Hello everyone!
July was a good month, full of nice surprises. Lots of sun, beach, and also work 😅, but plenty of fun too, along with some lovely discoveries. Looking back at what I said I’d play last month, I managed everything: getting Black Rose Wars: Rebirth to the table, finishing the It’s a Wonderful World Leisure & Decadence campaign, and playing my first 50 Clues escape game. So let’s take a look at how July went.
July 2026 by Numbers
- 20 plays (vs. 22 in June)
- 12 different games
- 7 new games to me
- Most played: It’s a Wonderful World
- Solo plays: 20 (all)
New Games
Earth
Designed by Maxime Tardif, published by Inside Up Games.
In Earth, you’re growing your own ecosystem in a tableau-building game, aiming to build the best one on the table. You’ll score by completing common and personal objectives and by scoring the points on your own cards, and being first to complete a common objective earns you even more. The game is beautiful: the illustrations taught me things about flora I didn’t know, and every card carries a little flavour text that enriches the experience.
I’ve only played solo twice so far, and I’ll definitely be playing more, I loved it. There are no dead moments: when you select an action, all other players (including the automa) get to act too as a result of your choice, so you benefit from everyone else’s decisions along the way. The automa itself is lovely to run, just a simple stack of cards that tells you what it does and which cards you can activate on your own tableau. Where you place your cards matters too, since you activate them left to right, top to bottom, so setting up a benefit early can help unlock an action on a later card. That’s the piece that made me fall in love with the game.
It took me a while to try it, it had a huge hype around it, and the photos alone didn’t pull me in. I was so wrong. Once you play it, you see how beautiful it really is and how everything clicks into place. For now it’s a solid 9/10 for me, though that could change with more plays.
Race for the Galaxy
Designed by Thomas Lehmann, published by Rio Grande Games.
Race for the Galaxy is a galactic civilisation game played entirely with cards, and it plays like a real race: the moment any player has deployed 12 cards, the game ends. I’ve only played it solo so far, and I didn’t expect to love it as much as I do. I originally got the game through a mystery box, and since I didn’t own the expansion at the time, it wasn’t solo playable. I later picked up the Expansion and Brinkmanship set after someone told me it was really good, and I’m glad I did. Beyond the extra cards, this set is also what brings the solo mode, along with three expansion decks. I haven’t opened any of those decks yet, so far I’ve only used the automa, which is simply a small board and two dice.
The game has a clever mechanic that keeps dead moments away: each player secretly selects the action they want to play, then everyone reveals simultaneously, and all players resolve every action chosen. Your own selected action comes with a bonus, while everyone else’s version of that action stays basic. Solo, you choose your two actions upfront and then roll the two automa dice to see what it does, a mechanic that can either launch your strategy forward or leave you unable to act because you’re short on resources. And speaking of resources, there aren’t any separate from the cards, cards are your money and your resources both, which I love.
I’ve played it once in July, plus once more already in August, and found it interesting and challenging. I want to explore this game a lot more, and I’d like to try it at a higher player count to see how it holds up. For now it’s an 8.5/10, but that could change with more plays.
Black Rose Wars: Rebirth
Designed by Andrea Colletti, Diego Fonseca, and Marco Montanaro, published by Ludus Magnus Studio.
Black Rose Wars: Rebirth is a game of planning and strategy, where you compete in a tournament at the Lodge against other mages. It combines deckbuilding with careful planning, all set in a dark magic world. Each turn you select the cards you want to play and lay them on your player board in the order they’ll resolve. Every card actually holds two different actions on the same face, printed upside down from each other, so which one you get depends on which way up you place the card. The actions themselves are usually things like summoning demons, activating them, fighting and dealing damage to other mages, or rebuilding rooms, along with a few other effects. Beyond the cards, you also get two extra actions each turn that you can use whenever you like: moving and activating a room, fighting, or activating a demon.
At solo, you play against an avatar, the base game comes with one, and more are available through expansions. I own the Rotas Box and the Jukas avatar, so one of my plays was against the base game’s avatar and the other against Jukas. I really enjoyed both plays and liked the solo experience. I can see this being fantastic at 3 or 4 players thanks to the interactivity, but even solo the avatar is so well designed that you can feel that interaction come through. It’s both a challenge and a pleasure to play, I love the theme, the art, how the game shines on the table, and the miniatures that bring the theme perfectly to life.
I’ll be playing more, since I still want to explore the rest of the Rotas Box content, there’s a lot in there. I’d recommend this to anyone who loves a mage theme. For now it’s an 8.5/10.
Preferred Game of the Month
It’s a Wonderful World
Designed by Frédéric Guérard, published by La Boîte de Jeu.
This game hardly needs another introduction on my blog, I’ve already said it’s a 10/10 for me, and you can read my full review here. I’ve finally finished the Leisure & Decadence campaign, and I’m in love. This expansion is the best of the three, and it brings a whole new dimension to the game. I don’t want to spoil it, so I won’t say more, but if you love this game already, play the campaign, you’ll love it even more.
Other Notable Games
More New Games
Cyberion (designed by Shadi Torbey, published by inPatience) — Cyberion is part of the Oniverse world, where you’re in charge of maintaining the dream factory. The game centres on a board where you track the upgrades you purchase for each colour of action card. I’ve played it once so far and enjoyed the brain-teaser at its heart: each turn you discard cards from your display to fulfil a machine’s requirements, and you must repair at least one machine every turn or lose the game. It’s fun and keeps you thinking about how to find a solution. I’ll rate it 7/10 for now, it’s enjoyable, though I still prefer Onirim or Nautilion.
Tiny Epic Crimes (designed by Scott Almes, published by Gamelyn Games) — Tiny Epic Crimes is a deduction game where you play a detective trying to identify the criminal. At the start you seal a card of the culprit inside an envelope, and you have several characteristics to work with to help narrow down who it is. Through the game you’ll solve situations and put criminals behind bars, all of which helps you gather more clues toward your deduction. It has some real Cluedo vibes, which brought back some nice nostalgia. My own play didn’t go so well, I felt like I ran out of time to solve the crime, probably because I hadn’t optimised my actions yet. I’ll need a few more plays to fully enjoy it. So far it’s a 6/10 for me, but that could go up.
Ugly Gryphon Inn (designed by Scott Almes, published by Button Shy Games) — Ugly Gryphon Inn is a micro game, just a small deck of cards, where you run the Gryphon Inn and place arriving guests into rooms. Be careful with each guest’s specific requests: if one doesn’t want to be next to another, say, because of a dislike for beer drinkers, it triggers an effect, sometimes making them leave, and sometimes that departure sets off a chain reaction that empties out the inn and loses you the game. It’s a smart little puzzle, and of the Button Shy games I own, it’s the one I like best. I’ll give it an 8/10.
50 Clues: Dead or Alive (designed by Jeppe Norsker, published by Norsker Games) — 50 Clues: Dead or Alive is a crime-solving game where you follow clues through cards to solve a mystery, a murder in this case. You’ll need internet access, since a website walks you through solving the puzzles. I played this one solo, on a day I was tired, which turned out to be a bad combination for this kind of game, and I was pretty bad at solving the puzzles. Since I was so tired, I honestly can’t say whether that was on me or whether the puzzles were genuinely tricky. I won’t give it a rating yet, I still have two more games left in this trilogy, and I’ll have a better sense of it once I’ve finished.
Returning Favourites
Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle (designed by Forrest-Pruzan Creative, Kami Mandell, and Andrew Wolf, published by The Op) — This will be my next review, so I won’t say too much yet, but I love this game. It’s not always the mechanically best game that you enjoy the most, and as a Potter fan, this one just makes sense for me. Over the years I’ve played it solo, at two players, and at four, and loved it at every count, though this month it was solo only. I’ve already played the Monster Box expansion and I’m curious to try Charms & Potions next, so expect more on that soon. 7/10, and you’ll understand why once the full review is up.
Era of Kingdoms (designed by Michael Erisman, published by KC Games) — You develop your kingdom, bringing it from darkness into light. I recently reviewed this one and rated it 7/10, it’s a deck-building game that’s easy to start and genuinely enjoyable, a nice one for new players and a good discovery for me. Just one play this month, but I’ll be back for more.
Numbsters (designed by Milan Zivkovic, published by Button Shy Games) — A small game, perfect for travel, with lovely illustrations that lean a little toward a kids’-book style. You’re aiming to end with only two cards in hand, the 8 and one other, since around the 8 the smallest number in a sequence eats the biggest, and you can also trigger effects from the top card. I’ve read there’s a way to always win because the game is technically broken, but I haven’t figured it out and I lose often! I still really enjoy picking it up without overthinking it. 7/10, not perfect, but perfect for a quick 10-minute game.
ROVE: Results-Oriented Versatile Explorer (designed by Dustin Dobson and Milan Zivkovic, published by Button Shy Games) — Another Button Shy favourite, this time a programming and movement game where you’re a little robot exploring space. To solve a card, you place your cards to match the exact pattern shown in the image, discarding cards for movement points and moving based on each card’s characteristics. It’s an enjoyable little challenge that travels well, I bring it along wherever I go.
Looking Ahead
For August, I’m hoping to get more Black Rose Wars: Rebirth to the table with some of the Rotas Box content, and to try Dune: Imperium and Coming of Age, both new to me. I’m really excited to give them a go.
What About You?
And you, what did you play this month? I’d love to hear your thoughts! Come find me on Mastodon and Facebook.