Games on Location: Episode 2 - Anarchy in the Arctic

 It's been a hot minute since we wrote our last Games on Location article (we took Fungi out into the woods), but today we have an extra special edition. You may remember that last year we previewed the fantastic Arctic Anarchy and interviewed its creators Ricky Baker and Lydia Vadgama. Well, during this interview I suggested that they take a copy of their game with them to play while in the arctic circle to do a special Games on Location for us. At the end of June 2025, Ricky and Lydia voyaged to Iceland's capital Reykjavik and further north to Grundarfjörður, Ísafjörður and Akureyri. They then continued on to Alesund in Norway.

The rest of the article is provided to us by Ricky who made some notes on their experiences travelling north with a copy of Arctic Anarchy in their possession.

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Arctic Anarchy on location in Iceland and Norway

The route of our journey meant that we crossed the Arctic Circle when going around Iceland in a North easterly direction, and again when heading towards Norway going South easterly. Naturally it was only fitting that we brought our creation with us. Whilst we did this in the comfort of a cruise ship, our journey did in some ways help us scope out what we might encounter when we embark on our Arctic Quest voyage in Svalbard and give us inspiration for the possibility of an expansion to our game.

No nighttime and folklore inspire possibilities of expansions

Between May and July is known to those in Iceland and Norway as "Period of Midnight Sun", during which the sun does not truly set, but rather sits on the horizon only to rise again after a few short hours. At 6pm the position of the sun makes it seem like midday, and midnight seems like early evening time.

Icelandic and Norwegian folklore is filled with stories of trolls. Much of the landscape tell the stories of these trolls, including "Naustahvilft" (The Troll Seat) located in Ísafjörður.

Thinking about an expansion for Arctic Anarchy, we knew that we would want to introduce and additional dimension to game play for the more experienced board gamers to enjoy. The period of midnight sun and the legends of the Trolls have inspired the idea of adding a "Trolls" card to the events deck. When drawn, the sight of the trolls cause the animals on the iceberg to go into hiding. This manifests itself in the game play as the players having to turn over the animal cards on the iceberg so that the faces are hidden. Any future cards drawn to replace those taken from the iceberg must also be placed face down. As a result, players will be adding animals to their raft blind, until the next event or another troll card is played, (we are yet to decide how the troll card will be cancelled).

Rainbows in Rekjavik and Wildlife icons

Animal cards within Arctic Anarchy are based on native mammal species within the region of Svalbard. Currently the game comprises of Polar Bears (the symbol of Arctic Quest 26), Arctic Foxes, Reindeer, Arctic Hares, Seals, and Whales.

We were lucky enough to see two of these animals in their natural habitat, having spotted a harbour seal off the beaches in Grundarfjörður and a Whale fin whilst at sea.

Another Icelandic icon is the Puffin, with many tourist excursions available to see these in the wild. If that doesn't float your boat, you can visit "Rainbow Street" in Rekjavik, where the cobbles have been painted in stripes of rainbow colour. The street has been decorated in this way as a sign of joy and support for diversity. The initiative is organised by the city of Rekjavik in cooperation with Rekjavik Pride. The street has become an attraction for many visiting the city, and of course there are many shops along the way filled with all manner of puffin themed souvenirs. The puffin, with its colourful beak, seems right at home in this part of the city, and would be a welcomed addition as a new animal type in the Arctic Anarchy game.

For us as creators, the addition of a rainbow puffin card to our game would symbolise the inclusiveness that scouting strives to provide for all its members. It would also reflect our own personal morals and desire for Arctic Anarchy to be a game that can be played by all.

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Hand Limit loves Arctic Anarchy and strongly recommend checking it out  wherever and whenever you can. Get in touch with Ricky and Lydia via the Arctic Quest 26 website to pick up a copy or head over to the Gilwell Reunion 2025, Gilwell Park Campsite, London from 29th to 31st August. This is a festival for adults scouting volunteers, where the wider Arctic Quest team will be promoting and raising funds for their expedition.

Stay tuned for more updates on this fantastic game and the journey of the Arctic Quest 26 team.

Review: Citadels - A scheming city builder

We don't tend to worry about release dates when we do our reviews but we may be pushing things a bit with Citadels by Bruno Faidutti, released 25 years ago next month. 

Despite it's age, Citadels stands up as a great experience. We played a game with 7 players (it can accommodate up to 8 with the Dark Cities expansion), and although it was a long game it was a lot of fun. There is plenty of opportunity to interact with other players but the option is also there to just focus on building your own city, without meddling in other people's.

In Citadels, players take turns to gather gold and use it to pay for the construction of new districts to their city from the cards in their hand. Which is an incredibly straightforward premise. There is, however, a small twist to this. Each round, players draft cards that dictate what role they will play during the round. Roles include characters such as the Assassin, the Bishop, the King, and the Warlord. Each role remains hidden but acts in a set order, starting with the Assassin and ending with the Warlord (in a 2-7 player game), and each has their own unique ability that can be used to the benefit of the player or the detriment of others.

 

For instance, the Assassin can assassinate one character each turn, removing their ability to take a turn in that round. The target is chosen by the role, not the player, so there is a bit of social deduction involved if there is a particular player on you want to remove from the round. The Bishop gains extra gold for each religious district in a player's city, the King always chooses their character first at the start of the next round, and the Warlord can pay to destroy districts in other player's cities.

 

These layers of card drafting, hidden role, and social deduction add a great depth to a game that otherwise might be overly simplistic and allow for a lot of underhanded tactics around the table. We played the game with a higher player number, which I feel helped the flow of the game as we had a player for every character, with the exception of one character card each round which is left face down in the middle of the table to complicate the social deduction element. There is the potential that with a smaller number of players, the game would feel less characterful (pardon the pun).

However, with the larger number of players the game did take some time to get through. The end of the game is brought about by the first player able to build 8 separate districts, which can take some time with characters like the Warlord and Assassin in play. Another criticism, though only a very light one, is that the assassin does have the potential to remove a lot of fun from the game if a player is unlucky enough to be targeted multiple times. This is somewhat mitigated by the targeting of the character, which is hidden, rather than the specific player.

All in all, Citadels offers a smooth gameplay experience with some good player interaction and relatively little downtime. It certainly isn't showing its age and will definitely be brought back to our table again soon. 

Review: The Fox In The Forest Duet - A fox took a stroll through the deep, dark wood

The Fox In The Forest: Duet by Foxtrot Games is a cooperative trick taking card game that sees players immersed in a fairy tale world, finding their way through a fantasy forest, and collecting gems along the way. 

Fans of the original The Fox In The Forest will recognise the core gameplay of playing cards to win, or lose, a trick. However, in this cooperative version the winner of the trick will advance a token along a forest board in one of two directions, and collecting any available gems on the adjacent location. Players have three rounds to try and collect all the gems without the forest path shrinking beyond four spaces, which happens should players ever stray too far in any one direction and at the end of each round. 

For those unfamiliar with trick taking games, players take it in turns to play cards, the highest value in the lead suit played wins the "trick". Player one will play any card, which indicates the lead suit and the value to beat, while player two must play a card from that lead suit if they have one, or another suit if they don't. The lead suit always trumps another suit played unless that other suit matches a "decree" card that is visible to all players. As in The Fox In The Forest, some cards also grant additional actions such as choosing the direction of travel on the forest board, or choosing to ignore a certain amount of movement allowance.

The Fox In The Forest: Duet creates a satisfying and challenging cooperative experience. Players cannot discuss tactics or what cards they have, so the challenge comes from the ability to work wordlessly with your partner to traverse the forest, choosing when to win and when to lose, to ensure that you never stray too far from the path. The gameplay feels smooth and while there is a satisfying amount of tension involved, it creates a calming atmosphere thanks to the lovely illustrations and theme. 

A big problem that I often have when it comes to more abstract games is the question of "why". In more thematic games this is less of a problem, there's usually some story line that sets up the intentions of the characters that the players control, but in The Fox In The Forest: Duet the purpose of the game feels clear.

For a price tag of around £15, the game is well worth the expense and offers plenty of replayability. When we first got it out of the box we played two games back to back (one win, one lose) and it left me wanting more. The addition of the forest path board and movement counter was a nice touch and helps the game stand out from the basic The Fox In The Forest.

What it’s like to hate a game and then fall in love with it OR why your first impressions of a game aren’t always fair

When I was first introduced to Star Realms, I think I gave it a fair try. In principle, it wasn’t a totally unfamiliar premise - though at that point I hadn’t played too many deck building games. But I understood the premise, and liked the idea of something like a trading card game, but that you only had to pay for once, which was the main reason, at that point, I had not delved into the world of TCGs (fair reader, how things have changed now!) 

I played against Skully, Hand Limit editor, a couple of times, and lost spectacularly, before declaring it was a trash game for trash humans and I would never play again. I played the cards in my hand, I did a little damage to their authority, I chose cards from the marketplace and tapped my currency cards to pay for them, when they eventually entered my hand I used them and did a little damage to their authority again. My opponent seemed to get the better cards, they did spectacular damage to my authority, and it didn’t take them long to get another good card in their hand again and do even more damage. My little 1 hit Vipers were useless and I couldn’t regain authority quick enough to keep up with the damage being done to me. 

Back then I was a novice, a baby TTGer, and I hadn’t fully discovered any skill for forward planning, ruthless competition and dastardly strategy. If I played it for the first time now I think my first impression would have been completely different. 

Skully found a friend who was into Star Realms, and they played happily on work breaks and over the mobile app version of the game for several months. I looked on suspiciously - how can they love this unequivocally terrible game, that punishes less experienced players and affords no opportunity for learning and improvement? 

Eventually, after months or even a year, I was persuaded to give it another go, after several thorough explanations (lectures) on the importance of strategies such as discarding cards (getting rid of the stuff that doesn’t help), building a deck around a specific faction (benefitting from buffs and boosts), and being a sneaky little goblin and trying to purchase the cards you think your opponent will want before they have an opportunity to. 

We played again, and this time I tried implementing the strategies I had been told about and I didn’t lose so fast. I decided to buy cards that matched colours, I discarded the lower value cards by making sure I had some Machine Cult faction cards that allowed you to do this. I played the game as it was supposed to be played. And reader, I loved it. 

So then I had to put my big girl pants on and admit I was wrong. Maybe the problem wasn’t the game? Maybe I was the drama after all? 

I’ve actually spoken about this game in some talking therapy since. It was a neat demonstration of my stubbornness and fixed thinking around things that I perceive as too difficult or beyond my knowledge and skill. If I cannot do something, it is therefore not worth doing and is even a Bad Thing. American psychologist, Carole Dweck’s Growth Mindset theory is a good place to start if you are interested in looking into the psychology of this further. Using this neat little example of a tabletop game as an illustration of this tendency of mine, and being able to unpick my responses and reactions to it, was a much easier and more comfortable task than thinking about an example of this behaviour from work, personal relationships or studies. 

Games are great aren’t they? They teach us how to play nicely with each other, how to share, how to be a gracious winner, how to deal with disappointment. They can also show us things about our own inner worlds and self-limiting beliefs. 

So, if there is a game you really don’t “get”, maybe give it another go one day. You might find out something about yourself.

5 Pocket-Sized Games for Taking Out and About

 OK I want to get ahead of this and start with a definition of "Pocket Sized". It's term thrown around a lot and to be honest is rarely used literally. For the purposes of this article, we're going to be using the term pocket sized to mean anything that will either fit in a generous pocket or fit easily into a handbag without taking up all the space.

1. Regicide

Regicide is quite literally pocket-sized as it requires nothing more than a deck of ordinary playing cards (which have the bonus of also allowing for a large number of other games), and yet it manages to be a significant game with a solid theme.

Players will work together to attempt to overthrow the royal dictators, represented by the Jacks, Queens, and Kings in the deck. Taking it in turns, players play cards from their hands, dealing damage equal to the card's value and resolving effects dictated by the suit. Together they will slowly work their way through the picture cards, defeating their oppressors, and hoping they don't run out of cards in the draw pile. Should that happen, support from the people has failed and the game is up.

Regicide is a fantastic, well-thought-out game that manages to capture a theme perfectly with only a single deck of cards. The rules are available as PDF so can be easily checked on a phone, making this the most pocket-sized of games.

2. Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs

Typically Gloomhaven means table-filling boards, hundreds of components, and a rulebook that could technically be classed as a novella. Gloomhaven Jaws of the Lion, the prequel released in 2020, went some way to condensing this but still remained a meaty game. Then in 2024 Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs hit shelves and we had to take a moment to check whether the game was genuinely as small as it looked, or just very far away.

Gloomhaven: Buttons and Bugs is a purely solo experience that amazingly manages to capture the feel of its older siblings perfectly with a fraction of the play-space. This is done through a mixture of making assets as small as feasibly possible (the miniatures are so small I am wary of sneezing near them), and streamlining the game-play to take off every millimeter of fat. 

Even the theme has been downsized. Gloomhaven is a vast role-playing board game that spans an entire nameless realm, Buttons and Bugs takes place mostly within the walls of a single building as your adventurer has been shrunk to the size of a small bug.

In classic Gloomhaven style, the game is still turn based and adventurers play cards to complete actions with an aim to completing objectives before exhaustion sets in or HP is reduced to zero. It effectively captures the feeling of a much larger game despite the board being the size of a single playing card.

While technically not pocket-sized (the box maintains similar dimensions to the huge original but is scaled down) it is definitely small enough to fit easily in a small bag. This game is an must-have, pocket-sized, solo experience.

3. Zombie Dice

Another true-pocket game, Zombie Dice is a push-your-luck dice-rolling game in which players take on the role of zombies searching for tasty human brains without getting shot. The game consists of 13 dice, each showing symbols for brains, footprints, and gunshots, and a dice cup (though we swapped the dice cup for a velvet bag to make it even more compact). Players take it in turns to pull 3 dice from the cup, roll them and resolve the effects. They can then choose whether to pull 3 more dice and keep going, or bank the brains they have and pass play to the next players. The catch is that if a player ever rolls a cumulative 3 gunshots during their turn, they lose all the brains they rolled and their turn ends.

The dice are colour coded to indicate how heavily they are weighted to gunshots or brains, which allows players to make an educated guess regarding their chances on future rolls.

The first player to achieve a total of 13 brains wins the game, which does mean that it is possible for a player to win on their first turn. While this might sound disappointing, the excitement of seeing someone win in this way is worth it!

Zombie Dice is an exciting game and perfect to fill a few minutes of waiting time or even act as a palette cleanser between larger games. The dice feel good quality and the entertainment far exceeds the affordable price tag, which is usually in the region of, you guessed it, £13. 

4. Micro Dojo

Micro Dojo is an adorable worker-placement game in which two players compete to enhance their small town through the purchasing of buildings and completing objectives.

While the gameplay is fairly basic, on your turn you move a meeple one space orthogonally and resolve the action on the space it now occupies, it has a very enjoyable flow and feels suitably low-stakes; perfect for playing at a small cafe table.

While the format doesn’t provide for a lot of player agency, there is room for strategy and planning in blocking your opponent from taking key actions. Furthermore, the game has an automated player 2 for solo play that effectively captures the feeling of playing with a human.

This is a game that easily provides more entertainment than it’s low price tag betrays and would make a good addition to anyone’s collection.

5. Kinoko

Kinoko is a fantastic set-building card game where players work to assemble a set of three mushrooms of the same colour by swapping between players and sets of face-down cards on the table. The one catch? Players cannot look at their own cards, instead they have them facing outwards so that all other players can see them. Using a mixture of deduction, probability, and memory, players assemble sets in their hand, other players hands, or on the table, but as soon as a player feels they have completed their set they announce it to the group and their assumptions are checked.

Quick to play and small to carry, this game is the very definition of a pocket-sized game. Furthermore, set up and game time are both quite fast so it's perfect for when you are out and about. With a cute visual style and simple rules, this game is a must-have for anyone who enjoys a good mushroom.

5 Reasons Why You Should Be Playing Tabletop Games

We like games, that much is obvious, but we also think there are a lot of people out there who would love games as much as us but aren't sure about getting into the hobby. Just in case you are undecided, we've put together this list of 5 reasons why you should be playing table top games

1. Mental Wellbeing

We've written fairly extensively in the past about the positive mental benefits of playing table top games, but did you know that games involving puzzle-like and problem-solving elements can help create more brain neurons, which can slow cognitive decline and memory related dementia?

Eleesha Lockett, writing for healthline, states that "Games are among the many activities that can keep the human mind entertained and engaged. But more importantly, games can help stimulate our brains."

A 2019 study exploring the effects of 16 weeks of combined physical and cognitive training involving games, found that working memory and executive function significantly improved. A further paper published in 2020, A Review on Serious Games for Dementia Care in Ageing Societies, explored the use of board and video games and their benefits. Board games were found to help with cognitive functions such as memory, communication, and emotional regulation. The review found that when early and middle stage patients with dementia used "serious" games, they improved on a wide variety of cognitive abilities.

2. Enhances Playfulness in Adults

We recently wrote [insert link here] about the benefits of playfulness in adults and how, among it's many benefits, adult play can boost creativity, sharpen our sense of humour, and help with stress coping mechanisms. Playfulness is defined by Proyer and Ruch in 2011 as "the predisposition to frame (or re-frame) a situation in such a way as to provide oneself (and possible others) with amusement, humour, and/or entertainment." Adults who participate in playful activities display 5 types of playful behaviours; spontaneous, expressive, creative, fun, and silly, and those who displayed higher levels of these characteristics were also recorded as having higher creativity, better ability to appreciate beauty, a greater sense of hope, and lower stress among others.

If you are looking to enhance your positive playful characteristics, and feel the benefits of the related positive link to well-being and life satisfaction, taking up table top gaming as a hobby is a surefire way to get started.

3. It's a Social Activity

There are games to fit any level of social interaction. Playing a game with another person or a group of people provides ideal structure to an evening. It allows a shared activity for conversation to grow around like vines, but with enough to focus on that there's reduced pressure to be overly communicative if you are feeling confident. Sometimes there is nothing more relaxing than allowing a conversation to fall into a gentle lull, while everyone around the table becomes absorbed in what's unfolding in the game before them.

On top of this, playing games, either competitive or cooperative, provides the perfect backdrop to get to know new people. Strangers can sit around a table together and get to know each other on a much deeper level than mere conversation would usually allow. Through play, we get to see someone's inner morality, how do they behave towards other players when winning or losing? How do they support new players to a game? Do they compete in good faith? These actions all reflect deeper aspects to someone's personality and sometimes when meeting new people, it's good to learn these things up front.

4. We're in a Golden Age of Games

It's so easy to say that something is the Golden Age of a particular thing. Margaret Hofer described the period of 1880s-1920s as "The Golden Age" of board gaming in America, but at that point they'd never played Catan or Gloomhaven so how can we trust her? However, with a pinch of salt we could feasibly consider the current boom in the table top industry a sign that we truly are living in its Golden Age. In 2022 the global board game market was worth $18.93 billion and is expected to reach almost $40 billion by 2028.

Thanks to this explosion of choice in recent years, not just for the Big Names such as Ticket to Ride and Wingspan but also independent developers, there is now a board game for almost everyone. No matter what your tastes are or what kind of experience you are after from a game, there is almost certainly something on the shelves of your local Board Game Cafe for Friendly Local Gaming Store (FLGS) that will have you a keen gamer in no time.

5. Less Focus on Digital Entertainment

Nicolas Pickaerts, chief executive of the online design store Abask raisese the "tangible aspect of playing games, which serves as an antidote to the overwhelm of the digital world... you get to enjoy the physicality of holding a beautifully crafted piece in your hand that has been thoughtfully designed".

There is no doubt that we live in a world that is becoming exponentially digital and with this the amount of time each of us physically spend in the company of our friends, family, and even colleagues is reducing. Dr. Charlotte Russell, a clinical psychologist working in mental health, rates the human need for connection as a "primary need" and that "If we lack human connection this can have a negative impact on our well-being very quickly."

Most FLGSs and Board Game Cafes will be able to recommend gaming groups for people seeking them out. There are also many online communities that can help arrange in-person meet ups for those interested in table top gaming. Our digital world is important for societal progress, it is essential that people do not become less connected as a result and still value the fundamental need for in-person contact.

The final and most important reason to take up table top gaming as a hobby is quite simply that it is fun, and why would you deny yourself a fun time?

What other reasons can you think of that should be included in this list? Or perhaps this article has giving you encouragement to give board games a try? If so, why not check out our article on board games to get you started in the hobby.

Arctic Anarchy and the Arctic Quest

Following our review of Arctic Anarchy, Hand Limit was lucky enough to have a chance to speak to the creators, Rick and Lydia Vadgama about their game and the exciting story of Arctic Quest 2026.

Arctic Quest 2026

Readers of the blog will know that Arctic Anarchy, the fun card game about saving polar animals, was created with the intention of raising money and awareness for a Kent Scouts expedition to the arctic circle in 2026. Rick and Lydia run a Kent-based scouting group and are part of the team of leaders across Kent who will be leading this expedition of 10 young people (aged 16-25) and 10 leaders, to retrace the footsteps of explorer Frank Worsley in 1926, 100 years prior.

Worsley set out on a voyage to the arctic with co-leader Grettir Algarsson on his ship The Island, setting sail from Liverpool in June 1925. However, the ship was damaged by an ice-floe not long into the voyage, forcing Worsley to continue on the journey by sail in what he later described as "sail's last unaided battle with the polar pack". He wrote extensively about his voyage published under the title "Under Sail in the Frozen North".

Following in Worsley's efforts, Kent Scouts will also be making this journey under power of sail and sailing to Svalbard on the schooner, the Noordlicht (pictured below) to "easily" navigate the icy arctic waters. The ship will be crewed by experienced sailors but the young people taking part will be expected to have a hands-on role in sailing the ship, there can be no passive passengers on a voyage so physically, emotionally, and mentally challenging. A key element to their trip is the focus on having a positive environmental focus and the chance to raise awareness about a part of our world that is shrinking rapidly.

"This is more than just voluntourism."

The expedition has 4 proposed objectives:

• Voyage - An adventurous expedition 'Under sail in the Frozen North'
• Projects - Undertake group and personal projects and present the results
• Worsley - Celebrate the achievements of Frank Worsley
• Outreach - Share the experience with thousands of young people

This trip is really about pushing boundaries for those lucky enough to be participating. However, it does not come easily. Regardless of how grueling the journey will be, the journey to the journey will be no walk in the park either. Before anything else, these young people and leaders need to raise the required funds and with a group target of just over £133,000 this will be no mean feat. Many of the scouts who will be going on the expedition will be working to raise this money while also fighting their way through academic milestones such as GCSEs and A-Levels.

Arctic Anarchy

This is where one of our favourite card games of the year comes in. Rick and Lydia are both keen board gamers, so it stands to reason that when presented with a problem, like so many other fans of the hobby, the answer seems to be through playing games.

As it happens, Rick and Lydia were already sitting on an idea for a board game that came about a year or so before. Of course it had quite a different theme that I won't go into here (all I'll say is it was set in a pub rather than the frozen north!), but the mechanics of the game translated perfectly to what they wanted to achieve. Work began on refining the concept and a few sample cards were printed off on a home printer and presented to players at the board game club they run. 

Following the success of this home-made version, Rick and Lydia set out to attend UK Games Expo where they received valuable insight into games production and yet more positive feedback on the game. Pretty soon, Rick was the recipient of 7,500 professionally printed cards that all required counting, checking, and sorting into decks.

"I would always say yes to a game of Catan" - Lydia

"Simplicity was the key to the game," Rick says. "The biggest inspiration was Bounty Hunters." This drive for simplicity in the artwork, game mechanics, and rules can really be seen in the current iteration of the game with its smooth game play and rules that have been condensed to fit on a couple of playing cards within the box. Lydia added that in certain respects the game can be played more like Ticket to Ride. However, they wanted to make the game feel like a unique experience. In this respect they were successful.

Arctic Legacy

When asked what their future hopes for the game would be, Rick and Lydia were both keen for it to remain a source of funding for future Scout expeditions and to continue to raise awareness for young people, providing a link to what is happening environmentally elsewhere in the world.

"An expansion [to the game] would be good but we need feedback on what people would like to see," says Lydia. For an expansion they are keen to know what they are expanding and what this would hope to achieve with the game and its wider environmental message.

Furthermore, they want to take the lessons they've learned in bringing their game to life and share this with other scouting groups, with the hope to create more games to help promote further messages and raise money for future trips. 

"[We're] not looking for profit" - Rick

During our conversation, Lydia brought up a potential future version of the game that could be used to raise awareness and tackle poaching in Kenya. As soon as this was brought up, I admit my head was filled with Kenyan wildlife and the bright colour palette in Rick's geometric designs. Specifically, Lydia was keen for a future game to support the charity Harambee for Kenya, which focusses on "putting poor people on their feet again to rekindle burnt out lives with fresh hope, restoring dignity and respect to their lives." 

So where can people find out more and grab a copy of the game? Currently there are no official outlets, so it's best to get yourself over to the Arctic Anarchy Facebook page and message Lydia and Rick. Alternatively, head on over to their weekly board game club in Hollingbourne, Kent where they will be happy to sell you a copy.

Also, keep an eye out for future editions of Games On Location to see how well Arctic Anarchy fairs being played in the Arctic Circle!

Review: Stay At Home - A little shared trauma as a treat

The other day I found myself looking at the release date of a game on my shelf and came to the shock realisation that 2020 wasn't just a year or two ago. It's been four years since the world was plunged into a pandemic and the chaotic response as various governments tried desperately to ignore deal with the socio/political/economic ramifications of entire countries trying to isolate themselves nationally and internationally. It feels as though many of us have struggled to move on from this global event and the way this has manifested is the shared delusion that this all somehow happened more recently than it actually did. 

Stay At Home - Three ominous words

Despite that odd symptom, I have come to realise quite how much my brain had chosen to forget through the game we played last night, Stay At Home.

"A card game that's nostalgic for all the wrong reasons"

First of all, I would like to send my thanks to the creator of this game who kindly gifted me a copy for review!

Stay At Home is a simple card game by Fizzgig Games in which 2-4 players strategically take and play cards to try and end the game with the largest proportion of their household "Out", meaning not stuck in isolation. This is done through humorous cards that allow one or more of your household of 4 to leave the house on errands such as "drug run", "toilet paper quest", and a very disgruntled looking "key worker" (round of applause anyone?). However, working against you are regular government announcements and stop cards which work to complicate play or send members of your household home again. There are also stockpile cards which work against you during play by clogging up your hand, but are valuable in the event of a tie-break at the end of the game.

The winning player is the one who has the most "out" cards in front of them at the end and a decent supply of stockpile cards in the event of a draw. 

While the game was quick to play and learn, I felt there was decent replay value through the luck of the draw. Sadly on our first play through we seemed to draw almost all the government announcement cards at the start of the game so there was little effect (we hadn't had a chance to get many people out of our houses yet!), but despite this there was fun to be had in fighting each other and sending people home.

During the game we found ourselves reminiscing about the weird and confusing times, which was fun in a gallows-humour way and it was an easy game to play while also holding conversation. I also really enjoyed the mechanic of the four house cards in front of each player that flipped over as members of the household are allowed out. I'm not sure I've come across something similar in other card games of the like.

I think it would be a fair comparison to liken this to games such as Fluxx and Exploding Kittens; an easy and accessible game to play with family (depending on how raw feelings still are about that turbulent period). 

It would be interesting to see how the game changed with a greater number of green cards that enabled house holds to go out, would this also increase the underhanded actions of players as they vie for top place? Furthermore, I feel the game would re-skin well to cover a different theme, something along the lines of medieval plagues would be a fun redesign.

Overall, this is an enjoyable game to bring out at family gatherings and the humour sticks the landing, without feeling contrived. 

Preview: Arctic Anarchy - Far from a frosty reception

Courtesy of Ricky Vadgama©

Last night I was lucky enough to attend a play test event for Arctic Anarchy, a new indie card game. The game is the brain child of two Scout Leaders and avid board gamers, Ricky and Lydia Vadgama. In 2026 they will be joining a team of fellow leaders and young people from Scouts on an expedition to the Arctic Circle. Their objective is to undertake polar research and conservation projects. The game has been designed with the purpose of raising money to fund this expedition and you can keep up to date on their progress here.

Arctic Anarchy sees 2-4 players take turns collecting or discarding cards showing different arctic animals in an attempt to make a hand that will score points, before banking this for tallying up at the end of the game. However, Ricky and Lydia Vadgama have injected a little bit of chaos into this simple premise with the "event" cards that are pulled whenever a player banks a good hand for scoring. These events range from all players discarding a certain type of animal, to handing over the game-winning hand you thought you had just safely stowed away, to the player on your right. While this might sound like the goal-post changing mechanics of games like Fluxx, it plays very well with the careful and balanced style of the rest of the game. Players will carefully draw animals onto their rafts (as the play areas are called), planning several moves ahead, only to have an event force them to discard all their polar bears. Arctic Anarchy tests how well its players can adapt and react to the changing whims of the arctic.

Further rules for games of 3-4 players also introduce the opportunity to swap cards with others around the table (all players' hands are kept in the open), which can introduce an extra social element to the game as allies and enemies are made. Another player and I took delight in using this mechanic to mutual benefit, and what is an action that I am sure could cause more than one table-flip, turned out to be charming and full of goodwill. Though, I suppose that will come down to who you choose to play with!

Courtesy of Ricky Vadgama©

Overall, the game played incredibly well. It was taught in a matter of minutes and was easily played within a half hour. The game-play was smooth and felt well polished, with next to no rules-checking needed for the entire time. The player who I joined had already played 2 games before my arrival, and then when I brought a copy back to Hand Limit Tower, we played 2 games back to back. I can foresee this small deck taking a similar spot to Love Letter in the "let's just play a quick round" genre. Sporting pleasing geometric animal designs in a cool colour palette, the game shows product quality that matches some of the bigger names in the industry. Although still technically in its play-testing stage, the game plays and looks like a finished product. 

With the expected retail price of £18 (approx.) this game is comparable to the series of games being released by the well established Oink Games, but considering this has been put together by a team of two independent developers at their own cost, and that it is being sold to fund such a wholesome cause, I feel it is well worth that price.

My only worry is that since we launched our Games On Location series, we might need to ship out with them to get this one on the list. Perhaps we will be able to persuade them to take a deck for us?