A critical review or critique of a game can aim to do any number of things. Most of the time, it tries to be informative. It frames the game in the right context regarding other games and experiences. The audience is supposed to find out what playing the game is all about. In some cases, … More Game Night Verdicts #43 – Carrossel

It’s been about a week since the winner of the Spiel des Jahres 2020 award was announced. Pictures by Daniela Stöhr and Christian Stöhr, published by PD Verlag, was given the highly prestigious red award. I haven‘t played the game yet, but from what I have read about it, this decision seems entirely reasonable. But … More Barriers of entry and the Spiel des Jahres

Cosmic Encounter is arguably one of the most influential designs in modern board gaming. Its shared victories and rules-breaking species abilities were conceptually and mechanically ground-breaking. More importantly, though, was its unusual tone. You see, Cosmic Encounter is funny. Intentionally so, even. Its humor isn’t situational but hard-wired into the game’s design and follows the … More Game Night Verdicts #42 – Cosmic Encounter Duel

I have only been to Barcelona once. We stayed for a day before traveling further into Spain. While there we caught some glimpses of the city, had a decent Frappé at a Greek restaurant with an impressively unfriendly waiter but didn‘t really get a feel for the city itself. Paradoxically, this makes me both best … More Game Night Verdicts #41 – Zoom in Barcelona

A few days ago, a friend of a friend passed away unexpectedly. I only knew him from the number of times we’d played together in the last seven or so years. Maybe longer, even. He was not a childhood schoolmate of mine, nor did we have many opportunities to spend time together outside of games, … More On the meaningfulness of games

The other day I had the opportunity to be taught some new games. As is so often the case, the explanation began with the unassuming phrase, that nevertheless made me stop and wonder. „This game is about…“ Every rules explanation or introduction begins with a phrase like that. It’s the necessary framing so the rules … More Barthes told me to do it

In the late 90s Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker starred in an action-comedy called Rush Hour. It was the story of Detective Inspector Lee (Chan) and Detective James Carter (Tucker) having to bridge their personal, cultural and at times lingustic differences in order to solve a kidnapping case. In one scene Lee enters a bar … More Theme non grata

Accessibility is the mark of a good game. While it’s fun to master an intimidatingly complex design, most people are limited in how much time they can sink into such an endeavour. Not to mention the number of players they can rope into multiple plays until such a game finally clicks. It’s the job of … More Game Night Verdicts #40 – Nova Luna

About a week ago the Spiel des Jahres jury announced the nominees for the Kennerspiel des Jahres, Kinderspiel des Jahres and of course the Spiel des Jahres itself. As expected this led to a wide range of responses online and probably in some gaming groups, too. I was quick to react as well. I announced … More When a list is supposed to light the way

A good story stays with you because of its cathartic ending. Just compare the finale of Star Trek The Next Generation to the end of Game of Thrones. One of those shows still has a passionate fanbase, whereas the other is barely mentioned after a… let’s say… disappointing ending. For the longest time, games were … More Game Night Verdicts #39 – My City