TLDR: A rant, (containing elements of a review, without any claim to objectivity) on why Broken & Beautiful might be the best intro drafting game, or hate-drafting game, or drafting game, or small box game, this- "I love this Broken and Beautiful so much that it is a draft to collect sets game I like," … Continue reading Broken & Beautiful: A Game About Kintsugi
Kitara: A View From Above Area Control
Kitara is a tight, fast, fairly abstract area control game in which the areas you control and your meeples form the core of an engine you build with a tablou of drafted cards. Fair warning; I know Eric Vogel, the designer, and did some playtesting. That's the only reason I could review a game this … Continue reading Kitara: A View From Above Area Control
Let’s Have a Nuanced Discussion About The Implications of Insanity Mechanics in-
No. Stop Playing Board Games With Insanity Mechanics- no, not even on Halloween I clearly don't- I've tried to get through some of the rulebooks. I'm looking for a card game I can play solo. I'm asking you not to. Or more realistically eviscerating you on the assumption you play them. Don't play Mansion of … Continue reading Let’s Have a Nuanced Discussion About The Implications of Insanity Mechanics in-
Perspective is Our Problem: What Themes are Beyond your Pale?
We don't talk about much in this hobby. We often socialize without talking much at all, and we intentionally avoid any subject we care about. The only unwritten rule of board gaming I've seen broken less than 'don't say anything someone else might disagree with,' it's 'don't get up and walk away in the middle … Continue reading Perspective is Our Problem: What Themes are Beyond your Pale?
Terraforming Mars: It’s fine- FINE!
Terraforming Mars is fine- but like the recent hype-machine Wingspan, for which it is often used as a point of comparison, I just can’t understand the enthusiasm. It has grown on me through a series of totally uncoerced plays. Who doesn't like building tableaus of cards? I think this game falls through the floor in … Continue reading Terraforming Mars: It’s fine- FINE!
Origins 2019 Report
This year Origins finally drove for me that cons are less about what I’m doing and more about who I’m doing it with. Cons are different, of course, regardless of who you’re with. They focus on different things and some are simply better at what they do than others. But pretty much everything I did … Continue reading Origins 2019 Report
Kingdomino: A Prince among games
I was sitting around a table bullshitting about games with gamers instead of gaming, and one of them said that he wished he loved anything like I love Kingdomino. Someone pointed out that he was sitting next to his girlfriend, and she replied that she wished she loved anything like I love Kingdomino, too. I … Continue reading Kingdomino: A Prince among games
My Intro Games: Blood Rage and Roll for the Galaxy
This is an atypical introduction to intro games. Let’s take it a little sideways; the games I mentioned are usually considered terrible for intro games, and were the first two modern board games I played, and they obviously hooked me. So let’s talk about why games you might not think of as intro games, (as … Continue reading My Intro Games: Blood Rage and Roll for the Galaxy
Dinosaur Island: Gnarly New- School Neon
This is one of my favorite games: 5 Stars. With two worker-placement phases separated by a drafting/buying phase and capped with an interesting scoring mechanic, each round of Dinosaur Island is a series of simple steps that create mind-burning complexity as an emergent property. It is also one of the best examples in board … Continue reading Dinosaur Island: Gnarly New- School Neon
Reef: A Colorful Coral Construction Favorite
Reef is a tile laying game I love because it is also a card game: you draft cards from a river and play them to gather and place coral, then score the coral formation on the same card. It is in the same product line as Azul- but where Azul is pure tile-drafting, Reef … Continue reading Reef: A Colorful Coral Construction Favorite
Oakland Gamer Dude 