Tag: board game

Tabletop Game Review: Dorfromantik: The Board Game

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Dorfromantik: The Board Game is the rare exception where a video game (that was inspired by board games) made it big, so then a board game version of the video game is made, and that board game becomes an award darling. Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. Today’s board game review is for Dorfromantik: The Board Game. We covered the original Dorfromantik video game a few months ago (just in time for Christmas), so it’s only fair to review Dorfromantik: The Board Game. We’ll get to the game in a bit, but first, we’ll review Dorfromantik: The Board Game’s credits.

The Fiddly Bits

Designer: Michael Palm and Lukas Zach
Publisher: Berry Games; Pegasus Spiele
Date Released: 2022
Number of Players: 1-6
Age Range: 6 and up
Setup Time: 5-10 minutes
Play Time: 30-60 minutes

Game Mechanisms

Area Majority
Campaign
Cooperative Game
Hexagon Grid
Modular Board
Tile Placement
Variable Set-Up

Game Setup

While Dorfromantik: The Board Game offers concise rules, BoardGameGeek user lenlindsay made a  Dorfromantik: The Board Game full rules on 1 page, where they did the work we typically do here and paraphrased the rulebook to give you a glimpse of Dorfromantik. Thank you, lenlindsay.

1) If playing a campaign game, check-off on the Score Sheet all the components you have unlocked (to remind you that these will be scored at the game’s end).

2) Shuffle and place the Landscape Tiles, Task Tiles, and Task Markers (separated by color) in facedown stacks on the table in easy reach of players.

3) Put 3 Landscape Tiles back into the box (they won’t be used)

–In a campaign, do not mix in Special Tiles till removing 3.

4) Do NOT open any of the boxes until told to do so.

Game Flow

1) Choose a starting player. Then take turns clockwise.

2) One at a time, take 3 Task Tiles with a matching Task Marker and place them adjacent to each other on the table however seems best to your group. (Players take turns doing this.)

3) On their turn a player checks to see if there still are 3 tasks on the playing board. –If not, they take a Task Tile and a matching Task Marker and decide where to place it on the board.
–Otherwise take a Landscape Tile and place it on the board.

General Placement Rules

1) Tiles must be placed adjacent to at least one tile on the board.

2) Train tracks and streams must match on the adjacent tile.

3) Other terrain types need not match (but there are advantages to matching areas of the same terrain type).

Game End

* The game ends immediately when there are no further Landscape Tiles left to place.

* If you place the last Landscape Tile so that it completes a task(s), you may place a new Task Tile(s) until there are again 3 available tasks on the board (at which point the game ends).

We won’t go into detail the endgame scoring rules. Dorfromantik: The Board Game (and lenlindsay) does a great job of explaining this. Dorfromantik: The Board Game is also cooperative, so scoring knowing how to score isn’t cutthroat, but knowing how to score in the game will inform where you’ll place your tiles. We only wanted to share how to play and what you’re doing during a turn.

Review

At first, Dorfromantik: The Board Game plays like a group activity rather than a game. I noticed this when I was first playing Dorfromantik and when I taught Dorfromantik to other new players. But as soon as I busted out the endgame scoring and applied our results to Dorfromantik’s campaign sheet perception of the game flipped.

Dorfromantik: The Board Game may be the first board game I’ve played where the campaign makes the game. Don’t get me wrong, the group activity that is Dorfromantik without the campaign is a lot of fun. Dorfromantik: The Board Game may be the first cozy board game I’ve covered. That sets it apart. I haven’t found too many games where I can board game and chill.

The only tension you’ll find with Dorfromantik: The Board Game is by adding the campaign. Fortunately, the game includes a massive pad of campaign sheets, so one copy of Dorfromantik can accommodate multiple gaming groups. Believe me, I’ve played Dorfromantik with multiple gaming groups. Each time, it’s the same. We’re chilling, making the best city we can from the tiles we draw, and then the endgame scoring occurs. We watch as the score climbs higher and higher. The more points we earn, the more of the campaign track we can unlock. That’s Dorfromantik’s challenge.

After a path or two, your gaming group will unlock one of Dorfromantik’s campaign boxes with new rules and tiles. The campaign will eventually branch, and you can then choose the path you want to take. Each of these paths will include different boxes, rules, and scoring conditions. The campaign’s branching path gives Dorformantik’s its replay factor. And I’ve played a lot of this 2023 Spiel des Jahres (German Game of the Year) winner.

Dorfromantik: The Board Game won’t be for everyone. In fact, I see it as an excellent gateway game (a game for people new to the board game hobby). Dorfromantik includes numerous game mechanisms you may find in competitive games, but since it’s a cooperative game, and a super chill cooperative game at that, Dorfromantik acts like a soft pat on the back for newcomers.

Too Long; Didn’t Read

Dorfromantik: The Board Game is an excellent gateway game (a game for people new to the hobby) because it’s a super chill cooperative game. This game’s campaign is stellar; without the campaign, Dorfromantik plays more like a group activity.

Game Design Brain Dump: April 3, 2026

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here. I’m just checking because this is when I would typically post a board game design brain dump. I’m skipping this week, but I have a good reason. This week (and next week) are crunch time for my board board game designs. I’ll be submitting them to Great Plains Game Festival’s (GPGF) Playtest to Win event. So, if you’re in the Lincoln, Nebraska area and you’re attending GPGF, you can play Spill the Beans, No Kings, and Whirligig Pets.

I may or may not post a game design brain dump next week either, as I will be attending GPGF. If you’re attending stop by and say, hi.

Tabletop Game Review: Spring Meadow

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Spring Meadow is the grand finale of Uwe Rosenberg’s puzzle trilogy of games. It follows 2016’ Cottage Garden and 2017’s Indian Summer. The complexity of this game—the most interactive between the players in the trilogy—is set in between those two games. Hey, hey, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another tabletop game review. We’ll be placing oddly shaped polyominoes on wintery player boards in today’s game review, Spring Meadow. Uwe Rosenberg’s final game of his puzzle trilogy marks the end of a harsh winter, and the first delicate flowers bloom. Can you have the lushest meadow? We’ll get to Spring Meadow’s review in a bit, but first, let’s talk about the less picturesque elements of the game and discuss Spring Meadow’s credits.

The Fiddly Bits

Designer: Uwe Rosenberg
Publisher: Stronghold Games; Pegasus Spiele; Edition Spielwiese
Date Released: 2018
Number of Players: 1-4
Age Range: 8 and up
Setup Time: 5-10 minutes
Play Time: 15-60 minutes

Game Mechanisms

Grid Coverage
Pattern Building
Tile Placement

Game Setup

We’ll be paraphrasing the Spring Meadow rule book. The setup is succinct and easy enough to follow.

1) Place the double-sided Hiking Map (shared board featuring the offering of polyominoes) that corresponds to the number of players face up in the center of the table.

2) Shuffle all Meadow (polyomino) tiles and randomly place one on each of the 25 spaces of the Hiking Map.

3) Return the remaining Meadow tiles to the box. You will need them later to refill the Hiking Map.

4) Place the Rock tiles, Marmots, Picnics/Hiking Pins, and Compass within reach of the players in a common supply.

5) Place the Signpost next to the player count icon on the Hiking Map.

6) Shuffle the double-sided Mountain boards and give one to each player. Orient the Mountain board with the arrow pointing up.

7) Randomly select a starting player. Each successive player will take a Rock tile, the size of which will depend on the player count and the player order.

Game Flow

On a turn, the active player chooses 1 Meadow tile from the Signpost Path (noted by the Signpost pawn, you’ll either select from a row or column of polyominoes, depending on the Signpost’s orientation during your turn) on the Hiking Map. Place the tile on your Mountain board.

Pay attention to the Holes in the Meadow tiles and the Burrows on your Mountain board. Burrows will challenge your puzzle skills and placing adjacent Holes will allow you to place extra Rock tiles on your Mountain board.

If you wish to cover a Burrow, you must place a Marmot over a Burrow that has already been cleared.

When the Signpost stands next to a Signpost Path (column or row) on the Hiking Map containing zero or one Meadow tile(s), a Scoring phase is triggered.

Starting from the bottom of your Mountain board, count all covered spaces up to and including your first incomplete row to tally your score.

The player with the most points earns a Hiking Pin and must place Marmots over all their cleared Burrows (so they cannot score those Burrows again).

Once scoring is completed, refill the Hiking Map with randomly drawn Meadow tiles afterwards.

The first player to earn their second Hiking Pin wins the game.

Review

It took some time for me to get into Spring Meadow. I appreciated Spring Meadow’s theme. There’s something about the earth waking up from a cold winter. One of my favorite things to do during this time is to stop by the Platte River and hear the ice turn into slush and float on by. Spring Meadow gives me those vibes. And I love polyominoes in general, and Spring Meadow uses them in interesting ways. Kind of like a competitive Tetris, where you want to fill the board with as many blocks as possible. But Spring Meadow has a steep learning curve, and if you play with a new player, that can derail the game.

Sure, at one point, I was that new player. The person who taught me the game had a fun enough time, but he didn’t really find enjoyment in playing Spring Meadow until me and another player from my gaming knew had played a handful of games. He told me as much. And I found the same to be true. Spring Meadow feels unforgiving as the “new player,” but as an “experienced player,” I felt as if I was taking advantage of someone else.

While Spring Meadow’s player (Mountain) boards can be oriented in landscape or portrait, I prefer portrait. There isn’t much difference between the two orientations, but portrait clicks a little better with me. Other players in my gaming group said the opposite, so there’s a chance portrait or landscape orientation could benefit one player over another because of how different brains process information. This doesn’t lower Spring Meadow in my estimation, but I had to mention it.

I’m uncertain if Spring Meadow has a runaway leader problem. Certain plays of Spring Meadow devolve into a runaway leader, especially if you have a veteran player against noobs, but evenly skilled players can keep the game close. Still, I don’t think the Marmots covering cleared Burrows is a big enough penalty or catch-up mechanism. Player boards stay the same in between rounds, so if you’re ahead by fifteen points at the end of one round, all other players need to score fifteen more points than the leader during the second round. Good luck with that.

I could see gamers instituting an extra catch-up mechanism of handing players who are behind by more than five points, a one, two, or three rock tile. But that would be a house rule.

I also prefer Spring Meadow with fewer players. The three and four-player variants have one player selecting on the diagonal (instead of a row or column), but it’s the same player picking on the diagonal each time that happens. While picking the Meadow tile you want from a diagonal line may not add extra strategic value for that one player, it feels bad for the players who don’t get to choose from the diagonal, and choosing a tile from a diagonal line gives the illusion of more choice, because you’re literally picking your tile in a manner no one else can.

Despite any minor gripes I may have, I’ve enjoyed my time with Spring Meadow. It’ll be one of those games you’ll need to play multiple times to grasp the game’s nuanced strategy. Fortunately, games of Spring Meadow don’t take that long. Fifteen minutes per player is short. This is another reason why I like playing Spring Meadow with fewer players. A two-player game takes up to thirty minutes. Nice!

Too Long; Didn’t Read

Spring Meadow may have a runaway leader problem, and veteran players have a decided advantage over noobs. But I love the theme and the game uses polyominoes in intriguing ways. Spring Meadow is one of those games you’ll need to play more than once to grapple with its nuanced strategy. Thankfully, games of Spring Meadow don’t take long: fifteen minutes per player.

Game Design Brain Dump: January 16, 2026

Published on by KyraLeave a comment

Happy Friday, Geekly Gang! Kyra Kyle here with another game design brain dump. Our first of the year. Yay! Recently, I watched Netflix’s Delicious in Dungeon. I even shared it during one of our Watcha Watching posts. And instantly, I had a new idea for a board game. Well, Dungeon Chef is a variant of an old game design idea I had years ago. Let’s dish. Great. Now, I’m hungry.

Above is an image of Food Court Hustle’s most recent iteration. Yes, Food Court Hustle was the game’s original name. Food Court Hustle was a card-drafting game where players manage restaurants in a food court. It played quickly, had plenty of Take That elements, and never took itself too seriously. I liked the concept and loved the name. But food courts are a little dated. That was the biggest complaint I heard from playtesters. The concept for Food Court Hustle’s game mechanisms was to give players more control during card drafting. Each round, players would choose one card to play (for its effect) and then choose a card to discard for its ingredients, only every player–not just you–gains the ingredient.

Like most card-drafting games, Food Court Hustle plays swiftly. Simultaneous play helps with game speed. Seriously. This was one of the few games I never felt the need to incessantly time. And that’s a good rule of thumb when designing games. Always time your games. You want to waste as little of your players’ time as possible. I’m not saying you can’t design a two-hour or longer epic board game, but the game should earn its play time. Getting back to Food Court Hustle, something beyond the theme was missing.

Tangent: the image above is Dungeon Chef’s player board, and the previous image was of a Food Court Hustle player board. The scale of these two images is almost what it should be, so I managed to shrink the player’s space while ditching customers. Yes. The original game included customer cards that wouldn’t always appear when players wanted to make a dish. Another gameplay gripe. You could have the ingredients and not be able to make a meal. Dungeon Chef gets rid of that layer of randomness. I also got rid of a lot of the Take That mechanisms and replaced them with global effects.

Above is a sample Dungeon Chef card. The top half is the action you may choose to play. The number indicates the player’s initiative for that turn. All cards in the three day decks are numbered 1-50. The higher the number, the quicker the action. I’ve seen players choose a card for its initiative, which is wild. The bottom half is the monster parts you may add to the communal ingredients. You wouldn’t be the only one gaining a man-eating plant. Everyone at the table gains a chunk of man-eating plant. And returning to the action on this card, you can turn up the temperature of the communal stove. That’s right. Most game elements in Dungeon Chef have global effects. Half the game is steering the game state in your direction.

Players can select a recipe by spending the ingredients on the recipe card. Then, they add the recipe to their player board, lining up the wok with the flame. And near the end of each turn, move the recipe card up the number of spaces indicated by the communal stove’s temperature. Players can take their active recipe off the stove and claim the victory points indicated on the card at any time. But beware, if a player leaves their meal on the stove too long, they could burn their meal, and it goes into the trash, costing them 10 points at the end of the game. Whoever has the most points at the end of three days wins. There’s little more to Dungeon Chef. I tried to keep it short, easy to understand, and stick to the Delicious in Dungeon theme as best I could.

We’ll see where this design goes. And who knows? Perhaps I’ll be at a gaming convention near you. Let me know which convention I should attend. If you made it this far, you’re awesome. We all know it. Thank you for reading, and wherever you are, I hope you’re having a great day.