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Reviews

Holiday Board Game Gift Guide 2025

The Holidays are upon us and its time to start shopping for our loved ones. I have put together my annual Holiday list of things I think would be great gifts. There are going to be a lot of good deals for black Friday and cyber Monday but I think you should first look at your Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) this year. Its been especially hard on the brick an mortar stores with all the uncertainty of tariffs. FLGSs are usually much more than a store they are a meeting place a

NEWS

What is a "Rouge-Like" Board Game?

The year was 1980 and the video game Rouge was published. This is the the Rouge in "Rouge-Like". Recently I have been hearing the term...

THE GAME MECHANICS

Reviews and Previews

Puppies or Poop, a Darling Card Game Review

Puppies or Poop was an instant hit at our house, our 5 year old picked it up right away and wanted to keep playing it. I think this game is good at 2 players and it really shines at three and four players. When playing with 3 and four players there is a lot more unknown information on the board and it makes the game more challenging. The two player version has a more strategic feel too it. Either way players can enjoy trying to bluff the others at any player count.

Marsh Hallow: a Flip and Write Game Review

Your family has not been answering your calls. Finally your sister sends a message to explain that they have all joined a cult. Of course you and your family are personified marshmallows. But now the race is on to rescue your family before the ritual completes and they set themselves on fire. This is the setting for Marsh Hallow a flip and write game that will have players racing to rescue their marshmallow families by using polyominos to navigate through the Caddo Lake Campg

2001 A Space Odyssey: A Review of Board Game Based on a Classic.

The movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) is the only film by Stanley Kubrick to win an Oscar. He was nominated 13 times throughout his long career and 2001 won the award for Best Special Visual Effects. The movie is based on Arthur C Clark's The Sentinel (1951) a great short story if you have not read it its worth it. So here I am reviewing a game based on a movie that is based on a book.

Gudnak : Exploring the Depth of A Tactical Card Game

What in the world is a Gudnak? According to the fine folks at Chaotic Great Games it is Orcish for "war". Gudnak is a card driven strategy game. There are aspects of area control and deck-building invowhere players are building out the tentacles of an octopus in order to reach some seafood. It sounds easy and it is until the players start playing cards that change the cards others have already played. Players will try to bluff and outwit their opponents in INKTensions coming

Wanted Wombats: A Game Preview That Pushes Your Luck

Did you know that wombats glow under UV light? Wombats are pretty interesting animals and make for a great card game. Wanted Wombats is the newest game designed by Kaya Miyano (Trio, Panda Panda). Barrel Aged Games is crowdfunding Wanted Wombats this fall (2025). One last wombat fact before we dive into the game. There was an unofficial mascot for the 2000 Sydney Olympics and his name was "Fatso the Fat-Arsed Wombat".

Stones and Rivers: Review of a Modern Classic Board Game

INKTensions is the third game from Maka Games that include License to Krill and Hissy Fit. INKTensions is a fun game where players are building out the tentacles of an octopus in order to reach some seafood. It sounds easy and it is until the players start playing cards that change the cards others have already played. Players will try to bluff and outwit their opponents in INKTensions coming soon to Kickstarter.

INKTensions: Preview of a Light Game of Bluffing, Deception and an Octopus

INKTensions is the third game from Maka Games that include License to Krill and Hissy Fit. INKTensions is a fun game where players are building out the tentacles of an octopus in order to reach some seafood. It sounds easy and it is until the players start playing cards that change the cards others have already played. Players will try to bluff and outwit their opponents in INKTensions coming soon to Kickstarter.

MonToons: Guardians of the Coral Isles, an Action Packed Print and Play Game Preview

This is my first foray in to MonToons and I loved love the base game. The Guardians add a lot of variability to the player setup and add a lot of replay value to the game. The bonuses and unlocking all the new attacks and abilities that the Guardians add. The base game alone has a lot of charterers to choose from adding in 3 random Guardians from the expansion give the game so much more. Its a lot fun to unlock the Guardians as you are trying to deal damage to the other playe

River Valley Glassworks: a Cozy Family Game

Today we take a look at River Valley Glassworks from Allplay. This gem of a game was designed by Adam Hill (Motor City), Ben Pinchback...

Edge Quest: a Very Sharp Game That Gets to the Point... Fun!

I was excited when I started opening up Edge Quest board game and inside there was a set of awesome poseable figures. -Board Game Preview-

Review of Flip 7: A Quick and Exciting Card Game

Flip 7 is one of the most quickly learned games that I have played in a long time. From taking it out of the box to playing it with our...

Preview of 52 Realms: Adventures

Postmark Games has been churning out print and play games since their debut game Voyages in 2021. The newest print and play game in...

Interviews

Designer Interview: TJ Swing

The Great Smokey Mountains are amongst the worlds oldest on earth and the most visited national park in the US National Park System. This...

Designer Interview: Vincent Baker - Spellslingers and more

We are back with Vincent Baker today and we are talking all things Spellslingers and we get a peek into whats coming from Vindicated....

2 3 4 5

Designer Interview: Jesper Bennhult

Artist Interview: Kelly Forrest

Designer Interview: Brad Hiscock

Community Interview: Ben Mandelker

News and More

Holiday Board Game Gift Guide 2025

The Holidays are upon us and its time to start shopping for our loved ones. I have put together my annual Holiday list of things I think would be great gifts. There are going to be a lot of good deals for black Friday and cyber Monday but I think you should first look at your Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS) this year. Its been especially hard on the brick an mortar stores with all the uncertainty of tariffs. FLGSs are usually much more than a store they are a meeting place a

Chicago Toy and Game Fair

The Chicago Toy and game fair is the unofficial kick off to the Holiday shopping season here in Chicago. The Chicago Toy and Game fair features local toy and game vendors as well as big names like Lego that attend to show off their games and toys for the season. The Fair also hosted several famous game designers and board game influencers. There was also the Illinois state yo-yo competition and the young inventor challenge. Rail Cube This year there were some great highlights

Two Player Games

Gudnak : Exploring the Depth of A Tactical Card Game

2 Player

Wanted Wombats: A Game Preview That Pushes Your Luck

press your luck

Stones and Rivers: Review of a Modern Classic Board Game

Board Games

INKTensions: Preview of a Light Game of Bluffing, Deception and an Octopus

Card Game

Solo Games

River Valley Glassworks: a Cozy Family Game

Preview of 52 Realms: Adventures

Preview: Springsign

A Preview of Koala Rescue Club, an Adorable Print and Play Game

Bert's Game Design Journal

Design Journal: Theme Forward

As you might know I love space games. So this year inspiration struck along a very long boring stretch of i65 in Indiana on my way to GenCon. I was listening to the Game Brain Podcast. I have realized that the last couple of years there have been a lot of trick taking games that have come out. So my mind was there and one thing I love to do at GenCon is play miniatures games. So I combined trick-taking, miniatures, and space into one idea for a game.

Design Journal: Cards in Space and Imposter Syndrome.

As you might know I love space games. So this year inspiration struck along a very long boring stretch of i65 in Indiana on my way to GenCon. I was listening to the Game Brain Podcast. I have realized that the last couple of years there have been a lot of trick taking games that have come out. So my mind was there and one thing I love to do at GenCon is play miniatures games. So I combined trick-taking, miniatures, and space into one idea for a game.

Role Playing Games

20 Sided Tavern: Theatrical Review

This week I had the pleasure of being invited to see Dungeons and Dragons: The Twenty Sided Tavern. This is my first theatrical review...

Preview of 52 Realms: Adventures

Postmark Games has been churning out print and play games since their debut game Voyages in 2021. The newest print and play game in...

First Look at D&D Player's Handbook

Wizards of the Coast released the 5e Player's Handbook in 2014 and since then there have been 47 other suplements and campaign setting books

Crit Awards no longer at Gen Con 2024

The Crit Awards honner the people who make Tabletop Roleplaying Games (TTRPG) awesome. The awards include real play, publisher of games,...

Events

Chicago Toy and Game Fair

The Chicago Toy and game fair is the unofficial kick off to the Holiday shopping season here in Chicago. The Chicago Toy and Game fair features local toy and game vendors as well as big names like Lego that attend to show off their games and toys for the season. The Fair also hosted several famous game designers and board game influencers. There was also the Illinois state yo-yo competition and the young inventor challenge. Rail Cube This year there were some great highlights

20 Sided Tavern: Theatrical Review

This week I had the pleasure of being invited to see Dungeons and Dragons: The Twenty Sided Tavern. This is my first theatrical review...

GenCon 2025 SOLD OUT

Monday July 28th GenCon has sold out all of the tickets for the "Best Four Days in Gaming". This is going to be the largest GenCon ever...

GenCon 2025 Games Preview

GenCon is right around the corner and there are hundreds of games being released and even more for sale. Navigating this surmountable...

Bert's Tabletop Games provides in-depth analysis of tabletop games in plain language and decodes the industry jargon to help make board games accessible to all.