Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City is a competitive game in which 1 to 4 players take on the role of ruthless gangs vying for control of the underground in the glittering hellhole that is Night City. Clash with other Gangs in the meat or on the Net, as your enterprising band of toughs seeks to gain dominance over the criminal underworld that rules the streets. Only the boldest will be remembered, and your Street Cred will pave your way to the top.

This week in our special outdoor tropical edition of HotGameMagnet we talk about one of my top favorite games of 2024. Cyberpunk 2077: Gangs of Night City is a gritty futuristic slugfest of underworld crime and street level dominance. Control is fleeting and life is cheep. We loved the theme, art and color of this game. We were also very impressed by the amount of replayability that comes from the many modular elements as well as a very clever mission system.

This is one of those games that so far my main gripe is that we don't have the time to play it more.

It's been a long hiatus since our last episode but we are back and excited to bring you our latest boardgame reviews! 

This week we talk about a game that is already a strong contender for my game of the year, Tokyo Highway Rainbow City! This game is based on Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway known for its distinctive metropolitan structure.

Tokyo Highway has a unique design with no board and no game board spaces. Players compete to build roads across each other’s highway and to place their cars. A unique architectural 3-dimensional space will be created on the table following the simple building guidelines.

This fun and clever design is something we've come to expect from Japanese Game maker Itten games. Some of there previous titles include Crash Octopus and the fun brick series. These are all games that are worth checking out, and if you get the chance to grab one you should take it. They are not always easy to get, outside of Japan.

We also have a good talk about two other games we played this week. Blokus and hand to hand wombat. Listen until the end if you would like to know how we felt about these games as well.

It's generally frownded upon in civilized society to make your pets fight other peoples pets for entertainment. Their are a few exceptions, like pokemon, or when you have multiple suitors. Another exeption is Kabuto Sumo. 

In Kabuto Sumo, you battle for supremacy in the ring with your own pet bettle wrestler. The gameplay of Kabuto Sumo resembles the coin-pusher arcade games in which you strategically drop quarters and anxiously anticipate coins cascading off the platform. This game features a similar experience, with you trying to strategically slide pieces onto the board and push the other players out of the ring. It's an exciting combination of dexterity, strategy, and luck.

One bit of warning. If you are hoping to play a game about saving the forest from fire, then this is not that game at all. Your goal is basically the opposite, and you win by spreading the fire as much as you can to burn up every other player's fire tower and be the last player left alive.

It's actually very fun! LOL!

When I was a kid I used to pretend that I was a mad scientist and I used my science skills to make insain monsters. All for the greater good of Humanity of course. I recently discoverered Campy Creatures, a game about pretty much exactly that. I was imediately attracted to the cool retro-style artwork and the evil science theme. I was worried that it might be to simple but was plesently surprised by a level of engaging but simple game play that I haven't seen since love letter.

Campy Creatures is a  game of bluffing, deduction, and set collection for 2-5 players. Players begin each round with the same hand of creatures. Their goal is to capture valuable mortals by outguessing their opponents with the creatures they play. Each player has perfect information at the start, so knowing what a person might do in a particular situation is key.

What's the most fun thing about board games? For me it might be the opportunity to explore stories and possibilities through imagination while being able to engage with others and the game. For others it might be to crush their enemies, see them driven before them, and hear the lamentations of their women. To each their own, I guess. 
We recently got to play Unmatched battle of legends vol 2 and I absolutely love the imaginative and playful aspect of being able to match up legendary, mythical, and literary characters in a combat free for all for 2 - 4 players. It's highly asymmetrical but well balanced with simple rules. Plus, I get to find out how spiderman might do against Achillies, or how Sherlock Holmes would fair against Dracula.
Alison likes being able to crush her enemies and see them driven before her. Unfortunately, this game does not come with the lamentations of women. 

Sometimes the simplest games are the ones you play the most. Viking See-Saw is a new game from Itten Games and game designer Dr. Reinerkunitia. I'm a big fan of this Japanese boardgame company. They make beautiful small games that are deceptively simple and surprisingly fun. Viking See-Saw is the first game from their new Funbrick series of games. 

Expeditions is a new game within the 1920+ universe that was created by artist Jakub Rozalski. The game designer Jamey Stegmaier previously partnered with Jakub to create Scythe, which is a hugely popular game with multiple expansions. It also happens to be in my top 5 all-time favourite games. 
Expeditions is clearly something very new. It has the look and feel of Scythe, but the mechanics are substantially different. So much so that there is no way that one could consider expeditions to be another expansion to Scythe. 
We absolutely love Scythe, but having played it to death it has been a long while since we have been able to enter into the 1920+ universe of Jakub Rozalski. In expeditions the art is still provocative and engaging. I was instantly drawn to the story. However, what really makes or breaks the game is how well the new mechanics work. Does this new game capture the same feel as Scythe? Is it different enough to be worth playing? Does it live up to the hype of being a true sequel to Scythe, or could it even be a better game?

Hello fellow board game addicts. Are you looking for someone to help enable your cripling addiction? If yes, then you're in luck because this week we talk about all the games I currently want to buy and think that maybe you should buy as well. Listen in as we discuss the pros and cons of each entry and ultimately decide to buy everything. LOL! 

I always want games based on IP that I love but most of the time games based on popular shows or TV are pretty terrible. Consequently, I avoid buying games that are officially licened for TV and Movie IP. That being said, there are some exeptions. So far a have encountered a few very good games based on popular IP. Usually these games are from game companies that specialize in high quality board games with a strong focus on well developed game mechanics and high production value. THus, when I saw that CMON had produced a striaght to retail board game for stranger things (one of my favorite netflix shows) I knew that the game would probably be pretty good. After all CMON produced and outstanding game for the Godfather among others. I expected high quality mini's and components, Thematic game play, and unique well developed mechanics. Does Stranger Things -UPSIDE DOWN- live up to my expectations, and also provide a good game experience, or does the alchememy of CMON+Netflix not quite work? You should probably listen to the episode to find out our thoughts.

Zombicide: Gear Up Review & Kickstarter Roundup.

We have a few favourite things in boardgames. We like co-operative games. We like fast gameplay and replayability. We love Zombicide, but we also love compact games with quick set up and breakdown. 

When we discovered Zombicide: Gear Up we honestly didn't think it was going to be very good. A Cool Mini or Not game with no miniatures? A Zombicide game with no modular map and senerio book? Flip and Write? How could this possibly work? It's just not Zombicide!

We thought all these things and asked ourselves the questions but I bought it anyway because it was inexpensive and I was curious. I'm Glad we did! Holy cow! I continue to be amazed at how well CMON is able to adapt the Zombicide theme to new mechanics. The game is fast, fun, and absolutely feels like Zombicide.

We talk about Zombicide: Gear Up more in the episode and we also do a very quick round up of some the the games on kickstarter and in retail that we think might be amazing!

There are a lot of board games about buying and selling in a market. It's a very popular drama, and having played more than a few I can tell you it's actually very fun. Especially when you have a really cleaver premise combined with great art and solid mechanics. Ecavation Earth lets you play as an alien archaeologist scowerinng the ruins of humanity on an abandoned earth looking for cool stuff to sell or put in meusemums. It's full of helarious little easter eggs,but more importantly it's a very fun well designed euro. 

Century: Golem Edition is a re-themed version of Century: Spice Road set in the world of Caravania. In Century: Golem Edition, players are caravan leaders who travel the famed golem road to deliver crystals to the far reaches of the world.

We recently had the opertunity to play this popular reimplementation of Century: Spice Road from Plan B games. 

We had the chance to play more than a few games at the time but we chose to play Century: Golem more because it's a very fun game. The Mechanics, which are exactly the same as Century: Spice Road, are well designed and elegent. The theme and components are what took the game a step above for us. It's beautifully illustrated and well crafted with colorful "gems" and great inserts for easy set up.

Having played it we love it, but is it worthy of a spot in our collection? Listen to our Century: Golem Edition Review to find out.

Sometimes the things you suspect you wont enjoy turn out to be the things you enjoy the most. For example, lots of people think PB&J is gross without even trying it, but their wrong. I never wanted to play Rhino Hero Super Battle because I didn't like the yellow box. How silly was I. This is easily one of the best kids/family games I've played. 5 out of 5! I guess you really can't judge a game by its box. In other words, everybody should at least try PB&J. LOL! Also, we talk a bit about whats currently on kickstarter that looks good or interesting.

Hidden Movement is one of the most thematic mechanics in board gaming. There is just something about sneaking around the game board and springing traps on your opponent that really sucks you into the fantasy world of the game.

Beast by Studio Midhall is a perfect fit for this mechanic. I can't say enough how fun it is to sculk around the shadows of a primordial forest as an immense mythological monster. It is very satisfying to see your opponent struggle to figure out your whereabouts before you strike. Almost as satisfying as when you are playing as a hunter and manage to smite the beast.

Do we really need more Zombicide, Heavy Euros, or Niche game reprints? Yes. Yes we do. It's time again to check out all the games I'm trying to convince myself to back or not to back on kickstarter. The list is ever growing and always incomplete, but more than enough to eat up my paycheck anyway. What would you add to the list?

Feudum by Mark Swanson is one of my all-time favorite games, but after five expansions fans of the game are hungry for something new from its creator.

I had the opportunity to speak with Mark about the future of his company Odd Bird Games and he had some exciting news. 

He has been teasing in social media that a new game will be coming out, but in fact he has a total of three brand new games in the works that will be crowdfunding in 2023 and 2024. Mark had a lot to say about these new games, called FIR, FLED, and an as yet unnamed CCG.

If you're a fan a Feudum then this is a must listen episode, but to be honest after listening to this episode you will probably be a fan of everything Odd Bird Games has to offer.

What's better than Travel Games or Traving? Playing Travel Games while Traveling. I really like games that are set in a real-world location, and I kind of want to go all over the world and play games in the real-world city where they are set. There might be some exceptions to this. Anyway, On Tour Paris & New York contains two games about real-world cities for the price of one. It's pretty fun as well. LOL!

 Kingdom Death Monster is like no other game we have reviewed. It's easily the biggest, both in physical size and gameplay content. It is very dark. Very very dark, and gory, and violent, and really dark. However, it is at the same time artistically beautiful. Every miniature, every graphic, and illustration, even the choices of color feel part of one powerful artistic vision. It is heavily derivative of Japanese comic books, but at the same time it is completely unique and again every aspect of its narrative is by the uncompromising vision of the game's creator. It is the most expensive game I have come across, but of all the games I own it has the best value. Kingdom Death Monster is an overwhelmingly huge gaming experience, and this review is only our first cursory foray into this expansive and still growing game.

Getting your kids involved in the boardgame hobby is one of the major payoffs for parents who are avid gamers. It's not always so easy though. What if you're into heavy fantasy dungeon crawlers? How do you get your kids into that? There are a lot of kids' games and educational games out there, but let's be honest, most of them are just not fun. Zaberias is relatively new educational game. It's also a fantasy skirmish game. It's also really fun and it's also very accessible to kids. It's pretty educational as well. Okay, so maybe not all education kids' games are drag.

Chateau is a new Roll&Write game coming to kickstarter  as a Print&Play. We got the chance to check it out early when Rolling Rhino Games sent us a review copy. It's definitely a lot of fun, and it's interesting how well Roll&Write games work as a Print&Play. All you need is some dice, pencils and a printer. I wonder what other syles and Formats of games are a perfect match. Let us know what combonations you think are ideal.

I don't buy every game I like but I probably buy more than I should. that's okay. I've made my peace. It could be drugs, right? At least it's not drugs. It's now February and I've been up to my old tricks. Hanging around kickstarter pages. Perusing Facebook marketplace. Coveting surprise preorders. LOL. Anyway, I've made up a short list of the games I find most tantalizing, and we discuss the pros and cons of this month's kickstarter round up (KSRU). Let us know if I've convinced you to back a new game, or if I didn't include something that you think is just criminal not to include. This is fun. We do it for the fun. I can stop anytime.

I always wanted to be a skate boarder, but I grew up in the country with a dirt road and also, I didn't like all the falling down so I never really got to live the dream.  Pandasaurus games new release Skate Summer, grabbed me from the first, with its nostalgic promise to relive that childhood dream. It has some really interesting and unique mechanics, spot on artwork, and the creator clearly knows what they're talking about when it comes to skating. 

It's a promising game from a consistent company. Is it the perfect boardgame adaptation of the skater lifestyle? Do those interesting mechanics make for a solid fun game?

Listen in to find out if Skate Summer lands the trick, or totally bails.

When visiting the North of Britannia in 122 AD, the Roman Emperor Hadrian Augustus witnessed the aftermath of war between his armies and the savage Picts. In a show of Roman might, he ordered a wall to be built that would separate the Pict tribes from the rest of England. Grand in its design, the wall stretched 80 Roman miles, from coast to coast.

In the game, Hadrian's Wall from garphill games and Bobby Hill with art by Sam Phillips, it's your job to spend 6 years building and improving a 1-mile section of the impressive megastructure. each year you receive resources which you must spend wisely to make your mile castle prosper and repel the pictish attacks.

Although it is an intimidating game out of the box it is quick to learn and forgiving despite its complexity. If you enjoy games such as Dinosaur Island Roar and Write, or Raiders of Scythia this game might just be the perfect addition to your collection. 

Another Year come and gone. We played a lot of games. Some of them were good, some of them not so good, and some of them were pretty great. We went over every new game that we played this year and came six that we could both agree were or favorites. Find out what they are and find out what we each chose to be our 2022 best game of the year.

Mechanics are supremely important to a great game, but mechanics are not the only thing that makes a game great. Story, theme, and art are clearly very important as well. Namiji, the newest game from FunForge (the creators of Tokaido) has decent low weight mechanics and is a fun game to play. However, where it really shines is in the other three categories. Particularly Theme and Art. the Aesthetic is minimalist and combined with the theme of Zen appreciation the game is a gorgeous and charming experience.  

Zombicide is pretty much what got us into modern board gaming, so we are always exited to see a new version, and man do they every have a lot of versions. There is modern, medieval, sci-fi, western, a role and write and more. The latest version that we have had the chance to play is Marvel Zombies Heroes Resistance a minimized retail edition of the huge CMON and Spinmaster adaptation of the Marvel Zombies comic books. So, this version has some excellent fun new mechanics, but more than anything the big change is that it's small. The big question is whether Zombicide can hold up as a fun game when you take away most of the bells and whistles.

What's more fun than playing your favorite boardgame? Maybe nothing, but a close second is drooling over the latest list of upcoming boardgames that might just be your next favorite. It's time again for our kickstarter roundup. Let us know if you agree with our list.

We got to check out the Mayhem Games system from CMON with our kickstarter copies of Looney Tunes and Teen Titans Go from the CMON animation collection. 

Despite being called the Mayhem system I have to say the game is a lot more family fun and a lot less destruction and chaos. This could be a good or a bad thing depending on your expectations. For us it was a definite good thing.

So You've Been Eaten has to be one of the funniest premises for a game that we've come across. It also helps that the game has fun mechanics, great art, and is for 2 players. Also, it Plays in about 30 minutes which makes it great for the time poor. 

The hardest part about getting kids into board-games is probably dealing with their often very short attention spans. In this world of YouTube, TikToc and instagram influencers, kids don't really have a lot of patience for games with a lot of set up and gameplay. That's why we love it when we find a game that's fun, easy to learn and most importantly Quick to play. this week we look at 2MinuteDinoDeal. A game that, as it says in the title, takes only two minutes to play.

We love a good crunchy game with lots of paths to victory, but you know what, we also love a good simple game of smashing your enemies.

There is a bit more to Catapult Kingdom(Feud) but it definitely falls into the later category with it's action packed castle destroying game play. 

I've been trying really hard not to buy too many things on Kickstarter this year. Thanks a lot June! You've kicked me right off the wagon once again. Check out what kickstarter games are currently destroying my savings account. lol!

We love unique concepts combined with great gameplay. We recently got to preview Clash of Galliformes from Todys Design and it really did grab us. the game play is strategic and action packed, but what we really loved was the idea of waging war against each other using giant death dealing pheasants. We're pretty exited to jump on board the kickstarter launching on June 15th.

This week we talk about and do our Marvel Dice Throne Review. We've been playing this one for a few weeks after I found it on sale in EB Games. I've kind of wanted this one for a while because I've heard good things about Dice Throne, and I like Marvel stuff. Alison was not so keen on the Marvel stuff, but it is fun to compare the mechanics between this and similarly themed Games.

 In Marvel Dice Throne, you become one of eight of Marvel's most famous heroes, including Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, Loki, Thor, Doctor Strange, and Miles Morales Spider-man!

We actually only played with Scarlet Witch, Loki, Thor, and Miles Morales Spider-man since the other four characters are sold seperately. That bieng said, we have had plenty of fun with just them.

Is Marvel Dice Throne fun? Absolutely. Is it better than the other Marvel themed games that we have played? Listen to our Marvel Dice Throne Review to find out what we thought.

I've never had much interest in trains but I have to say, Railroad Ink is so well designed and beautifully illustrated I can almost see myself as a train enthusiast. At least I can while I'm playing the game.

Do you love ghost stories and Magic shows? I'm not sure if the metaphysical world is real but I love pretending. I don't really want to know how the rabbit got in the hat because I love feeling the magic. If this is how you feel you will probably want to play "The Mind" by Panadasaurus Games . It's such an interesting little game. I'm not so sure that it taps into anything supernatural, but it sure is fun to pretend. 

I can't believe it took us almost a year to get Ankh off the shelf and onto the table. Was it worth the wait? Could this be a contender for HotGameMagnet game of the year, or will it go back on the shelf never to be spoken of again?

Factories are not the funnest thing in the world. I think actually, they have a pretty strong reputation for being not at all fun. However, from the point of view of a child's imagination a factory could be a fantastical, colorful, and mind boggling place of fun and excitement. Not unlike that famous chocolate factory. This week we look at Factory Funner by BoardGameTables.com. A game that really taps into that place of imagination and fun for it's colorful theme. It's also a nice crunchy puzzle game that sets up fast for a quick satisfying game for 1-6 players.

Sometimes the best part of a game is the physical nature of it's mechanics. Potion Explosion is a perfect example. It's at it's core an excellent puzzle game, but what really makes it shine is the way it uses glass marbles to represent the explosive chemical reactions that drive the game play. 

Wow! 2022 is off too an exciting start with some awesome looking games up on kickstarter. One in particular looks to overshadow everything else, but hey, don't sell short the underdogs.

I'm not sure how many dinosaur themed games is too many, but I am sure we haven't hit that limit. This week we review God's Love Dinosaurs from Pandasuarus Games. Even though it is from the same company that created Dinosaur Island and Dinosaur World, God's Love Dinosaurs is it's own game with unique theme and mechanics. We really had a lot of fun with this one. Could this be our new favorite dinosaur game?

2021 as a pretty wild year, but through it all we got to play and review some excellent games. This is the end of our third year going at HotGameMagnet and it's time to pick our top five games for the year. let us know if you agree or if we've inspired you to try out some new games. Happy New Year!

Power Slam is a hand management card game designed to bring all the fun and excitement of professional wrestling to your table. If you are a huge wrestling fan, like the games creators, this might just be the perfect game for you.

We haven't done a kickstarter roundup in a while so I'm pretty excited to have a look at a few really cool games currently running funding campaigns. There's some role and writes, there's dice, and even a bit of time travel! 

Wow! 2023 is already almost over. The Holidays are on, and the new year is just around the corner. It has been a great year for us at HotGameMagnet. We got to play so many fantastic games. In fact, if i had any complaint it's just that we didn't have enough time to play every game all of the time. I guess that's somewhat unrealistic. Actually, I have another complaint. It was really hard to go through all the games that we played this year and pic only a few favorites. Let alone our top game of 2023!

It took us a while but we managed to narrow down the list to a few absolute dynamite selections. These games were jsut amazing, but we can only pic one game of the year each. I wonder if you can guess which was my favorite. 

Listen now to find out!

It's time to get into the fish displaying business. Aqua Garden By Uchibacoya is a cute and surprisingly cut throat game about building the most lovely (and profitable) aquarium. Fill your Aquarium with clown fish, sea turtles, and even whale sharks. Enjoy the beautifully crafted fish meeples but make sure that other aquariums don't get all the best displays before you do.

Dinosaur Island is one of our all time favorite games. It's not perfect but it perfectly captures the fun and imagination that dinosaurs inspire. A big part of that fun was the excessive amount of blingy components and available dinos to play with, or so I thought. Dinosaur Island Rawr 'n Write replaces all the meeples, and coins and literal stacks of dinos with not much more than a couple pads of paper and some cards, but oh my gosh is it ever fun! This could be our new favorite game for real!

This week we had the opportunity to speak with Jacek of Gindi games about Goldenstar: The Galactic Tournament. Goldenstar will be launching on October 5th on Gamefound. It was really interesting to talk about what goes into developing such a big game and a bit about all the new options available to creators for funding.

It took us 25 minutes to talk about a game that takes 5 minutes to play. Five Minute Marvel is a super quick game but oh my goodness, it's so fun. I did not expect this game to be such a hit, but it is already one of our top 5 games for the game group.