Borderlands: Mister Torgue’s Arena of Badassery is a long and absurd title. It’s not snappy or easy to remember. By all accounts, it fits the content. This is a cooperative skirmish game that is absolutely over-the-top. It features a somewhat complex ruleset that will furnish some first-time jitters and take effort to get right. The…
The Binding of Isaac: Four Souls is a card game adaptation of the hit indie video game series of the same name. If you’re ambivalent to the concept or have no idea what any of this means, just say no. There’s nothing here for you. If you’re a Binding of Isaac fan, perhaps even someone…
The Snap Ships toy line is a neat creation. They’re spacecraft built of modular blocks that link together, not unlike Lego. There are cool bits such as cannons, missile pods, various wings, and all kinds of little greeblies to add distinction. They’re totally rad and a joy to tinker with. Look, I’m a 38-year-old man…
Tim Armstrong’s Imperial Miners is of a new style. It shares the approach of contemporary engine-builders Jump Drive and Earth, inverting the modern Euro paradigm of scarcity and instead offering abundance. This is a game that just buries you in gold and then sets you free to earn points. Refreshingly, it requires only a modest…
TITLE SCREEN RESIDENT EVIL That start sequence still echoes through my subconscious. It inspires nostalgia with an undercurrent of dread. Resident Evil is one of the best horror video games ever produced and it proved a monumental hit on the original Playstation. It continues to find success as the series has seen many of its…
Inheritors is sort of a blur of a game. It’s ostensibly about factions in conflict over the inheritance of a recently vacated throne. But this isn’t King Lear. It’s not evocative or dramatic or even ambitious in expressing its themes. Rather, it’s a system flush card game whose principal elements are found on the perimeter.…
There’s nothing more revolting than modern politics. That is, from the perspective of people living in the real world where policy causes suffering and disagreement often leads to violence. But politics in games? Well, that’s something entirely different. Politics, as played out on the tabletop, is gripping, reflective, and devoid of actual repercussions. It’s purer…
For the past three days, I’ve been feelin’ it. While driving to work, while lying in bed at night; a melancholy has hung over me like an inescapable shadow. I’m done with Jeffrey CCH’s Eila and Something Shiny, although it doesn’t seem done with me. This is a difficult one to write about. In the…
The Mines of Pekari is something unexpected. It’s the debut release from Oaken Table Games and designer/publisher Jay Andersen. What’s particularly interesting is the co-design credit to Jenna Felli of Devious Weasel Games. If you’ve followed my work, you would know I’m a big fan of Felli’s previous efforts, particularly Cosmic Frog, The Mirroring of…
Lost Adventures is every bit the look of a mouse. The box is small and unassuming. The only components of quantity are mini-sized cards and run-of-the-mill black cubes. Your objective is the plainly titled “golden chalice”. Aside from the competing adventurers sitting around the table, your primary antagonist is a faceless black pawn that begins…
Player Elimination 