Author name: Variant Berry

An orange, hexagon top reads Cobra Paw - Ninja like know how steals the game on top of a wooden surface.
Game Reviews, Other Games

Cobra Paw Game Review

Cobra Paw is a 2 player game brought to us by Bananagrams. It is rated for 2-6 players and plays in about 5-15 minutes for players (or ninjas) ages 6+. I picked up Cobra Paw strictly for the theme. I mean, cats and ninjas? Where could you go wrong? I bought this game expecting to […]

A close up shot of cornbread and chili in a bowl with a clear drink behind it. The game Forbidden Desert is in the background.
Game Reviews, Board Games, Food & Drink

Forbidden Desert Game Review & Themed Dinner

Forbidden Desert Game Review & Themed Dinner By Variant Berry  | 01/24/2025  Forbidden Desert Designer: GamewrightPlayers: 2-5Playtime: 45 minutesAges: 10+ The Forbidden Desert game is the thrilling sequel to Forbidden Island, offering a fresh cooperative experience for fans of strategic teamwork. You and your fellow adventurers must recover a legendary flying machine from an ancient desert city while braving an ever-growing sandstorm.

On a wooden table stands the game Pantone the Game, next to a pepper mill. In front is a floral plate with spaghetti on it, topped with green leaves. Next to the plate is a glass covered in butterflies with a red drink inside.
Game Reviews, Board Games, Food & Drink

Pantone: The Game Review & Themed Dinner

Pantone: The Game Review & Themed Dinner By Variant Berry  | 01/24/2025  Pantone: The Game OverviewPantone: The Game is a fast-paced party game where players use color swatches to represent characters or figures from their selected cards. The goal is to create a visual representation within one minute or less, making it a fun and engaging option for

The world of wyldrvir cover art is shown, featuring a logo and 3 humanoid adventurers and a flame fox are running though a mountain passage.
Game Reviews, Tabletop Roleplaying Games

World of Wyldrvir TTRPG Review

While Dungeons and Dragons may have brought Variant Ventures together initially, the love for storytelling at the table continues to grow as we learn more TTRPG systems. In looking for new content, I discovered World of Wyldrvir. Here are some things I love about the system.  Initially, what sets World of Wyldrvir apart for me is that

The board game cover for Wild Space is pictured on a wooden surface. The Pandasaurus logo is on the bottom left corner of the box. A bear, monkey and dragon dressed as astronauts are on the front of the box with a blue background of varying shades.
Game Reviews, Board Games, Food & Drink

Wild Space Game Review & Themed Dinner

Wild Space Game Review & Themed Dinner Wild Space is a fast-paced, exploration-based board game where players command a spaceship to explore a newly discovered galaxy. Your goal is to recruit the best crew of Specialists, Robots, and Emissaries, and earn the most credits by the end of the game. The game features 108 crew cards,

berry plays games featured gasha
Card Games, Game Reviews

Gasha Card Game Review

Gasha was written by Jason Levin, and illustrated by Christine Alcouffe and Miguel Coimbra. Published through 25th Century Games, Gasha is a card game designed for two to six players aged seven or older, and plays in around 20 minutes. Gasha is based on the gashapons or Japanese toy dispensers. Players will work to collect

berry plays games featured fort
Board Games, Game Reviews

Fort Board Game Review

Fort is a deck-building game from Leder Games for two to four players ages 10+ that plays in about 20-40 minutes (though I may have been missing something for this to play in only 40 minutes). That being said, it was our first play through and we probably took more time than necessary reading through

berry plays games featured mantis
Card Games, Game Reviews

Mantis Game Review

Mantis is a card game for 2-6 players, ages 7+ that plays in about 10 minutes. Mantis is developed and published by the crew over at Exploding Kittens. This quick to play game is great for when you only have a few minutes free, but want to scratch your gaming itch. The box art is

The board game box for Castle Combo is on a blank surface. The icon for Pandasaurus is in the bottom left corner. The picture on the front depicts a fancy courier on a white horse in the foreground, overlooking a village and a castle in the background in a cartoon style.
Game Reviews, Card Games, Other Games

Combo Castle Game Review

What’s In the Box? Setup To set up Castle Combo, shuffle all of the Castle Cards into a deck and place them in the center of the table. Flip over the top three cards and line them in a row next to the deck. Repeat this process with the Village Cards. The Messenger Pawn will

berry plays games featured trio
Card Games, Game Reviews

Trio – Card Game Review

Trio is a three to 3-6 player card game put out by Happy Camper. Trio was designed by Maya Miyano and illustrated by Lura Michaud. It plays in about 15 minutes and is recommended for players 8 and up. The artwork and colors used on the cards is reminiscent of the papel picado, or paper

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