The day after Rivages hit the Meeple Guild table, I found myself looking up what the…
Calvin Daniels
Calvin Daniels is a Saskatchewan-born, self-taught journalist. He is currently Editor of Yorkton This Week, with 35-years in the newspaper business.
Easily a Top-Five Game of 2025
As the year winds down, it’s the season when the Meeple Guild starts assembling our individual…
Looks Fabulous, but Play Eluded Us a Bit
Oh, how good this one looks. Paintscape, designed by Michael Amundsen, has been around since its…
More Game Than One Might Expect
As you might expect, a game called Flower Shop ends up looking rather nice on the…
One of the Best New Games Played in 2025
One of the great things about receiving a package of games from Kanare Kato and Kanare_Abstract…
Helios Lizardfolk Are the Best “Encounter Box” to Date
For many gamers, fun is inseparable from moving painted miniatures around the table. That might mean…
J’emme Expands Potential With Up to Eight Players
When J’emme arrived, the rules were entirely in French. Fortunately, the daughter of one of our…
Sharpen Your Mind With This “Boxy” Charmer
Board games are wonderfully diverse. Even after playing hundreds over the years, there are still those…
Hex Factor: A Most Pleasant Surprise
Sometimes a game surprises you simply because it plays unlike anything else on your shelf. Hex…
Solitaire Dungeon Crawler Meets Chess in a Wonderful Marriage
The idea of a print-and-play solo game where you navigate a dungeon using the movement rules…
Far from Chess, and a Long Way from Fun Too
To start, a pet peeve in the world of board games is slapping the word chess…
A Very Solid Addition to Solitaire Card Games
If you are a board gamer and own a standard deck of playing cards, you have…
Awesome Card Battler Using a Standard Deck of Cards
I shuffled my deck of cards with a rather high level of expectation as Trevor and…
Good Looks Matched by Solid Play
Some games just wow you with their production quality. That is most certainly the case with…
Dice ‘Chuckers’ Are Rarely as Gratifying as Stakeout
Up-front, dice and I have traditionally had what might best be described as a hate/hate relationship.…
Don’t Go Over the Falls as You Collect Gems
Niagara is a different experience from the usual titles that make it to our Meeple Guild…
Wooden Version Adds to the Appeal of KNJO
KNJO proved oddly difficult for both me and my usual abstract-strategy partner, Trevor, to form a…
Great Book Offers Up a Fine Card Game
This review is a bit different. It begins with the novel Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding—the…
Flash Flood Just a Bit Too Simple
Having reviewed several games from prolific designer David McCord and others published through NewVenture Games (www.newventuregames.com),…
Solo Word Game a Fine Time Filler
This review is perhaps a bit off-brand, in that Q-Less isn’t exactly a traditional game. It’s…
Quirky Characters and Simple Rules Make This a Charmer
Some games charm you from the moment you tear off the cellophane. Cube Creatures is one…
A Surprising Mind-Twister
If The Meeple Guild were to categorize 2025, it might be remembered as the year when…
Warcrow book exudes quality
Here’s a polished and professional version of your review — keeping your voice and enthusiasm intact,…
Fun foray in sports by rolling dice
Roll-and-write games really run the gamut — from the purely superficial to the deeply strategic —…
Going Last Typically a Key
It’s always interesting when a game hits the table and teaches you something new. HOD is…
A Fresh Look at Kobolds for an RPG Classic
I’ll start with a confession: I’m not a fan of Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition. It’s…
A Lot of Game in a Small Wooden Box
When a game arrives in a wooden box with labeling that looks as though it could…
Clans of Chayil Offers RPGers Much That Is Fresh
Yes, there are plenty of role-playing games out there, so when a new one appears, the…
Lay the tiles, create a railroad
If you like tile-laying games — a favorite for most in The Meeple Guild — then…
Build a ship and head into battle
There’s something about the idea of building a rocket ship and heading to the stars to…
Butterfly Kingdom a fresh rummy-esque offering
I’ll admit it right up front: I like card games—typically more than others in The Meeple…
‘Jack’: A Fine-Looking Solo Filler
“Your mission: catch Jack before he strikes again. Trace your path on the map, defeat the…