This is a preview copy sent to us for our early opinions. No money exchanged hands. Some art, rules or components may change in the final game. You can follow the crowdfunding page here.
This is a bit different for us here at WBG, as we haven’t reviewed a book before. But this one is something quite special.
At the end of each of the book’s five chapters, you play a mini game linked to what you’ve just read. It’s an intriguing blend of traditional reading and print-and-play mini games, which fits beautifully within the theme the writer has created.
The experience unfolds by reading each of the five short chapters; each taking roughly 5–10 minutes depending on your reading speed. After finishing a chapter, you move on to its corresponding print-out and play two mini games.
The first game in each of the first three chapters is a simple dice-rolling game, where over five turns you try to cover as much land as possible to collect items. These items will be used in the second part of the mini game, where you face a challenge based on the chapter you just read.
No spoilers here, but be prepared for a few fights!
These are also resolved through dice rolls, but with added depth: you’ll have options, powers, and the items you collected earlier, all of which come into play. It all links together beautifully, works seamlessly, and creates a unique and rewarding experience.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time with this book. Initially, I read each chapter and played the accompanying mini-games on my own. After the first two chapters, my son showed interest, so I re-read those chapters with him and replayed the games. Revisiting the early parts of the book helped reinforce my understanding and didn’t feel like a chore, rather, it was a delightful experience to revisit these pages and cement my understanding of the early chapters
The world crafted within this book is rich and full of wonder. The writing style is soothing and immersive, making it a relaxing read. The seamless integration of storytelling and interactive gameplay creates a unique and rewarding experience that I highly recommend.
And the great news for you, is that this book is currently fully funded, and on Kickstarter right now. So, if you want to get your own copy, you absolutely can! Just head here.
The full production comes with a fully printed hard cover book as you see here, with laminated print outs for the mini games. There are beautiful dice and a simple dry erase pen too. There is also a digital version for your own print-and-play fun. Or a full all-in with some beautiful art prints. Whatever you taste of budget, you can find something to suit.
But is this for you? I very much enjoyed it and can see myself backing future books. I would like to see what the author does with the idea and potentially even, this world. All I know, is I love this idea, I want to support this sort of innovation in the game world, and I think this particular book/game hybrid is wonderful.
You’ll like this if you like: Simple games, that play quickly, but offer a nice choice
This is a free review copy. See our review policy here.
Tokaido was first published in 2012. It was a bit of a cult classic. Beautifully produced. Simple but gorgeous art. And a clean and wonderfully flowing gameplay experience. Recently, Stonemaier, the publisher behind games such as Scythe, Wingspan, and Tapestry, has acquired the rights to the game and produced their own version. There are a few minor rule tidy-ups and component enhancements. But the main change is the addition of a solo player mode. If you own the base game, you can buy just the solo-mode rules and components required for this, along with the new Panorama cards, which have been printed on a better card stock; and as such, included in the solo mode. So, that anyone who wants just these added to their base game can acquire them cheaply. But is this game any good? Does it stand up to 13 years of change in the board game industry? Let’s get it to the table and find out.
To set up the game, which is a breeze, begin by placing the game board on a flat surface. Next, lay out the Achievement cards face up beside the board. Shuffle each deck of cards separately: the Souvenir cards (with a black back), the Hot Spring cards (light blue back), the Encounter cards (purple back), and the Meal cards (red back). Place each shuffled deck face down near the board. Next, organise the Panorama cards by type; Sea, Mountain, and Paddy, and arrange them in ascending order by value, placing the ‘1’ card on top, followed by ‘2’, then ‘3’, and so on. Position these resulting piles on their designated spots on the board. Then place the coins next to the board to serve as the bank.
Now, each player selects a Traveller piece along with the corresponding coloured marker and colour token. Place the marker on square zero of the Journey point track. This now runs around all four corners of the board, rather than just the top.
Then, each player draws two Traveler tiles at random, chooses one, and places it face up in front of them. For first-time players, there’s an option to simplify the game by starting with 7 coins instead of selecting a Traveler tile. Note, each card grants you a specific unique power. Next, place your colour token into the hole of your chosen Traveler tile to mark your colour. Return all unselected Traveler tiles to the box, as they won’t be used in the game.
Each player then receives coins equal to the number indicated in the upper right corner of their chosen Traveler tile. Finally, randomly place all Traveler pieces in a line at the leftmost inn (Kyoto). Alternatively, players may choose to start at the rightmost inn (Edo) and move from right to left throughout the game. Crazy huh! For two-player games, introduce a third, neutral Traveler to the starting inn. This neutral Traveler is controlled by the player whose Traveler is ahead on the road and follows specific movement rules we will cover later. You are now ready to play.
In Tokaido, the player whose Traveler is furthest behind on the road takes the next turn. If multiple players share the same space, the one closest to the edge of the board goes next.
On your turn, you move your Traveler forward toward Edo, (if you are going that way!) choosing any unoccupied space up to the next inn. You can skip over spaces if you wish, but you cannot move beyond the next inn. Once you land on a space, you immediately gain its benefit, such as collecting a card or earning coins. More on that soon.
After your move, the player now furthest behind takes the next turn. If you remain the furthest back after your move, you get another turn immediately. This turn order system encourages strategic planning: moving further ahead might secure a desired spot but could allow other players multiple turns before your next move. Balancing the timing and distance of your moves is key to maximizing your journey’s rewards. But there is only one spot available at each destination. Although, in Tokaido, some board locations have double spaces, which are used in the four or five-player games. The first traveler to arrive occupies the space on the road; the next traveler uses the adjacent space, considered slightly further along the journey. This is not available in a two or three player game though.
So, what can you do along the way, and how do you score points. Let’s look at them all one-by-one.
The Shop: When you stop here, you will draw the top three Souvenir cards and place them face up. You can choose to buy one or more of these cards by paying their listed prices, which range from one to three coins. Any cards you don’t purchase are placed face down at the bottom of the deck. Souvenirs come in four types: small objects, clothing, art, and food & drinks. Collecting different types in a set earns you increasing points: One point for the first unique type, three for the second, five for the third, and seven for the fourth, totalling up to 16 points for a complete set. You can start new sets at any time, and there’s no requirement to complete a set before beginning another. Note that you must have at least one coin to stop at a Village, but you’re not obligated to buy anything.
Hot Spring: Landing on a Hot Spring space allows you to draw one Hot Spring card and add it to your collection, scoring two or three points immediately.
Temple: When you stop at a Temple space, you must donate between one and three coins to the temple, placing them in the area corresponding to your colour on the top left of the board. For each coin donated, you immediately score one point. This donation contributes to your total at the end of the game, where the most generous donor receives 10 points, the second seven points, and the third four points. All other donors receive two points each. If multiple players tie for a rank, they each receive the points for that rank.
Encounters: In Tokaido, when you land on an Encounter space, you draw one Encounter card and apply its effect. Afterward, place the card face-up in your collection. These effects vary and include:
Shokunin (Artisan): Draw a Souvenir card and add it to your collection, scoring points immediately.
Annaibito (Guide): If you haven’t started the depicted panorama, gain a value 1 card of the appropriate type. If you’ve started it, gain the next number in ascending order. If completed, start or add to a different panorama of your choice, scoring points as usual.
Samurai: Immediately score 3 points.
Kuge (Noble): Gain 3 coins immediately.
Miko (Shinto Priest):The player immediately gains one coin and places it as an offering in the Temple on the area corresponding to their colour. They score one point for this donation.
Inn: Inns are mandatory stops where players can purchase Meal cards. Each Meal card costs one, two, or three coins and provides six victory points upon acquisition. The first player to arrive at an Inn draws a number of Meal cards equal to the number of players plus one, selects one to purchase, and places the remaining cards face down for other players to choose from. Subsequent players may purchase one of the remaining Meal cards, provided they can afford it. A player cannot purchase more than one Meal card per Inn and is not obligated to buy one. Additionally, a player cannot choose the same culinary specialty more than once during their journey. If you cannot afford to eat, or cannot by a new unique meal, you miss out! There is a benefit to getting to the Inn early, but do not rush there, you will miss out on important stops along the way. Getting this balance right is key.
Players will leave the inn in reverse order to which they arrived and continue their journey. When you reach the final inn, the game continues for other players and ends when all players have reached the final inn and chosen their final meal. Players then add points for four awards. The Collector: Awarded to the player with the most Souvenir cards. The Gourmet: Given to the player who has the highest total coin value on their Meal cards. The Chatterbox: Granted to the player who has collected the most Encounter cards. And finally, the Bather: Bestowed upon the player with the most Hot Spring cards.
finally, Travelers earn extra points based on their donor ranking to the Temple. The most points wins!
The two-player game uses a dummy third player. This is controlled by the player in the position closest to the start of their journey. When the neutral traveler lands on a Temple space, the player who moved them must donate one coin from the bank to the Temple, placing it on the space corresponding to the neutral traveler’s colour. This action impacts the final Temple donation scoring, as all coins donated to the Temple are considered during the end-game calculation of additional points for Temple offerings.
At Inns, the first player to arrive draws four Meal cards. When the neutral traveler stops at an Inn, the player who moved them takes the Meal cards and discards one at random, placing it face down at the bottom of the pile without revealing it. Otherwise, the game plays as usual. This simply adds some extra tension, as more spaces will be blocked to you along the way.
The solo game works using new Automa cards. Set up as usual, but then set up two separate Automa players. Do this by selecting a colour and placing the corresponding Traveler piece and colored marker for each one. Then, set aside space for coins and cards next to each Automa. Then, place the Automa’s colour token and one coin into their play area, immediately scoring one point for the coin. Note that the Automa does not receive a Traveler tile.
I won’t go into full detail here how this plays out, but you then play as normal, drawing a card for each of the Automa’s turns, telling you where to place it. They will score points based on the amount of each thing they get, card or coin. The type of card they get isn’t the point. It is the type. So they are encouraged to visit the same thing as often as they can, mirroring the way human players prioritize a few things in the game, as you cannot go for all areas of scoring in this game. It is a very clever, simple, intuitive and enjoyable system.
Is it Fun? Tokaido Board Game Review
Playing Tokaido is delightful. The decisions are straightforward yet rich with strategic depth. The game presents a constant dilemma: Should I advance quickly to secure a specific space, or take my time to explore more options, potentially missing that one crucial chance? This balance between speed and thoroughness adds a layer of excitement and replayability, as each choice feels significant and impactful.
Tokaido offers a delightful blend of simplicity and strategic depth, making it an engaging experience for players of all levels. The game’s mechanics are straightforward, allowing for quick learning and smooth gameplay. A two-player game can be completed in about 20 minutes, while a three-player game typically wraps up in under 30 minutes. This efficiency makes it an excellent choice for short gaming sessions or as a warm-up to more complex games. But you will still feel like you have played a game after this.
One of the game’s core decisions revolves around choosing between advancing quickly to secure a desired spot or taking a more leisurely pace to gather additional experiences along the way. This decision-making process is simple yet impactful, providing a satisfying sense of agency without overwhelming complexity. Especially when players are chasing different goals.
But the game truly shines when players pursue similar objectives, leading to increased interaction and strategic competition. In these moments, paying close attention to opponents’ moves becomes crucial, adding a layer of depth and excitement to the journey. This dynamic encourages players to adapt their strategies and enhances the overall enjoyment of the game.
Tokaido is a beautifully crafted game that combines ease of play with meaningful choices, offering a serene yet engaging experience that comes alive through player interaction and thoughtful decision-making. It stands up still after all these years, and this new production is wonderful. If you don’t have the game yet, I would heartily encourage you to check it out if you enjoy set-collection games. If you won it and fancy the solo mode, give that a go.
It’s a very simple game. Maybe too simple for some. But I enjoy the different ways to play and score. I do favour the Panorama cards, simply because they look so nice when complete. I get a real sense of satisfaction simply by gaining all cards in each one so I can see the complete panorama before me. Tokaido really is just that type of game. Stonemaier has done a wonderful job with this new edition. The game keeps the core mechanics, tidies up the rule book a little, adds the solo mode, and brings in other simple changes, such as detailing the powers of each of the Traveler cards so you don’t need to refer to the rule book. The front of the cards is the same with the same icons, but on the back you now have the detail. This simple change summarises the craft and class this reprint has seen. Everything has been done with the game’s original core beauty in mind, simply refining a few edges. Well done to all.
This is a preview copy sent to us for our early opinions. No money exchanged hands. Some art, rules or components may change in the final game. You can follow the crowdfunding page here.
Dragon Dawn Productions is quickly becoming one of my favourite publishers. They have made some amazing trick-taking games, the brilliantly intricate Factory 42, and my personal favourite, Beyond the Rift. I was excited to see what they had coming next, so jumped at the chance to play this preview copy of Beasts & Diplomacy from first time designerMike Kribel.
Mike also did the art, which was mostly done using an AI tool. Lots of work went into the art after the initial AI-generated images, but it is worth noting the origins. You can tell it is AI, but it looks incredible, as AI art can often do, but with that computer-generated feel. That said, when one person designs a game and does the art as well you can understand this being used. And in the current financial climate, this may become more and more common place. The most important thing, I feel, is that the publisher declares it. And any review or previewer too. So consider this AI mater ‘John D Claired’!
OK, well what is this game all about? This is a card drafting, pattern matching, tableau-builder, with a point salad scoring system, fantasy theme, and incredibly quick game play. I have finished two player games in 25 minutes.
Initially, it looks quite complicated. The rule book is good, but doesn’t look the most appealing, and its very long! But it reads well, with lots of explanations, and everything is laid out in a nice way. I learned it quite simply myself. But found I could teach it a lot quicker than I taught myself, or compared to how it looks. Let me give you the basics.
The game runs over three days (rounds) and each day has five distinct phases. Dawn, morning, etc! The first thing you will do in the first phase is chose some quests. You are dealt two cards you need to pick one from, which will determine a large part about how you will score in the game. We found after a few game, that in this point salad of a game, the quests were the areas we scored this most in. So, pick wisely!
Your choices will be based on two things: the score you get each time you complete the Quests mission, as shown on the top right, and the mission itself, as indicated by the icon on the bottom. Get used to icons; there are a lot in this game! They can come in many different guises, but generally, you just need to collect a certain thing. For example, the Herbitheon Quest rewards five points for every two sets of grass icons you collect in the game. Power rewards three points for completing a level two Diplomat card (more on them soon), and Elegance, that reward three points for every grey Beast you collect.
Each round, you will get two more Quest cards to pick from, and you need to end with one more Quest in your possession than the previous round. This means you can discard the one you chose in round one to keep both of the Quests you were dealt in round two, if you like. By the end of the game, you will have three Quests to score from.
The next phase is where players will draft cards. You start with four workers to do this with, and then in each subsequent round you will gain one additional worker to work with. At the start of this round you will place down six Diplomats, Traders, and Personnel cards, and 12 Beast card. Any remaining from previous rounds are discarded and replaced with a fresh batch each time. So, you wont know what is available until this point. Meaning you pick your first Quests a little blind! But some icons are more common that others, and there is a handy sheet to tell you all this information.
You can make four free picks of any combination of the cards. But you will want to find Beasts that match your Quests icons, if possible, and then Traders that match the symbols of other beasts. You can sell to them, you see. They are looking for one fixed must-have attribute and two other nice-to-haves. If you can sell to a Trader with all matching, that’s a lot of Ore. You will need Ore later. You will also want to acquire Diplomats that are looking to be entertained by the Beasts you are acquiring, as they too will provide you with Ore. There will be six choices of Personnel cards that offer many rule-bending powers.
The first few choices in each area, depending on player count, will reward you with King Favour tokens. Three of these, and you can exchange them for a King’s Medal. These will reward you with points at the end of the game. So, you will want to find the cards you need, in the areas that still have King Favour rewards, before the cards go, the spots go, and other players take what you need.
Once you have made your choices, you can then discard two cards you don’t want or five Ore to move a worker and take another card. But this may leave you short on Ore for later in the round. The first player to pass gains one Ore, and when all players have passed, the game moves forward to the third phase, Noon.
Players will now place down all Diplomat cards they have in their hand that they want to welcome to their play area. Place them down in a vertical pile, with the bottom part still visible, so you can see what type of Beast each Diplomat is looking to see.
Play then moves to the afternoon in the fourth phase, where players will now play all the cards in their hands that they wish to play. Any Beasts introduced this way will instantly gain you Ore rewards for any Diplomat in your area looking for any matching symbols. You will also need to house all Beasts into an Environment, or your one starting Cage. Any new environment bought will cost three Ore. You can buy as many as you like, but you cannot leave any empty after this day is out. Any previously placed Beasts can be moved at this point, to maximize the efficiency of your environments, and any powers they have. You can now also sell any Beasts you wish to any Traders you acquired in the draft phase, instantly scoring the Ore from the matching symbols, and then placing the Trader into your completed trade pile for more end game scoring. Any Beasts you cannot sell to a Trader or house must be sold at its maintenance cost or two Ore, whichever is lower. You can also play any Personnel cards you wish to at this point to gain their powers. This is all turn in turn order so each player can watch what each player is up to!
The Beasts you house have multiple symbols that may be required by your Quests and wanted by Traders and Diplomats, as seen on the right of the card. Each Beast has four attributes, a colour, and a Habitat symbol. It also has its end game points on the top left, and maintenance cost on the bottom left. You need to be looking at all these symbols on all cards as you play. And each round you have 30 new cards to study!
When all players are done, the phase moves to the final fifth phase, Evening, where players will now count up and pay their current exhibitions’ maintenance cost, as shown by the maintenance cost seen on all Beasts and the environments that they are in. Some Personnel adding powers to your beasts may add to this too. If you cannot pay your costs, you must take actions to reduce your cards or gain more Ore. Once all players have paid their running costs, the round ends. Players will play three rounds/days and the person with the most points after three rounds is declared the winner.
The game runs very smoothly through these five phases. The game board shows you what to do on the top left and there is this handy sheet to use for each player to reference. But after a few rounds, you will be flying through without the need of this. It is all quite intuitive. Draft cards, sell some of them. Collect the others for points. Everything is based around matching symbols on cards and find cards that work well together. Particularly the Quests. You will end the game with just three of these and the bulk of your points could come from these if you manage to fulfil them all a few times. Finding cards that work with your Quest, but also the cards you want to sell too, and the cards you want to impress to gain the much needed Ore is crucial. The better cards require more Ore per round to keep them running. But Ore is scarce. And getting more may mean you need to sell more. Each round you need to delicately balance these needs and find cards that fit all your goals. And of course all the other players will be trying to do the same thing!
This game quickly becomes about hand management, tableau-building, and efficiency. Finding the best cards that work well together to maximize your Ore production and end game points. The player that can do that the best will win the game.
If you enjoy pattern matching and efficiency based card game, then this could well be a winner for you.
There are so many cards in this game. This handy guide will help you with working out what each one does. The symbology is clear, but sometimes the cards will have unique symbols, and if you only see that card once every three games or so, and play this game every few weeks, this guide will quickly become essential. I sometimes wonder why cards can’t just have written on them what they do. It’s not like the text on this sheet is much bigger than it would have been directly on the card!
You can also see the frequency of each type of symbol on the game on the left of this. Very handy if you want to work out the likelihood of a certain thing coming up in your early games. And this is where the game can be a little frustrating. There is a small element of luck to this game. Sometimes the cards you need come up. Other times they don’t. They can be frustrating. But it’s a quick enough game for this not to matter too much. And as they tell you the percentages, you can manage your own risk and try to hedge your bets as best you can.
This will be an interesting Kickstarter to follow. With all that is going on in the world right now with tariffs and shipping affecting productions like this, and the potential backlash to the AI, I will be hoping for a simple and successful process for this game. Because it is a lot of fun. It packs a lot into a short sub-hour game time. And I enjoy the challenge of trying to maximize the few cards I will get to use each game.
You’ll like this if you like: Stardew Valley, a hot cup of Coco with a blanket by the fire.
This is the reviewer’s copy after I backed both of the Kickstarter’s for the base game and this expansion; but the publisher sent me a play mat and Sprite miniatures upgrade for free. See our review policy here. I have played the game with all four available characters, but there is a fifth expansion character I don’t have. I have played in solo mostly, but also two-player.
If you want to read about how you play the base game and what we think of that, head here. The summary is, I love the game, and this love has only grown over time. I enjoy all the characters, although probably the Ranger the most. I have continued to enjoy unlocking and revealing new secrets and surprises as I have spent more and more time with this unique, relaxing, explorative, and never-ending game.
How To Set Up Mythwind: Friends & Family
OK, so what about this new expansion? The second for the game. Well, it adds a few modules that you can add to the game at your pleasure. But the star of the show is the new Friends and Family additional board. It sits to the right of the existing boards and can be added to any game at the end of any season. Slotted into anyone ongoing campaign, no worries at all.
You will find inside the box a few revised building tokens. They link to these new friends you are about to make. Swap all the tokens out from your original building cards, including any buildings you may have already built. Then, for these buildings, the ones you have already constructed within your Village, add in the corresponding friend card to the new friends board. When you do this, read the back of the card for some flavour text about this new friend you just met. Now place the new Friendship tray alongside this, with the Child Dice, Heart Tokens, and all the new cards inside. There are a few other cards to update, such as a replacement Sun card for the Weather deck, which has some additional symbols on it. And the new Interaction cards and some character-specific cards if you are currently playing with the Ranger or Innkeeper.
How To Play Mythwind: Friends & Family
The main change is when you interact with one of the new building tokens that have a character depicted on them in your daytime action phase. When this action is done, you can then take the new Socialise action. Here, you can roll your Sprite and Villager dice to try and increase your level of friendship with the associated friend card. The card will show the roll you need to match or beat. This will be based on your player count and the current level of friendship you have with them. All Friends join the game as an Acquaintance. You can advance them all to Pal, Best Friend, and then Companion. All players joining in with this Socialise action can roll any of their hired workers to try and meet this requirement. If you do, place a Heart from the supply on the card. Each level of friendship will have a level of hearts required to advance that card to the next stage. If you fail, you simply do not add any hearts onto the card. All dice used this way are returned to their character afterwards, keeping the same number of pips shown on the die. They cannot be used for another action that day now. Any dice showing zero pips are rerolled at dusk as usual, and added back to the tower. When you meet a desired level of hearts, that card is immediately upgraded to the next level. Find the new card in the deck, replace the old one, and read the back of the new card. This will add some new flavour text.
This upgrade will also come at a cost. The cost will depend upon which character you are playing, and the level of upgrade. It is shown in the rule book, but each character will have to give up some of their resources to do this. You can hold off paying this cost if you don’t want to, or cannot afford it yet.
And the point of all this? Well, to get married, of course! Not all friends can get to this level, but they can all reach Companion status. It is shown on the front of each card what is possible for each new character. Companion is the top level and will be a unique ability to you and your village. When you use a town linked to a Companion, you can use this new ability.
When buildings linked to Friends leave your Village, so too do the Friends, losing any unspent Hearts if present. But when you reach Marriage level, the Friend stays with you for life. When your marriage-eligible Friend becomes a companion, the new companion card will tell you to shuffle an adventure card from this new Expansion linked to that character into the adventure deck. Then, when you resolve that adventure, you can marry this friend. You will have a choice when you do this; you do not have to. I won’t show the cards here or go into it too much, as that would be a spoiler. But it is down to you. You can even say no for now, and then maybe change your mind later. But if you say yes, there are benefits coming your way.
Any married friend will then have their card from the Friend board moved and placed face up near the player’s character board. They are now permanently linked with that player. Players can now use this companion using workers as usual during the day phase, taking advantage of their abilities. You can only ever marry one friend in the game. So choose wisely!
Later on in the game, married players can have children. This will be activated through Event cards. Children come in the form of the above dice and can add extra workers during the day phase. You will roll your Child dice at Dawn and gain either an additional villager or sprite worker, or lose one coin. Like in real life, kids can help a lot! But they cost money!
The other main addition in this expansion is the Interaction cards. These allow players to buy and sell goods to and from each other. During setup, gather the cards with the pictures of the characters that are in the current game and distribute them to their owners. Then, as a daytime town action, you can place your mini onto the card, the alignment is shown in the top right, and resolve an interaction instead. To do so, simply pay the cost shown on the top of the card; you pay to the other player, so this is a good way to keep money in the game between players, rather than giving it back to the bank all the time. Then, they will provide you with a good or service they specialize in. This will convert to town resources, money, skills, or other beneficial items.
Is It Fun? Mythwind: Friends & Family Expansion Board Game Review
I will always include this in the game when I play now. I have added everything in. I play mainly solo, so I won’t use the interaction cards as much, but I like them, and they work well. The main addition, though, is the Friendship Board and Tray. It feels like a lot to add, size and components-wise, as it is two whole new things to add to the table. But it really doesn’t change the game much and adds only a small additional amount of choice and time to the game. The changes are a little disappointing, I would say, at first. But like everything in Mythwind, good things come to those who wait. This is a slow build, and as it should be. These friends come as strangers. They build up to companions and then maybe even married partners with children. And then you get all the benefits and changes you wanted to see in this expansion. The challenge to get to marriage with each of the characters you are playing with in the game is a delightful, well-timed, and rewarding one. It may just initially seem like very little has happened. But that’s the point. It takes time to win people over, get to know them, and become their proper friend.
It is worth noting as well that the game has taken a lot of care to be fully inclusive with this expansion. There are multiple pronouns within the new friends. It seems the designers have made a big effort to make everyone feel included and represented within the lore of this game.
Much like the base game, everything in this expansion sets up and puts away very simply. I have heard some complaints about that, which confuse me, as it is all very quick and simple, just like the base game. There are some major printing issues, though, where characters have other characters’ text printed on the back of their cards. You need to work out who is mixed with whom and find the right card to read when you display the front of the other side of another card. It was all a bit confusing at first, but I have figured it out now. But it’s a shame a game of this production quality, that clearly has had so much heart and soul poured into it, has gone to print with so many drastic and frustrating printing errors.
I would suggest the game needs to see future expansions focused more around two things: new characters and new events and adventures. This is the part of the game I sense is the most popular, and what I like most about it: developing and growing new characters, and going on new adventures, with new things happening in the town. I do think the Ranger could be expanded in an exciting way too. The expeditions they go on feel a little mechanical. I would be interested in an expansion just for that character where you get to move onto other new boards, discover new land, expand your town, and maybe even meet and interact with other nearby, and maybe even far away, towns and characters. That would be epically fun in this humble reviewer’s opinion.
But if you are looking for new content for this game, and are a fan of the base game, I think you will find this fits seamlessly into your gameplay and enhances the multiplayer experience. The opportunities to become married with children, to gain additional dice, and additional benefits from your companions is a welcome one. Just do not expect it to have a big instant impact. Nothing else in this game does, so why should this? But I know that, and was still a little disappointed at first, and now I really like it. I just want you to go in with your eyes open unlike me! It is also a little disappointing that the friends do not have much impact on you until you become their companion. It feels like a missed opportunity to see some kind of benefit from the friends as you grow your relationship with them. This is why the score is a little lower, as I just wanted a bit more of an impact.
The dark and creepy fishing game Deep Regrets is one of our favorite releases this year. But sometimes, you’re looking for a shorter fishing excursion. That’s were Shallow Regrets, a new wallet game from Button Shy Games, comes in handy. This eighteen card experience was created and illustrated by designer Judson Cowan and offers a bitesize experience of its more robust sibling, Deep Regrets.
Catch of the Day
Shallow Regrets plays two to three players and takes only fifteen minutes to play. In this fishing filler game, players can cast into six “shoals” in the center of the table. Each shoal is a pile of three cards that contain fair or foul creatures or objects from the ocean.
Cards have a coin value (victory points), catch difficulty, and unique ability that can be activated when you have the card in your possession. Some cards contain fish hooks on the left side below the coin value. These hook icons will give you the strength to catch larger creatures as you fish the briny deep.
Players are given information on the size of the fish based on the size of the shadow that’s shown when it’s on the top of the shoal. There’s also a hint at the bottom of the card back that gives you the range of strength you need to reel in that catch.
Throwing Back Your Catch
On your turn, draw two cards from the top of the shoal(s) in the center of the table. You can catch one of the two cards you picked up and must toss the other back. The rejected card is placed back on top of a shoal or in an open space if all the cards of a shoal have been fished. Players can strategically toss back a card to cover a card that another player was potentially planning to catch.
Shallow Regrets is all about gaining strength as you gradually work your way up to catching bigger and more valuable creatures. While the coin value is victory points, sometimes the special ability on the card can be extremely advantageous. You can use a cards special ability by exhausting it (turning it sideways) at the start of a turn. You’ll be able to look at more cards on your turn, swap a creature for another players, pass a card to your neighbor, or even flip over the top card of each shoal.
These abilities are really helpful in getting just the right cards in front of you. As a seasoned fisher, you want to dabble in catching foul fish, but you definitely don’t want all the foul fish! The foul fish in the game can give you the hooks you need to reel in a big catch. But, most of these come with negative coin values that will bring down your score.
Fair fish have some of the highest coin values but may not give you any hook icons to increase your strength. The game has a nice balance and forces players to keep a variety of fair and foul creatures. The game ends when all the cards have been taken from the shoals or when players don’t have enough strength to catch the cards that are left.
A Stench Most Foul
The player who reeled in the most foul fish will have two points deducted from their score at the end of the game. Players count the points on their cards, even their exhausted cards, to get a final score.
Shallow Regrets is a really enjoyable, ultra condensed fishing experience that we really enjoy. The player count is small, supporting only three players. This has been the game Erin and I choose to bring on date nights because it’s such a tight and casual experience. When players lean into using the card abilities, the game is a little mean and that’s a big part of why we like the Shallow Regrets so much.
Judson Cowen did an excellent job with illustrations. The creatures feel like a more cartoony version of their Deep Regrets counterparts. As many times as we’ve played Shallow Regrets, we still get excited when one of us finds and is able to reel in the five point Kraken card. This is an easy filler card game to suggest to anyone who has fifteen minutes and a couple friends to play with.
Shallow Regrets is on Kickstarter through May 17, 2025. Check out the campaign today!
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
There are two new space-themed games coming to Kickstarter from 25th Century Games. Star Gazers is a tile-laying game with art from Vincent Dutrait while Observatory is a roll and write that has players mapping out the night sky.
In this video preview, Phil and I talk about how each game plays and our thoughts after a couple of games. These are two very different space games that are worth checking out.
You can checkout the Kickstarter campaign for Star Gazers and Observatory today.
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
I’m a sucker for a good fishing themed board game. For some reason, fishing of the cardboard variety is far better than the real-life kind. Conservas is a solo bag building game from Scott Almes, a designer that I really enjoy. Even though I’m not a fan of solo gaming, Conservas has its hooks in me and keeps reeling me in.
The Daily Catch
In this game, you’ll run a fishing and canning operation off the coast of Spain. Each season starts with a single boat, some cash in hand, and a bag of tokens that is dictated for that season. Conservas takes you through 12 months of fishing using a spiral bound book. Each month will have a unique win condition, some have special rules, and two difficulty goals to reach.
In each round of the season, you’ll draw five tokens blindly from the bag for each boat you own and the Open Water card on the table. You’ll have to assign the five tokens before drawing five more, eventually filling each available card.
Each boat in the game has a catch requirement that has to be met. You can meet this requirement with fish tokens or the worthless water tokens that are clogging up the bag. All the other tokens are placed at the bottom of the card, showing that they are still in the “open water” and not on the boat.
To Can or Not to Can
As you pull the sea life on board, you have to make decisions on how to use these tokens. Each season has spots in the book that pay cash if you choose to can your fish. Money can be tight in this game and you’ll need cash to purchase new boats to expand your saltwater empire.
The canning requirements can sometimes be a single fish type, or multiples of a specific fish in order to get paid. In some seasons, you’ll earn more money as you can specific types of fish. In other seasons, you can saturate the market, earning less money if you keep canning the same type of catch.
Your fish tokens can also be spent on Upgrade cards which give your operation some nice perks. Conservas does a great job of giving players multiple avenues to solve the puzzle. Some Upgrade cards definitely feel more powerful than others. You’ll start to look for some of these after your first couple games.
Before the end of each round, you can purchase a new boat and wipe the Upgrade and Boat cards to get a fresh set of three on the table. During the night phase of the round, you’ll spend your cash to maintain your fleet of boats as you head into the next day. By the way, the punny boat names in the game are fantastic.
Conservation is Key
The fish you catch in Conservas is almost as important as the fish you leave in the sea. During the night phase of each round, any fish that were in the Open Water (this includes the fish under the boats that were not caught) will spawn new tokens. If you leave three mussels uncaught, you’ll spawn that number of mussels minus one. This is vital to making sure that you have fish in the bag as you move from round to round.
Conservas is all about making sure that you don’t overfish the sea and long term planning to meet the goals of that season. In my first two games, I bought a fleet of boats too early and sold every fish I could. I found myself grabbing water token after water token, unable to fulfill any orders and failing pretty quickly.
Since Conservas is a bag builder, a big part of the game is keeping a mental tally of what you believe is in the bag. Unless an Upgrade card gives you the chance, you cannot look into the bag to survey what’s available.
Trial and Error
While I love the artwork and I’m a fan of the designer, I was immediately repelled because it was a solo game. I’m an extravert that loves this hobby so much because of the social atmosphere that gaming brings. I gave Conservas a try and it’s been one of my favorite gaming experiences this year.
Each game of Conservas takes around twenty minutes and there are times when you know the mistakes you made in round four are going to sink your operation. The game plays quickly and I’ve gotten into the habit of playing back to back games because of it. Also, because I’m terrible at the game.
I only found success after five attempts at the first season of the game. Since then, I’ve crawled my way past three more seasons. The game is tough and sometimes I’m just barely clearing the standard difficulty. Each time I fail a season, I take a look at where I went wrong. Most of the time, it’s a mix of overfishing or not using the Upgrades that were available to me.
There’s an economy to Conservas that works really well. It’s a tight game that rarely leaves you confident that you’ll succeed until the last final round of a season. This is why coming back to the game and enjoying its twenty minute playtime is so enjoyable.
Final Thoughts
Conservas is a perfect storm of theme, art, and gameplay that has me excited every time I sit down with the game. I could never see myself playing solo games on a regular basis, but Conservas has shown me how enjoyable they can be. My time with A Gentle Rain, another amazing solo game, was all about relaxing and finding a moment of peace. Conservas is all about pressing my luck, practicing moderation, and finding a delicate balance to succeed.
If you had told me a couple months ago that a solo board game would be one of my biggest surprises of the year, I would have laughed in your face. But here I am. Sitting alone at my kitchen table, smelling like an old sea captain, playing a board game by myself, and loving every minute of it.
At the start of each year, we take a look at what games are coming in the next twelve months. Some of these will inevitably slip into the next year and we’re really basing this on the publishers timelines. So, here are twenty games that we’re excited about that are slated for release this year.
Galactic Cruise
Publisher:Kinson Key Games Designer: T.K. King, Dennis Northcott, Koltin Thompson Release Window: Q1 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Everyone
Galactic Cruise is a game that we’ve seen for almost 3 years as the team at Kinson Key Games has polished every part of this project. The final game will arrive to Kickstarter backers in Q1 and it’s pretty amazing. Players are building space cruises as they attract clients for out of this world travel.
The artwork and iconography from Ian O’Toole really makes this game shine. Galactic Cruise is a game that is on everyone’s radar for good reason. Thankfully, the wait is almost over and I get most of the year to play this gem.
Wine Cellar
Publisher:25th Century Games Designer: Andrew Stiles Release Window: Q2 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ric and Bob
As trick-taking games become more and more popular, it’s good to see those that add solid creative twists. I’m a fan of the auction sub-genre, where the trick results impact the acquisition of different assets. That’s what you’ve got with Wine Cellar, a game originally designed by Andrew Stiles for an 18-card design contest. In this game, you’ll all be working to create the best wine collection, and each bottle scores differently based on its “age”… that is, its location in your collection.
The little wine bottle cards aren’t everyone’s thing, but I love them. I like the look when they’re all lined up at the end of the game, ready for scoring. It also plays up to 8 people, and more people don’t necessarily stretch the game too long or too thin. With easy-to-learn rules and quick gameplay, I think this will end up as one of the more versatile titles in my collection.
Deep Regrets
Publisher:Tettix Games Designer: Judson Cowan Release Window: Q2 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
This dark and unsettling fishing game really impressed us when we previewed it in 2024. The artwork for Deep Regrets pulls you in as you try and balance your mental state during your time at sea. Players have to find ways to mitigate regret cards while still finding wild creatures at sea.
This is Tettix Games second design and even at the prototype level, the game was really well made. Deep Regrets is a game that I understood better each time it hit the table and I’m itching for more. You can learn more in my preview from 2024.
Azul Duel
Publisher:Next Move Games Designer: Michael Kiesling Release Window: Q2 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan and Erin
Do we need another version of Azul? Possibly. Azul Duel is built for a 2-player focused experience and we’re hearing good things from people who have played it. Azul (and its board game siblings) are pretty solid at most player counts. I’m not 100% sure that this game is necessary but it could surprise me.
Azul is a game that has made its way into so many game shelves. If Next Move Games can shake up the formula enough to stand out, Azul Duel may be a great purchase for Erin and I. Our 2-player focused selection of games is growing and we’ll be watching for this release before summer.
Lairs
Publisher:Kids Table Board Gaming Designer: Christopher Westmaas Release Window: Q3 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan and Bob
Lairs is a unique take on dungeon crawling for 2-players. Each player builds out the dungeon that their opponent has to move through. Using traps and monsters, players are trying to keep the other player from easily grabbing the loot and finding the exit. Erin and I had a great time trying the game out at Origins last summer prior to the Kickstarter campaign launch.
What makes Lairs so cool is that after playing the game, you’ll start opening new content that makes dungeons more dangerous and introduces new features. This game builds on itself the more you play. Lairs is a fun time and the KTBG crew has a great game on their hands as we head into 2025.
Luthier
Publisher:Paverson Games Designer: Dave Beck, Abe Burson Release Window: Q2 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ric
I’m quite tired of fantasy, space and even nature-themed games. So it’s always nice to see a game asking me to do something I haven’t really done before. That’s what I’m seeing in Luthier. You’re a crafter of instruments, and you must manage your shop so that you build the strongest reputation.
I haven’t gotten to dive into the rules and gameplay as much as I would like. However, from what I’ve seen, it provides the opportunity for those chain reaction decisions I love so much, where a choice lets you do something, which leads to another thing, and so on.
The only thing holding me back from more excitement is the price. You’re getting a lot in the box, but $75 for retail is generally outside of my price range, no matter what I do. Here’s hoping I can find a good deal and/or unclaimed bag of cash in the near future…
Speakeasy
Publisher:Eagle-Gryphon Games Designer: Vital Lacerda Release Window: Q3/Q4 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan and Bob
One of my favorite gaming experiences of 2024 was playing Speakeasy with family and friends. This Vital Lacerda game quickly climbed my list of favorite games after just a single play. Players will align themselves with mobsters as they take over parts of Manhattan during the Prohibition Era.
Speakeasy has artwork from Ian O’Toole, incredible player boards, and a sprawling city to take over. The way Lacerda ties this game to the real world mobsters of the 1920’s brings so much depth to this game. Look for Speakeasy to hit a game table near you before the end of the year.
Camping Season
Publisher:SweaterBear Games Designer: Casey Mattes, Zoey Mattes Release Window: Q3/Q4 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
I love the idea of managing a campground where people are going to adventure and make memories. Camping Season is a game that is supposed to simulate running the facilities where campers are choosing to vacation. I love the look of the game and just the idea of managing reservations and facilities sounds super fun to my messed up brain.
The couple behind SweaterBear Games seems to love the great outdoors and the Kickstarter did really well back in October. I’m hoping this game can be found at retail after they fulfill orders to backers later this year. This is a game that is definitely on my radar going into the fall.
Scoville 2nd Edition
Publisher:Trick or Treat Studios Designer: Ed Marriott Release Window: Q1 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
This game made my 2024 most anticipated list but it looks like it will show up one more time before the game arrives. Scoville is a pepper farming game that I’ve always wanted to play but with it being out of print, I wasn’t willing to pay the inflated price.
Scoville is getting a brand new release from Trick or Treat Studios (Halloween, Blood Orders) and it has artwork from Vincent Dutrait. I’m so pumped to finally play this game and cannot wait for this new edition with its previously released expansion already in the box. Hopefully it will show up early in the year so that I get loads of time with the game in 2025.
House of Fado
Publisher:Eagle-Gryphon Games Designer: Vital Lacerda, João Quintela Martins Release Window: Q1 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ric
When we played Speakeasy with Ryan, I was definitely a fan. However, I know that I will rarely be able to get a game that complex and that lengthy onto the table with my friends and family. It’s just not in the cards for me these days. Or the dice. Or the meeples.
So that’s why I’m excited about the release of House of Fado from Eagle-Gryphon Games. Even before I knew it was a Lacerda co-design, I was drawn in by the artwork and concept, as was my wife (which is likely more important if I’m wanting the chance to play). There seem to be plenty of important choices to make as you control your restaurant, hoping to feature the best music to attract the most customers.
A small box with big decisions and cool artwork? These days, that’s my sweet spot.
Publisher: Restoration Games Designer: Lots of people Release Window: Q3 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan and Ric
You know that Unmatched has to show up on this list somewhere. Unmatched Adventures was a big hit for us in 2023 and when you throw the Ninja Turtles into the mix, oh snap! I’m excited to see how each of the turtles play against other Unmatched fighters. Restoration Games does such a great job of creating a co-op experience, and this time you’ll go toe-to-toe with Shredder and Krang.
TMNT is a license that so many people are excited for. It’s not often that an 80’s kid and their 19 year old kid are excited about the same game. Unmatched Adventures: TMNT should be arriving to Kickstarter backers at the tail-end of summer. Look for this to hit retail around fall of 2025.
ULTRAMASSIVE
Publisher:Studio Unknown Designer: Alex Greenberg & Jacob Phillips Release Window: Q3 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Phil
I had the pleasure of being introduced to ULTRAMASSIVE at One Board Day and am quite eager to get this on the table at home. This strategy game invites you to take the role of a fledgling black hole with one simple goal: get BIGGER! This is carried out by manipulating two tracks on your player board, adding matter or antimatter and delivering it to the center to fuel your growth.
Incorporating drafting, engine building and clever manipulation of player boards via wormholes and gravity, ULTRAMASSIVE presents itself as an excellent introduction to strategy gaming with enough complexity to keep veterans puzzling out new strategies. What I saw in my demo session seemed like a perfect match of theme to mechanics and I look forward to the final product.
Botswana
Publisher:25th Century Games Designer: Reiner Knizia Release Window: Q3 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
About 6 years ago, Bob Crowell introduced me to Quandary, an out of print game by Milton Bradley from Reiner Knizia. My immediate reaction was “how come this is out of print?!”. Eagle-Gryphon Games brought back the game under the title Botswana, then Wildlife Safari. This summer, 25th Century Games is bringing Botswana back into print with completely new artwork from the phenomenal Weberson Santiago.
This is one of Reiner’s more simple designs with players placing an animal card and drafting one of the animal types from the center of the table. Once the cards of one animal type are all on the table, the game ends. Players get points based on the top card value for each animal type that they have. This is such a great filler game and with the new artwork, I cannot wait to introduce the family to Botswana.
Power Creep
Publisher:PNP Arcade Publishing Designer: Jason Greeno, Jason Tagmire Release Window: January 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ric
Print-and-play games are becoming the main thing I purchase on Kickstarter these days. They’re significantly cheaper, they take up way less room, and they often provide just as strong of a gameplay experience.
Dungeon Pages stood out back in 2023 with its unique approach and solid gameplay. A fun recreation of a classic dungeon crawler, you used dice to help you navigate around, defeat enemies, and collect items. The base game came out with a few maps and characters, which you could mix and match together to your liking. Dangerous Space used the same format with some extra bells and whistles. I’ve played through both, and while they kicked my butt several times, I kept coming back to the games, hoping a better approach or character choice would improve my chances.
Power Creep promises to take the best parts of both games and make an even better overall experience. Plus, the creators are continuing with their year-long support option in which they’ll release a new map every week of 2025, along with a new character every month. I’ve not tried this out with the other titles, so I’m excited to start playing once the content begins delivering in January.
Spooktacular
Publisher:Level 99 Games Designer: D. Brad Talton Jr. Release Window: Q2 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
Last summer I got to play a digital version of Spooktacular with a member of the Level 99 team. This game puts players in the role of monsters that are haunting a movie theater in the 80’s. Each monster has unique abilities and powers that will help you terrorize the patrons of the theater.
Each monster has a movie poster tied to them and is a throwback to a movie monster from the past. I loved the flow of this game and was really impressed with the amount of player choices that come in the box. Level 99 Games has a hit on their hands and I’m ready to check out the final product when it becomes available later this year.
Popcorn
Publisher: iello Designer: Victor Saumont Release Window: Q2/Q3 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
I love the theme of running a movie theater and trying to find the right movies to fit the audience. Popcorn is a bag building game where players will build their theater, then draw audience members from their bag to pair them with the right experience.
Over nine rounds, players are building and even stealing patrons from other players using advertising. If this game is as fun as it sounds, this might be a “must buy” for us this year. It sounds a little like the tableau building game Funfair which is another favorite of mine.
I sometimes get sucked into scrolling through Kickstarter for an hour or two, seeing if I can find something awesome I’ve never heard of. That’s what happened with Eternal Decks. I didn’t see or hear ANYTHING about this title, but I’m hopeful it catches some attention once it hits tables early next year.
What you’ve got is a cooperative card-playing game in which you’re all working together to complete different stages. Along the way, you’ll have the chance to unlock an Eternal, which will add more cards to a player’s deck.
I’m hopeful that the challenges will increase as you go from stage to stage, and that you’ll have to make important choices as to who gets what cards and when. I feel like there’s a lot of opportunity here for a special game built on an easy-to-learn rules set. We’ll get to find out early next year!
My kids and I spent so many hours playing Don’t Starve on Playstation over the years. I’m really intrigued with how this game will play out as a tabletop experience. They have a solid track record of bringing video game content to the board game space which is promising.
Don’t Starve: The Board Game should launch any time now on Kickstarter. I have some concern that we may not see this project on the table this calendar year. If you’re a fan of this digital game, chances are that you’ll be watching this project like we are.
RA and Write
Publisher:25th Century Games Designer: Reiner Knizia Release Window: Q2 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan and Erin
Last year, we were excited to see a flip and write game associated with the classic bidding game RA. This new game from Dr Knizia is such a streamlined experience that is still rooted in the original game. RA and Write was one of our favorite games we played in 2024 and we’re excited to have the fully published game this coming year.
While I’m (Ryan) a big fan of the original RA, Erin absolutely adores RA and Write. The bidding mechanic is removed and players are choosing their path from the cards that are rolled out each turn. Flipping out the third RA card will end the era, triggering scoring for that portion of the game. RA and Write should be here before the summer which means that this is probably the game you’ll see on our table all summer long.
The Dark Quarter
Publisher:Lucky Duck / Van Ryder Games Designer: Evan Derrick Release Window: Q1 2025 Excitement Level: Nominated by: Ryan
Way back in the year 2022, Lucky Duck and Van Ryder Games combined forces to create a game called The Dark Quarter. This narrative driven game brings players into the dark and seedy underbelly of New Orleans in the 1980’s. Raising over a million dollars through Kickstarter, this is a game that I’m excited to see finally arrive on the game table.
Backers of the game will be receiving the game at the start of the year, with the game hitting retail later in the year. Lucky Duck has a proven track record with creating immersive experiences using a digital companion (Chronicles of Crime, Destinies). We’ll definitely be sharing our experience once this game finally hits our hot little hands.
Odd creatures are lurking in the woods. Your job is to collect these creatures and out score your opponents in this cutthroat card game from Twisted Branch Games. Let’s get to know these odd little creatures that make up this game.
An Odd Collection
Players are creating a tableau of cards from the carious woodland creatures they find during the game. Each round of Oddities is marked by a Season card which dictates which creatures they can collect in that round. Simple oddities are common and are the most common card that you’ll come across. Rare oddities have unique magical abilities that will help strengthen your collection.
At the start of your turn, draw the top card off the deck, adding a new card to your hand. Then, play a single action on your turn. You can “search” by drawing another card, “strengthen” by playing a card into your collection, “sabotage” lets you play a misfit oddity into another players collection, or you can “strike” which lets you play a quirk card.
A players collection sits in front of them, scoring a single point for each oddity. Specific oddities give additional points and misfits will add a wrinkle to your collection. The sabotage action adds some “take that” to the game. Ultimately, players are racing to be the first one to have six points in their collection.
Watch Out for the Misfits
Oddities gameplay is a quick teach and easy to understand. Each card has an icon designation that makes it easy to recognize the card type. There are four different seasons in the game that get drawn at the start of the round. During the Winter season, only oddities with the Winter icon, or the “any season icon” can be played. Keeping a variety of oddities in your hand gives you the flexibility to play into your collection across the various rounds.
Misfit cards can be played in any season and will target another player at the table. These cards are mostly inconvenient but can be removed through various rare oddity abilities or quirk effects.
Quirk cards are effects that immediately take place when they are played. Some of these cards can be down right mean when they wreak havoc on your collection. Some quirk cards can also protect your collection from your opponents.
Oddities is a solid card game for families who are looking for a game that everyone can play. The cards are pretty straight-forward and the game supports up to eight players. Erin and I both enjoyed the game at two players, but noticed some balance issues. The team at Twisted Branch Games is addressing this by modifying the deck at that player count.
I really enjoy the whimsical look of the creatures in Oddities. The game is cute and even my daughters remarked on the art throughout the game. We had the most fun with Oddities at three to five players (we didn’t play at the highest count). Since misfit and quirk cards can target your opponents, it was nice having a couple options when choosing who to target.
If you’re looking for a fun easy to teach card game with charming artwork, Oddities is a game you should definitely check out.
Oddities is being funded through Kickstarter by Twisted Branch Games. Check out the campaign that launches on February 2, 2025.
A prototype of the game was provided for this coverage. Components and rules covered in this preview are not finalized. Read more about our preview policies at One Board Family.
Turbo Tina has invited your crew into the Carnival of Chaos! Players will smash, slam, and shoot their way to victory by collecting “scrap” that Turbo Tina awards each round. Carnival of Chaos is the fifth expansion for Thunder Road: Vendetta and can be played with the base game or the Maximum Chrome Edition.
Welcome to the Carnival
We’ve played a lot of Thunder Road: Vendetta in 2023 and 2024. This new expansion is essentially an arena battle that introduces new weapons and a reward system as you collect “scrap”. There are three roads that lead into the arena where the combat takes place. At the end of each round, a new Turbo Tina card is revealed.
This card will trigger Killer Pillars which will destroy any car that is parked on top of these tiles. It also adds a new immovable object that players have to avoid. Tina will award scrap to any vehicles that are on spotlight locations, and even give a new decree for the next round.
Just like in the base game, players will shoot and slam one another, with dice dictating the outcome of the combat. For players who already know Thunder Road: Vendetta, there’s not a ton of new concepts here. Movement in the arena spaces is slightly different and takes a minute to get used to. I’ve taught this game to multiple TRV veterans and the movement trips people up the first couple turns. Sprinkled around the board are Party Favor tiles and Super-Weapon tokens. These are going to give you the boost you need to win.
The selection of Super-Weapons are fantastic. These cards attach to the vehicle that picked it up, giving them a new way to eliminate their opponent. A player with a Super-Weapon attached is a force to be reckoned with. Players who can slam opponents into Killer Pillars and maneuver gracefully around the arena are going to have fun with this expansion.
Ready for Combat
Restoration Games carried through the dystopian, Mad Max feel of Thunder Road into every area of the game. The art style and board layout is excellent and even the packaging sticks with the grindhouse visuals of the base game. You can tell that this expansion is essentially Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome without the IP license.
Since players cannot leave the arena once they enter, the game keeps players in close quarters. It forces players to interact and unlike the base game, players cannot just try to outrun their opponents.
Slamming opponents at just the right time can launch an opponents vehicle out of the arena, into a Killer Pillar, or into position to get clobbered by the other players. While in the arena, rolling high numbers on the dice become less of a necessity. You’ll rely more on positioning and weapons each round.
Carnival of Chaos also adds a fifth player color to the mix. The new team comes with three purple cars, dice, chopper, and purple dashboards. This allows you to play with up to five players across all different game modes with a standard team of 3 vehicles.
The Queen of Chaos
Carnival of Chaos has a specific number of rounds. Each of the six Turbo Tina cards come out at the end of the round. The game ends when there are no more Turbo Tina cards to flip over in the deck OR when a single player has been eliminated from play. Having the Turbo Tina deck dictate the length of the game works really well. While six rounds is a great game length, it’s the start of the game that comes off a little dry.
In the first round of the game, players have to travel up the three roadways that lead into the arena. This is made up of the regular road pieces that come with the base game. In my head, I see these cars rumbling toward this arena, ready for combat. In reality, it might take you two full turns to get to the center. Bad die rolls could even put you in the role of “spectator” for a couple rounds.
It’s not uncommon for a player to have only two cars in the arena even into the start of the third round. That’s half-way through the game. In my first game, I felt like it had a pretty boring start. I felt validated when everyone else at the table mentioned it during clean up of the game.
For a game mode that is called Carnival of Chaos, this is a bit of a let down. Once players have there cars in the arena, the gameplay is smooth and fun. But it honestly doesn’t feel any crazier than the base game. I think being confined to the arena is really what sets this game apart from the base game.
While I rarely “house rule” games, we did make a slight change to the start of the game. When playing at the house, only start flipping Turbo Tina cards after at least two players have entered the arena. This is usually in the second round. This helps players to feel like they get a full six rounds of combat with their opponents.
We Don’t Need Another Hero
Carnival of Chaos adds a lot of cool items to one of my absolute favorite games. When it comes to reviewing expansions, the question I usually ask myself is “Does this make the original game better?”
This is a tough one, and it depends on what you’re looking for in the game. I honestly believe that everything that comes in the Maximum Chrome edition will keep me busy for years. Carnival of Chaos offers a slightly different play mode that is interesting, but not incredibly memorable. If you’ve played through all the content in the Maximum Chrome box (or the separate expansions), you may be looking for a new mode of play. Carnival of Chaos is probably what you’re looking for.
I love the system and world that Restoration Games has created with Thunder Road: Vendetta. At this point, this is easily one of my favorite games of all time. Carnival of Chaos is a nice addition to the game, but not a necessity in my opinion.
