Publisher: Seajay Games
Player Count: 3-5 Players
Game Length: 120 Minutes
Kickstarter: September 30-October 30

Click here to see the Kickstarter campaign

Era of Atlantis is a worker placement and area-control board game by Seajay Games set in a distant mythical-scifi past.

The unique twist about this game is that you control two nations at the same time and share each one with another player! The lesser valued one at game end determines your score.

You are playing a secret society seeking to expand the two powerful nations you control during the mythical antediluvian age, 12000 years ago. This includes legendary civilizations such as Atlantis, Lemuria and Hyperborea.

Cooperate and compete with your rivals to become the most successful one before the Era of Atlantis ends either in glory or in cataclysm!

In Era of Atlantis, you are a secret society seeking to expand the powerful nations you control during the mythical antediluvian age, 12000 years ago. You have two of these under your control and share each one with a rival. You also have a secondary goal trying to bring “light” or “darkness” to the world. Working with and against your rivals you must prove to be the most powerful secret society in the world before the Era of Atlantis ends either in glory or in cataclysm.

This is an area-control and worker placement game with a unique twist. You control two nations with the lower-valued one counting for your score at game end. This means you will usually try to balance the two. You also share control of each one with another player, who has the same interest in the success of that nation as you do. Switching control of a nation is also possible, but difficult.

There are ways to score a few additional points for yourself only, such as with your remaining mystical energy or by fulfilling secret objectives.

The game is played over a variable number of rounds, with each player taking a turn per round. There are two main ways to gain new areas for your nation: militarily or politically. You can also expand your abilities by constructing buildings or acquiring powerful special actions. A nation will grow more successfully the better its two controlling players can cooperate.

Era of Atlantis is the successor game to Galactic Era and plays in the same universe (chronologically the prelude). There is also a campaign game mode where you can play both games together.

Publisher: CMYK Games
Player Count: 2  Players
Game Length: 15 Minutes
Complexity 1.5/5

The definition of Lacuna means a gap between two things and is from the latin lacus, meaning “lake or “pool.” That cleverly defines this quirky, abstract game that likely doesn’t play like any game in your collection. In this gentle, 2-player game, players are collecting different colored flowers resting on a pond. It’s a spatial puzzle where you’re measuring between objects to collect while simultaneously planning for the future. It takes just a few minutes to explain, can be grasped by kids of all ages yet still has the potential to stir your strategic hankerings. Let’s briefly dive into the tranquil pond of Lacuna and see if this strange game is right for your home.

ON YOUR TURN

Packed in a cylinder shaped container, you can tell from the start this is going to be a bit of a different gaming experience. The game itself takes place on a square piece of fabric representing a night pond. Using the container as a pitcher, you pour out the 49 colored flower tokens randomly across the space and you’re ready to play.

The game takes place over 2 distinct phases followed by scoring. It’s a quick game, but the nature of it will allow you to analyze and process the board to your heart’s content.

During the first phase, players will take turns placing their own player pawns onto the pond between two unobstructed flower tokens of the same color. These pawns can be placed anywhere between the two tokens (which is critical to the next phase), but there cannot be any additional tokens or player pawns between the two.

Once players have placed their 6 pawns, play moves to the second phase. During this phase, each remaining token will be evaluated and given to the player with the closest player pawn. The game comes with a ruler to ensure no funny business. Players divide their tokens into sets based on the 7 different token types and point is awarded to the player with the most of each type. The player with the most points at the end wins.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

The art direction does a nice job of complimenting the game experience. Simplified, colorful flowers dance across the packaging highlighted with gold flecks of foil spot colors embracing the abstract nature of the game, but this is a game primarily driven by the components. The wooden flower tokens and metal player pawns contrast each other and are distinct on the fabric pond player board without feeling disconnected.

Everything in the game fits in this unique cylinder container. This may excite you or it may not. I personally love the choice, but I can see it causing some trouble for certain gaming shelves. All-in-all, Lacuna looks as different as it plays and will definitely be an eye catcher at your next game night.

PROS & CONS

Gameplay will challenge players with a unique spatial puzzle not common in standard strategic, modern games

Simple ruleset can be taught in a matter of minutes and setup and clean up are a breeze

This is truly a game for all ages. Anyone can play and players can bring their own level of engagement

The game’s quick play time will have you playing multiple games at each sitting

Fun components create a unique, tactile experience

Portable container great for travel

Highly replay ability

 The game plays at a slower pace. I attribute that to the game’s old school approach

The container may not fit conveniently on all gamer’s shelves

Because it’s a spatial game where you’re measuring, it can possibly be a challenge to truly measure between objects.

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

I really want to define this more clearly, but Lacuna is a game when you’re in the mood for “something different.” It’s a bit of a conundrum since it’s a family game that only plays with 2 players. It’s light hearted and simple. It knows who it is and doesn’t try to be anything more. The choices are satisfying, challenging and relaxing all at the same time. It plays quickly and is a breeze to set up, making it a perfect filler or weekday evening right before bed.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing about this game is how easy it is to get into. While most games can take a couple plays to feel comfortable, Lacuna takes a couple turns. The entire experience is simple, clean and satisfying.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Lacuna is the type of game that can win over the harshest cynic. It’s straightforward and accessible, while still being engaging and a little mysterious. It sits in that sweet spot offering simple mechanics and decently challenging choices, but it does it in a completely refreshing way.

Its abstract nature isn’t going to sit well with everyone, but it tends to cross boundaries with a satisfying level of strategy that naturally adjusts to the player’s skill level. The spatial element is a nice change of pace for someone like me who typically plays more linear, traditional board games.

Replay ability is another major positive here. The quick setup and tear down make it a breeze to get to the table or layout on the floor and the short playtime guarantees it doesn’t have to wear out its welcome. Additionally, it wasn’t rare to play 2, 3 or 4 games in a row. My kids enjoyed this just as much as my (hardcore) gaming group proving it’s perfect for any sort of family.

Lacuna is a bit more “mass-market, retail game” than hobby game, but its quirkiness will still have you talking about it and bringing it regularly to game nights, road trips and parties.

Publisher: WizKids Games
Player Count: 2-5  Players
Game Length: 75-100 Minutes
Complexity 3/5

As the head of a Renaissance-era, Italian, aristocratic family, supporting the artists, builders and scholars of the day is essential for cultivating fame and prestige. Build your reputation as patrons seeking out worthy artisans, develop your own principalities and become the princes of Florence.

In this tile-laying, contract fulfillment and bidding game, players will bid against each other to help local artisan’s fulfill their creative pursuits. Resources will be tight and savvy bidders will know when to strike in an effort to maximize their returns over 7 rounds where tension continues to escalate and both long term and short-term planning are critical for victory. Are you ready to become a prince of Florence? Find out in the review below:

ON YOUR TURN

The Princes of Florence was originally published in 2000 from the designers behind classic titles such as El Grande, Tikal and Colosseum and more recently, Downforce. In this revised edition, the artwork and components have received a major upgrade to bring this traditional euro into the new era of board gaming.

The game takes place over 7 rounds with each round divided into 2 distinct phases. Players will earn prestige points through a variety of ways and in the end, the player with the most prestige is the winner.

One of the central objectives of the game is to gather professional cards and meet as many of the requirements listed on each card as possible. These cards represent artisans of art, architecture and scholastic pursuits. Each artisan is influenced and inspired in different ways and it’s up to you to cultivate your resources to meet these needs.

Each round begins with an auction phase where players bid on 1 of 6 available objects. These objects carry a variety of benefits that may serve your available artisans. The active player selects one of the objects and all players bid. You can only win 1 object per round and once you’ve acquired an object, you can no longer participate in that round’s auctions. Once a specific type of object has been bought, no one else can buy that object for the remainder of the round. The objects feature landscape tiles that will later be added to your principality board, prestige and recruiting cards that provide endgame objectives and the ability to steal professional cards from other players respectively and builder and jester tokens that provide price and scoring benefits.

Once all players have completed the auction phase they move onto the action phase. During the action phase, players will be able to perform 2 actions from a selection of 5 choices.

Among other things, this is where you cash in your professional cards. Each professional card earns points for meeting certain point-scoring objectives. You don’t have to meet them all, but each round has point requirements for cashing in cards that must be met if you choose to cash in a card, so the later you wait, the more you need to earn. Your professional cards earn points for having certain landscape tiles or buildings in your principality (which can be purchased during the action phase) as well as holding certain cards in your hand as well as owning other objects.

Just from a setup perspective, the principality board plays a fairly prominent role in the game’s presentation. This gridded board allows you to place purchased landscape and building tiles throughout. These polynomial shaped tiles need to fit together in the grid and will benefit you when you cash in artisans. This provides an additional puzzle to consider when executing your strategy.

Having finished the action phase, players can choose to take money earned into your hand for future rounds or use it to purchase prestige points. The player with the most money earned during the round receives a bonus. This continues for the 7 phases and a winner is finally declared.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

I am a huge fan of the artwork in Princes. The characters are colorful, credible and full of personality. It’s full of style and nothing is overly silly or cartoony which is a great tone for the game.  The game’s components are good and the overall production has a fairly classy feel to it. The game’s wooden token paws used to track points aren’t amazing. I would have liked to see a more custom shape than the traditional chess pawn, but they do get the job done.

The rulebook is fairly clear and easy to understand. I was able to jump quickly into both the base game and the solo mode without too much trouble.

PROS & CONS

 The bidding feels very tight and gaining those initial auction items is a real challenge

 Many paths to victory, but you have to be very intentional about your goals

 Great artwork and production

 Cool points/money split mechanic at the end of each action phase. This could be your key to victory, but you feel the tension in your choices.

 Overall set collection feels really cutthroat in a good, challenging way

 The game plays at a slower pace. I attribute that to the game’s old school approach

 This isn’t a crowd pleaser. It’s certainly for a niche audience.

 A bit rules-y and that can slow down gameplay

NEUTRAL You have to be very particular about your choices. Failing to grab a needed object can disrupt your pursuits and cost you big time.

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

Fans of classic bidding and euro games are going to enjoy the old school feel. This is a tight, cutthroat game and it can get pretty competitive. There is plenty of interaction in the bidding phase and it can get a little nasty with the right group. It has a little Use Rosenberg with the tile laying and there are plenty of choices and paths to victory for fans of that sort of thing.

WHAT’S THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

This is both the best and the worst thing about the game: The auction phase can be brutal. Sometimes you really need to overpay to guarantee the right piece. It can be incredibly irritating when your opponents start driving up the prices, but it’s also super satisfying to pull one over on them. I’m a fan of bidding games and the tight choices really elevate the bidding process here.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I wasn’t sure how Princes of Florence would translate 20 years after it was first released. It definitely has an old school euro feel, but there is still plenty of personality in the mechanics that make for a fun, engaging experience.

The pacing of the game is where it does feel a bit dated for me. I think we’ve come a long way when it comes to pacing in modern games and Princes shows a little wear in this area. Perhaps there is a way to condense some of the actions, but it is what is and while the pacing felt off it certainly wasn’t a deal breaker for me.

This is a set collecting game, but the path to get there is what really makes it interesting. The bidding and tile laying aren’t anything revolutionary, but it’s the limited choices that make them engaging. Grabbing objects (or resources if you prefer) is super tight here. This all starts with the bidding phase and how only 1 object of each type can even be drafted that round and each player leaves the phase with only 1 object. The choices are solid as well. Should I grab a jester that’s going to earn me additional points with each professional card I cash in or go with the builder who is going to decrease the cost of buildings later on? Maybe it would be smarter to grab a prestige card to provide an additional end scoring goal to pursue? Don’t forget Landscapes or Recruiting cards! It all comes down to your own strategy and how that conflicts with the other players as the bidding commences.

The principality/polyomino mini game follows in a similar fashion. The space is limited and makes choices more of a challenge. Buildings can’t be adjacent to other buildings early on and this creates a bigger spacial puzzle that needs to be planned for and solved.

The key to your engine is the end of round scoring choices. After players cash in professional cards they can either take the money or trade it in for prestige points. Obviously the player with the most prestige is the winner, but you’re going to need money to outbid your opponents and purchase objects during the action phase. I doubt this is the only game to employ this technique, but it’s brilliant and needs to exist in more games. This mechanic GUARANTEES at least one really interesting decision EACH round.

Princes of Florence is an unforgiving game. Making the wrong choice or bidding too much for something can completely derail your game. Resources are tight and the 7 rounds feel not nearly long enough to accomplish all your goals. When you’ve finally finished fighting the other bidders, you then turn around and realize you have to start fighting the game with its tough resource stipulations and limited actions.

If it’s not clear by now, this isn’t a game for everyone. It can sludge along with the wrong players and be a bit frustrating at times. But, for players looking for a cutthroat game with really tight and challenging choices, Princes of Florence may be for you. I think fans of old school euros are going to find a lot to like here, but there are some progressive ideas that play well in today’s gaming landscape. I found the game also gets better and better with each play and that’s a huge plus for me. I think if you find the right group that embraces a more challenging, interactive and cutthroat game, this can be a real gem that begs for repeat plays.

Published by Underdog Games
Design by Charlie Bink  |  Art by Csaba Bernáth, Marta Danecka, Sebastian Koziner, Aleksey Shirokikh
2-5 Players  |  30-60 Minutes

Published by Bible Games Central
2-6 Players  |  15-20 Minutes

Emoji Bible Stories Card Game is a game for younger audiences (6+) where players use common emojis to tell popular Bible stories. Featuring 4 different game modes, each option adjusts for the player’s Bible knowledge revolving around the same emoji-storytelling concept.

4 GAMES IN 1

The “Telling an emoji Bible story” version of the game has players drawing and playing emoji cards hoping to have their opponents guess their secret story card. This is the game’s most challenging format where players and opponents score points for being able to effectively communicate the story and guess their opponents stories told through the emoji cards. Another mode has players guessing the Bible story from a series of emoji cards. The final 2 have players collecting and matching emojis from a drawn story card. Opponents may or may not attempt to guess the Bible story depending on their Biblical knowledge. The game also features comprehensive story summary cards that can be read by an adult to help kids learn and dive deeper into a specific Bible story.

Each game is incredibly quick to set up, easy to teach and quick to play. Since this is all geared toward a younger audience, this is key to keeping them engaged. Typically on your turn you take simple actions (draw a card/play a card/exchange a card), so even the youngest players can easily participate.

SCALEABLE FOR YOUR KIDS BIBLE KNOWLEDGE

While the games are simple and scale based on the players Biblical knowledge, I really appreciated how the more challenging game options do require a basic Bible knowledge of these common Bible stories. I say “challenging” loosely since everything is relatively simple. A player might choose to play a lion, thunderstorm and dove emoji to communicate “Noah and the flood.” If a story drawn is too hard or they’re not familiar with it, players can use a turn to exchange the story card for another. It’s a bit of a race, but forming the story from a series of emojis takes both luck and creativity.

My 2 daughters have a good understanding of the majority of the game’s Bible stories and they really enjoyed the game play. They loved trying to guess the stories from emoji images and they also had a good time trying to draw the right emojis to tell their story. The mechanics are simple leaving them to focus on the more engaging story-telling aspect.

The “Guess the Bible story” mode has one player choosing 3 emojis in an effort to get others players to guess the story while “Match and Guess” has players drawing specific emoji cards that match those listed on a chosen story card in hopes of communicating their secret Bible story to their opponents.

Again, the game is scalable based on a player’s Bible knowledge. The “Snap and Redeem” game option presents a Bible story card with a series of emojis and players will simply draw cards trying to match 3 of the story’s images.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Overall, the game does a good job of helping young players understand the key concepts from a particular Bible story through the images. The summary cards also provide good context to flesh out and better familiarize players with any of the game’s stories.

I think this is a good game for parents to play with their kids. It’s a great opportunity to help young children become more familiar with these stories in a fun, engaging way. The “Tell an emoji Bible story” game option is a fun exercise for both kids and adults—gathering the right emojis efficiently to tell the story on their story card. The more simple game options provide a good gateway for younger kids to become more familiar with these timeless stories. The emoji visuals will also help kids remember these key concepts as well.

I’m not a huge “emoji” fan, but I was pleasantly surprised by this one. If you’re a parent looking to help your younger children become more familiar with basic Bible stories you should definitely check this out.

Find out more info at BibleGamesCentral.com

Enjoy these FREE games from Bible Games Central

Bible Trivia (https://biblegamescentral.com/bible-trivia/)

Thanksgiving Games (https://biblegamescentral.com/thanksgiving-games-and-activities/)

Christmas Games (https://biblegamescentral.com/christmas-games/)

Published by Ameba Games
2-4 Players  |  20-30 Minutes

In Grab Your Breakfast, you’re matching cards and gathering sets of bountiful, breakfast tiles in an effort to score the most points and build a well-balanced morning feast.

HOW DOES IT PLAY?

In this simple and fast-paced game players will be working to match breakfast items in their hand with those in the center play area. Each item comes with a set requirement and points earned when that set is achieved.

To begin, each player receives 2 hand cards, each consisting of one of the game’s breakfast items. A double-stacked, 5×5 grid of breakfast item tiles are placed in the center of the table.

The goal is to gain sets by matching one of your hand cards with an available tile from the grid. Available cards are cards with an open edge to the left or right of the play area. A good comparison would be Mahjong since this rule of available tiles applies to either stack of the double-stacked grid.

There are additional rules allowing players to exchange 1 of their 2 hand cards or forcing them to draw a certain breakfast item if both of their hand cards are the same. Once matched, the player discards their used hand card and draws another.

Each breakfast items has a predetermined set total. You may be required to collect 3 pancakes earning you 4 points or 2 pieces of toast earning you 2. Any set still incomplete by the end of the game is worth -1 point per card. Bonus items, such as jam or milk earn bonus points if paired with specific, complete sets.

Play continues until the entire grid has been drafted. Players receive points equal to their sets in addition to earning 2 point for every “well balanced meal” of 4 unique sets.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Grab Your Breakfast certainly has a charming presentation. Each breakfast item card is brightly drawn with a silly face giving each one it’s own pleasant personality.

The game plays with that same pleasant tone. Its very causal and simple making it a solid choice for families with younger kids.

I mentioned it above, but the way tiles are matched has a mahjong type feel. There is a good amount of luck involved since you’re at the mercy of hand cards you draw. Players can approach the game more aggressively, carefully managing their hand and planning their tactics, but I don’t believe that’s in the spirit of the game. Grab Your Breakfast seeks to be a pleasant, fun, experience for everyone. On occasion, I got that Point Salad vibe from the game for those who’ve the opportunity to play Point Said. It’s not quite as think-y, but equally gentle.

My only criticisms are minor: the hand cards and breakfast cards have a very similar looking back and can be hard to distinguish if they get mixed up. The other issues was in a 4-player game, we ended up in a bit of standoff at the end jockeying to avoid the last card and the negative point attached to it.

My 2-player game didn’t provide too much tension since most breakfast items cards were readily available on the grid. My 4-player game, on the other hand, definitely upped the tension and forced you to have a little more serious approach.

Independently produced by Ameba, Grab Your Breakfast is a comfortable, simple, yet effective matching and set collecting game. It’s really accessible with its simple setup, easy rules, portability and quick game play. The presentation will draw you in and I can see this being a hit with fans of Point Salad or more family-style set collection games. As I write this, it’s been successfully funded on Kickstarter. If Grab Your Breakfast sounds like a game that will grab you—visit the link below and support the project!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ameba/grab-your-breakfast

Designed by Molly Johnson, Shawn Stankenwich & Robert Melvin
Art by Shawn Stankenwich
Published by Alderac Entertainment Group
1-5 Players  |  15-30 Minutes

This is the place in my reviews where I typically set the stage for the game by delving into the rich theme and lore baked between the confines of this cardboard encased experience. But in the case of TEN there isn’t a backstory full of happy vegetables, brave adventurers or ambitious railroad engineers… It’s just a game with a giant deck of cards individually numbered from 1 to 9… and there are some tokens. Then I noticed the designers are the same team behind Point Salad, the simple, yet hugely successful vegetable drafting game… and I realize there might be something more to TEN than meets the eye.

TEN is a push-your-luck, auction/bidding style game where players risk it all to build runs of 4 different color sets. Drawing more cards can mean bigger points, but your aggressive choices may benefit your opponents while pushing too hard may force you to bust. Despite the generic theme, TEN has everyone engaged on each player’s turn with the opportunity just a card flip away to turn your fortunes around (for better or for worse).

Design by Steve Finn  |  Published by IELLO

In the game Biblios you’re a competing abbot at the head of a monastery working to acquire the greatest book collection of holy books and manuscripts in the midivil world.

Biblios is broken up into 2 phases. The first being a card drafting phase and the second an auction phase. One of my favorite games is For Sale – an auction game of buying and selling real estate. While Biblios is certainly different than For Sale, much of it’s success and failure in my mind will be in comparing it to my love of For Sale.

During the card drafting phase of Biblios players take turns being the active player. The active player is faced with 3 choices: keep a card, place a card up for auction or gift a card to each of the other players. This is done one card at a time equal to one more than the number of players at the table (3 cards in a two player game, 4 cards in a 3 player game, etc.). This can lead to some interesting decisions. You may draft a card into your hand only to realize that a better card sat beneath it in the deck and now you may be forced to place it up for auction later in the game or worse, gift it to one of your opponents. At the end of a players turn, every player will have received one card with one going to the auction pile.

As I mentioned before, I’m a huge fan of For Sale, a classic among gateway-style auction games. For Sale really succeeds in it’s accessibility. It’s so easy to get to the table while being fit for children of all ages. Biblios is fairly accessible and relatively appropriate for children of all ages. Where For Sale separates itself is in it’s theme. In the same hand of For Sale, you may be faced with bidding on a dog house, mansion and space station at the same time. Unfortunately, I’m not quite as glowing when it comes to the theme of Biblios. While the idea of a midivil book fair is fun on the surface, it doesn’t really seem to influence anything in the game and I found myself not even playing attention to the illustrations after awhile (even though that art is pretty decent).