LOVECRAFT LETTER

WELCOME

With the big reveals of Essen just around the corner

EXCLUSIVE WHEN I DREAM PROMO CARDS

Float away with these customisable double-sided cards for the dreamy party game

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ANNOUNCING LONDON’S NEW GAMING SHOW: TABLETOP GAMING LIVE

Celebration of everything board games, miniatures and RPGs to take place in Alexandra Palace on September 29th and 30th 2018

THAT’S NO MOON

It’s what could be the biggest game reveal of the year:

TWILIGHT IMPERIUM RETURNS

There are few games that can measure up to Twilight

CTRL-ALT-DELETE

Android: Netrunner is getting refreshed with some big

GET THE GANGS BACK TOGETHER

After more than a decade away, Warhammer 40,000’s grubby

A VERY WIDE WORLD

A new edition of classic 1985 World War II strategy

GREAT STUFF

The creator of the fantastically fantastical Mice &

FIRST TURN BRUNO CATHALA

The Kingdomino king, 7 Wonders Duel-ist and recent Spiel des Jahres superstar casts back to his genesis moment: western card game Lawless

MY FAVOURITE GAME AMANDA HAMON KUNZ

The ENnie Award-winning Starfinder co-creator and prolific Pathfinder author considers the way macabre card game Gloom fostered her love of roleplaying

KICKSTARTING FROM SCRATCH

Just weeks before their crowdfunding campaign goes live, Holly Gramazio and the Art Deck team are forced to delay the project as reality strikes

10 OF THE BEST… WORD GAMES

It’s October, which means it’s once again time for

1 AGRICOLA

There’s maybe no more revered designer of Eurogames

2 THE CASTLES OF BURGUNDY

Stefan Feld is one of the designing greats when it

3 PUERTO RICO

Andreas Seyfarth’s 2002 gem is one of the most commonly-suggested

4 7 WONDERS

It’s rather fitting that a card game about the seven

5 RACE FOR THE GALAXY

As beloved for its tight spacefaring civilisation-building

6 VITICULTURE

The perfect board game to enjoy with a glass of white

7 TERRA MYSTICA

Embodying the preference for strategy and skill over

8 TZOLK’IN: THE MAYAN CALENDAR

Everyone loves corn, right? Well, nobody loves corn

9 FOOD CHAIN MAGNATE

One of the many celebrated Eurogames from small studio

10 POWER GRID

Probably the best-known and best-loved game by green-loving

ROLE CALL

The weather outside may be turning frightful, but the tabletop remains delightful. We pick out the roleplaying releases on the way for autumn

AUF ACHSE

James Wallis replays the winners of the Spiel des Jahres in order

A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE

Matt Leacock and Rob Daviau are back to change the world again in the second season of Pandemic Legacy. We caught up with the pair for a spoiler-free chat about the sequel to their tabletop masterpiece

THE COOL OF CTHULHU

H.P. Lovecraft’s monstrous creations and tales of cosmic horror have haunted gaming for decades. Designers, experts and fans tell us why the master of fear continues to shock and inspire

KING OF TOKYO

Richard Garfield’s city-smashing games are glorious monster mayhem from Japan’s capital to the mean streets of the Big Apple. Join us in the fray as we fight to crown a new kaiju

MAGIC MAZE

How a Danish former phone app developer came up with the year’s most original board game and proved that, even at the tabletop, silence is golden

RISK REWARD

As the most famous strategy board game of all time turns 60 years old, we take a trip through its many revisions, regional variations and reincarnations, from the shores of Westeros to the final frontier

PANEL PLAY

Bloody, brutal and full of beefy folks who love to fight, Warhammer 40,000 and Blood Bowl are the perfect fit for the page-turning action of comic books. The writers and artists behind the series’ latest adaptations take us inside their worlds

CHANGING THE RULES

Playmore Games CEO and founder Jouni Jussila runs us through interactive tutorial app and digital gaming toolkit Dized

ROLL AND MOVIE

From big screen to big box: why film-based games have never been so popular – especially if they’re from the ’80s…

DIGITAL DRAGONS

The most famous roleplaying game of all time is swapping pen and paper for pixels with its official companion app. Project lead Adam Bradford reveals how D&D is gearing up for the 21st century

RISING STAR

The follow-up to Dungeon Saga is overhauling the dungeon crawler with some vital lessons from the world of roleplaying. Mantic studio manager Stewart Gibbs invites us to run his sci-fi gauntlet

STREETS OF FIRE

There’s a growing wave of immersive live-action games that swap sitting around a table for spyhunting in the alleys of London or battling evil magic in a forest. Gwyn Morfey, founder and MD of Fire Hazard Games, explains why more players than ever are taking part

PLAY IT SMART

Manchester Metropolitan University academics and Games Research Network co-directors Paul Wake and Sam Illingworth catch the bug for viruses and disease on the tabletop

A SPIRE TO GREATNESS

Grant Howitt is fast becoming one of the roleplaying

SPIEL THE BEANS

The world’s biggest board games show is back for another week of massive releases from the German home of tabletop: Essen. But with thousands of games set to launch in the span of just four days at the end of October, how the heck are you meant to keep up? To help out, we’ve picked out ten titles deserving of your attention

OLD GAME, NEW BOX

We live in an age of endless remakes and reboots, from

LEGEND OF THE FIVE RINGS: THE CARD GAME

Battle for honour in this exhilarating complex card game of warring clans

LORDS OF THE RINGS

Legend of the Five Rings: TCG is an intricate and absorbing reimagining of the ‘90s collectible card game. Designers Nate French and Brad Andres reveal how they brought a legend back to life

WASTELAND EXPRESS DELIVERY SERVICE

The post-apocalypse has never been so full of life

CODENAMES DUET

Play in harmony with this catchy co-op spin on the word game

STAR TREK ADVENTURES

To boldly roll where no-one has rolled before

WHITEHALL MYSTERY

Chase the Ripper through the streets of London in this heart-racing hunt

THE GODFATHER: CORLEONE’S EMPIRE

Eric Lang’s sprawling gangster game won’t leave you sleeping with the fishes

STATECRAFT

Inside the Box Board Games | £19 | Hand management

MEDICI: THE CARD GAME

Grail Games | £21.99 | Set collection 2-6 players |

UNTOLD: ADVENTURES AWAIT

Come up with your own gripping hour of TV in this inventive family-friendly roleplaying game

THE GREATEST STORY EVER ROLLED

Storytelling dice game Rory’s Story Cubes has added a twist to its tale this year with roleplaying spin-off Untold: Adventures Await. Creator Rory O’Connor tells us about the latest chapter

GLOOM OF KILFORTH

Like your fantasy dark, your foes demonic and your quests deadly? We’ve got just the place for you…

SPIRIT ISLAND

Harness the power of nature in this rewarding co-op challenge

THE SPIRIT OF…

Spirit Island creator R. Eric Reuss looks back on the various stages of carefully crafting his fabulous board game

BEARS VS BABIES

Build monsters to tackle the infant threat in this comedic card game

13 MINUTES: THE CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS

Ultra Pro/Jolly Roger | £8.99 | Area control | 2 players

THE LOST EXPEDITION

Osprey | £21.99 | Co-op | 1-5 players | 30-50 minutes

MODERN ART

Knizia’s classic returns in a set you’ll want to hang on your wall

UNEARTH

There’s no need to curse bad throws in this dice-rolling wonder

OH BROTHER

Boss Monster co-creator and Brotherwise co-founder Chris O’Neal discusses moving on from their retro video game-inspired debut with dice-roller Unearth

CAVERNA: CAVE VS CAVE

We dig this two-player variant of Uwe Rosenberg’s dwarven hit

DEADLINE

Crack cases in smoky 1930s New York in this co-op puzzler

THE NETWORKS

Binge on this satirical card game about running your own TV station

FIRST DATES: THE GAME

Taking the Channel 4 dating show as its leaping-off

MAN OF LETTERS

Seiji Kanai’s Love Letter has grown close to countless players’ hearts over the last five years. As its latest Lovecraftian reincarnation takes things in a new direction, he looks back – and forward – on the widely-adored series

CATCH THE MOON

We’ve caught the buzz for this amusing stacking game

THE FOX IN THE FOREST

Foxtrot/Renegade | £14.99 | Trick-taking | 2 players

PURRRLOCK HOLMES: FURRIARTY’S TRAIL

IDW | £24.99 | Deduction | 2-5 players | 30 minutes

DONNER DINNER PARTY

Chronicle Books | £17.99 | Social deduction 4-10 players

THAT’S A QUESTION!

Czech Games Edition | £TBC | Party | 3-6 players 30

LAZER RYDERZ

Greater Than | £39.99 | Racing | 2-4 players | 30-45

STROOP

Grand Gamers Guild | £17.99 | Party 2-4 players 10-15

DUNGEONS & DRAGONS CHARACTER SHEETS PACK

Key to any roleplaying campaign are its characters.

GOTHIC TEMPLE AND WALLS SCENERY

In time for the return of Warhammer 40,000, scenery

PAINTING GUIDE: SCYTHE

Bring the gorgeous artwork and captivating alternate history of the modern strategy masterpiece to life using our tips

BUILDING AN RPG CAMPAIGN

Our ongoing column focuses specifically on providing tips, guidance and advice to dungeon masters as they create their own worlds to run campaigns in. Some of the advice will be specific to the latest fifth edition of Dungeons & Dragons, but the majority of the concepts are applicable to any setting, game or ruleset that you prefer. This is the fifth entry in the series and focuses on giving you specific puzzles, riddles and other creative setups to pick and choose from for any existing or future campaign

HANDYCON

Paul Harris talks about the second instalment of the welcoming bi-annual meetup in High Wycombe and clashing with Gen Con

INNER SANCTUM COLLECTIBLES

As the Cambridge outlet prepares to celebrate its 10th anniversary, founder Graham Henderson looks at the local gaming scene and considers how UK hobby stores compare to their American cousins

JUNGLE KING(1950S)

Jungle King was a small-scale title published by board