Mark Julian

Abstract two player games are a dime a dozen but every once in a while one comes along that somehow recaptures the magic. Shobu, from Smirk and Laughter Games, is that game. Its rule set is extremely simple. Its components are beautiful (real rocks!). Yet despite its simplicity, I feel

You maneuver your trireme through dangerous whirlpools, dodge deadly hydras, and pick up a few god powers as you attempt to beat your opponents in a daring, fast, and thrill-filled race to the finish line. That all sounds like a great time but Greece Lightning doesn’t quite deliver on

Cubes. Tiny, colored, wooden cubes. Fans of euro games are already shaking with excitement, but there is quite a bit more to love about Anno 1800. Anno is a table hogging love letter to the computer game of the same name. Production, resources, tiles, cubes, victory points, this game has

With the Transformers Deck Building Game, the folks over at Renegade set out to bring something fresh to the oversaturated deck building genre. However, while offering some interesting mechanics, the game ultimately falls short of greatness, and not even the Transformers themselves can save it. The Transformers Deck Building Game

Oceans is the spiritual sequel to Northstar’s hit Evolution series. The Evolution core mechanics of creating quirky creatures, evolving them, and competing for food is still what makes the game run but Oceans takes many of the ideas from Evolution, streamlines them, and moves the theme to the unexplored