David & Lea

First/Last Round: Artischocken / Abandon All Artichokes (2021) Artichokes. It’s such an obvious gaming concept that you why not more games deal with the deserved discrimination against this vegetable. Abandon All Artichokes! They do look cute, though, on the illustrations here. And actually, they don’t really do anything harmful to anyone, do they? So why should we, as a society, abandon them? This wonderful card game doesn’t really bother itself with such philosophical questions and that’s fine. Maybe anthropomorphic vegetables are the singular thing that can’t offend anyone. What is the game about? You have 10 artichokes in your deck. You need to abandon them by collecting other vegetables from the vegetable box and playing them to use their abilities. In the best case, they help you abandon artichokes (hence the title). At the end of each turn you draw 5 cards from your deck and if you draw no artichokes, you win the game. It’s one of these games that sound deceptively simple and maybe even dumb, but is much more complex and challenging than you’d think. For one, the vegetable abilities are not as straightforward, so that you really need to consider them (and them being vegetables doesn’t give them obvious character traits), and two, the mechanic makes the game really tricky. There’s no simple way to win and you’re constantly surprised how the artichokes keep popping up. These damn artichokes! If only they weren’t so… artichoky. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #abandonallartichokes #artischocken #emmalarkins #bonniepang #amigo #gamewright #gamesbywomen #deckbuilding #cardgame #familygame

First/Last Round: The Voyages of Marco Polo / Marco Polo (2015) Historical games have a hard time being morally fine because they’re so often about imperialism and conquests. You could argue that a game about Marco Polo still focuses on similar aspects of conquering and capitalism, but it definitely does a much better job than most of them. If you care about morals in gaming, of course, and don’t just rely on the ‘This is just fun!’ defense. Anyway, in ‘Marco Polo’ you travel from Europe to and through Asia, having a huge variety of possibilities what to do: travelling, getting many different resources, setting up trading posts, getting and fulfilling assignments… Deciding what is the right thing to do is a real challenge and this is a challenging game. The decision is made through the use of dice that you roll every round and place them, being able to change them or buy extra dice, if needed. We aren’t hardcore gamers who love digging into expert games for hours but we enjoy it, if the game is more than just planning and strategizing. ‘Marco Polo’ strikes a great balance and is a good example of being complex but not complicated. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #thevoyagesofmarcopolo #marcopolo #simoneluciani #danieletascini #dennislohausen #hansimglueck #kennerspieldesjahres #deutscherspielepreis #diceplacement #workerplacement #expertgame

First/Last Round: Sea Salt & Paper (2022) ‘Sea Salt & Paper’ is a deceptive game as its art suggest a different game than what it actually is. But what the game is, is also hard to explain, even if the gameplay is simple. It’s another card game where you only have two actions, taking a card from the discard pile or drawing two from the top, and discarding one. But then you can play cards if you have a pair or you just collect more or… It feels almost impossible to explain how it works without playing it, although it’s not complicated, just complex. The art is its draw, but beneath it is a really clever game that never gets boring because every turn you have to make challenging decisions, without taking too long, giving it a great flow. Every word on it seems unhelpful, but this is definitely one that has to be experienced to see how great it is (another winner for Bruno Cathal). ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #seasaltpaper #brunocathal #theoriviere #lucienderainne #pierreyvesgallard #mmspiele #bombyx #cardgame #familygame

First/Last Round: Lost Lights (2024) This is the first review of a game we bought after playing it at a convention. When we sat down at a table by Board Game Circus, we were wondering about this cute looking little game. After getting a swift explanation, we realized that the game is strategically much deeper than its artwork and small box would make you think. It’s a 2-player game that combines drafting with area control. It’s only supposed to go 20 minutes, which is actually realistic, once you got into how it works. All of its components are interesting and fascinating, even if it at first it doesn’t feel completely intuitive. But once you’ve played 2-3 rounds, it all feels quite natural. Drafting is not simple because every card has two functions in two different phases, so it’s not easy to strike the right balance. Their abilities are diverse enough that it rarely feels repetitive. The game is small and complex at the same time, setting itself firmly between a family and gamer’s game. The artwork and material are absolutely gorgeous: the card art turns every creature into real characters, the dice shine with glitter and the player tokens represent each faction adoringly. The appropriately small board gives the game a fitting structure. We are worried that this great little game might get lost in the shuffle of bigger, more popular games but it is really worth checking out! ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #lostlights #juliushsu #folkostreese #boardgamecircus #drafting #areacontrol #familycontrol #gamersgame

First/Last Round: Comet (2023) Sometimes you read a game’s instructions and then play it and think: yes, this game was made for me. ‘Comet’ is a game like that for us. Everything clicks for us. You try to save creatures from an approaching comet by hatching their eggs and bringing them to safety. For this you need to play cards and move tokens across the board, ideally jumping over other tokens to get to the goal. Once there, the creatures give you bonuses. The mechanics aren’t new, of course, but as in any good game it’s the combination that makes it work. Everything seems to fit together and everything is really neat. The card design is great and the material is exceptionally good. It also has one of the best instructions that we’ve seen in a long time. We were surprised to see that so many people seem to dislike the game. We are aware that the game has some issues for 2 players (which didn’t bother us too much) and the flavor has a lot of logic problems (e.g. who is saving these creatures?). But this didn’t stop us from making it one of our favorite games we’ve played this year. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #comet #peterprinz #hendricknoack #huch #strategygame #gamersgame

First/Last Round: 5-Minute-Dungeon (2017) Some games require a lot of skill and strategic thinking, some require to accept luck and randomness, and some games say ‘Hurry! Hurry! There’s no time! Fasterfasterfaastteeffgsfr!’. ‘5-Minute-Dungeon’ falls into the latter category and if you’re easily stressed out by time limits, this might not be for you. Here’s what the game is about: you go through a dungeon and you have 5 minutes. Have fun! Oh, sorry, yes, there’s more. In the dungeon you encounter enemies and obstacles (all of them named in a Munchkin-meta-humor kind of way) and you need cards to beat them. Everyone is playing simultaneously and cooperatively, with different decks that focus on different aspects. You can adjust the difficulty to your liking, but don’t be fooled by the relatively easy early missions, as they get quite challenging later on. It’s a fun game that makes you feel as if you plunge into dungeons of chaos, not sure if you come out alive in the end. It can be frustrating sometimes to lose just because no one has the one right card, but then you re-assemble with a different strategy and it’ll work out. The expansion really improves an already good game by adding fun new elements. If you like this, you’ll like Magic Maze ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #5minutedungeon #connorreid #alexdiochon #kosmos #wiggles3d #cooperativegame #realtimegame #familygame

First/Last Round: Dragomino (2020) A lot of kids games are frustrating because they’re often very gimmicky but still feel shallow to adults (and, to be honest, even to kids). So many of them think they need to draw in kids by being BIG and having ACTION or being SILLY. And sometimes this works and some of these games are great and kids like them, but what kids love about playing games is playing a game. They don’t play Memory or UNO for hours because of some gimmick but because they are the simplest versions of gameplay. Which brings us to ‘Dragomino’ which is not simple, but requires some thinking. You put landscape-dominos next to each other and the more same landscapes you connect, the more dragon eggs you get, and the more eggs you get, the higher the chance of finding a dragon baby. There is more strategy to this than it might sound and our 5-year-old test player had no problem thinking through what was the best way for her. Which is why this game, unlike most kids game, feels like a real game, a great gateway into future strategy games. It was even fun in an only-adults round because it just plays well. And it looks great (better than its predecessor ‘Kingdomino’)! ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #dragomino #brunocathala #wilfriedfort #mariefort #maevadesilva #christinedeschamps #pegasus #blueorange #tileplacement #kidsgame #childrensgame #kinderspieldesjahres

First/Last Round: Claim (2017) Card games! There seem to be an infinite number of varieties of card games because you just spin numbers and ways of playing, discarding, drawing, tricking. ‘Claim’ tries to distinguish itself by splitting the game round into two phases. In the first phase you play for cards you need in the second phase. The cards show different creatures and types and they all have different abilities. Phase 1 is basically deck-building through deck playing and in phase 2 you just play. The art and obtrusive instructions made us skeptical about the game but it flows nicely and we enjoyed much more than we expected. You can’t really have too many card games and you probably won’t regret claiming ‘Claim’. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #claim #scottalmes #mihajlodimitrievskj #gamefactory #cardgame #familygame

First/Last Round: Targi (2012) ‘Targi’ has been around for so long and keeps popping up on lists. So we thought we need to check it out, especially because of its reputation as a 2-player-game. We were surprised to see the complexity of this game in such a small Kosmos-Box but complex it is. You use cards to lay out a map of a desert through which you ‘wander’, picking up resources like pepper, salt and dates and using them to expand your tribe. That maybe doesn’t make too much sense flavor-wise, but you can feel the idea of trading and desert-roaming. The mechanics are both simple and intricate, as you both place your workers on the grid of cards, always being careful because you can’t cross your paths, but the intersections of your workers give you the good cards. You try to acquire new tribe cards and build a new grid with them. All of this creates a wonderful flow with the right amount of frustration and planning to challenge your brain. If you like this, you should also try ‘Istanbul’ (or the other way around). ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #targi #andreassteiger #franzvohwinkel #kosmosspiele #kosmosverlag #workerplacement #gamersgame #kennerspiel

First/Last Round: Planet (2018) This is another game that could seem gimmicky, but ‘Planet’ makes it clear quickly that its components are integral to its concept. When you open the box, you stare at four dodecahedrons (no, we didn’t look that up to sound clever, but to be funny) – empty planets that need to be filled with landscapes so that animals can live there. As far as we can gather from the flavor, we’re basically gods, but without any further explanations. There are cards with animals that have certain landscape requirements. Then you take landscape tiles and attach them to your non-round globe with little magnets. Building your planet, holding it in your hand, designing it – that’s a lot of fun and a different feeling than the usual cards and tokens. It’s a bit fidgety at times too and be careful not to drop it, or it suddenly becomes apocalyptic. The game is not deep but can be challenging and stays unpredictable until the end. It still sticks out from most of the games we play, despite some imperfections (it’s not always easy to count the points in 3-D). And the kids love it. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #urtissulinskas #sabrinamiramon #blueorange #tileplacement #familygame

First/Last Round: Trails (2021) We haven’t played ‘Parks’ yet, but ‘Trails’ looked so intriguing due to its wonderful art and cozy theme. The game is about hiking through national parks, as you use your turn to hike through landscapes, pick up resources (acorns, leafs and rocks) and try to take pictures of the scenery. Sometimes you encounter a bear, which also just wants to help us with enjoying ourselves. It all looks very cute and is kind of fun, but it lacks some depth and somehow also goes on for too long without anything new happening. It’s a bit of a shame, as it just looks like more than it is. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #trails #henryaudubon #jpboneyard #mattoxshuler #feuerland #keymaster #workerplacement #familygame

First/Last Round: Planet Unknown (2022) Games like gimmicks because gimmicks sell. ‘It’s the game with the moving cockroach!’, ‘It’s the one with the pyramid!’, ‘It’s the one where the ships fall of a waterfall!’ Games also like familiarity, because familiarity sells. ‘You like Catan or Carcassonne? How about a new version of them every 3 months? Have you heard of the dice version of chess?’ ‘Planet Unknown’ uses a gimmick (‘It’s the game with the rotating tile thingy!’) and familiarity (‘You plant tiles, you know, like Ubongo and Patchwork!’). That could make it sound like not really original, even less if you add the setting (‘We’re colonizing a planet!’). But, as you can imagine from the suggestive writing style, this actually doesn’t take anything away from the game’s success. In the game, you have an empty planet, you pick tiles from a rotating tile rotator and you find the best ways to place them on your planet. There are several categories that give you bonuses in different areas, so you move your marker up a scale. All of this feels familiar, but it never seems stale or unoriginal, just like the rotator doesn’t feel like a gimmick (just never ever tilt your box with the game in it or you get a bonus game of sorting tiles). You basically always play simultaneously, which keeps it from ever being boring and there are enough possibilities that you really have to think about your decisions, even if it means also making sacrifices. But that’s what good games ask of you. And this is a very good game. If you like this, try out Nova Luna or Carcassonne. ~~~~~~ German version in the comments #firstlastround #boardgame #boardgames #gaming #brettspiele #brettspiel #planetunknown #adamrehberg #ryanlambert #yoma #strohmanngames #adamsapple #deutscherspielepreis #kennerspieldesjahres #tileplacement #gamersgame