Playing Card Information

Publishers Talk about U.S. Tariffs

We're also considering delaying/postponing several crowdfunding campaigns and upcoming releases so that we can focus on selling existing stock in the USA."•••Mirroring a recent change by Alley Cat Games in its production of crowdfunded games, Justin Jacobson from Restoration Games says that in addition to increasing the MSRP on some upcoming titles, it will reduce "the number of units of our large KS games we plan to make available in distribution". More specifically, Restoration will work "on d

Gang attacks people playing cards at a club, robs them of ₹10 lakh, 700 grams of gold

A gang of over five masked men barged into a room at a club in Thyagaraja Nagar on March 31 evening and robbed 10 persons playing cards of reportedly ₹10 lakh and 700 grams of gold. The gang, armed with weapons, forced the victims to undress, snatched their mobile phones and clothes, locked up the victims in a room, and fled from the scene.

Explore Pocketopia to Discover Otters, Body Parts, Pastry, and Asymmetric Frogs

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=17" >W. Eric Martin</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8649169"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/r_SeBb-8IYaIfbePqWJwuw__small/img/kv0vUs3VHTpN0HP6xKrlymAB5gk=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8649169.jpg" border=0></a></div>In late March 2025, I included <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/440554/surplus-of-sloths" >Surplus of Sloths</a> in <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogpost/172440/puzzle-over-a-collection-of-dogs-cats-sloths-and-b" >a crowdfunding round-up</a>, and as it turns out that game is part of <a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/collections/pocketopia-2025" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Pocketopia</a>, a BackerKit project highlighting tiny tabletop games that ends, um, less than 24 hours from when this post goes live, a.k.a., April 3, 2025 at 20:00 GMT. Ah, well, I can't always help when I learn about things... In any case, here's a sampling of the 60+ titles being funded during Pocketopia: ▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/437228/pond-a-froggy-board-game" >Pond: A Froggy Board Game</a> is, in the words of BGG's Candice Harris, a "<a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/237182/root" >Root</a>-like" game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/104638/mingyang-lu" >MingYang Lu</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/47134/brother-ming-games" >Brother Ming Games</a>. Up to four players each control an asymmetric frog faction that you use to build your own deck while trying to gain control of parts of a pond. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/brother-ming-games/pond-frog-mayhem" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) ▪️ In December 2024, I <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogpost/168390/relive-the-twelve-labors-of-hercules-select-wrestl" >covered</a> <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/95860/leandre-proust" >Léandre Proust</a>'s <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/434356/micro-hero-hercules" >Micro Hero: Hercules</a>, a 1-2 player game in which you play through the twelve labors of Hercules, and now <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/155315/tyler-j-brown" >Tyler J. Brown</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/45346/envy-born-games" >Envy Born Games</a> are offering <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/436038/hercules-and-the-12-labors" >Hercules and the 12 Labors</a>, a solitaire card and dice game in which you strive to complete the twelve labors and ascend to godhood. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/envy-born-games/the-labors-of-herakles" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) To stay on theme, we need ten other games on this topic. Which game designers will undertake this labor? <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8805799"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/TasKOrVffl6PO9V9h-GvGA__small/img/4sJ0ibErgVbMbEj6jUY6iMLdhy0=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8805799.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center>Mock-up on display at GAMA Expo 2025</center> ▪️ Another solitaire game being funded is <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/400784/cats-gambit" >Cat's Gambit</a> from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/7108/ta-te-wu" >Ta-Te Wu</a> of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/9041/sunrise-tornado-game-studio" >Sunrise Tornado Game Studio</a>. This design challenges you to place chess-style cards one by one into a 4x4 grid, using your five special-powered pawns to protect your cat queen from attacks. If your queen is struck twice by cat-kens — ahem, cat krakens — then you lose. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/ta-te-wu/cat-s-gambit" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8806561"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/a__xxGO2Y-v9Ph1Gr6dj1w__small/img/hVsA-NlnZ2FcOXQHLpYs3fiP3pg=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8806561.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ Argumentation is a storytelling card game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/20866/jason-walters" >Jason Walters</a> of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/rpgpublisher/31244/high-rock-press" >High Rock Press</a> that lasts 2-4 hours in which 3-6 players "take on the role of underpaid instructors at a poorly funded liberal arts college, drinking burnt coffee in the faculty lounge and arguing about the nature of history between classes. They pose a series of great historical questions to one another, some counterfactual, others more abstract, which are answered using a selection of framing cards representing theories about the nature and function of the historical process. These include historical materialism, classical realism, dialectic idealism, Whig historiography, great man theory, paradigm shift, the fourth turning, negative conquest theory, and many others." ▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/439410/bluff-pastry" >Bluff Pastry</a> is a game for two chefs from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/rpgdesigner/130036/simon-birks" >Simon Birks</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/168084/marielle-bouleau" >Marielle Bouleau</a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/rpgpublisher/46523/blue-fox-publishing-limited" >Blue Fox Games</a> in which each of you is trying to get needed ingredients into your pie while possibly lying about what you're adding. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/blue-fox-publishing-limited/bluff-pastry" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8788239"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/q76pY4MZMQRZEImCzS0lDA__small/img/LPBiX5zy905mf6Y9Ubhf4m71R54=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8788239.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167559/mat-lorre" >Mat Lorre</a>'s <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/441211/shifted" >SHIFTED</a> from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/59017/terrorboxco" >terrorbox.co</a> is a 4-7 player social deduction game along the lines of Among Us, with some players trying to complete jobs aboard a spaceship, one player trying to make jobs fail, and one player trying to convert others to their kind. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/terrorbox-co/shifted-a-gewp-punk-social-deduction-wallet-game-in-space" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) ▪️ Bolted is a 2-4 player card game from David Malki !, creator of the <a href="https://wondermark.com/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Wondermark</a> comic, in which you attempt to assemble a friend from various body parts. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/wondermark/bolted-game" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) ▪️ Greeting Games from TTRPGkids consists of greeting cards and postcards that feature mini-games that you can complete yourself or mail to others. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/ttrpgkids/greeting-games-a-collection-of-gamified-greeting-cards-and-postcards" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) ▪️ <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/425532/otter" >Otter</a> is a 2-4 player card game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/111989/dylan-coyle" >Dylan Coyle</a> of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/56141/charming-games-collective" >Charming Games Collective</a> in which you're trying to shed all the cards in your hand to win a round. On a turn, you play a card on one of the three otter discard piles, matching one of the two rules for that pile, either the number rule or the suit rule. Match both rules, however, and you can play again. You can swap or flip rules at the cost of drawing a card from the deck. When someone empties their hand, they win the round, and all other players keep their hands, then draw up to ten cards, so even if you're not going out now, maybe you can craft your hand to plan for the future. (<a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/dylancoyle/otter" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">BK link</a>) <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8805835"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/uC6tUUKLuGPTWIg16uxxDw__small/img/qAy88VmU98tCkly2MehPu44N1V8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8805835.png" border=0></a></div></center>

Trick-Taking Week 2025: Most Innovative

This is the continuation of Trick-Taking Week 2025, where I’ll be posting trick-taking related content all week. We here at The Opinionated Gamers love trick-taking games, and as I wrote two years ago, many of the writers in this group … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/04/02/trick-taking-week-2025-most-innovative/">Continue reading →</a>

Alley Cat and Dr. Finn Change Course, and Corey Konieczka Listens to the Voices in His Head

He still plans to create tabletop games, but will pitch them to other companies instead of publishing them himself.▪️ In similar-ish news, after crowdfunding its 2025 release Baghdad: The City of Peace, a design by Fabio Lopiano and Nestore Mangone, publisher Alley Cat Games has retroactively transformed the retail edition of the game into a Kickstarter exclusive:Many of our more advanced games simply wouldn't be possible without your backing, but with the popularity of board games continuing to

Chris Priscott on Moving Moving Wild to Oink Games

The biggest shift was the change from a zoo-setting to a national park — something that felt more in line with conservation themes and gave the game a more open-ended feel.Bringing Moving Wild to Life with Oink GamesQ: How did Oink Games get involved?Chris: Oink Games discovered Zuuli at the UK Games Expo. One of their team members was intrigued by it and suggested we discuss publishing it. I had always admired Oink Games' design philosophy — compact, elegant, and easy-to-learn games with strate

Trick-Taking Week 2025: Most Beautiful

This is the continuation of Trick-Taking Week 2025, where I’ll be posting trick-taking related content all week. We here at The Opinionated Gamers love trick-taking games, and as I wrote two years ago, many of the writers in this group … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/04/01/trick-taking-week-2025-most-beautiful/">Continue reading →</a>

Vibe with Others to Brick Sculptures, Offer Advice, and Get Engaged

If more bells are face up than the number of players, the game ends, so be careful when revealing cards as the game might end before you can swap...In mid-March 2025, Cardboard Edison interviewed Allred and others with Lunarpunk about their focus on "unranked games", that is designs in which any number of players can win or in which winning is only one of the outcomes that players can pursue.▪️ Please be sure not to confuse Vibes with Vibes, a 2025 release from Nigerian publisher Gidi Games in w

Designer Diary: Quorum

An interesting challenge: balancing simplicity and strategy.Defining the LimitsWith clear premises, we began to define what the "rondel prototype" would be:• Game duration: 20-30 minutes, enough for agile games, without sacrificing playability or planning.• Number of players: From 2 to 4, an ideal range for dynamic games.• Main mechanism: A rondel with different scoring areas where players compete to obtain the best position.The next step was to define how the scoring would move within the ronde

Trick-Taking Week 2025: Top 10 Hidden Gems

This is the continuation of Trick-Taking Week 2025, where I’ll be posting trick-taking related content all week. We here at The Opinionated Gamers love trick-taking games, and as I wrote two years ago, many of the writers in this group … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/03/31/trick-taking-week-2025-top-10-hidden-gems/">Continue reading →</a>

Game Review: Nebula, or The Fault in Our Star Layouts

(I mean, you can do what you want, but should you wish to score points, pay attention to those objectives.) The first player to complete a public objective scores more points than anyone else who does so later, and the game ends when a certain number of player markers have been placed on completed objectives.Objectives will be along the lines of completing a particular constellation — that is, one of the four groups of six stars — with stars of exactly three colors, completing two adjacent const

Designer Notes: Vanguard Exiles

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=7016" >Richard Garfield</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8781420"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/ow3Ueb7FS1qzvsm0le5bBQ__small/img/sIOmHU5jrAExqlqvnPC8dhofZuQ=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8781420.png" border=0></a></div>Vanguard Exiles is a digital autobattler I have been working on for several years that has just entered <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/app/2745490/Vanguard_Exiles/" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">early access on Steam</a>. A number of elements might interest tabletop game players, so I thought I would share the story! TL;DR: If you are interested in autobattlers, you can find a demo of Vanguard Exiles on Steam. Autobattlers Are Amazing! I have been interested in the design space between table games and digital games for a while. I remember playing <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/videogame/70547/quake" >Quake</a>, finishing a session, then playing online <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/320/scrabble" >Scrabble</a>, and thinking how vast the space between these games was and what wondrous creations must live there. Designers have explored that territory in a slow and steady fashion, and these days with games like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/videogame/243386/slay-the-spire" >Slay the Spire</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/videogame/412996/balatro" >Balatro</a>, the number of games that fit there is growing rapidly. One genre that immediately piqued my interest was the autobattler, which became a genre with AutoChess. Now, depending on how you define the autobattler, it has been around a while. My definition is pretty broad: You make decisions, then there is an entertaining resolution. The resolution has to be complex enough to make it entertaining, so Rock Paper Scissors doesn't fit. By that definition, many tower-defense games are autobattlers, and some board games preceding AutoChess also qualify, including <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/18/roborally" >RoboRally</a> and (a game that influenced RoboRally) <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/623/swashbuckler-a-game-of-swordplay-and-derring-do" >Swashbuckler</a>. A game like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/24565/magical-athlete" >Magical Athlete</a> has a whiff of autobattler as well since the races are usually more of a spectator event than something with interesting decisions; the decisions are generally more about which racers to get and when to race them. The autobattler was kicked up a notch by Hearthstone Battlegrounds, and they have spread rapidly with excellent games such as Mechabellum and Once upon a Galaxy. The basic idea of all these games was "draft an army", then "watch them fight". Analog designers have attempted to bring this design entirely into the tablegame space with some success, like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/359970/challengers" >Challengers!</a> My games along those lines haven't been worth publishing; they are always fun, but I usually get the feeling "This would be more fun on a computer", and I end up setting it aside. My excursions into the digital space show more promise. Bringing Board Game to Autobattler What I wanted to explore in Vanguard Exiles was making the deployment of your army important. This was sometimes important in a game like <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/videogame/345748/storybook-brawl" >Storybook Brawl</a> or Hearthstone Battlegrounds, but the challenge was more frequently 90% about how you composed your army and 10% about what you did with them. To that end, I wanted to have a board, an exciting board with lots of interesting features that you placed your army on. When the deployment was done, your army would capture territory, wander around, and, of course, battle. We settled on having a dungeon-like map set on a hex grid. We would distribute rooms that would give a variety of victory points, gold, and other effects, like buffing your creatures or giving you extra units in future battles. This method deployment and battle has led to a game in which, maybe, it is 30% about your deck and 70% how you deploy. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8781413"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/dRaiSNl18jWQjlmO0l54Qw__small/img/8z7w8oVD7SXtFui3H8S8_9I8Scc=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8781413.png" border=0></a></div></center> Above you can see a typical map at the start of a game. There are four rooms worth 4, 3, 2, and 1 VP, as well as a corridor. I have three units to deploy. I could put them all in the most valuable room, and I would likely get that — but if my opponent spreads out, they will get more VP. So maybe I put no units in that room and spread out in the others, but then my opponent could take that room with a single unit, and if they double up in one of the rooms, I will (once again) lose. Of course, there are no right answers — just some better and worse ones (going all-in on the single point room is not so good), and every move can be outplayed if you are psychic. This isn't even getting into the differences between the units. The ranger I have can attack at a range of 1, so players will often deploy them in corridors, where they can't immediately capture but they can attack into neighboring rooms. Also, I have a unit with armor — my nail, which is unlikely to defeat anything by itself but can do a pretty good job at holding a room until the rest of the army gets there. Once you have deployed, units battle, take control of rooms, then move to fight more enemies and capture more rooms. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8781462"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/rHooau04pJFyJNmOA2GbWg__small/img/nzSO97SlY_SV8gE_bru-MxSCZso=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8781462.png" border=0></a></div></center> Here you can see a midgame map; each round, rooms are added and sometimes they get removed. This map has evolved into two separate sections that are pretty close in value to one another. Dangerous mined rooms in both sections have a chance of damaging units that are there. There is also a room that gives gold in the lower section, which can be used to buy better troops. Variety versus Character We decided to use unique decks as I did in <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/257501/keyforge-call-of-the-archons" >KeyForge</a>. What I was looking for was varied play with lots of different cards and a system that could be ever expanding. If you let people construct their own decks within this framework, you are taking a chunk of the content and relegating it to the bin if it is not deemed up to snuff. Unfortunately, that chunk is often the most fun stuff because fun doesn't necessarily win games. It is a choice I don't like to make: getting rid of cards that are fun but not competitive enough... Placing all of the cards in a common deck, as is usually done, doesn't give the distinct character between decks that I was after. and this choice makes it hard to expand the game design. As you expand, your deck becomes bigger and bigger — diluting the impact of the new stuff — or you have to remove some old stuff, which decreases potential variety. By giving random decks to each player, you have to play the good with the bad and deal with your deck's strengths and weaknesses as they are revealed. It is not clear what the best way to swap between decks is. If you are committed too long to a deck, you will be frustrated by wanting to play something new — but if players get a new deck every play, they won't learn the strengths and weaknesses, that is, the character of the deck to any depth. The ideal will differ for different people, but some pressure to adapt to the deck, along with some access to new decks, will be what we are after. Analysis One thing I enjoyed in working on this was using tools to determine how the skirmishes could have gone. These allowed us to better balance the units and give us insight into what was expected behavior. These tools were so much fun to play with that we included them in the game; now you can analyze any battle to see what the expected outcome was. Did you get lucky? Unlucky? You can find the answers there. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8781415"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/HjJ8JC3nYyCCGRVCmYTx3A__small/img/BaSaNpkwtnIwGRoh8SecRqeTwZ8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8781415.png" border=0></a></div></center> Above, you can see an example: I was playing blue, and I felt I got pretty unlucky with my 2 points out of a possible 11. I checked the statistics, and sure enough I was expected to get 6 points! But you can also see that getting 2 was not that unlikely. Later in the game, the charts can get pretty crazy with surprising results! We might try to incorporate these statistics into play, at least as a variant. Naturally some folks have asked for a mode in which the median result is always used. I think this would be less fun, but am happy to try it. Another possibility that I would love to try is giving people a certain number of re-rolls for the game. This could be quite skill testing because you will want to use your re-rolls on battles that are most skewed against you — and just recognizing those can be a challenge. Another way this might be used, a way with a marvelous flavor, is that maybe some sort of fairy unit gives you good luck. When you use it, two battles are generated, and the better result is used! Unit Design The fun part of development is upon us, and many ideas are floating around for cool new units. Here are a few that have piqued my interest recently: • The Hall Hound: With flavor inspired by H.P. Lovecraft's "Hounds of Tindalos", these can be deployed only in corridors and can move directly from one corridor to another as if they were connected. These can be pretty buff because they cannot capture rooms, but they will help prevent the opponent from moving around and capturing multiple rooms — and they will shut down archers hiding out in the hallways. • The Cairn Monkey: The cairns are rooms that buff the capturing units permanently. Naturally they are highly contested! The Cairn Monkey has a bonus attack in these rooms and will cause them to trigger twice. • The Ghoul Queen: Each time a unit dies in the Ghoul Queen's room, the Ghoul Queen gains stats and is fully healed — but is also stunned for a turn (while she devours the victim). • The Bone Mechanic: He comes into play with a number of Skeleton Knights. Want more? Don't deploy him in a battle, and he will learn to bring an additional Skeleton Knight when deployed. Flavor I often prototype in a fantasy theme, generally as a placeholder; I find it flexible and broad and it helps communicate mechanisms easily. Vanguard was made in this way, and when we brainstormed what we wanted to do with the final flavor, there were a lot of concepts punted around, and one that quickly gained traction was our art director Wes' idea for a fantasy WWI style setting. This maintained the strengths of fantasy without feeling stale as the style was distinctive. The atmosphere also resonated with the idea that these maps were dungeons; now they became dungeons set inside a vast, labyrinthine network of trenches. My favorite part of this dieselpunk flavor is the elves. They have all these radiation-themed powers so they are sort of a early 1900s science collective, with actions like Radiation Therapy (permanently buffs a unit) and units like Gamma Priest, Agent of Decay, and Kin of the Atom. It feels dark, and it feels right... <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8781580"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/76CrqgLnc2hMXBJI-HiAAw__small/img/rP0UU0w6VCwRyaixhRMv-Hdm-Ac=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8781580.png" border=0></a></div></center> Early Access As I mentioned above, Vanguard Exiles is in early access. There is still a long way to go, but I am quite happy with what is there. We do not yet have a single-player campaign or a good tutorial, but there is play against the AI with various difficulties, and there is multiplayer play, with a friendly Discord group that discusses strategy and development possibilities. The demo should be plenty to figure out if you like where we are headed, and if you are inclined to multiplayer, you will probably like the early access. For folks who are more interested in single player, just get the demo for now. If you love it, there will be additional cards soon in the early access — but you can also wait until we actually have a more complete solo campaign. <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/14/richard-garfield" >Richard Garfield</a>

Oldies Rule in 2024 Japan Boardgame Prize Awards

The Japan Boardgame Prize is an annual award sponsored by U-more, an organization whose goal is to spread the culture of board games in Japan. There are two different awards each year. The “U-more award” is chosen by a jury … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/03/30/oldies-rule-in-2024-japan-boardgame-prize-awards/">Continue reading →</a>

Trick-Taking Week 2025: Top 10 Greatest Hits

Welcome to Trick-Taking Week 2025, where I’ll be posting trick-taking related content all week. We here at The Opinionated Gamers love trick-taking games, and as I wrote two years ago, many of the writers in this group have contributed to … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/03/30/trick-taking-week-2025-top-10-greatest-hits/">Continue reading →</a>

Puzzle over a Collection of Dogs, Cats, Sloths, and Beasts

by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=17" >W. Eric Martin</a> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8680709"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/YojUUhof08wtIy6SkcnIpA__small/img/8TqimpguaB3uuyUBbKZKr1G5YoA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8680709.jpg" border=0></a></div>Let's taking a gander at who's holding out the hat these days for game-related crowdfunding projects: ▪️ Designer <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/105148/rebecca-horovitz" >Rebecca Horovitz</a> of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/47271/fiat-lucre" >Fiat Lucre</a> has reached <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/beccah/collectionomics?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">her funding goal</a> for <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/438451/collectionomics" >Collectionomics</a>, a party game played with your own stuff — whatever you want to show off and brag about to others. You place objects on the table, whether yours or another player's or a mixture, then players assign tag cards to objects one after another, possibly telling stories about how a tag — salty, vibing, cake, benevolent dictator, etc. — applies to this object. You want people to vote for your tags, but you also want tags in play to match your goal card. <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8790685"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/3Qrw-Tnq7yCED6T3k_ejbQ__small/img/CXYVNiXT_yieLDVY5BCu68TolmE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8790685.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ Do you want a collection of (card-based) dogs? Then <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/432916/good-puppers-too" >Good Puppers, Too!</a> is for you, with this being a standalone sequel to <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/7011/chris-cieslik" >Chris Cieslik</a>'s <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/295147/good-puppers" >Good Puppers</a> from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/5407/asmadi-games" >Asmadi Games</a>. (<a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/asmadigames/good-puppers-too?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">KS link</a>) The game includes nine breeds of pups that you will draft, play, and perform tricks with in order to collect bones, which is how you track points. Rascals are non-dog critters who want to hang with dogs to complete schemes that will boost their value. The two Good Puppers games can be combined so that up to seven players can coo over smol doggos. <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8548279"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/0Ph6hv30RkaJWFaCWRZDlg__small/img/1NWDEYMWw3B7DfMGGNk1CM6b8HE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8548279.jpg" border=0></a></div>▪️ To give equal time to cats, I'll now talk about <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/430023/catopomp" >Catopomp</a>, the first game from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/164550/david-chow-js" >David Chow J.S.</a> of <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/59118/swaggy-games" >Shaggy Games</a>, with this title having been <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/swaggygames/catopomp-a-tactical-card-game-about-cats-and-souls?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">funded in mid-March 2025</a>. Here's a brief on this 2-4 player game: <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>In Catopomp, you are the new supervisor of a team of cat psychopomps. To ensure that no lost souls are left behind, you must lead your furry subordinates to guide these souls into the afterlife. The goal of the game is to play all your cards and not be the last player with unplayed cards. Whenever you play cards from your hand, you must also reveal one additional card and place it in front of yourself. Over time, this will form a set of revealed cards that you will need to play as well. To help you with your task, once per round, you can use one or two dice from a shared pool to enhance your playing set. Time the dice well, and use them wisely! If you choose to pass, the player who played the most recent strongest set of cards can pass one of their revealed cards to you. This means that you will have more cards to clear. Yikes!</div></div> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8759469"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/ehJhdd-SqWLALGTfE0askA__small/img/yJNOxUhzC0Z9Sc8nGLMDqhYnHEI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8759469.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ Instead of having cats collect souls to guide them, you can take charge of the collecting process by trying to collect a wealth of sloths. Here's an overview of Surplus of Sloths, a 2-4 player game from Charlie McCarron that Weird Giraffe Games is <a href="https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/weird-giraffe-games/surplus-of-sloths" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">crowdfunding</a> through early April 2025: <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>In Surplus of Sloths, the rivers are flooding, and players are wildlife rescuers each trying to save sloths and make them happy so that they can be awarded even more sloths! To set up, use as many types of sloths as the number of players, plus one. Each player takes three cards in hand, then discards one card to the "surplus net". Deal out two rows of cards, with each row having one more card than the number of players. The active player drafts one card from a row, then each other player drafts from the same row, with the final card falling into the surplus net. Add a new row of cards, then the next player clockwise starts the next turn. When you all the rows have been drafted, with remaining cards falling into the net, players compare their longest run of each sloth type. A type has cards numbered 1-7, along with three Xs, which are wild. Whoever has the longest run of a type, with ties being broken by whoever has the highest numeral in their run, claims all cards in the surplus net of that type. The value of a type equals the sum of the numbers in the net multiplied by 1-4 depending on how many sloths of that type (0-3) are also in the net. Whoever has the most points wins. You can also play with four baby sloths of value 0 that count as all types. They aren't worth any points in the surplus net, but they can lengthen all of your runs...assuming they would otherwise start with 1, that is.</div></div> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8730995"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/LBJQIxGHItNVRDv15g9nvA__small/img/O5p8GFWuVxe_JIWMP4q4fNoxSSw=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8730995.png" border=0></a></div>▪️ A less friendly creature awaits your attention in <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/439813/hollow-pact" >Hollow Pact</a>, a 1-4 player game from (deep breath) <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167153/tyler-exsted" >Tyler Exsted</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167154/dylan-farrell" >Dylan Farrell</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167152/albin-larsson" >Albin Larsson</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/139796/elon-midhall" >Elon Midhall</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/139795/aron-midhall" >Aron Midhall</a>, <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/148867/assar-pettersson" >Assar Pettersson</a>, and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/167155/rafel-servent" >Rafel Servent</a> that <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/46752/studio-midhall" >Studio Midhall</a> will <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/327718895/hollow-pact?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">crowdfund</a> in 2025 for release in 2026. Here's an overview: <div class='quote'><div class='quotebody'>Hollow Pact is a fast-paced, semi-co-operative game that blends horror, strategy, survival, and betrayal. In the game, you join a group of scoundrels; enter a ruined town, the lair of a deadly Beast; grab cargo precious to you, your fellow scoundrels, and that Beast; play to your strengths; plead with the spirits for aid; and find a route to escape with the loot and your life...if you can because even if the Beast doesn't get you, your fellow scoundrels might as they follow their own hidden agendas. One player-controlled Beast uses its powers and the aid of spirits to hunt down the scoundrels and recover what they stole. The Beast also has secret goals, and accomplishing them makes thwarting the scoundrels easier.</div></div> ▪️ I'll close with a personal project from BGG's advertising manager Chad Krizan and his wife Caylyn — the next trio of <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/puzzlebomb/bumfuzzled-spring-2025-collection?ref=bggforums" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">Bumfuzzled wooden jigsaw puzzles</a> from their Puzzle Bomb company. Chad's been <a href="https://puzzlebomb.myshopify.com/blogs/the-puzzle-bomb-blog" target="_blank" class="postlink" rel="nofollow noreferrer noopener">blogging</a> about the design of these puzzles from concept to sketch to (multiple) iterations to the final look, and I admire the work he undergoes to make each design fresh. <center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/8792661"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/OHMg5jSCwaJZF6jw6VQO8Q__small/img/7J3Y64izXqAQ8nRC84IfMm5xu1M=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic8792661.jpg" border=0></a></div></center>

Designer Diary: Creating Machines To The Sky!

Long before the ark soared into the stars and players began haggling over project cards, The Moongrel was just a lone designer, armed with a deck of cards and a relentless drive to simulate what humanity might look like when left to fend for itself.Let's rewind to 2018/2019, when The Moongrel first dipped his clawed hands into the realm of board game design. Back then, people gathered in bustling gaming cafés, eager to try prototypes, and the world felt a little less apocalyptic. The first title

Most playing cards thrown into watermelons in one minute 🃏🍉31 by Aditya Kodmur 🇮🇳

Subscribe || https://www.youtube.com/GuinnessWorldRecords Favourites || http://gwr.co/YT-Favs The most playing cards thrown ...

Dale Yu: Review of Fixer

Fixer Designer: Takaaki Iida Publisher: Jelly Jelly Players: 2-4 Age: 10+ Time: 15 minutes Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher In this competitive trick taker, players utilize the four suits to become the ultimate shadow ruler. … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/03/29/dale-yu-review-of-fixer/">Continue reading →</a>

Final Amazon Spring Sale Post – mostly Star Wars!

From time to time, I do try to make some posts highlighting some great deals on boardgames. All the links contained here are affiliate links, so to be transparent, the OG could earn some money if you buy the games … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2025/03/28/final-amazon-spring-sale-post-mostly-star-wars/">Continue reading →</a>

Québec, Tokaido, Sentient, and The Adventurers Return for Another Table Run

Eric Martin Time for another round-up of new editions of older games that will delight some, befuddle others, and be overlooked by most:▪️ At SPIEL Essen 24, French publisher Funforge revealed that it had sold its Tokaido game line to Stonemaier Games in order to fulfill outstanding crowdfunding campaigns without asking backers for additional funds.In late March 2025, Stonemaier Games revealed that its edition of Tokaido will be available on its website as of April 2, 2025, with the game reachin