Card Games

  • Review: Forest Shuffle – Dartmoor

    The rolling hills of Dartmoor provide diverse habitats for plants and animals. While dragonflies and other insects flutter along streams, ponies and sheep graze across the heather-covered moorlands. You will also discover many other creatures living in the air and among the shrubs. Create a unique moorland landscape for all the local flora and fauna, and earn points by taking their preferences into account: some animals need to be near others of their kind, while others prefer to be on their own or live in a specific habitat.

    This is the premise behind Forest Shuffle: Dartmoor, a standalone design by Kosch (FYFE) based on the Forest Shuffle system. First published in 2025 by Lookout Games in English and German editions, the artwork is once again handled by Toni Llobet and Judit Piella, who illustrated the original game.

  • Review: Flip 7

    The best card game of all time! Collect cards to score their points. But beware! If you reveal a duplicate value, you lose it all!

    This is how Flip 7 is introduced, designed by Eric Olsen (A Lott Axolots, Booty Dice). First published in 2024 by The Op Games in an English edition. Illustrations are handled by O’Neil Mabile (25 Words or Less).

  • Review: Finspan

    You are a marine researcher whose purpose is to find and observe the variety of aquatic life across the colorful photic zone, the ghostly twilight zone, and the dark midnight zone of the world’s seas and oceans.

    This is how Finspan is presented to us, designed by David Gordon (Monkey Palace, Create the Cosmos) and Michael O’Connell (his debut design). It was first published in 2025 by Stonemaier Games in an English edition. The artwork is illustrated by Ana María Martínez Jaramillo (Wingspan) and Mesa Schumacher (Ecosystem).

  • Review: Flowers

    In Flowers you will have to place number cards as best as you can to score for their colors. Create a play area by strategically arranging cards in front of you. Meet the conditions associated with the values to keep your cards and score points with your color sets. But beware! Any cards that fail to meet their conditions will cost you points.

    This is the premise behind Flowers, designed by Paul-Henri Argiot (Perfect Words, Stratus). First published in 2024 by Actarus Editions in a French edition. The artwork is illustrated by Julie Gruet (Stratus, Cartaventura Odyssey: The Treasure of Libertalia).

  • Review: Skull King

    Freshwater greenhorns! Your delicate hands give away that you have never in your life climbed rigging, swabbed decks, or brandished a cutlass. Well, I hope you learn quickly, because on this perilous journey, I need all the hands I can get. A treasure awaits, but only for the bold, for mermaids and pirates are hunting it as well! Will your sails swell with the winds of victory, or will they end up torn upon the jagged reefs of defeat?

    This is the premise behind Skull King, a design by Brent Beck (Cover Your Assets). First published in 2013 by Grandpa Beck’s Games in an English edition, it was later published by Schmidt Spiele with artwork by Eckhard Freytag (The Princes of Florence, Ave Caesar).

  • Review: Dracula vs Van Helsing

    Once again, Dracula has arrived in Whitby, England, and has begun attacking the town’s innocent inhabitants. Their only hope lies with Van Helsing, the famous vampire hunter, who has been tracking his archenemy for a long time. The final battle takes place tonight. Will Van Helsing defeat Dracula before the Lord of the Vampires turns the entire population of Whitby into creatures of the night?

    This is the premise of Dracula vs Van Helsing, designed by Maxime Rambourg (The LOOP, The Big Book of Madness, Mind Up!) and Théo Rivière (Sea Salt & Paper, Draftosaurus). It was first published in 2023 by Mandoo Games in an English and Korean edition. The artwork is by Weberson Santiago (Coup, The Bloody Inn, Sail).