There’s this moment where you’re sitting there, waiting to play. The room is full of silence and everyone is staring at a grid of cards. This is it, party gaming in the future. Codenames is a clever bastard. While it may be clever and popular just like Brandon Hughes in 7th grade, just like Brandon Codenames is a bore.…
“Fifteen men on the Dead Man’s Chest yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!” Treasure Island–the game–is inspired. As a story, it’s one we’ve fallen in love with. Long John Silver has buried the stolen treasure and his crew are putting the screws to him. Greed and duplicity form the central themes and they’re woven into…
This is going to be one of those articles where I start somewhere and end somewhere else with the path b’tween full of twists and slopes. I want to jaw about responsibility. It’s something that’s been gnawing on me for awhile. It’s something that often occupies my thoughts long into the black sky A.M. It…
Do you ever want to punch someone in the mouth? I do, all the damn time. Hellapagos from Gigamic Games lets you punch someone in the mouth. Of course, not really. Hellapagos’ version of the haymaker is giving Jim the finger and putting a bullet in his body so everyone else can eat. Don’t cry for Jim. This thing…
This side-by-side thing is something new I’m floating. Two games whose experience, style, or spirit are somehow linked. Maybe this is the last time we’ll see this format or maybe it will explode and consume me. It’s unknown so whatever you do, don’t look away. The other night we pulled out both Flip Ships and Catacombs. It was a…
It’s no secret that I thirst for unique and serious concepts when it comes to tabletop gaming. I hold a strong belief that games are indeed Art, possessing a singular quality of immersion that can convey deeper thematic concepts at a very personal level. Hand in hand with this potential is an imperceptible directive of…
Story. It’s all about story. Games now are either dry as Nevada or plump vessels packed to the paper mache gills with prose. Comanauts is the latter of course, offering a stick and asking you to swing away. It almost convinces as anecdotes and adventure peek from the breach. Almost. Perhaps Jerry Hawthorne bit off…
Trick-taking games have never really been my thing. Give me a Space Marine with a boltgun and you can keep your card with a suit. So now that we’ve set the stage, you may be surprised to discover that I’m crushing on Pirate Tricks. Out of the blue came a kill-crazy crew Whose motto was…
No Thanks! is the one true filler. Fully explained in a single breath, new players instantly get it. Yet it’s full of wonderful depth, trash talking, and scattered dramatic moments where you’ve pushed your luck and fate has pushed back. It’s nothing short of magnificent. Thorsten Gimmler was a man, but more importantly he was…
We must celebrate the notion that games can extend beyond the pressed cardboard and molded plastic of their form, reaching out to move us in unpredictable and startling ways. Games can be art and don’t let anyone advise you differently. So I approached Holding On: the Life of Billy Kerr with wide idealistic eyes. It…
Player Elimination 