Stonemaier Games

Few board games in the last decade have landed the way Wingspan did. Elizabeth Hargrave’s birdwatching engine-builder has accumulated over 115,000 ratings on BoardGameGeek, sits at #38 all-time, and regularly tops “gateway game” recommendation lists. It’s the kind of game that gets non-gamers into the hobby and, sometimes, disappoints the hardcore crowd expecting more bite. So: is it worth your money? That depends entirely on what you want from a game - and it’s worth being clear-eyed about both sides. ...

There’s a particular type of board gamer who ends up with both Scythe and Dune: Imperium on their shelf. They’re not wrong. But before you get there, a lot of people have to make a choice - and the question “which one first?” is asked constantly, usually by people who know they want something with strategic depth but aren’t sure how to distinguish these two. The surface-level comparison is understandable: both are heavy-ish strategy games with asymmetric factions, both have exceptional BGG ratings, both attract a similar audience. But once you’re sitting at the table, they feel almost nothing alike. Scythe is an engine-building area-control game dressed in diesel-punk alt-history. Dune: Imperium is a political deckbuilder about controlling a desert planet. They share the same shelf category, not the same design DNA. ...

Two nature-themed engine builders. Both gorgeous. Both in the BGG Top 50. Both sitting on wishlists worldwide, often right next to each other. Everdell and Wingspan get compared constantly - and it makes sense. On the surface they look almost interchangeable: cards, animals, icons, engines, pretty art. But spend a couple of hours with each and you’ll realise they’re solving very different design problems. The mistake is treating this as a “buy one or the other” decision without knowing what each actually does. ...

Wingspan is the game that seemingly everyone owns. It’s sitting at #38 all time on BGG with over 115,000 ratings and an average score of 8.0. Designer Elizabeth Hargrave built something genuinely special: an engine-builder themed around bird habitats that’s pretty enough to stop strangers at a coffee shop. But here’s the question that actually matters for solo players: does the Automa system turn this into a satisfying solo experience, or is it just a way to fill the player count minimum? ...

Two games, two farms, two completely different reasons to argue with your friends. Agricola and Viticulture Essential Edition are the two names that come up every time someone asks “what’s the best worker placement game?” They both put you on a plot of land, both ask you to manage workers across a shared action board, and both clock in as some of the most beloved games in the hobby. But play each one for ten minutes and you’ll understand why recommending one over the other matters. ...

BGG Rank: #38 | Rating: 7.99 | Weight: 2.48/5 | Players: 1-5 | Time: 40-70 min | Age: 10+ Wingspan has a peculiar reputation. It sits at #38 on BGG with nearly 115,000 ratings. It won the Kennerspiel des Jahres in 2019. It’s probably the most-gifted hobby board game of the last decade. And it also generates a specific brand of irritated pushback from experienced gamers who find it shallow, lucky, and overhyped. ...

Viticulture Essential Edition is owned by over 78,000 people on BoardGameGeek. It’s ranked #44 overall. It has a 7.96 average rating across 55,000 ratings. It wins awards. It converts sceptics. It also sits, sealed or barely touched, on an enormous number of shelves. That’s not a coincidence. Viticulture has a specific, diagnosable shelving problem - and it’s not that the game is bad. It’s one of the best euro games ever made. The problem is a cluster of small friction points that make the first play harder than it needs to be, all pointing at the same root causes. Fix those and you’ve rescued one of the genuinely great board gaming experiences of the past decade. ...

If you own one worker placement game, there’s a fair chance it’s Viticulture Essential Edition. Sitting at rank #45 on BoardGameGeek with a 7.96 rating from over 55,000 users, it’s become the default recommendation for anyone entering the hobby - accessible enough for first-timers, deep enough for veterans to return to again and again. But here’s the question that gets asked less often: how does it play solo? The answer is surprisingly satisfying. Viticulture includes a full Automa system - a solo opponent that doesn’t just fill a seat, but actually pushes back. It blocks your workers, contends for the same spaces, and applies meaningful pressure throughout the game. This isn’t a solitaire mode bolted on as an afterthought. It’s a fully engineered second experience. ...