Tabletop Games Blog

Art is often something we look at, listen to or watch, while board games are discussed in terms of entertainment, strategy and social interaction. Yet, board games are created through imagination, skill and deliberate choices. Board game designers can shape emotions, represent ideas and create systems that shape how players experience a perspective. Of course, the artwork in ...

The morning begins with the sound of servants moving furniture. The dining room needs preparing, invitations need sending, and someone has decided that the garden requires attention before our guests arrive. Money is finally coming into the estate again, although there never seems to be quite enough of it. Reputation is returning too, slowly, helped along by carefully chosen ...

When I play a board game with my friends, I know that they have the same intention: to win. Yet, they actually all want quite different things. One friend is happiest when they find a strategy that works and keeps working. Another wants to take a game apart until they understand the most efficient route to victory. I want to win too, but as a reviewer, I am usually more inter...

Bus headquarters was busy. We were still trying to figure out the best route to pick up passengers and deliver them to their destinations. The job was made harder because our competitors were vying for the same customers. We were the only two bus operators to serve this town, and we both wanted to be the best. We were also both making up the route as we went along. All I coul...

Trick-taking games have been around for centuries, and they continue to inspire new designs. Everyone has their own idea of what makes for a great trick-taking game, but mine was shaped by growing up in Germany playing Skat and, especially, Doppelkopf. Those games use mechanisms that still appear in modern games, yet designers keep finding new ways to create new twists on the...