Welcome

2019 marks 45 years since Dungeons & Dragons was

At a Glance

Ian Livingstone joins board game and RPG designers at London con – plus, learn how to make your own game!

First Turn

The Great Western Trail and Isle of Skye designer on his curious, swashbuckling debut: a 2009 tabletop console game called Buccaneers of the Caribbean

Ten of the best... Animal Games

Whether you’re a dog devotee, feline fan or bona fide birder, there’s a board game out there for you. We head out on a veritable tabletop safari

Role Call

This month’s roleplaying round-up takes a distinctly futuristic look at the world of RPGs, with releases from the future fantasy of Star Wars, the post-apocalypse of Fallout and Cyberpunk’s… cyberpunk

All the Jahres

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

My Favourite Game

The designers of Escape Room in a Box: The Werewolf Experiment explain how murder-mystery classic Cluedo inspired their escape game puzzler – and many others

Have you played?

Prove you and your friends have what it takes to become criminal masterminds by pulling off the perfect heist in Tim Fowers’ thrilling co-op game

The independent shelf

This crafty spin on Texas hold ‘em poker is an underappreciated and little-known card game – here’s why you should discover it

Through the ages

Whether it’s a crypt full of orcs or a haunted house packed with eldritch mystery, players have slashed, blasted and thought their way through dungeons for decades

Microgame of the month

A FREE GAME FOR YOU TO PLAY INSIDE EVERY ISSUE OF TABLETOP GAMING!

Around the world in 80 plays

Whilst largely famous for a number of outdoor games

Unearthed artefacts

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Play it smart

Learning a new game or trying to introduce a favourite to others can take a lot of effort, but the right approach can open the way to everyone being able to play

Tabletop time machine

To describe patolli as Mexico’s traditional game would

To Hell with it

From the bloodstained streets of Baldur’s Gate to Hell itself, Dungeons & Dragons’ next adventure is its most infernal yet. Chris Perkins drags us into Avernus

Second Thoughts: 12 things you need to know about the new Pathfinder

Pathfinder: Second Edition is out this month, bringing over a decade of improvements and additions to the fantasy RPG. Pazio’s director of game design Jason Bulmahn talks us through what’s new – and what isn’t

How we made Viticulture

Jamey Stegmaier and Alan Stone pop the cork on how their winemaking hit went from grapes to greatness

Hand of Brothers

Undaunted: Normandy brings together deckbuilding, wargaming and the reallife story of a legendary World War II unit. Its five-year journey also forged a close bond between its creators, David Thompson and Trevor Benjamin

Book to Board

Choose Your Own Adventure and Fighting Fantasy helped give rise to games where every decision counts – and every player can experience a different story. Your adventure awaits!

Child’s Play

From the timeless fun of stacking animals to their first taste of Ticket to Ride, we run through the best children’s games to play with kids – and adults! – of all ages

To die for

Kieron Gillen unpacks his head-spinning comic book and RPG love letter to – and warning about – a life lived in fantasy worlds

War of the Wells

How Little Wars took hobby wargaming mainstream

Chris Spivey

Chris Spivey’s groundbreaking Harlem Unbound confronted the monster of racism as unflinchingly as the cosmic nightmares stalking the streets of New York. His next RPG, Haunted West, takes aim at the western

Undaunted: Normandy

D-Day dream

Dungeons & Dragons: Acquisitions Incorporated

Have you ever thought that fantasy adventuring needed

Blockbuster

Designer: James Vaughn | Artist: Big Potato design

Smash City

A brilliant toy spoiled by too much game

Roll for Adventure

When fantasy questing gets a bit dicey

Sea of Thieves Roleplaying Game

A pirate’s life for meh

Patchwork Doodle

Adding another patch to the polyomino-quilted world

Villainous: Wicked to the Core

Last year’s Villainous was a surprisingly ambitious

Waters of Nereus

Worker placement overboard

Blackout: Hong Kong

Finding light in the darkness

Combo Fighter

A number of tabletop games have attempted to match

Slide Quest

Designer: Nicolas Bourgoin, Jean-Francois Hochas |

Milito

Bitesize battles that don’t take an age to play

Proving Grounds

It’s dangerous to go alone…

Neta-Tanka

Totems, tents and tactics

Flip City: Wilderness

Flip City: Wilderness is, depending on your perspective

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: Core Set

Designer: Chad Brown, Keith Richmond, Aviva Schecterson

Dust in the Wings

Designer: Dennis Kirps, Christian Kruchten, Jean-Claude

World Shapers

Designer: Mariusz Milewski | Artist: Pa wet Niziotek

The Expanse RPG

A soft route into hard sci-fi

Spire: Strata

Designer: Grant Howitt, Chris Taylor I Artist: Adrian

Periodic: A Game of the Elements

Designer: John Coveyou, Paul Salomon | Artist: Tomasz

La Viña

Yea or Chardonnay?

Dungeon Master’s Guide to Roleplaying

From forgotten rules to rolling the wrong dice, every GM makes a mistake now and then. But small slip-ups don’t need to completely derail your story – here’s the best ways to deal with screwing up

Event Report

We catch up with co-founder Sara hornton about roleplaying in Hampshire

Shop Spotlight

Owner Ian Davies talks to us about gaming in the valleys and moving into Bristol