4 GDC 2019 Talks Worth Your Time
The board game design day at the Game Developer’s Conference has been a rousing success, if you’re judging it by its ability to produce quality talks. (In terms of interest at the conference, I suspect it’s done well since they’ve … Continued
Podcast: A Conversation With Cassie Friedman And Dan Letzring About “Matryoshka”
Matryoshka is available on Kickstarter right now! I sit down with Cassie and Dan to talk about Matryoshka, a trading and bluffing card game about those Russian nesting dolls I didn’t know the name of until I heard about this game. … Continued
7 Strategy Tips For Spirit Island
My first play of Spirit Island was a bloodbath. We were all new to the game, trying to wrangle these temperamental spirits while invaders poured in like water in a bath. No matter what we did we felt like we … Continued
Book Discussion: The Three Body Problem Part 3: Death’s End
We’re back talking about books! After navigating schedules, we’ve finally managed to reconvene to talk about the third and final installment of the Three Body Problem series: Death’s End. The scope of this book is truly immense, even as the … Continued
Overview of Exceed: Street Fighter
Writing about the new Street Fighter Exceed set has forced me to confront something I dread: my past writing. Nervously I searched for my original review of Exceed, fearing the idiocy of my past self. To my relief, despite some … Continued
Podcast Episode 50: Granite Game Summit 2019 – Die Macher, Wingspan, And More!
G2S is a great weekend of gaming for those in the New England area. Marc and Orion attended this year and we’re here to tell you all about it. We’ve got ugly games, beautiful games, and aesthetically controversial games. Also, … Continued
7 Ways The Quest For El Dorado Cleverly Communicates Deckbuilding Principles To Beginners
I have to admit, I was tempted to be a bit of a snob about The Quest For El Dorado, Reiner Knizia’s Spiel des Jahres-nominated family-weight deckbuilding/race game. I was there in the early days of Dominion! I know what … Continued
Dr. Esker’s Notebook Review
In my review of Exit: The Pharaoh’s Tomb I speculated about the naming ritual of calling such a puzzle game an “escape room”, it lacking what would seem to be the key criterion of escaping a room. Sure, there’s some … Continued
Podcast Episode 49: PAX East 2019
We played a whole bunch of new games at PAX East and you’re going to hear about them! Marc, Matt, and a SECOND Marc bring you the lowdown on every single one of them. This is a mega episode with … Continued
Crusaders Review
How can I talk about Crusaders without discussing the theme? The Crusades are a deeply uncomfortable part of western history and while I’m fairly ignorant about much of that period, the combination of religious zealotry and state power seen there … Continued