Action-Selection

2022 · 1-4 Players · 90-120 min · Competitive / Economic Strategy

Carnegie delivers one of the tightest, most satisfying euro experiences of its era. The action selection system creates constant player interaction, the puzzle of lining up employees with departments is deeply engaging, and Ian O'Toole's art gives it tremendous table presence. It deserves a bigger audience than it has found so far. For groups that enjoy medium-heavy economic games with meaningful player interaction, Carnegie is one of the best options available.

2007 · 2-4 Players · ~30-60 min · Competitive

Race for the Galaxy is a brilliant card game buried under one of the steepest learning curves in the hobby. Players who push through the initial confusion with its iconography discover a fast, deep, and endlessly replayable engine-building experience that rewards pattern recognition and strategic flexibility. It's not for everyone, and it knows it. For the audience it's built for, very few card games have ever been better.

2020 · 1-4 Players · ~90-120 min · Competitive

Praga Caput Regni is a beautifully crafted heavy euro about building medieval Prague that weaves multiple action tracks and city development into a cohesive strategic experience with remarkable depth.

2004 · 2-4 Players · 30-60 min · Competitive

San Juan distills the Puerto Rico experience into a card game that plays in half the time and teaches in a fraction of the rules. The multi-use cards create a tight economic puzzle where every discard is a building you're not constructing, and the role selection keeps games interactive despite the competitive focus. It lacks the strategic depth of its famous parent and the card variety can feel limited after many plays. But as a medium-weight card game that captures the core satisfaction of building a colonial economy, San Juan remains a strong design two decades after its release.

2018 · 2-5 Players · 45-75 min · Competitive

New Frontiers brings the Race for the Galaxy system into a board game format with physical tiles and a shared action selection mechanism. The result is more accessible than Race and more strategic than Roll, occupying a comfortable middle ground. The longer play time and physical components give the engine-building a tangible quality that the card and dice versions lack. It struggles to justify itself for groups that already own one of its siblings, and the action selection doesn't create the same tension as Puerto Rico's role selection. For groups wanting a board game version of the Race for the Galaxy universe, New Frontiers is a solid if unspectacular entry.

2020 · 1-4 Players · ~70-100 min · Competitive

Bonfire is Stefan Feld at his most ambitious and most polarizing, layering interlocking mechanisms into a fantasy euro that rewards committed study but struggles to justify its own complexity. The fate tile system and path-building puzzle create genuine strategic depth for players willing to invest multiple sessions in learning its rhythms. But the sheer density of interconnected subsystems pushes many groups past the point where complexity enhances fun, making this a game that splits Feld's audience down the middle.

2023 · 1-4 Players · ~50-100 min · Competitive

Septima delivers one of the most interesting action selection mechanisms in recent memory, where matching another player's chosen action grants a powerful bonus but raises suspicion from the townsfolk. Its witchcraft theme is beautifully realized through the artwork, and the negotiation that flows from the matching system keeps every player engaged throughout. Heavy administrative upkeep disrupts the flow of play, the witch trials lean too hard on luck, and games regularly run well past the box's time estimate. For groups that can look past the bookkeeping, there's a clever and interactive strategy game here that rewards table talk and careful timing.