After three hours of shuffling pawns, settling territory disputes, and jockeying for influence over various cults, the board is a confusing maze of interlocking structures and disputed tiles. And now… it’s time for the thing we all hate: final scoring. In Terra Mystica Fire and Ice, points aren’t awarded for sheer number of buildings. Points … Read more

With the Carcassonne: Traders & Builders expansion, Carcassonne transforms from a spatial puzzle game into an economic strategy contest where you must manage not only placement of tiles, but also time and supply chains. The calculator handles the arithmetic so you can focus on the tactical implications. Instead of doing math in your head, the … Read more

At the conclusion of a lengthy Caverna session, after all has been said and done, someone eventually wins, but the counting process can be a tedious chore that drags out the victory lap… And minds often wander as players tally everything up. All those resources is strewn about the table alongside half-baked plans, and players … Read more

Seven Wonders is a frustrating game to play, in that someone might hit you with a powerful military move while you’re building science sets and suddenly it’s all falling apart. Maybe you think you did everything right, but the score tells a different story. Leaders become a wild card that can ruin an otherwise calm … Read more

Seven Wonders has a score phase where addition alone isn’t enough. In fact, it is more like a check of your whole civilization. With the Armada expansion, there are also some complicated trade routes that people can easily mess up, island cards, and new naval tracks to add to the mix. That’s when the calculator … Read more

At the end of a Dominion Seaside game, it sometimes feels like a last-minute scramble to do quick accounting on the fly. Yes, you’re winning (or losing) by a few, but there are still Pirate Ship tokens lying around, some Islands left out of your draw pile, and leftover duration cards on your board that … Read more

In Dominion, winning or losing are determined by the scoring phase. You’ve bought cards, shuffled your deck, and you’re down to one last calculation: What’s each card worth? It is not just about basic cards; you might even draw a Duke at the end of the game. That might be more valuable then a Province … Read more