74 November/December 2021
BEST THEME
Durian $23Oink Games essentially priori
tizes travel with its line of
extremely compact, fun games.
One of its latest releases is this
bluffing game, in which you play
as clerks in a jungle fruit shop.
Every player has an inventory
card in front of them that they
can’t see, and you have to decide
each turn: Take another order, or
are there more orders than your
total inventory will allow?
Oink Games, in general,
focuses on creative themes,
colorful art, and simplebut
engaging gameplay. And Durian
is no exception. Its fastpaced
play and quick turns are great for
latenight gaming.BEST FOR ADULTS
The Castles of
Tuscany $47It’s hard to put together a list
of good games that doesn’t
include at least one set in the
Renaissance, and our pick from
the latest batch is The Castles
of Tuscany. Players must create
an appealing region to rule by
gathering cards that allow them
to play tiles that provide actions,
bonuses, or even another turn.
The cool thing is how these chain
together to earn you points.
Publisher Ravensburger bal
ances complex and interesting
gameplay without making it
overwhelming. While you can
specialize in one tile type to start,
you won’t be able to win without
a variety. This lets players pick a
strategy that works for them at
the beginning and grow that as
they learn the game’s mechanics.BEST FOR PARTIES
Stay Cool $25
Stay Cool’s premise is simple:
One player has red cards, the
other has blue cards, and they
take turns asking questions to
a third player. That person must
answer aloud or with a set of
lettered dice. The problem is
there’s a timer. How good are
you at multitasking?
Stay Cool achieves what many
party games aspire toward—a
limited form of player trauma.
And it looks great while doing it.
The colors are inviting, to distract
from the increasing difficulty.
BEST LONG GAME
Dominations: Road to Civilization $60Dominations: Road to Civilization is a sprawling, strategic board game.
It challenges players to take a society in its infancy and use Knowledge
and Mastery to build camps, cities, and monuments over three eras.
The core game is simple: Every turn, you place a tile and collect Knowl
edge (the primary resource) based on that tile and the adjacent ones.
What happens next is where it gets interesting and requires some
planning: Do you spend that Knowledge on new cities? Do you con
struct a monument? Do you develop Mastery in certain skills to give
yourself a future edge?
No matter what you choose, the game has a lot to offer over its two
to threehour runtime, making it a great choice for players who are
looking for a deep, challenging game that they won’t need to spend
the whole day playing. It also looks great on the table, with colorful
tiles and 3D monuments that stand above the camps and cities to
really give the game a sense of scale. LAKOTA GAMBILL (TUSCANY); COURTESY RANDOLPH (STAY COOL); COURTESY HOLY GRAIL GAMES (DOMINATIONS); COURTESY OINK GAMES (DURIAN)