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Cosmic Frog

AT A GLANCE

We’re back with a virtual event this spring. Join us

JOSH WOOD

The Santa Monica designer and AEG developer reflects on his 2017 debut, Cat Lady.

10 OF THE BEST GAMES TO PLAY OVER VIDEO CALLS

Change your background, settle into your most comfortable seat, and prepare to grumble about your internet speed, as we’re reaching the one year anniversary of heading into Lockdown. That makes it the perfect time to consider ten of the best zoomable games. Whilst there’s a ton of ways to play tabletop games online, we’re sticking to ones that need only one copy to play.

Role Call

Mystery lies at the heart of this month’s Role Call – mysteries like who leaves their treasure hidden in a haunted forest, or why you would try to take on Cthulhu with a handgun?

SAGRADA

Let a full spectrum of light flow onto your gaming table and make a masterpiece while you’re at it with Sagrada

ALONE IN THE TRENCHES

We explore the world of solo gaming one move at a time This month: what a lovely war

COREY KONIECZKA

The designer of Battlestar Galactica tells us about the surprisingly deep dexterity game, X-Bugs

PIECES NEED PURPOSE

More and more games are boxed with elaborate miniatures that look great but do nothing. Simon Castle argues why these models need a place on the board before they have a place on the shelf.

X-MEN: MUTANT INSURRECTION

We assist the uncanny, astonishing, and indeed, giant-sized, X-Men in their first proper cardboard mission in a few years. Brandon Perdue gives us the Cerebro treatment on the game

PERU

As we travel south from last month’s stop-over in Canada

ADVENTURE, BOXED

Roleplaying might be a game of the mind for the most part, but a new trend for RPG starter sets has us asking, what’s in the box?

VEGAS SHOWDOWN

++YEAR 3170++INCOMING TRANSMISSION++ Found Sector N5: Pastime x17 – Board Game - “VEGAS SHOWDOWN”

BRIGANDS OF SHERWOOD

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

TOP DECKING TO SUCCESS

Uncovering how to make the jump to cardboard

SMASHED

We’re here to raise the dead and smash monsters, and we’ve already run out of dead to raise

LE MASKED MAKERS

Decrypting the publisher behind the masqué, we speak to Christian Lemay about bridging the gap between gamers, and growing the company to become leaders in family and party games

VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE 5TH EDITION

We explore a card game rising from its torpor in Vampire: the Eternal Struggle

VAMPIRE: THE ETERNAL STRUGGLE 5TH EDITION

We chat to Hugh Angseesing of Black Chantry about the best way to get a vampire (game) out of its coffin

ALIENS: ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY IN THE CORPS & EXPANSIONS

The genius of James Cameron’s Aliens manifests itself

ALIENS: ANOTHER GLORIOUS DAY IN THE CORPS

We talk to Andrew Haught, the designer of Aliens: Another Glorious Day in the Corps, about creating the game, building minis and the hazards of fighting xenomorphs in space

THE PARTY RPG: RISE OF BURDEN BLUGGERBUCKLE

I first got into roleplaying with a cobbled together

TINY EPIC GALAXIES BLASTOFF!

Tiny Epic Galaxies Blast Off is a streamlined revision

AEON’S END: OUTCASTS

Those who read the Have You Played from the last issue

POLIS

Journey back to the 5th century BCE: a time of mighty

BLOODBORNE: THE BOARD GAME

For the fans of Souls video game series, the experience

DRAGONLAND

It may have first released almost two decades ago

PALEO

It can’t have been easy being a cavedwelling early

HYPERTELLURIANS

Despite its name, fantasy roleplaying can be a bit

DICE HOSPITAL: COMMUNITY CARE

The big questions asked of any expansion is: is it

HOLI

The great festival of colours, Holi sees celebration

ISLANDS IN THE MIST

Just how many mysterious islands are there in the tabletop

THIS WAR WITHOUT AN ENEMY

We have to start this review with a small disclaimer

WICKED ONES

Do you ever sit down and wonder what life is like for

GINKGOPOLIS

Ginkgopolis is set in a future where humans have exhausted

ALTERED CARBON FIGHTDROME: PANAMA ROSE

In Richard K. Morgan’s cyberpunky Altered Carbon future

CENTURY: GOLEM EDITION – AN ENDLESS WORLD

Although they are known to be incredibly approachable

REMEMBER OUR TRIP

For many of us, world events mean it’s been a while

REMEMBER OUR TRIP

Daryl Chow and Saashi talk about memory and place in their contemplative tile layer, Remember Our Trip

THE SHINING: ESCAPE FROM THE OVERLOOK HOTEL

Whilst “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy”

MYSTERY HOUSE: ADVENTURE IN A BOX

The allure of escaping your own four walls has never

RENATURE

It seems to be a trend in game design at the moment

BARRAGE

You stand gazing up at the mountain and the tributaries

NIDAVELLIR

One of the best feelings in board games is a sense

PACIFIC RAILS INC

Kickstarter has a lot to answer for. It’s perfect for

NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD: A ZOMBICIDE GAME

In rural Pennsylvania, 1968, filmmaker George A. Romero

DALE OF MERCHANTS 3: THE GRAND CONTINENTAL RAILWAY

Sami Laakso’s anthropomorphised, and endearingly cute

ALTERED CARBON RPG

There’s something cool, elegant and deliciously dangerous

HORIZON ZERO DAWN: THE BOARD GAME

It’s time to track down your best painting kit, as we’re on the hunt for big robotic dinosaurs. And we wouldn’t want to make a mech of it

EH GAMING

On the edge of York, where Stockton on Forest begins, sits EH Gaming, York’s newest tabletop gaming store. We spoke to Ross Hewitt about its opening and how it’s been going through lockdown

ROLLING FOR RECOVERY

Our mistakes while running a game might haunt us, but there’s plenty to learn from our cringy ghosts

CIRCA 2000 BCE FIFTY-EIGHT HOLES

Also known as Hounds and Jackals, from the shape of