One of the notable differences between normal gaming conventions and the Gathering is the number of high profile designers walking around and the relatively high proportion of prototypes on the tables be they works in progress, or close to final and being shown off to publishers, or being spruiked to build word of mouth. Well, the days of me fawning over designers are long over and to be honest I try to avoid playing prototypes. I don’t want to waste time on a half-baked idea needing serious tweaking, I don’t want to be responsible for ideas to improve things, I like playing with nice components, and I don’t particularly get a kick out of being ‘first’ to play something before it’s released.

However it seems almost inevitable that you’re going to be sucked into a few (because that’s what’s on offer as you’re wandering around) and I tried to tackle them with good grace and responsibility. The good news was that they were all decent, which probably isn’t that surprising given the track record of the designers there. Mind you, there was nothing that set my mouth frothing in anticipation either. And while some prototypes were a bit rough and ready, there were others that were indistinguishable from produced games so good were the components. Anyway, I felt I did my bit, helped shared the load, but I was always happy to get back to the ‘real’ stuff once done.

New-to-me games played recently include …

7 WONDERS DICE (2025): Rank N/a, Rating N/a

Roll the 7 dice which variously show areas you can tick off on your personal sheet (resources, blue area, yellow area, red area … it’s 7 Wonders, you know where it’s going). The 7 dice will fall into 4 different cost buckets (0 to 3 gold). Everyone simultaneously chooses any of the 7 dice depending on their strategy. Re-roll all the dice and go again. Everyone can use the same die so there’s no tension. You can see what people are going for; choose a race you can win. However you have no idea whether your chosen strategy will be rewarded by cheap dice later (ie not requiring a buildup in gold) or expensive dice (and you can kiss your game goodbye). I was expecting something cool and innovative given it’s a 7 Wonders franchise but it was just repetitive and boring sorry to say.

Rating: 5

BREAK THE CUBE (2022): Rank 6575, Rating 7.1

Place 3 differently coloured/shaped blocks on a 3×3 grid, max 3 ‘cubes’ high, hidden behind a shield. Each player needs to work out the exact configuration that the player to their left constructed. Either ask what colour can be seen on one grid square when looking from above, or ask a general question to everyone on what colours each player (including yourself, be careful) can see when looking down a column/row. Which became repetitive rather quickly. Good note-keeping is imperative. Gradually you’ll have enough information to have it narrowed down, take a punt for the win. It’s more like a puzzle that you will inevitably win rather than a game; you’re just counting the turns it takes you, Mastermind style.

Rating: 5

CORINTH (2019): Rank 2040, Rating 6.7

It’s Yspahan: Roll-and-Write. I really like the original and this nicely brings the dice-grouping mechanic back to life in another guise. It features the same questions – build in one of the four house areas, move around the map to collect goodies, or get gold/camels to buy techs. The techs feel more balanced here, like you can still win without them. I enjoyed leaning into whatever the dice gods provided and the continual decisions presented on whether to put strategy on hold because this dice-group is simply too good to give up (or allow others to have). It’s in a suitably condensed timeframe, easy to learn, happy to play.

Rating: 7

CRITTER KITCHEN (2025): Rank 1934, Rating 8.0

There are 7 locations offering different types of food of varying quality. For the first three rounds, do a simul-reveal for the locations you want to send your low, medium and high priority meeples. Split up the food at each location between whoever went there based on priorities. After three rounds, cook your highest scoring meals (per the displayed menu cards) for points. Repeat. Then do one more round and get points for leftovers. Unfortunately the simul-reveal mechanic does not a 60-90 minute game support, although managing your priority meeples did its best to salvage it. The cutesy artwork also leavened the mood but there’s little want to play again given it feels like I’ve played it 7 times already in just the one sitting.

Rating: 6

FIVES aka THE GREEN FIVURA (2022): Rank 7464, Rating 7.5

You want to win tricks such that your winning cards total 25 or as close to as possible, without going over (as then you bust). The charm is that if you’re short-suited you can turn any card in your hand into a magenta 5 (as long as you’re the first to do it this trick), allowing you to offload potentially disastrous cards and sowing some chaos down the track because anyone card-counting doesn’t know what just disappeared. There is certainly a learning curve re managing different types of hands and that prompts a need to explore further, even if only to see if worse case it gets same-y after a while.

Rating: 7

PANDA ROYALE (2024): Rank 5128, Rating 7.4

Start with one die. Roll it. Earn that many points. Everyone drafts a die. Roll dice. Earn that many points. Play 10 rounds, by which point you’ll have 10 dice. The thing is, the differently coloured dice have different powers – die drafting order, multipliers, different ranges, swap dice, etc. Try and choose a strategy different from others so people will be less likely to take the dice you’re after and hope that the most powerful dice are split among multiple players (if you can’t get them all yourself). Sure, it’s just a stupid dice game but I’m a bit of a sucker for them and this was definitely fun for a play … just how many plays I’m not so sure.

Rating: 7

RAJAS OF THE GANGES: CARDS AND KARMA (2024) Rank 5801, Rating 7.0

Between this, the original version, and the dice version, this might be the most enjoyable. You’re rolling your dice and using colour and face value to acquire allowed cards from the display. The cards mostly form sets to earn you the VP items that advance you inbound from each end of the scoring track, with each move providing bonuses to boot. Or simply remove a card from the display (especially if it’s one of value and is buyable by an opponent) to earn more dice. The dice colours/values mean it’s not overwhelming though – you can quickly narrow the display down to what you and your opponent can buy and want and act accordingly. As such it zips along nicely while still providing a watchful feel throughout. I also enjoyed that it felt faster than the others, with a timeframe more in keeping with how long the core mechanics hold your interest.

Rating: 7

SIDES (2023): Rank 6516, Rating 7.0

A variation of Just One, but here the pair of guessers (one side) get their clues one word at a time. The more clues used, the lower the overall score in the end. The clue-givers (the other side) are restricted by the array of start letters (cards) available that their clues must start with, and you want to use them from the outside in. If you use a letter that’s second from the outside, that’s the equivalent of using 2 clues for instance. Once the word is guessed, the sides rotate. I liked how the role of the guessers is more social. I was less of a fan of the clue-giving restrictions as you can easily feel excluded from the game if you can’t think of anything useful using the start letters available. Still, it’s fun, and high fives all round when the word is guessed first clue.

Rating: 7

Thoughts of other Opinionated Gamers:

Larry:  I’m a big fan of Fives.  Figuring out how to utilize the Magenta 5’s is a nice challenge, but for me, the best part of the game is the Turn Zero process of planning how to win tricks that will add up to the magic 25, or just below–and then adjusting on the fly when things don’t go according to plan.  It might be my favorite of all the very innovative trick-takers that have come out over the past few years.

Tery: I,too, like Fives. I wish I could say the same for Panda Royale; I like a good dice roller, but this was just entirely too chaotic for my tastes. I did have fun playing it because of the people I played it with, but I think one lifetime play will be enough for me. 

Sides surprised me; I expected to hate it the first time I played it, but I didn’t at all; it was pretty fun. I thought it might be because I was playing with people I know well who are a fun group, but having since played it with people who I suspect don’t normally enjoy this time of game, I can see that it is just genuinely a good game that does a good job keeping you involved, even when it is not your turn, and since your partner is changing you get a chance to work with everyone.