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 interested in understanding what a game is trying to do, how its mechanisms produce an experience and how the people around the table respond. Listening to episode 673 of the 99% Invisible podcast, I found that C. Thi Nguyen, a philosophy lecturer at the University of Utah and author of the book "The Score", has really well described these differing expectations of wanting to win a board game.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/09/01/striving-for-achievements-the-difference-between-achievement-play-and-striving-play-topic-discussion/Useful LinksEpisode 673 of the 99% Invisible podcast: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/673-the-score/The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game by C. Thi Nguyen: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252/the-score-by-c-thi-nguyen/Wingspan review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2019/03/16/wingspan/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Komorebi by | e s c p | https://www.escp.spacehttps://escp-music.bandcamp.comBirds of a Feather by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.comRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_USSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo by Eunice De Guzman on Unsplash)
Sep 1
11 min
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 could do was tell my team: Let's Make a Bus Route: The Dice Game by Saashi from Saashi & Saashi with art by Takako Takarai.Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/29/lets-make-a-bus-route-the-dice-game-saturday-review/Useful LinksLet's Make a Bus Route: The Dice Game: https://saashiandsaashi.com/en/products/lets_make_a_bus_route_the_dice_gameSaashi & Saashi: https://saashiandsaashi.com/enBGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/335678/lets-make-a-bus-route-the-dice-gameMusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Sound effects: bbc.co.uk – © copyright 2026 BBCMusic: Silent Movie 39Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/12456-silent-movie-39Music: Silent Movie 30Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/12447-silent-movie-30Music: Silent Movie 49Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/12467-silent-movie-49SupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/
Aug 29
9 min
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 them. So in this article, I want to look at the trick-taking mechanisms I find most interesting, why they work, and how modern trick-takers have changed them while keeping the characteristics that make the genre so long-lasting.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/25/magic-tricks-what-makes-trick-taking-games-great-topic-discussion/Useful LinksThe Crew: Quest for Planet Nine review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/12/05/the-crew-the-quest-for-planet-nine-saturday-review/The Fox in the Forest: Duet review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2022/04/30/the-fox-in-the-forest-duet-saturday-review/The Six of VIII review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/12/07/the-six-of-viii-saturday-review/Enemy Anemone review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/10/14/enemy-anemone-saturday-review/Haggis review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/12/14/haggis-saturday-review/Rascally Rabbits review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/06/27/rascally-rabbits-saturday-review/Cat in the Box review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/08/23/cat-in-the-box-digital-eyes/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Late-Night Decaf by | e s c p | https://www.escp.spacehttps://escp-music.bandcamp.comDowntown Walk by | e s c p | https://www.escp.spacehttps://escp-music.bandcamp.comSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo by Julius Drost on Unsplash)
Aug 25
12 min
The forest seems to close behind you with every step. Pine needles soften your footsteps, branches catch at your clothes, and the trail you followed an hour ago has somehow disappeared. You have been searching for the lake all morning, following fragments of an old story about something that lives beyond the trees. The deeper you go, the quieter the forest becomes. Then the trees thin, revealing dark water between their trunks. Something moves beneath the surface. You stop at the water's edge as a shape slowly rises from the lake, ancient and impossible. You finally discover what you came looking for: Korpi by Antti Kukkonen from Hiirosoft.Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/22/korpi-saturday-review/Useful LinksKorpi: https://korpiboardgame.com/Crowdfunding page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/korpi/korpi-nfc-adventure-gameRules video: https://youtu.be/1QYJ75VO4sU?si=DvSTxmB7Azgn1hJ4BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/466864/korpiMusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Sound Effects: ZapSplat (https://www.zapsplat.com/)Signal To Noise by Scott Buckley | https://soundcloud.com/scottbuckleyRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Solar Winds (Cosmic Horror Atmosphere) by Aila Scott | https://ailascott.comRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/SupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo courtesy of Korpi)
Aug 22
10 min
Like a lot of people, the board game hotness excites me because it potentially offers new mechanisms or clever twists on something familiar. Sometimes a new game draws me in because it has my favourite setting. When I finally hold the new game in my hands, the excitement continues when I read the rulebook, set up the game and pull levers or push buttons to see what happens. Yet, as amazing as new games often feel, the ones I return to most often are games that have become familiar friends. Somehow, knowing them so well has not made them any less interesting, but it has changed what I enjoy about them.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/18/the-new-old-classic-games-vs-the-cult-of-the-new-topic-discussion/Useful LinksTapestry review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2019/11/09/tapestry-saturday-review/Knarr review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/07/20/knarr-saturday-review/The White Castle review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/04/04/the-white-castle-digital-eyes/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Games We Used to Play by | e s c p | https://www.escp.spacehttps://escp-music.bandcamp.comDay Ahead by Joe Crotty | https://soundcloud.com/joecrottyRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_USSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash)
Aug 18
11 min
The first pair of hands reached the table before the pattern card had settled. Nine cardboard cats were flipped, swapped and turned over in a frantic blur, followed by an excited slap that brought everything to a sudden halt. One tiny mistake was all it took for groans to turn into laughter before everyone eagerly reset their tiles for another attempt. Every new challenge promised to be straightforward, yet somehow each one encouraged just one more round of rearranging the Meow Tiles by Jean-Claude Pellin from Oink Games with art by Rie Takahashi.Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/15/meow-tiles-saturday-review/Useful LinksMeow Tiles: https://oinkgames.com/en/games/analog/meow-tiles/Rulebook: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/282300/small-box-game-jacket-nine-tiles-gamesOink Games: https://oinkgames.com/en/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/188018/nine-tilesMusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Trend by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_USRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comJoyful by Mixaund | https://mixaund.bandcamp.comRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/
Aug 15
8 min
Imagine playing your very first indoor bowls game, but there is no jack. Everyone simply rolls a bowl towards an imaginary target. Somehow, your experienced opponent seems remarkably confident, while you try to copy what they do and hope for the best. At the end of the first end, someone reveals where the jack had been all along and awards the points accordingly. Then the second end goes in the same fashion, with a target that no one can see. Every end, you know how well you've done, but you never have any hope of getting better. Learning to bowl that way would feel practically impossible because every bowl would be complete guesswork. Surprisingly, some board games seem to want us to learn them in very much the same way.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/11/score-in-game-vs-end-game-scoring-topic-discussion/Useful Links99% Invisible podcast, episode 673: https://99percentinvisible.org/episode/673-the-score/C. Thi Nguyen's book The Score: How to Stop Playing Somebody Else's Game: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/735252/the-score-by-c-thi-nguyen/Ahoy review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2023/03/18/ahoy-saturday-review/Flamme Rouge review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2024/07/13/flamme-rouge-saturday-review/Azul review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/09/19/azul-saturday-review/Duck & Cover review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/06/21/duck-cover-saturday-review/King of New York review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/04/25/king-of-new-york-saturday-review/Borealis: Arctic Expeditions review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/08/borealis-arctic-expeditions-saturday-review/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Flowers by FSCM Productions | https://fscmproductions.bandcamp.comRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comWonders by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_USI Feel Alive by Alex-Productions | https://onsound.eu/Royalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution 3.0 Unported License (CC BY 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/deed.en_USFlourish by Purrple Cat | https://purrplecat.comRoyalty Free Music by https://www.free-stock-music.comCreative Commons / Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en_USA Weekday In A Small Town by | e s c p | https://www.escp.spacehttps://escp-music.bandcamp.comSupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo by Seth kane on Unsplash)
Aug 11
12 min
Snow muffled every footstep until the only sounds were distant birds and the steady crunch beneath our boots. The silence stretched in every direction: left to right, ahead and behind, as well as all the way up into the thermosphere. We were far away from anywhere. Yet, we knew we were safe. As the darkness settled all around us, we could finally see it: the Borealis: Arctic Expeditions by Dariusz Mindur from Lucky Duck Games with art by Rodrigo Camilo Alves De Almeida, Kevin Sidharta, Inês Toczyska and Ariadna Żytniewska.Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/08/borealis-arctic-expeditions-saturday-review/Useful LinksBorealis: Arctic Expeditions: https://luckyduckgames.com/global/game/1015-borealis-arctic-expeditions-5905965252578Rulebook: https://boardgamegeek.com/filepage/303777/borealis-arctic-expeditions-rulebookRules video: https://youtu.be/_g0XbOriCW8?si=PIS7_6h34B4lqnCXLucky Duck Games: https://luckyduckgames.com/global/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/448116/borealis-arctic-expeditionsMusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Sound Effects: ZapSplat (https://www.zapsplat.com/)Music: Time moves slower than it shouldProduced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13750-time-moves-slower-than-it-shouldMusic: The Backrooms Music Vol. 25Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13624-the-backrooms-music-vol-25SupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo courtesy of Lucky Duck Games)
Aug 8
8 min
I never enjoyed history at school. I understood why it mattered as a subject, but learning names, dates and events off by rote simply didn't work for me, no matter how hard I tried. Events were never taught in their chronological or geopolitical context. Things just didn't make sense to me. So it seems ironic that historical board games are now one of my favourite genres. Of course, they've not made me any better at remembering names and dates, but they replaced my fear of history with a new curiosity that I hadn't felt before.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/04/back-in-time-the-draw-of-history-in-board-games-topic-discussion/Useful LinksMolly House review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2025/05/24/molly-house-saturday-review/Undaunted: Normandy review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2022/07/23/undaunted-normandy-saturday-review/Stasi Raus, Es Ist Aus! review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/16/stasi-raus-es-ist-aus-saturday-review/Pax Pamir 2e review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2022/08/27/pax-pamir-second-edition-saturday-review/The Cost review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/12/12/the-cost-digital-eyes/MusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Podcast Music Vol. 20 [Chillstep Review Background]Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13184-podcast-music-vol-20-chillstep-review-backgroundMusic: Podcast Music Vol. 18 [Minimal Tech Background]Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13182-podcast-music-vol-18-minimal-tech-backgroundMusic: Podcast Music Vol. 19 [Chillstep Review Background]Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13183-podcast-music-vol-19-chillstep-review-backgroundMusic: Podcast Music Vol. 5 [Nature Ambience]Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13162-podcast-music-vol-5-nature-ambienceMusic: Imagefilm 045Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/12219-imagefilm-045SupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/
Aug 4
9 min
A small hand reaches into the tin, fingers excitedly hovering over the treats inside. The choice should be simple: take a biscuit, any biscuit. But no: two biscuits are better than one, and three better than two. Yet, if the little hand takes too long to make up its mind, the little burglar will be discovered. Well, it's time to Risk It For A Biscuit by Jessica Metheringham from Dissent Games.Read the full review here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2026/08/01/risk-it-for-a-biscuit-saturday-review/Useful LinksRisk It For A Biscuit: https://dissentgames.com/2026/04/04/risk-it-for-a-biscuit/Dissent Games: https://dissentgames.com/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/466154/risk-it-for-a-biscuitMusicIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Sound Effects: ZapSplat (https://www.zapsplat.com/)Music: Ultimate Comedy Music Vol. 7Produced by Sascha EndeLink: https://ende.app/en/song/13270-ultimate-comedy-music-vol-7SupportIf you want to support this podcast financially, please check out the links below:Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/TabletopGamesBlogPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/tabletopgamesblogWebsite: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/support/(Photo courtesy of Dissent Games)
Aug 1
5 min
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