1. Information about the Promotion
   1. This action called “Jokes aside!” (hereinafter referred to as the “Promotion”) is a promotional event aimed at stimulating sales of goods sold in the online store of the Promotion Organizer (hereinafter referred to as the “Product”). The Promotion is not a lottery and is conducted in accordance with the rules of the Promotion (hereinafter referred to as the “Rules”).
   2. The organizer of the Promotion is Lavka Chudes LLC. Information about the Organizer:
      LLC "Lavka Chudes", OGRN: 1117746617669, address: 129626, Moscow, st. Staroalekseevskaya, 8, . The promotion is held on the website (hereinafter referred to as the “Site”).
   3. The Promotion is held on the Internet; the following platforms are used to conduct the Promotion: social network VKontakte https://vk.com/hobby_games(hereinafter referred to as “VKontakte”) and the website.
   4. Promotion period: March 29 - April 2, 2018.
2. The terms of participation

   Participation in the Promotion automatically means full acceptance and familiarization of the participant with the Rules. In order to take part in the Promotion, you must:

   1. Find a humorous one on the site, i.e. a non-existent product posted on the Site as part of the Promotion.
   2. On the page of this product, click the “Participate in the promotion” button and in the pop-up window click the “Subscribe to our group on VK” button and subscribe to the group https://vk.com/hobby_games.
   3. You must be subscribed to the group before the end of the promotion.
   4. In the same window on the product page, click the “Share it on VK” button. In the window that appears, select the “Friends and Subscribers” audience, in the “Your comment” window, add the tag #tabletopjokes and click the “Submit” button. If there is no tag #boardjokes, then the participant is automatically eliminated from participation in the drawing. An entry will be published on the participant's page. It cannot be removed until the end of the drawing.
   5. The following do not participate in the Promotion: bots and VKontakte user pages whose wall consists of more than 70% of jokes.
3. Determination of the winners
   1. Every day from March 29 to April 2, 2018, 1 Winner is randomly selected from among the Promotion participants and given a prize.
   2. Each Promotion Winner is awarded one prize.
   3. The results of the Promotion are posted daily from March 29 to April 2, 2018 on the Organizer’s page on VKontakte https://vk.com/hobby_games.
4. Winner's reward ceremony
   1. List of prizes:
      • Considerations Vacations
      • Epic battles of battle mages: Mess in the mushroom swamp
      • Citadel Deluxe
      • Leaf fall
      • Noria
   2. The Winners are awarded from April 3, 2018 to June 30, 2018. Prizes are sent anywhere in the world. Sending prizes throughout Russia is free. Shipping to other countries is carried out at the expense of the recipient.
   3. The winners of the Promotion contact the administration of the VKontakte group to receive prizes. https://vk.com/hobby_games during the period from March 29, 2018 to April 10, 2018. Winners who have not contacted the group administration after the specified period will lose the right to receive a prize.
   4. Prizes are not issued in cash equivalents
5. General provisions
   1. Details of the Promotion, information about the Organizer of the Promotion, Rules for its implementation, terms, addresses, procedure for awarding Winners and information about prizes can be found on the website.
   2. The Organizer has the right to unilaterally make changes to these Rules, including the duration of the Promotion and the list of prizes, as well as terminate the Promotion early, without any special notification to the participants of the Promotion. The new edition of the Rules comes into force from the moment it is made available to the public on the Internet on the website, unless otherwise provided by the new edition. The current version of the Rules is posted at: .
   3. The Participant gives consent to the Organizer of the Promotion to process his personal data provided during the process of participation in the Promotion and necessary for participation in the Promotion and sending prizes to the winners of the Promotion, namely: last name, first name, patronymic, telephone number and address for delivery of prizes. This consent can be revoked by the Promotion participant at any time by sending a corresponding notification to the Organizer’s address specified in clause 1.2. of these Rules and is valid until the expiration of a year from the end of the Promotion.
   4. Carrying out the actions described in section 2 of these Rules means full acceptance of the terms of these Rules. If you disagree with any provisions of these Rules, you may not participate in the Promotion. If you disagree with any changes made by the Organizer to the Rules, you must stop participating in the Promotion. Participation in the Promotion after the Organizer makes changes to the Rules in the manner described above means full acceptance of the new version of the Rules.

Well, friends, another year is flying by. I don’t like talking about how everything flies by so quickly, that once upon a time it was completely different from what it is now, etc. We'll leave this topic for the old farts. According to the good old tradition, at the end of the year I write an article about what I remember about the past year. Previously, there was a lot of text, and readers rightly wrote about the “multi-book”, so now I’ll try not to let my thoughts run wild, if possible =)

In the past year, I didn’t have any special articles, series of interviews or mega-cool announcements on my blog. I worked as usual, as usual =) At the same time, I am very pleased to note that this year, according to statistics, turned out to be special. Firstly, a week ago I recorded more than 1000 views per day. Before this, it was literally just a little bit lacking. It would show 986, then 995, but I couldn’t get to 1000. By Internet standards, these are very small numbers, but they finally managed to reach the bar. Of course, this is all thanks to you - those who read these lines. And secondly, overall this year has seen a significant increase in statistics. Previous years showed little growth, but this year there was about 40 percent more growth. I think it's cool. I hope that this boom is caused by growing interest in board games, the development of this topic on social networks, etc. In any case, the boom in interest in board games is great!

After looking through the list of reviews, I was a little saddened that I had very few articles about non-localized games. On the one hand, it was possible to turn on the old record again about the complexity of the life of a tabletop worker in Belarus, but on the other hand, if desired, everything could be done. Moreover, sometimes I still take something over the hill (at the beginning of the year I took some extras for my favorite games). From time to time, I keep thinking about taking something else, but in the end I spend the money I had set aside on localizations (in particular, those that raise money through crowdfunding). No, really, if in Russia people are collecting money for cool board games, then what’s the point of worrying about all sorts of coolstaff? I don’t understand why I should buy conditional money from foreign stores. Agra , but not Concordia , which was published Crowd Games .

This is not the first time I’ve written that the time has finally come when you can pick up cool new games in Russian (if only you have the money). TO Crowd Games Tabletop developers have different attitudes, but I will note that it was they who gave impetus to the localization boom. IMHO, before the release Dead of Winter There was an opinion that geeks were not able to buy back copies of hardcore games. They say that a couple of large titles are enough per year; beyond this limit it will definitely go into the minus. To be honest, the situation hasn’t changed much now - geeks still don’t buy up games with a circulation of 5,000. So far, only 2-3 thousand sell out quite normally. According to my insider information, no one makes much money from these high-profile releases, but they certainly receive interest in their publishing house. Those. Nowadays it’s quite difficult to survive if you release purely children’s games, and someone trumps sickle . Mine Sickle Every publisher should have it. For example, the same GaGa Games specialized in fillers for a long time, but now she has Orleans , War of the Ring , Through the centuries etc. So far, board gamers are only benefiting from this trend. Over the past few years, we have been offering you a variety of cool new products at affordable prices. And every year it gets hotter. In 2018, we will once again have hot new products that will definitely make us swoon.

Therefore, I decided that if I buy anything overseas, then only add-ons for my favorite games, which will definitely not be Russified. Although I didn’t believe it, they recently announced localization Magognight. And I was sad because I already have it in English =)

Best games of 2017

Usually I'm in Results and trends I’m making a list of games that I remember in the past year. I play the same thing I write reviews for. No more, no less. As they say, what I bought is what I play. Or I play what kind publishers sent me. That's why I choose the best of these games. In the 2016 report, 10 positions were selected from me. This year I will not change my traditions. True, all these places are subjective, and in six months everything can change. For example, I looked at last year’s top and smiled. By the way, I like the games I played this year much more than last year. Those. The outgoing year turned out to be really high quality. If you want to know which games I reviewed this year I think are the best, read on =)

10. / (Hobby World)

Yes, I have two whole games in 10th place. I thought for a long time about which game to remove from the top, but I couldn’t decide. Although one game seems to be a filler, and the other a family game, for me they are equivalent in terms of fun.

ZV: The Path to Hope I was very surprised by the gameplay. I expected it to be some weak filler from a Russian author (forgive me, Petya, for thinking so), but I was wrong. The gameplay turned out to be interesting. First, players hide blueprint cards in piles, and then look for them, revealing the decks one by one. The problem is that the drawing may not be in the deck, but there will be more than enough enemies there. It seems like a simple game, but I liked guessing the location of the drawings. What I didn’t like was that there was no goal in the game as such. If I didn't find the required number of drawings, I lost. If you find what you need, you win. I found more than I needed - well, well done. Therefore, I would still replace the ending of the game with something else.

Co Istanbul I had a funny situation - when I read the rules of the game, I was upset that I took it for review. It seemed to me then that this was not my type of game at all. But after the game I changed my mind - the game turned out to be good. I liked thinking through the optimal moves, placing my assistants on the cards. I haven't seen anything like it in other games. I played 3-4 games with great pleasure. But then... Then it turned out that the replay value of the board game was low. In my opinion, she desperately needs additional supplements. And they exist, but not in Russian. Unfortunately, as I understand it, HB does not plan to release additional supplements, and this is a very pity. I don’t want to play without extras anymore. You'll probably have to buy them in a foreign language and hope that the cards match in color and size.

In the end, it turned out that both games seem to be good, but they are missing something =)

9. (samizdat)

I really didn’t expect that a game from Arkhangelsk from a little-known author would be so good. When I played Pomeranian pilot , I don’t understand why this game is still not sold in online stores Game expert or Hobby World . The board turned out very cool. Simple but interesting. All you need to do in the game is move your boat along the cards and catch fish. But in Pomeranian pilotage There is a very interesting card engine, thanks to which the player moves his token. Actually, in my review I described all this in detail. I still love this game, and my geek friends also had good impressions from it. I really hope to see you next year from Stas Serebryakova something just as cool too!

8. (GaGa Games)

Another board game that surprised me with its gameplay, because in absentia I thought that it would be less interesting. But in the end I played and played and forced other people to play it =) I like to play both for the Alien and for the astronauts who crashed on a strange planet. There doesn’t seem to be anything special in the game - hide in locations and hope that you won’t be found, or look for those hiding and assimilate them with the planet. The game is beautiful, replayable, balanced, fast. This is exactly what I need. I'm very glad that GaGa published this filler and plans to release an addition, which I will definitely pick up.

7. (Hobby World)

My second encounter with this game was a great success - I finally realized that this is a cool board game. Before that, I gave her low marks and quietly hated her for being a crisis. But it turned out that we can and should work with the lack of food! The game opened only with the acquisition of experience. I can't say that this is the best worker placement I've played, but it's definitely one of the best. I don’t recommend it for beginners, but this game is quite suitable for experienced players. I can't say that I'm wildly drawn to play Agricola , because it is still heavy. I always prepare for it in advance, because... This board is not for spontaneous meetings with friends. IN Tzolkina I still play more willingly =)

6. (Hobby World)

Dada, you can start making fun of me - it’s in my top Carcassonne =) But it was this year that I savored it. Calmly, at home, in a quiet, cozy environment, with two, three or four people - the game is perfect for family games. I tried a variety of Carcassonne — both additional and stand-alone versions. It's true what they say: there's nothing better than the basics. Carcassonne , and I agree with this statement. I’ll just add that to be completely happy, you need to add new tiles from the special stages. A very good game that is equally interesting to both newbies and old-timers. IMHO, Carcassonne A must have in every board gamer's collection.

5. (GaGa Games)

Another game with which GaGa got it right 100%. Orleans - a very good board game for learning new combinations. You want to play it in order to try a new strategy that will bring you even more points. Unfortunately, the game doesn't have much room for variety. You simply draw new tokens from the bag every turn, so you build your strategy based on what you draw. But this hardly prevents you from diving headlong into recruiting warriors, merchants or merchants. And when you find the best combination for you, you will use it always. And yes, this is the downside of the game. But the point is that as long as you find this combination, you will play many exciting games. And then maybe there will be an addition in Russian, which I’m really looking forward to. Orleans - the game is not without its drawbacks, but I really like playing it.

4. (Hobby World)

Perhaps this is the most underrated game in my top list by board gamers. I don't often see reviews of it on Tesera or other desktop resources, but personally I Isle of Skye very surprised. It's like something like Carcassonne , but not at all Carcassonne . This is a game with changing goals - each new game has different goals. And it's cool. Until you prepare the game, you don’t know what you will have to do in the game - build roads, collect barrels, look for animals or build lighthouses. And this makes me angry. Not a single game disappointed me, I still love playing this board game. It's a shame that the game didn't reach the masses much. IMHO she's cooler Carcassonne =)

3. Steel Arena (GaGa Games)

Well, here come the fat games. At the end of 2016, I had not yet had the opportunity to play this game, but I had high hopes for it. And my hopes were 100% justified. Believe it or not. I understand that some readers think that I sold out to MX and GaGa a long time ago, but I really like SA - this is the honest truth. I have long wanted to have a game about robots in my collection. A week ago I played with the expansion and was happily reminded of what a great game it is. I really like thinking about my actions in this game. You can walk around with your robot, turn around, shoot and jump to the side. Or you can jump forward and take a cool gun. Or you can push the enemy into the acid and hit him with Snowball. A fun game, in short. IMHO this is the best game Yury Yamshchikova , and one of the best board games in my collection. Steel Arena is a game that I always play with great pleasure.

2. (Game Shop)

This game really surprised me. To be honest, I didn’t expect anything special from the game. I thought it would be an average card game that you could play periodically until you got tired of it. And as soon as I played it, I was immediately hooked. I really liked that in Conquest of Mars all cards are different. And they are all useful in different ways - some play better at the beginning of the game, some at the end, some are cool but expensive, and some are weak but cheap. And you decide for yourself whether to take the card or not. Reset it or leave it for later. A playing field has also been added to the wonderful card engine, on which players can build something and get victory points. I am absolutely delighted with the game. Definitely a good game that I recommend to everyone.

1. (Fantasy Flight Games)

And here is the winner of my top for the year. Card UA surprised me both with its gameplay and the stories it tells. Each new scenario is a new story, which is very interesting to go through together with another player. For me this is a very atmospheric game, and I love those. I love reading chilling stories. The gameplay also keeps up with the theme - you choose a detective, build a deck for him and try to go through the story with it. Successfully complete the task, and you can update your deck with new good cards. If you fail, think about what needs to be changed in the deck. About the same thing happened in ZhKI on Lord of the Rings , but I like UA better. Hobby World It seems that they have already announced the localization of the game, so I can only be happy for those who have yet to get acquainted with this cool game. I'm slowly passing Dunwich Legacy and I want more new special stages and more. Cool game!

Plans for next year

Next year I want to get acquainted with a lot more games. Reputable localizers are so zealous with publishing games that I am now absolutely sure that I will not be able to buy everything I want. This year, I became convinced that I have to greatly cut back on my Wishlist (and even refuse foreign purchases), because I don’t have time to buy all the localizations that are interesting to me. They passed me by Project Gaia , Blood Rage , War of the Ring and many other good games. Unfortunately, you can’t have enough money for everything. You have to choose the best.

I have already purchased some this year (or even earlier =)), but I have not yet reviewed these games. Most likely they will appear next year:

La Granja

The game turned out to be very good indeed. Fortunately, my acquaintance with her coincided with my wave of interest in Eurogames. The game turned out to be a little strange in places (not very logical), but it’s interesting to play. Almost ready to write a review.

Legendary: A Marvel Deckbuilding Game

Doomtown: Reloaded

I continue to figure out the game. Cool card game, I've been wanting to play it for a long time. I already want extras.

Tzolk'in: The Mayan Calendar - Tribes & Prophecies

So far I haven’t gotten to the extra stage. I asked GaGa if it was worth rushing with the review (suddenly some kind of localization was coming) - they said that it’s not on fire yet =) So I won’t rush.

Sushi Go Party!

extended version Sushi Go . The game looks 100% perfect, i.e. very cool. A tin box, high-quality cards, an amazing tablet - a delight for an esthete. I'm glad that I finally bought an excellent game about my favorite sushi =) I'll definitely post when I play it.

Through the Ages: A New Story of Civilization

For a long time I was chasing this wonderful game by Vlad Khvatil, and finally GaGa localized it (which I immediately took advantage of). True, I never got around to it, because I need a few free weeks to do it. It is necessary that I not play anything else, but only read the rules, explain them to other players and eventually play several times. Unfortunately, so far I haven’t been able to get such free weeks, because I’m always in a hurry to pay the publishers who send me games for reviews. In short, you need to take a couple of weeks off and study Through the centuries ! The game is definitely delicious.

Concordia

I hope I will play this board game this winter, because... I really want to know if this is my type of game or not. I bought it purely because of the hype, when several people I respect said that the game was very cool. In addition, the Russian version was not at all expensive. I'm already preparing money for add-ons that will be released next year.

Great Western Way

Eh, I promised to review this game this year, but I just don’t have time... I don’t have the opportunity to play or write anything about it. November and December turned out to be very busy and intense for me (for some period there was little time for games at all), so my plans shifted a little. For example, I feel ashamed in front of Yura Yamshchikov for the fact that he sang and reviewed his early. But I still plan to quickly play VZP, because... promised readers to write a review.

Red7

I've already played it, I can already write a review. Not a bad filler, as expected. But I can’t call it a masterpiece, as some guys sometimes write on the Internet. It's interesting to figure out how to get out of a seemingly losing situation. Indeed, as those who have played say, this is filler for geeks. Noobs' heads will swell from miscalculations. After each move of any player, the situation on the field changes dramatically. The game is fun, but I don't want to play it often.

Indians

I recently received a parcel from Spaceport Games , which included this game. I haven’t read the rules yet, I don’t know what to do there, but visually I really liked the board game. It has an interesting unusual design. Can't wait to try it!

Grand Hotel Austria

I don’t expect anything great from the game, but I liked the rules and it was very inexpensive. If the price were higher, I would Hotel I definitely wouldn't take it. So far, the only downside for me in the game is the poor design, and the rest, I hope, will please me.

Here's what I'll highlight from what I want to buy next year. I hope that the plans will at least partially come true =)

Abbey

This board has been on my wish list since about 2011. And, probably, she would have hung there forever, if not GaGa Games , which published the game in Russian. As far as I know, this board is already on its way to me, so it’s only a matter of time before I get to know it. I've read a variety of reviews for the game, from very bad to very good. What will be my opinion? Let's see!

Mage Knight Board Game add-ons

I've been planning to start buying add-ons for my favorite game for a long time. I can’t say that I play Magor Knight often, but it’s definitely a good and interesting game that practically gives me goosebumps =) And then there’s Games shop boasted that it would release the game in Russian. It’s probably unlikely that it will be possible to mix the Russian and American versions, so I’ll try to take this extra when I buy something on Coolstaff. And when I will do this, I don’t know yet =)

Smash Up: Pretty Pretty Smash Up

This extra was released in Russian in 2017, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. Maybe HW will somehow give it to me for review, but if he doesn’t give it to me, I’ll still buy it, because I’m collecting all the extras for my favorite Smash Up. I think there will definitely be a review of this addition next year.

Ancient Horror

For several years I kept beating around this game. I still couldn’t understand whether I should get involved with this game or continue playing Arkham Horror . And you want it, and it hurts, as they say. On the last Playerone judges of original games were supposedly given certificates for spending the whole day choosing the best games. I missed this moment because I ran away with Playerona , without waiting for the final chords =) As I was later told, the certificate is valid until some date in December and can only be capitalized in Russia. In general, they offered me one scheme according to which I can use the certificate and get a game from my wishlist (specifically, DU). I myself don’t know yet whether I succeeded in doing this or not. There will be a surprise for me after the New Year =) If it works out, well, hello to DU and all the additions to it. If it doesn’t work out, acquaintance with the remote control is postponed for an indefinite period.

Bruges: The City on the Zwin

As soon as Crowd Republic We started collecting money for an addition to a game that I have liked for a long time, I immediately invested in the project. Add to Bruges I've been waiting a long time, although I don't think it will change the game much. But I’ve been itching to drive the notorious boats along the canals for a long time. Thanks CR for letting me in Bruges still be!

Mansion of Madness: 2nd Edition

If I understood the text version of the last interview with Mikhail Akulov , the second MoM will speak Russian after all! And it pleases. I have long wanted to try to play this wonderful cooperative game based on the myths of Lovecraft, but the price for the original was a little high, IMHO. I hope that the localization will not be more expensive than the original, otherwise it will pass me by. This game makes me happy because no one needs to play as Evil in it. Evil must be punished mercilessly =)

Kanagawa

To raise money for Kanagawa I'm invested, so the localization is from Game shops there's no getting away from me now. I don't expect anything spectacular from the board game. I hope for calm gameplay and contemplation of beautiful watercolor paintings.

Stone Age

This game made me fall in love with Eurogames. Several years ago, I promised myself that if localization of this board game (circulation from Stars was no longer available), then I will definitely buy it for my collection (although I mostly play it online). Stone Age is an excellent placement worker for a family format. A simple and understandable game that I have already played about 50 times, and I still like the game. I'll try to get it next year.

Brass: Lancashire

To be honest, I still don’t know why I need Breaststroke . The game was just announced and everyone around started talking - wow, new Breaststroke, we must take! And I succumbed to the hype. Well, yes, the cover is cool, but whether the game is good, I don’t know. If during the period of collecting money for the game there is nothing more worthwhile, I will take it.

Mombasa

I'm aware that Mombasa it seems Crowd Games removed from plans. But in the fall I asked them about this game again, and they told me that the cancellation of localization was not yet final. I don’t know what the fate of localization depends on Mombasa , but I hope that Pfister’s decent Eurogame will still speak Russian soon. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Code

This board game will be released by GaGa Games, but I still know very little about it. It’s not a fact that GaGa will provide me with a game for review (after all, this is not a simple filler), so you’ll have to make the purchasing decision yourself. I like card games, so I'll keep an eye out for reviews of the game. If the game works for our board players, we'll have to take it.

Somnicum

In 2017 I met some wonderful people. One of them - Kostya Domashev from Saint-Petersburg. Somnicum - this is his game. The board game is simple, in it you need to travel through dreams and collect sets. Reviews for this game are already appearing on the Internet, they are very different, but I hope that Somnicum will turn out to be as good as its author =) The game is already on its way to me.

Viticulture

At the end of the past year, I contributed the second part of the money for the publication of this game. Previously, I could not understand why there are lots on crowdfunding with payment divided into two parts. Vitikalcha turned out to be not a very cheap project, so this time it was convenient for me to contribute part of the money before the salary, and part of the money after. Convenient! And everyone is praising the game, so if you haven’t decided to buy it yet, make up your mind quickly while you can still get the game at an affordable price. It will cost more at retail.

Star Wars: Destiny

I played your Destiny in the summer and I will say this - it’s a good CCG game on cubes. They say it sucks players in to death. All my friends who doubted the purchase ended up buying starters and do not regret what they did. I'm sure I'll buy myself a starter too. At the same time, I hope that later I won’t run around like a sick person to the shops and buy boosters =)

Barbaria

A simple dayomet with half-naked girls on cards. I played it several times and liked the gameplay. I hope that HB will send the game for review, because they seem to have promised it. The game has a very cool author. I met him on Playerone this year, and the meeting left me with the most positive emotions. So don't take the game seriously, and everything will be fine =)

Extras for Terraforming Mars

Made me a little upset Mars by the end of this year. Although it was not so much the game that upset me as the intermediaries who were supposed to deliver the games from Game shops . 2 weeks ago they called me that the game was already in Minsk, but I paid for the game with delivery, so I waited for a notification from the post office. And there is still silence. Everyone is already playing with the new one Mars , and I’m like... like I don’t know who. Sadness... Where is mine Mars , A?

Flamme Rouge

Initially I planned to buy the game as soon as the collection of money began, but recently I began to doubt the feasibility of the purchase. Until I find out the price, I won’t say for sure whether I need the game. Nowadays a lot of cool games are being announced, so you have to choose the best from what is offered. Veliki seems like a good fun game to me, but I'm not sure they'll last me long. Camel Up It's also a fun game, but I haven't played it for a long time... I would play it, but would I buy it? I don't know yet.

Photosynthesis

Nice abstract about growing trees. I have very few games of this kind in my collection. I like the game visually, and its gameplay seems cool. Maybe I'll take it for myself.

Sid Meier's Civilization: A New Dawn

I've been wanting to buy myself a desktop Ziva for a long time. The previous version had all sorts of small bugs that I was afraid of, so I didn’t pick up the game. HV clearly said that localization A New Dawn maybe, so I’ll most likely take it. I hope the game will be worthwhile.

Rising Sun

In 2018 Crowd Republic will collect money to publish this game. "Rising Sun" is something like a diplomatic Blood Rage , which I thought about buying but never bought. I like the theme of Japan much more, although I don’t really like negotiating at the table (I prefer a silent war). The game is very beautiful, the minions are cool. Let's see how much it will cost.

Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards: Melee at Murdershroom Marsh

The third part of a crazy card game about unfinished sorcerers. I don’t know how long it will be needed (the first two parts are more than enough for me), but the board is selling excellently, so there is no doubt about the success of the third part. They say it's new Epic Spell Wars became even tougher and more brutal, although it seems that it could be much tougher. I hope the game developers will please us with something interesting.

Legend of the Five Rings: The Card Game

One of the most common questions I was asked in 2017 was whether I bought LCDs at Legend of the Five Rings . So no, I haven’t bought it yet. To buy, you need to place an order in a foreign store. To place an order, you need to add something else to the cart... In short, nothing but problems =) I think I’ll get hold of a box by spring.

Clans of Caledonia

This was probably the best European Spire game of 2017. It’s great that the game will definitely be published in Russia, which means that it will be much easier to get the game. I plan to invest in crowdfunding.

Azul

A very beautiful and interesting abstract that is about to be localized Star . True, the price is unlikely to be acceptable, so I can’t say for sure that I will take the game into my collection. Unfortunately, beautiful abstracts are expensive...

Gloomhaven

This is one of the most high-profile projects in recent years. Although it seems like it’s just another dungeon crawler with legacy elements. But look how he hooked people! Finally, HB announced the localization of this board, so it’s a problem to get it Gloomhaven will not be. While discussions on the Internet are frightening that the price will be rather high (even more expensive than Viticulture ), but I still plan to take it. This is my type of game that I can't get past.

Gaia Project

Another high-profile project of 2017 is Terra mysticism in space. I haven't played TM, but I've heard a lot of good things about this game. I like the theme of space, so I really want to get acquainted with the Project. But I didn’t get involved in raising money for the PG (you can’t buy everything you want at once), and the retail price is promised to be rather high. So for now I can’t say for sure whether I will buy this tabletop or not. I'll wait for good reviews and then I'll decide =)

Bronze

This is another Kostya Domashev. I played it this summer and really enjoyed the gameplay. A simple family, beautiful, replayable. It seemed to me that board gamers would love this game more than Somnicum , but for some reason it turns out the other way around =) Visually for me Bronze I like it better. I'll play Somnicum , I will compare the gameplays of both games.

Altiplano

Finally GaGa started to announce something after the Spire, otherwise she behaved very quietly. Aliplano - this is a cool announcement. This is a game from the author Orleans , which I really liked. And in terms of gameplay it’s also something like Orleans , because it also has a bagbuilding mechanic. Reviews on the Internet for this game are very good, so I am sure that I will take Altiplano.

That's it, enough torturing you and myself included, it's time to get ready for the New Year celebration =) Friends, thank you all for visiting my blog to read my writings! I am always happy to receive any comments, advice and questions, so I hope that I will not disappoint you next year and the quality of my recordings will only increase.

I wish you all a Happy New Year and the upcoming or upcoming Christmas! I wish you to play only the best and most interesting board games next year! I wish that you always have someone to play with, because, of course, you can also play with yourself, but it’s still better with someone =) Let the kind Grandfather Frost put your most cherished game under your Christmas tree, and if he doesn’t put it, then may he give you a lot of luck, luck, happiness, love and everything that you want to have in 2018 =) All the best to you, joyful events and wonderful reasons to smile =) See you next year!

Sasha scafandr

Coiledspring Games' board game Kingdomino wins prize Best Game(Best Game) at the Spiel des Jahres. Thus, Kingdomo wins the prestigious annual German board game world award.

The winners were awarded in July 2017: Now we know the best board games on the market, which were evaluated by a jury of experts.

The game Kingdomino was named by the jury of the show best game.

In Kingdomino ("royal dominoes", a game for 2-4 players) you must become the king of your region. Manage your tiles (domino tiles) as wisely as possible to create the most impressive worlds, but be careful because other kings are also hungry for lucrative lands to win with the most prestige points.

Who will win?..

Thames & Kosmos also won an award at the annual ceremony, taking home the top prize in the Kennerspiel des Jahres category for its innovative developments in the EXIT Games series.

Best board games 2017

Let's look at the list of winners.

Nomination Games of 2017

King Domino by Bruno Catala
Publisher: Pegasus Spiele.
Terrain planner, 2-4 players.

Magic Maze by Kasper Lapp
Publisher: Sit Down!, Distribution: Pegasus Spiele.
A cooperative game that can be played by 1 to 8 desperate heroes.

Racing on Eldorado from Reiner Knizia
Publisher: Ravensburger.
From 2 to 4 players, fast treasure hunters.

Tempel des Schreckens

Nomination Best children's games 2017

Captain Silver, by Wolfgang Dirscherl & Manfred Reindl
Publisher: Queen Games.
A fast-paced treasure hunt for 2 to 4 keen pirates aged 6+.

ICECOOL by Brian Gomez ( first place)
Publisher: Amigo.
Cold walks, 2 to 4 players, from 6 years old.

Mysterious forest, from Carlo A. Rossi
Publisher: Iello, sales: Hutter Trade.
An adventurous trip for 2 to 4 smart Boy Scouts from 6 years old.

Board games are a great way to spend time at home for both children and adults. At the same time, you will fully enjoy the spirit of competition, feel team unity and simply experience a lot of excitement. During the game, you will be able to hone your situation analysis skills, learn to find the right solution to a problem and calculate the enemy’s moves in advance. And board games will help you with this.

Poker – first place in the ranking

The undisputed king of all card games, developing many brain functions and, first of all, logical thinking. Here, winning is not determined by luck, but is justified using the theory of probability. Therefore, poker is considered an intellectual sport and a non-gambling game (but still popular in casinos). It will even be featured at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. In America, this national card game is the most common.

A deck of 52 (32 or 36) cards is folded into countless combinations and the winner at the end of the game is the one who has the most winning one in his hands, or who manages to eliminate the opponent.

Mafia

An incredibly exciting psychological game that has managed to win millions of fans in a short time. Invented in 1986 by Moscow State University student Dmitry Davydov, it skillfully combines two pillars of any game - performance and competition. Mafia does not require money, special equipment (even participant cards can be drawn by hand at home) or special physical training - but at the same time it brings a lot of intellectual pleasure to the participants. And some people manage to train their extrasensory abilities, identifying enemies only with the help of intuition.

Today in China, with the help of the “Mafia,” they treat gambling addiction and rehabilitate difficult teenagers in America.

Monopoly

The game has millions of fans around the world, and there are slightly fewer of them than options in each country (Manager, Businessman), adapted to the local mentality and famous objects. But the essence still remains the same - by moving around the playing field with the help of a cube, you must increase your fortune and at the same time ruin your opponent. And although a lot here depends on chance (as in life), this game is considered an excellent simulator for future millionaires.

Erudite

It has another name by which the game is known throughout the world - Scrabble. By laying out letters (with different numbers of points) like a crossword puzzle, the one who gets the highest number wins.

Probably everyone in the world has once tried to lay out letters in this way on the board - this is a great way to train your brain and develop your erudition. Psychologists even recommend Scrabble for training visual memory and developing literacy - by constantly being in front of your eyes, words are remembered correctly against your will.

Game of Thrones

Fans of the series of the same name have long mastered the wisdom of this exciting strategy. From 3 to 6 people gather at a table to compete for the Kingdom. The winner is the one who collects all the power tokens.

Alias

“Say Otherwise” is a game that perfectly develops logic and vocabulary. This is the most popular game among the Finns, who invented it. During the time marked by the hourglass, the player will have to explain to his team using gestures, emotions, synonyms or other means what is shown in the picture. The faster the team understands you, the sooner you will reach the end of the playing field.

An ideal game for bringing together an unfamiliar group, let alone close friends.

Cards against everyone

“Cards Against Humanity” is a new product in recent years that is quickly gaining popularity. Another student know-how, besides Mafia, which is not recommended for people under 18 to play. Today, in addition to the original American, there is already a Russian version with famous characters - Lev Leshchenko, Philip Kirkorov and others.

The essence of the game is to quickly answer questions or fill in pauses in sentences, depending on what you see on the card. Points are awarded for the most successful answers and the winner is the one who scores the most.

Imaginarium

A wonderful game for 4 people. Abstract images on the cards force you to use your brain and imagination to the fullest, and you can earn a point only if your association finds a response among others. But you are guaranteed to have a useful and very fun time.

Colonizers

The Germans approached the rules of this military strategy thoroughly. It takes a long time to understand them, but the result will be an exciting and fun pastime.

Participants will have to land on an uninhabited island rich in resources. By developing them and taking materials from the enemy, the winner is the one who first scores 10 points.

Twister

The most famous floor game, so popular that there is already a tabletop analogue (which only involves fingers). Firstly, it is funny in itself, and, secondly, each eliminated participant can please the company with some kind of funny phantom.

A great mood, cheerful friends and time spent productively - all this is guaranteed to you by any of our ratings of board games.

Several new publishers debuted in 2017, and the range of board games expanded significantly. While the shelves of Russian stores were replenished with new localizations of foreign hits, huge sums of new geeky board games were regularly collected on crowdfunding sites. Our top list includes the most notable releases of the year

Best Foreign Game

Contenders: Pandemic Legacy 2, Warhammer Underworlds: Shadespire

We would dare to call Gloomhaven the best adventure game in the world. A campaign with a hundred scenarios, 17 character classes with truly different styles of play, a flexible system of difficulty levels, several dozen types of monsters that do not need a villain player - they can handle it just fine on their own. Controlling your character comes down to manipulating just 10 cards - these are your combat techniques and extra lives. Legacy's mechanics help make a good game great. I’m especially pleased that Gloomhaven will be released in Russian.

Best Role Playing Game

Contenders: Fate Core, “An Adventurer's Diary. Rules of the game"

The project to publish and translate the tabletop role-playing game Pathfinder has raised an incredible amount on CrowdRepublic - over 4 million rubles! This convincingly shows how much domestic roleplayers love complex fantasy games. The 600-page book contains a complete set of rules, including character creation steps, chapters on equipment, artifacts and magic, as well as a voluminous section for the leader. Pathfinder reimagines the classic Dungeons & Dragons 3.5, but behind a similar foundation lies a lot of nice little innovations. The most important thing is that the developers actively support the game: they release new products and organize events. Pathfinder has long been popular in Russia, especially in board game clubs, where regular organized Pathfinder Society meetings are held.

Best domestic game

Contenders: " ", "Indians"

“Bronze” was presented at the autumn “Igrocon” and received a lot of positive reviews. Those who are familiar with the author's prototype called Jazz Band have been waiting for it for a long time, but for most it turned out to be a pleasant surprise. “Bronze” adds another historical era to the collection of Eurogames and at the same time attracts players with expressive design and original illustrations. The mechanics of “Bronze” please with tactical scope with a moderate influence of randomness and simplicity in planning moves. Thanks to this, both geeks and fans of family games liked it so much.

The most stylish game

Contenders: “Legends of Signum. Battle of Vallor", "", "Bronze"

“Sickle” has been in the news throughout the past year. The game owes much of its popularity to , whose project “1920+” became the basis for its world. The original setting of the game, combining Europe of the 1920s and the future, illustrations made in the techniques of impressionism and naturalism, delighted both the artist’s fans and the happy owners of the board game. The creators of "Sickle" carefully recreated this style in the design of the maps, the design of the robot mechs and in the detailed plastic miniatures.

Game of the Year

Contenders: "New Angeles", "This is My War", "Blood and Fury"

Conquest of Mars is a rare combination of European design and deep theme. Forget the same games about medieval builders and merchants. You are no longer on Earth. You have to melt ice caps and grow potatoes in a greenhouse. Get ready to launch orbital stations and breed frost-resistant moss. Build a spaceport on Ganymede and bombard Mars with asteroids. The project maps just came off the pages: any of them offers a real step towards blossoming apple trees and the cosmic brotherhood of peoples. Conquest of Mars stands the test of time. Each card in the project deck is presented in a single copy, and the games are very variable. There is no single correct strategy in the game, and there is exactly as much interaction between players as is needed for a conflict-based European game. It's hard to find another board game that weaves together a fantasy theme and mechanics so well.