Leaf is a cute, nature-themed tile laying game design by Tim Eisner and published by Weird City Games. In Leaf, you are guided by the changing seasons by placing leaf-shaped tiles to create a vibrant forest. This tile laying game is one that is aesthetically pleasing but also brings good strategy. Leaf combines many different mechanisms with tile laying, set collection and spatial reasoning.

To play leaf, each player will play as a spirit of nature, managing the growth and changes in the forest across different seasons. Each turn, players will place a leaf in a communal forest (ecosystem), trying to make the leaf connect to others and thus triggering actions. Once you have placed a leaf tile, you will then activate the forest. Many actions may come from activating the forest, from the growth of plants to collecting animals. At the end of the game, you will receive points based on different achievements, such as having the most diverse collection of forest elements or a set collection of animals.

 What kind of strategy should you use in Leaf? The first tip I would give you is to maximize your tile placement. Pay attention to the shapes and connections you may create for each tile you are placing. Try to maximize by creating the most connection possible but be careful not to make other players grow their mushroom.  The second tip would be to not forget the set collection of animal parts, as they are a big part of points for the endgame. 

Leaf is a beautiful, thematic, and strategic game that captures the essence of nature's delicate balance. Players try to accumulate the most points by placing leaves, attracting animals, and fostering plant growth. The mix of many mechanisms and the unique tile laying mechanism makes Leaf a game you should try if you want a new take on tile placement games.

Kingdomino is a quick tile-placing game designed by Bruno Cathala and published by Blue Orange Games. In Kingdomino, you play as a lord seeking to expand their kingdoms by claiming land with the goal of creating the most prosperous kingdom with matching terrain tiles and earning crowns. Hinted by the name, the tiles you will place are domino-style tiles. It is a great family or entry game.

Kingdomino is played over several rounds, each divided into two phases: selecting domino tile and placing domino tile. In turn order, each player will select a domino tile from the display using their king meeple. After selecting the tile, players must place the tile adjacent to a matching terrain. At the end of the game, you will score points for connected groups of matching terrain tiles multiplied by crowns on them.

What should you plan or strategize while playing Kingdomino? Kingdomino is quite simple and based a lot on the luck of the draw of tile, but you may try to maximize each of your turns. First, you should always keep in mind that a higher number tile will be more interesting scoring wise, but it’s important to keep in mind that if you choose those, in later rounds you will pick last in the round. Second, when placing each tile, keep in mind the grid limit of 5 x 5. The last tip I would give you is to not forget the crowns, because even if you have a huge area, if there is no crown in it, it will not give you any points.

In short, Kingdomino is a quick domino-like tile-laying game. Kingdomino is super easy to learn and even easier to show new board game players. It brings an interesting balance between tile selection, tile placement, and maximizing scoring that can be enjoyed in a short amount of time.

My island is a tile placement board game that incorporates the mechanism of “legacy.” In my island, you will build an island and try to protect it from invaders. Do we remember what a legacy game is? In short, it is a game that every news scenario will incorporate new rules, and each of your decisions will impact future gameplay. The game evolves in a campaign divided into multiple chapters, and each chapter is also divided into multiple episodes. In each chapter, we will introduce a new rule, and each episode will make the rule harder till the end of the chapter.

What is the goal of my island? Well, of course, it is to score the most points. But how will you achieve that? You will create your island by strategically placing tiles while respecting the ever-changing placement rules and different objectives. Each turn a card will be turned that is associated with one of your tiles. Each player will then place the said tile on their board respecting placement rules. After placing each tile, you will need to check if you have achieved any scoring conditions; many conditions will give you points as you place the tile. You could complete a specific area on your board or build the largest settlement. Keep in mind that you could also lose points if you can’t place a tile or if you finish an episode with uncovered territory. At the end of each episode, you will tally points, the winner of each episode will get a reward and the looser a “consequence”. Same will apply at the end of each chapter, but a bigger reward / consequence will be accorded. Those reward and consequence will affect the next episode and chapter, making all of you decision important. Once you finish the campaign, you will be able to replay the game as much as you want with the other side of each player board.

What strategy should you put in play to ensure a win? First and most importantly, always consider where to place each tile. Do not forget to think about balancing each goal. Do not work toward only one goal; that could penalize you at the end of an episode or chapter. When placing a tile, also keep in mind to not leave empty spaces, as they make you lose points. The second tip would be to plan to think about the legacy changes that are coming; you may gain an unwanted sticker if you do not cover or defend your island. You need to plan. Maybe losing an episode because you protected your island seems like a bad decision, but in the long run, by protecting your island, you didn’t gain more intruders, so your next episode will be easier to play.

In conclusion, My Island brings an interesting take on legacy games. My island really incorporates neatly the evolving gameplay of legacy games, and decisions do have an important impact episode from episode. Rules are super easy to understand, but it brings a fun puzzle to solve. You need to prioritize your objective and make sure you do not forget anything. Each play can be quick, from 30 to 60 min, which makes it easy to go through the whole campaign without taking hours and hours.

New York Zoo is a family board game that combines polyomino tile placement, animal breeding, and park-building mechanisms. You will play as a zoo manager, competing against the other players to build the best zoo. You will strategically place enclosures, put animals in them, and make them breed.

During New York Zoo, each player will get a unique board representing the land they have to build on. The ultimate goal in New York Zoo is to be the first to fill your entire board with tiles. In the middle of the table, you will have the action track with polyomino all around it. On your turn, you will move the elephant meeple, choosing then to take a tile or an animals tokens. Note that the animal tokens are super cute wooden tokens that represent 5 different types of animals (flamingos, penguins, meerkats, arctic foxes, and kangaroos). Once you have taken a tile enclosure, you can immediately place it on your zoo map and add an animal of your supply on it. Once an enclosure is filed with one animal type, you may remove the animals and gain a bonus tile. They are attractions like roller coasters to make your zoo more fun! The game will go on until somebody entirely fills their board and by so, wins the game. 

What strategy to use in New York Zoo? First, try to be as efficient as possible while placing your tile, once they are placed you cannot move them again. Try to minimize the empty space on your board. Make good use of bonus tile, they are the ones that will make you win the game. Get them as fast as possible, the bigs one go fast. Second tip, try to but the first one to fill an enclosure with animals, there is one big bonus tile, and that will help you a lot to cover your map the faster. Another tip would be to strategically advance the elephant meeple to make sure that animal breeding happens at the most advantageous moment for you.

In conclusion, New York Zoo is a visually appealing tile placement game. Its simple rules make it super accessible for family and a good choice when you want a game with a quick teach. It is super easy to understand, but the depth of strategy possible will ensure that even experienced board gamers will have fun with this game. Let's not forget who doesn’t like a good polyomino (Tetris-shaped tiles) puzzle and the satisfaction of fully covering their grid.

References: 

BGG. (n.d.) Leaf. Board Games Geek. Retrieved October 2024, from: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/368676/leaf

BGG. (n.d.) Kingdomino. Board Games Geek. Retrieved October 2024, from: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/204583/kingdomino

BGG. (n.d.) My Island. Board Games Geek. Retrieved December 2024, from: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/359394/my-island

BGG. (n.d.) New York Zoo. Board Games Geek. Retrieved December 2024, from: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/300877/new-york-zoo