Nick Dubs

Crusaders wears its inspiration on its sleeve. In the rule book, Seth Jaffee stops just short of naming Feld’s legendary Trajan and its core rondel mancala hybrid mechanic. Trajan is the heaviest of heavy euros, with its six separate subgames and multi-colored mancala tokens that activate bonuses if they

Racing is a weird genre in board games. It feels as if one day in the last decade all the big names got on a conference call and agreed that racing is for filthy casuals, because, with a few noticeable exceptions, racing games have been the hobby’s red-headed stepchild.

Orichalcum is a game having an identity crisis. Its production, from artwork to components, suggests that it’s a family weight game. But then you play it and see the opportunity for players who grasp the mechanics to totally embarrass those that don’t, so maybe it’s a lightweight

What makes a board game great? You’d think that as a game reviewer, I’d have a clever, and concise answer to that question. The truth is however, that answer changes from person to person. For people whose collections span multiple sets of shelves, Brass is an excellent game.

Caesar places its two players in the sandals of Caesar and Pompey, vying for influence in the final days of the Roman republic before the transition to empire. It isn’t particularly innovative, nor will it blow anyone’s mind. What it is is area control honed down to its

I love games with a good arc, so a well-done engine builder that takes you from barely having enough to do anything in the beginning to swimming in a bounty of resources by the end is going to usually be up my alley. Add in quality production and interesting tactical

Heading into PAXU, An Age Contrived was on my short list of upcoming titles to check out, based almost entirely upon its innovative conveyor belt styled action programming mechanic. Our overview with Chris Matthews of Bellows Intent was more along the lines of big-picture game feel than the nuts and

Every now and then, a game comes around that is so mechanically unique and interesting that I have to make room for it in my collection regardless of how good it actually winds up, if only to just show it off to other hobbyists. SPECTRE is such a game, with