Codenames: Critical Role Adventures

• Designers: Vlaada Chvatil and Felix Podlesny 
• Publisher: CGE
• Players: 2-4
• Age: 10+
• Time: 25 min/player
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Enter the world of Exandria, a land of infinite wonder and unexpected champions, and experience the Critical Role adventures through Codenames. Assemble a party of heroes from the first three Critical Role campaigns, embark on missions, and level up your characters to defeat the final boss.

Codenames: Critical Role Adventures is a unique take on Codenames inspired by the Critical Role universe. It’s a fully cooperative version of the game where one GM (game master) leads their party through perilous missions, each with its own twist and take on the classic Codenames rules and featuring a new set of themed words. Play the game in three separate campaigns, choose from seven Critical Role characters, and, by levelling them up, unlock new abilities and equip items to use during missions.

Continue reading →

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs

• Designers: Joe Klipfel, Nikki Valens  
• Publisher: Cephalofair
• Players: 1
• Age: 10+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://link.amazon/B05SVtGDo
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is a solo play game, with an original campaign story written by Isaac Childres, that features a playstyle similar to Gloomhaven in a fraction of the size.

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs is set after the events of Gloomhaven and Forgotten Circles. The Aesther recluse Hail has earned a reputation for being highly instrumental in saving the city from recurring disasters, and she absolutely hates it. Wannabe heroes are constantly barging in on her studies at the Crooked Bone, looking for help in becoming famous themselves — not to mention all the demons that come by looking for vengeance. She briefly considered moving, but as that would require effort, she instead just placed an enchantment on her front door: Anyone who attempts to open it becomes miniaturized and therefore is no longer a problem.

Your character is one such wannabe hero. In an ill-advised attempt at fame, they try to visit Hail, and poof. Now they’re the size of a mouse and have entered an entirely different realm of lawlessness and self-preservation. They must find a new way into the Crooked Bone to convince Hail to return them to their previous size.

Each scenario is a single card, pitting one mercenary against a handful of enemies with simplified actions and AI. Each mercenary has a hand of just four double-sided cards, but they can be used twice — both the front and the back — before they are discarded. Attacks are resolved using a die in conjunction with a modifier table, and both the table and the mercenary ability cards can be improved as you level up throughout the campaign.

Continue reading →

Enchanted Ivy

• Designer: Sarah Joshua
• Publisher: Allplay
• Players: 1
• Age: 10+
• Time: 15 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Take on the role of Ivy, the courageous new owner of a magical inn. Build your bewitching B&B to best suit your eccentric guests while cultivating the ivy covering your walls.  Each turn, carefully place each card in a grid. Assign guests, noting their preferences (things like “diagonally adjacent”, “same row”, “surrounded” etc.) to score them at the end of the game. In Story Mode, earn rewards for meeting point goals and completing unique challenges. In Endless Mode, see how high you can score based on some setup options.

Continue reading →