So the calendar has flipped to December, so it's time to think of holiday gifts for the board gamer in your life.

Keep it simple suggests Guilder Jeff Chasse.

"My goal is simple -- to learn games that are fun," he offered, adding he has just bought a Farkle board for his parents for Christmas (Shh don't tell them). "It is a wood decorative board looks like a nice crib board. Reason is they enjoy the game and it can be played with a large number of people and friends."

Other gift games Jeff has given in the past included Tsuro, zombie dice, and Partido.

Adam Daniels went hog wild on his holiday gift suggestions breaking things down depending on what sort of gift you seek.

As a 'stocking Stuffer' Adam suggested Pairs.

"The game of Pairs is easy to learn and loads of fun. This game is just a special deck of cards, and it plays easy and yet it is so addictive you will continually want to play one more. While this game could be mostly scene as a filler game, you could play it the whole night. It comes with so many different variants to play, and it was designed as a pub game if you really want to have a good time."

For larger gifts Adan went with Pandemic, especially as an intro game for someone.

"Perhaps the best board game ever, at least to me," suggests Adam. "Everyone should have a copy of this great game, it is also a great game to start a collection. I am sure there were co-op games before Pandemic but this became the measuring stick for all co-op games since, and none have matched it in my opinion. The base game would be great for anyone, but the Pandemic Iberia version might be a better a gift. Iberia takes a little from expansions and uses those mechanics to make a better game experience compared to the base game. Iberia also looks amazing when set up, when on the table it has a very old timey aesthetic. I guess it comes down to the person you're buying for Pandemic as a sleek and modern feel. Iberia feels older while using wooden pieces and just the overall look.

Another of interest might be Zombiecide.

"There are many types of gamers in the world. Board, video and mini gamers are just a few. Most people will pick a lane and stay in it," reasoned Adam. "That is probably wise because in the long run it would probably save you money. I am not one those people. I have loved mini games for a long time and have played them since I was probably 10. Most people who play board games are turned off by getting into minis, for a number of reasons. Which is why Zombiecide is a great game since it is both. It comes with so many zombie minis and is played on a board. It is a great gateway game to get people into mini gaming. It also sneakily teaches some fundamental rules for most mini games, (movement, line of sight etc).

"It also helps Zombiecide is just a fun co-op experience, which can be enhanced with further expansions, or if you are really into the game painting the minis themselves which in itself is a fun part of the hobby."

For a gift under $30, Adam turned to Lanterns.

"This is a fun cheap tile laying game. The whole point of the game is to lay tiles and make the best display of lantern display. It is a bit longer than a filler game but isn't going to take hours to play. It is a fun and relaxing time and would be a welcome addition to any collection or just a good cheap game to give as a gift. The rules are quick, and easy to learn even for non-gamers. The other games I recommended tend to be on the expensive side but this game is under $30 and would make a great gift," he suggests.

In my case I do suggest knowing who you are giving the gift too. If it is to a non-gamer, with a young family I'd suggest finding a nice checker set, buying two, and putting all 48 checkers into one box with a board.

Then do a bit of 'Net research and print the rules from some of the best games. With a double set of checkers you open the board to having literally dozens of games played on it without adding a thing. Some of the best would be Lines of Action, Croda, Dameo, Murus Gallicus, Bashni, Breakthrough and Turkish checkers.

If you have a diehard board gamer on your list it's a much harder chore just knowing what they have in their collection, so you might be best to opt for games that are less well-known in Canada, but are great games. I'd start with Tasso. It's a wonderful, all-wooden components game that looks nice on the coffee table, and is easy to learn and quick to play. It can be found at www.ludarden.com

From the same company check out Totem, another all wood offering that will look great on a table to entice interest, and a veteran game should appreciate its aesthetics.

Among the members of the tiny Meeple Guild we own literally dozens and dozens and dozens of games.

None among the plethora are more visually stunning than Squarriors: The Card Game.

From the box top that screams 'look at me' if it were sitting on a game store shelf, to the art on each card gleaned from the comic book series of the same name, to the embossed card backs to the rulebook, this game is gorgeous to the max. I have no qualms in calling it the best looking game in our collection.

In fact, as you thumb through the cards provided, it's easy to get lost in the art, a number of card depictions being so cool they'd make great art prints for a games room wall.

Aesthetically, from box top, to rulebook, to cards, few if any games have done it better than Squarriors. This one is gorgeous to the max.

So how does the card game from Ash Maczko play?

Well, to begin with Squarriors: The Card Game is a tabletop game based off of the comic book series, Squarriors, which I actually reviewed at one point. The book has a bit of Watership Down feel for sure, with a dash of the Secrets of Nimh mixed in. I totally loved it.

In Squarriors TCG, there is no deck of cards to draw from, instead all cards start either in play or in your hand, which is neat aspect, as it lessens the 'hope' factor of drawing the card you need.

Your 'deck' (known as your Tribe in S:TCG) consists of 20 points worth of creatures, three domains to defend (your Council, Army, and Vanguard), and 10 Tactic cards that start in your hand; all of which are chosen by the player.
So a key aspect of this one is card selection, discovering which cards have synergies, and putting together the winning selection of cards from the many provided. That effort will make the game for some. Certainly old Magic: the Gathering fans will enjoy the 'building' aspect which almost creates a solo element to the game.

And it will be a turn off for others who want to just play the game.

At any given time, each of your creatures are on the battlefield in one of your three domains, and each of these domains have a power variable that will be modified as the game progresses. If a domain reaches zero power it is destroyed and creatures there must move to one of the remaining domains controlled by that player. When a player has lost two of their three domains, they are eliminated from the game.
This is not a new mechanic, the idea of defending and attacking 'sites' to win and lose a card game. It remains a very workable scenario and certainly fits with the story as portrayed on the comic (not that reading Squarriors is required to play the game).

Each creature has several base statistics and many various abilities, keywords, and game texts. These creatures can take various actions and make different types of attacks depending on what domain they are in.

Again this is sort of boilerplate stuff in terms of such card games, but again it works to the theme.

Tactic cards, which start in a player's hand, serve two functions. Initially, they can be used as an action, trap, instant etc. But after they have been played, they serve a second function by being added to your strategy. Each of your three domains can host a strategy chain and each chain adds more layers of abilities and enhancements to your tribe. Each card in a strategy chain can gain new abilities or functions depending on the other cards connecting to them in the chain, explains the rules.

This is the most interesting aspect of the game, the one that plays to good 'deck-building' and wise card play.

Overall, this is a game that you will get as much out of it as you put in. The more you play, the better you will understand what works, and that will allow more creative card building, and ultimately a better game experience. This is not a game that will be loved out of the box, but like a good relationship, put the time in, and you might indeed be in love.

Check it out at www.shopcoldwar.us

Thanks to fellow Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

It was interesting to get Tonooo to the table.

This is one of those interesting games in the sense it is perfect information, no dice, card draw, or imposed luck, but the information is only known if you have a good memory game.

As a memory game Tonooo was a rather new experience for The Meeple Guild. We might have a games' room piled high with games, plus more at the homes of members, but none of us could recall a pure memory game among the collection.
That suggests it is not exactly a style of game we are attracted too, so Tonooo was immediately something very new for us.

From Ludarden the game is all wonderful wood, which is always a plus in my mind. Wooden games have a vintage look and feel that plastic can never come close to matching.

As for rules, Tonooo, like most of the Ludarden line, are quite simple, although the ruleset being translated to English does at time require just a minute to interpret.
The aim of the game is to be the first to have four small cylinders of different colours in front of you, which can include joker, which make those very important if you can find one.

Each player on his turn does one of two choices.

* Either they draw a small cylinder from the bag and places it in one of the four big cylinders, letting players know what he drew so you can put it in your memory where it went;
* Or they pick up one of the four big cylinders and look at all the small cylinders placed in it. If there are at least two small cylinders of the same colour, the player keeps one of them in front of him. If there is also a joker, they claim it too.

Each time there are not two small cylinders of the same colour, the player is penalized and replaces one of the small cylinders in front of him in the bag, if they have one.

Since this is a memory game, you need to be in the mood to pay attention to the game you are playing, and wanting to make the brain work too.

In my case I tried to simplify things. There are four large cylinders that the smaller ones are placed. I tried focusing on two, being fairly confident when I went hunting that there were two matching pieces inside. It worked not badly as a strategy.

However, ultimately jokers tend to be part of a win, which isn't surprising.
A quick game from designer Philippe Proux that I'd be up to play as a filler anytime.

Check it out at www.ludarden.com

Thanks to fellow gamers Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Greener is one of those great little abstract strategy games in a bag from XV games.

The bag has the board printed right on it, so it's a great option to take the local coffee shop, sort of.

Greener, by designer Nestor Romeral Andres is a nice little game, but in this version the bag makes a rather small board, which in turn necessitates small game pieces, which ends up equalling a bit of a fidgety game in terms of play.

Greener utilizes pyramid pieces, as noted, quite small pyramid pieces in this version.

There are 18 neutral green pyramids, and nine black taken by one player, with nine white for the other in this two-player offering.

Randomly place the black pyramids and white pyramids on any empty spaces of the board (one pyramid per cell). Fill the remaining cells with green pyramids.
Once the board is filled, "on your turn, you must make one capture if possible, other-wise you pass the turn. Stacks capture other stacks that are on the same row or column and with no other stacks in between them, by stacking on top of them," explains the rules. "Stacks cannot be split. But this time, you can capture stacks of any colour (even your own)."

The game ends when all players pass in succession.

The player with the most green pyramids captured (being part of stacks they control) wins the game. In case of a tie, the player with the highest stack wins."
As you might imagine the stacks can get quite high, and on a board that is on the side of a bag, it's not the most even surface, so it can be a little fidgety because of it too.

Still, the game is fun, and harder to master than it might first seem. Jumping on an opponent's piece seems like a good idea, but can quickly be lost to their next move if not careful.

Battling with an opponent also is not capturing green pyramids and that is the way you win.

Balance in how you play is a key.

Definitely fun, easy to learn, depth to explore, but this version is just a tad small, so be aware.

Check it out at www.xvgames.it

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

Some games just look so good that you want to buy them, play them, and share them with the world.

That is pretty much the situation with Totem from designer Philippe Proux and publisher Ludarden.

The game when complete looks a bit like an art nouveau sculpture, to the point it begs to be left out on an end table where it can be a conversation starter.

The great thing is once that conversation starts, Totem takes about 90-seconds to share the rules with someone new, and you are set to introduce a new player to the game.

Play is so simple Totem is a great entry level offering, for those people who are convinced they don't like board games.

Once played this game is sort of an addictive nature too. You might lose, but you are left wanting just once more game to redeem yourself.

So what is Totem all about?

Well the goal of the game is to have one of your pieces atop at least three of the five 'totem poles' at the end of the game.

Each player has a set of 12 pieces of the same colour. The pieces are in varying shapes, and can be played onto the poles in different ways, varying how much of the pole they take up.

The first player puts one of his pieces on one of the poles. Then each player plays at his turn by putting one of his pieces in one of the poles. It should be noted the five poles are slightly different in height, so what you do in terms of strategy needs to vary a bit pole-to-pole.

When a player puts one of his pieces on an opponent's piece, he has to play again. This is an intriguing aspect of the game. It might seem an advantage to play more pieces, but ultimately it only matters who tops each 'totem'.

The game is over when one of the players has no more pieces, or when it is not possible to place a piece any more.

The player who has the most pieces on the top of the stacks is the winner.

This is not a game that has the depth to be an all evening focus for game play, but it has a simple charm, and definite beauty that makes it a game you are likely to return to over and over again.

It is definitely a lightweight game, but a contender for the belt in its weight class.

Thanks to fellow gamers Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

When it comes to theme board games have covered just about everything, or at least I had thought they had.

Then I got my hands on Dungeon WC.

The WC here stands for water closet a rather antiquated name for a toilet.
Yes this is a little dungeon crawler where you must get your hero through the dungeon to the water closet in time.

But, therein lies the true challenge of the game, Dungeon WC is a real time, game.
You have to play out tiles, deal with monsters, explore treasure chests, and all the while sand runs through a tiny egg timer. If the sands run out you lose.

The game from designer by Dario Dordoni and Dracomaca Games is a cooperative one for one-to-five players working together as quickly as possible to move the hero along.

The game is essentially a card game where the players try to connect dungeon cards to bring the Hero to the bathroom before time ends.

While the time is short in the timer, there are ways to flip it over just before the final grains fall, to essentially restart the timer. You can pay gold, although there is never enough gold in any world is there?

Or, you can find a treasure card that lets you flip it, although not always at the most opportune time.

There are some neat features incorporated into this small, quick game.

One aspect requires you to flip tokens in a particular order to progress. That means having a good memory, but it is co-operative so fellow players can help.

Defeating monsters is a dice roll, which is terms of a battle makes some sense, as a sword fight often has an element of luck.

Overall, this is a game that surprised me in terms of how much fun it was. I was not sure what the timer element would be like, it's the only game in the collection with time a major element, but it works here, in part keeping games short enough that the fun of the game is maintained.

Dungeon WC is not a play all evening game, but it works as a quick filler with different mechanics to make it interesting.

Check it out at www.xvgames.it

Thanks to fellow gamers Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

Typically dexterity games are either love them, or leave them in my world.
Crokinole is the best game there is, rod hockey is fantastic, but most are not exactly my forte.

So Jenga is a game that I appreciate for the steady hand required, and understand why it is often a party favourite, but it has never been very high on my list.

Then along came Tasso, which will have many thinking about a sort of reverse Jenga.

The game from designer Philippe Proux and game company Ludarden is about stacking wooden pieces, although you don't end up with the eventual stack collapse and the search on the floor if one spills off table.

Each player lays one of his sticks flat, either directly on the game board (part of the stick may be outside the board), or you can lay the piece on two sticks already laid which are not already supporting any others.

When one player lays his stick on two sticks already laid, then he has another turn. This is a key to winning, as the first player to rid themselves of all pieces wins.

There is no limit to the number of layers of sticks, although we have not gotten past a third layer so far.

When a player lays a stick he must not:
* Touch any stick other than ones on which he may be laying his stick
* Cause any stick to fall on or off the game board.

If he does either of these things, he takes all fallen sticks and receives a stick of each player. The offloading of pieces from other players is a death knell in a game as it is near impossible to catch up again in terms of laying off the added pieces. The more playing, the more onerous the penalty too.

As soon as the player has let go of his stick, he can't pick it up again.

The game is aesthetically wonderful. The base board is wooden and a cheerful red in colour. The pieces are wooden as well, in a natural tone. The look and feel are wonderful.

The rules and play are quick, and the game is easily transportable to be a coffeehouse favourite.

If you want a game with more colour, this one has been re-issued at Tasso Safari. In this one the pieces, which vary in length in the new incarnation, are painted to match African critters, cheetahs, giraffes and such.

Tasso Safari also offers obstacles that are placed in the base prior to laying sticks, Mount Kilimanjaro and Lake Victoria both make an appearance, offering both beauty and obstacles around which players must maneuver, along with a couple of trees and a second smaller mountain.

The obstacles and the varying lengths of the sticks give Tasso Safari a fresh feel, and it is a brighter looking game, which would appeal to younger players.

Both versions are highly recommended. Check them out at www.ludarden.com

Thanks to fellow gamers Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

While not a massive fan of historical battle recreation games – not something I generally seek out – it's also a genre I am not opposed to exploring.

So 1066, Tears to Many Mothers, from designer Tristan Hall, was a game that definitely caught my eye.

The game name comes from a quote apparently, at least as referenced in the rulebook, which I must say I found interesting in and of itself.

"You've come, have you? ...You've come, you source of tears to many mothers, you evil. I hate you! It is long since I saw you; but as I see you now you are much more terrible, for I see you brandishing the downfall of my country. I hate you!" - Eilmer of Malmesbury on Halley's Comet, De Gestis Regum Anglorum.

So as you have likely already garnered this is a game recreating one of the more storied battles in history.

1066, Tears to Many Mothers retells the story of Duke William, King Harold, and the infamous Battle of Hastings.

The winner will be the first player to:
*Destroy two Wedges of enemy troops at the Battle of Hastings, or
*Destroy their opponent's Leader, or
*Have their opponent run out of cards in their card deck.

So starting with the positive, the art here is excellent. You get a good feel for the period, the key figures and the 'grunt' troop types, all well rendered on the cards.
Game play is a tad tedious early on in this card game.

"Each player has their own Objective deck, which is placed in the same set order each game. The players race to defeat each of the Objectives in their deck, in alphabetical order, to reach their final Objective card - the Battle of Hastings. Once that's revealed, they can begin dealing damage to wedges of enemy troops (represented by Wedge cards) to try and win the game," explains the rules.

That you repeat the same process each game in what is essentially a troop build-up phase detracts from the game. As a variant they say you can shuffle the objective deck but there is not enough that a shuffle will change things a great deal.

While going through the objectives has a troop build-up purpose and reflects some history, it by far the weakest aspect of game play. That said, if you aren't matching your opponent step-for-step in achieving objectives in the two-player game you can be disastrously behind as you get to the meat of the game.

Once you do progress into head-to-head play trying to capture 'wedges' the game picks up a smidge, but sadly not as much as hoped.

You draw only two cards a turn, and to play a card you must use resources, which are generated in one of two ways, using a card with a specific feature already in play, or by discarding cards in your hand. Sine some cards cost fie resources to play, and you draw only two each turn, there is a snail's pace here. I will grant that probably mimics war with foot soldiers but it fails to excite here.

The mechanic also means a player edging ahead early stays ahead most times, since resources to mount a comeback are in short supply. Again that may be historically accurate, but not fun.

As a tool to learn about the battle, to get a feel for the era, 1066 is a winner.

It is far less so as a game, at least for this reviewer.

Check it out at hallornothingproductions.co.uk

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.

When it comes to abstract strategy games there is a lot to be said for simplicity.
The easier a game is to grasp in terms of rules, the better the chance of enticing someone not usually into abstract strategy games to give it a whirl.

Of course, the game must have some depth of play in spite of any simplicity in order to be more than a passing interest.

Games that are a tad overly simple in play become generally filler games, the kind you squeeze in at the end of a night of gaming, or over coffee with a bud.

Libraria, a game by Marcello Bertocchi from XV Games falls squarely into the simple filler category.

"The players take the role of Librarians who fight for the control of the bookshelves. They try to get as many books as possible, while watching out for book-eating mice," denotes the intro to the game in the rulebook.

As is often the case the library theme is pasted on to the game, having no true bearing on play, but it still works.

Setup is simple, as laid out in the rules, "Shuffle the bookshelf tiles and put them in random order on the table creating a 5X5 square board. This board is called "the bookshelf". The bookshelf has 36 spots where a counter can be placed; the 36 intersections of the lines around each tile. Each player chooses a colour and takes all counters of that colour. The player who most recently have been into a library is declared the starting player. Otherwise determine the starting player randomly."
It then is simply a case of placing stones on the corners of the tiles, the player with majority at game's end, (three corners), gets the tile.

Tiles with books count toward your score, based on the number of books pictured.

If you get a tile with a mouse, it's a negative to your score.

That's it folks, about as simple as a game gets.

They suggest 10-minutes to play and that would be accurate.

The good thing, you can teach youngsters the game, the spouse not really into abstract strategy games, frankly anyone, so therein lies the greatest merit of Libraria. It is very much an entry level abstract strategy game that is still fun to pull out and play.

Check it out at www.xvgames.it

Thanks to fellow gamers Trevor Lyons and Adam Daniels for their help in running through this game for review.

When I read a description that states "a steampunk deckbuilding game with crazy inventions that connect to make even cooler inventions," I am pretty well hooked.

Such was the case with Widget Ridge from Ian Taylor and Shawn Martineau from Furious Tree Games.

As you might expect from a steampunk-themed game, this one is about building whacky creations, which works pretty slick as a deckbuilder, that mechanism allowing for the collection of parts throughout the game.

What is limiting here is that Widget Ridge is a two-player game, which is not unique among deckbuilders, there are several others, but the vast majority do play more. So if you grab this one, and you probably should, just be aware it only accommodates two.

In Widget Ridge you'll be playing 'Widget' and 'Gadget 'cards to generate 'Gold' and 'Spark'.

Gold and Spark are basically the currency of the game allowing you to but more cards or to build contraptions.

Players buy new inventions, connect inventions in their workshops, and of course sabotage their opponents by destroying their inventions.

The artwork on the cards is suitably 'steampunky' with clean lines that is appealing if you are into the genre to start with.

The scorekeeper cards work in a neat way I haven't seen elsewhere, which is simply innovative.

This is a fine little deckbuilder that has tons of potential for expansions, which of course the norm in games in general these days, and in particular with deck building where new cards can be rather easily added.

The key here is you have to like the flavour of steampunk, or a big part of Widget Ridge's charm may be lost on you.

You also need to have the bud to play a two-player with, which is sometimes harder to arrange than a game's night with a group.

But if all the cogs fall into place for you, Widget Ridge is a very solid game to look into.

Check it out at www.widgetridge.com

Thanks to fellow gamer Adam Daniels for his help in running through this game for review.