For 2019 I’ve decided to implement one major change for The Thoughtful Gamer. We’re doing themed months! January will focus on abstract games, and while everything isn’t set in stone, I will certainly be reviewing Tak and Santorini. I’ll also be talking with Orion about basic Chess strategy. We’ll probably try to get a couple of livestreams in there as well, and a podcast on the topic.
Not everything in January will be about abstract games (in fact, there’s a non-abstract review going up tomorrow), but I really want to dive into these often underappreciated games in the hobby space and see what makes them tick. I think it’ll be somewhat of a challenge for me, as I can’t necessarily fall back on talking about theme or narrative. It’ll sharpen my ability to communicate the precise mechanistic elements that make a game compelling or dull. I hope you like it!
