Tokyo Highway Driver’s License Designer: Masayuki Ikegami Publisher: itten Players: 1-6 Age: 8+ Time: 15 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher Tokyo Highway Driver’s License is a stand-alone speed matching game for players who are familiar with the … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/17/dale-yu-review-of-tokyo-highway-drivers-license/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
New-to-me games played recently include … A WAYFARER’S TALE: THE JOURNEY BEGINS (2025): Rank 8244, Rating 8.0 If I were to invest in a big roll-and-write, I guess this would be the one. Continual engagement on every turn. A … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/16/alison-brennan-game-snapshots-2026-part-4/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
<p>by <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1?bloggerid=16208" >Stéphane Escapa</a></p> <div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9086369"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/q8z1jLt70WjTwtVEXvPbvQ__small/img/pS4iaDTSZwm_sQdYHFRMOVSPOvs=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9086369.png" border=0></a></div>After we published the <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogpost/168170/artist-diary-castle-combo" >artist diary</a> for <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/416851/castle-combo" ><b><i>Castle Combo</i></b></a>, I went through all the feedback from gamers, and I realized the research work on the characters' background was a key ingredient in the secret sauce, regardless of how fun it was to me. I then thought I had to crank the volume up to eleven for <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameexpansion/448182/castle-combo-out-of-the-oubliette" ><b><i>Out of the Oubliette!</i></b></a>, the <i>Castle Combo</i> expansion debuting in late 2025 from <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepublisher/28651/catch-up-games" >Catch Up Games</a>.<br/><br/>This time, we would have only twelve characters. While chatting with developer <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamesolodesigner/149894/sebastien-kihm" >Seb</a> and designers <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/64917/mathieu-roussel" >Mathieu</a> and <a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgamedesigner/119408/gregory-grard" >Greg</a>, we realized we couldn't have weak characters. On the contrary, we needed stylish characters with a nice reference or inspiration behind them — and the mechanical side of the theme wanted all of these characters to be prisoners, locked-down pariahs, so they couldn't be squeaky clean...<br/><br/>Even so, we didn't want to caricature dark and brooding characters; we had to stay fun and quirky so that the new cast would feel at home in the base game's roster! I dove back into a sea of research: pop culture, history, obscure websites...<br/><br/>Outside of their mechanical inner workings (costs, shields, ability, and scoring), the identity and profession of all twelve characters were not set in stone when we started thinking about them. The Man in the Iron Mask and the Fortune Teller were obvious good candidates, but all of the others needed work. As we did in the base game, all four of us brainstormed to find jobs that fit the cards' abilities or scorings — ideally both. In the end, eleven characters were found easily, but the twelfth was way more of a challenge.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235913"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/jBlRa3qbq8HwWt-Wj3gsyQ__small/img/thixnU5dRTYrPbtBiN7FUmxuAJs=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235913.png" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Looking for our twelve felons</i></center><br/>Without further ado, here are the thoughts behind these new cast members!<br/><br/><b>LADY IN THE IRON MASK</b><br/><br/>The <b>Man in the Iron Mask</b> was an obligatory choice. As he had three shields, I decided that I would start with him...or rather her. Because we care about gender parity, the Man in the Iron Mask became a <b>Lady</b>.<br/><br/>As you may know, I love coming up with stories, so she was obviously going to be the sister (or half-sister, or cousin) of the Queen. I know, we already did that with the Prince and the Stable boy, but a leopard cannot change its spots.<br/><br/>My first instinct was to copy Her Majesty the Queen's design. This is quite fun because that character was the first one I worked on and the last to be finished. At the last moment, Seb told me the character wasn't iconic enough, and Mathieu thought the colors I had chosen made the card hard to read, so I completely redesigned her dress, taking inspiration from Marie-Antoinette's famous and gorgeous puffy dress!<br/><br/>I also placed a lys flower (a lily) on the side of her mask. In the <i>Three Musketeers</i> novels, Milady bears this withered mark, branded with hot iron on thieves', beggars' and slaves' shoulders – and it could be found on other lowly individuals in the XVIIth century. Our characters having very small arms and very big heads, the placement of this symbol was obvious.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235664"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/aZn7eYqx5shrl-sSEkqOng__small/img/dFv6Z3rIhyEGpi1CSIJv0vD13Yk=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235664.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The mysterious Lady in the Iron Mask</i></center><br/><b>TOADY & PEDDLER</b><br/><br/>The abilities and scorings of the <b>Toady</b> and the <b>Peddler</b> (who was initially a smuggler) were similar, so I came up with a link between them. Again, there was a kind of story involved: the Peddler being ambitious (with his vertical scoring) he placed his son at the King's court (horizontal scoring).<br/><br/>So that you have this parental link in the character design, they have the same face, which is a blend of <i>Game of Thrones</i>' odious Littlefinger and the smirking and smug Ser Davos. Both also have a hat with a peacock feather, which is yet another <i>Game of Thrones</i> reference.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235662"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/Wb3CtgoJaBNnwDD_G0DX5w__small/img/1k6IqdU1y_IyEauhp8bXmQX5IBs=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235662.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Daddy Peddler</i></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235667"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/41Q0WAm9vohImmT8I99AGg__small/img/TfMT8gAJHJ_jFPDbXXscNudcg-g=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235667.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Toady kiddo</i></center><br/><b>CONSPIRATOR</b><br/><br/>The <b>Conspirator</b>'s ability was obvious, and I had already designed that manipulative character for the base game – he almost ended up taking Michel the Messenger's place! We thought he would be a good fit for a Clergy role, with his Richelieu-inspired likeness. We added a doll version of the King in his hands, just for funsies.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235663"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/OIeyPvcvbL3XQ4Hn5jHUig__small/img/JNf0mc6oVwr9--ApGYJCKMX-Kg8=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235663.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Conspirator gonna conspirate</i></center><br/><b>PLAYWRIGHT</b><br/><br/>The <b>Playwright</b> is inspired by Armande Béjart and...her husband Molière himself since he played multiple female roles in his own plays.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235665"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/j4Wz7W3_TsA4OGkfb_1haA__small/img/ZUKLdzGNU9TmEKalTR30j-q8fhA=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235665.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Playwright (and actor, obviously...)</i></center><br/><b>PRINTER</b><br/><br/>The <b>Printer</b> – or at least her garb – is straight outta Madeleine Plantin's portrait. Plantin is a printer from the XVIth century. Diane de Poitiers, from the same period, had more or less the same accoutrement, so she was a reference, too. The irreverent caricatures around her – that obviously got her jailed in the first place – are a nod to Charles Philipon's works that depict Louis-Philippe the First as turning into...a pear!<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235668"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/4NkkUUCOAr8165nrxqFG4A__small/img/p0nMRg2oWtp70F9gknRlbWJqNN0=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235668.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Irreverent Printer</i></center><br/><b>KING OF BEGGARS</b><br/><br/>The idea of adding the <b>King of Beggars</b> was an early thought. Aside from the Man in the Iron Mask, this was the only other character with three shields, so it needed to be iconic.<br/><br/>Who to embody him better than the Great Coësre from Paris' Cour des Miracles? An old leper/miser with a lame limb, but who reigns over all the Parisian beggars and thieves? Now this is classy!<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235672"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/OnJPRmFqOL9nuiBIyZ5Ivg__small/img/Rlny68U6jvruC190CAMF_VdWNDE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235672.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>All hail the Beggars' King!</i></center><br/><b>ART FORGER</b><br/><br/>The <b>Art forger</b> would, of course, copy an adjacent ability: an obvious choice of character. She is directly modeled after Properzia de Rossi, a Renaissance sculptor. You can find a few fakes around her that might ring a bell: a miter, a clock, a sculpture, and a famous painting.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235666"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/MRxCY1-3mOXdlqL8esjr4A__small/img/MNTx2QgKF-F-EavM0Opulq2BCzs=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235666.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Art Forger and her latest creations</i></center><br/><b>CUTPURSE</b><br/><br/>Mathieu had the perfect word for the <b>Cutpurse</b>: "Try to imagine Red Riding Hood gone wrong." Like many characters from the Village, I didn't draw inspiration from historical figures or works of art. I stumbled on this costume only while browsing an online shop. All this research at least taught me there were harsh trials if you wanted to become Master Thief of the cutpurses' brotherhood...<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235673"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/ZLc6g1YoMn2_Ou92rmVMPQ__small/img/9usA_Mionlh04fQbd98Kawj-2QY=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235673.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Cutpurse dear, what a nice hood you have!</i></center><br/><b>PRINCE OF THIEVES</b><br/><br/>The <b>Prince of Thieves</b> was a character who we couldn't miss on since its scoring was one that interacted with the expansion's new mechanism. We needed a character with serious rizz!<br/><br/>We thought about a poacher, but that was a bit too dark. The card instead suggests some sort of vigilante, with an ability that steals from the rich and a scoring that scales on prisoners (whether freed or not). We stayed in the silly, quirky fun of <i>Castle Combo</i>, and instead of being literal and quoting Kevin Costner, we went for Mel Brooks' <i>Robin Hood</i>, as well as Westley in <i>The Princess Bride</i>, both portrayed by Cary Elwes.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235671"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/22-_lzzQcH4jDxq9nWQe7w__small/img/G72Ovi3bukVUEfkJaZS0jq6MgGE=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235671.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Prince of Thieves (in tights)</i></center><br/><b>FORTUNE TELLER</b><br/><br/>For the <b>Fortune Teller</b>, Esmeralda was the main reference, along with Méjaï, in <i>Le Scorpion</i>, too. Enrico Marini's comic book was a key read when I was younger, and I wanted to pay tribute to that incredibly charismatic character. I even included her black cat, Pharaon.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235674"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/f8wgKrQbJUKcZbmG1ictmA__small/img/JA3sbVL_rreZXrerEoGtGJXuqdg=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235674.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>This Fortune Teller was once an outcast, too</i></center><br/><b>CARDINAL'S HAND</b><br/><br/>For the twelfth and last character, we hesitated a lot. They were supposed to have a military shield, and their power was to be tied to the clergy. We questioned which character or job was the best suited to tell that story. A Templar would have been perfect, but there's already one in the base game. So who else? A brother in arms? A kind of Swiss guard? A fanatic?<br/><br/>After multiple sketches, we opted for Milady de Winter, sworn enemy to d'Artagnan in <i>The Three Musketeers</i>, and she obviously will be the Cardinal's sidekick. I drew inspiration mainly from the actress Mylène Demongeot (and her superb red dress), who plays her part in both classical movies shot by Bernard Borderie in 1961.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235669"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/VYmKa2uUsFAwdAM-J8gGow__small/img/qRgk_aD8l-0CN1UZMlHzSbgyynI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235669.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>The Cardinal's Hand could have been a King's Hand...</i></center><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235670"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/J5EP9mL-x1mwrl1oV9j4hw__small/img/dPU9FUseIDIP9INjj-lZBLT8RFI=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235670.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Fear the crimson Cardinal's Hand!</i></center><br/>As for icons, most of the job had been done with the base game, so there was no real surprise or complication. The only really new icon was the padlock, placed right before the ability, and this was meant to be instantly recognizable. It was rather easy to make, taking only a few sketches before we reached its final iteration.<br/><br/><center><div style=''><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/image/9235809"><img src="https://cf.geekdo-images.com/dJ87_zlHG0njLYzEH3utOQ__small/img/jCx6S_n7LHQCBgijGrFJ2sxvTng=/fit-in/200x150/filters:strip_icc()/pic9235809.jpg" border=0></a></div></center><center><i>Locking in the design for padlocks</i></center><br/>A last word? Thank you again to all who read through my diary(ies!) – your comments on the first one made me want to write a second! I hope you've appreciated the research and thinking behind this small expansion. Though I regret the Swiss Guard is not part of the cast, who knows, maybe Mathieu and Greg have more ideas in their heads...<br/><br/><a href="https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgameartist/74019/stephane-escapa" >Stéphane Escapa</a>
Publisher: Couch Clues www.couchclues.com Players: 2 -5 Age Range: None given Time: 1.5 hours Played with a link provided by the publisher Note: This is a spoiler-free review I love a good puzzle, whether it is a word puzzle, a … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/15/95598/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
New-to-me games played recently include … CATAN: NEW ENERGIES (2024): Rank 7470, Rating 6.9 – Teuber / Teuber I have a nostalgic liking for Settlers but not enough to need to play 783 versions. This one appeared from the … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/15/alison-brennan-game-snapshots-2026-part-3/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
In the future, you can place any value face up on a face-down card.When you can't fill the row to seven cards at the end of your turn, complete the round so that everyone has the same number of turns, then tally your score, with face-up cards being worth as many points as their number, face-down cards worth -1 point, and chips worth 1 point.To add more variety, you can draw three of the fifteen special cards at random. Each card has either an end-of-game scoring effect or a condition that affect
Borealis: Arctic Expeditions Designer: Dariusz Mindur Publisher: Lucky Duck Players: 2-4 Age: 10+ Time: 45 minutes Played with review copy provided by publisher Become the leaders of scientific teams venturing into uncharted boreal territories to observe and photograph the Arctic’s … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/14/dale-yu-review-of-borealis-arctic-expeditions/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Working on that assumption, here's a sampling of new and upcoming party games:▪️ In Q1 2026, R&R Games will release "Normal" Human from designers Jasper Beatrix, Phil Gross, and Bobby West, and this 4-16 player game seems squarely in the R&R mold, while riffing on Spyfall and A Fake Artist Goes to New York.One player is secretly an alien amongst all the humans, and you want to help the alien escape detection from a government agent. Each round, the agent leaves the room, everyone other than the
Tax the Rich Designers: Kristian A. Ostby and Kjetil Svendsen Publisher: Alion Players: 3-6 Age: 14+ Time: 20 mins Amazon affiliate link: Played with review copy provided by publisher Climb the social ladder — or kick it over. The … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/13/dale-yu-review-of-tax-the-rich/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Players continue their adventure through Middle-earth over eighteen new chapters."The Road Goes Ever On"Based on positive early feedback for The Fellowship of the Ring: Trick-Taking Game, the team and I were lucky enough to embark upon a sequel as soon as the files got handed off to the printer.We wanted to follow the framework we had established in our adaptation of The Fellowship of the Ring: the basic trick-taking rules, use of characters cards as the main goals, chapter cards, the shape of t
If they step on a colored space matching the samurai's hidden nightingale tile, the ninja stands revealed; otherwise, next turn the ninja can treat any of their footsteps as their starting space.If the ninja picks up a vase, the samurai can still recover it on their turn by either closing the final secret passage or landing on the ninja's space...as long as the ninja has been revealed that turn. While the ninja moves space to space, the samurai treats each colored area as a single space, allowin
New-to-me games played recently include … ALUBARI: A NICE CUP OF TEA (2019): Rank 2478, Rating 7.2 It probably doesn’t take a reading of the tea leaves to know that a remake of Snowdonia features worker placement to do … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/12/alison-brennan-game-snapshots-2026-part-2/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
from Thames & Kosmos — The Gang: More Players, The Gang: Deluxe Edition, and The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth — here's what else is coming from that publisher:▪️ As I noted in November 2025, Kasper Lapp's Wildblooms will receive an English-language edition, with this being a game for 2-5 players in which you take turns drafting flowers from a shared area.Each drafted flower causes all flowers of that color to grow, no matter who owns them. In this imaginative interpretation on pollinat
Rowdy Partners Designers: Jason Hager and Darren Reckner Publisher: Capstone Games Players: 2-4 Age: 14+ Time: 30-45 mins Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4oWN8JF Played with review copy provided by publisher Howdy, partners! In the sun-baked dust of Dusty Gulch, where shadows … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/11/dale-yu-review-of-rowdy-partners/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
I wanted to take that idea and blow it up into something much bigger, something absolutely central to the game, so I built a system in which you have only one type of unit, but you use them for both taking actions and fighting on the map.The game has two worlds:• The Wasteland board, which represents the map where players fight for newborns and resources.• The Colossi city boards, where players take actions.Your units are the key resource for both. You constantly have to juggle: how many do you
In junior high & high school (1977-1982), I played a lot of wargames. At different points, I had a subscription to both The General (Avalon Hill’s magazine) and Strategy & Tactics (SPI’s magazine that included a wargame in each issue)…. and, for a … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/10/solo-gaming-my-personal-journey-of-the-past-six-years/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
Here's an overview of the game:The Malice of Light Adventures is a co-operative roguelike boss-battler for 1-4 players that combines modular gameplay, quick character progression, and elegant combat in a fast-paced, replayable format inspired by the Sadlers' previous titles like Heroes of Terrinoth and Street Masters.Players will battle dangerous foes in iconic locations from the books while contending with escalating villain schemes across multiple acts, culminating in a dramatic boss encounter
In the last year, I’ve played seventy-one (71!) different games solo… and this annual post is my attempt to share my impressions of those games and make some recommendations to my fellow solo gamers. I’ve been writing these solo gaming … <a href="https://opinionatedgamers.com/2026/01/09/solo-gaming-2025-the-end-of-the-year-edition/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">→</span></a>
The winner of the trick is the player who played the highest trump, or if no trumps were played, the player who played the highest card in the suit led.When I was a kid, my family played one trick-taking game avidly, and that was Solo Whist, or "Solo" as we called it. In this four-player game, you evaluated your cards, then there was a single round of bidding during which you said how many tricks you thought you could win. The player who bid highest would win the bid, and all other players would
The only way to find out is by playing.Lava fits in there somewhere as well.The Crew: Journey to the Ends of the Earth, which retails for US$15, will contain 25 stages in the player journey, and Thames & Kosmos estimates that the game will ship to buyers in mid-August 2026.▪️ The other Gen Con 2026 debut is related to a Q2 2026 release, with that being The Gang: More Players, which German publisher KOSMOS had already revealed in November 2025.This expansion to John Cooper and Kory Heath's co-ope