These 120+ Games Didn't Survive My Shelf
A free Google Sheet of every game I've culled, when, and why, plus an index of all my reviews. Updated monthly. Join my newsletter to get it.
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Joel Lee
Joel is an omnigamer who unrepentantly lives for family-style board games, but also enjoys everything from lighter fare to midweight titles. All game mechanics are fair game and the entire spectrum of Euro-style to American-style games are fun under the right circumstances.
He's based in the Philadelphia area and loves to play, watch, research, buy, trade, and write about board games and card games.
Klask Review
Simple to teach, tense to play, and worth keeping. This magnetic two-player shootout rewards good aim and fast reflexes over sheer power.
The Best Cooperative Board Games
I've played dozens of cooperative board games over the years. Here are the ones that earned a spot on my shelf—and a few that didn't.
Lost Cities Review
Plain on paper, suffocating to play. My wife and I are still hooked on this small two-player card game even after dozens of plays.
The Best Board Gaming Accessories
Some accessories are game-changing. Others are a waste of money. Here are my favorites and regrets from over the years.
Galaxy Trucker Review
Galaxy Trucker is a party game with a strategy game's bite. You'll build a ship, send it off into space, and watch it fall apart before your eyes.
The 20 Best Clean, No-Mess Snacks for Playing Cards and Board Games
Tired of your cards and components getting dirtied up after every game night? Try serving these cleaner-to-eat foods instead!
Dorfromantik: The Board Game Review
Dorfromantik: The Board Game is a cozy, cooperative tile-laying game that's nowhere near as boring as some might have you believe.
Dice Throne Review
Dice Throne is a 2-player dice battler that nails push-your-luck tension and deepens it with a layer of strategic card play.
Harmonies Review
Harmonies is a beautiful tile-drafting puzzle game that plays best when you're the only one at the table.
Spirits of the Wild: Awakening Review
Spirits of the Wild: Awakening is a 2-player stone-drafting game that isn't mean, but it'll make you sweat every turn anyway.
So Clover! Review
So Clover! is a party-style word association game that's nearly flawless at 2 players but worse as the player count grows.
Creature Caravan Review
Creature Caravan is a tableau-building dice game overflowing with ideas, but too aimless and wearisome for its own good.
Boop Shuffle Review
Boop Shuffle is an adorable card-driven abstract strategy game with real tactical bite, but luck can derail even the best plans.
Kinfire Delve Review
Kinfire Delve is a cooperative deck game that's so gorgeous, it almost distracts from how much it grinds you down.
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea Review
The Crew: Mission Deep Sea is a cooperative trick-taking card game that turns silence into a rich deductive experience.
Toy Battle Review
Toy Battle is a two-player area control game that borrows from Stratego and Scrabble, a tense war of deduction that doesn't hurt when you lose.
ORBIT Review
ORBIT is a fast hand management race in space, where nobody can plan five turns ahead and the standings can shift on a dime.
The Guild of Merchant Explorers Review
The Guild of Merchant Explorers is a route-building puzzle game that's pure multiplayer solitaire, and pure solitaire is where it shines brightest.
Taco Loco Review
Taco Loco is a dead-simple card game that's easy to learn, impossible to care about, and not worth your table time.
Moonrollers Review
Moonrollers is a dice-chucking push-your-luck game with a genuinely addictive re-roll loop. It earns its spot on my shelf.
Codenames: Duet Review
Codenames: Duet is a cooperative word game that clicks instantly for the right two people... and falls flat for everyone else.
Scout Review
Scout is a ladder-climbing card game with a novel twist and a great first impression, but it unravels with every subsequent play.
Ito Review
Ito is a cooperative party game that's charming in theory, frustrating in practice, and only worth owning in one specific situation.
The Isle of Cats Duel Review
The Isle of Cats Duel has a great polyomino puzzle at its core. Too bad the "Duel" part barely shows up.
Jaipur Review
Jaipur earns its reputation as the perfect couples game, but can a game this simple have much staying power?
Where I Buy Board Games Online: The Sites I Trust and Don't Trust
Here are the most reputable online board game retailers and sites that I've actually shopped at and haven't been let down by.
Mille Fiori Review
Mille Fiori is a deceptively simple draft-and-place game that hides more tension than some games twice its weight.
Push Review
Push is a fast card game that makes gamblers out of everyone at the table... and somehow never wears out its welcome.
Chronicles of Crime Review
Chronicles of Crime puts you in charge of a murder mystery case and trusts you to solve it on your own—perhaps a bit too much.
Canvas Review
Canvas is one of the most impressive games I've gotten rid of.