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To Play or Not To Play

To Play or Not To Play . . .

These board game reviews should help answer the question!

Welcome to To Play or Not To Play! There are many places you can find board game reviews online and many of them focus on whether or not you should purchase a game. But that's not my concern here. Money is always a limited resource, but so is time. My game reviews are focused on whether or not a game is worth your time to play. If you enjoy or disagree with a review, please leave a comment! And be sure to either subscribe on this site or follow me on Mastodon or Instagram to be notified whenever a new review goes live!

Here's what I've been playing recently:

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Astronaut bee with tools floats in space near a glowing planet. Vibrant colors and cosmic background. Text: Apiary.

Astronaut bee with tools floats in space near a glowing planet. Vibrant colors and cosmic background. Text: Apiary.

Apiary

Apiary is, bar none, the friendliest worker-placement game I've played. How can a worker-placement game where you can always send your workers to any space have any tension or stakes? That's the magic of Apiary!

Oct 2, 202514 min read

Star Wars: Outer Rim superimposed over a background depicting outer space with some asteroids.

Star Wars: Outer Rim superimposed over a background depicting outer space with some asteroids.

Star Wars: Outer Rim

Outer Rim easily sits in my top 5 board games of all time, and it's a strong contender for number 1. It's no secret what my recommendation is going to be. Go play this game!

Sep 25, 202525 min read

The box art for Azul: Summer Pavilion. The stylized title sits at the center of the box in an ornate blue frame decorated with abstract blue flowers. Behind the frame is a large white circle with six six-pointed stars arranged in a hexagonal shape. Each star is made up of six diamond shaped tiles, each a different color: clockwise from the top-right, they are red, blue with a dark blue pattern, yellow, green with a dark green pattern, purple, and orange with a dark brown pattern. This pattern matches the main design of the Azul: Summer Pavilion player boards.

The box art for Azul: Summer Pavilion. The stylized title sits at the center of the box in an ornate blue frame decorated with abstract blue flowers. Behind the frame is a large white circle with six six-pointed stars arranged in a hexagonal shape. Each star is made up of six diamond shaped tiles, each a different color: clockwise from the top-right, they are red, blue with a dark blue pattern, yellow, green with a dark green pattern, purple, and orange with a dark brown pattern. This pattern matches the main design of the Azul: Summer Pavilion player boards.

Azul: Summer Pavilion

At its core, Azul: Summer Pavilion is almost identical to Azul. Players draft tiles from circular factories and place them on their board to create pretty patterns. The big difference is that instead of a 5x5 grid of square tiles, you have these pinwheels of colored diamond-shaped tiles. But you'll also notice some features are absent: there's no staircase or smashed tiles row. And there's now an extra board, that's different!

Aug 28, 20259 min read

Undergrove, designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wooton.

Undergrove, designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and Mark Wooton.

Undergrove

Thematically, this game's focus is on the nutrient distribution networks facilitated by mushrooms and other fungi within forest environments. Each player represents a different species of tree, and your goal is to utilize the mushrooms growing near your trees; roots to absorb carbon and make your trees grow big and strong.

Aug 20, 20259 min read

PARKS: By Keymaster Games, Fifty-Nine Parks, and Henry Audobon.

PARKS: By Keymaster Games, Fifty-Nine Parks, and Henry Audobon.

PARKS

PARKS is a cozy, well-produced game about hiking along trails and visiting the many beautiful U.S. National Parks.

Aug 13, 202510 min read

Azul

Azul is a simple tile-drafting game. Each player has a board that depicts a 5x5 grid of tiles arranged in a pleasing pattern. Your goal is to fill this pattern with tiles that you draft from the center of the table in ways that will score you more points than your opponent. Simple enough, right?

Jul 21, 20257 min read

Review: Aquatica

Review: Aquatica

Review: Aquatica

Category: Hand Management Designer: Ivan Tuzovsky Publisher: Cosmodrome Games Year Published: 2019 Players: 1-4 Playing Time: 30-60...

Apr 25, 20237 min read

Lost Ruins of Arnak

Lost Ruins of Arnak

Lost Ruins of Arnak

In Lost Ruins of Arnak, you'll explore a mysterious island, uncover powerful artifacts, and research a mysterious temple!

Aug 19, 202212 min read

Spooky Month part 6 - Arkham Horror: 3rd Edition

Spooky Month part 6 - Arkham Horror: 3rd Edition

Spooky Month part 6 - Arkham Horror: 3rd Edition

I began Spooky Month with Arkham Horror, and it's only fitting to end it with the same. I've written at length over this past month about...

Oct 31, 202111 min read

Spooky Month part 5 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Spooky Month part 5 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Spooky Month part 5 - Arkham Horror: The Card Game

Spooky month is rapidly approaching its climax, but we have one more stop before the big finale! If you want to check out the earlier...

Oct 26, 202115 min read

Spooky month part 4: Eldritch Horror

Spooky month part 4: Eldritch Horror

Spooky month part 4: Eldritch Horror

Spooky month continues! If you're just joining us, welcome! I'm going to be referencing the last few reviews pretty heavily through out...

Oct 18, 202116 min read

Spooky month part 3: Elder Sign

Spooky month part 3: Elder Sign

Spooky month part 3: Elder Sign

Welcome back to spooky month, where I'm reviewing all the games in Fantasy Flight's Arkham Files series. In part 1 , I reviewed Arkham...

Oct 12, 20218 min read

Spooky month part 2: Mansions of Madness

Spooky month part 2: Mansions of Madness

Spooky month part 2: Mansions of Madness

Last time , I wrote at length about Fantasy Flight's 2005 smash hit Arkham Horror: 2nd Edition. Arkham persisted as a flagship game for...

Oct 8, 20217 min read

Spooky Month Part 1 -Arkham Horror: 2nd Edition

Spooky Month Part 1 -Arkham Horror: 2nd Edition

Spooky Month Part 1 -Arkham Horror: 2nd Edition

I’ve been slacking off a bit on the old board game reviews, but I've got something special planned! For the next month, I’ll be reviewing...

Oct 1, 202120 min read

Pirate Loot

Pirate Loot

Pirate Loot

Category: Card game Designer: Jason Bulmahn Publisher: Kickstarter (Minotaur Games) Year Published: 2015 Players: 2-4 Playing Time: 60...

Aug 9, 20217 min read

Cascadia

Cascadia

Cascadia

Category: Tile-placement game Designer: Randy Flynn Publisher: Flatout Games Year Published: 2021 Players: 1-4 Playing Time: 30 - 60 mins...

Aug 2, 20215 min read

Three Flawed Cooperative Campaigns: How Friction in External Components Can Harm Fun Game Design

Three Flawed Cooperative Campaigns: How Friction in External Components Can Harm Fun Game Design

Three Flawed Cooperative Campaigns: How Friction in External Components Can Harm Fun Game Design

The reality is that we all have a limited amount of time to play games. Which of these massive games should you play?

Apr 12, 202110 min read

Aeon's End

Aeon's End

Aeon's End

The last vestiges of human civilization scrape out a meager existence in Gravehold, a subterranean city that's humanity's last bastion . . .

Aug 17, 202011 min read

San Juan

San Juan

San Juan

San Juan is a much simpler, and much faster, version of the 2003 hit Puerto Rico. But this game differs from Race for the Galaxy . . .

Aug 11, 20208 min read

The Zorro Dice Game

The Zorro Dice Game

The Zorro Dice Game

his game is cute. It’s very easy to learn and remarkably fun to play. However, the game is almost too simple until you add one small thing.

Aug 3, 202010 min read

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