Have You Played?

Welcome

October: the most frightening time of the year, as

At a Glance

Pandemic heads to ancient Rome in its next Survival Series outing

First Turn

The designer of Black Orchestra and Canalis on the lucky phone call that led to his breakthrough to the tabletop world, 2009’s Revolution!

10 of the Best

Flick, flip and throw your way through our picks of the active games that’ll soon have you out of your seat. Let’s get physical!

Role Call

A fresh take on the Imperium, the chance to become a legend and a tome of dark cults await your table this month

All the Jahres

Replaying the winners of the Spiel des Jahres so you don’t have to

My Favourite Game

The Hive-mind leaves bugs behind and sets off into space in pursuit of a sci-fi sandbox adventure

The Independent Shelf

Set off on an adventure into the spellbinding world of visionary designer Ryan Laukat

Unearthed Artefacts

++YEAR 3127++INCOMING TRANSMISSION++ found sector d08: pastime x17 – board game - “panic_on_wall_street!”

Kickstarting from Scratch

As the pressure of delivering on Art Deck’s successful campaign on time mounts, Holly Gramazio experiences the passionate response of the game’s supporters

Through the Ages

Sid Sackson’s game of making it big in the hotel business is one of the most influential and important board games ever made – so why isn’t it as widely-played as Monopoly?

Play it Smart

Can board games truly cause terror on the tabletop? Read on to find out – if you dare…

Tabletop Time Machine

I’m winding back the dials of the time machine this

Betrayal Legacy

17 years after he first set foot in the haunted House on the Hill, Rob Daviau returns to tell a story of Betrayal with a personal touch

Arkham Horror

Nikki Valens has confronted Eldritch Horror and ventured into Mansions of Madness, but her next Lovecraftian adventure takes her back to the original home of nightmares

Axis & Allies & Zombies

The dead have invaded WWII! Axis & Allies & Zombies lead designer Scott Van Essen talks us through what’s new in the reborn strategy classic

The Walking Dead: Here’s Negan

Negan calls the shots in the dungeon-crawling follow-up to All Out War. Forget the zombies – it’s your boss you’ll want to watch out for

How We Made

Dice have rarely looked as beautiful as they do in the stained glass mosaics of this colourful puzzler that’s as smart as it is stunning

Wildlands

Wildlands is a lean arena-battler that trims off every unnecessary ounce from the thrill of wargaming – and it has Shadespire in its sights

Paradox

The Swedish studio has made a nam e for itself with richly complex experiences on the PC – but how will its grand strategy games fare in the physical world?

Gladiatores & Gorus Maximus

Two new card games both aim to capture the cut and bloody thrust of Roman gladiatorial combat – but in very different ways

Root

Choose your side in an all-out woodland war

Star Wars: X-Wing – Second Edition

The Force awakens in a gloriously silky and cinematic next step for the definitive sci-fi dogflighter

Vampire: The Masquerade – Fifth Edition

Dark stories and darker deeds

My Little Scythe

Build friendships that can survive a pie flight

Remnants

Rolling for scraps at the end of the world

The Witcher Pen & Paper Rpg

Silver for monsters, steel for men (who are also monsters)

Brass: Birmingham

The industrial revolution was built on beer

Legends Untold

Small box, deep dungeon, big vision

Container: 10Th Anniversary Jumbo Edition

Designer: Franz-Benno Delonge, Thomas Ewert, Kevin

Minerva

Rome wasn’t built in a day; it was built in 60 to 90 minutes

Clickbait

“Our stylish appendages have pizzazz.” “Ordinary hands?

Stellium

Game themes seem to come in waves. Take 2010, when

Masque of the Red Death

In which we make an ‘illimitable dominion’ joke several times

Dice Hospital

Totally sick

Boss Monster: Rise of the Minibosses

Boss Monster may not have been based on any video game

Patchwork Express

A two-player version of Patchwork that plays in less

Senshi

Of the four traits crucial for warrior-monks to train

Thieves

Thieves has a beautiful box. It achieves a quality

Barbearian Battlegrounds

Grinning and bearing it

Trash Pandas

One man’s trash is another man’s all-you-can-eat buffet

Thanos Rising – Avengers: Infinity War

Guar-die-ans of the Galaxy

Painting guide

Customise the legendary warriors from the miniatures game’s latest starter set by following our step-by-step guide – including some alternate colour schemes to truly make them yo ur own

Dungeon Master’s Guide to Roleplaying

Whether it’s shameless pop culture references or your own creativity at work, what players’ characters – and those th ey meet in your imaginary world – are called can make a big difference to how they act. Tough luck, Joe Bloggs

Event Report

Graham Spearing stokes up excitement for the Sheffield roleplaying gathering

Shop Spotlight

Jim Sephton takes us around the Birmingham hub, where you can find everything from Kickstarter board games to walking stick self-defence lessons