Author: Mark M.

The Lord of the Rings is at this moment, probably the hottest popular IP in tabletop game industry.  In 2025, they released 3 games, Fate of the Fellowship with the Pandemic Game system, then the roll and write game about the Hobbit and then this one with trick-taking mechanism.

Trick-taking gameplay itself is probably the most popular gameplay genre in tabletop industry ever since The Crew. While there are a lot more competitive trick taking games, the cooperative ones are still rare. So, the combination of the popular IP and genre make this one an easy sell.

At this point of time, the publisher already released the 2nd box following the story in the 2nd book.

Title: The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Rings – Trick-Taking Game
Year Released: 2025
Designer: Bryan Bornmueller
Publisher: Office Dog
Artist: Elaine Ryan, Samuel R. Shimota

Genre: Cooperative, The Lord of the Rings, Trick-Taking Game, Optional Campaign Mode, Scenario Based Game, Official Solo Variant, Stained Glass Art style

Continue reading “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring – Trick-Taking Game Review”

Before this one, I’ve never played the original Forest Shuffle from 2023 which was at this point already within top 200 games on BGG. And at the time of this writing, the publisher already released the 3rd title.

From what I understand, these 3 games have almost identical gameplay with some new twists here and there. Apparently, you cannot mix and match them because they use different back of the cards. It seems, each also has their own sets of expansions.

Forest Shuffle is a game about building ecosystem of your forest. You first need to have a tree or terrain cards. From there, you can add either animals or plants around them. Every species you add to your forest might give you points at the end with possible extra requirements you need to meet. Some need more unique species of the same type while others need to work with different species.

Title: Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor
Year Released: 2025
Designer: Kosch
Publisher: Lookout Games
Artist: Toni Llobet and Judit Piella

Genre: Nature, Multi-use Card, Animals, Hand Management, Official Solo Mode, Additional Component Required for Solo Play, Competitive Game, 2-4 Players

Continue reading “Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor Card Game Review”

This article is the compilation of my play session reports #16. The Play sessions for this entry happened from 25 March 2025 until around 26 April 2025. This is the 5th one since no longer a weekly or monthly entry. I’m just going to enjoy playing the game more and less about writing this report.

Usually, I do short reports per week on my BGG blog. or for the Daily Session here. For pictures of each play session, check out my TikTok account in slideshow form. Maybe I’ll add more social media accounts to share in the future and the best way to find out is to check my LinkTree account.

By writing the session reports, it helps me to write the review for the game later. So, it is part of the review process even though I may not even write the review.

Sometimes, I also write a longer session report for one game where I describe what happened turn by turn with more pictures. There are links at the bottom of each entry to BGG post of that long report.

Some new games get more play until it reaches the target minimum of play. They might appear in multiple months. I also revisit some older ones from time to time. These are just games in my collection.

Continue reading “Tabletop Game Play Session Reports #16”

So far, I have shared a couple of tabletop games. Most of them are just small games or filler that can be played within an hour or less. Some people say that those games are to be played between the main games, or while waiting for the other players to come.

In general board games are designed as social activities where a group of people will play a single main game for their game night. For that purpose, the game will be bigger and will take longer time like an hour at minimum.

This next one, Architects of the West Kingdom is definitely one of them. The designers even have 2 sequels for this so players can continue from the first game to the next one if they want to.

So, what is this Architects of the West Kingdom game? How do we play it? Can we play the game solo?

Those are probably just a few questions that came to mind after hearing about the game. Well, in this article, I’m going to share with you my Architects of the West Kingdom Review based on my experience on playing the game and what I can find from the internet.

Hope this helps. Is Architects of the West Kingdom going to be the best board game out there?

Continue reading “Architects of the West Kingdom Board Game Review”

This article is the compilation of my play session reports #15. The Play sessions for this entry happened from 25 February 2025 until around 24 March 2025. This is the 4th one since no longer a weekly or monthly entry. I’m just going to enjoy playing the game more and less about writing this report.

Usually, I do short reports per week on my BGG blog. or for the Daily Session here. For pictures of each play session, check out my TikTok account in slideshow form. Maybe I’ll add more social media accounts to share in the future and the best way to find out is to check my LinkTree account.

By writing the session reports, it helps me to write the review for the game later. So, it is part of the review process even though I may not even write the review.

Sometimes, I also write a longer session report for one game where I describe what happened turn by turn with more pictures. There are links at the bottom of each entry to BGG post of that long report.

Some new games get more play until it reaches the target minimum of play. They might appear in multiple months. I also revisit some older ones from time to time. These are just games in my collection.

Continue reading “Tabletop Game Play Session Reports #15”

In the tabletop game industry, there is a popular type of game called roll and write. Basically we will roll one or more dice and we will make decision in the game based on those dice by writing on a piece of paper.

The original ide came from Yahtzee from back in 1956. It became popular since another game with this mechanism, Qwixx got nominated for Spiel des Jahres, which is considered the highest award in tabletop game industry.

Since then, every year more and more games in this genre were released either as print and play or retail games. One of the reason for its popularity is that anybody can start designing an analog tabletop games with just a pen and paper.

Because of that, more popular title of board game version started to offer their dice or roll and write version. One of them is The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game, which the board game version is considered as one of the top 20 games on BGG.

Moreover, ever since we have to deal with pandemic and physical distancing, people started to look for this kind of game. Mostly because they can play the game with more people over Zoom or any other video conferencing app.

So, what is this dice game of The Castles of Burgundy? How do we play it? Can it be played over any video conferencing app?

Those are probably just a few questions that came to mind after hearing about the game. Well, in this article, I’m going to share with you my The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game Review based on my experience on playing the game and what I can find from the internet.

Hope this helps. Is The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game going to be the best roll and write game?

Continue reading “The Castles of Burgundy: The Dice Game Review”

This article is the compilation of my play session reports #14. The Play sessions for this entry happened from 27 January 2025 until around 24 February 2025. This is the 3rd one since no longer a weekly or monthly entry. I’m just going to enjoy playing the game more and less about writing this report.

Usually, I do short reports per week on my BGG blog. or for the Daily Session here. For pictures of each play session, check out my TikTok account in slideshow form. Maybe I’ll add more social media accounts to share in the future and the best way to find out is to check my LinkTree account.

By writing the session reports, it helps me to write the review for the game later. So, it is part of the review process even though I may not even write the review.

Sometimes, I also write a longer session report for one game where I describe what happened turn by turn with more pictures. There are links at the bottom of each entry to BGG post of that long report.

Some new games get more play until it reaches the target minimum of play. They might appear in multiple months. I also revisit some older ones from time to time. These are just games in my collection.

Continue reading “Tabletop Game Play Session Reports #14”

Previously, I already wrote a micro game, Circle the Wagons. In general, a micro game in tabletop game industry is the one with just small components, small package, probably a filler game that can still offer the experience of a bigger game.

For a while it is kind of a trend. Some people say that it is not going to stay for a while.

However, those designers or publishers who have succeeded in delivering one of this kind of game eventually created a fan base. They even created the sequel to the original game that shares the same characteristic but still offer something new.

In the case of this next game, Mint Works, they are known for games that can fit in a small tin. It is very portable, affordable and people can easily bring the game to anywhere and play.

So, what is this Mint Works game? How do we play it? Can it be played with just a single player?

Those are probably just a few questions that came to mind after hearing about the game. Well, in this article, I’m going to share with you my Mint Works Review based on my experience on playing the game and what I can find from the internet.

Hope this helps. Is Mint Works going to be the best micro game?

Continue reading “Mint Works Card Game Review”

This article is the compilation of my play session reports #13. Starting with previous one, this is no longer a weekly or monthly entry. I’m just going to enjoy playing the game more and less about writing this report.

Usually, I do short reports per week on my BGG blog. or for the Daily Session here. For pictures of each play session, check out my TikTok account in slideshow form. Maybe I’ll add more social media accounts to share in the future and the best way to find out is to check my LinkTree account.

By writing the session reports, it helps me to write the review for the game later. So, it is part of the review process even though I may not even write the review.

Sometimes, I also write a longer session report for one game where I describe what happened turn by turn with more pictures. There are links at the bottom of each entry to BGG post of that long report.

Some new games get more play until it reaches the target minimum of play. They might appear in multiple months. I also revisit some older ones from time to time. These are just games in my collection.

Continue reading “Tabletop Game Play Session Reports #13”

In tabletop game industries, designers don’t just design a stand alone game. Sometimes their next game shares the same settings or universe as their previous games.

Like in movie industries, it can be a trilogy or even more. By doing so, the designer can use the same art, artist or art direction for their next game.

This can cut the cost a lot instead of paying the artist for more arts. It can also save their time and focus on making a functional game, probably with a new mechanism instead of creating a new world.

From the perspective of consumers, some may get bored. However, if the previous games were successful and have a lot of fans, it is easier for them to get familiar with the next game.

The Valeria series of what they call the Valeria verse is one of them. Right now, they have released 4 games and planned of a couple more.

This next game, Quest of Valeria is their third game. Previously I have a review for their second game, Villages of Valeria, which I published last year.

So, what is this Quest of Valeria game? How do we play the game? Can it be played solo?

Those are probably just a few questions that came to mind after hearing about the game. Well, in this article, I’m going to share with you my Quest of Valeria card game review, based on my experience on playing the game and what I can find from the internet.

Hope this helps. Is Quest of Valeria going to be one of the best card game out there?

Continue reading “Quests of Valeria Card Game Review”