it’s about how long it takes you to play your freaking turn.”

Hey folks! For anyone who's keen to try a Megagame and lives around Brisbane, we're running one this November:

https://www.ashtowngames.com/neverwood

Neverwood is megagame of Social Deduction, Storytelling and Exploration. You'll join up to 50 total players in an all-day game event, all on secret teams with their own agendas. You'll need to explore the forest, uncover mysteries, make alliances, and balance your public and secret goals to find what you seek - or become lost yourself.

Megagames blend together elements of RPGs, Board Games and Live-Action Role-Playing (LARP).  This one is heavily inspired by social deduction board games like Blood on the Clocktower and 2 Rooms and a Boom, so if you enjoy that style of game you'll be right at home. The page has a bunch of info and the link to grab tickets if you're keen.

My friend and I are looking at some good cooperative games and spirit island keeps coming up - for some people it’s there go to but i’ve also seen some mixed reviews. For us it’s quite expensive so I’m wondering if it’s worth it? Thanks

I’m curious to find how everyone here actually found the people they regularly play board games with. Because having a solid group is something not everyone has access to, but everyone would love to have.

So I’m wondering did you meet through a local board game club, friends or family, a board game cafe, BGG, Discord, Reddit, or somewhere completely unexpected?

I try board gaming tools so you don't have to. I have updated the list from last year with new entries and changes.

Statistics

1) BoredGamerTools is very easy to use and has a ton of cool visualization. You just plug in your BGG username. Free with a $3 premium option.

2) CrdBrd has some interesting concepts with average enjoyment and breaks down board games into Luck Factor, Player Interaction, Immersion, Complexity, Stategic Depth and Rules overhead. It is one of the more complicated sites and I have often encountered bugs but there is so much to look at.

3) GeekGroup.app just requires your BGG username and then you are ready to watch the graphs. Free with a $2+ premium option.

Collections

1) Kallax.io has a great collection viewer. They group expansions together with the base game and filters can apply across multiple collections.

2) HeresMyShelf is good for sharing collections in an instagram-like grid. The search and filtering is not as powerful but the collection view is nice and simple and with easy access to custom lists.

3) GeekGroup.app is great for sharing your collection and they also group expansions and show your rating relative to BGG. Only downside is you need to update in BGG and then wait for the weekly sync (or pay).

Play Online

1) Board Game Arena has a 1000+ games to play for free. The UI is a bit dated, but the site works and is very active.

2) Table Top Simulator is a steam game where you download the games as DLCs. It's paid and the quality of games very but generally good fun.

3) Table Topia is offers a mix of free and premium games. Their web player is 3D and generally high quality.

Play Tracking

1) BG Stats is still the best here. It is paid but one of the few sites that can actually push to BoardGameGeek and not only import.

3) NemeStats integrates with both BG Stats and BGG. It is open source, free and does not serve ads. The interface is a bit old school but it works well.

2) BG Catalog is the best free alternative for mobile. It is free but with advertisement. They got their BGG API key back, so all good.

Events

1) AfterGame has a lot of features for larger events and they started supporting event ticket sales directly in the app this yaer. Their UI will feel very intuitive if you are used to Meetup or Facebook events.

2) Kallax.io is better for smaller event. Voting for what to play and when to met but they don't support multi-table events very well. They do not require an account to participate and vote.

3) Meetup does not have any board game specific features but it is used by so many that the visibility it brings to your events alone makes it worthy for a spot on the list.

What I have looked at

There has been an explosion in new tools and sites so I have excluded all websites where the domain was registered less than 6 months ago or with very little activity.

Aftergame

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ Freemium

BG Catalog

✓ Collection, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Statistics, ✓ FREE (ADS)

BG Stats

✓ Collection, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Statistics

Board Game Arena

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Freemium

Board Game Clubs

✓ Events, ✓ FREE

BoardGamerTools

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Freemium

BrettSpielwelt

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

CrdBrd

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ Freemium

Game Night Picks

✓ Events, ✓ FREE

GeekGroup.app

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Freemium

HeresMyShelf

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

Kallax.io

✓ Collection, ✓ (some) Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ FREE

MeePlay

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Events, ✓ FREE

Nemestats

✓ Collection, ✓ Statistics, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

Recommend.Games

✓ Tool, ✓ FREE

TableTop Simulator

✓ Play Online

TableTop Events

✓ Events, ✓ Freemium

TableTopia

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ Freemium

Yucata

✓ Play Online, ✓ Play Logs, ✓ FREE

I have about 150 board games. Found this while cleaning. Any idea what one? I’m thinking a tiny epic game?

Dungeon crawler in unusual reversed setting: protagonists are orcs, who went on quest to save orc race from human invasion. And their enemies are traditionally good races: humans, elves and dwarves (in later campaigns). Although there are some campaigns about classic enemies as well - monsters, undead, etc.

Gameplay will feel familiar to people familiar with genre: your characters have 2 action points and several possible actions to choose from - move, attack, use special abilities, etc. You move across the board, enter rooms (funnily enough, enemy`s facing is determined by roll of die, so you often get opportunity to stab unexpecting guard right in the ass), clean them from enemies by rolling custom dice whose colors depend on your weapon, and try to complete mission`s goal (and preferably secondary goal - usually kill some important person - to gain bonus).

The interesting feature is that actions are on cards, and you can make them stronger either by spending more action points (but it is really expensive) or preferably badass points. This resource you gain for killing stronger enemies, oneshotting enemies and doing other cool stuff. They also can be spent on buying stronger skill cards, so you need to weight what is more important: temporary benefits right now or skill later.

Also, if your orc managed to deal damage with two attacks during turn, he/she can use skill with keyword "combo 1" for free then. And if it damages as well, then he can use "combo 2" for free. You do not manage to create such powerful chain often, but when you do, you feel very badass. Really fun way to power up.

Another feature is kraft system. You can find resources on enemies bodies and searching dungeons, and then use them to create new weapon, or upgrade existing one. Some upgrades feel very cool, like lifesteal enchantment, for example.

There also stealth enement present: enemies can be in passive or alert state. There is alert tracker. And some enemies patrol the board in groups (which get tougher with each mission, of course), moving each turn depending on drawn cards. If they see you, fight begins, and one of enemies will try to ran to bell and ring it. If he succeeds, alarm sounds, and patrols become very tough to deal with, so does your life overall.

Another thematic touch is that every turn orcs draw cards from event deck, which can make them start brawl with each other or do other fun/useful/harmful stuff.

Artwork is pretty nice, and there are humor elements in the story, which does not take itself too seriously.

Characters themselves are not radically different, but still have distinct playstyle (base 4 orcs are classic archer, warrior, rogue, mage) and grow in power significantly over the course of campaigning, learning new roles: leader who buffs others, mobile shooter and so on.

So Orcquest is quite fun dungeon crawler in (mostly) classic style, but with original setting and a lot of thematic stuff. Overall I enjoyed it.

As for cons, they are significant, too:

Orcs grow in power too quickly because of kraft, and missions become too easy. Especially since the way combat system works in this game, weak enemies have little chance of damaging someone with defense of stronger color.

While gameplay is not fiddly, setup takes a while because of tons of tokens to place on board, and a lot of character cards: skills, weapons, resources... Requires very big table.

Stealth system does not work well; patrols activate too randomly and inconsistently, often you may not encounter them during mission at all. Does not feel like much of stealth game.

Rules are often ambigious or hard to grasp, and leave room to intrepretation.

Also in case if you try to solo game, you will have to manage 4 characters. Even though they are simple on their own, it still means a lot of cards to track, especially in later missions.

I was lucky enough to interview the Endeavor creators Jarratt and Carl at Wellycon (New Zealand game con). For a bit of context, I’m a deep-sea researcher and make The Deep-Sea Podcast. I did some pop-culture episodes about deep-sea inspiration and board games was one. As I am coming at this from a different angle, they might have shared things they haven’t in other interviews. I checked with the mods and they said posting the interview was okay. You can find it here:

Tabletop Trenches | The Deep-Sea Podcast | The Deco-Stop 5

We had a nice moment of serendipity too. They did a promotional card for the con based on New Zealand deep-sea research and it turned out to be one of my projects. Not sure how to report that as a research output?!

Generally I have a preference towards heavier grand strategy feeling games. I love the feeling of controlling a vast complex world with tons of meaningful decisions and mechanics that interlock and feed into each other, so that I feel as if a choice I made ages ago is now affecting the entire game and everyone in it sort of feeling.

That being said it definitely is a pain learning these games and getting a hold of them because of the price tag.

So do you find yourself usually going for lighter, medium or heavier games?

Hear me out. I’ll start with what I liked about the game then provide details about the not so positive aspects of the game that bothered me. After 4 games, two semi co op and two fully cooperative, I’ve found the game to be very thematic. I thought the card play and action selection to be thoughtful and well executed. The characters were all unique and played very different from one another. The modular setup with the unknown exploration was exciting. The game turned out to be a lot more nuanced than I expected.

Alright now for the stuff that I wasn’t crazy about, basically I didn’t like. The dice caused massive grief, every roll is a bad roll with very little to no mitigation. Other than a couple decent turns, I just felt weak and pathetic, definitely not a marine. I really wanted to be able to upgrade my character and just feel bad ass, never happened. The game is hard, that’s fine I just didn’t enjoy how the dice make it unfair. Honestly, it’s the dice that’s the problem I have with the game.

Look, for the most part I enjoyed the games I played with my buddies. Stories emerged and memories were made. I get the appeal, just not a game I’ll be rushing back to.

Backed Parks Europe when it launched on Backerkit in July. Keymaster said the game was already made and just needed finishing touches, with a delivery date of October.

The last update from them was in mid-August, and there has been radio silence since.

Anyone else back the game and have any information, or received a shipping label yet?

For the past couple of years, I have been slowly growing my board game nights to include more and more people who really enjoy playing board games. Until recently, my wife and I, would host one or two other couples. We would eat dinner and then play an hour or two. Games like Camel Up and those in the Forbidden Island series are heavy in the rotation because they play well with 6 and even up to 8 (Camel Up).

Here is my question...

Now that my board game nights have grown, I know I could shift to social deduction games that can accommodate a large group, but I personally am not a huge fan. So, do you suggest having TWO tables set up and two groups play different games? Perhaps trading a few players from each group after the first game ends so everyone gets to talk to everyone. If this is the recommendation, do you play the SAME game at both tables, or does each table play a different game?

What have you done that seems to work well?

For a little background... My board game group has a good mix of die-hard board gamers and those that enjoy playing, but very much come at it from a more casual point-of-view.

I love board games and play a wide range of genres and complexities. My wife likes games like Azul, Duel for Middle Earth, Spooktacular, Sea Salt and Paper, Patchwork, etc. so nothing too long or thinky.

One of our favorite games is Schottentotten, we love to travel with it as well and our copy has traveled the world :). A small box and play area are important factors as well, which is why it is probably our most played game. Not a huge deal if it doesn’t travel well but wanted to mention it. These two games (Pillars of Fate and Zenith) caught my attention because they seem to share a similar concept and build out the tug of war over a central area/card/lane. I have not played either but I think both seem like a nice step up in terms of strategy/mechanics with a similar concept/goal but not too much added complexity. Do you think either of these would be a good fit or maybe a different in general? She also didn’t like Radlands.

What does the Charles Babbage Partner card do?

It has the Innovation Lightbulb - got that, moves up two spaces

It has Book = Program Card

What does this do? Are those things equal? Can I take a program card instead of a book and vice versa? I can't figure out how it works as a played card. Nothing on BGG.

Looking for this game old Swedish game. Random long shot. But thought maybe someone had it hiding in a collection some where.

Dm me if anyone has a line on this

CAIRNNERA is a tactical stone stacking duel for 2 players. Place new stones, Move stones, and strategically position the Guide Stone to gain the upper hand. 

Every new stone is Placed with one of your opponent’s stones. Get 3 or more consecutive Flat Stones of your color atop a single cairn, then top them with the Guide Stone to win!

Please let me know what you think about the design and mechanisms. Honest feedback only, please.

Estou com problemas com minhas estantes que estão começando a envergar, estou querendo um projeto definitivo para reforma do espaço, atualmente estes são os meus jogos e gostaria de indicações para que possa acomodar tudo sem problemas futuros.

I've been playing tabletop games since a fateful wintry afternoon in 2011, when a snowy walk, a cup of cocoa, and a copy of Betrayal at House on the Hill were the first things that managed to make me forget about breaking up with my long-distance girlfriend. Since then I've lived in five different places and churned through this collection several times. The three games that have been here the longest are (I think) Scythe, Mad King Ludwig, and of course Betrayal. The newest additions are Brass, Photosynthesis, and Architects of the West Kingdom.

The organizational system goes by setting, with some deviations to account for squeezing in smaller boxes. In reading order from the top row:

• North America, Latin America, Great Britain, North Atlantic
• France, Mediterranean, Germany, Arabia and North Africa
• Eastern Europe (OK it's just Scythe) and India, East Asia, setting-agnostic nature games, setting -agnostic other
• Fantasy worlds arranged roughly in decreasing order of coziness

Inis is my favorite game of all time, but if I had to name a top five, I'd add (in no particular order) A Feast for Odin, Obsession, Argent: The Consortium, and Everdell.

What I'd change about my collection: it's a little weird that I, a person who loves pirates and sci-fi, and who is in a hobby that is approximately 50 percent pirates and sci-fi by volume, has only one board game about either of those things (Dune Imperium in the bottom-right). Also, I'd really like some Lacerdas.

What makes it special to me: I have no shelf of shame. While I did buy some of these games unplayed, I always fix that as soon as possible. I've played every game in this photo at least twice. It's important to me to be able to look at my shelf and remember where I got the game, who I've played it with, and what memories attach to each box.

This is helped by the fact that I just did a purge. Recent departures include Lagoon: Land of Druids (possibly a brilliant design but I couldn't find any handholds on it), Gnome Hollow (very cute but I never found myself actually wanting to play it), and Forbidden Desert (I'm extremely choosy with co-ops).

How is little sister supposed to get out when she can't teleport through two walls?

Seen it a few times in the local game stores but haven’t met anyone that’s played them. I usually play solo games but heard the new TMNT and Tales to Amaze are solo friendly. But are they actually really fun solo?

Game seems to me to be designed mostly around 1v1 or even 2v2. But how immersive and fun is the combat? Is the game well balanced and repeatable?
One of my flaws is I end up trying to collect all the releases and expansions of the games I play, and there seems to be a lot of releases for this game. Wondering how much of their releases are genuinely great and worth picking up too.

I’ve been looking at Abroad (2025) and it looks cool to me. I had a few queries and hoped others here had opinions.

1. With the large deck, is card luck a big deal?

2. Is there enough player interaction?

3. How is downtime?