I'm not saying Slay the Spire: The Board Game is better than the original

Someone please pass me my hat - for I must eat it. Devour it whole, with fixings! Dear viewer, can you blame me for taking one look at Slay the Spire: The Board Game and every single one of my sceptical reviewier instincts kicking into full gear? In an industry replete with video game after video game after video game having it’s own little board game offspring and so many of them being, let’s not mince words, quite poor - it was only reasonable to asume that this one will not be somehow different.

But my job isn’t to asume. My job is to set those feelings aside and actually try things and my gosh am I glad I gave this one a chance. In every single step Slay the Spire: The Board Game surprised me and subverted my expectations.

Efka's Top Ten Games of All Time

Can you believe we haven't made a main channel Top Ten video since 2017? Such is our commitment to not list (very often) but today our dear fellow patrons we list in style. Please take a seat, grab a plate, here's some napkins, dinner is just being served. Efka's Top Ten Board games.

Hoplomachus: Victorum Made Me Very Tired

Board games can be a lot to handle. Sometimes that doesn’t stop us. The mythical experience, the promise of something great at the other end of the rules is enough to keep us persevering, learning, untangling. But sometimes you pick apart a rubber band ball to find that all you have left is a bunch of rubber bands. Hoplomachus: Victorum is perhaps the best example of this phenomenon, a rich, indulgent, complex game that hides very little behind it’s bombastic veneer.

I’ve spent many hours engaging in false starts, gripping rulebooks, FAQs, youtube tutorials and playthroughs to understand this system at a level where I felt tactically capable of navigating it only to find that once I got there, there wasn’t much left.

Which is a darn shame. Hoplomachus: Victorum is a one player only game, and I was quite excited to explore a system with so much space exclusively designed as a solo experience. I wanted richness and depth, yet sometimes richness and depth isn’t enough. You also need pacing, structure, a rewarding experience, all things plenty present in other designs.

For more on Hoplomachus: Victorum, watch our video review.

Long Shot: The Dice Game vs Winner's Circle

Giddyup cowpeople! Or horsepeople? I’m already confused. Let’s make it a little less beefuddling by clearly and concisely pitting two games against each other and seeing which horcing game is the winner (pun included) and which one’s gonna retire to the pastures.

Project: Elite Review

Let’s face it, we’re not the target audience for this game. NPI has always been a staunch resistor of “Big Kickstarter,” and upon initial glance, this is one of the genre’s naffer offerings. Generic theme? Check. Generic minis? Check check check check check. But any ol’ cardboard doesn’t just get featured in an NPI review so maybe there’s something hiding behind the plastic.

Project: Elite is a real time dice chucking madness simulator where every second you feel like you’re on fire - and trust me, you won’t have time to check whether that fire’s coming from an alien’s mouth or your own gun accidentally pointed at you. Appropriately, Project: Elite isn’t a game of high stakes action - it’s a game of foibles and a comedy of errors.

So let your guard down for a moment and let this plastic wash over you as we tell you why exactly is it that maybe, against all odds, this game won over our hearts.

Pax Pamir Review

Frequently, before the publishing of this review, we got messages from our viewers expressing hope. As in, they hoped we would like this game. Let us say right now, Pax Pamir is a game like no other. Job done. Why even watch the video?

What we mean by “like no other” is that it’ll astound like no other, envelop like no other and confound like no other. It’s not uncommon to expect reviewers to dish out verdicts, but we see our job less as judges and more as guides. So if you’d like to know whether Pax Pamir is for you, then go on. Click that play button.

Batman: Gotham City Chronicles Review

Here he comes, here comes the Batman - he’s a demon on wings. And he’s gonna sell you a big box of plastic. Just before we rush off to UK Games Expo we want to leave a little review we have made for you of a teeny tiny game about a caped crusader and his, as it turns out by counting all the other miniatures in the box, seventeen thousand friends and enemies.

And since this is quite a long video, we’ll just let it do the talking. Hope you enjoy the review!

We're on Kickstarter!

Hello dear NPI Viewer!

We’re very happy to announce that our Kickstarter campaign is live and we could really use your support. No Pun Included is built on viewer donations and without you, your love, your support and dedication we cannot keep going. Please check out our campaign page and maybe throw some money at us. We’ll be eternally grateful.

Elaine & Efka