Card Games

In-depth reviews of all the card games I've played, from quick hand-management fillers to deep drafting and engine-building experiences. Find your next favorite game to shuffle up and play.

The Vale of Eternity Review

Rating: (2.8)

The Vale of Eternity distills TCG gameplay into a pure engine builder that sounds awesome on paper but lacks that special sauce.

Duel for Cardia Review

Rating: (3.9)

Duel for Cardia is one of the cleanest, fastest, and most replayable 2-player card duels ever made—and it only gets better the more you play it.

Tag Team Review

Rating: (5.0)

Build your deck and see where fate takes you! Tag Team is my favorite 2-player dueling card game of all time.

Quiddler Review

Rating: (1.6)

Quiddler is a card-based word building game that squanders its Scrabble-like premise by being too random and overstaying its welcome.

That's Not a Hat Review

Rating: (3.7)

A memory-driven party game that you can win even if you have terrible memory? For that alone, That's Not a Hat deserves some praise.

Agent Avenue Review

Rating: (4.6)

Agent Avenue is an outstanding two-player cat-and-mouse card game that plays fast while dripping with tension, deception, and excitement.

Mindbug Review

Rating: (4.3)

Mindbug is an excellent two-player dueling card that's fast and simple, with one special twist that elevates it to true greatness.

Sea Salt & Paper Review

Rating: (2.0)

Sea Salt and Paper is a quaint little card game that feels a lot like those messy homemade card games you might've come up with as a kid.

Point Salad Review

Rating: (2.4)

Point Salad is a simple card drafting game about collecting veggies for salads.

Archeos Society Review

Rating: (3.6)

Archeos Society is a brilliant set collection card game that's brought down a few pegs by its overly clunky production.

Castle Combo Review

Rating: (4.6)

Castle Combo is a simple card game about drafting the best nine-card tableau to score the most points. It's fast, fun, and replayable.

Let's Go! To Japan Review

Rating: (2.1)

Let's Go! To Japan uses card drafting and tableau building to simulate what it'd be like to plan a week-long trip to Japan's Tokyo and Kyoto.

Wildstyle Review

Rating: (4.1)

Wildstyle is a uniquely fun real-time game where you try to control territory on a central board by quickly collecting sets of cards.

Caper: Europe Review

Rating: (4.0)

Caper: Europe is a two-player card game about pulling off heists with card drafting, set collection, and tableau building.

Heat: Pedal to the Metal Review

Rating: (3.9)

Heat: Pedal to the Metal is a racing board game where smart card play and efficient maneuvering will get you across the finish line first.

One Deck Galaxy Review

Rating: (3.1)

One Deck Galaxy is a tableau-style dice game where you build up a space civilization and take down an Adversary before it's too late!

Mission: Red Planet Review

Rating: (3.7)

Mission: Red Planet is a strategic game that blends area control with simultaneous action selection for tense mind games and conflicts.

7 Wonders: Architects Review

Rating: (2.8)

7 Wonders: Architect is a beautifully produced set collection game where you're racing to construct your Wonder of the World.

One Deck Dungeon Review

Rating: (3.0)

One Deck Dungeon is a dice-rolling game that simulates a dungeon crawl, complete with items, skills, and a boss at the end of every dungeon.

Fugitive Review

Rating: (4.0)

Fugitive is a two-player hidden movement game that blends bluffing with deduction to create a tense, thinky battle of wits.

Grove Review

Rating: (4.6)

Grove is a solo puzzle-style microgame that involves the strategic overlapping of cards and dice to score as highly as you can.

Romi Rami Review

Rating: (2.9)

Romi Rami is a compact card game that puts a few modern twists on traditional rummy-style gameplay.

Love Letter Review

Rating: (1.5)

Love Letter is a tiny game comprised of just 16 cards for 2 to 4 players. How well does it hold up after all these years?

Timeline: Inventions Review

Rating: (2.7)

Timeline: Inventions is a quick micro card game that's better than you might expect from its premise. It certainly surprised me.