Delicious Game Review

English architect, landscape architect, painter, and furniture designer of the early 18th century, William Kent, said “All gardening is landscape painting.” In this game, you creatively plant and organize several garden planters as you attempt to combine similar and dissimilar fruits and vegetables. This is a game that requires players to think less about strategy and more about tactical decisions at the moment. Taking risks, however, is all part of gardening and what makes it such a joy. Grab your gardening gloves and get ready to play in the dirt! It’s time to plant something delicious! Continue reading

Herbaceous Sprouts Game Review

A community garden is a shared place of peace and growth where anyone can try to plant seeds and turn the earth. In this game, you will share a community garden with friends and family, each wanting to plant sprouts and flowers to create a rich and beautiful garden full of life and color. Unfortunately, there is only so much space to be had. Get your gardening tools at the ready and collect your seed packets! You have limited time and space to plant something extraordinary and win the game. Continue reading

Dulce Game Review

Beloved American cartoonist and creator of the comic strip Peanuts, Charles M. Schulz, said, “All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn’t hurt.” Oh, how very true. Whatever mood I am in or the day I am having, a delicious piece of chocolate brings a smile to my face. In this game, players are tasked to build cafes that will sell their delicious confectionaries, but their approach must also balance the need to grow the necessary ingredients and then ship them out for use. This game will challenge the players to make tough choices to make sweet deals. Continue reading

Downtown Farmers Market Game Review

I love visiting farmers markets. They are full of fresh vegetables, beautiful flowers, artisan loaves of bread, and, if you’re fortunate, a vendor selling bacon on a stick smothered in chocolate. Farmers markets feel like an adventure each time I go, not having any idea what I’ll find but always leaving feeling satisfied with the experience. In this game, you’ll also have a chance to visit the farmers market, with a list of food ingredients you want to gather quickly. But like real-life farmers markets, availability and quantity is never a sure thing. Continue reading

Beets Bombs and the Blüffs Game Review

American novelist Tom Robbins, reportedly said “The beet is the most intense of vegetables. The radish, admittedly, is more feverish, but the fire of the radish is a cold fire, the fire of discontent, not of passion. Tomatoes are lusty enough, yet there runs through tomatoes an undercurrent of frivolity. Beets are deadly serious.” In this game, Tom is absolutely correct. Plant your beets and hope you get them before your neighbors. But be careful! In the fields are also bombs intended to make quick work of would-be beet thieves! Pick your plants wisely. Continue reading

Fences: The Ranch Game Expansion Review (prepublished version)

Your little farm has grown in size! With your newfound success (and good luck), you have decided to expand your operation to includes animals, making your little farmstead into a fully-functioning ranch. With new goals in mind and opportunities to pursue, you’ll have to manage not only the day-to-day operations of the farmland but the many animals, as well. Do you have what it takes to become the biggest ranch in the area? Continue reading

Fences Game Review

If you own livestock, you need two things right from the start: space and means to enclose said space. In this game, players will take on the responsibility of building their farmland, filling it with as much livestock as they can, and then closing it with fences to ensure the livestock doesn’t run amok. But there is only so much land to go around, and that makes claiming it just as important as building it. 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

Scythe: The Wind Gambit Game Expansion Review

The conflict continues with territory lines being drawn and redrawn as heavy Mechs lumber across farmlands and factories dot the horizon, choking the air with their black smoke. Above the churn of war automation and industry flies the Airship, a steam-powered behemoth that defies the rules of nature and allows man to control the skies. The only question remaining is simple: will this new technology bring peace or more war? Continue reading

Scythe: Invaders from Afar Game Expansion Review

Eastern Europe is in the throes of war. Giant machines known as “Mechs” roam the land, trailed by soldiers and workers who destroy and build in equal measure. Abundance invites bloodshed which leads to desolation and new opportunities for growth. Two new factions now enter this story, both with their own special set of skills, but with the same goals. The seeds of war continue to be sewn… Continue reading

Cauldron: Bubble and Boil Game Review (prepublished version)

A witch’s brew is full of nasty things. Eyes of newts, frog toes, and the occasional dirty gym sock. While the ingredients leave many gagging, the end result is always miraculous. Potions to make you fall in love, deadly poisons, and even a liquid to turn you invisible. In this game, you will attempt to perfect your potion skills and cast a spell or two along the way. Continue reading

Pack O Games (Set 2) Game Review (prepublished version)

When you imagine a game full of depth, tactics, and strategy, a game with many bits that is stored in a box most likely comes to mind. But what if a game could be no bigger than a stick of gum and still provide you with everything you crave from larger games? Impossible you say? Then prepare to be amazed as I show you how a game small in stature plays like a giant at the gaming table. Continue reading