Gaming the System: Changing the World One Game at a Time

"Playing political board games as if it really mattered" was the promise from Gaming The System's website. It further explained: "Games are not reality but sometimes provide a representation of the forces and power at play in society." 

Gaming the System is a Canterbury-based board gaming group that meets twice a month at The Long Rest gaming cafe and promises the prospect, as stated above, of playing games through a political lens. That is not to say that all the games they play are explicitly political, only they are choosing to look deeper beneath the surface at what lessons the games we play may teach us, from climate change to LGBTQ+ history. 

I was lucky enough to be invited along to their most recent meet up by one of their members, Rea, and the evening did not disappoint. I was introduced to many lovely members and had the opportunity to play Molly House, a game about the secret gay clubs of Victorian London. It was a great experience and I really enjoyed the opportunity to play something that was not only entertaining but provided an insight into the struggles of the LGBTQ+ scene in the 18th century. Conversation was enthusiastic and varying, and without having known each other more than an hour previously, all the players around the table were working together to create joy for the miniature gay community. Albeit we did have a couple of traitors around the table (I admit, I was one of them - I do love chaos). It was a perfect example of how board games give people the space and structure to meet new people and open conversation on larger subjects.

"Just don't ask us to define what we mean by political," said one of their members when asked. They went on to say that games offer the opportunity to build dialogue across political divides and allow for the exchange of ideas in a safe environment and one that encourages empathy.

As a believer that politics is morality in practice, I couldn't agree more that board games have the power to raise political questions, and the playing of games can even be seen as a political act in itself. I have written before about Play as an Act of Rebellion, and I truly believe that everything we do, especially that which affects others around us, can be seen as an act of politics (with a lower-case p).

I think what Gaming the System is doing is fantastic and shows genuine thought and understanding of the table top hobby. Board games are escapism and entertainment, yes, but they can also be a social tool to develop community and promote positive well being. The more groups like this, the stronger the local and global community of gamers will become. Political discourse should be embraced and we should all be encouraged to view all that we do, even our entertainment, in terms of its wider moral and philosophical meaning.

I was completely charmed by the group and will make sure that I attend future gaming events. I also look forward to seeing them at our upcoming Pride Board Game Club, which is raising money for the BeYou project.

Review: Wandering Towers - Dude, Where's My Wizard?

We first played Wandering Towers, from Capstone Games, in December 2024 at our local tabletop convention, and I instantly fell in love with it. It perfectly balances strategy and luck, while being quick to learn and relatively quick to play to offer a very smooth and well designed experience for 1 to 6 players.

The board itself is unique in that it comprises a circular ring that the players will move their wizards and towers around. The towers are lovely, 3D folded card models that look intriguing and are great fun to play with.

The central premise of Wandering Towers is that players are attempting to get all of their wizards into a tower named Ravenskeep and fill all of their potion bottles while doing so. As soon as one player satisfies both of these win conditions the game comes to an end. The way in which players move their wizards around the board is by playing action cards that either move their wizard meeples, or the towers they stand upon. When towers land on the same space they stack on top of each other in a very satisfying way. This stacking of towers not only allows players to steal mana from wizards and therefore fill potion bottles, but it also provides an additional difficulty and is becomes increasingly difficult to keep track of where all of your wizards are, in the classic "ball under a cup" style. Whenever a wizard finds their way to Ravenskeep, it moves around the board, creating an almost constantly moving target. This element of chaos keeps all players on their toes and never lets anyone get too comfortable with their strategy.

The gameplay is smooth with very little downtime. Each turn, players will play two action cards, or discard their entire hand and move a tower of their choice, clockwise around the board. As they begin to fill their potion bottles there is a risk-reward mechanic where these can be spent to cast spells that unlock further opportunities to move wizards and towers clockwise or anti-clockwise around the board. These spells are chosen at random at the start of the game from those available in the box, and the instructions indicate that the more spells you make available, the more strategic the game becomes. However, I would suggest that rather than strategy, these spells inject a satisfying amount of chaos as it becomes harder to predict what each player is able to do on their turn.

While the theme of the game is charming, the core mechanic and purpose is abstract enough that the theme never gets in the way if magic and wizards are not your thing. You could easily strip the wizarding theme from the game entirely and it wouldn't lose anything from the enjoyment. That being said, the artwork is charming and definitely draws the eye.

Since first playing it at the tabletop convention, I have since picked up a copy of the game and it has made it to the table a number of times and never fails to entertain. Designers Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer have delivered to us a real tabletop staple that deserves as much space as other modern classics.

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?

Chaos is a (Snakes and) Ladder: 5 chaotic games for all you lil' goblins

Last year Oxford English Dictionary declared Goblin Mode as Word of the Year. This, on the face of it, was a joyous occasion for all the Lil' Goblins out there. Until the OED stated what their chosen definition of the phrase was:

Goblin Mode (Noun): The behaviour of someone who wants to feel comfortable and do and eat whatever they want, not caring about trying to be clean, healthy or attractive, or about pleasing or impressing other people.

As an honorary member of the Goblin Contingent of the Hand Limit board game group, I can only begin to describe the frustration of my goblin comrades at this unworthy definition. Sure goblins may occasionally shun hygiene standards, sure they might survive for days on a diet of cereal and gummy worms, and sure they might sometimes present themselves in a way that doesn't comply with society's standards of beauty, but this is all part of a wider shunning of societal expectations and pressures in favour of running wildly off into the woods to worship an interesting looking mushroom, or eat a loaf of bread right out of the bag. It is so much more than the desire for comfort!

Goblins are emerging from the desire for chaos to replace late-stage capitalism. We all have an inherent desire to rid ourselves of the shackles of oppressive standards and embrace the chaos of the natural world. 

So, for all you Lil' Goblins out there, here's 5 table top games that will help you embrace the chaos and unleash your inner goblin.

Happy Salmon, Ken Gruhl et al. Exploding Kittens

3-6 Players (3-12 with 2 sets). 2 minutes.

When considering chaos, Happy Salmon is a force to be reckoned with. I find it hard to believe this was something that someone designed, rather than being discovered as a forgotten artefact of the big bang itself, forged from pure chaos.

It's a chaotic game, is what I'm getting at here.

This turn-less card game gives the simple objective of being the first one to rid yourself of all your cards, like Uno. Unlike Uno however, the only way to discard a card is to complete one of 5 possible actions that the cards show (pound it, high-five, switcheroo, or Happy Salmon), with someone else around the table who is also trying to complete the same action.

All players talk over each other with increasing volume and speed, arms flail wildly, cards are thrown aside, then someone slams the table to announce they've depleted their deck mere seconds before anyone else. This all happens within the space of about 30 seconds to a minute.

As party games go, it is the most adrenaline I have ever experienced from one deck of cards, and for a very reasonable price it is a must have to anyone looking for an energetic and age-accessible game. A single pack will allow up to 6 players but buying both colour variations can allow up to 12, though a game of that size may need to come with a health warning.

If you are lucky enough to get your hands on an original version of the game it comes in a neoprene, fish-shaped bag. It's worth the money.

Cheating Moth, Emely Brand & Lukas Brand. Drei Magier Spiel.

3-5 Players. 30 minutes.

What could be more chaotic than a game that encourages, neigh requires, cheating to win?

At it's base level, Cheating Moth is another simple card game in the vein of Uno. First person to rid themselves of all their cards wins. Players take it in turns to play numerical cards into a central pile that value one higher or lower than the last card played. There are also cards that trigger certain effects, like the spider card that allows a player to give one of their cards to another, or the mosquito that punishes the last player to slap it with more cards into their hand.

Oh and did I mention that it's totally fine if you want to just ditch cards beneath the table, up your sleeve, or maybe into a friend's packet of crisps?

Here we see the cheating of cheating moth. Within certain parameters, players are allowed to dispose of cards however they see fit provided they can get away without being seen by the "Guard Bug", a random player who may not cheat but must keep an eye out for players who are. If they successfully catch a player cheating, the cheater becomes the Guard Bug, until someone manages to spirit away their entire hand.

Cheating is essential. The eponymous Cheating Moth card may only be removed from your hand through cheating. It cannot be played legally. 

This is another incredibly simple game that is filled with chaos as cards are slipped into pot plants, spun across the room right beneath an unsuspecting Guard Bug's nose, or someone stands up at the end of the game to reveal quite how many cards they were hiding up their top.

When you realise quite how sleight your friends' sleight-of-hand can be, you'll find it hard to look at them the same way again!

Wiz-Nerds - TTRPG, Michael Whelan. Available on itch.io.

1+ Players, 1 GM. 2-3 Hours (chaos depending).

We've all been there. You've just joined a Wizarding School but within 30 minutes of your first day everything goes wrong. Maybe the school is invaded by goblins? Perhaps a time-hole has opened up in the third floor corridor and dinosaurs are getting all over everything? Or maybe something much better? However it plays out, it is up to the gang of plucky first-years to save the day, armed only with their introductory text books which they, of course, have not even opened yet.

Wiz-Nerds is a rules-light TTRPG that is perfectly designed for a one-shot, chaotic adventure. Each player is provided with a sheet of magical words with no explanation or translation. Through trial and error and different combinations of words, they might start to figure them out well enough to use them to their advantage and save the day. Or, as one player managed when we played, turn a fellow student inside-out and explode them...

The GM, naturally, knows what all the words do but will never explicitly tell the players. They will need to learn through the effects of their random spells. This game requires very little set up as, trust me, it will take players considerably longer to solve simple problems when they can't control their own powers. The game is a pleasure to GM and a riot to play.

I don't want to say too much about this game because it would be better if you just gave it a go! Michael Whelan has done an excellent job of creating a set of rules that make chaos inevitable. There is no way to get through the game without something melting, going on fire, or someone meeting their end in an explosive way. 

Blood Bowl Sevens, Games Workshop.

2 Players. 45-90 minutes.

How could I have a list of games for lil' goblins and not include a game that involves actual lil' goblins?

Blood Bowl is wargaming for those who don't wargame and it's sport for those who don't sport. As Games Workshop like to put it, it's Fantasy football (or hand-egg, if you're so inclined). Imagine a world in which the vast armies of orcs, dwarves, elves, and the like, lay down their arms (well... sort of) and take up blood sport to resolve their differences. The sport in question is styled like American Football but actually plays a bit more like rugby, if such a distinction matters to you.

Blood Bowl is a frankly chaotic game because of the sheer amount of chance involved. Almost every action your players take involves a dice roll, the consequences of which range from success, to failure, to failure so bad your player dies...

Aside from the sheer amount of customisation of your team that this game allows, it provides a fantastic environment for story telling. There is nothing more hilarious than having a player pass a ball an improbably distance, avoiding interception, executing a perfect catch, having the receiving player dodge through the grasp of the other team, push themselves to get to that end-zone, only to fail the final roll, slip over... and die from their injuries. Or, as a recent game played out, be within spitting distance of a touch down only to have players repeatedly fail to pick up the ball, leaving them all scrabbling around like idiots as the ball bounces around the pitch.

It's this kind of unpredictability that will have players recounting tales from the table for a weeks after a game.

Our list specifies Blood Bowl Sevens, rather than the full game, and there is an important distinction as to why we have chosen this. While the main game is awesome, Blood Bowl Sevens is designed to be a shorter and easier to digest experience, with only 7 players per side rather than the usual 11. It makes the rules slightly easier to learn and the games last closer to 1 hour than the 3+ hours needed for the full game. 

The way Games Workshop has built this into the fiction is through dressing Sevens up as more like the College Football leagues rather than the NFL. As such the players are underfunded, less well trained, and prone to far more significant injuries. These minor tweaks only serve to enhance the chaotic nature of the game whilst also making it more accessible to new players.

Don't want to invest in a whole team before trying the game? Find someone who already plays, I guarantee they will have multiple teams painted and ready to go.

Camel Up (2nd Edition), Steffen Bogen. Eggertspiele.

3-8 Players. 45 minutes.

What's more chaotic than a game where none of the players are actually controlling the pieces on the board? In Camel Up 2nd Edition players take the roles of pundits at a camel race, placing bets on camels in the hope of ending the game with the most money.

However, working out form and probability is nigh on impossible when the camels move at random speeds (sometimes not at all), hitch rides on each other's backs, or simple run the wrong way around the course carrying any hapless camels with them.

Races are separated into Legs, which each carry their own smaller bets and allow for players' fortunes to rise and fall throughout the game. Someone getting off to an early lead might lose everything when the camel they were betting on gets carried to the back of the pack by the pair of wild camels that run the wrong way round the track each race. 

This is an accessible game for almost the whole family (younger children might get a bit lost with the betting mechanics but will still enjoy making the dice roll out of the 3D plastic pyramid) and differs from the others on this list in that players are not actively participating in the chaos. Instead you can sit back, sip a mint julep, and enjoy the unfolding shambles.

Special Mention: Colt Express, Christophe Raimbault. Ludonaute.

2-6 Players. 45 minutes.

I can't in all good conscience have a list about chaos and not mention one of my favourite games of all time. Colt Express injects chaos into the game by taking your carefully thought out plans and filling them with more holes and a prospector's union suit!

For our full thoughts on this game, see our list 5 Board Games To Get You Started.

Is there a game that should have appeared on this list? What's your most chaotic table top tale you have (within the realms of the rules - no table flipping)? We'd love to hear what you think in the comments section below.

5 Board Games To Get You Started

Mainstream board gaming titles really dominate most shelves in your average high-street shops (Waterstones, and the like), meaning it can be difficult for people getting into the hobby to find new games that aren't intimidating.

Or perhaps you need a gift that goes beyond yet another version of Monopoly or Cluedo (I'm looking at you Monopoly: Bass Fishing Edition). To help we have compiled a list of board games that are well priced, accessible, and can be found easily online or on the high-street.

Review: OK Play! - a quick, portable and family-friendly game

 

I saw a video about this game on Tiktok and thought it looked like a good game to have in our inventory: simple (good for me), child-friendly (good for the small human), portable (good for Skullen as they cannot go anywhere without taking at least one game) and aesthetically interesting (good for all of us - carabiners, things that go click-click and bright colours!)