[caption id="attachment_310938" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Nonaga: The (Small) Box[/caption]

As my colleague Andrew Lynch points out in his review of XOK, we here at Meeple Mountain have an appreciation for games published by Steffen Spiele. We know their games are going to have good quality components and a clever set of rules. That their games come in small boxes means they can be carried around easily and (mostly) set up in small spaces.

Nonaga is no exception. Between setting up the components and going over the few rules, you’ll be playing a minute after you open the box.

Set It Up and Play

Arrange the 19 discs in a hexagonal shape with four discs per side. You’ll each choose a color, then arrange your three pieces at opposite corners of the hex, with each player’s pieces forming a triangle.

[caption id="attachment_310936" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Nonaga Setup[/caption]

When you take your turn, you’ll first move one of your pieces along a straight line until you come to the end of that row of discs.

[caption id="attachment_310942" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Moving a piece[/caption]

Then, you’ll take a disc that can be freely removed from…

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[caption id="attachment_310952" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Passo: The Box[/caption]

PASSO one in a series of small box abstract games from Steffan Spiele. We here at Meeple Mountain have an appreciation for these games, as they combine good quality components with simple rules and a clever twist. Let’s see if PASSO keeps up this tradition.

Setup

Players will choose to play either red or black and take the 5 wooden disks in their color.

Then take the 25 tiles and create a 5x5 square grid, leaving a gap between the tiles.

Each player will then place their 5 discs along the back row closest to them. 

[caption id="attachment_310953" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Passo setup[/caption]

And that’s it.

Playing the Game 

On a turn, you’ll move one of your discs, either orthogonally or diagonally. Moves can either be made forward into the board, horizontally, or backwards towards yourself. When you do so, you can land either on an empty tile or on a tile with no more than two other pieces (yours or your opponent’s) on it. 

When you move from a tile that becomes unoccupied after your move, you’ll remove it from the game. However, if you move a disc from the top of a stack of…

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[caption id="attachment_311521" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Revive: The Box[/caption]

Intro

Five thousand years ago, The Devastation took hold of the planet as temperatures dropped. Ice replaced the planet’s once thriving ecosystems. Thick ice. Deep ice. Civilization, or rather, those few surviving tribes, went underground to await The Great Thawing that they hoped would one day come.

Or something like that.

The rule book for Revive is short on backstory—short as in non-existent. With regard to gameplay, however, the narrative is as unclear as it is unnecessary. This is an exploration/deckbuilder/worker placement game, pure and simple. But, does a lack of backstory mean the gameplay wasn’t well-thought out as well? Read on to find out! 

Setup

In Revive, you’re working to rebuild the planet and restore your tribe better than your opponents. When the game ends, you’ll review your progress, tally your scores, and the player with the most points wins. 

Each player will have a slightly asymmetric faction board to represent their tribe. You’ll populate the central area of this board with seven meeple and five scoring tokens. Along the left edge, you’ll place three big buildings and five smaller buildings.

That faction board will fit into the left side of your…

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[caption id="attachment_312159" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Einfach Genial 3D: The Box (Ingenious 3D, German edition)[/caption]

Reiner Knizia’s Ingenious was released in 2004 and immediately became one of my favorite games. It’s a game I’ll pull out to introduce people to the idea of modern board games. From the hex-ended dominoes to the long runs of colors on the board, to the quirky scoring mechanism (your lowest scoring color is your final score), Ingenious struck the right balance between the familiar and the new. It has easily lured friends to the table and made them curious for more.

The box for my copy (featured in a photo of my review of the Second Edition of Ingenious) is battered and torn. The tape along the back of the board wore through years ago, meaning we have to keep pushing the two halves of the board together whenever we play. 

It is a well loved game.

In December 2024, Board Game Geek announced a new 3D version of the game. BGG’s blog editor, W. Eric Martin, posted the news, followed by a video review of the game. The catch, however, is Einfach Genial 3D has not been released in the US—and, currently, there are no plans for…

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[caption id="attachment_311102" align="aligncenter" width="600"] TOKAN: The Box[/caption]

TOKAN is a two-player game of capture. Each player has 15 tiles that are divided into three different types, each having a variation on a shared ability. It’s easy to teach, quick to play, and is intriguing enough to warrant multiple plays each time you open the box.

As a capture game, the goal is to have the highest stacks of pieces—with your pieces on top—when the game ends. How you go about doing so is what makes TOKAN unique. 

Setup & Play

First, players choose to play either black or red. Then you’ll take all 30 tiles and place them face down on a table and mix them up. Create a 5x6 grid from the tiles, turn them over and you’re ready to play.

[caption id="attachment_311103" align="aligncenter" width="600"] A random setup[/caption]

On a turn, you’ll move one of your animal tiles orthogonally and place it on top of another animal. You’d like to capture your opponent’s animals, but you can place a tile on top of a pile of your own pieces. (This can come in handy at the end of the game.)

Each player’s tiles consist of 3 Mice, 7 Jackals, and…

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[caption id="attachment_310923" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Volterra: The (Small) Box[/caption]

Volterra is an abstract from Steffen Spiel, one of my favorite small box game publishers. In keeping with their other games, this box contains polished wood pieces that form a game with simple rules and an interesting twist. Let’s get it to the table so I can show you what I mean.

Playing Volterra

Take the 20 wooden tiles (10 light and 10 dark) and create a 4x5 checkerboard. You’ll each place your pawn on the tile in the middle of the board that matches your color. 

[caption id="attachment_310926" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Volterra Setup[/caption]

And that’s all there is to the setup.

In Volterra, all tiles are referred to as Towers. This is true of a stack of tiles or individual tiles. 

On a turn, you’ll take two actions in whichever order you choose:

• Move your pawn to an adjacent Tower, orthogonally or diagonally, of your color
• Choose a Tower of your color that is both next to your pawn and has at least one edge exposed. Move its topmost Tower, or topmost two Towers, atop another Tower that is orthogonally or diagonally adjacent to it. (This can cover either of…

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Concordia- Tom Franklin

After hearing about Concordia for years, I finally bought a copy…and then let it sit on my Shelf o’ Shame for way too long. This is such a great game!

You’re seeking to move around an ancient map, by sail or by foot, building houses in cities that will get you the goods those cities produce. On a turn, you play one of your cards that determine the action you’ll be taking, including a card that allows you to copy someone else’s card or to reclaim all your cards. Resources, places to store those resources, and money are always tight, creating a really fine eurogame puzzle of efficiencies and generating points.

After playing it twice at my weekly game night, I fell into the rabbit hole of Concordia on Steam. I’d still be playing it if I didn’t have this annoying work stuff that gets in my way on a daily basis.

Seriously, if you like Eurogame worker placement games and haven’t tried Concordia yet, you need to play it!

Ease of entry?:
★★★★☆ - The odd bump or two
Would I play it again?:
★★★★★ - Will definitely play it again

Read more articles from Tom Franklin.
[mm-productlinking id="311776" template="image" include_button="true" width="200"…

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WaldMeister is an abstract game from Gerhards Spiel und Design, the German game designers who made beautiful wooden games. My introduction to Gerhards Spiel was Urbino, a game so simple and sublime that I was immediately willing to try anything the publisher produced.

My review copy of Urbino came direct from Germany, which meant getting copies involved overseas shipping. Now, Gerhards Spiel has arranged for US distribution with The Wooden Wagon, a store in Massachusetts that specializes in wooden toys. (My thanks to Chuck for sending me a review copy of WaldMeister.)

Note: Gerhards Spiel games can also be found at The Brooklyn Strategist, a small board game café in Brooklyn whose inventory manager, our own Andrew Lynch, orders directly from the publisher.

Color or Height?

Place the wooden board with a diamond-shaped collection of hexagonal holes on the table between both players.

[caption id="attachment_310639" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Such a beautiful wooden board.[/caption]

Give each player a matching set of 27 hexagonal pieces. These come in three different variations of green (light yellowish, Kelly, and dark) and in three different sizes (short, medium, tall). Players then decide if they’re playing for Color or Height.

If you’re playing for Color, it will help if you separate your…

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[caption id="attachment_310585" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Festival, the Box[/caption]

Festival is a game for 2-4 players where you’re placing firework tiles, each in one of four different colors on your player board, to have them match the patterns shown on objective scoring cards. Have the highest score at the end and you’re the winner!  Festival is a quick, colorful game, but is it worth playing? Read on to find out.

Lighting the Fuse

You’ll start by giving each player a player board in one of the game’s four colors. Each side represents a famous world city, so choose your favorite and place it in front of you.

[caption id="attachment_310581" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The Yellow Australia side and Red Paris side[/caption]

Then take the 7-point scoring card for your color and choose one of the two patterns, one on each side, that you think you’ll be able to replicate most easily. Place it to the left of your board. 

[caption id="attachment_310582" align="aligncenter" width="600"] The Blue (London) board, with the Blue 7 point card and two objective cards[/caption]

Each player then…

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Ticket to Ride: South Korea - K. David Ladage

One of the beautiful aspects of Ticket to Ride is the versatility of the core rules. Adding elements for new maps is a breeze! They have added tunnels and stations (Europe), stocks (Pennsylvania), passengers (Germany), a tech tree (United Kingdom), and exploitable resources (Heart of Africa). The game has been reimagined for smaller player counts and table footprint (New York, London, etc.), there is a print-and-play version that was created for the COVID crisis (Stay at Home), and they recently added a Legacy Campaign version to the series.. Every time they create a new map/expansion for the game, my friends and I are excited all over again to see what is coming next.

South Korea has a map where the track colors are grouped into districts. There is a district board where players are competing for up to ten points in each of the eight districts. In addition, you have three cards that allow you to add a one-time bonus of +1, +2, and +3 to an action: you can draw +1, +2, or +3 more cards (train cards or tickets) on your turn, you can gain +1, +2, or +3 more status in a district with your play, and…

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Isle of Cats Duel - K. David Ladage

There are games that do not really need a two-player adaptation because they play very well at that count. Then there are games that cannot be played at all with two players and, if a couple is going to enjoy the game, it needs one. Isle of Cats falls into the middle of this spectrum: it is a game that can be played at two players, but that player count will not deliver the best experience (to be honest, the base game plays at two players better in the Family mode than the Normal mode).

The Duel version of the game is excellent! It plays very well, offers some good decision space without being a heavy game. My wife and I were able to get into the play quickly, and everything we knew of the original aided in our introduction to this trimmed down version. We might find ourselves playing this more than the original, as good as that is.

If I have a complaint, it would be that the game plays in four rounds, but the mechanic to keep track of those four rounds does not use the ship token and movement as it is handled in the base game. The…

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Nonaga

You’ll start with 19 disks and arrange them as a hex. Then, you and your opponent will each place your three colored tokens on the corners of the hex so you’re each creating a triangle. On a turn, you’ll move one of your tokens as far along a straight line as possible, then take one of the disks on the edge of the hex and move it elsewhere along the edge so it’s touching at least two other disks.

You’re looking to create either a three-in-a-straight-row, three-in-an-angled-row, or a small triangular group of three. The first to do so wins the game.

The first game of Nonaga will be fairly short. Your second game (because you are going to want to play this again right away) will be a bit longer, as will each successive game. You’ll need to consider the ramifications of your moves, as well as how your opponent may respond. With a small board, looking ahead a move or two is easier to manage, making this a clever little game.

Ease of entry?:
★★★★★ - No sweat
Would I play it again?:
★★★★☆ - Would like to play it again

Look for a full review of Nonaga coming soon!

…

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The Dwarves: Big Box - Andy Matthews

Up until 2022, I’d never heard of The Dwarves, a hugely popular German five book fantasy series, which spawned a video game and a board game. And I certainly never expected to play it. But my game group wanted to inject some cooperative action into our game nights and The Dwarves was picked.

The goal of The Dwarves is to work your way through a scenario deck of cards, while protecting your lands from invading orcs, trolls, and elves. Players may also complete side quests which can provide valuable bonuses or cause trouble in Girdlegard (the dwarven homeland). At the beginning of every player’s turn the hero marker advances can trigger new enemies to emerge, cause drama in the dwarven high council, or cause negative effects to the side quest deck. In typical coop game fashion there are multiple ways to lose, but only one way to win.

My group had a good time playing The Dwarves, and even spent some time afterwards talking about different approaches we might take in our next play. While I don’t think The Dwarves is going to win any awards, it’s a solid game and one we’ll be playing again. 

Ease of entry?:
★★★☆☆ - There were…

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