Nintendo DS. Just three years after the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo pulled the DS out of their hat, as a “side track”—which, as we all know and felt then, ended up completely replacing the Game Boy line. Nonetheless, thanks to its accessibility and novel titles, the DS reached a new height in sales. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Game Boy Color. The Gray Brick upgraded with Colors and all! Released nine years after The Original Game Boy, Nintendo—and thus, we—finally saw things in color! For actually seeing “the light”, we’d have to wait until a backlit-enabled version of the GBA was to be released in 2003. The GBC doubled the CPU and memory power of the GB, but sadly only lived for three short years, before the GBA replaced it. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Nintendo Switch. Is It A Handheld? Is It A Bird? It’s a Hybrid Console! And a damn good one, judging from the sales results—and the sheer number of excellent games. The Switch could also be called a perfect retro (port) machine, as many previously Sony-exclusive games found its re-release here. Sadly, Nintendo ceased its 3DS line, so from now on, it’s only the Switch. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Al Cabohne: Bohnanzing By Yourself. Bohnanza is probably my favourite chaotic multiplayer card game by my favourite designer Uwe Rosenberg. Bean planting isn’t the most exciting part—the fierce bidding wars and possibilities to cheat when the opponents aren’t looking is. We’ve had ample Bohnanza sessions devolve into yelling and slamming cards on the table. It’s a classic three player or more game that everyone knows and loves, and that was treated with ample expansions and alternat...| jefklakscodex.com
Game Boy. The Grey Brick, my First Big Crush. What’s there to say? This is an iconic piece of hardware that continues to be loved all over the world by nerds and collectors who know what’s good for them. Released in 1989 in Japan, and only being beaten by its successor the Game Boy Color nine full years later—and the more recent Analogue Pocket—the GB has a massive collection of good and not so good games. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Kingdom Legacy: Rip & Tear, Feudal Style. I’m not too familiar with “legacy” board games: I’ve only played half the campaign of a Pandemic Legacy game, and yes we did some wild stickering on the map of Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, that wasn’t as radical as permanently ripping up cards as Kingdom Legacy instructs you to do. Which turned out to be a lot of fun, actually! Sure, you can also store them somewhere else for another playthrough, but since the game is very cheap (€14), wh...| jefklakscodex.com
Robin of Locksley: Weird Chess Set Collection. Robin of Locksley is a weird Uwe Rosenberg game. It’s one that’s difficult to categorize given his other games: it’s not about farming, it’s not a sandbox game, and there’s no resource conversion or worker placement happening. Instead, Locksley is a weird—did I mention the game is weird?—combination of chess-like L-horse moves resulting in set collection resulting in selling your set to race to the finish. It’s weird! Via Jefklak'...| jefklakscodex.com
It’s amazing to think that the base Race For The Galaxy (or just RFTG) game is 18 years old by now. Almost twenty years later, I still think RFTG is one of the best—if not thé best—tableau builder card games ever created. My love for heavy card play and the happy memories of many RFTG sessions will definitely have something to do with it, although the fast and tight gameplay speaks for itself. Let’s first get the worst out of the way: the biggest hurdle you will have to take if you w...| Boardgames on Jefklak's Codex
Oranienburger Kanal: On Bridges And Ditches. Oranienburger Kanal (or just Kanal) is a very weird entry in Uwe Rosenberg’s repertoire. For starters, the original edition is put out by Spielworxx, a questionable publisher that is known for cutting corners when it comes to box and component quality—unfortunately, they live up to that name for this game as well. Then there’s the whole limited availability of the game as it was a small Kickstarter-like batch that initially got printed and ha...| jefklakscodex.com
Ora & Labora: Token Conversion Mayhem. I am known by my friends as a true Uwe fanboy. Hence as soon as I see something even remotely Rosenbergy, I need to play it. That doesn’t mean I love everything our favourite farmer mechanic designer puts out, and with Ora & Labora, I was initially much more enthusiastic than I am now, for a few reasons we’ll get into shortly. Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
Once upon a time, about 23 years ago, Konami released three delightful Metroidvania-style Igavania/beyond-Classicvania Castlevanias—what’s in a name?—on the Game Boy Advance. All three GBA games are well-praised and everyone knows the first two release were just a test for Konami to then release one of the best games ever made: Aria of Sorrow, obviously. The first game, Circle of the Moon, a 2001 launch title, was criticized for its lack of colour and contrast on the non-backlit origina...| Retro Gaming on Jefklak's Codex
New Super Mario Bros. 2: Catchy Coin Galore. In anticipation of the first truly new “wonderful” (hint) 2D Mario game in over a decade, it appeared like a good idea to revisit a few older entries in order to jog my memory as to why everyone—myself included—loves fooling around with that Italian plumber so much. I bought a copy of New Super Mario Bros. 2 (NSMB2) for my wife several years ago, just before the honorary state funeral of the 3DS, and never got around to trying it myself, he...| jefklakscodex.com
About the Codex. Hi, I'm Jefklak/Wouter and you're looking at Jefklak's Codex, a dedicated and highly opinionated website about nostalgic games. The word nostalgic should be emphasized here. I grew up with a Game Boy between my hands and PC RPG games burnt into my retina. That healthy cocktail left a lasting impression—and netted me the Codex (and glasses). Via Jefklak's Codex| jefklakscodex.com
