Kinfire Delve: Callous’ Lab

• Designer: Kevin Wilson
• Publisher: Incredible Dream
• Players: 1-2 (up to 4 if you have two modules)
• Age: 14+
• Time: 60 minutes
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

In Kinfire Delve: Callous’ Lab, a tactical and cooperative card game for 1-2 players, you will fight your way through the well deck of challenge cards to reach Callous, the Master of the Well, and face him in an epic final battle.

Callous’ Well is made up of four challenge cards, with Callous himself in the middle. As a challenge is defeated, another takes its place, with 57 challenge cards in total. As you face the challenges of the Well, you may play a skill card from your hand only when it matches the color of the challenge card, e.g., if you’re facing a red challenge card, then you may play only a red skill card. Some cards have two colors, and some are white, that is, wild. If the card you play does not defeat the challenge, you’ll be able to add some progress to it and attempt it again, though you may suffer a penalty for doing so.

Other seekers can provide help by playing one of their own cards as a boost, but beware. Running out of cards nets you an exhaustion card before you can draw a new hand. Exhaustion cards are never good, but some are worse than others.

Defeating a challenge provides you a reward, such as regaining health or delving deeper into the Well, which is represented by discarding unseen challenge cards. Once you’ve made your way to the bottom of the Well, you’ll face Callous himself. All Seekers share a health pool, and if the pool reaches zero, you’re defeated. This is a game that requires teamwork and persistence as the wells of Atios are unpredictable and quite dangerous.

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YRO

• Designer: Masato Uesugi
• Publisher: Play to Z
• Players: 1-5
• Age: 10+
• Time: 30 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link:  https://amzn.to/3NDpy4e 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

The Sunrise Islands, home of small but fierceful animal folk;
The Wooden Conclave, that reunites all the magical creatures of the Forest;
The Wandering Market, that travels and trades without rest;
The Mining Company, where the inventors create new technologies;
The Floating City, where Magic and Technology find their balance;
The Dragon Knight, sworn protectors of the land of Yro.

From these factions you will recruit members for your guild, to create a powerful party and complete the most rewarding quests!  In Yro you have to recruit adventurers in your guild and place them in a 3×3 grid you build during the game. They all have a Combat Value, that will grant points each turn if higher than the opponents’ one; they can grant you Magic and Technology resource points, that will unlock more powerful abilities Gold that will be useful to recruit more Adventurers and Victory points that will lead you to the final victory.

The combat value of your party will be determined by the combat values of your front row of adventurers, and when you recruit 3 adventurers in a row that share a Faction and/or Profession, they will unlock a powerful bonus effect, so wise positioning will also be essential!

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Castle Combo

• Designer: Gregory Grard and Mathieu Roussel
• Publisher: Pandasaurus / Catch Up Games 
• Players: 2-5
• Age: 10+
• Time: 25 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/4fhYyDP 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

A quick and nifty card game by the publisher of Faraway, Castle Combo is a tableau-building game that combines simplicity with deep, engaging gameplay, offering highly satisfying experiences.  Balancing your Gold reserves is equally important, ensuring you can afford the characters that best suit your strategy throughout the game. 

Selecting the right characters is crucial to maximising their immediate effects and the points they will contribute at the game’s end. Finally, carefully arranging these characters on your 3×3 board is key to unlocking their full potential.

Each turn, you add a character to your tableau—a seemingly straightforward action that packs a punch regarding strategic decisions. You’ll need to carefully manage your Keys to influence the Messenger pawn at critical moments, as it controls which characters are available for recruitment from two different areas – peasants and nobles.

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Dungeon Kart

• Designer: Michael Xuereb
• Publisher: Brotherwise Games
• Players: 2-8
• Age: 10+
• Time:  30-60 minutes
• Amazon affiliate link:  https://amzn.to/3YDVpbe 
• Played with review copy provided by publisher

Race your way to victory with Dungeon Kart, an all-new game set in the world of Boss Monster. Dungeon Kart transforms the multiplayer mayhem of kart racing into a turn-based tactical tabletop experience. Play as one of the baddest Bosses around while using Spells to disrupt other racers, grab coins, and power yourself up! With a lot of skill and a little luck, you can cross the finish line first and show your opponents who’s Boss!

Unique dashboards allow players to rev up their engines and increase their speed. Be careful though…if you go too fast then you have more chances to run into hazards and obstacles that will cause you to crash or spin out!

Use spells to ensure victory! Spells are items that you can use to power your Boss up or to disrupt other racers! The power of Spells depend on the place of your racer…so be careful as you move along the track since other players are trying to sabotage you!

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