Board Game Reviews and News Worth Reading

Strategy

Cephalofair Is Betting That You’re Tired of Carrying Gloomhaven to Game Night

Cephalofair ditches dungeon crawling for a ruthless mercenary staffing agency.

Sarah Mitchell4 min read

Strategy

The 5 Best Stonemaier Games, Ranked

Wingspan to Vantage: 5 Stonemaier games ranked.

Sarah Mitchell7 min read

Strategy

Catan Strategy: Why the ‘Best’ Opening Doesn’t Exist

The 6/8 corner isn’t the strategy. Reading the table is.

Sarah Mitchell19 min read

Party

What Is Spiel des Jahres? Germany’s Board Game Award, Explained

German critics pick top board games, instantly sparking massive sales.

Sarah Mitchell4 min read

Cooperative

JinxO Wins Spiel des Jahres 2026, Knizia Finally Completes the Set

Three years running, the Spiel des Jahres jury handed the big trophy to a cooperative game. Dorfromantik, then Sky Team, then Bomb Busters. I’d started assuming co-op was just what won now, the way a genre calcifies once a few voters decide they like the shape of it. Then this year the jury picked a

Sarah Mitchell5 min read

Strategy

How Many Players Can Play Catan? (And What Happens at 2, 5, or 6)

The base Catan box is built for 3 to 4 players, full stop, that’s what’s printed on the box and it’s also the honest answer once you’ve played it enough times to notice why. Go under that range and the game changes shape in ways most people don’t expect until they’ve tried it. Go over

Sarah Mitchell7 min read