Can a Board Game Save the World? | Daybreak Review

What's that law about the title being a yes or no question? The answer is always, yes, right? (No one correct me.) Ha ha, well jokes on you, this one is a straight N.O. How would a board game even save the world? With its dashing smile and can-do attitude?

Haaaaaaving said that... I think that maybe Daybreak is as close as we'll get, and I know, I know - that's corny and a tad sensationalist but... I dunno. There's something kinda transcendent about it. Something that makes it more than a board game. Actually, scratch that. That implies that a board game can't ever amount to being transcendent. What I mean is, Daybreak feels like just a bit more.

In both setting and gameplay, Daybreak feels like it's breaking ground, and to see both executed so well is a rare treat. So please, enjoy me gushing about a fantastic board game for 15 minutes - a treat for everyone, I am sure.

Furnace Review

Hey capitalism fans, you might be searching for the next great lightweight game to imagine you’d be playing with your extended family over the holidays whom you would be seeing if we all weren’t staying home again. Well, imagine no more for we have the brown and white box of your dreams.

Furnace is a 30 minute Ebeneezer Scrooge simulator and if you’re wondering whether it’s a feast or a cold turkey - we have the scoop for you.

Hallertau Review - One Year Later

Long time podcast listeners will remember that initially Uwe Rosenber’s latest entry into his farming universe canon did not exactly wow us, yet here Efka is, almost one year later reviewing Hallertau. What is Hallertau then, and what changed?

Well, you’ll have to watch the video to find out, but if nothing else, Hallertau is an interesting entry not just in Rosenberg’s long list of designs, but euro games in general.

Food Chain Magnate

This is just one of those videos that shouldn’t have a preface or an introduction. All you need to know is that Food Chain Magnate is beloved and Monopoly is beloathed. Go! Watch!

Maracaibo Review

Buckle up, I’m about to utter some forbidden words. Rondel. Multi-purpose cards. Tableau building. Wait, don’t ring the police just yet because believe it or not that kind of Eurogame talk is not only legal, but very much abundant in Maracaibo.

In this spiritual sequel to the world’s most famous game about… cows, you’ll become a trader with a ship instead and spin around the Carribean like a mad beyblade, collecting resources and, in a shocking twist - building people out of cards? I can see you’ve already got a headache so let me soothe it with some video review balm.

Tapestry Review

Tapestry! When you lose control and you get no bonus,

Tapestry! When the resource’s gone and you can’t go on it’s hard to be….

Wait, put down that pitchfork - this was a fine homage to a horrible song and admit it - deep down in your heart you liked it. Just like I had to admit that deep down in my heart I liked Tapestry, a civilization themed game that asks you to go up four tracks that will propel you as high up as space (and other human achievements). But, my oh my, I don’t think everyone will enjoy this trundle through history and as always, the hardest job falls on us - helping you figure out which camp you’re going to be on before you hit ‘purchase.’

Pipeline Review

Pipes! Many people wear them, but also, since 2019, they are an economic simulator. Truly, they are the most versatile kitchen utensil. Thankfully, Pipeline from Capstone Games comes with so many pipe tiles that it could easily win the award for “Guinness World Record of Board Game with Most Pipe Tiles,“ which as we all know is one of the less obscure Guinness World Records.

With so many pipes coming out of the wazoo, it’ll take none other than NPI to see if they all fit together neatly into a good board game.

Pax Pamir Review

Frequently, before the publishing of this review, we got messages from our viewers expressing hope. As in, they hoped we would like this game. Let us say right now, Pax Pamir is a game like no other. Job done. Why even watch the video?

What we mean by “like no other” is that it’ll astound like no other, envelop like no other and confound like no other. It’s not uncommon to expect reviewers to dish out verdicts, but we see our job less as judges and more as guides. So if you’d like to know whether Pax Pamir is for you, then go on. Click that play button.

Underwater Cities Review

Oh no! How do I write this blurb without asking the all important question: will this game sink or swim? If you’ve not heard of Underwater Cities then you are in for a treat if you like your games non confrontational and loaded with more cards than Gambit’s utility belt.

Fans of Shipyard, Last Will and The Prodigal’s Club (which we’ve reviewed a very long time ago) might recognise the name Vladimír Suchý. But unlike the previous games that were published by Czech Games Edition, this time Vladimír set out to make a game via his own, brand new publishing company. And that feels appropriate because Underwater Cities is not only nothing like its predecessors but also feels much grander in scope. Excited? Good. Take a comfy seat, get your kelp treat on and enjoy our review.

Wingspan Review

Behold, the wonderful world of birds - nature’s favourite flying mammal - in all its glory. Wingspan doesn’t skimp one bit at showing you just how beautiful these creatures can be and comes with an amount of eggs so large that it can only mean that those one hundred and seventy bird cards have been getting up to no good in your brand new board game box. That’s right. Birds are the new sexy and publisher Stonemaier Games is ready to sell you a board game full of them. Just as well we’ve got a review ready to help you make up your mind.

Root and The Riverfolk Expansion Review

If I had 172 fingers, I could count the number of times our audience asked us to review Root on all my fingers. I have only ten fingers, unless you count toes as fingers, in which case I have twenty! (fun fact: in Lithuania toes are called feet fingers). But enough about Lithuania, let’s review Root, one of the most exciting games of 2018! In this dazzlingly beautiful and artistically unprecedented game of war you’ll take on the role of a cutesy woodland faction, and it won’t take long until things go very very wrong. How wrong? Only one way to find out.

Blackout: Hong Kong Review

Long time No Pun Included viewers will know that, hey, we have some strong feelings when it comes to games designed by Alexander Pfister. And when I say “strong feelings,” I mean that we love his meatier, grindier games as much as we love a good burger. Which leads me perfectly into telling you that Great Western Trail is one of our favourite eurogames and game of the year for 2016 and Mombasa, in-spite of its problematic theme, was our runner up game of the year for 2015.

So I’m not going to waste time, because Blackout: Hong Kong, his new big game, is here, and my word I am just a little bit excited. Let’s get to the review.