Carcassone Big Box

• Designer: Klaus-Jürgen Wrede
• Publisher: Hans im Glueck, Z-Man
• Players: 2-6
• Age: 10+
• Time: 35 min +
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/41u2FXV
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

THE ULTIMATE CARCASSONNE EXPERIENCE: The Carcassonne Big Box (2025 Edition) includes the world-renowned base game plus 11 expansions for endless replayability and strategic depth. It features the 2001 Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) winning base game and 11 popular expansions—everything you need to start or expand your Carcassonne collection.

There have been plenty of other Big Boxes of Carcassonne, and this is the most recent one – originally released in 2021 and then again in 2025; and it is the 2025 version that we are reviewing here.  Note that this version is in no way a comprehensive Big Box, there are still plenty of other expansions and promotional tiles which are not included here – so if you’re looking for a full omnibus edition, this isn’t that.

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Well, in recent years, the genre of the Tableau Builder has been one of more popular ones. Two big hits of the past few years Faraway (2023) and Castle Combo (2024) have each recently had an expansion.  Each comes in a little sachet that feels like an old-school pack of baseball cards.

If you’re unfamiliar with the base games – let me direct you to our reviews of those first:

Faraway

Castle Combo

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Flip 7 with a Vengeance

• Designers: Eric Olsen and Alyssa Swatek
• Publisher: The Op 
• Players: 3+
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4vaZLFd
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Flip 7 is back – With a Vengeance! All of the fun of the original game, plus new player interactions and special take-that cards!   Flip over cards one by one without flipping the same number twice. Sound easy? Think again! This isn’t just any deck of cards… In Flip 7: With A Vengeance, there’s only one 1 card, two 2’s, three 3’s, etc., plus a bunch of special cards that can cut your points in half, steal any card, or force an opponent to draw four cards! Are you the type of player to play it safe and bank points before you bust, or are you going to risk it all and go for the bonus points by flipping over seven in a row? Press your luck meets strategy in this addictive card game where no one is ever really safe. The hard-boiled sequel to the award-winning, instant classic, Flip 7.

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Cucumber Catastrophe

• Designer: Michael Feldkoetter
• Publisher: dv Games
• Players: 3-6
• Age: 8+
• Time: 20 mins
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Players compete over four hands of ten rounds each. A round is a trick where all players, in turn, play one card from their hand. The one who played the highest card (or the lowest, depending on the Rule in play) wins the trick and takes all the cards played that round.
During the game, certain actions can break the Rule, reversing the outcome between highest/lowest trick. At the end of the game, the player who has collected the fewest cucumbers is the winner. The shifting Rule system creates constant surprises, frequent reversals, so that no two games play out the same way.

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Frosted Blooms

• Designer: Bruno Cathala, Ludovic Maublanc
• Publisher: Synapses Games
• Players: 1-4
• Age: 8+
• Time: 25-40 mins
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4rPnrfm
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Welcome to Frosted Blooms – In the soft dawn of a Dutch spring, the last breath of winter lingers in the air, leaving a delicate frost upon the awakening fields. But beneath this shimmering chill, bold tulips begin to bloom vibrant, colorful, and full of promise.

You are one of the master gardeners, competing to create the most admired tulip garden of the season. Every choice you make, each landscape, windmill raised, and each thoughtfully arranged flowers will bring you closer to perfection.  Plan with care, cultivate with style, and let your tulip tapestry shine as the pride of the lowlands!

Players compete for the most harmonious and valuable tulip garden over the course of ten rounds. In each round, they select a landscape brick to add them to their own garden, and then play a card of their hand to score points according to the pattern groups received. The enclosed spaces house workers, barns or mills that offer important bonuses at the end of the game. In addition, players can confirm goals by grouping certain elements and filling their garden. Whoever ends with the highest score wins the game!

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