Tag: open draft

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Game Reviews

Koi

An ornamental pond, water lilies and colourful carp gliding lazily beneath the surface: “Koi” invites us to slow down before we have even started playing. Designed by Rosaria Battiato, Massimo Borzì and Martino Chiacchiera, and published in Poland by Rebel, it lets us create a water garden of our own. Emiliano Castellano provides the painterly artwork. Beneath those beautiful illustrations lies a spatial puzzle in which we expand our pond and gradually increase the number of actions we can perform.

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Game Reviews

Artistry

There are many ways to develop an artistic workshop of your own. You could take up ceramics, try metalwork, explore glasswork, or focus on painting and textiles. In “Artistry”, a game by Amy and Dusty Droz published by Dux Somnium Games, we can combine all these interests. We gather materials, buy patterns and recruit artisans who expand our options. All of this takes place against a backdrop of Art Nouveau illustrations that catch the eye from the very first encounter.

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Game Reviews

Witchdom

Witchdom is a family card game designed by Michal Peichl and published by Albi. We lead a witch clan, recruit promising apprentices, gather magical ingredients, and brew potions worth victory points. It all comes in an accessible package that is easy to explain while still offering several clever decisions.

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Children's Game Reviews Game Reviews

The Elements

“The Elements” is a light card game designed by Filip Barcik and published by Elementorum Studio. Fire, water, earth, and air compete for dominance, while players develop their own card stacks in a race to become the first to create two Elementals.

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Game Reviews

Nemi: The Strawberry Festival

Nemi is a small Italian town in the hills near Rome, overlooking a lake of the same name. It is best known for its wild strawberries and the Strawberry Festival, which has been held there since 1922. During the event, the streets fill with flowers, music, and market stalls, while women dressed in traditional costumes, known as Fragolare, hand out fruit to visitors.

This colorful festival became the theme of Nemi: The Strawberry Festival, a game designed by Valeria Cavasin and Edoardo Elbenstein and published by Fiammingo Games. As participants in the preparations, we will gather fruit and other ingredients, make strawberry desserts, and decorate the town. The player who contributes the most to the event’s success will receive the Golden Strawberry.

We received a pre-release copy of the game for testing. How did this sweet trip to sunny Italy turn out?

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Game Reviews

Habitats

Rezerwat (eng. Habitats), published by Allplay, is a board game in which players take on the role of wildlife reserve managers. The goal is to create a thriving ecosystem filled with animals, suitable habitats, and attractions for visiting tourists.

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Game Reviews

Altay: Dawn of Civilization

Altay: Dawn of Civilization is a board game combining deckbuilding with area control and direct conflict, designed by Ole Steiness and Paolo Mori. In Poland, the game was published by Galakta.

Players take on the roles of leaders of one of the four Elder Peoples, developing their civilizations in a secluded region of the world. The core of the experience lies in expanding your faction—building settlements, developing technologies and wonders, spreading across the map, and competing with rival factions. The game is aimed at players who enjoy when a card engine directly influences board presence and territorial control.

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Game Reviews

Dice Realms

There’s a good chance that Dominion from Rio Grande Games has caught your eye, or that you’ve even played it. It’s a classic example of a game built around the deck-building mechanic and is widely considered one of the genre’s flagship titles. The same publisher has another game in its portfolio that strongly resembles Dominion—at least in many aspects, it repeats the mechanics that made it such a great game. The key difference is that this time, instead of building a deck, we build dice that we roll every turn. That game is Dice Realms. It sounds great. Let’s see whether it actually delivers.

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Game Reviews

White Castle: Duel

White Castle: Duel from Portal Games is a compact two-player strategy game built upon the core ideas of its larger predecessor, The White Castle. This time, however, the experience is tailored exclusively for head-to-head play, with a streamlined structure and a brisk tempo. While the inspiration is unmistakable, several elements have been redesigned to suit the duel-focused format. So—how well does it work? Let’s take a look.

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Game Reviews

Removal

Removal is a title you can find on your table thanks to Albi. Designed by Michał Reszka, this game lets you step into the shoes of a moving company employee and feel the weight of all those boxes—and some rather unusual objects too (people really do collect the strangest things!). 🏠🚚 Let’s get moving with our review!

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