It’s wild that Conclave, the award-nominated movie about papal electioneering, Vatican secrets, and Ralph Fiennes’ preference of regnal epithets has only been out for a few months and already it’s getting a board-game tie-in.

Okay, okay. I swear I won’t turn this into a review of Conclave.

Habemus Papam is the work of Pako Gradaille, whose forthcoming Onoda fascinated me with its solitary gameplay and ethically sticky protagonist. Unlike that game’s antisocial tendencies, Habemus Papam is strictly communal, casting players as members of the Roman Curia tasked with selecting the next pope. It’s an intriguing, if sometimes wobbly, little thing.

Read the rest of this entry →