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THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS up to chapter 99

After seeing this manga in a cafe in Kyoto, I decided to pick it up and read it, just because it had a wide array of board games, and I wanted to learn about some more. While I didn't expect too much at the beginning, it turned out to be a good story that actually introduces the reader to various board games and allows them to explore the world of board games on their own.

** STORY **
Pretty standard story about a high school coming of age story, except with board games. It does a good job of ... balancing the board game descriptions with the actual progression of the story. However, as the story goes on, there is less of an emphasis on explaining complicated board games through standalone chapters, and instead it moves on with the primary cast of characters as they discover what they want to do and more about themselves, while integrating board games to aid in the story telling. It uses the board games well in this aspect, instead of just including them as a "side game" the girls play just to pass the time.

One part of the story that I particularly liked were the school festivals. Usually with these mangas your school festival may be pretty standard. However, in this manga, there is a nice unique take on the festivals that makes it quite unique in my opinion, a good point for the story progression. I especially liked the second one and the planning that they had to put into making it work.

However, some things are still not perfect. Character progression feels slow at times, and it has a lot of standard Manga Cliches that might make you say "come on...". However, I noticed that these issues get fixed as the story progresses, especially after chapter 80 or so, and especially now, I am left hanging for the next chapter (score: 9)

** ART **
The board games are really detailed, and they look exactly like a real life copy you'd find in the store. From the pieces to the cards used in the games, it seems like every detailed has been accounted for. However, the characters were not given the same treatment. In the earlier chapters especially, it seems some of the characters (especially Aya) were drawn with weird facial proportions, and some of the backgrounds were not fully realized. However, this improved in the later chapters, and especially by chapters 70+, everything looks to be drawn better. (score: 8)

** CHARACTER **
The first part of the story revolves around the three main girls, with a fourth one added in later, Emilia, a girl from Germany. However, I really liked the addition of the Shopkeeper, Takeru, as someone to provide a set of diversity to an all girls cast. As an ex-army guy, with really big muscles, it provides a stark contrast to the otherwise primarily girls cast, which provides some comedic relief. Also, in Volume 8, to keep the story fresh, two new characters are added (best girl Nao), which with their introduction, helps to keep the story moving forward, instead of staying with the same cast the whole time. One critique I have is that sometimes, the characters can feel slightly two dimensional at times, but I think that this is just a byproduct of the author trying to showcase that these are just normal high school girls that enjoy playing board games. Also, these issues seem to get better as the story progresses. (Score: 9)

** ENJOYMENT **
As someone that played a lot of board games and was looking to find new ones, when I saw this manga, I knew I would be hooked. I enjoyed watching the progression of the girls as they come to see what they want to do, as well as seeing the board games that they play. I feel that anyone that finishes the show will want to play more tabletop games. One critique that I have though is that when the board games are being explained, it can sometimes feel like the story is interrupted to explain the game, which kinda ruins the flow. (Score: 9)

I would recommend this story to anyone that is either interested in board games, or wants to become interested.