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Botanicus

In February this year, I said goodbye to Board Game Arena as a full-time developer after having worked there for about two and a half years. Working with the team there was a total pleasure, both because I liked my colleagues so much and because I was (and remain) a big fan of the website. I was sad to leave, but felt I needed to take control of my own time again and return to freelancing. As a freelancer, I have the freedom to dedicate the hours I want to my work, and to explore my personal projects when I wish to. I also get to have many different projects with various clients on the go at once, which suits me very well: I thrive on variety!

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A Feast for Probabilities

In somewhat of a break from Uwe Rosenberg's usual worker placement games, A Feast for Odin introduced an element of luck in the form of die rolls. These die rolls come in two flavours:

• Hunting/snaring/whaling - where you aim to roll low
• Raiding/pillaging - where you aim to roll high

Under normal circumstances, you are allowed up to three rolls to get the result you want. After you stop rolling, you may spend resources and cards to further modify the result. I never really know how many resources and cards I need before I should risk using these spaces, so I thought I'd do a quick probability run-down. This also serves to determine how large the element of luck actually is...

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Sobek: 2 Players

I have really enjoyed the boom in dedicated two-player games, and I own several: Le Havre: The Inland Port, Caverna: Cave vs Cave, Agricola: All Creatures Big And Small, Patchwork and, taking the crown, 7 Wonders: Duel. With a tighter design, I think they usually play much better than games which try to adapt for a variable number of players.

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A Feast for Odin

Since I was first exposed to it, Agricola has been one of my favourite boardgames. As a student I used to go and visit friends and go on (what we called) "all-night Agricola benders". Agricola's designer, Uwe Rosenberg, is a real heavyweight of the boardgaming world, and he has made many another game I adore too; of which I am a proud owner of many!

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Skull

Skull is a beautiful party game which revolves around bluffing, and marks my fourth released adaptation on BGA. It comes from designer Hervé Marly. Each turn you must play either play a facedown coaster (either a Skull or a Flower), or assert that you can turn over a certain number of Flowers without revealing any Skulls... The twist is that you must always turn over your own coasters first - so if you place a bid, you are implying you don't have Skulls on your mat. But perhaps you are just trying to goad other players into bidding higher!

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Rest In Peace

My third adaptation for Board Game Arena is now live: Rest In Peace is a 2-player boardgame, designed by Fabien Gridel and published by Blue Cocker Games.

In the game, you have to decide which tokens to fight for, and which to cede to your opponent. You need tokens to win the game, but giving one up affords you a powerful Psychic card which can have big impacts on the game...

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Abyss

Abyss is a 4-player boardgame, by game-design titans Bruno Cathala and Charles Chevalier. I'm excited to have created the implementation for this game over at Board Game Arena, where the game has just been officially announced.

The art in the game is beautiful, and even more so with the physical version. You collect "Ally" cards in your hand, and use them to purchase "Lords". The Lords are worth points, and usually come with a one-off or passive effect. It's one of those games which is pretty simple when you look at the rules, but nonetheless it feels satisying and deep. You are playing in the Deeps, after all...

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Polis

Polis: Fight for the Hegemony is a two-player asymmetrical territory-control board game. I'm usually cautious of territory control games, but Polis avoids most of my reservations. Firstly, it's strictly two player which means there is no kingmaking to contend with. Secondly, the game is exactly four rounds long so you don't have to play for aeons after a loss becomes evident. Its asymmetry is exciting, and the theme is strong.

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