Features

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“You don't know when something profound is going to happen”: Designer behind Critical Role's new RPG on the therapeutic potential of tabletop games

A talk with For the Queen creator Alex Roberts.

May 16, 2024 Alex Meehan

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Who’s the top horror movie monster? This rowdy mix of Cabin in the Woods and Betrayal at House on the Hill lets you decide

Spooktacular!

May 7, 2024 Matt Jarvis

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Brazilian board game creators are giving the country’s voiceless a way to be heard

Local designers and publishers are incorporating the stories and cultures of favelas and other Brazilian communities into their own games.

May 1, 2024 Gabriel Leão

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Shadow of the Colossus-inspired board game Leviathan Wilds is one of the most compelling co-op experiences I’ve had in years

On the shoulders of giants.

April 16, 2024 Matt Jarvis

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Magic: The Gathering’s Outlaws of Thunder Junction ends up a soulless gimmick in a cowboy hat, even if its cards are a crack shot

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

April 12, 2024 Jason Coles

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How Yu-Gi-Oh!’s 1999 starter decks turned the card game from a flop into a phenomenon

Revisiting the Duel Monsters EX set as it’s reprinted for the series’ 25th anniversary.

March 27, 2024 Alicia Haddick

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Critical Role's D&D rival Daggerheart plays tabletop RPGs' greatest hits well, but struggles to be more than a covers band

For all the smart evolution it makes from its forebears, the fantasy RPG is still searching for its own identity.

March 25, 2024 Hal Hewlett

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In bettering Descent's Terrinoth with its vibrant world, Kinfire Chronicles has become the fantasy board game to watch

Hot property.

March 25, 2024 Charlie Theel

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Before Denis Villeneuve’s Dune movies, the sci-fi epic’s best adaptation was a board game no-one could buy for decades

The groundbreaking Dune board game changed everything - and then vanished.

March 11, 2024 Matt Jarvis

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Magic: The Gathering’s Fallout Commander decks struggle to find personality in the video games’ atomic wasteland

Hooray for Dogmeat.

March 7, 2024 Jason Coles

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Blood Rage creator's next board game Life in Reterra bridges the gap between complex and casual - and we've played it

Is Hasbro courting hobbyists?

Feb. 26, 2024 Alex Meehan

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“All the benefits of reading also apply to board games”: Why more libraries are adding tabletop classics to their bookshelves

From Wingspan to D&D, local libraries are expanding their catalogues of cardboard.

Feb. 26, 2024 James Wallis

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From TCGs to TRPGs, Aotearoa New Zealand’s tabletop creators are finding their spotlight on the global stage

“We want to help each other out a lot more because we are so isolated.”

Feb. 22, 2024 Tim Ford

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Could AI and virtual reality be the future of Yu-Gi-Oh? We tried it for ourselves to find out

Duelling an AI opponent and battling in VR during the TCG’s 25th anniversary event in Tokyo.

Feb. 20, 2024 Alicia Haddick

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On Japan’s biggest stage, Yu-Gi-Oh!’s 25th anniversary event celebrated its past by looking to the future

Hesitancy to delve too deeply into the making of the hit series and its card game couldn’t stop The Legend of Duelist Quarter Century from being a meaningful tribute to its creators and community.

Feb. 13, 2024 Alicia Haddick

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Murders at Karlov Manor is a detective’s dream, and a delight for Magic: The Gathering players

Whodunit?

Feb. 12, 2024 Jason Coles

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'How do we not worry about breaking the fine china?': Dimension 20 DM Brennan Lee Mulligan on Fantasy High’s threequel and roleplaying with abandon

Say hi, Intrepid Heroes!

Jan. 30, 2024 Jason Coles

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‘The hobby is only just catching up to what Greg did 40 years ago’: Pendragon 6E, ‘ultimate’ edition of an RPG legend’s masterpiece, reclaims its crown

Return of the King.

Jan. 29, 2024 Matt Jarvis

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How an unassuming Magic: The Gathering token overtook one of its priciest star cards

Tarmogoyf, worth over $200 in its competitive heyday, will now set you back less than a common Goblin Shaman.

Jan. 25, 2024 Hal Hewlett

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Yu-Gi-Oh!’s new starter set is the easiest the TCG has been to learn in 25 years

The step-by-step intro to the card game’s dense rules is basic, but not boring.

Jan. 25, 2024 Matt Jarvis

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Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Maze of Millennia set makes anime cards real for the first time in 25 years, without being relics

Thoughtful changes balance on-screen power with the modern meta.

Jan. 24, 2024 Alicia Haddick

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One of the best Warhammer 40k video games of recent years - maybe ever - is back, and you shouldn't miss it

Chaos Gate: Daemonhunters is essentially Warhammer XCOM, and that’s only a good thing.

Jan. 16, 2024 Matt Jarvis

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If you love games, you should visit Warhammer World - and maybe bring your nan

Games Workshop’s museum is an artistic showcase and celebration of why we play.

Jan. 11, 2024 Maddie Cullen

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Ravnica Remastered’s fun dip into MTG history can’t make up for its underwhelming, overpriced offering

2024 starts with a befuddled bang for the card game.

Jan. 10, 2024 Jason Coles

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Warhammer: The Old World is a cynical exercise in mining nostalgia - and cash - from Fantasy Battle fans

The reboot of the pre-Age of Sigmar wargame brings back old models and a few new ideas for an inflated price.

Jan. 6, 2024 Caelyn Ellis

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Japan’s card game shops have cultivated community and companionship to fill the gap left by vanishing public spaces

Meeting Yu-Gi-Oh! players who have made a local store their second home.

Dec. 27, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Lancer creator’s Magnagothica: Maleghast melds Necromunda with Doom for a hell of a good time

Bloody beautiful.

Dec. 20, 2023 Hal Hewlett

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If you like Pandemic, you owe it to yourself to make The ART Project your next co-op board game

Stealing hearts.

Dec. 4, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Molly House tells a compelling story of individual vice and queer community with risk-versus-reward gameplay

Throw some period drama parties.

Nov. 30, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Undaunted designers’ pint-sized wargame General Orders pulls the perfect lunchtime battle from its tiny box

It’s bigger on the inside.

Nov. 22, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Kingdom Death’s seven-year journey to overcome COVID, fear of irrelevance and the Monster promises of its record-breaking Kickstarter

“Tabletop is the only way of gaming I can think of that exists on this additional plane of consciousness.”

Nov. 22, 2023 Nic Reuben

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Magic: The Gathering’s The Lost Caverns of Ixalan is a resplendent return to a fascinating plane

Everybody do the dinosaur.

Nov. 16, 2023 Jason Coles

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Lorcana’s second set Rise of the Floodborn builds upon the Disney card game in all the right ways

Am I a Disney adult now?

Nov. 15, 2023 Maddie Cullen

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Magic: The Gathering creator Richard Garfield looks back on five of his card games, 30 years after inventing the TCG

“We knew we had a special game when we published it.”

Nov. 9, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Yu-Gi-Oh!'s new Diabellstar archetype could flip the TCG’s meta upside-down

Introduced with just a single monster in the latest Age of Overlord set, this archetype already has huge potential.

Oct. 30, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Call of Cthulhu board game Horror on the Orient Express is a brutal co-op experience that’s designed to beat you

Cult classic.

Oct. 18, 2023 Alex Meehan

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A rich mix of Magic: The Gathering, Oath and auction games, The Old King’s Crown is already my most anticipated board game of 2024

The political subterfuge of Game of Thrones meets the ruthless combo-making of your best MTG deck.

Oct. 18, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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The Halloween board game is much better – and scarier – than you think

Escaping Haddonfield is murder.

Oct. 17, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Sunrise Lane is like a Ticket to Ride board game but with real-estate instead of trains

Perhaps the only way I’ll ever buy property.

Oct. 12, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Universes Beyond: Doctor Who is a triumphant meeting of the classic sci-fi show and Magic: The Gathering’s enduring card designs

OooooWEEEEwooooo.

Oct. 12, 2023 Jason Coles

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Two players, five minutes, 16 cards, one of the most compelling card games I’ve ever played

Sengoku Ji-buy this now.

Oct. 7, 2023 Michael Whelan

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How Yu-Gi-Oh! took its iconic Egyptian God cards from their legendary anime appearance to the TCG

A decades-long journey via limited availability, counterfeits and tournament absence.

Sept. 26, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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“I spend most of my days wandering around talking to myself”: Baldur’s Gate 3, Witcher 3 and Horizon: Forbidden West actors on how to be a better roleplayer

And why collaboration is the most important thing.

Sept. 19, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Evil Mickey Mouse, mysterious seaweed and different timelines: what’s going on in Disney Lorcana’s secret story?

Everything we know so far, and some theories of our own as to what comes next.

Sept. 19, 2023 Michael Whelan

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Baldur’s Gate 3 tips from a seasoned Dungeons & Dragons player

These are invaluable to your quest in the Forgotten Realms.

Sept. 13, 2023 Alex Meehan

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How a card game helped avoid nuclear war

Or: a brief history of game theory.

Sept. 12, 2023 Frank Lantz

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The new-look Cities of Sigmar army is a rousing return for what was a hodgepodge of Warhammer Fantasy holdovers

Greater than the sum of its parts.

Sept. 7, 2023 Caelyn Ellis

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What D&D is to fantasy roleplaying, Traveller is to sci-fi RPGs - and its influence has never been greater, from Coriolis to Starfield

Venturing into the classic tabletop RPG that inspired Starfield.

Sept. 7, 2023 Stu Horvath

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The Pokémon World Championships’ transformation of Japan into a real-life Pokémon world was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced

Yokohama’s hosting of the TCG and video games’ prestige tournament put celebration and community first.

Sept. 6, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Why are board games that simply let Black players have fun still all too rare?

Examining the Leisure Divide.

Sept. 6, 2023 Dianne Harris

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6 D&D references in Baldur’s Gate 3 that you might not know about

D&Did you know?

Sept. 4, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Wilds of Eldraine is a triumph of fairy tale card design and the first set in new era of Magic: The Gathering

Putting the magic in Magic.

Sept. 1, 2023 Jason Coles

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Subbuteo plays on: How the iconic tabletop football game inspired a generation of players and artists - and avoided relegation

What do birds, streakers and The Beatles have to do with the flick-and-kick classic?

Aug. 31, 2023 Gabriel Leão

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The world's best Pokémon TCG players on the decks, lucky draws and near-defeats that led to their World Championship wins

This year’s world champions reflect on their winning strategies.

Aug. 30, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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A weekend with Jessica Robinson: the expectations and pressures of the record-making British Yu-Gi-Oh! pro at this year’s World Championships

The TCG’s first female European champion and first woman to compete at Worlds recalls her journey to the top.

Aug. 24, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Magic: The Gathering isn’t in a rush to try and top its ‘intensely ambitious’ Avengers: Endgame moment from March of the Machine

“It definitely pushed our team to a level of world-building that I wouldn’t be eager to return to.”

Aug. 24, 2023 Samantha Nelson

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Pokémon's new animated series Path to the Peak is a charming introduction to the trading card game

A short but sweet inspiring tale of taking your TCG talents to the next level.

Aug. 23, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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The Amsterdam board game club that became one woman's legacy

“People come in, they don’t know anybody, and then they are there for two years.”

Aug. 21, 2023 Samantha Nelson

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A weekend of celebration, competition and community among Yu-Gi-Oh!’s top players at the first World Championships in four years

Meeting with hopefuls - and eventual champions - ahead of their appearance on the card game’s grandest stage.

Aug. 16, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Guilty Gear Strive: The Board Game hits as fast and hard as the video game fighter

I’m Sol’d.

Aug. 16, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Star Wars: Unlimited's fan-pleasing trading card game struggles to escape the shadow of its peers

A good TCG at the wrong time?

Aug. 11, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Yu-Gi-Oh!’s first Master Duel world champions and Duel Links winner on the sacrifice of qualifying and team camaraderie on the TCG’s grandest digital stage

Team snipehunters and Jian Yu Jiang discuss their victories at the first Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championships in four years.

Aug. 11, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Could another Pokémon card ever dethrone the Pikachu Illustrator as the TCG’s Holy Grail? Collectors weigh in

After selling for a record $5.2m, Pokémon's most valuable card has only reinforced its legendary status.

Aug. 10, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Yu-Gi-Oh! champion Paulie Aronson on winning the TCG’s first Worlds since 2019 to become its first-ever US victor

Yu-Gi-Oh!’s top player discusses the nerves of competing on the global stage, dealing with human mistakes - and missing his birthday celebrations to practise.

Aug. 9, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Commander Masters is a fantastic Magic: The Gathering set that’s impossible to recommend due to its exhausting, extortionate price

Capitalism Masters.

Aug. 8, 2023 Jason Coles

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Disney Lorcana lays an impressive, enchanting foundation for trading card games’ biggest shift in 25 years

A glimmer of brilliance.

Aug. 8, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Tabletop creators struggle to plot their future amidst Twitter’s still-burning ashes

The death of the bird app at the hands of Elon Musk leaves designers big and small in the lurch.

July 29, 2023 Chase Carter

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The Witcher’s latest board game is a monster-slaying romp that can’t match the rich world of the video games

Combat outshines story in the solid, if shallow, action-adventure adaptation.

July 24, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Prepare for a healthy dose of The Witcher content!

July 21, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Why the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship is such a big deal - and why you should be watching

As the tournament of top-tier duellists returns for the first time in four years.

July 20, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Terrifying horror and terrific trains!

July 14, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Yu-Gi-Oh!’s strangest monsters are back, and they could shake-up the TCG’s competitive scene

Looking back on the long and bumpy history of ritual monsters.

July 13, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Cats, casters,currents and cantankerous gods.

July 7, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Warhammer: Age of Sigmar’s first RTS Realms of Ruin is a very promising successor to Dawn of War 2 - hands-on impressions

Worth the waaaagh-t?

July 5, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Here’s how the Adventure Time RPG’s new Yes And system works

Come on, grab your dice.

July 4, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

One bumper edition!

June 30, 2023 Alex Meehan

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From D&D and Pathfinder to Critical Role, cultural consultants have never been more important in the tabletop RPG industry

“It's always been important to engage with this kind of work. It just wasn't done before.”

June 26, 2023 Michael Rancic

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Fantastical adventures

June 23, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Tales of Middle-earth is an excellent reimagining of Lord of the Rings that raises the bar for Magic: The Gathering’s crossovers

One set to guide them all.

June 22, 2023 Jason Coles

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Monster Hunter-inspired RPG Wilderfeast is a delectable celebration of food and living in harmony with nature - exclusive preview

An exclusive first look at KC Shi’s upcoming game of cooking, combat and eco-awareness as its quickstart rules release.

June 20, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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South Korea’s Yu-Gi-Oh! scene is a TCG community unlike anywhere else in the world

The heart in the cards.

June 19, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Monsters, mayhem and Mordor.

June 16, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Sudoku meets Minesweeper in nifty puzzle board game Tiwanaku - hands-on impressions

It’s definitely a grower.

June 13, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Scythe spin-off Expeditions feels more like a missed opportunity than a direct sequel – hands-on preview

Not exactly meteoric.

June 12, 2023 Alex Meehan

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Painting, apawthecary and more!

June 9, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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Blue-Eyes White Dragon for dessert? We tried Yu-Gi-Oh!’s Japan-only 25th anniversary food menu

The hungriest heart of the cards.

June 8, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Disney Lorcana’s gameplay has potential but its starter set lacks a clear identity – hands-on preview

Can it go the distance?

June 7, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Candela Obscura’s first mystery will be solving the horror RPG’s identity crisis

The first new tabletop RPG from Critical Role feels more like Diet Blades with a splash of Vaesen.

June 5, 2023 Chase Carter

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Masks, magic, marines and music.

June 2, 2023 Alex Meehan

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Suffragettes, legends, Romans and mice.

May 26, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Pokémon’s European International Championship saw a dramatic David and Goliath showdown in the TCG’s competitive scene

An unproven deck faced near-unbeaten consistency amidst the first mid-season rotation in over a decade.

May 22, 2023 Sable Creech

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Playing games Till the Last Gasp.

May 19, 2023 Alex Meehan

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Dead Cells’ board game nails the roguelike genre - and I’m finally hooked

Hands-on with the latest video game adaptation.

May 18, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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The story of Yata-Lock, the deck that broke Yu-Gi-Oh! and birthed the TCG's first competitive banlist

Bird of prey.

May 16, 2023 Alicia Haddick

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Warhammer 40k’s 10th Edition has turned me around from the missteps of 9E

Consumed by the Leviathan.

May 15, 2023 Caelyn Ellis

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March of the Machine: Aftermath is a Magic: The Gathering oddity in every possible way

Picking up the pieces.

May 12, 2023 Jason Coles

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

From real history to great fiction.

May 12, 2023 Alex Meehan

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What are you playing this weekend? Here’s what we’ve been playing!

Magic, moles and Mancunians.

May 5, 2023 Matt Jarvis

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“It gives us a sense of pride”: Adugo, the Indigenous Brazilian board game helping to teach maths and protect wildlife

The traditional ‘Jaguar Game’ has broken down barriers to education and conservation awareness.

May 1, 2023 Gabriel Leão

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Every spell cast in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves

From Arcane Gate to Chaos Bolt.

May 1, 2023 Olivia Kennedy