Tile Placement

  • Review: Keyflower

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    Keyflower takes place over the four seasons of a year. Players will compete to expand and improve their respective villages, facing different challenges, with every game being unique due to the mix of village tiles that varies from match to match. Players must stay alert to make the most of their available resources, transport and upgrade capabilities, skills, and workers.

    Keyflower comes to us designed by Sebastian Bleasdale (Black Fleet or On the Underground) and Richard Breese (Reef Encounter or Inhabit the Earth). The game was published in 2012 by HUCH! & friends/R&D Games. The artwork is handled by Juliet Breese (Keythedral or Aladdin’s Dragons), Jo Breese, and Gemma Tegelaers (Mai-Star or Massilia).

  • Review: Caverna – The Cave Farmers

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    Are you ready to become the bearded leader of a family of dwarves living peacefully in a small cave beside the mountains? Get ready to work the forest that stretches out beyond your home and delve deep into the heart of the mountain you inhabit.

    This is how we are introduced to Caverna, designed by the great Uwe Rosenberg, the mind behind massive hits like Agricola, Le Havre, and Patchwork. The game was first published in 2013 by Lookout Games in both German and English editions. Artwork duties were handled, as is usual for the Rosenberg-Lookout pairing, by Klemens Franz, who also illustrated Agricola, Ora et Labora, and At the Gates of Loyang.

  • Review: Carcassonne

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    The city of Carcassonne, in southeastern France, is famous for its walled citadel dating back to Roman and medieval times. Players will try to make their fortune by placing their followers on the roads, cities, monasteries, and fields in the region, a region that will change as the game progresses. Properly deploying these followers, whether they are highwaymen, knights, monks, or farmers, will be essential to achieving victory.

    This is how we are presented with Carcassonne, a classic designed by Klaus-Jürgen Wrede, author of other well-known titles such as The Downfall of Pompeii, Mesopotamia, or Rapa Nui. The game was published by Hans im Glück in the year 2000, winning the famous Spiel des Jahres award in 2001. The illustrations were handled by Doris Matthäus (as in many titles from the German publisher), who had already worked on games such as El Grande, Tigris & Euphrates, Saint Petersburg, or Elfenland.

  • Review: Patchwork

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    Patchwork is a needlework technique that involves sewing together pieces of fabric with various patterns to create a single, larger design. Historically, it was a way to repurpose leftover scraps of fabric to make clothes and quilts. Today, it has become an art form used by textile designers, especially when working with pieces of varied shapes and sizes. Creating a beautiful quilt requires both time and patience, as the available patches often simply refuse to fit together smoothly. Choose your patches carefully and keep a steady supply of buttons on hand to craft a more striking quilt than your opponent.

    This is the premise behind Patchwork, one of the two games presented by the great Uwe Rosenberg back in 2014 (alongside Caverna) through multiple publishers simultaneously. For instance, Mayfair Games released it in English, while Lookout Games handled the German edition. As a side note, it was a Spiel des Jahres recommended game in 2015 and won the Golden Geek Award for Best Abstract Board Game in 2014, while also being nominated for Best 2-Player Game in that same edition. The artwork is illustrated by Klemens Franz, the artist behind the look of most of Uwe’s games, such as Agricola, Le Havre, and Caverna.

  • Review: The Castles of Burgundy

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    When you discover a new designer, usually because you have tried one of their great games, you tend to go through a phase of euphoria where you get the urge to find out about everything they have published to date. We check BGG, look up rankings, read and reread reviews, until we fall right back into board game consumerism. And this, my friends, is exactly what happened to me with the beloved Stefan Feld. When my collection was still in its infancy, the community hype skyrocketed after the presentation in Nuremberg of the now-famous Bora Bora. Shortly after, I decided that this game had to be mine. And so it was. After being delighted with the mechanics and gameplay feel, the “Feldian” fervor took over me. And that is how my collection welcomed what is, to this day, the highest-ranking game on the BGG overall list: The Castles of Burgundy. The Loire Valley during the 15th Century. As influential princes, players dedicate their efforts to careful building and trading to make their domains stand out.

    This is how The Castles of Burgundy is presented to us. As we have already mentioned, it was designed by Stefan Feld, designer of other great games such as In the Year of the Dragon, Bora Bora, or Trajan. The illustrations are done by Julien Delval and Harald Lieske. The game was published by the Ravensburger – Alea tandem in 2011.