OUR BOARDGAME STORY

Hmm, I don't even remember when was the last time we've done this, but here we go. Let us introduce ourselves! ✨️ 👋 We are Ariana and Adrian, a couple (actually Mrs. and Mr. since 2021) of board gamers hugely passionate about euro games in general (but we are always open to explore). We live in the beautiful city of Cluj-Napoca in Romania 🇷🇴 and we both work in tech (as an automation tester and full-stack developer respectively). 👩‍💻👨‍💻 By the way, here's a picture from @spiel_messe back in 2022! Do you have any question for us? Ask away in the comments! 👇

It's been such a long time since we played Merv by @ospreygames ... I even forgot how good this game is (and the artwork by @ianotooledesign is top notch, as always). ❤️ ❓ What game did you miss playing? 🏷️ #ourboardgamestory #boardgamegeek #boardgame #boardgames #boardgamesaddict #boardgamecollection #boardgamecommunity #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgamesdojo #boardgamer #boardgamelover #boardgamebliss #bgg #tabletop #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #tabletopgame #juegodemesa #hobby #beautiful #game #review #reviewer #gameboard #bordspellen #gamedesign #brettspiele #instadaily #picoftheday

🗣 Hear us out - we need more beautiful games. Of course, you're now like "dooh, you are so smart" - but really, think about it. What if all games would be just as pretty as Harmonies? The world would be a better place, trust us. And don't get us wrong - this isn't the best artwork in the world by any means, but it's so cozy and fits the game so well that it's perfect. 🎰 Seems like @libellud hit the jackpot with this one - we'll see if it manages to prevail over the years, but for now everyone is talking about Harmonies (especially in our Romanian community - and yes, the game will have a Romanian edition soon enough). It's easy to see why: it looks great, it's family-friendly (even though it's harder to play without a little experience with board games), it's fast and also pretty thinky. It seems like a recipe for success. 🦁 The rules overhead is minimal and players can get started in just a few minutes. The fact that you have a single mandatory action on your turn also lowers the accessibility bar (as anyone can play the game). Being good at it is a whole another topic - this thing is crunchy! You'll be faced with some pretty important decisions during those 30 minutes - placing tokens on your map might be a piece of cake, but you also have to do it right, and last but not least, create synergies between your scoring cards. 🐌 The latter is actually the hardest part, and this is where our main problem with the game is: the card market doesn't really change unless someone picks a card, which might be pretty frustrating at low player counts. For what it is, Harmonies has been excellent for us - if you like games like Cascadia or Azul then you should definitely give this a try. ❓️ Have you played Harmonies? ❗️ Review copy from @asmodee_romania .

June 2024 - not a spectacular month gaming-wise, but we still managed to play 27 different games (18 new-to-us) over 41 plays! Not too bad I guess. 😄 ❓️ How was June for you? What was your favorite game? 🏷️ #ourboardgamestory #boardgamegeek #boardgame #boardgames #boardgamesaddict #boardgamecollection #boardgamecommunity #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgamesdojo #boardgamer #boardgamelover #boardgamebliss #bgg #tabletop #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #tabletopgame #juegodemesa #hobby #beautiful #game #review #reviewer #gameboard #bordspellen #gamedesign #brettspiele #instadaily #picoftheday #art

😄 Most simple games tend to become boring for us after repeated plays - but there are a few which manage to stand out. It might be a mix of great looks, fun factor and simply brilliant mechanics - each case is different, but we know why Courtisans from @pandasaurus_games will join the list. Let's discuss a bit! ✨️ The game doesn't really have an imposing table presence - after all, it's just some cards we are talking about, and the box is also rather small. The way the components are finished makes all the difference, though - the cloth board is a nice touch (and keeps the game compact) and the cards are also awesome. The only drawback is that you cannot really sleeve them (if you want to fit them back in the box, of course) - and you kinda need to. 😄 As we said, games of this complexity tend to become boring after a while - sure, if you would play this one for like 10 times in a row you would probably feel the same: you won't find many differences from one game to another. This is why we shouldn't have enjoyed it this much - yet we did. And the truth is that Courtisans has something special going on. ⚙️ We found a pretty standard mix of mechanics - set collection, end-game bonuses and a little bit of take that. But that wasn't our favorite thing - it was definitely how fun the game is: it will depend on your group, but for us it worked great. We even played multiple games in a row which is a rare occurrence. The two-player games weren't as chaotic (since you have 50% control over what cards are played out), but were still good. 🗡 You have to be clever, you have to be sneaky and you need to take on each opportunity that arises - and all of that with 3 cards each round. 😉 For what it is, Courtisans was great - and it will surely travel with us on certain occasions. 8/10 ❓️ Have you played Courtisans? ❗️ Review copy from @pandasaurus_games .

Never thought a dice-driven game about landing planes could feel so thematic, but here we are: this is Sky Team from @scorpionmasque and we can't wait to play again! ❓️ Have you played Sky Team? 🏷️ #ourboardgamestory #boardgamegeek #boardgame #boardgames #boardgamesaddict #boardgamecollection #boardgamecommunity #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgamesdojo #boardgamer #boardgamelover #boardgamebliss #bgg #tabletop #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #tabletopgame #juegodemesa #hobby #beautiful #game #review #reviewer #gameboard #bordspellen #gamedesign #brettspiele #instadaily #picoftheday #art

⚔️ Things are not looking well in Oshra - after all he's done for the kingdom, the king has just found out that his own daughter is leading a rebellion against his rule. And the most powerful families won't just sit there waiting. It's time for war! This is Yield from @hidden.leaders , set 43 years before the events in Hidden Leaders - and it's also #firstimpressionsfriday🎲 ! ❗️ It's important to mention that this is a prototype, so everything you see here is subject to change. But there are good news - Yield is still on Kickstarter and you can follow its progress there. 😉 With that out of the way, we have to say that we really enjoyed the colorful, playful artwork - it is really appealing, even though the game is not really what it seems. This is serious business! ⚙️ Yield is an area control game that doesn't take itself too seriously - and we loved that about it. Sure, things can get pretty heated up during the game, but you can almost play this... relaxed. You have none of the clutter of a typical area control game and the rules are also pretty easy to grasp, which makes this a good introduction into the genre. You can play this game in under an hour. ⚡️ The game plays over three rounds, split in four phases each. Each player represents a different noble family (with an asymmetric ability of course) and controls 3 armies - but here's the catch: only the owner knows the strength of each army, and this brings an interesting deduction element into the mix of mechanics. 🗡 Players have to play out their strategy wisely, conflicts can be pretty spontaneous and you don't really want to get caught on the wrong foot. Battle cards temporarily increase the strength of your armies as long as they are located on the correct terrain so you'll always have to manage your hand of cards to be able to whitstand your opponents. There is a single goal - to control the most valuable fortresses at the end of the game. There's certainly less friction with two players, but this is the kind of game that shines with more. Sounds interesting? Check out the campaign! /projects/bffgames/yield-battle-for-oshra ❗️ Prototype copy from @hidden.leaders .

Have you ever thought about building your own dungeon? Well, you now have the chance - this is Stonespine Architects from @thunderworksgames . Let's see what's inside the box! ...and stay close, we'll have some first impressions up soon! 😉 🏷️ #ourboardgamestory #unboxing #boardgames #boardgamegeek #reels #tabletop #juegosdemesa #brettspiele #bordspellen #stonespinearchitects

🎉 YIELD IS NOW LIVE ON KICKSTARTER The moment is finally here - Yield has just launched on Kickstarter! To celebrate, we've teamed up with BFF Games so you have the chance to win a base game pledge! 🎉 Make sure to check out the campaign and stay tuned, as we're going to share some thoughs on the game on Friday! 😉 /projects/bffgames/yield-battle-for-oshra 🫂 Audience: the regions mentioned in the campaign page 🌎 🏆 Prize: 1x Yield (Kickstarter base game pledge) ❓ How to enter? Let's keep things simple! 1️⃣ Like and save this post 2️⃣ Follow @ourboardgamestory and @hidden.leaders 3️⃣ Tag 2 friends in one comment under this post 4️⃣ Share this post in your stories and tag @ourboardgamestory and @hidden.leaders ✨️ More comments, more chances to win! 📃 Rules: ✍️ This giveaway is open to everyone located in the regions mentioned above. ✍️ The giveaway will end on the 2nd of July 2024 at 23:59 EEST and one winner will be chosen at random. ✍️ We will contact the winner and @hidden.leaders will handle shipping (with the Kickstarter fulfillment). ✍️ The winner will have 24 hours to claim the prize or a different winner will be chosen at random. ✍️ Please make sure you respect the entry requirements - all invalid entries will be excluded from the draw. ❌ Disclaimer ➡️ The winner is responsible for any vamal taxes or fees that may occur. ➡️ Neither @ourboardgamestory nor @hidden.leaders will be held responsible in case the game is lost/damaged during shipping. ➡️ This giveaway is not sponsored or affiliated with Meta. ➡️ We will contact the winner directly via DM, but we will NEVER ask for credit card details! We'll need your address, email and phone number - strictly for shipping purposes. ➡️ This is our ONLY account, be wary of fake accounts! ➡️ The organizers reserves the right to cancel the giveaway without notice and for any reason.

❄️ We're back in Christmas mood with Jokkmokk from @wizkidsgames ! The game feels like it's playing itself in basic mode, but hopefully we'll get to bring it to the table again soon. ❓️ Have you played Jokkmokk? 🏷️ #ourboardgamestory #boardgamegeek #boardgame #boardgames #boardgamesaddict #boardgamecollection #boardgamecommunity #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgamesdojo #boardgamer #boardgamelover #boardgamebliss #bgg #tabletop #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #tabletopgame #juegodemesa #hobby #beautiful #game #review #reviewer #gameboard #bordspellen #gamedesign #brettspiele #instadaily #picoftheday #art

⚙️ Even though its thematic background isn't particularly exciting for us (and we're not huge fans of bidding games either), Furnace from @hobbyworldint and @arcanewonders is still one of our favorite engine builders! We've already shared our thoughts on the base game, but since we've also played with the Interbellum expansion a fee times... let's discuss! 😍 This is one of those expansions that do make the base game a little better - two-player games weren't as exciting, as the logic behind the neutral player was rather simple. The agent cards improved this aspect of the game - sure, the purpose of the neutral player is unchanged, but the auction has a bit more tension now. Besides that, each card introduces a strategy for the non-human opponent and it feels like you're playing with a real player now (as its scores have been pretty close to ours - or we're really bad 😂). The rulebook isn't as clear as we would've liked in regards to how the agents select their cards, but BGG did the job, as always. 🎩 Besides "more of the same" content, Interbellum does bring a few other interesting elements to the game, without raising the complexity level (which is great). One of the new things is the variable capital disc for each player - you won't do much woth it unless you have some spare coal, but it can be instrumental in winning one more bid (or the compensation). Probably the best new thing is represented by the abilities that you can actually win (to use later) in the auction - the effects vo.bine nicely with the existing content. ✨️ Even though the game has almost the same feeling (great engine building but it can become repetitive - and it is equally unforgiving), the full package is quite compelling and Interbellum does bring a breath of fresh air. Definitely worth trying out! 8/10 ❓️ Have you played Furnace? ❗️ Review copy from @arcanewonders .

Short and sweet - Nimalia from @laboitedejeu ! We finally tried this one. 😉 ❓️ Have you played Nimalia? 🏷️ #ourboardgamestory #boardgamegeek #boardgame #boardgames #boardgamesaddict #boardgamecollection #boardgamecommunity #boardgamesofinstagram #boardgamesdojo #boardgamer #boardgamelover #boardgamebliss #bgg #tabletop #tabletopgames #tabletopgaming #tabletopgame #juegodemesa #hobby #beautiful #game #review #reviewer #gameboard #bordspellen #gamedesign #brettspiele #instadaily #picoftheday #art