Publisher: Good Games Publishing
Player Count: 1-5 Players
Game Length: 60 Minutes
Complexity 2/5

As a competitive New York City dog walker, building an efficient business is the key to success. But when your business involves unpredictable 4-legged canines—each with their own unique preferences and personalities—you’ll often have to juggle the needs of the pets while still trying to stay on schedule in this thematically bright and family friendly board game. 

In Bark Avenue, you’ll be walking a variety of real-life dog breeds around the blocks of New York City, picking them up, giving them plenty of exercise and fun before dropping them back home. You’ll need to keep plenty of dog treats on hand and maybe a coffee or 2 to keep up with these energized pooches. Do a good job and you’ll receive great reviews as you watch your business grow and seek to become the most prestigious dog walker in NYC.

ON YOUR TURN

Bark Avenue is really about the dogs. There are 81 unique and beautifully illustrated dog breed cards in the game. While I don’t want to downplay the strategy, the real joy of the game will come from your appreciation of the dogs and their unique traits.

On your turn, you’ll be picking up dogs across the city. Each available dog has a home address where you’ll meet it. Once a dog is in your care, you’ll move across a map of New York City that’s based on real world locations.

Each dog has its own “speed” or movement available per turn as well as the length (or number of turns) it will need to be walked. Certain dogs will only get along with specific sized dogs and some dogs will want to just walk alone. There are ways to mitigate these challenges, but you’ll typically need to incorporate careful planning to ensure any dogs walked together will play nice.

While each dog will earn you a specific amount of money, garnering tips can certainly help out your cause. Owners love it when you take photos of the dogs, cater directly to the dogs needs (be it playing ball, visiting fire hydrants or splashing in water). This is also the only game I’ve ever played that rewards you for your dog taking a poop.

You’ll need to plan each dog’s journey so you’ll be able to drop it off at the right time. Miss your return appointment and you forgo tips and positive reviews.

The game plays over 17 turns, each turn introducing an event, change in the rules or modifying the available dogs. As your business rating increases, you’ll have access to bonuses such as extra dog treats or the ability to walk more dogs at once. In the end, the player with the most money is the winner.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

As I mentioned previously, the dog artwork is bright and cheery. The game’s 81 unique dogs are all based on real-life foster dogs across the United States. The dog illustrations are fun and really well done and will definitely appeal to dog fanatics. Additionally, the game board showcasing a stylizing layout of New York City helps further immerse you in the theme.

The game delivers what you’d expect from a high quality production. The rulebook does a fantastic job explaining the game and referencing the game’s more detailed aspects.

PROS & CONS

Vibrant, high quality artwork

Fun, friendly theme

Despite a bit of a learning curve with the iconography and some of the game’s cards, I was pleased with how easy the game was to learn.

Easy to teach

Theme matched well with the turn actions

Turns sometimes felt overly simple and little ho-hum

Efficiency puzzle where choices never felt too challenging leaving me a bit underwhelmed by the overall mechanics

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

There is no mystery here, this is a game for dog lovers. I’ve got a number of dog lovers in my family and we’ve played every dog game you can get your hands on. Taking everything into consideration, this is one of the best dog-themed implementations I’ve played. The developers certainly knew where they were going and did a great job catering to a pet-friendly audience.

WHAT IS THE BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

I sound like a broken record, but the variety of dogs in the game is truly the best part. They’re all so bright, friendly and charming, it completely transcends the entire experience.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Bark Avenue is a rare game where the charm coming from the theme saves what could have been a somewhat lackluster experience. The actual actions of moving around the board and grabbing bonuses often felt like I was repeatedly moving in a circle. But that’s really the life of a dog walker and finding a puddle for Nova, my Teacup Pomeranian, to splash in or walking through the park to play frisbee with Nico, a Bernice Mountain Dog, brought the game to life. The colors and the dogs and location provides a really friendly and fun thematic experience even if you’re not met with the most thoughtful or engaging decisions.

That being said, I think Bark Avenue does a nice job bringing a slightly more challenging experience to a genre of board games that are typically very light and simple. To be truly effective in the game, you really need to engage the planning and it will sometimes require a little thought to make sure you’re running your dog business smoothly. It’s certainly not overly complicated for anyone over age 10, but it will require strategy. In the end, I think many are going to find a sweet spot in the game’s overall experience.

I was pleasantly surprised by Bark Avenue and the wonderful theme really won me over. It seems to be flying under the radar a bit and that may be due to so many similar themed games hitting the market, but Bark Avenue definitely has a lot of quality, standout points. This may be the best dog-themed game I’ve played.

Publisher: Holy Grail Games
Player Count: 2-5 Players
Solo mode: No
Game Length: 30-60 Minutes
Complexity 1.25/5

As part of an eclectic group of Romans citizens, Caesar has tasked you with one objective: travel the empire and ensure all roads lead back to Rome. In this family weight game of set collection and network building, players will be connecting the nation’s cities through an intricate network of roads. With each road built you earn points, even piggy-backing on your opponents construction. Build sets of resources as you connect new cities and draw their imports to the Eternal City. Outwit and outplay your opponents to earn the most points and earn Caesar’s favor.

ON YOUR TURN

Caesar’s Empire is a game full of simple actions, and deceptively deep strategy.

On your turn you have one action: construct a road that connects to Rome. This may mean connecting directly to Rome or building onto a pre-existing road.

As you play a road token, you earn points based on how many road tokens you have on that particular piece of road heading back to Rome. The twist is all other player tokens apart built from that same road also earn points.

Connecting to new cities will earn the player a resource which is randomly dispersed on the board as well as a regional city token. Each resource is part of a set collecting goal that earn points when you collect both unique and same-type resources. Each regional token is worth a certain value and scores the player the highest valued, collected token in that region at the end of the game.

Once the last city has been connected, the game ends and players add up their total points, set collection scores and any regional tokens. The player with the most points is the winner.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

The artwork is apparently from a comic series called Asterix—which I am not familiar with. It has a bit of a twisted, Disney vibe that’s colorful and friendly enough. While I don’t think the artwork is bad, I have a feeling the style has turned off a few people who may have given this one a second look.

The board is ultra-huge, and each player has 25 plastic road tokens/figures (featuring workers building the road). The plastic figures are kinda cool, but overall, the production is just ok. There isn’t necessarily anything bad, but nothing that really stands out.

PROS & CONS

 Really easy to learn & teach

 Interesting & fun decisions

 Great for kids of all ages

 Plays super fast

 The game requires a decent amount of table space

 The overall production might not appeal to new players

 Setup doesn’t take long, but longer than I’d hope

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

Players looking for a gateway/family-weight game with simple mechanics and a decent amount of depth to their choices are going to appreciate this.

BEST THING ABOUT THIS GAME?

The best thing about this is the game’s choices. Knowing that connecting to a certain road may earn your opponents points forces you to consider the cost/reward. Additionally, you have to take into consideration any city bonus tokens you can earn that might sway your choice.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I appreciate a good gateway game with its typically slimmer rule set and quick gameplay. Caesar’s Empire not only meets the criteria, but it brings a nice depth to it you typically don’t see in these types of games.

You literally can do one thing on your turn. It really doesn’t get much easier than that. Playing your road token creates an almost tactical game where you’re attempting to outwit your opponents as you seek to maximize the return on your action. It’s easy to focus on your own roads, but getting in on your opponents actions can create big time residuals over the course of the entire game. Of course, hopping on board with your opponents roads will also create some apprehension for your opponents which is always fun.

While road building is your primary way to score, building sets and connecting new cities are an essential supplement. Sets score both deep and wide—earning you exponentially more points as you gain more of a specific resource as well as more different resources. This will play out differently each game since these resources are randomized to start.

The region tokens all feature a different number in that region. At the end of the game you’ll score the highest region token you have of that region. This definitely incentivizes playing in different areas of the map. This may mean cherry picking certain cities as roads expand, but the danger is sacrificing the big points you earn from growing your own longer roads.

I don’t think it’s the theme that turns people off, but I’ve noticed a little hesitancy when I attempt to introduce Caesar’s Empire to new players. The cartoony style might just not sit well with the players I’ve tried to bring in. It might also be how simple the rules are. Like a video game where you only mash a single button the entire game… it may be difficult to see how a single action can produce some neat in-game decisions.

This is a light game and that works well for families, but I know it’s not going to appeal to heavy gamers. I do think there is an interesting game here and I’m hoping more people are willing to give it a chance. It played well at all the player counts, but I really enjoyed it at 4 or 5. When there are more players invested, it creates more interesting situations and scoring opportunities. I recommend Caesar’s Empire and definitely think it will surprise some people.

Publisher: iello
Player Count: 2-5 Players
Solo mode: No
Game Length: 20 Minutes
Complexity 1.75/5

As bus drivers, your job is to transport everyone to their destination safe and sound. Navigating two of the largest cities in the world can be both fascinating and challenging. In Get on Board, a fast-paced, family-style, flip-and-write game, players will need to efficiently plan their routes to pick up the right passengers, avoid traffic congestion and deliver everyone to the proper destination in order to score the most points.

ON YOUR TURN

Players will determine whether they’re traveling around New York or London depending on the player count. A 2 or 3 player game uses the New York side of the game board while a 4 or 5 player game visits London.

Each map is made up of a grid of city blocks with opportunities at each corner. You’ll encounter a number of different passengers heading to work, school or just out to sight see. As you pass by these passengers you’ll add them to your bus. Some have very specific destinations while others prefer you to guide them on their way.

The game takes place over 12 rounds. Each round is represented by a ticket number that activates a distance and direction your bus can travel that turn. On occasion you might get to choose between 2 options, but each player sheet has unique choices providing each player with different options that turn.

Throughout your duties you’ll run into senior citizens, students, tourists and businessmen. Each group serves as its own mini-game within the game. Adding seniors earns points for each individual, but that value increases as you add additional riders. Students need to get to class and delivering multiple students to multiple schools earns multiplied points. Tourists are happy visiting tourist locations or famous buildings. With each stop you earn points based on the number of tourists delivered at that stop. Businessmen pay off similarly but provide you with bonus new passengers based on the number of businessmen dropped off.

Of course it will be up to you to avoid traffic, designated by high traffic areas on the board as well as traveling through areas your opponents have already been. Traveling through too many high traffic areas will force you to lose points, but ending your turn on a green stop light allows your bus to move 1 additional space.

Each player can choose to alter their prescribed path by choosing to take a scoring penalty. These “turn zone” actions are limited and the penalty increases more each time.

At the beginning of the game, each player receives a secret route objective and 2 random community objectives are available on the board.

After 12 rounds, players add up their scores and the highest score is the winner.

ARTWORK & COMPONENTS

Get on Board features colorful, vintage, mid-century style artwork. It’s light and fun and gives the game a cheerful vibe. The game board feels energetic and clean enhancing the overall gameplay. Bus Ticket cards representing the turn rounds are punched like they would have been back in the 1950s and 60s.

The player sheet pad is double sided and each sheet features a uniquely oriented set of actions – which is a pretty cool feature. Players track their bus route with small, wooden sticks that are a little hard to manage, but they could be worse. The player board feels good and the rulebook is well done.

All-in-all Get on Board is a quality board game production.

PROS & CONS

Inviting, light theme

Easy to pick up

Turns move quickly

Choices aren’t heavy and building your passenger roster is fun

While iconography is generally good, there are a few that are a little hard to make out

Map is limited to player count – meaning I can’t play London with 2 players.

Combos are limited compared to similar flip and write games

WHY WOULD YOU LIKE THIS GAME?

Players in the market for a light, puzzle-y, flip and write are going to appreciate this friendly, fast-paced game. It’s great for 2 players or a family of 4 or 5.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Get on Board checks a lot of boxes that make these light, quick, inviting games popular.

It starts with the friendly, inviting theme and artwork. The 60’s era illustrations take me back to a time of Saturday morning cartoons and sugary cereals. It’s comfort food and it works to set the tone of a game that just wants to have fun.

The game’s accessibility is another key contributing factor. In a matter of seconds you can have the game setup and ready to play. The gameplay moves by quickly and it’s something you can easily play 2 or 3 games in a row.

The mechanics allowing you to move your bus around the city are very straightforward. Picking up passengers and scoring your player board is going to take a little familiarization with the icons and outcomes, but again, nothing too heavy. Typically flip-and-writes are thick with combos and that is something Get on Board is lacking. There are a few combos you can build, but they don’t seem incredibly satisfying. Primarily it’s about building sets and cashing them in at the right moments. The choices still have a nice flow, but feels a little more restrained. This definitely plays more on the gateway side.

I did enjoy the game’s planning. If your bus goes back down a city block it’s already traveled, that bus is deemed “inefficient” and is removed from the game. It’s not too difficult to avoid this, but there are a number of positive and negative things to consider such as picking up a particular type of passenger or avoiding heavy traffic areas. Adjusting your route can be fixed by taking a turn zone action, allowing you to change course, but losing a point in the process. As for traffic, you may want to just brave it and push on through… of course with the risk of losing additional points. While there isn’t a lot of interaction, players can “block” opponents forcing them to take these traffic penalties. This isn’t too painful and it’s a fun addition that gives you something else to think about.

One unfortunate point is you can only play on the side of the board that matches your player count. If you want to visit London but only have 2 players you’re out of luck. It’s not a big deal, but it would have been nice to choose between the 2 maps.

Overall, Get on Board is a nice, airy flip-and-write that gets a lot of things right. The fun presentation and quick game time are going to guarantee this gets plenty of table time. While it doesn’t quite reach the heights of other “…and writes” it’s still a good game with a fun puzzle. This feels perfect for gateway gamers who might want to “challenge” family members or friends with something a little different. As for the more serious gaming crowd, this is a fun filler that doesn’t take itself too seriously, but still manages to be engaging. Get on Board is an innocent game that’s perfect for those nights when you want something quick with interesting choices, but don’t want to think too deeply.