Stonemaier

2024 · 1-5 Players · ~60-90 min · Competitive

Wyrmspan adapts Wingspan's engine-building framework to a dragon-cave theme and adds meaningful mechanical improvements that address several of the original's criticisms. The cave exploration system creates a spatial element that Wingspan lacked, and the dragon cards feel more impactful than their avian counterparts. It's a better mechanical game that lives in the shadow of Wingspan's cultural phenomenon, and the dragon theme, while appealing, doesn't generate the same educational charm that made Wingspan special.

2021 · 1-5 Players · ~90-120 min · Competitive

Tapestry: Plans and Ploys is the expansion assigned the hardest job in the Stonemaier catalog, adding depth and interaction to a base game the hobby never stopped arguing about. New civilizations widen the variable-power roster, landmark cards finally give the game's gorgeous miniature buildings strategic purpose beyond table decoration, and the added layer of objectives brings a welcome dose of direction to the point-salad sprawl. What it can't do is settle the Tapestry argument itself, the base game's swingy civilizations and abstracted civ-building remain exactly as divisive underneath. For tables that already enjoy the engine, it's a clear upgrade. For skeptics, it's a nicer coat on the same weather.

2022 · 1-6 Players · ~60-90 min · Cooperative

Viticulture World performs an unlikely conversion, turning the beloved competitive vineyard into a fully cooperative game where up to six players race a shared innovation track against a seven-season clock. The transplant mostly takes, worker placement re-tuned so the group's spatial puzzle replaces the rivalry, continent modules varying each campaign, and wins arriving honestly uncertain. But the surgery costs something the faithful miss, the sly tension of racing rival vintners, and the co-op's swingy card dependencies plus quarterback vulnerability keep it a curiosity in most collections rather than the main pour. A generous experiment, best appreciated as a different wine entirely.

2019 · 1-5 Players · 90-120 min · Competitive

Tapestry is a game of contradictions. It looks like a deep civilization builder, plays more like a medium-weight engine optimizer, and sparks more debate than almost anything else in its price range. The production quality is outstanding, the core loop is satisfying, and the solo Automa works well. But balance issues across its many civilizations and a heavy reliance on luck through card draws keep it from being the game many people hoped it would be. If you can accept it for what it is rather than what the box suggests, there's a solid and accessible strategy game here.

2017 · 1-6 Players · ~45-75 min · Competitive

Charterstone attempts to bring the legacy format to a lighter, friendlier weight class, and partially succeeds through its charming village-building premise and the satisfaction of permanently adding buildings to a shared board. The twelve-game campaign starts promisingly but loses momentum in the middle sessions, and the mechanical depth never reaches the level needed to sustain interest across a full campaign. The recharge pack option for replaying is a nice idea undermined by a game that most groups don't feel compelled to revisit.