Category Archives: News

Next Meeting, 3rd Movember 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 3^rd Movember 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Fischen 2, which is a card game fresh from Essen (review, rules, video summary by the designer, in German). The sequal to Fischen, Fischen 2 is a trick taking game where players catch cards to score points and then use the cards they have caught as bait for the next round, which introduces a sort of deck-building element.

– Image addapted from instagram.com

And speaking of fishing…

Joe was going to teaching Jeff to fish, so they were out searching for worms to use as bait. They found many different wrigglers, but nothing suitable, and then Jeff proudly held up a long dangling insect.

“Look – I found some bait!” he cried delightedly.

Joe responded, “Sorry Jeff, we can’t use that; it is not an earthworm.”

Jeff replied in disgust, “Wel, what planet does it come from then?!?”

Next Meeting, 27th October 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 27^th October 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Nine Tails, a light card game where players are forest kami, ancient, powerful, friends and mentor to the foxes of the forest, helping them to gain their nine tails. This is a new game recently released which debuted at Spiel at Essen last week (rules, instructional video & review).

– Image from kickstarter.com

And speaking of foxes…

Jeff was sitting in front of the fire in the Jokey in Stanford with his mate Joe. Joe was surprised to see that Jeff was wearing a large fox fur hat, despite the heat from the fire. After a while Joe asked Jeff why he was wearing the hat.

Jeff shrugged. “Well, you know how it is”, he replied. “My wife, she is the dresser in the family, so I always take her advice. If I go to the seaside, she says, ‘Wear da beret’. If I go to the rodeo, she says, ‘Wear da stetson’. This time she asked me where I was going. I said ‘The Jockey in Stanford’ and she said ‘Stanford? Where da fock’s ‘at?’ “

Next Meeting, 13th October 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 13^th October 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Wok and Roll, a “Roll and Write game” where players are players are developing menus to become the best zi char (Singaporean for Chinese restaurant) in town (rules, review, instructional video).

– Image by BGG contributor kalchio

And speaking of Chinese food…

Jeff and Joe were discussing what take away they were going to get.

Joe suggested Chinese, but Jeff was less convinced. Eventually he said, “I love the food, but you’ll never convince me that a chicken fried the rice…”

Now we are Fourteen – Happy Birthday to us!

Fourteen Today

BoardGOATS is Fourteen Years Old Today!

Although it doesn’t feel that long, it is fourteen years since our first boardGOATS meeting at the Horse and Jockey in Stanford-in-the-Vale. To celebrate, we are holding a games night tonight from 7.30pm in the Small Village Hall in Stanford-in-the-Vale with pizzas provided by Bogman, cake, snacks and of course lots of fun. Drop us a line if you haven;t already so we can make sure we cater appropriately.

Next Meeting, 22nd September 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 22^nd September 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the Forbidden Jungle, a cooperative game in the vein of Forbidden Island, Forbidden Desert and Forbidden Sky (rules, review, instructional video). In all these, players wor together as a team to try to escape the perils of the surounding they are stuck in, in this case a jungle inhabited by alien spiders.

– Image by boardGOATS

And speaking of jungles…

Jeff was out exploring the jungle when he saw a leopard stalking a monkey intent on making a meal of him. When the monkey caught a glimpse of the leopard out of the corner of his eye he realised he wasn’t going to win a footrace, so decided to use cunning. The monkey sat down next to a pile of bones and once the leopard was in earshot, he sighed contentedly and said to himself, “My, that was one tasty leopard.”

Not being of the brightest variety, the leopard immediately high-tails it out of the area.

Jeff had been watching, and deciding this wasn’t right, he told the leapard that there was no way that little monkey could have eaten an entire leopard. Realising he’d made a fool of himself, the leopard vowed revenge, and told Jeff to climb on his back to come watch.

A few minutes later, the monkey saw them approaching. As they get closer, the monkey tapped his foot in apparent irritation and mutters to himself, “Where’s that weasly little Jeff bloke? I sent him off half an hour ago to fetch me another leopard!”

Next Meeting, 8th September 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 8^th September 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the new Cascadia game, Alpine Lakes, (rules, review, instructional video). The original Cascadia has been really popular in the group and this new version adds a third dimention with players stacking tiles and scoring more points for lakes placed higher in the mountains.

– Image from kickstarter.com

And speaking of mountains…

Having just come back from the holidays Jeff and Joe were discussing possibilities for their next ones.

“I quite like Switzerland,” commented Joe, “The mountains are amazing.”

“Yes,” replied Jeff, “The flag is a big plus too…”

Next Meeting, 25th August 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 25^th August 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be the new 6 Nimmt! game, Baron Oxx, (rules & review). 6 Nimmt! is one of the group’s favourite games, but in this variant, instead of adding cards to rows by number, they are added to match the colours of the cards in the rows adding a different mechanism for mayhem.

– Image from brain-games.ee

And speaking of colours…

Joe had just had some serious news—he’d been diagnosed with colour blindness. As he explained to his mate Joe, “It just came right out of the purple…”

Next Meeting, 11th August 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 11^th August 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Wingspan Pocket, a mini version of one of the group’s most popular games (rules, review, how-to-play video). As in the original Wingspan, players are bird enthusiasts trying to discover and attract the best birds to their reserves.

– Image from stonemaier.com

And speaking of birds…

Joe and Jeff were chatting about some of the rarities they’d recently found locally.

“I heard a nightingale, the other evening,” said Joe.

Jeff, wanted to do better, “I saw a waxwing, they are really unusual.”

Continuing with the one-upmanship, Joe continued, “The other day, I saw a crane – they were extinct in the UK until relatively recently.”

Jeff, looked indignant, “Oh, I’ve seen loads of them—it’s all the building work they’ve been doing in the area…”

Next Meeting, 28th July 2026

Our next meeting will be on Tuesday 14^th July 2026 at the Horse and Jockey Pub. As usual, we will start playing shorter games from 7.30pm as people arrive, until 8pm when we will start something a little longer. The pub is doing food, so those that are eating will be arriving from around 6.45pm.

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Hot Streak, a wonderfully over-produced car racing game (rules, review, how-to-play video). This is a betting game where players are gambling on mascots who may (or may not) keep running in the right direction…

– Image by BGG contributor The Innocent

And speaking of bets…

Jeff put a bet on a horse because he was told it had excellent breeding.

After the horse left the starting gate, he stopped and closed it behind him.

Next Meeting, 14th July 2026

This week, the “Feature Game” will be Rebel Princess, a trick-taking game played over five rounds where each round has a special rule that makes each one feel different (rules, review, how-to-play video).

– Image by BGG contributor melaniebarr

And speaking of tricks…

Jeff walked on to a rooftop bar and as he sat down asked of the guy already there, “What’s the best drink in this place?”

The other chap who had been minding his own business, looked at him, and then replied, “Well, I’m drinking this magical cocktail.”

Jeff looked interested, “What’s so magical about it?” he asked.

“This,” came the answer as the guy stepped over to the edge of the rooftop and started to fly.

Jeff was thrilled and amazed, so grabbed the drink that was still sitting on the bar, took a large swig then took a run off the edge of the roof, before plummeting into the swimming pool below.

The barman sadly shook his head and said, “You know, you’re a real jerk when you’re drunk, Superman…”