautiful streets of Amsterdam. The colorful houses and charming artwork are used for scoring at the end of the game. From the newsletter: <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>Each round, players pick a card from their hand and build it simultaneously, then pass the remaining cards to the next player. Refresh your hand by drawing a new card type—base, floor, or roof, and keep crafting your architectural masterpiece. To complete a house, you’ll need to build from the ground up: start with a base, stack any number of floors, and top it off with a roof. Simple to learn and quick to play, Canal Houses is the perfect mix of strategy and charm.</div></div> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9341318"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/0eV7TJ4KaCaKyIidKk9c4w__small/img/nWr-NiOmpYV1zzI24YuIQWH13aE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9341318.jpg" border=0></a></div>▪️ Another new release from Gigamic is <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/428776/pirate-king" >Pirate King!</a> this June! Pirate King is a push-your-luck card game for 2-5 players and will play in about 15 minutes. Pick your captain and build your deck, but don't be too greedy, or you just might bust out. <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>Every round, players will reveal cards simultaneously, one by one, from their own deck. Revealed swords lets players gain creatures with special powers. Revealing gold allows players to draft treasures into their decks. Be careful though, reveal 3 skulls and you bust! With its wacky effects, unpredictable treasures, and monsters to battle, Pirate King offers a dynamic experience blending tactics, luck, and dirty tricks. Ideal for groups looking for a fast-paced, fun, and slightly chaotic game.</div></div> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9519854"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/utXqwT6Wkn-WM64X2ZOM1g__small/img/6d25t6KAPXQXh2LfSuRs4F8q9ME=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9519854.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/468567/leaf-it" >Leaf It!</a> is a new dexterity game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/33419/edition-spielwiese" >Edition Spielwiese</a> releasing this June. Leaf It plays 2-4 players and takes about 10-20 minutes. There is a mix of memory and dexterity as you have to assemble the canopy and then dismantle it, collecting the most valuable animals as you do. From the newsletter: <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>Leaf It! requires a mix of steady hands, a good memory, and a little bit of luck. When it's your turn, you must place a card onto the growing canopy, making sure it doesn't collapse. The Rule: You must always cover the animal on the previous card. The Strategy: Try to remember exactly where you (and your opponents) placed the cards with the most valuable animals! After all cards have been placed it's time to Dismantle the Tree! Players take turns carefully drawing cards back out of the treetop. Grab the cards you remember having the most points. Be careful: the canopy is highly unstable. If you cause it to collapse, you will be penalized!</div></div> <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9553171"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/kC-dwLVBUN_bIUKNT9tojQ__small/img/DWx0S52MTxudEMGfXb3GFALN5mY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9553171.png" border=0></a></div></center> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/3646116"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/qhHd-RmJrun9TqHtqmQIlw__small/img/-p7ZBSugKK3afa7APXXHdky92Rk=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic3646116.jpg" border=0></a></div>▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/3490/huch" >HUCH!</a> is a new partner with Hachette, and they just announced 3 mini games releasing this May! All of the games support 2-5 players and can be played in about 15 minutes. <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8644688"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/SYq7spKLxPWeN9_M5ljcXA__small/img/5VRDmklJzl40juDFvMAvDilT1os=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8644688.jpg" border=0></a></div> <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>In <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/419328/blue-penguin" >Blue Penguin</a>, each player tries to attract the cutest penguins—the smaller they are, the cuter they are! The problem is that penguins always follow the bigger ones. On their turn, each player places a “penguin” card and draws a new one. The player who plays the card with the highest number collects all the cards played that round and becomes the first player for the next turn. The game ends once all cards have been played, and scores are calculated based on colors, not numbers.</div></div> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8644667"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/b2nauuu9tlGXXJAg205zfA__small/img/bR-0esf6LZuFmm6VRXjuxH14p2A=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8644667.jpg" border=0></a></div> <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>In <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/419327/meteo" >Meteo</a>, players try to pick the best weather conditions for a last-minute vacation. At the start of the game, six visible “weather” cards are randomly paired with hidden “sky” cards of different colors, and each player gets to secretly look at one. The “sky” cards are revealed one by one. At any moment, a player can interrupt the process by saying “I’m going!” to stop the reveals and claim the cards they think will earn them the most points.</div></div> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8723428"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/bdjHt6J_VgtR-Ma9C15BXA__small/img/OlCyK58Fti45EBq-Czj4tkAfxlg=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8723428.jpg" border=0></a></div> <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>In <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/437130/wool-street" >Wool Street,</a> players buy and sell cards representing woolen garments in six different types, hoping to collect those that score points while selling off those that bring penalties. On their turn, players draw a card and must place it on a pile of the same garment type (e.g., sweaters with sweaters). Then, they can choose to sell a garment card by placing it in the center of the table or buy one from the center. The first pile to reach 7 cards scores 2 points per card of that type for players who bought them; the second pile scores 1 point, but the fourth and fifth piles result in point losses!</div></div> If you are on the go or are looking for some quicker games for the collection, these seem like they would fit the bill.

Dale Yu: Review of DC Breakout Arkham Asylum

DC Breakout Arkham Asylum Designers: Brian, Sydney and Geoff Engelstein Publisher: Wizkids Players: 2-6 Age: 8+ Time: 30-45 minutes Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher Make a mad dash out of Arkham Asylum – … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/04/29/dale-yu-review-of-dc-breakout-arkham-asylum/">Continue reading →</a>

Designer Diary: President

The issue was that every extra rule took energy away from the real experience: reading the table, making alliances, lying convincingly, spotting opportunities, and reacting quickly.That became my filter for every design decision: does this rule improve the social engine of the game, or does it merely make the system denser?If it only made the system denser, it had to go.Scaling to Ten PlayersFrom the beginning, I wanted a game that could work in big groups. Part of that came from watching large

Dale Yu: Review of Gretchen’s Garden

Gretchen’s Garden Designer: Jay Bendixen, Ryan Boucher Publisher: Lookout Games Players: 2-4 Age: 10+ Time: 45 minutes Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher In Gretchen’s Garden, players compete in selecting the most precious succulents … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/04/28/dale-yu-review-of-gretchens-garden/">Continue reading →</a>

Matt Carlson: Review of 20 Strong – Tanglewoods

In 20 Strong Tanglewoods, one takes on the role of their favorite fairytale protagonist in this solo dice-rolling game of adventure. Gamers looking for a card-based, solo, lightweight dungeon crawling experience should check it out. 20 Strong is a series … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/04/27/matt-carlson-review-of-20-strong-tanglewoods/">Continue reading →</a>

Two-Handed, Intentionally

These days, half the games I review have a dedicated solo mode that simulates a two-player game, or—in what is becoming my growing preference—automas, geared by difficulty level, that can be added to multiplayer games to simulate a higher player count.And many of the board games I want to play have a dedicated app or an implementation on Board Game Arena or Yucata, so if I really want to play, say, Race for the Galaxy by myself, I don’t have to two-hand it…I can just pull out my iPad and play ag

Dale Yu: Review of Carcassone Big Box (aka Carcassone Big Box 7 on BGG)

Carcassone Big Box Designer: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede Publisher: Hans im Glueck, Z-Man Players: 2-6 Age: 10+ Time: 35 min + Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/41u2FXV Played with review copy provided by publisher THE ULTIMATE CARCASSONNE EXPERIENCE: The Carcassonne Big Box … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/04/27/dale-yu-review-of-carcassone-big-box-aka-carcassone-big-box-7-on-bgg/">Continue reading →</a>

Designer Diary: Inkwell

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=18982" >Jasper Beatrix</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8897534"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/lQKpaeFl3jgiFV3T-XEsiA__small/img/Jhffax6yS2-T9vy3US6J9Nb22wA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8897534.png" border=0></a></div> Game design is a journey, and one without a clear path, nor a clear end. Everything you imagine at the beginning is full of passion and hope, but so much in flux. What you will make is an unknown distance in time and space from where you are now: in theme, in mechanics, in style. We sometimes feel that we have changed as much as the game. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/442307/inkwell" >Inkwell</a>, for example, goes back to a long car ride during the muted holiday season of 2020. Who were you back then? Who were we? And what was this game? <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516201"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/HlznjBxGKMRgz3uMjtZJ6w__small/img/qonk_3hPphXuN0l0mkHCiMmCIbo=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516201.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> 2020 Julia & I, having previously worked together on <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/296892/sacred-rites" >Sacred Rites</a>, had a chat during my long ride up from NYC to Syracuse, New York, primarily because I am terrible at long solo drives. The topic was, primarily, a game that was about turning pages. The brainstorm phase is like fishing about for infinite fish. Would it be a game with actual books? Folded boards? Large cards that flip off a deck? We discussed word puzzles, roll-and-writes, worker placement, token placement, dice management, hand management. But there was this focus on the verb of play that helped guide us: Turning the page. But that brought so many questions of its own. Does the page turn permanently? Can it turn back? Does a player know what is coming? Can they travel a book as they would a player board? Or is it a one-way trip? Do they choose future pages? Or choose to stick with what they have? But in the end we called our shots; after three hours I had reached my destination, and in the end, the game was not built from a hundred ideas. It was built from a few, whichever ones we felt like pursuing, even if it led to disaster. It isn’t the right phase to be right; it was the opportunity to be wrong. We were stumbling in the dark, and as usual, enjoying it. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516208"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/gUn50mMiuTmEb83uE_Pm0A__small/img/3nG24dmWlxnPGC5vot7ouduyRWY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516208.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> 2021 After the holidays I looked back at our notes and prepared a first shot at what we called ‘CODICES’, which was about old books and rolling dice, and we liked the clever feeling of sneaking the word ‘dice’ into the title. The idea was straightforward, at least at the time: Two sets of dice would be rolled, with one representing the ink color, and the other a numerical value. Each player would be limited to playing their numerical value on a space of the chosen color or filling pre-designated color spaces. There were other mechanics around pleasing patrons with bonus scoring for certain numbers and collecting gold leaf to decorate the pages. And, at each player’s leisure, they could turn pages back and forth to score in different parts of their book. This left us in that most cursed of playtesting situations, once we got others to play: The game was interesting but not fun. This is a drag, to acknowledge that it felt fresh, and unfortunately, not special. We had a string of such designs around this time, grasping at creativity in the wake of so much going on in the world around us. We tried to iterate in large amounts in different directions. This meant trying a version where the board was only a grid and was filled in to build patterns from pattern cards, as if to form illustrations. We tried word puzzles and drawing games. We tried returning to numbers again and moving from collective dice use to dice gathering done privately by turn, with each player gathering dice and exchanging them as if to gather their supplies. We also messed with applying force on the players, either through the action of another player, or through some sort of counter that players could affect, like a flexible game timer. What was disheartening about this, as it often is, is that each attempt felt, somehow, worse. The passion was replaced by a grind of ideas and attempts. Band-aids on band-aids. Its journey almost ended. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516249"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/W7sSdvxIhFMNfYnGZxkKQw__small/img/UMlFW-08_TCx4k3ZNekPXPQ2YIo=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516249.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> 2022 The game languished here, and that is important to acknowledge. We felt like we were done making games, and there was this process of ‘putting it all away’ that was quite sad. Turning the page, as it were. We recycled a lot of boxes, papers, bits. More than we probably should have. Of this project, all that was left, perhaps accidentally, was the bag of ink dice, and a single printed page. Fossilized, like many projects end up. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516242"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/XUFUFV7YpMAXYHS7TCP0SA__small/img/sgVFJJM_a2C4uS7w6FcjcQ_RSbI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516242.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> 2023 The spark that helped us form DVC is for another time, but in that came two lovely things: Restrictions, and passion. We wanted to get back to making things. New designs abounded, but two old cartons of prototypes were dug up and rehomed. In all that was that little fossil, the dice and the page, and it was like a bolt of lightning. Who was that? The person that made this? And there was a surprise: Likely falling from another prototype, we also found a single real metal cube, a gold one, in the box with what was left of the game. Huh. It got repackaged and placed on a shelf. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516254"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/vnxdJHR2mo9gjwAi5P0WbA__small/img/km7C6jV5R6nB44WC1zNkiM-i5KQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516254.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> 2024 With a baby on the way, there was a sense of urgency for our little crew of friends and family. A whirlwind of work. Old designs found in that same process, repackaged the year before, were all the rage. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/428284/here-lies" >Here Lies</a>. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/432520/karnak" >Karnak</a>. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/286770/rosetta-the-lost-language" >Rosetta</a>. And a mess of others that have not surfaced quite yet. I began to make myself a little package of projects to work on later, as a promise. I dug up old files and put them in the cloud. It was about this time we also got a chance to play a prototype by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167724/lewis-graye" >Lewis Graye</a>, who has used paint cubes to represent the gathering and mixing of colors. There was even a touch of the colors 'matching’ the paintings they were paid for, and the cubes were taken from available inkwells to use. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516256"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/rl77w4dubWlz3Pi3erVNRA__small/img/MKRUfytYnjtIJydCkiglIoXMDro=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516256.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> 2025 About two weeks after our little one was born, I was up all night keeping an eye on him and digging through those old files I had set aside, squinting at my phone. I hadn’t really designed anything in months, I was so nervous about being a parent. Game design felt so small, so unimportant. But, in that chair, something clicked. Or really, everything clicked. Lewis was onto something. Inkwell ultimately became a drafting game, but designing it was also a drafting game, as the process of making something is often a game itself. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516259"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/pneQGBJtO41kdjh26jI__w__small/img/b0D41jZUzV449hNAXPEtyNUMhRk=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516259.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> I got together with Lewis, as well as long-time collaborator <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167723/joey-palluconi" >Joey Palluconi,</a> who had some thoughts about asymmetrical inkwells after discussing the old design. We began writing on cards, and quickly had arrays of cube spaces opposite pages of abilities. Then a central mat of abilities and cubes mixed together. Then a reset timer controlled by player choices. There was a debate of the abilities themselves, and the desire to let them combine and build engines pleased players more than punished. Joey, Lewis, and many of us had recently liked cozy games, ones that let us converse while we ‘did the fun thing’. That, maybe, was the drive in the end. Meditation, reward, beauty, straightforwardness. Younger me would have scoffed. But now, all of us in our struggles, me as a new parent? Inkwell playtests became a safe space of quiet, even as a designer. The three of us held clandestine little meetings at larger game nights, sheltering in the project as the world swirled around us. You see, I am used to some common questions about game design. Where do ideas come from? How long does it take? How do you know what works? <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9516264"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/lS9ob94EP2pXeeMmUToy6g__small/img/nDeG7xVLSJBLvcL5z9_596sAMWc=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9516264.jpg" border=0></a></div></center> Inkwell was built on work by quite a few people, but more specifically, it drafted many of its ideas from itself over the course of years. The segments of this diary in bold show where parts of the final design first surfaced, even if ignored. It took time to realize which fit where, what matched, what did well. Each iteration was like a turn of the page, where we would get a score and try again. This game, as a design, was a comfort to us after a long journey. We hope you can make some tea, play some lo-fi music, place cubes, and hopefully breathe with us and think of how incredible it is for anything to get to its destination: here and now. With love, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/120100/jono-naito" >Jono Naito-Tetro</a> DVC co-founder

Designer Diary: OUTFOX the FOX

If I could make a trivia party game that BOTH of us loved, I knew it could be a hit.Hold Your HorsesMy first prototype was horse-racing themed and featured top 10 lists, such as:• Countries with the largest populations• Movies with the highest ratings on IMDb• The most popular sports in the worldThe game provided three of the ten answers in random order and asked each player to come up with an answer and write it on a mini-whiteboard. Then players could place horse-racing style bets for which of

Dale Yu: Review of Expansions: Faraway: Under Starry Skies and Castle Combo: Out of the Oubliette!

Well, in recent years, the genre of the Tableau Builder has been one of more popular ones. Two big hits of the past few years Faraway (2023) and Castle Combo (2024) have each recently had an expansion. Each … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/04/24/dale-yu-review-of-expansions-faraway-under-starry-skies-and-castle-combo-out-of-the-oubliette/">Continue reading →</a>

Gathering of Friends 2026 report – What I played

So, each year (well, nearly each year) since 2000, I have been able to attend the Gathering of Friends – an invitational event which is unlike any other that I go to. The Friends all meet at a hotel, and … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/04/23/gathering-of-friends-2026-report-what-i-played/">Continue reading →</a>

Heavy is the Head that Wears the Crown

This sequel builds on that foundation with: ▪️ a deeper ideology system, with opposing principles that constantly pull the kingdom in different directions ▪️ memorable council members with their own backgrounds, public alignments, and secret agendas that shape debates and long-term goals ▪️ an expanded economy and territory management system, where regions can rise in influence or fall into unrest, directly impacting negotiations and map development ▪️ a refined Dilemma Card System that unlocks

Designer Diary: Threaded

The tapestry cards and commission cards themselves haven't changed since the first prototype. Tapestry and commission cards, in prototype and final form.Shops and DestinationsThe ordering of the shops (destinations for workers) shifted several times during development.In earlier versions, the Bargain Box appeared before the Thread Shop. The logic was transparent: everything left in the thread shop at the end of a round would be added to the cube tower, so players knew exactly what they'd be comp