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Editor's Letter

At a Glance

Your 30-second guide to the latest in gaming

Tabletop GAMING 2018 LIVE

Tousands of gamers gathered in London’s Alexandra Palace at the end of September to see KeyForge, Pandemic: Fall of Rome, listen to talks, take part in workshops, win exclusive prizes in tournaments… Oh, who are we kidding? Most of us just wanted a plush spud from the Big Potato stand

First Turn

The Italian designer of Photosynthesis on how he planted the seeds of his forest-building debut

10 of the Best

All together now! Team up with these collaborative titles to end up friendly instead of fighting – and then save the world together (or just count to 100)

All the Jahres

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

My Favourite Game

The creator of mech wargame Farsight remembers the mighty impression Titan Legions left on him as a kid – and why he’s been chasing that feeling with his own designs ever since

Have You Played?

The sweeping adaptation of the fantasy novels has more backstabbing than a chair made of swords, and it makes for one of the most immersive and epic experiences on the tabletop. Prepare to win – and your friendships to die…

The Independent Shelf

Hit the prehistoric basketball court with a team of Triassic superstars in this disc-flicking Jurassic jam that’s an absolute ball

Unearthed Artefacts

++YEAR 3128++INCOMING TRANSMISSION++ found sector d33: pastime x17 – board game - “revolution!”

Kickstarting from Scratch

With Art Deck ready to make its way to backers, all that remains is to simply pop it in the post, right? Not quite, as Holly Gramazio explains

Through the Ages

With near-infinite galaxies comes near-infinite ways to explore them – and tabletop scific continues to boldly go to some of the most inventive corners of the cardboard universe

Play it Smart

What can tokens and cardboard teach you about elements and compounds? Our academic gamers deliver a lesson in tabletop chemistry

Tabletop Time Machine

The Courtship Game is the title of an interesting item

Discover: Lands Unknown

Every player in the world will have a different adventure in Discover: Lands Unknown. Could Corey Konieczka’s story of exploration and survival be the most ambitious game ever made?

Transformers Trading Card Game

Autobots and Decepticons go head-to-head in the next card-battler rolling out from the makers of Magic: The Gathering. Does it have the potential to transform trading card games?

How We Made

The godly tower-building game has been celebrated for its deep strategy and elegance – but behind its simplicity lies a complicated 30-year odyssey

Sensible Object

London studio Sensible Object has made piles of plastic animals a hightech affair, and its latest board game hybrid invites an AI to the table. Could androids really dream of electric meeples one day?

PlayFusion

Cambridge studio PlayFusion is bringing trading card games into the 21st century by connecting the worlds of physical and digital – but it’s been anything but an easy journey

Fowers

Tim Fowers and Ryan Goldsberry have become tabletop rock stars on the back of their cult games and independent attitude.The designer and artist have no plans to play by the rules anytime soon

Toys in Games

Designers are taking childhood playthings and turning them into some of the most inventive and entertaining experiences on the tabletop. Dig out your old Lego, rev up those Hot Wheels and discover a treasure trove of new games you already own

Relationships in Games

A new wave of board games is taking the intimate experiences shared around the table and forging them into meaningful lessons about real-life relationships. You might be surprised what tentacle sex can teach you…

Founders of Gloomhaven

…or rather, flounder in Gloomhaven

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Fourth Edition

New experiences in the Old World

Yellow & Yangtze

Tigris & Euphrates’ golden child shines

Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr

Board gaming just got real

Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team – Rogue Trader

The small-team skirmish game expands

Forbidden Sky

Electrifying – or shocker?

Dungeons & Dragons – Waterdeep: Dragon Heist

Treasure hunting in the city of splendours

Wildlands

A game-changing miniatures skirmish experience

The River

Going with the flow

Tags

A quick-thinking challenge that’s as easy as A, B, er…

War Chest

Swish and chips

Maiden’s Quest

Being first to market in a genre or subgenre is a tricky

Cosmic Encounter: 42nd Anniversary Edition

Designer: Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge, Peter Olotka

Gearworks

An interesting brain-scratcher with some rust between the cogs

Seal Team Flix

Counters -strike

Spring Meadow

A tile-laying puzzle that’s no walk in the park

Crossroads of Heroes

A student of gameplay but a master of components

Before There Were Stars

Designer: Alex Cutler, Alex Graffeo-Cohen, Matt Fantastic

Upstream

“Starting with the player who most recently ate salmon”

Dȗhr: The Lesser Houses

An interesting concept betrayed by a villainous ruleset

Painting guide

Raise the dead by putting a brush to Nagash’s spooky faction of ghosts and ghouls – and learn how to make the macabre models your own

Dungeon Master’s Guide to Roleplaying

Can knowing too much take away from your immersion in a fantasy world or suck the drama out of an encounter? We weigh up whether it’s worth taking a bite of forbidden RPG knowledge

Event Report

‘Dirk the Dice’ introduces us to the Manchurian roleplaying gathering and explains why tables aren’t for dancing on – they’re for rolling dice

Shop Spotlight

Matt Pritchard talks about growing the Nottingham vegan board game café from a pile of games in a room to a must-visit spot on a shoestring budget