Witchstone

One of the most prolific designers in modern board gaming is Reiner Knizia. Knizia is famous for saying that he intentionally doesn’t play or even look at other people’s designs because it hampers his process for innovating. So, to see him co-design a high-profile release is nearly unheard of! I don’t know the backstory, but I assume it has to be related to the game’s unique component: double-hex tiles, attached on one edge, exactly like those found in Knizia’s 2004 Spiel des Jahres nominee, Ingenious. This game, however, looks to be more of a gamer’s game, which Knizia was well-known for in the 90s. Gamer’s game or not, is it good? Let’s find out!  Content Guide Witchstone is largely a mechanical game that could have had any theme, but the main problem here is the use of pentagrams. One of the six main actions is a “pentagram” action; players have several personal tiles with pentagrams on them, and activating them has players move a pawn in a circle around a large pentagram on the central board. The cauldrons, potions, witches, scrolls, and what-have-you are more generic fare, and certainly nothing here is on the level of Sorcerer, but just barely enough that some Christians might find this too problematic.