As we wrap up this rather interesting year, I thought it would be a good time to look back and list off some of our best board game discoveries of 2020.
2020s Best - The best board games and RPGs we played for the first time in 2020. Reviews of Knot Dice Squared and Back to the Future Dice Through Time. Also, some virtual gaming, more Knot Dice and another book of Hogwarts Battle completed.
What’s New for Two - The best newer two-player board games. Tying into that we’ve got a review of one of the hottest new two-player games out there right now Watergate from Capstone games. In our week in review, we continue our Jaws of the Lion campaign, discuss some 7 wonders, Clans of Caledonia, Terra Mystica and Rallyman GT online, and I convinced Deanna to try For the Queen, A pass the stick style indie RPG.
Some board games can seem intimidating, with a thick rulebook, lots of components, or too many things to learn all at once. Sometimes though a boardgame will surprise you by looking complicated when in reality it isn't.
Scaling the Game - In this week's Ask The Bellhop segment we discuss how game complexity scales with experience. We get into detailed reviews of Telestrations Upside Drawn, a team-based version of the classic party game, and The Pip System Corebook, a universal roleplaying system great for new players and for gaming with kids. Also initial thoughts on Roll for Lasers and Breakdancing Meeple, as well as a return to Talisman Batman Super-Villains Edition in our week in review.
For Sale - Getting the most from your unwanted games, a follow up to last week’s topic of deciding which games in your collection to get rid of. Also a detailed review of Bastille from Queen Games and Family Secrets the first episode of Escape Mail an escape mail experience delivered to your door. Finally, a number of games in our Bellhop’s Tabletop week in review including a first look at Eclipse Second Dawn for the Galaxy, plus Maki Stack, Katana, Jaws, Codenames Duet and Medium.
Thinning the Herd - Curating your game collection, when you must get rid of some gams how do you decide which? In addition, we have two detailed game reviews, first off Codenames Duet and second Lost Cities: Rivals. Finally in our week in review we talk a bit more about Lost Cities Rivals and a four player game of a hidden gem from Queen Games: Bastille.
One of the things that surprised me the most about Codenames Duet is that it is not just a two-player cooperative word guessing game, it's actually a team-based cooperative game that can be played with two or more players.
Great Games Eh? - In celebration of Canada Day, we feature some of the best games from Canadian game designers. In addition to that, we’ve got a review of the roshambo based card game Super Cats from The Op. In The Bellhop’s Tabletop, we’ve got our first play of Talisman: Batman - Super Villains Edition, a few rounds of The Mind two-player, plays of Codenames Duet using the campaign mode as well as trying it in teams, a five-player game of Super Cats and our first plays of Telestrations Upside Drawn.
A live unboxing of the hobby board game Codenames Duet by Vlaada Chvatil and Scot Eaton published by CGE.
