
Reviewers: Stop Saying “Not for me”
I know a good number of you are probably upset, or at least skeptical, right now because of how I’ve titled this article. But, if
I know a good number of you are probably upset, or at least skeptical, right now because of how I’ve titled this article. But, if
When I, along with the rest of the world, began to realize that we’d be spending a lot more time at home in early 2020,
This article is a loose continuation of some of the thoughts I offered here and here. I have a keen interest in how we analyze
This article is sort of a continuation of this article from last week, inspired by discussions on twitter mostly located here and here. I made
A little over a decade ago on a night like tonight I’m probably outside, briskly walking through the cool Pennsylvania evening, talking on the phone
This is part 2 in a series about economic concepts in board games. You can check out part 1, about Sidereal Confluence and trade, here.
After seeing the announcement for a new, super-deluxe version of Castles of Burgundy, I was prepared to sit down and write a screed. Sure, the
When I wrote my article about theme a few months ago I made a quick remark about eurogames, asking, “I mean, from a literary-thematic point of
If there’s anything I’ve become more aware of in my nearly five(!) years of reviewing board games, it’s that I don’t need to feel obligated
The time has come for everyone to scramble for those last minute Christmas gifts to pile up under the tree and once again The Thoughtful
I don’t understand the thought process that leads to using established metrics in game reviews. That sounds pompous but I’m being earnest. I’m open to
I think a lot about how to review board games. It’s what I do. I’m a bit obsessive. This particular topic has been on my
Geoff Engelstein is one of the best people in board gaming at teasing out and explaining the complex factors that go into game design and
Alright, people, listen up. I don’t have many gaming pet peeves but this is the biggest one so pay attention. Can we stop calling games
I slept through the changing of the year, and it might as well have gone that way, what with the general consensus that 2020 was
Why? What’s the point? No, really, what’s the point of reviewing games? Why do I do this week in and week out? I could talk
A few weeks ago I wrapped up a week-long debate camp for high school students. I’ve probably coached at 10 or so of these kinds
A common refrain in my game group is that Descent is fun despite itself. I think this is accurate. We certainly had a blast playing
I vaguely remember the first time I played Magic: the Gathering. I think it was on a camping trip with some family friends. I was
I’m not tied to a publisher, and from my Kickstarter Curmudgeon pieces it’s obvious I clearly don’t have any idea of what kind of marketing
I kind of liked not doing Kickstarter Curmudgeon last month, as scheduling things led to me simply not getting around to it. So when I
I keep seeing this question on social media and elsewhere and I can’t quite figure it out. Where’d we get the idea that surprise hit
Dear Publishers, I grow weary. I’m tired of yelling in frustration at your rulebooks. I’m fully willing to admit that the problem is partially my
Again my mind is on debate, community, and board games. If you read my article from last week you’ll have some idea of the state
A number of events in the past few weeks have led to me sitting here, writing this post without quite knowing where it’s going to
We’re in the dog days of August, and I guess that seasonal malaise affects board game marketing, because there were a surprising absence of interesting
Oh how time flies! It seems like only last week that I was grouching at a host of Kickstarter campaigns, though to be honest a
The Kickstarter culture in board gaming has always felt a bit odd to me. I don’t avoid it completely. I’ve backed a couple of Red
In 2017 the Game Developers Conference hosted a number of board game designers and publishers for the first time to talk about tabletop games. Across
The house always had a funerial sense about it–the smell of camellias mixed with stale cigarette smoke when I was young; the sense of void
I’m ⅔ of the way done with this article and I’m realizing that this is less a structured argument and more a collection of loosely
People love narratives. We love not just the narratives we get in the form of designed stories in books and TV and movies. We love
At the risk of outing myself as a gamer who doesn’t play “enough” games, let’s talk about my gaming stats for 2017. I started logging
“Cult of the new” is an unfortunate phrase I hear a lot around the board game community to describe behavior where people get excited only
As we enter the advertising onslaught that we call the “holiday season”, I’d like to both shamelessly use this time to recommend some cool games
Back in highschool my friends determined that my future career path was going to be a critic. It didn’t so much matter what I’d be
For some reason today is a day of reflection for me. I suppose it’s because I’m preparing to launch on Patreon and trying to line
The hard part, of course, is that this kind of post is now cliche.(1) It’s also tremendously hard to formulate. I mean, what’s my point
If you’ve taken an economics 101 class you probably know the idea–the ‘homo economicus’ rational being that pursues their own self interest and makes economic
I don’t remember how old I was–maybe 11 or 12, but one day my dad decided that I needed to learn how to play chess.
It’s Memorial Day here in the states, and in true American fashion that means the consumption of a lot of beer and red meat. Hopefully,
I originally intended this article to be about effective point scales and the BGG rating system, but a few posts on the boardgames subreddit have
The following is a collection of mostly incomplete thoughts. I’m publishing this now in order to get the thoughts onto the page and to begin
The other day I was perusing the top 100 list at BoardGameGeek and marveled at how many newer games seemed to have surged to the
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