Karnivorous on Marta's BG Corner

October 2026 Plays

Sat, 07 Nov 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

October is over, and judging by the shops and the TV, we’ve already entered the Christmas season. But before thinking about Christmas, let’s look back at October.

Last month I was hoping to finally play Dune: Imperium and Planta Nubo, and I’m happy to say I managed both! October was also the month of my very first SPIEL Essen. I shared my adventures day by day, so if you want all the details, have a look at Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3.

This recap is also a bit different from usual. After my favourite game of the month, I’m starting with the games I brought home from Essen. These are first impressions, and proper reviews will follow soon.

Table of Contents

October 2026 by Numbers

18 plays (vs. 11 in September)
11 different games
9 new games to me
Most played: Dune: Imperium, Chopstick Tightrope and Castellion (3 plays each)
Solo plays: 14 (Chopstick Tightrope and Moustache were multiplayer)

The month in numbers

The games of the month

Favourite Game of the Month

Moustache

Designed by Alexandre Aguilar and Jules Messaud, published by KODAMA.

Moustache was my top game of Essen and my favourite of the whole month. I completely fell in love with it! It’s a game for 3 to 6 players, so not my usual kind of game, but it’s so much fun with the right people. I got to try it at Essen with two wonderful players who made the game shine, and we had the time of our lives.

It’s a competitive trick-taking game where each round adds a new rule and you team up with a random player. You’re trying to earn the most points by winning tricks and taking trophies, each with a different value. The added rules are fantastic: a type of card you really don’t want in the early rounds can become the one everyone envies in the last round. In our game, the stars on green cards counted negatively for the first three rounds. Then in round four, a new rule made the team with the fewest stars win the round, the complete opposite, so those green cards became pure gold! It was so funny that we still talk about it today. Thank you, Vanessa and Leticia, for that moment.

My hand in Moustache: are those stars a blessing or a curse?

Moustache gets a 9/10 from me.

My SPIEL Essen Haul

I didn’t lose my head at Essen, and five games came home with me: Karnivorous, Light in the Dark, Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs, Chopstick Tightrope and Cat Days. I’ve already played four of them this month. Only Cat Days hasn’t hit the table yet.

Karnivorous

Designed by Inka and Markus Brand, published by inPatience.

The story behind Karnivorous is almost funny. A group of scientists is developing a genetic modification to make apple trees grow faster and bigger, so they produce more and bigger apples. But… they apply it to the wrong plant and trigger a plant apocalypse! And guess who they’re counting on to save them, the lab and the world? The helper robots.

A lab overrun by plants, with my robots trying to keep up

It’s a puzzle-style game where you always seem to be short of actions. You roll dice that help you decide your actions, then solve objectives, but you have to plan carefully which ones you want to tackle. It’s entertaining and a lot of fun. I played it twice, losing once and winning once. I want a few more plays before writing the full review, but it already earns an 8.5/10.

Chopstick Tightrope

Published by Gorilla Games.

This is a party game, and I have to say I love it. I’m not that agile with chopsticks, since I only learned to use them recently, but the game makes me want to improve. All three of my plays were at two players with my boyfriend, which is rare, and that made it even more special. It’s a 9/10 for me, and a full review is coming next week!

Steady hands needed (and spot the blog T-shirt!)

Light in the Dark

Designed by Kai Starck, published by Archona Games.

In Light in the Dark, you’re a plague doctor curing villages and fighting the bad guys. It’s a dungeon crawler with a lot of potential. I’ve only played once (and won!), but I really appreciated the mechanics, especially how the enemies and the doctor move. I’ll need more plays to judge how replayable it is, but so far I’m happy with the game and its theme. Because of those doubts, I’m giving it 7/10 for now, and I’m looking forward to the Fires of Thokaia expansion, which I think will improve the game a lot.

Light in the Dark by candlelight, closing in on the boss

Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs

Designed by Joe Klipfel and Nikki Valens, published by Cephalofair Games.

This one isn’t new, but I’d always been reluctant to try the big Gloomhaven. I’d watched some videos and wasn’t convinced at all. So I went to talk to the person at the booth to find out more. The presentation was really good and won me over, and the tiny box fitted in my luggage (otherwise I’d have had to ship it home).

I played it once in October and already twice in November, and so far I’m enjoying it, though I’ve realised I’m not very good at it: I already lost on scenario 2. Finishing the campaign is going to be a struggle! What I like most is how quick it is. Both setup and play are fast, so it’s perfect for a little break or the end of a tiring day. On the downside, the small size is great for carrying it around, but it makes everything hard to read and handle. It’s cute, but not that practical. It’s a 7/10 at this stage, and I’m sure I’ll enjoy the gameplay more once I get the hang of it.

Scenario 1, A Rude Welcome, with the Bruiser

Played at SPIEL Essen

Now let’s talk about the games I played at Essen but didn’t buy (at least, not yet!).

Mayor of Chicago

Designed by Xavier Georges, published by inPatience.

I have to confess that once I got home, I pre-ordered it from my usual shop, and now I’m waiting for it to arrive. That says a lot about how much I enjoyed it! Like most inPatience games, it’s a solo puzzle game. You’re competing against another candidate to become mayor of Chicago, and you need the most votes at the end of the game. You place cards to build the city and bring people in, earning both immediate and permanent bonuses. But be careful: your deck is limited, and each time you complete a column, you need to meet certain conditions to earn more benefits, or bad things happen.

Building my city at the inPatience booth, one headline at a time

You build an engine to earn more points and votes, which I really enjoyed. I loved the artwork and the theme: it’s fun and clever. And yes, I lost, because of a bad move right near the end… I miscounted my cards! It’s an 8/10 so far, and I can’t wait to see how it holds up once my copy arrives.

More Essen Discoveries

Mazing (designed by Jim Deacove, published by inPatience): I played it solo at the inPatience booth. It’s an abstract game where you try to bring the black main pieces to one side of the board and the white ones to the opposite side. Each piece has its own movement rule, and some spaces make you flip a piece face down, leaving it stuck. It’s almost like chess, but you can play it solo. I had a lot of fun! I don’t think I’ll buy it, but I’d happily play it again. I’m giving it 7/10, since I don’t know yet if it stays as fun after several plays.

Black and white messengers, ready to cross the maze

I also tried two games without playing a full game, so they’re not in my numbers.

7th Seal (designed by Julio Falagán, published by Devir): I fell in love with this solo game, where you break the seven seals and fight bosses and minions with dice. I only played one round, but it was enough to enjoy it: the art is really nice, and so is the gameplay. I’ve pre-ordered it too, so I’ll test it more once it arrives.

Facing Teskatlipoka at the Devir booth

The Fog: Escape from Paradise (designed by Robert Müller-Reinwarth, published by XOLLOX Games): a competitive game where you get your people to the boats before a deadly fog catches them. I played a short demo version at three players. My first impression was that you never have enough moves to save your people, or enough of them, but I suppose that’s the whole point: who will you sacrifice, how close to the beach will they get, and who will you save? The closer to the beach someone is when the fog catches them, the fewer points you lose, so you need to find a balance. I’d love to play a full game to form a better opinion, but so far it’s a hit for me.

Everyone racing for the boats before the fog arrives

Other Games Played

Dune: Imperium

Designed by Paul Dennen, published by Dire Wolf.

Dune: Imperium puts you at the head of one of the great houses of the Dune universe, mixing worker placement, deck building and influence majority. The first player to reach 10 points triggers the end of the game.

I’ll confess its dark, strange look made me hesitate for a long time. But the game shines solo, with a deck of cards or a companion app running your two rivals, and it’s probably even better multiplayer. My first game, as Paul Atreides, ended in an 11 to 9 win… with an asterisk, since I played the trash rule wrong in my favour. The next two brought me back down to earth: 6 to 10 with Helena Richese, then 5 to 11 with Duke Leto Atreides. It still earns an 8/10 from me.

The game where Glossu Rabban crushed my Duke Leto

Planta Nubo

Designed by Michael Keller, Andreas Odendahl and Uwe Rosenberg, published by The Game Builders.

In Planta Nubo, you play in a future world where you take care of the Earth, creating your own plantations and forests to deliver flowers. It’s a moderately complex game with lots of small rules. The Botbot is an automa with different difficulty levels: it can be hard to manage at first, but it gets easier after a few turns. I’ve only played once, and I won 94 to 63! I loved it. The components are beautiful, and I love the idea of delivering flowers in so many colours. It gets a 7.5/10, and it will definitely be back on my table next month.

My cloud garden taking shape

Quick Notes

Castellion (designed by Shadi Torbey, published by inPatience): you draw tiles one by one to build your castle, using their powers along the way, and at the end of each ordeal your towers and bastions are put to the test. I’ve played it several times hoping it would click, and it hasn’t yet. I enjoy building with the tiles, and the components are good quality, but losing without any clue how I could have won is frustrating. If I find the right strategy, I’ll probably love it. It’s a 6/10 today, but I’m not giving up.

Codex Naturalis (designed by Thomas Dupont, published by Bombyx): you continue the work of a monk finishing his book about nature, and if you’ve followed my posts about the art in my games, you know how much I love the gold on its cards. This month I tried the solo mode for the first time, after discovering it in a video by Unna, a Spanish reviewer I really appreciate. You play against an automa that takes cards from the same river as you, and I lost 30 to 34. It’s still fun solo, though I need more plays to form a real opinion, and in multiplayer it’s great too. I’m giving it 7.5/10.

All that gold catching the light

Final Thoughts

Even though I’ve been working a lot and had less time to play, I’m really happy with my October. I learnt some new games, and above all, I got to go to SPIEL Essen for the first time. It was a wonderful experience, and I’ll definitely be back next year.

The game that stood out this month is Moustache: such a simple game that made me laugh so much. Its lovely illustrations make it even better.

Looking Ahead

For November, I’d like to play more quick games, like Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs and Conservas. As for bigger games, maybe Kingdom Rush: Elemental Uprising, which I’m really eager to try.

Your Turn

And you, were you at SPIEL Essen this year, or did you follow it from home? Which new game caught your eye?

Come share your comments on Mastodon, Facebook, and BoardGameGeek.

SPIEL Essen 2026: Day 3

Sat, 24 Oct 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Hello everyone!

Here we go with Day 3, the last day of my very first SPIEL Essen! If you missed the start of the adventure, you can catch up on Day 1 and Day 2.

Going solo

The sky was grey today, but at least it didn’t rain. It was cold, though!

My boyfriend wasn’t feeling well, so I went to the Messe alone. It was a different experience, with its positives and its negatives. I missed having my partner by my side to share my findings and my enthusiasm. On the other hand, without him to talk to, I ended up moving around more and talking to a lot more people.

Ready for my last day, this time on my own

Synapses Games: Chimerium

Designed by Eric Dubus and Olivier Melison · Illustrated by Alexandre Bonvalot · Published by Synapses Games · BGG page

My first stop was Chimerium. The magical universe and how beautiful the game looks on the table made me stop and take a careful look.

One of the presenters gave me a quick explanation. You draft dice to study new species and acquire powerful artefacts for your laboratory, then manage your resources to create unique Chimeras and trigger chain reactions.

Of course, I asked about the solo mode. You play against an opponent, and that was enough to put me under its spell. The game isn’t on sale yet, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on it.

Chimerium and its magical laboratory

inPatience: Karnivorous, Mazing and Mayor of Chicago

Karnivorous: designed by Inka and Markus Brand · Illustrated by Vincent Dutrait · BGG page Mazing: designed by Jim Deacove · BGG page Mayor of Chicago: designed by Xavier Georges · BGG page Published by inPatience

I’m a big fan of inPatience games, so this booth was a must, and I spent my morning there. Sofiane presented three games to me, and he was awesome. He told me he hasn’t been working at the company for very long, but he’s doing a wonderful job.

With Sofiane at the inPatience booth

Karnivorous made me fall in love straight away. First, the theme, with all its humour: scientists trying to end world hunger with giant apples used their discovery on the wrong plants, and now the plants want to eat everyone! The only ones left to stop them are brave gardener-robots.

Then there’s that puzzle-like management typical of inPatience games. Sofiane explained that the plants spread whether you complete the quests or not, but they spread less if you do. Completing all the quests every round is extremely hard, almost impossible. So you have to make choices and sacrifice things carefully. I love that side of it, and the puzzle side too. The colours are lovely as well. It’s a cooperative game for 1 to 4 players, and it came home with me!

Karnivorous: a lab overrun by hungry plants

Next, I played Mazing, an abstract game where two white and two black pieces must swap sides across the board. Some pieces can only travel on white spaces, others only on black ones, each with its own movement, and some spaces block a piece for good.

For my first two moves, I was completely lost and thinking, “this is impossible!” Then Sofiane suggested moving the black and white pieces that travel through the white spaces first, and the ones that travel through the black spaces afterwards, as it makes it easier to trace a path. Suddenly it all made sense, and I managed to win! I’m not entirely sure I didn’t cheat somewhere, but it was so much fun, and the ending was pure joy.

Mazing: impossible at first, pure joy at the end

Then came Mayor of Chicago, a solo game. Sofiane explained it and stayed to watch my game, getting excited right along with me. I had built a perfect engine and could easily have won, but I miscounted my cards and lost because of one miserable card. Sofiane shared my frustration, and honestly, that made the moment just perfect. I didn’t buy it this time, but it’s already on my shopping list for the near future.

Mayor of Chicago, already on my shopping list

A signature from Owen Davey

Fame & Fable: designed and illustrated by Owen Davey · Published by Owen Davey Games · BGG page

After lunch, I spent the afternoon moving from booth to booth, discovering new games.

Second attempt at Fame & Fable! I still didn’t get to learn the mechanics, as Owen Davey was in the middle of a signing session. But I did leave with a signature from the designer and illustrator himself! Discovering how it plays is now on my to-do list.

ICE Makes: Age of Legend

Designed by Jeffrey CCH · Published by ICE Makes · BGG page

At ICE Makes, I was presented with Age of Legend, which is coming to Gamefound. It comes in a small box, similar to Age of Civilization. I liked the art, and I loved how each card can be used in different ways: for its power, placed above the board, or for its resources, placed at the bottom. A small box, but a big promise. I’ll be watching that campaign!

Age of Legend: a small box with big promise

From my wishlist: Queen Alice

Designed by Héctor Carrión and David Heras Pino · Illustrated by Amelia Sales · Published by Combo Games · BGG page

Queen Alice was on my Essen wishlist, and it was exactly what I expected: really nice on the table, with beautiful illustrations. I watched a presentation of the rules, and I loved the shared actions on the central board and the little games inside the game. Someday soon, it’ll be on my table.

Queen Alice, beautiful on the table

A familiar face

In the middle of the crowd, I bumped into some friends from Legião dos Jogos, my board game group in Braga, and we stopped for a little chat. Even in a fair this huge, you can still find people from home!

Kinson Key Games: Excursions

Designed by Ben Rosset · Illustrated by Ian O’Toole · Published by Kinson Key Games · BGG page

I stopped at Kinson Key Games to understand the difference between Galactic Cruise, which I own, and their new game, Excursions. Excursions comes with a lovely circular board, and it’s smaller and easier than Galactic Cruise.

But after the presentation, I couldn’t really find enough differences between the two to make me back it. In my opinion, it overlaps a bit too much with Galactic Cruise. That said, I didn’t play it, so this is based on the presentation only.

Excursions and its circular board

Thistroy Games: Micro Architects

Designed by Michał Jagodziński and Kamil Langie · Illustrated by Jarosław Wajs · Published by Thistroy Games · BGG page

At Thistroy Games, a lady presented Micro Architects and its expansion, Big City Vacation, to me. The game is lovely! I liked the mechanic of selecting buildings to construct your city and meet objectives. It’s beautiful, even though the theme doesn’t leave much room for big illustrations. What I liked most is that it comes in a small box, so it’s easy to carry around.

Micro Architects: a whole city in a small box

KYF Edition: Behind

Designed by Cédric Millet · Published by KYF Edition · BGG page

Behind had been on my wishlist for so long that I was really happy to finally get the chance to test it! I played the convention scenario alone, and I managed to solve it.

It was so much fun to put the pieces together like a puzzle while following the clues in the design. The game made a lot of sense, and building the solution was a real pleasure.

I’m deliberately not sharing a photo, so I don’t spoil anything for those of you who might be at the Messe tomorrow and want to try it!

Quick looks

A few more games crossed my path today, more briefly:

Skirmish: Battle for Draconia (Jeffrey CCH, ICE Makes): the card design is what made me stop. It’s a card game for 2 to 4 players where you battle your enemies, and where you place each card matters, because it fights the card in the same place on your opponent’s side. I only saw it presented.
Timespan (Kristian Amundsen Østby and Kenneth Minde, Alion – by Dr Ø): another one from my wishlist. I only took a quick look, and it seemed crowded on the table, but maybe that’s because I saw a 5-player game. I’d like to dig a little deeper into this one.
Fear of the Dark (InterHuman): I went back, as promised on Day 2, and realised it’s a dungeon crawler. The art didn’t attract me that much in person, so I didn’t ask for an explanation. The feeling just wasn’t there.

Skirmish: Battle for Draconia

Timespan, with a full table of five players

Lucky Duck Games: Accidental Heroes and Oakspire

Accidental Heroes: designed by Wojciech Grajkowski · BGG page Oakspire: BGG page Published by Lucky Duck Games

Last but not least, I stopped at Lucky Duck Games, where Ben presented their crowdfunding projects.

Accidental Heroes launches on Kickstarter on 27 October. It’s a digital hybrid adventure board game with a companion app. To be honest, when Ben mentioned the app, I froze a little, because I prefer games without app dependency, even though I own some that have it. Ben explained that most of the game happens outside the app, but it’s still hard for me.

And then there was Oakspire, which made me fall in love as soon as I looked at it. The game is gorgeous: the illustrations of cozy animals are simply beautiful, and the boards are lovely too. It’s a tableau building game where each card can be used in multiple ways. In solo, you play to complete challenges from the back of the rulebook. I haven’t played it yet, but what I saw and what Ben told me was enough: I’ll be following the project, and I definitely want to play it.

Oakspire: love at first sight

My favourites of the day

The inPatience booth was my favourite moment. I felt at home there, like playing with a friend while discovering exciting new games.

And for the eyes, Oakspire and Chimerium win the day: they both conquered me with how beautiful they look.

Goodbye, SPIEL Essen

And that’s a wrap on my very first SPIEL Essen!

Being on my own today, I managed to see more games than on the other days. And since I was alone, I really had no excuses: I had to be the one asking for explanations, so there was no room to be shy. I loved the experience.

See you at SPIEL ‘27?

Over three days, four games came home with me: Chopstick Tightrope, Light in the Dark, Gloomhaven: Buttons & Bugs and Karnivorous.

Will I go back? For sure! If you’re into board games, it’s the place to be.

Have you ever been to SPIEL Essen? And which of today’s games would you have stopped for?

Come share your comments on Mastodon, Facebook, and BoardGameGeek.