 December 2025 Games I played for the first time this month, from worst to best, along with my ratings and comments.  Ruins – 6/10 Ruins is a climbing and shedding game where the gimmick is that the cards will be customized by the players throughout the game. Each card is sleeved, and additional clear plastic overlays can be added to the sleeve, supplementing the card. Perhaps your measly 4 can be turned into a powerful 11 by adding a +7 overlay to it. Other abilities will turn cards into wilds, force opponents to draw additional cards, or give you more money to spend on future card improvements. This is a reimplementation of Custom Heroes from 2017 and it does improve upon that system. The biggest strike against Custom Heroes was that it felt bad to invest in improving a card into a very powerful version only for that card to be shuffled and possibly dealt to your opponent in the following round. So Ruins provides each player with two free overlays in their player color, ensuring those two claimed cards will always end up in their owner’s hand. Well, sort of. And that’s kind of the problem. While it’s true that if one of your claimed cards is dealt to another player, they must give it to you, this does not apply if it is drawn from the deck with a special ability later. Moreover, the very fact that your claimed cards might end up in the draw pile, not even dealt out, while everyone else’s do, can create a pretty serious imbalance. It would be simple enough to always have claimed cards start in their owners’ hands, but for some reason this is not what the designer has chosen. As a shedding game, the main goal in each round is to get rid of all your cards. The earlier you go out, the more points you will receive. Once you hit the top space of the scoring track, going out first in the next round grants you an instant win. However, it’s more likely that there will be a final round involving only the players who have hit the top spot, leaving a couple players to glumly watch the final round. Regardless of your score though, you have a chance to make it into the final round by being the first one out in the penultimate round. This does give everyone a fighting chance until the end, though the final round can feel a bit anticlimactic if a person who was way behind in scoring gets a crazy good hand in the last round and wins the whole game out of nowhere. Ruins is fine but unexciting. I have some minor issues with it even beyond what has already been mentioned, such as there being too few overlays so that there is often no customization in the final round. And that the overlays are so thick that it becomes very obvious whether a valuable customized card is on the top of the deck or not. There are some good ideas here and the Mystic Vale gimmick is obviously appealing, but I think Ruins often ends up more frustrating than fun due to its variance.  Worldspanner Factions – 6/10 Worldspanner Factions is essentially the third edition of Duel of Ages, which came out in 2003. While none of the editions have made a huge splash in the gaming world, they’ve always had their staunch champions. As for the designer, he’s now spent over two decades just honing, expanding, revamping, and rereleasing this system, and has no other published designs. Clearly this game is a labor of love and one that connects with a lot of people. The original version debuted just a year before another, more popular game with a similar theme, Heroscape. Both games have various characters from all times and places, some real and some fictional, battling it out on a giant hex map. Heroscape offered far more eye candy, with its prepainted miniatures and Lego-esque map pieces, and also focused far more on small-scale tactical combat. Worldspanner, by contrast, walks the line between combat and area control, and also demands a broader strategic plan. One of them features an orc riding t-rex while the other features Teddy Roosevelt shooting a laser gun, but you can see how the ethos of each is similar. As mentioned, Worldspanner really isn’t about combat. Killing all the opposing characters isn’t a victory condition and death isn’t permanent anyway. Having an un-resurrected character does cost your team a point, but that’s true no matter how many you have. So in a game where the maximum score is 7 points, you can understand how killing and combat are really just about slowing down and harassing your opponent. The other six points are achievable via area control. Six of the map tiles contain spaces where skill checks of various kinds can be made. Succeeding at these allows you to place one of your team’s control tokens onto that space. Have the most control tokens on a given map piece at the end of the game and your team will score a point for it. While many of these skill checks involve some randomness, others are a mere matter of paying to buy something. And these types are especially appealing since you get to draw wacky items from the big deck. Many of these are extremely powerful, but they often have prohibitive limitations on which characters can use them. Since you’ll have a team of about eight characters, you probably have someone the item is perfect for. But is it worth spending a couple precious turns just journeying across the map to deliver it? My likes and dislikes of this experience were completely predictable based on my tastes. Heroscape is my favorite game, so of course I want to see an anthropomorphic squirrel in napoleonic dress tag Clara Barton with a TOW Missile. I just wish such an action was always a good tactical idea as well, instead of the more likely scenario, which is that it might be more optimal to have my squirrel just make a skill check to progress one step in the tug-of-war for that sector (yawn). Its also worth noting that Worldspanner is a long game, and that it has to be so. The standard game is 10 rounds, which is likely to take in the neighborhood of three hours, even with experienced players. But to shorten it would unbalance it, making it a simple mad dash for each sector, prioritizing speed above all else and almost entirely neutering combat. There are games where I’m more willing to embrace this type of necessary length, such as to see the progression of characters in Descent or the building of an engine in Terraforming Mars. But Worldspanner’s length isn’t so much an arc where the experience changes over time; it’s a necessary evil to smooth out the randomness and allow for certain strategies to even exist at all. For now, I’m hanging onto this game and hoping to play a few times in succession to see if I can plumb its supposed depths. I want to see something more exciting here than hours upon hours of skill checks. And I do genuinely think that’s possible. That tactical movement, a more measured and opportunistic approach to combat, synergy in team construction, and better understanding the opposing team’s capabilities will lead to a more intellectually satisfying experience that still lets me tell stories about the time that Spartacus rode his motorcycle to victory.  Origin Story – 7/10 It’s a difficult design challenge to make a trick-taking game that feels thematic, but Origin Story pulls it off pretty well. You’ll watch your character go from a normal person to mighty superhero or evil supervillain as their story unfolds through the acquisition of new cards depicting traumas, powers, allies, and gadgets. The basic structure of the game is well-worn territory if you have any familiarity with trick-taking. Four suits, one of which is always trump, and you have to follow the lead if possible. Get a point for every trick you take, or declare misère and get four points if you take none. This declaration can be changed before each of the five rounds with misère bids being themed as a villain arc and normal bids as a hero arc. But also before each round, you will draw three cards from the story deck and choose one to add to your character. This card is placed onto the panel of a comic book depicting your character, so by the final round you will have five abilities to leverage as well as something resembling the origin story of your character. Certainly it is best if all these abilities can work together, so if you’ve steered more towards being a hero or villain early, you have more incentive to continue down that path. But complicating this calculus is, naturally, the hand that you are dealt. No matter how many awesome villain abilities you’ve acquired, if you’re dealt the top three trump cards, it’s probably not going to work out well to try to take no tricks. By the same token, it’s very possible that none of the three story cards you draw before a given round really synergize with the hand of cards you’ve been dealt. Then as a final consideration, if there is, for example, only one player actually trying to take any tricks, the rest of you are going to have a rough time. There is a fun puzzle to assessing the hand you’re dealt, the abilities you currently have, which new ability you should take from a story card, and what path you predict your opponents will go down. But it can also leave you feeling powerless if those considerations pull you in different directions. After only a single play, my impression is that this randomness is not overriding and would get better with experience, but it is worth noting that “chaotic” is a commonly-used word in reviews of the game.  Innovation – 7/10 Innovation debuted in 2010, but it’s had something of a resurgence recently due to a big box re-release that includes all of its expansions. I haven’t played any of these expansions, but they all appear to be of the type I don’t enjoy (tacking on a bunch of new rules and systems) as opposed to the kind I do (adding more variety to what existed already). The theme, pasted-on though it may be, is about the progression of human civilization. Players will draw cards from progressively better decks as the game goes on, starting with innovations like the wheel and ending with innovations like nuclear fusion. Getting to those better cards before your opponents do is one approach to success. These cards will be played to your personal tableau. Your turn consists of taking two actions (which can be the same action twice) from a choice of four possible. Draw a card, play a card to your tableau, activate the power of a card in your tableau, or claim an achievement. Each of these is easy to understand, but the limit of only two per turn compels tough decisions. The cards in your tableau each display various icons and a large part of the game is about having more icons in play of each type than your opponent does. Each activated power is tied to one of these icons, and if your opponent has at least as many icons of that type than you do, they’ll get to take the action as well. In some cases, powers actually attack players with fewer icons, stealing their cards or points. Since such powers can be activated twice per turn, every turn, it is possible for a player to watch helplessly as their opponent takes everything they’ve built while desperately hoping to draw some more of the needed icon to put a stop to the cycle. Many cards will allow scoring. A card that is scored is placed upside down into a player’s score pile, and the highest score will win the game once all the final, most advanced deck of cards is depleted. In practice, however, the game is far more likely to end with its other win condition, a player collecting enough achievements. Claiming an achievement is an action, but it does require certain conditions to be met, often having enough points in your scoring pile and a powerful enough card in play. Without fierce competition for achievements, the game can end much more quickly, often while only making it through about half of the decks. I’m extremely sympathetic to negative opinions about this game. There aren’t really any strong rebuttals to the charges that it gets worse with every player you add, has too much to read upside-down across the table, can create downward spirals a player can’t escape from, and looks ugly as all get out. Even so, I find myself happy to play it. Innovation delivers interesting tactical choices about hand management, strategic choices about how to pursue achievements, and demands adaptability due to its sometimes brutal interactivity. And it does all of that in a relatively short playing time. It can be argued that both in theme and mechanical feel, Innovation is a distillation of the ideas of Through the Ages, a game that similarly can be infuriatingly random and aggressive, but also takes about eight times longer to play. I’d go for this one given the choice.  Moonrakers – 7/10 Moonrakers is a few years old now, being a 2020 release, but you’d be forgiven for thinking it was over a decade older, yet another Dominion clone in the glut that followed the best game of 2008. As a deckbuilding fan myself, there are plenty of things here to like, even if innovative mechanics aren’t one of them. Each player starts with their own identical deck of 10 cards, from which they will draw a random five card hand. But, in a departure from Dominion, there are no money cards. Instead, currency to buy new additions to your deck is earned by achieving one of the mission cards on the table. This also means that your deck is comprised entirely of action cards, including, mercifully, three starting cards that grant extra actions. Missions are generally achieved by playing lots of cards on a single turn, so cards that grant extra actions and extra card draws are extremely important. Especially early on, these missions can be very difficult or even impossible to complete with your starting cards. So you are encouraged to invite other players to assist you during your turn. Each player who participates with you will play out their own hand and then draw a new one at the end of your turn, essentially giving them an extra chance to cycle through their deck while likely also getting some kind of reward. What kind of reward? Well, that’s up for debate. Missions usually award both currency to buy new cards as well as points toward winning the game. Both of these can be divided as agreed upon by the participants. The victory condition is a simple race to ten points, so as players approach this, they are less likely to get invited to participate in assisting. Hopefully by that point you’ve improved your deck such that you are able to complete missions solo. The negotiation aspect of Moonrakers is such a key part of its design that it really doesn’t work well as a two-player game. But if you think the combination of Dominion and Cosmic Encounter sounds like a peanut butter and chocolate idea to you, this could be a favorite. For myself, I’d call it good but not great; the extensive negotiations can create a jarring contrast to the fast-paced play of comboing off with your cards. But both of those aspects are pretty enjoyable.  Graft – 8/10 Sometimes a satisfying 45-minute experience is just what you want out of a game and that just so happens to be what Graft offers. This is a simple drafting game, well-accessible to anyone who can handle Sushi Go!, but far more interesting in terms of the tactical choices it provides. Players will simultaneously draft and reveal cards to the table in front of them. Most cards you draft will restrict you from drafting another type of card afterwards, meaning your options get narrower and narrower, possibly even resulting in no legal card that can be drafted. If this occurs, you’ve busted and the cards you’ve taken so far won’t score points. To avoid this, you need to declare when the next card you add will be the last one. Once you’ve taken this last card, you’ll start a new row of cards with all the restrictions reset. When any player starts a new row like this, all the hands of cards refill. This means that even if you are feeling pinched in terms of your options, if you are confident that another player is going to quit and start a new row, you might take the risk that a fresh grip of cards will allow you to continue. These push-your-luck elements aren’t usually seen so explicitly in drafting games, but they are very well-executed here. Many cards offer strong incentives to continue beyond what you feel comfortable with and weighing those risks and rewards is ruthlessly gratifying. In addition to the decisions you make based on your own cards, you’ll also want to consider the shared goals in the middle of the table that all players are racing for. These also provide incentives for further risk-taking, especially as you see your opponents drawing closer to them. A quick glance is all it takes to consider what you should pursue and what cards to pass, providing interactivity that doesn’t bog down the pace of play. Graft’s push-your-luck elements and complete lack of any engine-building make it an appealing foil to other all-time classic drafting games like 7 Wonders or It’s a Wonderful World. The familiar and the unusual are both present and working hand-in-hand to produce an enchanting experience.  Tend – 8/10 Tend is a newly-released flip-and-write game that falls comfortably into the middleweight space and takes about 90 minutes to play. This type of meatier, more complex roll-and-write has been attempted before, notably with Twilight Inscription, but Tend delivers on this promise much more successfully. Don’t make the mistake of pulling out Tend with a group of non-gamers. This is a step up in complexity from the Welcome To…s of the world. But it’s an even more significant step up in terms of rules overhead. While no particular aspect is overly complex, there are a lot of different systems you can use, and learning them all is going to likely be a good 20-30 minutes of rules explanation. There will be five available actions each turn, dictated by cards flipped from the deck. Each player will then simultaneously execute two different cards. There are four main places these actions are executed. The first is mining. In mining, you scratch off a box from a little card (like a lottery ticket). As you continue to take mining actions, you can dig to the lower boxes on the card, uncovering more valuable rewards. The second action is chopping, which works exactly the same way, but for a second part of the scratch card, depicting a forest. Mining and chopping yield different rewards, but the overall structure is the same. At this point, it might be worth addressing the elephant in the room. Yes, this game is “consumable”. More than just the markers and sheets of paper used each game, the scratchers themselves will also eventually run out. You’ll have to decide for yourself how big of a problem this is. Even at full player count, you’re likely to get a good 30 games out of the components. And replacement sheets as well as an alternative method using an app are available. But Tend is perhaps unlikely to make it the 25 or so years that some games on your shelf may have lasted. And combined with its roughly $100 price tag, this may lead to some consternation. Nevertheless, for most people, the components provided are an ample supply; we should be so lucky as to play most of our games 30+ times. Your third action option is fishing, in which you get to roll dice and see what resources you acquire. You choose which pond to go fishing in, but you’ll have to unlock the better ponds as the game goes on. And then finally, there is the tend action. This is the most complex, featuring both gardening and animal husbandry options, almost like managing a mini Agricola board. Build fences, grow crops, raise animals, and all of these will also generate resources for you. Whichever action methods you choose to generate resources, your next difficult decision will be on how to spend them. Eventually, you’ll want to load these resources onto your ship (a puzzle in itself to get everything to fit optimally), as this is your primary source of points. But you’re also likely going to want to build your engine first, improving the efficiency of your actions and the quality of the rewards they generate. These types of decisions are familiar to those with engine-builder experience, but that doesn’t make them any less interesting to navigate. Tend succeeds mightily in its goals. It’s a delight strategically, tactically, visually, and tactilely. The thrill of discovery and the different paths of specialization demand repeat plays. Especially with players who already know the rules, Tend is one I’m always happy to play.  A highly recommended game that I have most certainly played prior to this month, probably many times.  Unmatched – 9/10 Unmatched is a tactical battle game that is a revamp of Star Wars: Epic Duels, one of my all-time favorites. Each player takes the role of a legendary character (King Arthur, Sherlock Holmes, Achilles, etc.) and does battle with their opponent, winning by defeating them. Epic Duels uses dice for movement, which always happens first thing during a turn. Unmatched, by contrast, gives a set movement value to each character and ties the move action into the draw a card action. This means attacking twice in a turn is more difficult and also that the hit and run option is available to all characters. But aside from this, your turn has a very similar feel to Epic Duels. You will play special cards, jockey for position around the board, and make attacks. Attacking occurs by playing a facedown attack card and giving your opponent the opportunity to block the card by playing a defense card. Many cards can be used for either attacking or defending. And, of course, hand management is crucial. Unmatched does an admirable job of cutting the chaff from decks. Nearly every card seems useful at all times. Even cards that are specifically for sidekicks can be used to supplement the actions of your main character through their “boost” value. This boost value on each card also has the added benefit of providing additional design space for character abilities. It’s worth noting that while Epic Duels will run you a cool $100 on the secondary market due to being out-of-print, it does provide you with 12 characters and four maps, a quantity that would require you to purchase $120 worth of in-print Unmatched. Also, be aware that about half of the available characters come from licensed properties (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Jurassic Park, Marvel, etc.). This is personal preference of course, but these feel jarringly out of place to me, evoking modern commercial Hollywood as opposed to history, literature, and legend. Unmatched will give you plenty of entertainment from a single set. But when you factor in the ability to combine the sets together or to play the co-operative version provided by some sets, there is a ton to explore. These endless combinations hold massive appeal to me, though they could be overwhelming to those with a completionist streak. But all told, these are minor quibbles about a game that I really love. |
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Three thoughts:
1) Ruins > Custom Heroes… but all of Josiah’s comments are correct. I liked it better than he did – but he’s not wrong about the issues with the design.
2) Innovation is a delight with two players or two 2-player teams. Three is iffy but can still work; four and five player games are adventures in chaos.
3) Unmatched is SO much better than Epic Duels – in fact, I compared them here on the OG back in the day. (https://opinionatedgamers.com/2020/08/30/unmatched-battle-of-legends/)