Here are some new board games I’ve tried out lately…

SEERS CATALOG (2024)

This is a card game where you try to get rid of all your cards. Each player gets some secret powers to help them, but even with these powers, a bad hand of cards can make things tough. The powers don’t always help enough when you have a bad set of cards. The game does slow down a bit while everyone figures out what to do, but it’s still okay to play. It’s just not a special game that stands out.

My rating: 6 out of 10

DRACULA VS VAN HELSING (2023)

In this game, each player has a secret hand of cards. The cards in your hand match up with areas on the game board from left to right. You draw cards, try to improve your hand, and then discard a card to use its special power (like making your opponent show a card). When you think you’re winning the areas you want, you can call for the round to end. Everyone shows their hands, and the best card in each area wins that area. Each player has different goals, so you need to try to win the areas you need while stopping your opponent from winning theirs. This goes on for 5 rounds. The game was fast, fun, and made you think, all at the same time, and it didn’t take too long to play.

My rating: 7 out of 10

IN FRONT OF THE ELEVATORS (2019)

This game has 3 lines of cards, which represent people waiting. Your goal is to get your colored cards into the front positions when the deck of cards runs out. There are rules about where people can stand in line (girls before boys, women before girls, etc.). You hope that other players can’t play their cards in front of yours and push your cards back. You also hope you can play your cards at the front, especially when the game is almost over. But this all depends on what other players do. I found this game boring and mostly based on luck. It was made worse by having to play 3 rounds of the same thing.

My rating: 5 out of 10

FAUST VS MEPHISTO (2025)

This is a strange 2-player card game with a small deck. One player has some goals to achieve, and the other player just has to stop them. In the one game I played, it seemed like either too easy or it depended too much on the cards you drew. Either way, it didn’t make us want to play it again.

My rating: 5 out of 10

LONE WOLVES (2024)

This is a surprisingly nice 2-player game where you play cards to your side of the fields in the middle to win them. You have to play the same suit as the first card, but you don’t have to play to the same field. The winning card adds its strength to its field (because the highest strength at the end will win points), and the losing card gets to use a special effect in its field (which can sometimes be even more useful). The trump suit will change during the game, so you need to plan for that. It felt like the right amount of thinking, avoided most problems that 2-player card games have, and finished in a good amount of time. I enjoyed it.

My rating: 7 out of 10

RAISING CHICAGO (2025)

I liked how placing a bid on a spot earns you resources, and the most bids in an area wins you the building there. You’ll need to gather the right resources to build if you play reasonably well. But the bidding process is long and gets repetitive over 5 rounds. The game gets complicated by a rule that lets you move buildings, which takes time to understand all the symbols and options and then figure out the best move. It was interesting based on the theme, but a little boring in the end.

My rating: 6 out of 10

SANDBAG (2010)

This is a card game where you try to avoid taking tricks. You have cards in front of you that other players can use (to help avoid taking a trick). The suit with the most cards showing becomes the trump suit, so players can change this during the hand. The worst part of this luck-based game was the cards that can’t win but are worth a lot of points. When played, these cards either help another player win or make up for lost points. This makes you wonder what the point of the game is.

My rating: 5 out of 10

SPELLWARDS (2021)

The goal is to be the first to play all the cards from your hand. In real-time, as fast as you can, you get rid of a card by saying a word that starts with the letter on top of the play pile and ends with the letter on the card you’re playing. You also have to say a word of the length specified on the card. Good vocabulary and a quick mind help. But everyone else suffers – it’s not fun for them, and it’s only okay for the person who’s good at it.

My rating: 4 out of 10

What other gamers thought:

RJ Garrison – I enjoyed my couple of plays of Faust vs. Mephisto. I like the decisions you have to make, but I need to play it a few more times before I decide if it should stay in my game collection.

Fraser: Seers Catalog didn’t work for us. Then again, neither did 7 Wonders Duel (not that they’re similar games, just that neither one clicked with us).