I can distinctly remember the first time I played Mastermind. We were in Canada on vacation. My grandparents had rented a house for the summer,

Once, when getting out of my car at the grocery store, I was approached by a guy holding out a CD. He earnestly inquired, “hey,

More than any game I’ve played in recent memory, Eminent Domain truly feels like a game made for dedicated gamers. It’s not particularly complicated, it

How did the roll and write genre get so popular all of a sudden? Yahtzee is an okay game, but I don’t remember any roll

Did you know that there’s a segment of the Gladiator film score that Hans Zimmer apparently turned into the main theme for Pirates of the

Uncertainty is a terrifying nightmare from which there is no escape. Many people are still uncertain every day of where their food will come from.

Late-stage prototype pictured below. Art is final; graphic design isn’t. Pumpkin Patch: Bad Seeds will be on Kickstarter in the first half of July. Pumpkin

Anxiety? It sucks. 0/10. Do not recommend. Oh, wait, I’m reviewing the game called Anxiety here. That’s a different story. I first heard of this

I find that modern board gamers tend to have a strange relationship with the classic abstract strategy games. By nearly any measure both Chess and

Alright, people. I’ve got to be honest here. I’ve staked my reputation here on blunt honesty, so I’m just going to say it: when I

I’m a bit of a Resistance apologist. It was one of the first modern board games I really enjoyed. I’ve played it easily over 100

I’ve got a weird relationship with this Sanderson guy, the remarkably prolific, super popular fantasy author known for his robust magic systems. Ben, who you’ll

Avid readers may recall my somewhat controversial review for Hunt For The Ring, where I talked about the fine line deduction games walk between giving too

I was walking through the Expo Hall at PAX East when I saw it. A small package, but alluring, with its milky-white…exterior. Okay, I can’t

I have one of those fuzzy childhood memories of visiting my grandparents house and finding what I think was some kind of children’s encyclopedia. It

There I was in my game room, at the table with three friends, furrowing my brow and trying to figure out how on earth we

I recognize that I’m not the most prolific board game player out there. I try to limit my purchases to games I’m almost certain I’ll

I couldn’t quite believe it when I found out that I haven’t actually reviewed Castles of Burgundy before. I suppose I was remembering the strategy

A few years ago a ridiculous joke-game showed up at Origins called “Win, Lose, Banana”. The name of the game, helpfully, also functions as a

I finally did it. I’d held out a long time, content with plastic baggies and ad hoc organization. But Gloomhaven was too much for me.

The sales pitch for Captain Sonar is ridiculously compelling. A real time game about battling submarine crews? Sold. Who doesn’t want to play that? Submarine

Once, in the Ancient Times of board games (about 10 years ago), from the exotic lands of Germany, a game called Agricola was made. It

I’m writing this down here and now so you all can bother me in the future if I renege: I will never try to make

It feels like games season, with all of the sales and PAX Unplugged literally overflowing my game room shelves (I’ve resorted to stacking games on

Is love at first sight possible with board games? I say yes, and I can prove it. It’s happened to me twice before. I open

I think Matt (who you know from the podcast) put it best: Fantasy Fight’s Descent 2nd Edition is a fun game despite itself. Dungeon crawling

I don’t think I’m alone when I say that Ignacy Trzewiczek is one of the most interesting characters in the modern board gaming world. He

Prolific game designer Bruno Faidutti is quoted on the cover of The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design: “I wish I had a book like

Marc – Dominion is somewhat notorious for having a ton of expansions. There are a lot of them–no denying that. But they’re also quite fun

This week at The Thoughtful Gamer we’re celebrating what I would say is unequivocally a modern classic in board gaming–Dominion. Below is my review of

The worst part of being a critic is reviewing derivative, mediocre works. It’s a strange problem that often causes division between the critic and their

Ben Franklin said, apocryphally, that “beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy”. As much as I enjoy beer, I

Co-op games have become very popular in the modern boardgaming hobby. Pandemic in particular was a huge success and has contributed to the growing popularity

I just realized the main irony of Friday. It would be a great game to have with you if you were stuck on a desert

The name Seikatsu confuses me. The rulebook says that it is a Japanese word meaning “life”, but all of my life I have associated “katsu”

It’s the kind of thing where you play it, and then wonder why no one had thought of it before. Quantum, above all else, is

I don’t like to take walks, much to the chagrin of my doctor, who tells me I should probably exercise, like, at all. Talk to

One of my biggest pet peeves in board gaming is the oversized box. Companies compete for prominence on limited shelf space by putting their games

To those who have read the articles here or listened to the podcast, you will not be surprised to learn that I am a huge

A quick glance at the board and you’ll know exactly what kind of game Tzolk’in is. Right away. The kind of game covered in strange

I once terrified a friend after a game of Space Alert. He had never played the game before, but the rest of us had, and

Viticulture: Essential Edition is one of my favorite worker placement games of all time. Not only is it beautiful, but it’s easy to learn, sleek,

Machi Koro is a game of disappointment. I first heard about it a couple of years ago, and it was being touted as the next

There’s something I find very satisfying about trivia games. Maybe I just need to prove to myself that the random scraps of knowledge I’ve accumulated

Viticulture: Essential Edition is one of the most polished, professional board game packages I’ve ever seen. From the perfectly sized box to the phenomenal graphic

Riftwalker, a card game from many-named designers Angela Hickman Newnham and Julian Leiberan-Titus, bent my mind in a most unusual way. Usually I’m able to

Fantasy Flight’s Android: Netrunner has dominated my time and thoughts more than any other game the last few months. In fact, I don’t know if

I look down at the plastic spaceships launched in an attack in front of me, survey the rest of the board, and silently calculate costs.

What a weird game. I’m not sure why it’s become such a seemingly big hit among boardgamers. I see it recommended all the time as

So much western fantasy is dark these days. Game of Thrones, Dark Souls, The Witcher–all of it is brown and grey and violent. Above and

Man, pre-human life was brutal. At least if Dominant Species is to be believed. This has got to be one of the meanest games I’ve

Soon after playing the Firefly board game, I went back and revisited the great TV series for the n-th time. I couldn’t help myself. Playing

A long time ago, back in my boardgaming infancy, a friend of mine taught me the acclaimed card game Race for the Galaxy. I still