Pampero and Why Euro Games Don't Hit the Same Anymore

Is this harsh? I feel like this is harsh, right from the get go. But I’d be lying to you and myself if I didn’t admit that most euros just aren’t that special anymore. Has the genre peaked? Reached the plateau? Peak of the windmill?

Well, Pampero is here to say capital N capital O, it’s a euro that is HOT TO GO. With fancy components and innovative mechanisms it was ready to shake up a very stale scene and… crickets. The public concensus? It’s fine. So what happened here? What is it that’s so different about it? And why didn’t it land? All of that is the subject of today’s video.

But do stay till the very end for a very special announcement, if you’ve been a long time viewer and if you’ve enjoyed Bessie’s contributions to the channel, you won’t want to miss this.

Earthborne Rangers is One in a Million

Earthborne Rangers is a shower game. Don't actually play it in the shower, the cards will melt quicker than you can say "enviromentally sustainable." But do play it. And afterwards it will haunt your thoughts.

You'll think about Earthborne Rangers when you're having your lunch sandwich on a park bench, when you look out your kitchen window with your morning coffee, when you're walking your dog, and yes, every time you have a shower.

Earthborne Rangers is a game that stays with you because it's a game that gives more than it has. It's unusual structure ensures that every session ends with more lingering thoughts, questions, mysteries, that hook you in for just one more play.

Oh, and it's also a co-operative "LCG inspired" campaign game with all that deck construction cardy-combo goodness that you expect from games like Lord of the Rings and Arkham Horror the Card Games, but comparing it to those does it an injustice. It's so much more!

My Favourite Game: El Grande

Introducing - My Favourite Game. A series of videos focusing only the best of the best that board games have to offer. In each episode Efka and/or Elaine will regale us with tales of their favourite representative of a given board game genre. Finally! A video series that is absolutely guaranteed to provoke as many “do you even like board games?” comments as possible.

In our inaugural episode we’ll take a peek at El Grande, a modern classic all the way back from 1995 that very recently got a new coat of beige paint. El Grande is an area majority game a terse calculated fight over how many men you can round up into regions of Spain. It’s got a touch of numbers and heaps of deviousness and if that’s your marmalade - you’re in for a treat!

Kinfire Chronicles and The Era of $150 Board Games

I long resisted the idea that board games are getting too expensive. They just cost what they cost. They’re complicated physical products targeted at a niche audience. But when prices reach the level of “I could buy a new kitchen oven or a board game” level, I think it’s time to ask ourselves some difficult questions.

Like, for example, how good does a board game have to be to justify that? Because make no mistake, Kinfire is pretty good. But is pretty good good enough?

And how do we even answer that? Let’s say that it is, but then four months later another $150 board game comes out that’s also exactly as good. And then another. And then another. Who can afford to keep buying them? Where’s the cut-off? At these prices, how do you continue to judge a game’s quality?

I ignored price for a long while as a board game reviewer, but I feel like it’s become unconcionable lately. A lot of people just can’t reasonably justify to keep making purchases like that. And I feel like the cut-off line has come.

Pipeline Review

Pipes! Many people wear them, but also, since 2019, they are an economic simulator. Truly, they are the most versatile kitchen utensil. Thankfully, Pipeline from Capstone Games comes with so many pipe tiles that it could easily win the award for “Guinness World Record of Board Game with Most Pipe Tiles,“ which as we all know is one of the less obscure Guinness World Records.

With so many pipes coming out of the wazoo, it’ll take none other than NPI to see if they all fit together neatly into a good board game.

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!

Blackout: Hong Kong Review

Long time No Pun Included viewers will know that, hey, we have some strong feelings when it comes to games designed by Alexander Pfister. And when I say “strong feelings,” I mean that we love his meatier, grindier games as much as we love a good burger. Which leads me perfectly into telling you that Great Western Trail is one of our favourite eurogames and game of the year for 2016 and Mombasa, in-spite of its problematic theme, was our runner up game of the year for 2015.

So I’m not going to waste time, because Blackout: Hong Kong, his new big game, is here, and my word I am just a little bit excited. Let’s get to the review.

Discover: Lands Unknown Review

One small step for man, one giant leap for cardboard. It turns out that identical components are so yesterday and 2018 is the dawning of unique games, lovingly handcrafted by the modern dominant sentient life force - the algorithm. Here at NPI we always welcome our new overlords so we were more than excited to dissect the very first unique board game (technically first, as KeyForge is a trading card game) only partially created by humans. Make room! Make room! For it is truly a sight to behold.

Western Legends Review

Hello cow pokes! Welcome to the fastest review in the west. Well, maybe not fastest - it’s like 15 minutes long. But it’s a rootin’ tootin’ shootin’ goodun. Ok sorry, I’ll stop. Western Legends is a sandbox game that takes place in the saloons and spitoons of the wild west, where you’ll compete to be the most legendary cowperson there is. Or at least that there is, around your table. This game contains a plethora of different options - from playing poker all day to rolling two comically oversized dice to mine gold. In fact, it’s less of a game and more of a Wild West experience. Not sure whether this life of leather and dust is for you? Mosey on over to our review and find out.