Author: Anthony

A Game of Thrones: Hand of the King was announced a few days before Gen Con to a fair bit of ridicule. Yet another small box card game with this license? And what about the goofy artwork? People weren’t too impressed, and considering how many times in the last few years Fantasy Flight had slapped a license on an abstract game to make a few quick bucks, it wasn’t too surprising. Westeros Intrigue was one of our worst games of 2014 because it was such a blatant cash grab. Would Hand of the King be the same? Thankfully, I can…

Have you ever discovered a movie years after it was released? Maybe after spending a lot of time saying “meh, I don’t see what’s so great about it…” It’s hard to admit to yourself after all that time downplaying something that it’s actually pretty incredible and nowhere near as played out as you thought. The inner hipster monologue won’t allow it. That’s how I’ve felt about Pandemic in the last year or so. This brilliantly designed, incredibly flexible machine of a game is the perfect crossover hit for me to pull in my kids, wife, and extended family for game…

One of the big benefits of solo gaming is the sheer volume of great new content suddenly hitting the market every month, especially in the realm of digital apps. What started with a small trickle of apps for games like Eclipse, Catan, and Carcassonne a few years ago is a torrent today with dozens of new board game apps hitting the market every year (some for brand new games). Anthony and Jason sit down to discuss this torrent, and pick out their favorite four apps from 2016, giving a rundown of each and the things they love about each of…

7 Wonders Duel is one of my favorite games of 2015. And it snuck up on me a bit. In fact, I didn’t think much of it to start, other than that it was a rather clever implementation of the 7 Wonders mechanics for two players. I remember saying it would be great to see the same tableau drafting mechanisms used in other games. But over the course of the last 13 months, I’ve been playing this one more and more often. It’s overtaken Patchwork and Summoner Wars on my go to two player game list, and it’s in the…

Anthony and Jason are back with Episode 12 this week, featuring our 2016 solo gaming gift guide. As a companion to our big BGA gift guide, this week’s Table for One episode will focus on 10 games we feel are sufficiently under the radar, off the beaten path, or not necessarily dedicated solo games that you may not have heard of or realized fit the mold. To start, we’ll introduce our Mt Rushmore of solo games – the five games you hear us talk about all the time and that we want to mention, but not clog up all of…

The end of the year is upon us and that means a long list of gifts to buy for the people in your life this holiday season. To help you find the right gifts (assuming they like games!), we’ve compiled our annual list of top gifts to consider this year. Chris takes the reins this week and provides a rundown of 25 games you might consider if you’re interested in finding the perfect game gift for your friends and family. Plus recent plays and upcoming acquisition disorders. Acquisition Disorder Corner To kick things off, Chris talks about four games on…

This week Anthony and Jason sit down to discuss the newest, and hottest, solo game on the market – Arkham Horror: The Card game. Designed by Nate French (of Lord of the Rings LCG fame) and Matthew Newman, the new living card game from Fantasy Flight Games offers a true solo experience for the first time, taking some familiar mechanics from Lord of the Rings and reworking them in the Cthulhu mythos, complete with a unique and interesting take on storytelling in a card game. We’ll dig into this new one and offer our preliminary thoughts on the core set…

This week is a special week because Jason is flying solo! While Anthony claws his wake back to health after a length battle with the flu, Jason steps in to share some recent games he’s been playing and some very timely advice for the holidays. Huge thanks to Jason, who saved the podcast this week (Thanksgiving miracle!) and offers up some awesome advice for anyone who feels like we do this time of year. First up on the podcast this week is a review of The Pursuit of Happiness, a solo-able Game of Life for adults strategy euro from Artipia…

Two years ago, Eagle Gryphon Games relaunched one of the great (and first) worker placement games with Empires: Age of Discovery. Without the Age of Empires license but with a boat load of bling in the Kickstarter, it was a beautiful project, and is one of my favorite games, displayed prominently on top of my game shelf. Fast forward a bit and they announced Empires: Galactic Rebellion – a reimagining of the mechanics that made Age of Discovery a modern classic in the confines of a space opera. Designed by Glenn Drover and borrowing heavily from many of the mechanics…

There are a lot of werewolf style games on the market these days. And for good reason. The genre is immensely popular for a late night, cool down game that lots of people can join in on. Nosferatu is just such a game – tasking players with to take the sides of Renfield and Nosferatu against vampire hunters. It’s both immediately familiar and a bit unique in its take on the genre, and one that will fit in nicely for anyone who has been playing these types of games for a while and wants a new one that doesn’t require…