Video by Matt S. Hanafuda cards – particularly the Koi Koi game that is played using those cards – might just be my favourite Japanese traditional game – I like Shogi and Kendama too, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a beauty about Hanafuda cards that has always drawn me…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. To explain why Billion Road has so completely latched its claws into me, I’m going to need to start off with a bit of a history and art lesson. While the ultra bright and cheerful graphics may look like an off-brand Itadaki Street (Fortune Street) or…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. I previously reviewed Talisman when it released on PlayStation 4, and so I’m going to re-publish much of that review below, as it comes from the same developer, and is functionally the same game on Nintendo Switch. There’s even the massively expansive (and expensive) approach to…
Read MoreReview by Harvard L. Few things in life are as innately satisfying as seeing a synergistic strategy come together in a card game. The sensation of planning towards a big payoff, or slowly amassing resources which compound in effectiveness once combined with smart decision making, is a potent one indeed.…
Read MoreVideo by Matt S. It’s hard to conceive, but Square Enix has a series that has been kicking around since 1991, and it’s almost completely unknown here in the west. That series is Itadaki Street (Fortune Street); a series of board games, usually themed after Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy.…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Princess Maker Go!Go! Princess is an odd thing to release in English. Really, really odd. It’s a board game spinoff of a series of life simulation titles that has had a really (really) marginal impact outside of Japan, and the series itself has been dormant everywhere…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Where video games are complex structures of data, rule sets and mechanics, a good board game should strive to be the opposite; simple elegance. You look at the greatest board games of all time – the likes of Chess and Go, and the thing that stands…
Read MoreArticle by Matt S. You can learn a lot about a culture from the games that it plays. I’m not just talking about video games here (though, obviously, I’m a big advocate for Japanese video games as well), but rather the traditional board and card games that predate video games.…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Nothing beats a good board game. When the mechanics are uncomplicated, and the setting and design excite the imagination, then a board game is endlessly replayable and the perfect way to spend a lazy Sunday. Video games can make it even more convenient, by removing the…
Read MoreReview by Matt S. Shogi – often referred to as “Japanese Chess” – is an irritatingly obtuse game to learn how to play. Especially for those who don’t speak Japanese. With Chess, abstract as it is, pieces are designed to be visually familiar – once you’re told that the king…
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