It's a Wonderful World on Marta's BG Corner

April 2026 Plays

Sat, 02 May 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

What a month April was! I played a lot, I laughed a lot, and I discovered some real gems along the way. 32 plays over 17 different games, more than double my March count of 15. That says it all, really. 😊

April 2026 stats

All games played in April 2026

April 2026 by the Numbers

32 plays (vs. 15 in March, more than double!)
17 different games
10 new-to-me games
Most played: Onirim (6 plays)

Onirim

Onirim is not new to me. I’ve owned it for a few years now and I keep coming back to it. It’s part of the Oniverse, a collection of small-box games designed for solo or two players, all set in the same dream world. Eight games in the series so far, and while they all share the same universe, each one feels genuinely different from the others. Onirim was my entry point into the Oniverse and it holds a special place in my heart. It reminds me of the solitaire card games I used to play as a kid. The goal is to escape the labyrinth by finding the eight exit doors, using only cards, but be careful not to cross paths with a nightmare! It’s quick, tense in the best possible way, and an absolute must-have for solo players. I’ll dedicate a full review to it one day. It deserves one.

Onirim: escaping the labyrinth one card at a time

Red Rising

Red Rising was technically already in my collection, but this month was the first time I actually sat down to play it, and it won me over quickly. I lost only once out of four plays, but the win/loss count almost misses the point: what kept me coming back was how differently each game played out. The combo mechanics between the different castes are the heart of this game, and there are so many ways to build a hand that each play genuinely felt like a different puzzle to solve. The solo mode is quick to set up and easy to run, but don’t let that fool you. It’s genuinely hard to beat. I already have a full review written and ready to post, so I won’t say too much more here. Keep an eye out. It deserves its own spotlight!

Red Rising: so many strategies to explore

It’s a Wonderful World

I honestly can’t fully explain the pull this game has on me. With more than 25 plays under my belt, solo and at two players, you’d think the magic would wear off. It hasn’t. This month I came back to it in solo mode and, well, I lost. But even losing felt satisfying.

The balance between building an efficient production engine and building a scoring engine is just perfect. You can have a smooth game where resources flow freely and cards go down easily, and still lose because none of them actually scored you points. It’s that tension that keeps me coming back. The theme doesn’t hit you over the head, but the artwork is lovely. More plays incoming for sure.

It’s a Wonderful World: the engine runs beautifully, winning is another matter

Last Will

Last Will is a game I really love, but since it’s a multiplayer-only experience, I hadn’t had the chance to play it in a while. That changed this month, thanks to a wonderful new development: I’ve started joining the monthly and weekly meetings of Legiao dos Jogos. What an amazing group of people! It’s been such a joy to bring some of my favourite games to the table, and to discover new ones alongside them.

So, Last Will finally hit the table again, and at four players no less. The premise is wonderfully absurd: instead of trying to become the richest player, you have to spend all your money. Sounds easy? It really isn’t. The game is beautifully designed for its theme, the artwork is spot on, and playing it at four created exactly the kind of chaos and laughter I was hoping for. If spending money is your thing, this game is absolutely for you. 😄

Other Notable Games

Multiplayer discoveries with Legião dos Jogos

Being part of the group also meant discovering, or rediscovering, some great lighter games. I got to play The Gang, The Game, Codenames, Take 5, and Escape: The Curse of the Temple, and they all delivered fun in their own way.

Escape: The Curse of the Temple was my favourite of the bunch. At four players it’s pure glorious chaos: everyone rolling dice at the same time, shouting across the table to coordinate. It’s genuinely one of those experiences where you’re nearly screaming just to be heard, and somehow that makes it even better. If you enjoy real-time games where the table turns into beautiful pandemonium, this one is for you.

Escape: The Curse of the Temple: beautiful pandemonium at four players

Codenames we played at eight, which in my opinion was a bit too many. I’ve played Codenames Harry Potter at two players before, and I think the sweet spot is around six. That gives you two people giving clues, one per team, and two players on each team discussing the hints and making guesses together. At three per team, some people inevitably get less involved, maybe out of shyness or just because the discussion gets harder to follow. At eight it felt a little crowded for me. Fun either way, but six feels like the right balance.

Solo new-to-me games

On the solo front, I explored five new games this month: Era of Kingdoms, Outlive, Side Quest: 7th Sea, Fromage, and Paper Tales.

Era of Kingdoms was a genuine surprise. I had never heard of it before, and it turned out to be a really enjoyable tableau building, deck building, and hand management game. The atmosphere is a bit dark, which suits the theme well. My only small complaint is that some of the symbols could be a bit bigger. For a game that came completely out of nowhere for me, I would absolutely recommend it.

Era of Kingdoms: a very pleasant surprise

Outlive was a game I had been wanting to play for a long time. I almost got to it last year, but then I realised I needed the Underwater expansion to unlock the solo mode, so the experience had to wait. It was worth it. I love the survival theme, and the worker placement twist is clever: you never retrieve your workers from the board, you can only move them. It forces you to think carefully about placement at every step. The automa is pleasant to manage, and as a collector’s edition owner, I can confirm the components are just stunning.

Outlive: worth the wait

SideQuest: 7th Sea is an escape room game from the SideQuest series by Board & Dice. The puzzles in the first part of the game were well-balanced and satisfying. The second part was trickier. I struggled at times to figure out what I was supposed to do. I own two more games from the series, so it’ll be interesting to see if that difficulty curve feels the same across them.

Side Quest: 7th Sea: smooth start, trickier finish

Fromage immediately charmed me. The theme is exactly what it sounds like: you’re making cheese. The worker placement mechanic is wonderfully on theme too. The more elaborate the cheese you’re making, the longer your workers are tied up in the affinage process. It’s clever, it’s thematic, and the components are just delightful, including that cheese board-shaped board! I only played solo this time, but I’m already curious to try it at two or three players.

Fromage: the most thematic worker placement you’ll find

Paper Tales left me with mixed feelings, though I suspect that’s partly on me. I think I made some resource management mistakes on my first play. The core idea is interesting: you have limited tableau space, and you’ll place your workers and fighters to defeat the solo king. What I found particularly charming is the ageing mechanic. Your characters grow old and eventually die, which adds a lovely layer of bittersweet planning. I need a few more plays before I can say anything definitive, but the concept is good and I want to give it a fair chance.

Paper Tales: mixed first impressions, but the concept is good

Games I Keep Coming Back To

Dice Throne Adventure

I’ve mentioned this one in previous monthly reviews, and here I am again. I’m still working my way through the campaign in solo, and I’m now into the fourth scenario. The pattern has become something of a ritual: I almost always lose the first attempt at each new scenario, except for the third one, which I beat on my very first try. Very proud of that! The fourth scenario has already beaten me once, so I’ll be going back in for another try. The campaign is funny, addictive, and just the right amount of punishing.

Dice Throne Adventure: scenario 3, the one I actually won first try!

Dice Throne Adventure: scenario 4, the campaign continues

Ancient Knowledge

Ancient Knowledge is another game that requires the expansion to play solo, in this case the Heritage expansion. I’ve played it before but April reminded me that I still haven’t cracked the winning formula. I lost again, and I have a feeling I’m simply forgetting the recipe between plays! Fair warning: the cards carry a lot of text, so if that puts you off, this one probably isn’t for you. I do like the game though, and one of these days I’ll figure out how to actually win it. 😅

Ancient Knowledge: still searching for that winning recipe

Viticulture

Have I mentioned that I love Viticulture? Because I really love Viticulture. Solo, every single point counts. One wrong decision and the win slips away. I’m genuinely curious to explore the Tuscany and Bordeaux expansions at some point. Something to look forward to.

Viticulture: every point counts

Looking Ahead

May is looking exciting! My main goal is to finally finish the Dice Throne Adventure campaign. The fifth scenario still owes me a win. Beyond that, I’m feeling the pull of Minos, Unconscious Mind, and Luthier. I don’t know which one will make it to the table first, but I have a feeling at least one of them won’t wait much longer.

What About You?

What a month it’s been! New groups, new games, old favourites. April had it all. Are any of these games on your radar? Have you played any of them? Come share your thoughts on Mastodon.

My Board Game Journey

Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

Today I want to do something a little different. No review, no game breakdown, just a story. My story. How a Portuguese girl went from Monopoly on the living room floor to owning over 400 games and logging more than 1,000 plays.

It Started Long Before I Knew It

Like many of us, my journey started without me even realising it. When I was young, games were simply part of life. I remember playing Les Mystères de Pékin (The Mysteries of Peking) and Monopoly with friends, and at home we spent many evenings around La Bonne Paye (Payday), a memory I cherish dearly, mostly because my dad always insisted on being the banker… and we quickly learned we had to keep a very close eye on him, as money had a mysterious tendency to migrate from the bank to his own pile 😅

As a Portuguese girl, cards and dominoes were practically mandatory. During my school years we played a lot of Sueca, and at home, especially during the Christmas season, the whole family would sit down for Tarot, a nod to my French roots. I was born in France, and though we moved back to Portugal when I was nine, some traditions quietly followed us home 😉

For a long time, those were the games in my life. I loved them, but I didn’t know many people who shared a deeper interest in board games, so things stayed there for quite a while.

The Rediscovery — 2017

University came and went, and with it, any time for games. It was only in early 2017, after finishing my second degree — the most demanding and exhausting chapter of my life — that I finally took some time for myself.

The first game I bought was City of Spies: Estoril 1942, a Portuguese game set in wartime Estoril, where players compete to build the most powerful spy network. I picked it up to play at two players and fell in love with it immediately, even if I suspect it shines even more with a larger group.

That game made me want more.

So off I went to FNAC, and with absolutely no research done, I picked up Pandemic Legacy: Season 1. It was only when I got home that I realised what a legacy game actually was, decisions were permanent, cards would be destroyed, and nothing could be undone. I was terrified.

But we didn’t dive straight into the campaign. Oh no. We played the base game four or five times first, no legacy elements, just to get comfortable with the mechanics. And then we took the plunge.

What followed was one of the most intense and hilarious gaming experiences of my life. We were fully invested, stressed, laughing, making terrible decisions together. And then the emotions hit: “You destroyed Europe.” “You killed my character.” At some point things got so dramatic that we simply… put the box on the shelf. We were too scared to continue. The game sat there, staring at us, for a while before we found the courage to go back 🤣

When we finally finished the campaign, I knew something had changed. This hobby had me completely.

The Solo Path and the Rabbit Hole

Since I didn’t know many people to play with at the time, solo gaming became a natural companion to my growing curiosity. I started following YouTubers and discovered a whole world of games I’d never heard of. That’s how I found my way into solo gaming, first with Onirim, then with the hypnotising Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, then Nemo’s War, and Dawn of the Zeds. Each one pulled me a little deeper in.

Enter Kickstarter

In the middle of all this exploration, I discovered crowdfunding. It opened a whole new door, not just as a way to access games, but as a way to be part of something. Believing in a project, following every update, being in on the process from the very beginning, and sometimes getting access to exclusive content that wouldn’t be available anywhere else, it all felt special.

My first campaign was Museum by Holy Grail Games, backed at the end of 2017. The anticipation was a strange mix of feelings: the excitement of knowing a game I had pledged for so long ago would eventually land at my door, and the frustration of watching delays pile up and communication go quiet during the campaign. When it finally arrived, though, it delivered. It’s a game I’ve owned for years now and still love just as much as the day it came out of the box.

The Collection Grows — 2018 to 2022

From there, the journey really took off. In 2018 I fell in love with The Voyages of Marco Polo, a game that gave me my first real taste of just how clever and elegant euro game design could be. It quickly became a favourite.

Then came 2019, and with it two very different discoveries. T.I.M.E Stories caught me completely off guard, something fresh, something different, with a wonderful exploration and adventure feel I hadn’t experienced before in a board game. That same year, Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon arrived, my first big narrative campaign game, backed through Kickstarter. It was intense, sometimes punishing, and absolutely gripping. That experience opened the door to two publishers who quickly became my favourites: Mindclash Games, whose Anachrony and Trickerion I fell deeply in love with, and Awaken Realms, whose Nemesis delivered exactly the kind of cinematic, edge-of-your-seat experience I didn’t know I was looking for.

2020 brought Terraforming Mars into my life, another game that surprised me entirely. We played it a lot at two players and it became a firm favourite for a long time. That same pandemic year also brought a completely blind purchase: Dark Tales. No research, no recommendations, just instinct, and it turned out to be a lovely little surprise I’m very glad I took a chance on. We also played a great deal of 7 Wonders Duel and Hogwarts Battle during that period, a beautiful cooperative deck builder that was perfect for those long, strange months at home.

Where I Am Today

Since 2017, I’ve had so many incredible experiences, so many surprises, and more than a few games that left a real mark on me. In the last two years especially, I’ve dedicated more time than ever to the hobby, and discovered games that genuinely amazed me. Obsession, Underwater Cities, Wondrous Creatures, Viticulture, and Civolution are among them. And then there are the smaller, quieter gems: Verdant, Settlement, and Ancient Knowledge, each one a little treasure in its own right.

But if I had to single out one game, one that truly made me stop and stare before I even opened the box, it would be Anachrony. I backed it through Kickstarter, and from the moment it arrived, I was struck by how absolutely stunning it looks on the table. You genuinely need a big table for it 😄. The iconography can seem intimidating at first glance, like something impossibly complex, but once you start playing, it clicks. It’s logical, it’s elegant, and it’s never as scary as it looks. The decisions are hard, yes, but they always feel thematic. The mechanic of borrowing ressources from the future and having to, later on time, make sure you are able to return it is fantastic.

I’ve also been delighted by It’s a Wonderful World, a Card Drafting and Engine Building game that hooked me faster than I expected. The theme isn’t that strongly present, but honestly? It doesn’t matter. There’s something almost hypnotic about the cycle of drafting, planning, and producing, and the production phase, which follows a strict resource order, rewards you for thinking ahead in ways that feel genuinely satisfying when they come together. The tension between building your engine and scoring points never gets old. I’ve played it solo and at two players and love it in both configurations. And to think all of that happens in just 4 rounds 😅

And on the lighter end of things, I’ve fallen for a few smaller games that are perfect for a change of pace. Nautilion is a solo game where you fill your submarine with crew, but placement matters, and each position calls for specific crew members in the right order. It’s simple and quick, perfect for a little break between heavier sessions. Jaipur is a gorgeous two-player game that whisks you away to the bustling markets of Rajasthan. At its heart it’s a race: who collects the most valuable goods? Camels play their own clever role in the mix, and the whole thing is light enough to introduce someone new to the hobby without overwhelming them. And Century: Spice Road, is a beautiful resource exchange and Hand Management game, you’re constantly thinking about how to sequence your moves, how to anticipate what you’ll need, and how to finish those orders most efficiently.

My collection has grown to over 400 games, and I’ve clocked more than 1,000 plays. Every one of those games taught me something, about what I love, about what kind of player I am, about how far this hobby can stretch. Looking back, I’m struck by how much ground I’ve covered since that first copy of City of Spies sitting on my shelf.

I love this hobby deeply, the creativity, the community, the way a well-designed game can make you feel something real. And that’s exactly why I started this blog: to share that passion with you.

Your Turn

I’d love to hear your story too! What was the game that first got you hooked? Was it a childhood memory, a lockdown discovery, a friend who dragged you in? Come share your thoughts on Mastodon.