Earthborne Rangers is One in a Million

Earthborne Rangers is a shower game. Don't actually play it in the shower, the cards will melt quicker than you can say "enviromentally sustainable." But do play it. And afterwards it will haunt your thoughts.

You'll think about Earthborne Rangers when you're having your lunch sandwich on a park bench, when you look out your kitchen window with your morning coffee, when you're walking your dog, and yes, every time you have a shower.

Earthborne Rangers is a game that stays with you because it's a game that gives more than it has. It's unusual structure ensures that every session ends with more lingering thoughts, questions, mysteries, that hook you in for just one more play.

Oh, and it's also a co-operative "LCG inspired" campaign game with all that deck construction cardy-combo goodness that you expect from games like Lord of the Rings and Arkham Horror the Card Games, but comparing it to those does it an injustice. It's so much more!

A Review of Everything Too Many Bones

Howdy bone fans. What a video today - a comprehensive review of everything ever published for Too Many Bones so far. In this monstrous video you’ll learn about the popular dungeon crawler, why you’d want to buy it, why you wouldn’t want to buy it and what to buy or not buy. Is it a buyer’s guide? Yes. Is it a critical analysis? Yes. Is it too long and overambitious? Yes. The game, or the video? Yes.

Enjoy!

Descent: Legends of the Dark Review - A New Kind of Dungeon Crawler

NPI has the scoop on perhaps the hottest game of the summer, and what better way to avoid the plague than by staying inside and moving fantasy heroes around a map for hours on end in an expansive story driven campaign with cool combat mechanisms. Can Descent: Legends of the Dark deliver on all of that? You’ve come to the right place to find out.

Forgotten Waters Review

You might have never heard about them, but let me tell you, pirates are cool! Well, not real pirates. Real pirates are… boy this suddenly turned. Fantasy magical pirates are cool. You know, the ones more about adventure and ridiculous consequences? Sign me up for some of those non-real life magical pirates, PLEASE. And do it quickly because this intro has gone really awkward.

Forgotten Waters is by far not the first pirate game to hit the… waters but so very rarely do they float. Which is why I’m incredibly delighted to tell you that in a rare occasion, this one doesn’t just float - it paddles! Watch our review for more.

This video was sponsored by Skillshare.

We Review (nearly) Everything Arkham Horror: The Card Game - Part 1

What makes Arkham Horror the Card Game so captivating? Perhaps it really is that good. Perhaps, like The King in Yellow, once you’ve experienced it you’ll just never be able to get away from it. Either way, we want to help you decide which parts are worth the entry cost. So we’ve sat through it. All of it. And here it is, act one of our Mega Review of Arkham Horror: The Card Game.

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Tainted Grail Review

After 7th Continent we did not think we’d be intrigued in seeing another ‘continent composed of cards on your table’ open world board game but here we are. Better sharpen your scythes as you take on the role of hapless villagers trying to unravel a world-ending mystery so “dark” it’ll give Vantablack a run for it’s money.

Tainted Grail is everything “Kickstarter board games” but hyperbolized. The scope? If you want to finish this beast and have time to play some other board games in your life - better take all your annual leave at once. The bling? Let’s not mince words because Awaken Realms does not mince plastic - it’s all truly gorgeous. The cost? Actually, forget other board games - if you bought this - you can no longer afford them. Whether you should buy it is another matter altogether.

Comanauts Review

Diving into peoples dreams, miniature black holes, Winnie the pooh - those are not items from my Amazon checkout page - they’re just some of the elements that make up the whole that is Comanauts. There’s enough ideas in this board game to fill up an Olympic swimming pool and they’re so eclectic that it’ll probably make google bots think this entire page is gibberish spam. I don’t think I’m doing a very good job explaining it so here, just watch this video, it’ll make it better. Uh oh, I think I hear the google bot knocking on my door. Hurry, click play before it takes me to spam prison!

Gen 7 Review

It is a well known rule of physics that in campaign games nobody can hear you scream. But I’ll tell you what - Gen7 doesn’t care about physics. It’s big, loud and it’s barrelling down your door, yelling at the top of it’s lungs: “love me, for I am all that is cool.” Sequel to Dead of Winter? Check. Campaign game? Check. Sealed envelopes? Check. Replayable? Check. It’s like a board game by Gucci if Gucci was still fashionable (I mean, I have no idea, maybe Gucci IS still fashionable - fashion experts - let us know).

But it’s not until a board game has been through the NPI gauntlet can we truly find out if it is actually hip or whether it is just a hipster. Want to know more? Only one way to find out.

Discover: Lands Unknown Review

One small step for man, one giant leap for cardboard. It turns out that identical components are so yesterday and 2018 is the dawning of unique games, lovingly handcrafted by the modern dominant sentient life force - the algorithm. Here at NPI we always welcome our new overlords so we were more than excited to dissect the very first unique board game (technically first, as KeyForge is a trading card game) only partially created by humans. Make room! Make room! For it is truly a sight to behold.