Category Archives: First Impressions

Mark’s Bundle of 2023 Essen Game Thoughts

Posted on November 16, 2023 by Mark "Fluff Daddy" Jackson

Five days. Seventy-one plays. Sixty-two games that were new to me. Yeah, that’s a lot of games. But thanks to our fearless leader (Dale Yu) and BasementCon, I had a wonderful time playing many of them. (Well, a number of … Continue reading →

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Opinionated Gamers First Takes on SPIEL 2023 Games (Part 2)

Posted on November 13, 2023 by Dale Yu

While we normally contribute more to full reviews, in the heady weeks just after SPIEL, everyone is playing as many games as possible – and frankly, spending more time playing games than writing!  Our writers have been contributing to a … Continue reading →

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Opinionated Gamers First Takes on SPIEL 2023 Games (Part 1)

Posted on October 22, 2023 by Dale Yu

While we normally contribute more to full reviews, in the heady weeks just after SPIEL, everyone is playing as many games as possible – and frankly, spending more time playing games than writing!  Our writers have been contributing to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2023, First Impressions | 1 Comment

Dale Yu: First Impressions of The Vale of Eternity

Posted on October 17, 2023 by Dale Yu

The Vale of Eternity Designer: Eric Hong Publisher: Mandoo Games Players: 2-4 Age: 14+ Time: 40 minutes Played with review copy provided by Mandoo Games In The Vale of Eternity, players are tamers who hunt various monsters and spirits to … Continue reading →

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of OTLO Stones

Posted on October 15, 2023 by Dale Yu

OTLO Stones Designer: Jeppe Norsker Publisher: Norsker Games Players: 1-4 Age: 8+ Time: 15 minutes Played with copy provided by publisher at SPIEL 2023 OTLO Stones is an intense brain teaser where up to four players compete to reproduce patterns … Continue reading →

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Simon’s first take on Humanity

Posted on October 12, 2023 by opgamers

Since I got back I’ve played a few of the Essen games, so here are my thoughts: Humanity – Yoann Levet, published by Bombyx, 2-4 Players Age 14+ Humanity is a worker placement game in which you start with 2 … Continue reading →

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