Equip: Zupper Dolls Game Review (prepublished version)

American cultural anthropologist, Margaret Mead, said “I do not believe in using women in combat, because females are too fierce.” But, alas, Ms. Mead was not aware of the awesome power of dolls. In this game, players take on the responsibility of training animated dolls, brought to life just in time to fight not only each other but eventually aliens. Maybe. The backstory on this game is pretty confusing. Regardless! Dolls! Battles! Go get’em, Teddy! Continue reading

Walking in Burano Game Review

The official tourism webpage for Burano, Italy states, “The different colors of the houses, which today represent our island main feature, at a previous time was useful to delimit the properties.” To walk the streets of this Italian island town is to see colors upon colors. In this game, players will take part in remaking this island community’s most well-known feature, inviting tourists around the world to walk and enjoy the scenery. Continue reading

Point Salad Game Review

Professional Irish rugby union player, Brian O’Driscoll, said “Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad.” In this game, players will know a great deal, as all the cards are visible during the entire game. But only those players with the wisdom to see how the patterns start to take shape into points will take home the big salad. Continue reading

Tiny Ninjas Game Review

The ninja is stealthy and deadly. They have spent countless hours practicing, making their body a weapon. They are living shadows, dissolving into the dark just as quickly as they jump out of it. They are also adorable. In this game, take control of a ninja clan and battle against your opponent to determine whose tiniest ninja is the biggest of them all. Continue reading

Tiny Towns Game Review

Scottish Liberal Democrat politician and a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 2015, Charles Kennedy, said “Quality of life actually begins at home – it’s in your street, around your community.” In this game, players take on the role of building a tiny town for tiny animals. Careful planning is needed to ensure the community supports itself. Build too fast or build too big, and your tiny town will be a big bust. Continue reading

Twisty Little Passages Game Review (prepublished version)

Hungarian inventor, architect, professor of architecture, and the creator of the Rubik’s Cube, Erno Rubik, said “When you are studying from a book, lots of people go straight to the end to look for the answers. But that’s not my style. For me, the most enjoyable part is the puzzle, the process of solving, not the solution itself.” Suggesting that the path to the puzzle’s solution is the adventure. In this book of puzzles, you take on the role of a spy who must risk it all to save the kingdom from a powerful evil. Each step is a puzzle to solve and a danger to encounter! Continue reading

Pumpkin Patch: Bad Seeds Game Review

American author, journalist, activist, and the Lewis K. Chan Arts Lecturer and Professor of Practice of Non-Fiction at Harvard University, Michael Pollan, said “The garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway.” But what if that garden is full of evil? How far would you want to meet something that isn’t in the mood to be picked, but is always hungry? Yikes. Continue reading

CoreBall: The Zero Gravity Sport Game Review (prepublished version)

German inventor, game developer, and engineer, Ralph Baer, said “People love video games because they do things they obviously can’t do in real life. That’s especially true with sports games because fans love to step into the shoes of their favorite athletes.” So very true. In this game, players get to step into the shoes of highly trained athletes who play a competitive game that is a mix of football and rugby. The arena is also a battle ground, where every movement is done in zero gravity and momentum could push you to victory or off the edge, spinning into space. Continue reading

Gulp! Game Review (prepublished version)

American astronomer, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, science popularizer, and science communicator in astronomy and other natural sciences, Carl Sagan, said “Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” If such is the case, than life is a continual struggle at every level. Take, for example, the trials and tribulations for all below the waves of our oceans. Every fish is a potential meal and the line between life and death is just a bite away. Continue reading

Sticks! Game Review

British author, speaker and international advisor on education in the arts to government, non-profits, education and arts bodies, Sir Kenneth Robinson, said “Creativity is putting your imagination to work, and it’s produced the most extraordinary results in human culture.” Imagination is truly powerful, and the more we use it, the better it becomes. In this game, simple rules and game components give the players just enough to get them started and nothing to hold them back. Continue reading

Aftershock: A Tavern Game Review

Indian economist and an international academician, Raghuram Govind Rajan, said “Competition is like a treadmill. If you stand still, you get swept off. But when you run, you can never really get ahead of the treadmill and cover new terrain – so you never run faster than the speed that is set.” But what if you could shift the direction in which that treadmill was moving? Say, from going forward to backwards and then sideways? That would certainly cause many to fall on their face. In this game, expect the ground you are building your victory upon to shift without warning. Continue reading

uDog Game Review

British publisher, Henry George Bohn, said “Every dog is a lion at home.” In this game, each player will control a small set of marbles (or dogs, if you like). The objective is clear. Take those marbles and bring them home, but the road is not an easy one to travel. As they journey, players will encounter other “dogs” who will get in the way and even cause progress gained to be quickly lost. Continue reading