FAMILIAR AND FRIENDLY

The true staples were all still in place. The Board Room, organized by Buckeye Game Fest and using the Columbus Area Boardgaming Society (CABS) game library, the social deduction/werewolf room, and the UnPub ProtoAlley — where I saw many exciting games in different stages of development — all returned to Origins 2021.

TRANQUILITY

Tranquility is a challenging, cooperative card game all about reading your partners, taking calculated risks, and going with the flow.

CATAPULT FEUD

In this two-player, head-to-head battle you must try to knock down your opponent’s soldiers from off his castle.

Bringing Down the House

How Gamewright Created a New Kind of Family Game

Hammer Time is Major Fun!

Major Fun Review

CRASH OCTOPUS

Race to collect treasures and cargo lost at sea! But beware the giant octopus, for you never know when it will strike!

ZOOM IN BARCELONA

Zoom around Barcelona, taking pictures of famous landmarks, beautiful skylines, and the occasional dragon!

Your Turn!

A Spotlight on the Gaming Community

TREKKING THE WORLD

Explore the world as you tour exotic destinations, collect souvenirs, and plot your way across the globe.

SHAMANS

In this trick-taking hidden role game, your role changes every round and only one player will emerge victorious.

LOST CITIES: ROLL & WRITE

Lost Cities is a classic two-player card game that is now a roll and write!

GORILLA MARKETING

Choose an item, come up with a great name, and add a catchy tag line. It’s all in a day’s work in Gorilla Marketing!

UMBRA VIA

Umbra Via is an abstract silent auction, tile-laying, and area control game; an unusual blend that results in a challenging strategy game.

QWIXX: How to Avoid Being Rolled by Luck

Maybe you’ve played Gamewright’s popular dice game QWIXX, but have you considered that you may not be maximizing your chances of victory? Whether you’re playing the dice or card version, understanding your options to maximize your point output can be the difference between a sizeable defeat or a close victory. Below you’ll find some tips to help you turn the luck of QWIXX in your favor. But first, a refresher on (or introduction to) the basic rules of the game...

TINY EPIC GALAXIES: BLAST OFF!

A new take on Tiny Epic Galaxies, this is a smoother and more streamlined version of the original, featuring excellent components.

On the Pitch

Soccer is a huge draw, pulling in the biggest crowds at the Rio Olympic Games in 2016, as host country Brazil finally won Gold for the first time in the men’s event. Flick-and-move veteran Subbuteo is an obvious favorite for this category, and its host of accessories even extends to Pegasus’s enormous athletics track. This large, 21-piece monstrosity that fits around the pitch was created for decorative purposes, but it’s also not beyond the imagination of the average sporting gamer to gather up a few Subbuteo players to hold their own track meet after the soccer medals have been decided.

SMART 10

Smart 10 is a neat little trivia party game that enables all players to participate in every round.

THE SHERLOCK FILES

Will you be a Sherlock Holmes, Doctor Watson, or Inspector Lestrade? Tackle each case and see how clever a detective you really are.

Social/Interactive Party Games

Party games are a great way to break the ice and get to know people.

Ready for the games?

We asked creators of sport-based games for opinions about the upcoming Olympic games.

MAGLEV METRO: MAGNETIC LEVITATION RAIL

A TRAIN GAME REVOLUTION

DUNGEON ACADEMY

Dungeon Academy offers a unique twist on the roll-and-write genre, adding a real-time racing element to the gameplay.

CROSSED WORDS

Crossed Words is a party word game about coming up with unusual connections as quickly as possible.

Getting on Track

Track and Field is the centerpiece of the games, drawing in some of the biggest crowds and containing some of the most memorable moments. For example, Usain Bolt — shoelaces undone, chicken nuggets for dinner — sprinting his way to the 100m world record in 2008. Curiously, there are very few athletics-based modern tabletop games.

Cloud City is Major Fun!

MAJOR FUN REVIEW

Casual Strategy Games

The following can be taught in under ten minutes and played in under an hour. This means you can play more games in a single game night or spend some time relaxing and chatting for part of the night.

BRAVO!

Bravo! is an abstract roll-and-write game featuring multiple ways to score, bonuses to earn, and many paths to victory.