“I’ll Have a Wicked Game”: A Review of Distilled: Cocktails

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Mark Jackson

As a youngster, we used to drive by a bar/lounge every time my family went most weekends to visit my grandparents. As neither of my parents drank, I kept peering at the neon sign on the side of the building, confused by the word. I finally asked my parents, “What are cook tales?”

Fast forward 55+ years. Like my folks, I don’t drink – but I do know what a cocktail is. Well, now I do. 

I also know the identity of my favorite game of 2024 – Distilled. Distilled has both drafting & push-your-luck elements, along with a smidgen of set collecting & a bit of engine building. That can sound like a mish-mash… but it actually pulls together nicely into a very playable game. 

Distilled: Cocktails is a big expansion to the original game that was released this summer… and it’s my privilege to let you know how it works and what it does (and doesn’t) do to the original game.

Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of a_way

Posted on September 27, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

a_way

  • Designers:  Clément Bongibault, Louis Fievre, Benjamin Niess, Hugo Socié 
  • Publisher: Blue Orange
  • Players: 1-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 10-30 minutes
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

In a_way, players take part in the legendary spaceship race of the Quazarys galaxy. Each pilot must reach their own base — which is also an opponent’s starting point. The race track is made of solar paths filled with stations, directional arrows, and strange space phenomena, creating a constantly shifting cosmic circuit where clever navigation matters as much as speed.

On your turn, you combine movement and card play to advance your ship. Players move from station to station, respecting one-way routes and mandatory checkpoints, while avoiding landing on the same station as an opponent. Cards drawn from a shared deck allow players to manipulate the board, trigger special effects, teleport through vortices, or disrupt rivals. You may play single cards or powerful combos from the same faction, discard cards to cycle your hand, and gain an extra movement each turn for well-timed bursts of speed.

Positioning and timing are key: you can leap over opposing ships if conditions are right, anticipate blocked paths, and adapt as the layout changes. The game ends immediately when a player reaches the opposing base (or the base directly across from their own in games with three or four players).

a_way is a fast, tactical race where clever card play and sharp movement decisions decide who crosses enemy territory first.

 

Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs

Posted on September 25, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

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 →

Posted in Essen 2026, Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of Enchanted Ivy

Posted on September 24, 2026 by Dale Yu

 

 

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 →

Posted in Essen 2026, Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of The Mutiny Mystery (Holiday Hijinks #15)

Posted on September 23, 2026 by Dale Yu

The Mutiny Mystery

 

 

Avast, ye scurvy dog! You’re treading where you don’t belong; the bowels of a dread pirate vessel. Your very life is at stake, unless you can gather your wits to blend in with the crew, find allies among these unsavory fellows, and find refuge on dry land. ‘Tis a puzzling endeavor, ye can be sure!

The Mutiny Mystery is part of the 18Escape line of games, each of which pack a full escape room game experience into a tiny package! As a group, you will solve a series of puzzles to unravel a mystery.

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2026, Reviews | Leave a comment

Railway Boom, Duel for Cardia, and Fate of the Fellowship Win 2026 IGA Awards!

Posted on September 22, 2026 by huzonfirst

The results of the 2026 International Gamers Awards (IGA) have just been announced.  In the Multiplayer category, the winner is Railway Boom, designed by Hisashi Hayashi.  In the Best 2-Player Experience category, Duel for Cardia was the winner; the designers are Faouzi Boughida and Mathieu Rivero.  Finally, the winner in the Best Solo Experience category is Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship, designed by Matt Leacock.  Congratulations to the designers, as well as the publishers for these three games:  Arclight Games, Hans im Gluck, and Z-Man Games.

Here are the winning games, as well as the other nominated games in each category, including those which placed highly in the elections.  The vote count in the final showdown between the two top games in each category is shown in parentheses.  Note that Vantage was a hard luck loser–it finished second in the 2-player category and tied for first in the solo category, only to lose in a tiebreaker.

MULTIPLAYER CATEGORY
1. Railway Boom (9-7)
2. LotR: Fate of the Fellowship
3. Luthier
Nom – Nippon: Zaibatsu
Nom – Recall
Nom – Sanctuary
Nom – Take Time
Nom – The Druids of Edora
Nom – World Order

2-PLAYER CATEGORY
1. Duel for Cardia (7-5)
2. Vantage
3. Tag Team
Nom – Moytura
Nom – Star Wars: Battle of Hoth
Nom – The White Castle Duel

SOLO CATEGORY
1. LotR: Fate of the Fellowship (6-6, won on tiebreaker)
2. Vantage
Nom – Ace of Spades
Nom – Hercules and the 12 Labors

Posted in Reviews | Tagged | 1 Comment