Time to finish out the week with yet another look at our favorite games from some leading designers. Today, we shine the spotlight on Matt Leacock, Michael Schacht, and the team of Jeroen Doumen and Joris Wiersinga—aka, the Splotter designers. A total of 58 people participated in the voting.

Matt Leacock
The first significant design released by Leacock (in 2008) was a little game I like to call Pandemic. Its massive popularity ensured that cooperative games were here to stay. Matt has released dozens of well regarded games since then, both co-ops and competitive titles, and he’s as popular as ever today. Continue reading →

The Friday Fright

• Designer: Jonathan Chaffer
• Publisher: Grand Gamers Guild
• Players: 1+
• Age: 13+
• Difficulty Rating: 3/3
• Time: 60 minutes on the box; 46 min in reality
• Played with review copy provided by publisher
• Weblink – https://grandgamersguild.com/Games/collections/18escape

After a series of bad omens, you seek refuge at a secluded cabin in the woods, hoping to turn your luck around. But as you settle in, strange things begin to happen. Can you shake off the bad vibes, or is something darker lurking in the shadows?

The Friday Fright, title #13 in the Holiday Hijinks line, is an escape room-style game in just 18 cards! As a group, you will solve a series of puzzles to unravel a mystery. Puzzles may test your perception, wordplay, and lateral thinking. English language fluency is required.

Continue reading →

It’s time to continue our series detailing our favorite games from notable designers. Today, we look at Antoine Bauza, Rob Daviau, and Martin Wallace. 64 people participated in these selections.

Antoine Bauza
Bauza announced his presence on the gaming scene in 2008, with the hit cooperative game Ghost Stories. Two years later, he made it clear he was here to stay, thanks to that game for the ages, 7 Wonders, and he’s still cranking them out.

After thinking it over, I decided not to group any of the 7 Wonders games together, as they seem to be fairly different experiences. I did consider combining 7 Wonders Duel with LotR: Duel for Middle-Earth. I eventually decided to keep them as separate games, but it was a close decision and I’m not completely convinced it was the right call. Continue reading →

Let’s continue with our discussion of our favorite games from great designers. Today, the trio will be Vlaada Chvatil, Simone Luciani, and Alan Moon. 64 people weighed in with their opinions.

Vlaada Chvatil
Few designers have burst upon the scene more dramatically than Chvatil did 20 years ago. At a time when few gamers even had the Czech Republic on their gaming map, he released a number of notable games, including the all-time classic, Through the Ages. He has maintained that pace through the years, including a blockbuster game from the most recent Essen fair. Here are his top 10 games: Continue reading →

Yesterday, we introduced the Designer Choice Selections—a list of the favorite games from a bunch of notable designers, chosen by the Meeples Choice Award voters and the OG writers. Today, we look at three more great designers: Stefan Feld, Uwe Rosenberg, and Sid Sackson. 63 voters participated in the voting.

Stefan Feld
Feld is one of today’s most distinctive and polarizing game designers. He launched his career about 20 years ago and he gained renown by releasing six consecutive titles in the highly prestigious alea big box game line. He continues to be very productive today, thanks to Queen’s Stefan Feld City Collection of games, and other designs. Continue reading →