The first time I opened NAWALLI, the Aztec-themed card game from Gonzalo Alvarez and Will Rogers, I cut my finger. An occupational hazard, one might suppose, but this was no paper cut. No, the ruby scratch that marked my index finger had come from reaching too eagerly into the game’s baggie of tracker gems and obsidian stones. I soon found the offending piece, a miniature knife with jagged teeth and an unexpected bite.

I can’t think of a better stand-in for NAWALLI as a whole. Like that shard of volcanic glass, this game is jagged around the edges. It’s small and might nip at your fingertips. But it’s also so dang cool that I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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