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Bag-Building Area Control2022
Wonderland's War box art

Box art via BoardGameGeek

Bag-Building Area Control

Wonderland's War

Alice in Wonderland gone to war, decided by a fistful of chips and your nerve.

3.8 out of 53.8/5

Designed by Tim Eisner, Ben Eisner, and Ian Moss · 2022

Players2-5
Play time60-120 min
WeightMedium-Heavy
Ages14+
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The verdict

A loud, gorgeous, occasionally exhausting bag-builder that rewards groups who lean into the chaos instead of fighting it. If you want tidy and tight, keep walking.

Best for: Players who love table presence, push-your-luck tension, and a little controlled mayhem.

The full review

What it is

Here's the pitch. You're a faction fighting for control of a Wonderland that's gone properly off the rails, and you do it by dropping chips into a cloth bag, then pulling them out one at a time during battle. That's the bag-building heart of it. You spend the tea party phase drafting cards off a rondel, loading your bag with strength while trying not to stuff it with madness. Then the wars hit and you pull, and pull, and decide when to stop.

The catch

The push-your-luck is where this game earns its keep. Two players reach into their bags at the same time, building strength, sweating the next pull, because too much madness makes you bust. Real players call it brinkmanship, and they're right. It's tense without being cruel. The factions all play differently and the ally powers mix and match, so the variability is huge. The art and the chunky madness tokens give it a table presence you genuinely can't ignore.

Who it's for

Now the honest part. This is a big, loud, sometimes bloated game, and reviewers say so plainly. Setup and teardown mean sorting over two hundred chips, every time. It runs long, often past two hours at a full table. And yes, the luck can bite: a double-madness pull at the wrong moment stings. It borrows heavily from other modern designs rather than inventing something new. Lean into the madness and you'll love it. Want elegance? Look elsewhere.

What other players say

This write-up is grounded in real reviews and player discussion, not just one opinion. A few worth reading:

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