برچسب: Family

INKtentions Preview – One Board Family
The octopus is probably one of the most sneaky, clever, and cunning creatures in the ocean. INKtentions is a card game for two to four players that requires players to outsmart their opponents to get the most food in the ocean. The game is designed by Matthew Kambic with artwork from Chris Adams, and is being published by MaKa Games. Let’s jump into the deep end and learn more about INKtentions.

Delicious Ocean Food

Each player has a stack of nine cards, all the same, with the players color represented on the back of their cards. Over the course of the round, players will add eight of these cards into the display in the center of the table. The goal is to snag some of the delicious sea life (food) found in the center of the table. Each food tile has a different scoring method and you don’t want to end the round hungry.

At the start of INKtentions, you’ll choose the food tiles that you’ll compete for in the center of the table. The game comes with nine different food tiles that all score differently. Based on the player count, you’ll select five, six, or seven of these tiles to put in the center of the table. Players will play their cards off of the edge of these tiles as they compete to eat these underwater morsels.

INKtentions plays over the course of three rounds as you accumulate tiles to get your final score. Let’s talk about what the cards do.

Eight Arms of Fun

Players take turns around the table playing cards onto any food tile they want. These cards are played facedown, adding to the growing tentacle until they reach the card limit (based on player count). At the end of the round, you’ll go tentacle by tentacle, turning over cards and resolving them one at a time. Here is what each card type does:
- Hunt cards (x3) allow you to take a food tile at the base of that tentacle as long as this card isn’t eaten.
- Shark cards (x1) will eat any Hunt cards to the left and right of this card.
- Eel cards (x1) will eat a single Hunt card to the left or right of this card, chosen by the player who played the Eel card.
- Ink cards (x1) will cause a Shark card that is adjacent to go away.
- Hide & Hunt cards (x1) are immune to Shark and Eel cards, allowing the player to nab a food tile at the base of that tentacle.
There are two additional cards in the players hand that get played directly in front of the player and not in the center of the table. The Punch card lets you move a card from one tentacle to another uncapped tentacle. Finally, the Octobility card will let the player pull a special ability tile that was set out at the start of the round.

Octobilities give players a unique ability that will be used immediately or when directed on the tile. These abilities allow you to play your ninth card, swap a card on the table with one from your hand, gain a point and peek at a card, cap a tentacle and more. With every player having the same card set, you’re looking to outwit your opponents each round.

Underwater Deduction

The heart of INKtentions is a programming game where players are trying to predict what their opponents are playing. The Hunt & Hide card is the only guarantee of earning a food tile. Playing your Shark and Eel card at just the right time will take out another players Hunt card. One of the most devious moves in the game is using a Punch card to move another players Shark card to cancel out their Hunt card.

Since everything is played facedown, you’re going purely off intuition and anticipating players strategies. I’m a fan of programming games like Colt Express, Mountains Out of Molehills, and How to Rob a Bank. Players are trying to bluff or misdirect the other players with their card play. INKtentions shines when players catch on to their opponents patterns and block them from getting the food that gives them victory points.

Final Thoughts

Scoring in INKtentions feels a lot like Sushi Go or Bugs on Rugs. The scoring variety across the different food tiles works really well. Players have to diversify which foods they go for since your opponents can easily block you when you focus on a single food source.

The way cards build the arms of the octopus from the center of the table makes for a great table presence. Players who enjoy deduction, programming, and hand management games will really enjoy INKtentions.

You can visit the Kickstarter campaign for INKtentions when it launches on June 10, 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.
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10/06/2025
Beach Day Preview – One Board Family

For many people, the beach is the epidemy of rest and relaxation. The sun, sand, and ocean waves can wash away the stress of our everyday life. I’m not in that group of people. Sand and myself are mortal enemies that have been in a battle since my teenage years. Thankfully, games like Beach Day from CakePie Games exist so I don’t have to actually be on a beach to enjoy this atmosphere.

Beach Day is a tile placement game for 1 to 5 players that’s illustrated by Ammon Anderson (Gnome Hollow) and designed by Brennan Smith and Josh Bowman. This small box game brings all the joy of the beach as you chase victory points and stay away from pesky sand.

Fun in the Sun

Each player is adding cards to their own beach tableau on their turn, chasing five global goals and their own unique goal. You’ll receive two crab cards at the start of the game, discarding one and keeping the other. This is a personal scoring goal that is unique to just you.

Everyone starts with a single tile 2×2 card that is marked with a sea turtle in one of the corners. This sea turtle is important and can never be covered by another card.

On your turn, you can take two cards from the top of the draw pile, placing one and discarding the other to one of the two discard piles. OR, you can take and place one of the top cards on either of the discard piles. In adding a new card to your beach, you can place it adjacent to another card or overlap another previously placed card. Overlapping is generous in this game since you can cover one or more of the four squares on a card. You can never place a card diagonally adjacent or tuck a card under another previously placed card.

Beach Activities

On the cards in Beach Day, you’ll find beachballs, sand castles, pools of water, shells, sand dollars, and even trash. Each item on the beach has a different method of scoring based on the goal cards that were chosen at the start of the game. Beachball halves need to be paired with another half in order to be scored. Sea shells score the most when grouped in contiguous paths.

Don’t forget about your crab card! That secret scoring criteria can be helpful in outscoring your opponent. Players will watch how each beach is being built at the table. In many of our games, the score has been tight and competitive which is exactly how we like our games.

Since the goal cards in the game are double-sided, players can pick their favorite scoring cards each and every game. Once you get a couple games under your belt, you’ll start to enjoy some goals more than others. The game gives you the agency to just pick your favorites and run with it.

After the draw pile is empty, players score based on the goal cards and crab card that each player has. The highest score wins.

Final Thoughts

Like a day at the beach, Beach Day is a relaxing and breezy time at the game table. The small box makes this a great game to throw into a bag or to play over a meal. It’s easy to understand how everything is scored and the placement rules are straight-forward.

Beach Day is a filler game that is going to check a lot of boxes for anyone looking for a quick game that you can take on the go. The gameplay and theme absolutely go hand-in-hand with this release.

Beach Day is being funded through Kickstarter starting in June from CakePie Games. 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.

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04/06/2025
Everdell Duo Review – One Board Family
Everdell has been a huge presence in the hobby since its release in 2018. With more than half a dozen expansions and multiple editions of the game, it’s tough to know where to jump into this award winning worker placement game. Thankfully, Everdell Duo is a less intimidating 2-player game that seems to be a prefect ramp into this universe.

Woodland Communities

Everdell Duo is a 2-player focused experience where players are building their forest focused communities over the series of four seasons. One player takes the role of the tortoise while the other player plays as the hare. In the competitive play mode, players work to build out their woodland village with structures and inhabitants. You’ll have three workers to place and a variety of resources that can be earned and spent.

Cards are available from a draw deck or from the central board. These cards each have a cost that has to be paid before they are added to your tableau. Cards offer end game scoring, new worker placement spots, resources, or coins (which are your victory points). Like it’s older board game sibling, Everdell Duo is an incredibly cute game. With artwork from Andrew Bosley and Enggar Adirasa, this game draws you into its nature themed world.

The Sun and the Moon

Each round of Everdell Duo is tracked using a sun and moon token that moves through the center of the board. When players place a worker, the moon token moves along the track. When a player plays a card, the sun token moves along the track. Picking up a card from the deck or meadow (board) allows the player to advance either token, their choice. These sun and moon tokens keep the game moving and have strategic value as you try to lock out your opponent from using their final worker.

There are standard worker placement spots on the board along with two river spaces that get swapped out each round. Players are primarily collecting resources from these spots. Berries, twigs, pebble, and resin resources are used throughout the game to pay for cards and add them to your tableau. I’m a big fan of how tactile these resources are.

Cards are either categorized as creature or construction. These cards offer new worker placement locations, production bonuses, additional resources, coins (victory points), and end gaming scoring. Finding synergies across these cards is a big part of the game.

Seasons Come and Go

Across the top of the meadow is a set of locations where players can claim events that are randomly chosen at the start of the game. Players can claim these events if they meet the requirements of the tile, resulting in additional victory points. Since these are first come, first serve, players want to commit to chasing specific tiles as they build out their tableau.

At the end of the fourth season, players count their victory points, coins, bonuses, awarded events, and any end game scoring from cards.

Everdell Duo is a really straight-forward 2-player experience with great components (for the most part). While I love the high quality resources in the game, it feels like the sun and moon tokens could have been a little better. These are just cardboard trackers and pale in comparison with the resource components.

The sun and moon tracker is being moved each and every turn and is an important part of the game. It’s also the item that is forgotten about the most often. I’ve played Everdell Duo against four different people and moving these trackers are forgotten about a few times each game. It’s an upkeep step that is often tough to remember.

Cooperative Gameplay

In the cooperative game mode, both players are working together to build a single city that is flourishing with life. Players work their way through a book that has over a dozen chapters which guide the players through a story. You’ll have goals to achieve, and the setup will be slightly different each time.

Players will deal with skunk tokens that block out different locations during the course of the game. The skunks get in your way and keep you from getting exactly what you need. You can choose to take on a single chapter or work through a campaign where you name your city and track your progress over time.

This co-op experience is a great option for players who are looking for a new way to play. It works really well and is perfect for players who don’t mind working together with another person. This is also a great option for anyone who wants to play the game with a younger gamer. Some chapters allow you to share resources or cards, while other chapters are more restrictive.

Final Thoughts

Everdell Duo has quickly become part of our weekend gaming rhythm. Erin and I really enjoy playing this game over breakfast during a chill weekend. The game has enough cards that it’s impossible to see all the cards during a single game. There is a lot of replayability because event cards and the river location tiles are randomized each game.

With two different ways to play, Everdell Duo is a great option for players looking to change things up after a couple of games. While jumping into Everdell feels a little intimidating, Everdell Duo is a fantastic way to experience this world as a newcomer.

If you already own Everdell (along with some of the expansions), I’m not entirely sure Everdell Duo is a must buy. This new game does a great job of removing some of the “fluff” of the original and streamlines the game in plenty of ways. The setup and speed of play is the biggest selling point when compared to the original. If these aspects are important to you, you should check out this release.

For gamers who play games at the 2-player count often, Everdell Duo is an excellent purchase. The setup is quick, the mechanics are clean, and the game is one that we’re going to enjoy for a long time.

Everdell Duo is now available at your local game store or through the Tabletop Tycoon webstore.

This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.

Highs
- Mostly great components and excellent art
- Variable events and river locations each game
- Speedy setup and smooth gameplay
Lows
- Moving the sun and moon tokens are often overlooked
- Wish the box had some level of organization
Complexity

Time Commitment

Replayability
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29/05/2025
Parks Second Edition Review – One Board Family
Parks was a monumental hit for Keymaster Games when it was released in 2019. We backed the original printing while on Kickstarter and it quickly became a game night staple. Parks is still one of my wife’s favorite games of all time.

The second edition of Parks was released this Spring and this box contains more than a minor facelift for this modern classic. In this review, I’ll cover some of the changes to the game and hopefully help you decide if this new edition should hike its way into your collection.

A Hike in the Woods

Throughout a game of Parks, players are hiking trails, collecting tokens that can be turned in to experience National Parks that roll out during the game. There are gear cards that help you along the way. Players can take photos that are worth victory points at the end of the game. In the original game, you would hike the trail a total of four times, with each trail being slightly longer than the last.

In Parks Second Edition, you can tell that time and experience has led to a tighter and more refined game. First off, the rulebook has been tweaked, refined and structured in a way that is easy to digest. Instead of taking four hikes on trails that grow throughout the game, players now hike three times on a trail that has a set number of spaces. The overall playtime doesn’t seem to be impacted and we never felt like we were missing out on the fourth hike of the game.

The trail is now built into the central board and the perks at each trail site are tied to tokens that are distributed before each round. You still get the variability, it just happens differently. Players are still given two hikers to walk the trail, with the ability to extinguish their campfire if you want to share a space with another hiker. Landing on a trail site lets you take the action on the token and collect any weather tokens that are available from the trails setup at the start of the round.

As you reach the trail’s end, you’ll get to determine what final action your hiker takes and gain a bonus if you’re the first to take that action. Once there is only a single player left on the trail, they proceed to the trail’s end to take their final action(s).

New Additions

In the six years since Parks original release, we’ve seen two different expansions that add new mechanics and depth to the game. Inside this second edition is a good chunk of the content from those two expansion. Some of the cards from the Wildlife expansion is present in the game as well as the camping mechanic from the Nightfall expansion. Keymaster Games has also included a specialty die that was part of the Trails game published in 2021.

Not every element from these expansions came over and I think this is a good thing. It feels like the best parts from each of these properties made the final cut. The Camping Mode is something that you can add into your game or leave out entirely. Your choice.

When your hiker lands on a trail site with a tent token, you can take the normal resources on the site or utilize the tent to take the resources on any open Campsite. Adding in this bonus content and rebalancing the game feels really good.

Players will notice a new Passions card in this new edition of the game. This replaces the goal cards from the previous edition and is given to players at the start of the game. Completing a Passions card allows the player to earn a gear effect or earn an end game bonus.

The Upgrades

Let’s talk about some of the upgrades that Parks Second Edition brings. First off, I really love the player boards that come with this new edition. These boards show a backpack representing the number of tokens you can carry along with your canteen on the left side of the board. Visually, these are excellent and the canteen mechanic has been revamped.

When gaining a canteen, players now add a token from the central board onto their player board. When you add water to your canteen, you can trigger the tokens in that row, earning those bonuses. This gives players more control and agency as they plan for future rounds. Each canteen has three rows, allowing for three different combinations of tokens that can be paired up.

The camera from the original Parks has been replaced with the Shutterbug token. This token gives the player holding it the ability to take a second photo each time they are given this opportunity.

Probably the most divisive change in this new edition has to be the art and illustrations on each of the sixty-three parks cards. The original game was built off of the Fifty-Nine Parks series. This series of art prints brought together some incredible artists that has raised more than $225,000 for National Parks since 2016. This artwork is beautiful, inspiring, and at times, inconsistent.

This artwork was part of a licensing deal that made Parks stand out within our hobby. While I loved the original art direction, I think that the artwork from Josh Emrich and Lisk Feng is stunning. As a package, the artwork and design works together so well. Each National Park card feels unique but there is a cohesiveness that wasn’t their in the original game.

Art is so subjective and every person will have an opinion on which version they prefer. I personally feel that this game is more consistent throughout because of the focused work of the two illustrators who worked on Parks Second Edition.

Final Thoughts

As a fan of the original Parks, this is an easy game to suggest for nature loving board gamers. I think the changes inside this box make sense as Keymaster Games moves away from licensing agreements that could challenge future printings and expansions of the Parks game line.

Parks Second Edition is a streamlined, well built, and cohesive game that improves on the original. The MSRP of $50 to $59 for this new edition may feel like a lot for a person who owns the original. The first edition of Parks is not broken and is still a fantastic game. More than anything, this new edition feels like an upgrade that is preparing for more Parks content in the future. That’s something I’m excited about.

Parks Second Edition is available now at your local game store, on the Keymaster Games webstore, or at your local Barnes & Noble.

Highs
- Gameplay feels streamlined, refined, and cohesive
- Player boards and new canteen mechanics are excellent
- Minimal setup for the trail between rounds
- Entire package is top of the line and beautiful
Lows
- Art is subjective and some won’t like the change
Complexity

Time Commitment

Replayability
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22/05/2025
Friends & Family Expansion Board Game Review

Mythwind: Friends & Family

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.

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12/05/2025
Shallow Regrets Preview – One Board Family

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.

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07/05/2025
Family Games — The Treehouse

The Adventures of Robin Hood is another new one, this time an elaborate adventure game packed full of surprises. Players take on the roles of Robin Hood and his Merry Men and embark on a range of missions to help the poor and thwart the Sherriff of Nottingham’s evil schemes. A hardback story book and a great big board full of secret advent calendar-style doors to open are just a couple of the delights in store in this box!

Browse the full selection of games in our shop here or use the ‘family games’ filter to narrow down your search. We’re hoping to manage one more ‘Top 5’ list before Christmas arrives… watch this space, and click back through our previous posts for more suggestions.

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30/04/2025
Conservas Review – 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.

Conservas is published by 25th Century Games in the US and Salt & Pepper Games in Europe. You can find Conservas at your local game store, on the 25th Century webstore or online through Amazon today.

This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.

Highs
- Twelve seasons with multiple difficulties
- Excellent art and components
- Great balance in conserving and catching sea life
Lows
- Some might be turned off by the repetitive gameplay
- Kind of wish there was a multiplayer version
Complexity

Time Commitment

Replayability
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25/04/2025
Disgraced House Review – One Board Family
Clans of samurai cats are in a battle for dominance in this suitless trick-taking game from Shiny Pigeon Games. Be careful though, each season ends with a peace treaty, and showing too much force will bring disgrace to your clan. Let’s dig into this card game from designer Caner Cooperrider and see what sets it apart.

Managing Your Clan

Disgraced House feels familiar because it uses a standard trick-taking mechanic. What makes it unique is that there are no suits or trumps in the game and it’s solely based on numbers. Each envoy card, which makes up the majority of your hand, has two values on the card. The standard value is in black at the top of the card while the red value at the bottom of the card can be unlocked by using a fate token. With cards having two values, players have flexibility with each card as long as they have fate tokens that they can spend.

When a player leads, they can play a single card or pair with identical numbers. Followers have to play the same quantity of cards but there are rules on what numbers you can play. Followers have to play the same number or higher. If they cannot or choose not to beat the played cards, they have to play the lowest card(s) in their hand.

Playing a high card(s) means that followers are going to be forced to play their highest cards or flush away the low cards in their hand. The twist here is that players need low cards for the final trick of the round.

The Peace Treaty

The final trick of each round is a single card trick called the Peace Treaty. Players will play the final card left in their hand but there will only be one loser in this trick. The player who played the highest card has used too much force during the Peace Treaty and becomes the disgraced house. All other players score points based on half the value of the card they played during the Peace Treaty. The Disgraced House will miss out on this bonus but is given a +1/-1 modifier card that they can use in the next round of the game.

Players score a point for each trick they won during the round plus any bonus points they received during the Peace Treaty. This final trick of each round is really creative. Players who choose not to plan for the end of the round may miss out on a significant number of points.

You also don’t want to hang on to cards that that have too low of a value. By holding on to a 0 value card, you’re guaranteed not to be the disgraced house, but you also don’t score any bonus points during the end of the round.

Samurai Legends

Disgraced House has one more trick up its sleeve in the format of Ally and Advisor cards. At the start of each round, players get one of each. The Ally card will go into your hand and gives a unique ability you can play during the round. The Advisor gives you an additional ability or scoring opportunity and this card sits on the table in front of the player for everyone to see.

Either of these cards can be discarded before the round starts to take a fate token from the supply. These fate tokens allow you to flip your envoy card during the round to the red value at the bottom of the card. More fate tokens means more flexibility during the round. These tokens roll over to future rounds so saving up over a series of rounds isn’t a bad strategy.

Honor in Battle

Disgraced House has enough twists during a round to keep everyone engaged. Players are trying to be the first to earn thirteen points. There’s even a catch up mechanic that gives players a free fate token when they are more than three points behind the lead player.

I think the only thing that I’m lukewarm on is the cat theme of the game. The samurai cat artwork from Parker Simpson is gorgeous in every way. But, it’s not a theme that really drew me into the game. I’ve taught this game to dozens of people and the theme wasn’t a huge selling factor for them. Players really loved how rounds shifted as players utilize Ally and Advisor abilities and force cards from their opponents hands.

As each game advances, the hand sizes of the players decrease based on how close a player is to thirteen points. Rounds become faster with less cards in hand. Leading with a pair of cards will also limit the number of tricks that can be won which is another satisfying strategy.

My very first game was at just 2-players and my expectations were low. Trick-taking games at just two is usually a bust. Disgraced House played really well at 2-players and can be played with up to six.

At the five and six player counts, you play a variant of the game called “Crowded Court”. Players always receive six cards in the round and have a new option to “bow out” during the trick. The first player to do this can play any card(s) they want, intentionally losing the trick and playing their card(s) facedown, ignoring the high/low rules. Bowing out locks other players who play after you from doing this which can be really strategic. There’s even a team play variant in the game that we’ve not played yet, but I’m sure that we’ll dig into that one soon.

Final Thoughts

Disgraced House does just enough to set itself apart from other trick-taking games in our collection. With each card having two values, fate tokens are incredibly important if you want options in your card play. This makes for dynamic gameplay and fun surprises during the game. In a year that was filled with trick-taking games, this one has flown under the radar because of its small print run. Thankfully, Shiny Pigeon Games is bringing this game to a broader audience with a larger print run through Kickstarter.

I really enjoy Disgraced House and it’s a game that I love to teach. It hits the table more often because of how smooth it plays at just two players which has been a huge plus. Don’t miss out on this card game has it hits a broader audience in 2025!

Join the Kickstarter campaign for Disgraced House when it launches this spring.

This game was provided to us by the publisher for review. Read more about our review policies at One Board Family.

Highs
- Flexibility to play single or double card tricks
- Plays surprisingly well at just 2-players
- Peace Treaty phase in each round works really well
- Great variety of Ally and Advisor cards
Lows
- Games with six players can overstay its welcome
- Cat theme could be a hit or miss with players
Complexity

Time Commitment

Replayability
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18/04/2025
Tiny Towns Review – One Board Family
I’m a big fan of spatial reasoning games. Over the years, games like Patchwork and Isle of Cats have always brought me joy. I don’t know if it’s something left over from all the Tetris I played as a child, but figuring out little puzzles to get everything to fit just right is just… fun!

So when I was first introduced to Tiny Towns, I was immediately intrigued. I loved the idea of having to put your resources on the board just right, but adding in different scoring elements? Oh yeah, this one’s gonna hit the spot…

We Built This… Town…

Each player is the mayor of their own… well, tiny town. There’s a back story about creatures and predators and all that, but it’s not really that important.

What is important is that the game tasks you with building structures in the 4×4 grid on your player board. This construction happens by placing resources in the patterns specified by the available buildings. A tavern, for instance, requires two bricks and a glass resource to be placed all in a single line, while the cloister requires four resources in a very particular L-shaped arrangement.

On a turn, one player is designated as the “master builder”. That player announces one resource type, and all players have to add a cube matching that resource to their player board. If anyone has resources in an arrangement that matches a building, they may remove the matching cubes from their player board and place a building token. The building has to be placed on a site where one of the resources was that built the structure.

Watch Where You’re Going

Placement is important for a few reasons. For some of the buildings, you get points based on location. The inn, for example, gets points if it’s not in a row or column with another inn. The bakery gets points if it’s next to buildings of a particular type. You’ll also have to be careful to keep your board open for future buildings. If you don’t leave enough room for the pattern needed for a particular building – well, tough. You won’t be able to create that building for the rest of the game.

If you ever reach a point where you can’t build anything else, then your game is done and your town is complete. You’ll wait for everyone to finish their building, then calculate your points. And, as per usual, the player with the most points at the end of the game wins!

Lookin’ Good

When Tiny Towns hits the table, its charm is immediately evident. The box art is great, and all of the little building meeples are great. The artwork on the different building cards is also wonderful, and it all comes together to create a really attractive look.

The game is also very creative in how it adds variety. Each building meeple is associated with four different building types, and you randomly choose which building for each type at the beginning of the game. It’s a small thing, but it allows for increased replayability without having to have a bunch of components that are only used for certain setups.

Monuments are another element of the game that add a little spice. Each player is dealt two Monument cards at the beginning of the game and select one to keep. These special buildings are unique to each player, and they can provide some major scoring opportunities if used correctly. This small wrinkle ensures that everyone will have their own strategies and approaches as they move through the game.

Like Coming Home

Tiny Towns is a game that strikes a perfect balance for me. It’s simple enough to teach in just a few minutes, but it’s complex enough that I have to weigh my options on each turn to decide what I should do. It’s not so complicated that I will sit for several minutes trying to decide what to do, but it also has enough going on that I feel that my choices are important.

People that don’t like spatial reasoning games are probably going to get a bit frustrated with this title. However, given that you’re not putting down polyominoes or anything like that, maybe it’s easier? I’m not sure.

What I do know is that Tiny Towns is a game that I really enjoy. It’s one that I could play with almost any group, and each time it’s going to be a solid experience. With the addition of a few expansions over the past few years, there’s a ton of variety that can keep people coming back for more. Tiny Towns is a game that I’d recommend for any hobby gamer to add to their collection. It’s certainly one that I’ll be keeping on my shelf for a very long time.

Tiny Towns is available at your local game store, from the AEG webstore or online through Amazon today.

Highs
- Easy to learn while still providing enough challenge
- Looks great on the table
- A decent amount of variety right out of the box
Lows
- Spatial reasoning haters beware!
Complexity

Time Commitment

Replayability
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18/04/2025