Postmark Games – Let's Game More

Preview

Let’s Preview More: 52 Duels

December 12, 2025 Luiz Gustavo Mendes

1-2 Players

Designer:Matthew Dunstan, Rory Muldoon

Artist: Rory Muldoon

Publisher: Postmark Games

Kickstarter Campaign

Do you ever feel the need of dueling your friends with a deck of cards, and throwing it at them just doesn’t feel right? Well, worry not, as Postmark Games brings us 52 Duels, where 1 or 2 players will fight as classic fantasy characters wielding the power of poker!

It’s Time To D-d-d-duel

Each player gets a character mat and their poker deck, shuffling and getting a hand of 5 cards. Every turn you can do two actions: using a card for their suit power, add cards to your level to unlock permanent bonuses, or add cards to your attacks. Each attack has thresholds of cards to activate and what cards can be played, be it same suit, rank, runs, full houses, etc. Whenever you add a card to your abilities, you can discard them and activate, usually dealing damage to your opponent.

Whenever a player is attack, they can use their chatacter’s defense, and any remaining damage is dealt by putting that amount of cards in the damage pile. At the end of the turn, the player draws back to their hand limit, usually 5. If the deck is empty, just shuffle the discard and continue drawing. If at point a player needs to draw or take damage and there aren’t enough cards, it’s game over.

Solo game is almost the same. The Nemesis adds cards by suit to the abilities, while face cards are added to levels. Each character has their own Nemesis side to their sheet, but they play almost identical to the regular side.

Pulling Straight Punches

The game starts out simple and intuitive, since you have all of your deck you can decide to invest in any ability or level. However, this is an explosive game, where a few turns really change how to handle your investments as damage taken is out of the deck almost for good.

It’s an interesting balance as doing lots of small weaker attacks is not the most effective, but defense usually entails discarding cards so it can also be a way to slow down the enemy. There is an intense push and pull of setting up, unleashing attacks and getting ready for defense.

There are currently two characters in this preview, and each does play very differently. The rogue tends to set up abilities quicker and turn around more hands, and also soaks damage more easily. Meanwhile the barbarian hits HARD and hits harder and harder as the game goes. Knowing Postmark Games, there will be even crazier characters with lots to explore in each.

A Solo Duel? Monoel?

The concept of an automated duel opponent is not novelty, but they are often either too simplifies and a bit dumb or complex and natural. Well, not here. The Nemesis side distributes cards differently, but the abilities and level up powers are as close as their player side can be. The feel of each character is pretty much the same and, as a mostly solo gamer, that excites me. Victories do not come by exploiting the system, but by out maneuvering and playing to your strengths.

Again, Postmark is pretty much a Seal Of Gauranteed Design, but this might be one of my favorites. It’s light, tense, high adrenaline card play with explosive and exciting turns, and that is just the start.

Preview

Let’s Preview More: Koala Rescue Club

August 9, 2024August 9, 2024 Luiz Gustavo Mendes

1-100 Players

Designer: Phil Walker-Harding

Artist: Meredith Walker-Harding

Publisher: Joey Games, Postmark Games

Live on Kickstarter on August 13th

In more nature related partnership of Joey and Postmark, we go and try to create forests and rehome our adorable furry friends. But is this a game of good koala-ty?

Disclaimer

The team at Postmark Games very graceously provided me with this first sheet as a preview copy for me to play and analyze. There was no additional compensation.

All components and rules presented here are in prototype form and subject to change as the project develops.

How to Play

Setup is simple, each player needs a sheet, and one single d6 that will be shared by everyone.

The game goes for 2 rounds of 15 turns each. On each turn, a d6 is rolled, and player draw the relative shape either in circling uncircled trees or circling the koalas in already circled trees. You cannot mix both, and the shape needs to be used in full.

After drawing the shape, if the player completes a row or column of koalas (not just trees) they get the bonus, that can be access to new areas, circling hospitals for bonus points, volunteers to manipulate the die or additional circles. The player can also earn merit badges if they complete certain criteria.

At the end of each round, player score for areas full of trees, full of koalas and hospitals. Most on both rounds score plus the merit badges wins.

Rules and Components

The rules have that very specific Postmark look and style, being mostly white, text with a few illustrations as examples. It does mostly require you to have the sheet besides you, but they are clear.

The sheet is big and bright, and icons are clear on what they do. My only problem is that since you have to double circle everything, the circles are a bit small, leading to a messy sheet.

Score: 7.5/10

Gameplay

I’ll say right away that my analysis is for this first map and rules. I’ll explain why this distinction later on.

Koala Rescue Club is all about fitting the shapes. There is plenty of good decisions of where, when to go for trees or Koalas, and what to invest in to score in each round. But it is undoubtedly a family weight game, very light and fast. It’s not a bad point in any case, as far as simple roll and writes this one is immensely fun and satisfying.

But here’s the thing. This is a Postmark Games, and I know that each additional map. will have its own changes and quirks to make use of this very simple and clean base. I don’t think it will anything but a family weight game, but there will probably be some interesting twists.

Score: 7.5/10

Theme and Art

I mentioned how the gameplay is very family oriented, and I feel the same for the art. It’s cartoony, colorful and adorable.

That is the second game Postmark and Joey make to not only feature a particular animal (we had Scribbly Gum about moths before), but also to actively bring information and funds to the conservation of said animal, and I fully appreciate that.

Score: 7.5/10

Conclusion

There is just something satisfying about fitting shapes in different manners, and this game features that front and center. It’s a very cute and accessible game that still feels satisfying to more gamer-y brains.

As it is, the replay value is limited, as each game will be mostly the same. But, as I mentioned, this is the first map. Replay and variety will probably come later.

But even just as it is, it’s a game that is fun, inexpensive and helps a cause. What’s not to like about that?

Rules and Components: 7.5 /10

Gameplay: 7.5/10

Theme and Art: 7.5/10

Score: 7.5/10

PnP Review

PnP Review : Voyages

April 4, 2024 Luiz Gustavo Mendes

1-100 Players

Designers: Matthew Dunstan, Rory Muldoon

Artist: Rory Muldoon

Publisher: Postmark Games

Take on the high seas with 3 dice, a pen and a sheet with Voyages. You’ll be managing the winds, taking on tasks with your crew and encountering all sorts of stuff. Does this PnP sail smoothly or does it sink?

Gameplay

Each turn, a player rolls 3 dice, and players assign them to one of three aspects. One will dictate the direction the ship goes and one on its speed. Whenever you land on an icon exactly (or hit land), you gain the associated benefits. The final die is assigned to the duties of the ship, and it varies for each of the different Voyages available for the game, 5 at the time of this review. Accumulating certain bonuses will give you stars, which are worth points and also trigger the end of the game.

Scoring is each star you got, each region and Island visited, and various other bonuses also depending on the voyage.

Solo Gameplay

Same as Multiplayer, but stars do not trigger the end of the game, instead it’s a fixed number of turns. You have to get at least 3 stars, and then you check if you beat your own score.

The game also offers a solo campaign, where the better you perform at each map the more benefits you get. However, there are additional challenges to be faced.

Components

Each player needs its own sheet and writing utensil, and three shared dice. The maps are well laid and iconography is quite clear. Each map has its own set of additional rules, but all work very well within the base system of Voyage 1, while also adding its own unique forms of scoring and challenges. Some have you facing enemy ships, while others have hidden islands to be discovered.

Conclusion

Easily this became one of my most played PnPs as soon as I first got it. There are a ton of ways to accomplish your goals on each map, but they are mostly mutually exclusive, so each turn you have gruelling choices to make. And with each new map, the game gets better for the variety, though none of the maps are duds, even the first one. It’s a quick, simple, challenging and rewarding experience.

Score: 9/10