The Resistance 22 2009 Designer: Don Eskridge 5 – 10 players 30 – 40 minutes Age 10+ RRP £18.99 MSRP $19.99

Alhambra 2003 Designer: Dirk Henn 2 – 6 players 45 – 60 minutes Age 8+ RRP £34.99 MRSP $44.90 HE Alhambra palace in southern Spain drawing the right combination of ducats, dir- Tis one of the world’s greatest architectur- ham, florins and dinar from the bank. You’ll al marvels. A stunning blend of Islamic and aim to snap up new extensions for your pal- Christian influences, it attracts visitors from ace while your opponents are still busy sort- around the world. ing out their finances. Getting it right takes a This award-winning game puts players in little bit of planning, a touch of opportunism the shoes of the master builders tasked with and a dash of luck. ET in a dystopian future, The Resist- its construction, creating an assortment of Acquiring buildings is only one half of the Sance is a gloriously sneaky game of towers, chambers, gardens and pavilions. equation, though. They all come represent- deception, deduction, manipulation and To do that you’ll need to recruit craftspeo- ed by tiles which you’ll use to build your bluffing. Players find themselves on one ple from the surrounding lands. But there’s palace, and you’ll need to carefully piece of two teams: a group of rebels fighting a problem: each of them wants to be paid in them together in a coherent design. It adds to overthrow a totalitarian regime, or a their own currency. an evolving spatial puzzle to the game, and ring of undercover spies working to keep To win in Alhambra you’ll have to keep a it takes time, practice and repeat plays to it in power. close eye on the buildings available to you, master. The game plays out over a series of rounds, with rebel commanders choosing players to dispatch on missions to de- stroy imperial bases. But with the spies’ Kingdomino identities kept secret, the revolutionaries 2016 have no idea who’s really on their side, or who might stab them in the back. The Designer: Bruno Cathala result is a storm of confusion, betrayal 2 – 4 players 15 – 20 minutes Age 8+ and accusation as the villains attempt to RRP £16.99 MRSP $17.99 pass themselves off as good guys, shift- ing suspicion onto innocent players and undermining the rebels’ faith in their NSPIRED by the traditional game of the biggest, shiniest prize on the table, or teammates. Idominoes, this family-friendly tile-laying hanging back and grabbing something even To win you’ll need a world-class poker game sees players become monarchs vying better on a subsequent turn. It’s not always face, a razor-sharp ability to spot decep- to expand their domains. On each round an easy decision, and with new tiles drawn tion, and the cold, calm nerve to keep a you’ll choose from a selection of tiles, all from a randomly shuffled stack, you’ll need straight face while lying to your friends. showing different kinds of territory to add to to constantly reevaluate your plans as you And if you’re looking for a similarly un- your empire. You’ll lay down a new patch of play. derhand game with a little more depth, land on every turn, growing your kingdom With three or four players, Kingdomino is try The Resistance: Avalon, which swaps and earning points by connecting areas of the tight and elegant. There’s also a more chal- the original game’s cyberpunk setting for same type. lenging two-player variant that sees you and the mists of Arthurian legend, introduc- Some tiles net you more points than others, your opponent building bigger kingdoms. ing a collection of characters like Merlin, but taking a less valuable one means you’ll And if you’re looking to add a little more Oberon and Morgana, all with their own get to choose before your opponents on the complexity to the game, follow-up game special abilities that add new layers of in- following round. It means you’ll constantly Queendomino adds knights, towns and an trigue and confusion to the mix. ask yourself whether you’re better off taking angry dragon to the mix. Star Realms Hey, That’s 2014 My Fish! Designers: Robert Dougherty, 23 Darwin Kastle 2003 2 players Designers: Günter Cornett, Alvydas 15 – 20 minutes Jakeliunas Age 12+ 2 – 4 players RRP £12.99 MSRP$14.95 15 – 20 minutes Age 8+ RRP £11.99 MRSP $12.95 HIS family-friendly but bitterly compet- ing food supply intensifying with every turn. Titive game of squabbling penguins sees You’ll try to strategically block your oppo- players stranded on a floating iceberg, fight- nents’ penguins, stopping them from reach- ing over tasty fish while the ground beneath ing the spaces they most want to get to. It’s them crumbles into the sea. even possible to set rivals adrift, leaving On each round you’ll move your gang of them marooned on a tiny patch of ice floating penguins around a board of hexagonal to- away from the rest of the board. kens. Each space awards a different num- With genuine tactical decisions, rules that ber of fish. You’ll aim to finish the game take less than a minute to explain and toy- with more than your rivals. But whenever a like plastic figures, this is an ideal game for penguin leaves a patch of ice, it’s removed parents to play with kids. Be warned, though: from the game, melting away into the ocean. things get rough out on the ice, and it’s more It means the board gets smaller as the game than enough to provoke a tantrum, even goes on, with competition over the remain- among grown-ups.

2011 King of Tokyo Designer: Richard Garfield 2 – 6 players 30 – 40 minutes Age 8+ RRP £33.99 MRSP $39.99

TAR REALMS is a head-to-head card Sgame that challenges players to build fleets of mighty starships before throw- ing them into deadly combat against ad- versaries in deep space A stripped-down, streamlined example of a class of games known as deckbuild- ers, Star Realms sees you and your oppo- nent playing cards in order to attack one another, or to buy a variety of new, more ASED on classic kaiju monster movies, and only one can occupy the city at any time. powerful spacecraft. As your fleet grows, BKing of Tokyo hands players control of Smash your way into the centre and you’ll be you’ll open up new tactical options that oversized creatures competing to bring chaos able to rack up bonus points for the destruc- can reduce your enemy’s once-proud to the Japanese capital. You’ll play as a 50- tion you cause. But you’ll also become the navy to a sad, floating cluster of space foot lizard, hideously tentacled sea monster target for everyone else’s attacks, meaning junk. or three-eyed alien invader, striving to inflict you could find yourself beaten to a pulp and It’s an easy game to grasp, but it’ll take as much damage as possible on both the city unceremoniously dumped out of the game. practice to master the art of spotting syn- and your rivals. There’s also a selection of power-up cards, ergies between different cards, balancing The game plays similarly to the classic which give your monster new traits and abili- defence and aggression, and culling ships Yahtzee. On your turn you’ll roll a handful ties like armoured skin, wings or fiery breath. you no longer need to ensure that your of chunky dice, earning points or damaging If you’re looking for a slightly deeper deck remains a hyper-efficient killing your opponents depending on the results. But city-smashing experience, sequel King of machine. while dice-chucking action is at the heart of New York builds on its predecessor’s prem- Fast-paced, tactically challenging and the game, it’s not the only thing you’ll have ise, with multiple city regions for monsters massively replayable, Star Realms packs to consider. to fight over as well as military units that re- a lot of fun into a tiny box. Monsters begin on the outskirts of Tokyo, spond to the unfolding carnage. 36

Mars Open: Tabletop Golf

Designer: Dennis Hoyle Ages: 8+ Category: Family, Casual and Party RRP (UK): £31.99 Players: 1 - 8 MSRP (US): $34.00 Time: 30 - 60 minutes

HIS quirky, finger-flicking dexterity game sees players become tience, skill and imaginative application. Striving for the perfect shot astronauts on a mission to the red planet. And while you might is powerfully addictive, and where similar games tend to rely on var- Texpect humanity’s envoys to another world to spend their time ious bells and whistles to keep them interesting, Mars Open just has planting flags and conducting scientific research, it doesn’t mean they a selection of 3D cardboard obstacles, with cartoon art in a cheerful don’t have time for a little recreation. Martian pink. The entire game consists of working out ways to flick Mars Open: Tabletop Golf is a game of interplanetary pitch-and- those amazing balls past those static barriers and into the hole. putt. You’ll attempt to propel your ball across your table and into To inject a bit of variety, the rules booklet comes with an astonish- a square cardboard “hole,” with victory on each round going to the ing array of hole layouts. The basic “front nine” sees players learning player who manages it in the fewest shots. some simple shots, working their way around various bits of scenery. In reality, though, that “ball” is a simple square of printed card, and After that, things get increasingly creative and bizarre. First you’ll while it looks unassuming at first, something magical happens when add a sand trap, which prevents you from re-orienting your ball after you fold it carefully along its corners. It becomes a piece of cunning it lands. Then you’ll incorporate the game’s box and lid as obstacles, aerodynamic engineering. Rest it on the table and give it a carefully oriented in various directions. Finally there’s a fiendish sequence of calculated flick, and it sails through the air in a graceful arc, with the holes using items of furniture placed around your table to add dis- length of your shot depending on the amount of force you use. tance and doglegs to the battery of challenges. You can design your You’ll need to develop some skill and finesse, and the game comes own holes too, if the 45 included aren’t enough. with a host of tricks and techniques to master. You can chip your ball It’s fast, fun and rewarding, if occasionally repetitive. Watching by sliding a finger underneath it and flicking upwards. You can pitch your opponents take their turns can be jaw-droppingly impressive or it by aiming right at the top of one of its protruding tabs. You can riotously funny, depending on how well they do. Taking your own drive, long and low, by flicking towards one of its corners. You can shots can be scary, satisfying or both. apply draw and fade. In fact you can make a decent attempt at pretty There’s little more gratifying in all of gaming than sinking a hole- much any real-life golf swing. There’s even an official rule that play- in-one in Mars Open, and its rulebook closes with a series of one-shot ers must clap politely after each shot. Enforcing it is hilarious. challenges which feel utterly impossible — until that magical 400th None of this is easy, though. It takes practice, and it rewards pa- attempt when you finally get it right.

Pictured above: Mars Open uses a collection of clever physical elements to create a tough tabletop golf course. Publisher: Bellwether Games Dennis Hoyle on Mars Open: Tabletop Golf

BGB: What made you want to create a game about golf, and why did you choose to set it on Mars? Dennis Hoyle: It wasn’t originally my intention to make a golfing game or a Mars game. The story is: I made some square cards for a prototype for a different game I was working on, and placed the deck on my desk. One day, almost without thinking, I somehow folded one of the square cards into the shape that is now the Mars Open golf ball. At first I didn’t think anything about it. 37 It sat on my desk for six months or more. Eventually I discovered it was fun to flick from place to place, and I began considering some vague ideas about its potential uses in Mars Open hands each player a cardboard “ball” which they’ll flick, poke and thwack across the course. It’s an ingenious piece of a game. cardboard engineering, and it makes for a tricky dexterity challenge. I chose Mars for the setting because there are many flat plateaus on Mars. Flicking your golf ball accidentally off the table is a major concept in the game. So, just as I wanted players to golfers on Mars might have to keep their have‘ to think about ball on the plateau, tabletop golfers must keep theirs on the table. Setting the game on how they were going Mars also just seemed goofy and fun. to approach each Some of the holes are very imaginative, using the game’s box and hole and attempt to even items of household furniture as execute a specific obstacles. How did you design them, and what kinds of challenges were strategy. you trying to present to players with ’ different setups? I tried to explore as many different hole design concepts as possible with as few approach each hole and attempt to execute a variables as possible, adding new elements specific strategy. only when needed to continue to explore new concepts. The first few holes use The game invites players to design just the hole plus one obstacle, but later their own holes. Have you ever seen holes introduce new obstacles, which anyone create really strange and/or exponentially increase the number of unique impressive layouts or incorporating arrangements that are possible. elements that you would never have A guiding factor in this process was my thought of? observation of how players interacted with The game’s retro-futuristic artwork looks like a Absolutely. I love looking at #marsopen on the game in playtests. I found that whenever modern-day twist on The Jetsons. Twitter or Instagram and seeing what people players began to design their own holes they have designed. @DiscordJack gets a nod quickly maxed out the number of variables, interesting, yet subtle, concepts. here for photographing a complete set of creating monstrously challenging or Furthermore I tried to design each hole nine unique holes on Twitter, many of which ridiculous holes. By comparison, relatively with players’ strategic decisions in mind. include concepts I hadn’t yet explored. simple holes could seem quite bland next Most holes involve an “easier but slower” to these crazy ones, so I organised the holes path to the hole and a “better but more in the rulebook to keep players’ interest challenging” path. I wanted players to have longer and ensure they didn’t skip over to think about how they were going to

Dennis Hoyle grew up near Chicago, but currently lives in Texas. He has played board games since he was a child, but was introduced to modern games in high school through titles including St. Petersburg, Carcassonne, Caylus, Ticket to Ride and Catan. Today his tastes tend towards heavy European-style strategy games. When he’s not playing games, he enjoys spending time with his wife and daughter, volunteering at his church, hiking, running, travel and cooking. The ultimate achievement is a hole-in-one, but scoring one takes skill and dedication. 54

Ticket to Ride: New York

Designer: Alan R. Moon Playing time: 15 minutes Artists: Cyrille Daujean, Julien Delval Ages: 8+ Category: Light Strategy RRP (UK): £19.99 Players: 2 - 4 MSRP (US): $19.99

AILWAY route-building game Ticket to Ride has sold mil- from the series. Its board is tiny, and the routes between its locations lions of copies since its release in 2004, and its combination are at most three or four spaces long. It hands players just 15 taxis to Rof simple rules and clever tactical gameplay have made it mark their path through the city, making for play sessions that end one of the world’s most popular tabletop titles. Along the way it’s much more quickly than in any previous Ticket to Ride title. It takes spawned an ever-growing collection of new editions, taking players what was already a fairly fast-playing game and compresses it into on steam-powered adventures across the globe. something you can easily bash through in a quarter of an hour - or less Ticket to Ride: New York is the latest addition to the lineup, and once you’ve familiarised yourself with the city’s geography. while every game in the series has come with new maps to explore The other effect of this distilled approach is that New York is the and rules to discover, it makes some surprising changes to the origi- most savagely competitive Ticket to Ride game to date. In previous nal’s hit formula. The most obvious is that it’s the first Ticket to Ride entries in the series, a rival snatching a critical route from under your game to shift its attention entirely away from trains. Rather than car- nose meant you’d need to find alternative ways to make your connec- riages and locomotives, it comes with a stash of plastic pieces in the tions. Here there’s almost no opportunity to rescue a plan that’s come shape of iconic New York taxis. off the rails. You’ll need to aggressively carve a path across the city, In other respects, though, there’s a lot about TTR: New York that ex- elbowing opponents out of the way as you go. perienced players will find familiar. The game unfolds across a map This isn’t just a smaller, faster Ticket to Ride, it’s a meaner, more of Manhattan, and your mission is to travel around the city visiting ruthless one where every turn feels consequential. Whether you see famous locations like Wall Street, Central Park and Times Square, that as a positive development is likely to depend on your own person- racking up points by connecting pairs of secretly assigned destina- ality, and on the people you play with. Ticket to Ride is an established tions. You’ll use sets of coloured cards to claim routes on the board, family favourite, and this unforgiving new spin has the potential to and on every turn you’ll choose between adding new cards to your spark some discord as players wreck one another’s hopes of victory. hand, or playing them to seize critical connections before your oppo- But if you’re a fan of the original game who’s ready to move on to nents have a chance to. something with more of an antagonistic streak, this is it. It’s Ticket But what’s really striking is just how effectively this new edition to Ride with an added jolt of adrenaline – slick, quick and totally streamlines and condenses everything players have come to expect merciless.

Pictured above: Ticket to Ride: New York condenses the hit route-building game into a smaller, faster package. Publisher: Days of Wonder Alan R. Moon on Ticket To Ride: New York

You’ll need to find the quickest ways to get between locations scattered across the board. Competition for routes quickly gets intense as opponents block each others’ paths.

55

Your target routes remain a close secret until the end of the The latest game in the long-running series crams its game, and you’ll never know which ones your opponents are gameplay into a compact package. going after.

BGB: This version of Ticket to Ride is People have asked me if I knew the base and told him that the next time he came to very fast-playing. Why did you want to game could or would be so expandable. visit, he should bring “that train game.” create a smaller, quicker version of the The honest answer is no. I certainly knew Ticket to Ride has won quite a few awards game? it would be easy to make alternate maps, and it’s sold tons of copies, but every time I Alan R. Moon: The intent was for it to be but it was only when I got into making think of those emails, I smile. a quick intro to the Ticket to Ride system. the expansions, that I realised the system As a designer, my goal was and is to Sort of a “gateway to the gateway.” I also allowed so many new rules to be added. design games that have the least amount wanted it to be a travel version of the game, These rules didn’t make the game more of rules possible. Back when I worked on a “filler” that people could play along with complicated most of the time, they just wargames, you could put anything into bigger, longer ones on their game night, or created a new experience with the familiar those games and the people who loved something people could play on their lunch components and mechanics of Ticket to playing them wanted more, not less. On the break. It also introduces some different Ride. other hand, designing family games is all pieces to the system, which opens up so about the elegance of simplicity. It’s great many other opportunities. Ticket to Ride is an introduction to that really competitive players enjoy Ticket gaming for many people, but it’s also to Ride too, but this was a surprise to me. How do you think the smaller possible to play pretty seriously. Why board and shorter routes affect the do you think the series appeals to What about the theme of railways and experience? both newcomers and experienced travel appeals to you so strongly as a What I really enjoy about New York is that players? designer? I can play a game with two players in less About a year after Ticket to Ride was I’ve just always loved railroads and trains. than 10 minutes. After that first game, the released, I received two emails within For people like me, the age of steam is the loser can then declare it’s the best of three. 24 hours. One was from a nun who said most interesting travel period. Heck, I can play six games in the same time everyone in her convent was hooked on Most boys who have seen steam engines it would take to play the base game. playing Ticket to Ride. The other one was and the cars they pulled, at one time or from a man who said that he had taken the another, thought they wanted to be an There are so many Ticket to Ride game to his grandmother’s house and had engineer. Every time I ride Amtrak, I’m standalone games and expansions. played with his grandmother and his kids. still fascinated by the whole mode of What makes it so adaptable? The next day, his grandmother called him transportation.

Alan R. Moon was born in Southampton, England and moved with his family at an early age, first to Canada and then to the I can play six USA. He served as a radio operator in the United States Air games‘ in the same Force before working for wargames publisher Avalon Hill. His published games include the bestselling Ticket to Ride series, time it would take Airlines, Diamant (with Bruno Faidutti) and Union Pacific. He to play the base Picture: Douglas Morse lives in Syracuse, New York with his wife, Janet, and enjoys and www.tabletopmovie. com singing, watching Nascar racing and building model railways. game.’ 60

Welcome to Your Perfect Home

Designer: Benoit Turpin Time: 25 - 30 minutes Artist: Anne Heidsieck Ages: 10+ Category: Light Strategy RRP (UK): £23.99 Players: 1 - 100 MSRP (US): $17.99

N recent years, roll-and-write games have emerged as one of the keeping your options open and ensuring you’re able to add new ones most interesting trends in tabletop gaming. Quick and thoughtful, on future turns. But on the other, you’ll also try to rack up extra points Ithey’re often reminiscent of the mainstream favourite Yahtzee, by making clever use of bonus abilities. with players rolling a handful of dice then scribbling down the results Pulling off both simultaneously is tricky, and to make things more on a pad, trying to arrange numbers in high-scoring configurations. interesting, you’ll also randomly draw three objective cards before Different designers have brought their own spin to the format, and you play – planning edicts handed down by the mayor’s office. Each it’s impressive how much variety has sprung from this shared blue- shows a different configuration of homes and amenities, with the first print. But the flood of roll-and-write releases makes it hard for in- player to build each scoring a wad of extra points. It means that as dividual games to stand out. Welcome to Your Perfect Home does well as relying on careful judgement, you’ll find yourself in a race something bold with the formula, though: it ditches the dice. against your rivals to fulfil each goal. A game of house-building in the 1950s, it casts players as archi- It’s the only real source of player interaction, though, and there’s no tects constructing desirable residential districts. You’ll start the game meaningful way to interrupt opponents’ strategies. There’s an ines- with a beautifully illustrated scoring sheet showing three neat rows capable feeling of ‘multiplayer solitaire’ — something of a recurring of homes, a kind of picket-fenced utopia of post-war economic op- theme in roll-and-write games — and if you’re the type of player who timism. On each round you’ll choose from a selection of three num- likes some more direct competition, it might limit your enjoyment. bered cards, writing its value on one of your houses and aiming to fill If you’re content to get absorbed in your own plans, though, Wel- all three streets in ascending order over the course of the game. come to Your Perfect Home is a fantastic little puzzle. You’ll need The clever bit, though, is that all of the cards are double-sided. One to adjust to every randomly drawn card, striking a balance between face shows a number which you’ll write on your sheet, while the oth- building up your score and maintaining flexibility for future turns. er shows a bonus action, letting you do things like build backyard It’s also complemented by some fantastic visual touches, with swimming pools, add leafy parks to your neighbourhood or hire es- 50s-style fonts and a colour palette that speaks of diners, Cadillacs, tate agents to ramp up the value of your newly constructed homes. bunny-eared TVs and drive-in movies. And best of all, it gleefully You’ll choose a linked pair of cards on each round, and it means subverts the era’s gender dynamic, with female characters reviewing you’ll simultaneously try to solve two different puzzles. On the one blueprints and overseeing construction projects while the men take hand, you’ll aim to distribute house numbers as efficiently as you can, care of the shopping and serve up delicious home-cooked dinners.

Pictured above: Welcome to Your Perfect Home casts players as town planners building a suburban neighbourhood in 1950s America. Publisher: Blue Cocker Games Benoit Turpin on Welcome to Your Perfect Home

Benoit Turpin is a history and geography teacher and has been playing board Every turn, you make games for more than 30 years. After graduating from mass-market family ‘ games, he discovered the roleplaying games Call of Cthulhu and Middle Earth a quick but meaningful Roleplaying. He moved on to miniatures games including Heroquest, Warhammer decision that will and Blood Bowl, and nowadays his favourite games include Decrypto, Agricola, Pandemic Legacy and the Unlock series of escape room games. Outside of impact how you play for gaming, he enjoys reading French graphic novels. the rest of the game.’

BGB: Welcome To Your Perfect Home to get rid of the dice, much to my distress. developments or 80s urban sprawl were not feels a lot like a roll-and-write game, After many failed iterations, we came up as endearing. even though it doesn’t use dice. with a card-based system that replicated the Why do you think these games have dice mechanisms without the maths. And The art style is fantastic, particularly become so popular in the past couple the cherry on top was that it allowed for the way it flips traditional 50s of years? more immersion through graphic design; a gender roles on their head. Did you Benoit Turpin: I believe roll-and-writes greater sense of control for the players and have a particular look in mind while are popular in part because they have that the ability to give them more information to developing the game, or did that nostalgic feeling of playing Yahtzee as plan ahead. Every turn, you make a quick come together during the publishing 61 a child. And there’s an important tactile but meaningful decision that will impact process? element. When you write on your sheet, it’s how you play for the rest of the game. The look was in our mind early on, but a permanent choice, and it creates a much Anne brought it to life much better than we stronger psychological tension than placing The game does a great job with could ever have hoped for. She was the one a tile on a board. The feeling that there’s no its theme of 1950s America. What to suggest flipping the gender roles on its turning back is a very important part of the attracted you to this period as a cover and it immediately thrilled us. When appeal, and I believe it is just the beginning. setting? we added illustrations to the player aids, We will see a much wider range of roll-and- The early versions of the game were more I jumped at the chance to flip the famous writes in the years to come. abstract. It was based on an old design Battleship ad of the 50s with the wife and with a computer hacking theme, but that the daughter in the kitchen while the boys How did you come up with the central was dropped. Blue Cocker [the game’s are playing. mechanism with pairs of double-sided publisher] were the ones pushing for a cards? What kinds of decisions do theme, and they were right. So as soon as Are there any other roll-and-write you think it creates for players? the development process began, we looked games that you enjoy? The double-sided cards were not part of the for a theme: trains, skyscrapers, even I am a huge fan of roll-and-writes, so I try early design. My goal was to make a deeper cocktails. But very quickly the city-building to play all of them. I love the way they roll-and-write with only three dice, and theme attracted us for its ability to explain create tension in such a small format with where all rolls were potentially interesting. the main rule of the game – putting numbers excruciating decisions condensed into a I loved the simplicity of it, but the in ascending order. And the 50s setting few minutes. My favourite by far is Qwinto mathematical calculations people had to do came immediately. Classic Americana has which is quick, tense and mean, with lots of created a sour taste, so my publisher told me broad appeal. Brutalist Soviet housing highs and lows.

Welcome to Your Perfect Home sees players laying out The reverse side of the game’s player aids come with housing districts in 1950s suburban America. 50s-looking advertisements, some of which flip the period’s gender roles on their heads. 128 Forbidden Sky

Designer: Matt Leacock Time: 50 - 60 minutes Artist: C.B. Canga Ages: 10+ Category: Medium Strategy RRP (UK): £39.99 Players: 2 - 5 MSRP (US): $39.99

ESIGNER Matt Leacock is best known as the creator of Pan- down new ones from a randomly shuffled stack, creating a new envi- demic, a hit cooperative game released in 2008 which throws ronment for every game session. Along the way you’ll connect cables Dplayers into the role of medics battling deadly diseases. But and capacitors as you fight to restore power. while it may be Leacock’s greatest hit, it’s not his only foray into If messing around with electrical equipment in the middle of a storm co-op gaming. His follow-up release, Forbidden Island, sees players sounds dangerous, that’s because it is. The platform will be struck by working together as a team of treasure hunters on a stretch of land lightning repeatedly during the game. Any characters caught too close sinking rapidly into the sea. Quicker and simpler than Pandemic, it to a lightning rod will be zapped, dying if they suffer too much dam- offered an easier introduction for inexperienced gamers. age and resulting in an instant loss for the entire team. The current Its sequel, Forbidden Desert, kept core elements of its predecessor’s also travels through the wires you’ve laid, though, and it means the gameplay but added a touch of complexity. Players found themselves game’s environment becomes increasingly deadly as you get closer to stranded in a desolate landscape and had to build a steampunk-style completing your goals. It makes for some heart-pounding moments as airship while navigating around shifting sand dunes. Now its designer you try to reach safe areas of the board and avoid a fatal shock. has returned to the series with Forbidden Sky, and once more he’s As fans of the Forbidden series will expect, you and your com- created a new set of problems to overcome. panions each play as different characters with a selection of special The latest release sees players stuck on a floating platform thou- abilities to help in your fight for survival – laying down extra lengths sands of metres above the ground. Designed to harvest electricity of wiring, healing injured comrades and leaping over gaps in the from lightning, it’s an airborne launchpad for rockets blasting into platform’s walkways. As in Forbidden Island and Forbidden Desert, space. Unfortunately, it’s also caught in the heart of a raging hurri- carefully coordinating individual powers is the key to victory. cane, making it not the safest place to find shelter. What’s arguably most impressive, though, is how literally the game To escape with your lives, you and your teammates will need to takes its concept of circuit building. The components you lay down explore the platform and repair its faulty electrical system, allowing as you play actually carry a current from a battery. When you finally you to take off in a plastic rocket that looks like something from a connect them, the game’s rocket flares with glowing LEDs and roars Jules Verne story. Before the game begins you’ll lay down a tile rep- as its engines come to life. It’s a very fun gimmick, and it adds a resenting a section of floor, and as you play you’ll expand it by laying visual high note that feels like a fitting reward for a hard-won victory.

Pictured above: Forbidden Sky’s setup is the most impressive in the series to date, it features a functioning electric circuit connected to a model rocket. Publisher: Gamewright Matt Leacock on Forbidden Sky

BGB: A lot of people see Forbidden Island as an accessible cooperative Matt Leacock grew up in the midwestern United States. He developed an game for players looking for interest in game design after being introduced to Acquire and Civilization something a touch simpler than by his father and his uncle, and he enjoyed breakout success with the Pandemic, but the subsequent games cooperative disease-fighting game Pandemic. His other releases include in the series have become a little more Forbidden Island, Forbidden Desert and the Pandemic Legacy series with complex. Were you trying to create Rob Daviau. a path for players to follow as they gained experience? Matt Leacock: The goal with Forbidden coming up with the unique differentiator players playing with electricity, I needed Desert was to increase the challenge for the third game and had a few false starts something for them to power. A rocket and depth for players who had mastered before Forbidden Sky took shape. I feel provided a great callback to final takeoffs in Forbidden Island. This also made it more more confident when it comes to keeping the other two games and felt like the perfect appealing to hobby players who might have complexity under control. I really love next thing to lift off in. found Forbidden Island too easy. making games that are simple to learn, so that part comes more naturally. It’s also been fun linking the games I had a bit of a hard together through their storyline. The I brainstormed ‘ players’ helicopter takes off from Forbidden ‘different locations time coming up with Island and then crashes at the beginning of Forbidden Desert. If players win in Desert, for the airship to the unique differentiator they take off in the airship that they repaired for the third game – which then lands in Forbidden Sky. And take the players at if the players win at Sky, they take off in the beginning of and had a few false the rocket. Who knows where that will take starts before Forbidden them? the game, and was 129 Sky took shape. I feel The settings for the series have inspired by Hayao become increasingly imaginative and Miyazaki’s animated more confident when dramatic over the years, incorporating more exotic science-fiction elements. film Castle in the it comes to keeping Where did the idea for the floating complexity under rocketport come from? Sky. I brainstormed different locations for the ’ control. airship to take the players at the beginning ’ of the game, and was inspired by Hayao Players have to lay wires to complete The real trick with designing the sequels Miyazaki’s animated filmCastle in the Sky. circuits and win the game, but the was trying to keep some familiar elements I thought it’d be fun if the players were elements they need to place can also while still ensuring that each new game caught on a power platform in a lighting electrocute them if lightning strikes. had its own purpose so that players don’t storm since it’d provide plenty of peril What was your thinking behind see any of the games “replacing” the others with the twin dangers of falling from great making this key requirement for in the series. I had a bit of a hard time heights and electrocution. Once I had the victory actively harmful to the players?

Storm cards provide increasing danger throughout the game, threatening to electrocute characters or throw them over the edge of the aerial platform. 144 Twilight Imperium Fourth Edition

Designers: Christian T. Petersen, Dane Players: 3 - 6 Beltrami, Corey Konieczka Time: 240 - 480 minutes Artist: Scott Schomburg Ages: 14+ Category: Complex Strategy RRP (UK): £134.99 MSRP (US): $127.49

T’S more than 20 years since Danish and plastic spaceships – hundreds upon hun- Federation of Sol, the advanced engineers designer Christian T. Petersen released dreds of pieces. Set it up for your first play- and scientists of the Jol-Nar, the pirates of Ithe first edition of Twilight Imperium, a through and you’ll also find that it’s incred- the Mentak Coalition and the nomadic mer- sprawling game of spacefaring civilisations ibly hungry for tabletop real estate, with its chants of the Hacan – a species of humanoid engaged in warfare, trade and diplomacy. hex-grid galaxy surrounded by player mats lions whose trading network stretches across In that time it’s gained an almost mythical and rules references. It’s positively intimi- inhabited space. In all, there are 17 differ- status in the hobby. Players speak in hushed, dating, and that’s before you get to grips with ent factions for players to control, each with reverent tones about its deep and varied strat- its 32-page rulebook. their own strengths, special abilities and stra- egies, its complex set of mechanical subsys- But while Twilight Imperium is a gargan- tegic approaches: battle-hardened fighters, tems and its legendary eight-hour play ses- tuan beast, fetishising its sheer size does it a cunning negotiators and advanced cosmic sions. disservice. Its scale is undoubtedly the first navigators who bend the laws of physics to Over the years, it’s been updated in a suc- thing that strikes you, but you’ll need to dig outmanoeuvre their rivals. cession of revised editions, each tweaking deeper to uncover its true appeal – the subtle With so many different races to choose and refining the game’s setup while -retain and nuanced story of war, peace, power and from, there’s massive variety in each game’s ing its core feeling of galaxy-spanning space betrayal that it weaves as you play. potential setup, and the mix of factions opera. Now it’s returned in its fourth incar- Each game begins with the collapse of around the table has a profound effect on the nation, and while it’s still a truly epic propo- an empire. The Lazax, rulers of the galaxy, feel of the game. That’s compounded by the sition, it’s also the slickest and most elegant have fallen. The world of Mecatol Rex, from fact that you’ll build its board from a collec- version of the game that’s ever been released. which they ruled their star-spanning domain, tion of tiles showing planets and regions of Space, as the author Douglas Adams once has been reduced to a war-torn shell. With open space every time you play. It means that observed, is big. So it’s appropriate enough the throne empty, the galaxy’s other factions no two games of Twilight Imperium will ever that Twilight Imperium comes in a big box. vie to fill the power vacuum and establish present the same strategic challenge. Open it up and you’ll discover a bewildering themselves as the sector’s dominant species. At first, your goals seem simple enough. collection of tiles, chips, tokens, cards, dice There are the expansionist humans of the From a small, isolated corner of the board

Pictured above: The latest edition of Twilight Imperium comes in a box big enough to strain your shelves. Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games you’ll aim to expand your borders, build- ing fleets of spaceships then sending them to colonise worlds and reap their resources. But it won’t take long before your expanding territory starts to rub up against your neigh- bours’, and when that happens there’s poten- tial for trade, political wrangling or straight- forward violence. Exactly which you choose will depend on a host of factors. If you’re controlling a particularly aggressive faction, and your opponent has some vul- nerable-looking planets, you might want to swoop in and attack. If you’re more concerned with build- ing your economy, you might seek to es- tablish a mutually beneficial trading part- nership. Or if you’re more interested in what’s happening in other areas of the board, you might agree to ignore one another for the time being – each hoping that your neigh- bour will remain friendly, but always wor- rying that they might stab you in the back. What complicates your decisions, though, is the game’s system of objectives. As you play you’ll race against your opponents to fulfil goals on a randomly drawn set of cards. Each game of Twilight Imperium features a different configuration of tiles with planets, asteroid fields and expanses You might have to seize control of certain of open space. With such varied setups and a host of different factions for players to command, each play-through types of planets, research particular technol- feels like a brand new epic space opera. ogies or build your political power. It means you’ll constantly need to analyse the objec- moth size, its evening-consuming play time and unfathomable scientific advances. But tives on offer, working out the ones you can and the incredible quantity of stuff it packs ultimately it’s all a backdrop to the com- most effectively pursue and denying your into its oversized box, ultimately none of it plex social and political interaction playing opponents the chance to complete others. matters as much as the evolving relation- out around the table. What makes the game But what truly defines the experience of ships between its players. It expertly pro- so memorable, and what utterly justifies its Twilight Imperium is its multi-layered pro- vokes rivalries, shaky alliances, cynically demands on your time and your wallet, is 145 cess of bargaining and negotiation. On each motivated partnerships and moments of ut- the way it makes such a vast theme feel so round players collectively take part in a ga- ter black-hearted betrayal. It painstakingly intensely personal, to the point where small lactic council to vote on laws – effectively engineers situations rife with the potential victories become genuinely exhilarating and temporary new rules for the game – which for conflict, then challenges players to pick setbacks come like crushing blows. incentivise certain actions or dissuade oth- the right fights at the right moments. Often, More than any other empire-building game, ers. You might enact arms reduction meas- you’ll get that decision wrong. Occasionally, it leaves you feeling that you’re in command ures which force players to destroy some the consequences will be disastrous. of a mighty civilisation with its own culture of their planetary defences, or establish a At a fundamental level, Twilight Imperi- and history, and in spite of its multitude of research network that grants new powers to um understands the appeal of its brand of mechanical moving parts, it makes it incred- everyone around the table. You might even space-opera storytelling. It builds a detailed ibly easy to step out of your own head and vote for the public execution of one faction’s universe complete with wars, catastrophes, start thinking from the perspective of your representative, destroying their political in- religious schisms, centuries-long rivalries adopted starfaring species. fluence for the remainder of the round. It leads to heated discussions full of plead- ing, promises and threats, and the game complicates things further by letting players agree treaties between their own specific factions. You’ll sign peace accords, military support agreements and pledges of technological assis- tance, adding yet another ele- ment to the game’s twisting diplomacy, like a nesting Russian doll of intrigue and opportunism. And it’s here that Twilight Im- perium reveals the paradox that lies right at Players take turns to choose strategy cards at the beginning of each game round, gaining useful its heart. Be- advantages based on their choices. Knowing which cause in spite ones to take at which moments in the game can be critically important. of its mam- Legacy of Dragonholt

Designer: Nikki Valens Playing time: 60+ minutes Artist: Anna Christenson Ages: 14+ 206 Category: Storytelling RRP (UK): £54.99 Players: 1 - 6 MSRP (US): $59.95

OR decades, board games have attempted to emulate the expe- It leaves the impression that Dragonholt village is more than just a rience of tabletop roleplaying. Fantasy adventures like Descent handy backdrop for your heroes to be heroic in. It’s a web of relation- Fand Heroquest have long tried to capture the essence of a night ships: star-crossed love, simmering resentment, burning ambition, spent rolling polyhedral dice and battling monstrous foes. But while and it makes for a far more interesting time than any of the generic many RPG-inspired games are perfectly decent ways to kill a couple “I-swing-my-sword” dungeon-crawlers on the market. of hours, they tend to be more concerned with combat and treasure What it isn’t, though, is a replacement for traditional RPGs. It may than with character development and emotional impact. look like a kind of D&D campaign in a box, with its story books taking Legacy of Dragonholt does things differently. Set in the realm of the place of a human game master, but if you come into Dragonholt Terrinoth – the same sword-and-sorcery setting as games like De- with that expectation, you’ll be disappointed. In truth, it feels more scent and Runewars – it casts players as adventurers working to foil like old adventure video games like Broken Sword or Monkey Island. a nefarious plot against a noble family. And while it packs plenty of And while it comes with plenty of villains and dangers, it makes no action and adrenaline, it also finds time for brilliant world-building, attempt to emulate the dice-chucking combat of any of the roleplay- captivating dramatic hooks and a cast of engaging characters. ing games that have inspired it. Instead, it revolves almost entirely Before you play, you’ll create a hero with a name, a short biography around the choices you make as you move through its branching sto- and a set of skills to aid you in your quest. From there, you’ll play ryline. If you’re drawn to the tactical, pseudo-wargame side of games through an episodic story contained in a set of interactive game books like D&D and Pathfinder, there isn’t much here to scratch that itch. similar to Fighting Fantasy or Choose Your Own Adventure novels. It also shines brightest in an intimate setting. With higher player Over multiple sessions you’ll encounter enemies, explore a bustling counts, the opportunities for each player to make important decisions village and investigate the shadowy conspiracy targeting its rulers. become thinly spread. Two heroes seems to be its sweet spot. What really stands out about Legacy of Dragonholt, though, is how But this is a bold and innovative game with the can’t-put-it-down it creates a living, breathing world for players to explore. Its hundreds appeal of a captivating adventure novel. It also treats its female and of pages of text are pacy, punchy and engaging. Its locations have pal- LGBT characters with total respect – something that can’t always be pably different atmospheres, from tranquil woods to rowdy taverns. said of gaming, or of the fantasy genre in general. It’s a real achieve- And its characters are rounded, distinctive and believable. ment, and hopefully the first of many similar story-driven releases.

Pictured above: Legacy of Dragonholt uses a Choose Your Own Adventure-style narrative, with a captivating tangle of sub-plots and side-quests. Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games Nikki Valens on Legacy of Dragonholt

Nikki Valens is the designer of games including Eldritch Horror, Mansions of Madness Second Edition, Legacy of Dragonholt and Arkham Horror Third Edition. She is an advocate for inclusivity in gaming who believes that games should bring joy and love into the world and unite all those who play them. Growing up in Minnesota, Nikki passed the long cold winters by playing board games and card games with family and friends. Her love of social gaming grew into a successful career as a designer. Aside from cooperative, roleplaying, and trick-taking games, Nikki has a passion for reading, animals, and terrible puns.

BGB: How did you come up with the One impressive thing about the game idea for Legacy of Dragonholt? What is the way it builds its world and its made you want to design a game with cast of non-player characters. How such a pronounced narrative focus? did you try to create a responsive

Nikki Valens: Legacy of Dragonholt came environment for players to explore? With a living environment to explore and a cast of from my desire for storytelling. I’ve been In storytelling and roleplaying, it’s easy for characters to encounter, Legacy of Dragonholt often emotionally invested in roleplaying games the author to write the non-player characters feels like a traditional roleplaying game campaign. for many years. I love telling stories with as side characters to the player’s main story. my friends, I love roleplaying, and I love Instead, I just treated each of the characters GMing for roleplaying games. In a way, in Dragonholt as the protagonist of their The game does a really good job of Legacy of Dragonholt is me running a own story. Their stories might not be about presenting strong female and LGBT roleplaying campaign for anyone who picks grand adventure and fighting hordes of characters. How important was this it up and plays it. It’s a way for players goblins like yours, but they all have their for you? to get a storytelling experience, without own lives and cares and worries. Each of the I’m queer and non-binary. I’ve grown used needing to learn a roleplaying system or characters has a daily schedule, and special to not seeing people like me in games. find a GM to run things for them. There events, and locations and other characters So when those characters do show up, are many games with narrative elements, that are important to them, and when you it’s incredibly eye-opening and moving. but I wanted to create something where the see those characters in your story, you’re Without that representation it’s sometimes narrative itself was the sole focus. just catching glimpses of their lives. easy to forget that there are other people in this world who are like me, who feel what I feel. Representation in games shows marginalised groups that the creators acknowledge us as players. It shows us Each of the game’s episodic missions that we are seen in the sea of cishet white comes in a separate men who play these games, many of book, which acts like a 207 human game master in whom would push us out of the hobby. a roleplaying session. Representation has certainly improved over They combine to create a world full of the last few years, but this hobby and this perilous situations and industry still has a long way to go before interesting characters. it will feel truly inclusive. Even Legacy of Dragonholt could have done better, done more.

Are there any other story-focussed games you enjoy? And if so, what do you like about them? I enjoy many roleplaying systems since they allow me to tell stories with my friends, though many systems are overly rules- heavy, in my opinion. As for board games, Fog of Love allows for very deep personal stories to be told. I like how it encourages players to roleplay and tell their own stories but within a structure and a set of pop culture tropes that make it highly accessible to players who are less familiar with As you explore the game’s setting you’ll encounter interactive storytelling. It also boldly strides a cast of allies and enemies, gain an assortment of into the romance genre in a way that other magical items and uncover a sinister plot against a noble family. games seem to be afraid to try. As someone who prefers stories of love over violence, it’s great to see a designer willing to break the mould.