Quick Peaks – The Name of the Rose, Lumberjacks with Rocket Launchers, Evacuation, Zoomies, Solstis

The Name of the Rose - Justin Bell

For a solid 20 minutes, I was dumbfounded by a number of surprises when my friends Beth and John stopped by for game night with a copy of The Name of the Rose. The game is based on the 1980 debut novel by Italian author Umberto Eco and the 1986 abbey-based murder mystery film starring Sean Connery as William of Baskerville—a movie I had never heard of, despite my general appreciation for Connery films both high and low (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in a shocking turn, did not win Best Picture in its year of release.) The game’s cover couldn’t possibly afford to use Connery’s likeness, so I had to go online before I believed that the real film even featured Connery along with an early-career Christian Slater. The final shock was the biggest one: The Name of the Rose was designed by Stefan Feld, one of the premier Eurogame tabletop game designers of modern times.

Despite a heavy volume of red flags, I’m shocked to share that The Name of the Rose was actually…pretty good! It’s a deduction game played over six rounds, featuring a mechanic that allows players to access all figures in the game while taking on…

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