Way back in 2005, I was living in a spartan two-bedroom apartment with my girlfriend, our cat, and my best friend in the entire world. We didn’t have much: a couple of beds, a ratty couch, a TV, a whole mess of books packed into a couple of second hand shelves, and two souped-up computers. We also had a Playstation 2 (PS2) which didn’t see much play. But when God of War (GOW) entered the picture, that all changed.

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At the time, GOW pushed the PS2 hardware to its very limits. With groundbreaking graphics, stellar gameplay, and fantastic storyline, it was easy to become totally infatuated with the game. It was, hands down, the best video game I had ever played. I recall thinking at the time that it would take considerable effort to create a video game that completely captured me the way that GOW did.

Then, a few years later, Santa Monica Studio released God of War 2. It was even better than the first. And it wasn’t until that moment that I realized Santa Monica Studio had set a (dangerous?) precedent for themselves. With the first GOW, they’d set the bar really high. With GOW2, they not only leapt over…

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If gaming through Egypt is your bag, well, there is no shortage of titles. Looking for a light game that will highlight your architectural prowess? Try Imhotep. Same question, but you’re going for more of a date night? Imhotep: The Duel. Same question, but less light? Egizia: Shifting Sands. Same question, but with a different slice of umph? Faiyum. After building temples all over the place, maybe you’d like to actually be the gods. Go for Ankh: Gods of Egypt. Want to come back centuries later to dig up all those temples and gods? Go for Thebes.  

But if after all that building and fighting and settling and deifying, dying, and digging you find you’re interested in building again, maybe it’s time you took a look at Sobek: 2 Players from Pandasaurus Games. This specific title happens to be a refurbished and duel-ized version of a  Bruno Cathala design from 2010—originally called Sobek—that, by most accounts, was OK. 

The reprint gathers most of the core thematic elements and ideas behind the mechanical skeleton of Sobek and turns it into a lovely little duel that is more cute than killer, but has the potential for head games and interesting decisions. Now with an expansion on the market—Treasures of the Pharaoh—it’s time we took…

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Appearing in later editions of the One Thousand and One Nights, the stories of Sinbad the Sailor tell of a wealthy wayfarer who sails out on seven different journeys. On each of these journeys, calamity ensues and Sinbad is left destitute and adrift. But, using his wits and resourcefulness, he is always able to recoup his losses, exact his escape, and return home with delightful (and I daresay, lucrative) tales of his exploits. At the end of his seventh voyage, he decides he’s had enough of sailing and finally hangs up his hat for good.

Overview

1001 Islands,  the newest collaboration between Antoine Bauza (7 Wonders, Hanabi, Tokaido) and Bruno Cathala (Five Tribes, Kanagawa, Kingdomino) picks up sometime after that seventh voyage. The players take on the roles of Sinbad’s progeny as they voyage off on their own to rediscover the wonders described in their father’s tales—and presumably to determine whether he was telling the truth or just full of it—and, hopefully, create some stories of their own.

 
1001 Islands is a tile drafting, tableau building game. Each player’s tableau is a four by three grid composed of four different types of tiles. As the game begins, the tiles are separated…

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Buy Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road on Amazon

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Back Rulebenders on Kickstarter.

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If there is one thing that gets my board game heart going, it’s a big bag of meeples. I don’t care what shape or what color, hand me a large drawstring bag full of the most iconic image in board gaming and I’m in! Wait wait wait... There is a game with all of that and even more wooden bits? So, little wooden palaces, palm trees, and camels? And it's published by Days of Wonder?!

Enter Five Tribes.

Overview

Five tribes is a game of controlling the tribes of Naqala in hopes of becoming the the most influential leader of the legendary city. Set in the 1,001 Nights mythos, it is a game filled with the beautiful imagery of the Tales of the Arabian Nights. Djinns, camels, palaces, oasis’, and mystical lands are lathered onto Five Tribes to create memorable and beautiful art that will really stick with you.

In this game each player will be vying for power through influencing all five different colored meeples that each represent one of the five tribes. Each tribe has a special ability that will give you some sort of power when used. In addition, each of the 30 tiles that…

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Yspahan Overview

In Yspahan, you're attempting to build souks in the most prosperous neighborhoods to increase your wealth, use your influence with the Shah's supervisor to control the marketplace and send your goods, and those of your opponents, to far off lands in caravans destined for the desert. But don't delay, you only have three weeks before the markets close and the caravans begin their journey East.

How to Setup Yspahan

To set up a game of Yspahan lay out the City board in the middle of the table. At the top left corner of the City board place a white cube on the "1" space of the Day tracker (1-7), a white cube on the "I" space of the Week tracker (I - III), and the Supervisor (white pawn) at the center of the crossroads.

Place the Tower board off to the side within reach of all players. Lay out the 9 white dice and 3 gold dice next to the Tower board. Sort the camels and gold coins into separate piles and put them next to the Tower board. Shuffle the cards and place them near the Tower board as well. Place the Caravan board off to the side.

Each player receives 2 gold…

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