Been a tad hot lately, eh? Droughts and water shortages and extreme temperatures don’t seem to have been enough to convince people that climate change is real, but we’ll leave the politics behind for a while, my friends. We’ll stop worrying about when people will realise that certain party leaders are more interested in their Esso and Shell stocks and shares than the future of our fine planet, and we’ll bust out a few games, some of which might even be ethically produced! (I think I got away with that very slightly political intro, maybe that one will slip past the Zatu Grande Fromage…)
I actually dared to venture outdoors for a spot of board gaming, taking our chonky folding table out into the garden. Wasps visited. A lot. Pigeons saw an opportunity for target practice. A fat dove snapped a branch off the tree which thundered down upon my Cozy Stickerville village. Yep, glad to be back indoors.
Let’s play!
Koriko: A Magical Year
I’m on something of a cosy kick at the mo, so the title of this one immediately caught my eye, along with the artwork that has a Tokaido vibe. Then I spotted the inspiration for this one, and it popped straight onto my ‘Want’ list. The primary inspiration is Kiki’s Delivery Service, both the Studio Ghibli film and the Eiko Kadono novel. I won’t pretend I’ve read the book, but I’m a mega Ghibli fan, and Kiki is one of my faves, so I’m well up for this one.
This is a game for one player, designed for contemplative solo play. It’s a bubbling cauldron of simple rules and writing prompts, stirred together to produce the story of a teenage witch spending a year away from home in an unfamiliar city called Koriko. The creator states that you don't need to have played a roleplaying game before—this isn’t much like most of them anyway. A passing familiarity with witches, urban exploration and teenage drama is all the background you’ll need. You had me at witches.
So, what comes in the box? You’ll get the book, which contains all the rules to get you set up and playing, plus all of the content you'll need to play: the prompts, seven chapters to guide you through your witch's year, and the 22 different friends (confidants) you can meet in your story. The 21 screen-printed wooden dice, with a lovely little cotton bag to keep them in. The dice also do double-duty as coloured tokens if you'd like to play the game using the alternative rules, as described in the main book. Also, there’s custom-printed cards for each of the 56 prompts and 22 confidants in the game, plus a couple of reference cards, all in a cute little tuckbox. Why are you still here? Go there and pre-order (or order depending on when you read this) now.
Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons - Ravenloft
If you’re here, then you’ve probably heard of Horrified, a solo/co-op series/juggernaut. If not, which crypt have you been hiding in? You’ve also probably heard of Dungeons & Dragons, the TTRPG titan. If not… I mean, you have to be lying. Whatever the case, imagine what would happen if you combined the two… Oh, it’s happened already? Yeah, you’re right, we’ve recently had the pleasure of Horrified: D&D and it worked out very well indeed. If only those designers had realised that D&D has its own horror-themed campaign setting, one that would be perfect for a crossover. Wait a minute…
In Horrified, players work together, alternating between the hero phase, where one player gets to move around the board, guide villagers, pick up valuable items, and work to defeat the monsters; and the monster phase, where the monsters wreak havoc, attacking both heroes and villagers alike.
We know that bit. But Horrified: Dungeons & Dragons Ravenloft is a standalone game with four new mechanically-unique monsters to challenge: Carrionette, Gulthias Tree, Baba Lysaga and the Dark Lord of Barovia Strahd von Zarovich. In their quest to defend Barovia, each player gets to take on the role of a hero with one of 5 iconic D&D classes. It's up to the heroes to strategize, adapt, and solve each monster's unique puzzle before they're overwhelmed with terror…
I’m currently a little obsessed with this: I’ve been playing it for a couple of weeks and it feels like a fairly triumphant return to form for the series. D&D was great. Ravenloft is better, because the monsters are a better fit. It’s got the feel of the original (if not as much content) and its got the looks. Don’t believe me? Go here and look for yourself.
Star Trek: Captain’s Chair - To Boldly Go
There’s always this thing, isn’t there? Star Trek versus Star Wars, one fandom belittling the other, both always moaning about every new thing that comes out. You should cheer up, gals and guys! You don’t know how lucky you are these days. Back in the 80s and 90s we were begging for new content, and today you’ve got new movies and series all over the place! You don’t know how good you’ve got it, and here’s a new game to prove it.
Star Trek: Captain's Chair - To Boldly Go is a new, fully standalone game with an oddly multi-layered title and with all the cards and components you need in one box In addition to Kirk and Kahn, you can now play as Philippa Georgiou from Star Trek: Discovery, Rebner, the Pakled Commander from Star Trek: Lower Decks, and more!
Each of the six captains come with their own unique, asymmetric deck of cards that matches that leader's personality, abilities, allies, and assets. These decks can be expanded with cards available to both players, representing the people, items, planets, and events that characters encounter in iconic storylines. Each deck creates different strategic directions, based on what common cards are available, and what strategy your opponent deploys.
True to Star Trek, antagonism will not win every game. You will need to pursue diplomacy, exploration, and science, with different captains excelling at different paths. So, I've got absolutely no chance of winning, then. As is becoming a standard requirement for games these days (and rightly so), there's the option to fly solo. You can take on the galaxy with a challenging single-player mode built to test your skill and strategy. Again, I'm stuffed.
Are you a nerd? Of course you are, that’s why you’re here. Are you a Trekkie? You’ve got that look about you. Then warp over to this page for more.
PAC-MAN: Craze Maze
Let’s finish with something light and iconic.
What’s that thing all the online divvies parrot over and over again? Oh yeah. Pac-Man lives rent-free in my head. Ever since I first saw the character on a box of sweeties, I was obsessed. I even had three books on how to play the game before I’d even played the proper version of the game. I had countless clones on my beloved Commodore 64, until that fateful day at the Spanish City arcade when I dropped in a 10p and the theme tune blasted out. Oh, you looked so pretty to me…
Anyway, what’s this latest adaptation do? In PAC-MAN: Craze Maze, each player builds their own maze over the course of the game, gradually shaping a network of paths filled with dots, power pellets, fruit, and ghosts. On your turn, draw a tile and either replace one in your grid or reveal a hidden tile. As the maze evolves, you must plan carefully: at the end of the game, only one continuous path from PAC-MAN to a single exit will score. Items along that path grant points, while ghosts create a risk–reward challenge. Place ghosts after a Power Pellet to score increasing bonuses — but any ghost without protection will cost you points. Multiple scoring combinations can be created along a path, rewarding careful timing and placement.
When all tiles have been revealed, players choose their best exit, trace one path, and total their score. The longest valid path earns a bonus. The player with the most points wins. With simple turns, quick playtime, and tactical tile placement, PAC-MAN: Craze Maze is accessible for families while offering strategic depth for experienced players.
Cheap and cheerful sounds good to me, and if you’re a Pac-Man obsessive like me, you’ll already be at this page.
You’re right, that was a slightly shorter episode than usual (everybody shouts hooray). It’s because I’ve come up with a new plan, see? Slightly shorter episodes means I’m more likely to do more episodes more often (the crowd goes boo). Imagine that! More time together, you and I. And them. And the others. Yes, lovely. See you soon, boarders.
About the author:
Steve is currently a freelance board game blogger (with articles appearing in Tabletop Gaming Magazine, Casual Gaming Insider and Senet), but often dreams of life as a pirate, or as a ghost herder in the Lake District, or as an evil estate agent who sells haunted houses for his own dark pleasure. Instead of figuring out how to do these jobs in real life like a normal lunatic, he tries to write about them instead, and releases the resultant books upon the unsuspecting world via famous digital bookstores. More books are bound to follow. Find this peculiar entity here.
