In most board games ... same number of coins. Even games where players can acquire vastly different powers, they often start off the same. Blood Rage is a good example. But there are some designs ...

TIME spoke with Leacock to learn more about the board game explosion and what it’s like to design them for a living ... This is a rare example of something that you can sit down and play ...

Dealing five cards to each player at the start of the game, for example, brings a bit more ... goal of player elimination ruled American board game design for so long. Sometimes past is bad ...

It’s fairly common for people who love something to want to try to create that something and board games are no different; I have a pile of paper cards and bucket of cubes as an example of my ...

For an example of the former, take Ticket to Ride. It borrows liberally from older designs, and it’s not a name that’s on the lips of any average person if they’re talking about board games.