Dale Yu: Review of Space Lab

Posted on March 3, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

Space Lab

  • Designers: Corentin Lebrat, Johannes Goupy
  • Publisher: Studio H 
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 20 minutes
  • Amazon affiliate link: 
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Interest in space research is at an all-time high. Across the world, dozens of space labs launch, hoping to uncover the universe’s secrets!  Launch your very own international space station! Recruit members from the world’s four largest space agencies to create the ideal team and complete the most prestigious projects outer space has to offer!

Space Lab is an exciting and accessible tableau-building game full of interesting decisions.
On your turn, collect all the cards from the same agency from the top of the deck or the recruitment center. Manage your hand and place your Lab cards around your Capsules intelligently to optimize their powers and your objectives. Watch the pace of the game to anticipate the end and maximize your score!

 

 

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Dale Yu: Review of Giraffe Raffe

Posted on March 2, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

Giraffe Raffe

  • Designer: Hisashi Hayashi
  • Publisher: Mandoo games
  • Players: 1-5
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 20-30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Play tricks to Trees, or play Apples to skip your turn, but be careful to not put yourself in a position where you cannot play cards or an Apple!  Either play one or more cards to a tree as long as your play is higher than what is already there and gain a reward, or you can play an apple and skip your turn. If someone cannot take their turn, they lose!

 

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Toy Battle, Civolution, Zenith, and Mooki Island Win France’s As d’Or Awards

Posted on March 1, 2026 by huzonfirst

The winners of the As d’Or–France’s Game of the Year awards–were announced last week. Taking the main award is Toy Battle, a 2-player affair in which tiles representing toys do battle on a small territorial map. It was designed by Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini. Mori is a veteran designer with many hit games and award nominations to his name, but this is his first significant award. The other nominated games in this category were Flip 7 and Rebirth.

Three other games were cited. The winner in the Expert category is Civolution, designed by Stefan Feld. It beat out the other two nominated games, Arcs and Ants. In the Intermediate category, the award goes to Zenith, designed by Gregory Grard and Mathieu Roussel. The runners-up were First Rat and Take Time. Finally, the Best Children’s game is Mooki Island, designed by Florian Sirieix. The other nominated games were Archeo and The Twisted Spooky Night.

Congratulations to all the winning games and designers!

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Alison Brennan: Game Snapshots – 2026 (Part 10)

Posted on March 1, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

New-to-me games played recently include …

6 NIMMT! BARON OXX (2025): Rank 6848, Rating 7.1 – Kiesling / Kramer

The latest 6 Nimmt variant, where the number now only determines play order and you can play in any row where your card has the same color icons as the last card in the row. But there’s now double jeopardy because you also take the row if there are 6+ icons in that colour in the row (as well as if you play the 6th card). It’s definitely more fun than the original, with more options to consider, but it’s still 6 Nimmt with all the luck that that entails.

Rating: 6

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Dale Yu: Review of Ghosts Galore

Posted on February 28, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

Ghosts Galore

  • Designer: Michael Luu
  • Publisher: Lookout Games
  • Players: 2-5
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 20 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Ghosts Galore you’re helping monsters to build a fun ghost train in an abandoned mineshaft. Every monster want’s the track tiles laid their way – so YOU have to keep them calm, coordinate and optimize their track. Over the course of 8 rounds, each player builds a unique track on their 3×3 playground for the ghost train.  This family friendly tile placement game comes with a unique drafting mechanism and is quick to play while offering various strategies​: Will you stick with your drafted tile or go for a bold move which brings you even more scares? After only 8 rounds, all tracks are set and the project is done. Sounds easy? Well, only the master who lines up the best scares, wins!

 

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Dale Yu: Review of Blooming Sea

Posted on February 27, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

Blooming Sea

  • Designer: Reiner Knizia
  • Publisher: Korea Board Games
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 8+
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Blooming Sea is a colourful tile-laying game by Reiner Knizia, where players take on the role of environmentalists working to restore vibrant coral reefs. On their turn, players place tiles containing clusters of corals, aiming to build or expand reefs of matching colours. They score points by creating larger reefs and by surrounding fish tokens with corals of their colour.

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