Joint Excitement – discovering games together (Topic Discussion)

Post read time 4 min readLeave a Comment on Joint Excitement – discovering games together (Topic Discussion)

I love my game group. We've been playing board games for many. many years now. Over the years we learned many new ones and slowly established favourites, which would eventually get replaced by new favourites. It's very special to have a consistent group of people to play games with. One of the really special things I found is how we discover games together and I want to write about it in this article.

Charms (Saturday Review)

Post read time 5 min readLeave a Comment on Charms (Saturday Review)

Whether it is coins, keys, clover or rabbit feet, there are many items that, according to ancient superstitions, bring you luck and maybe even protect you from evil. You merely need to wear them around your neck or on a bracelet and their magic becomes active. Collectively, these items are known as Charms by Taiki Shinzawa from New Mill Industries.

In Between Games – quick games while you wait (Topic Discussion)

Post read time 4 min read4 Comments on In Between Games – quick games while you wait (Topic Discussion)

I think many of us like games that take an hour or two to play, maybe even longer. I guess that's at least true when you've got a game group you play regularly with. I love longer games, but I also love those quick games that take less than half an hour to learn and play. They're ideal to play before, after or even in between other games. They're also perfect for game groups, because you can play them while you wait for others to arrive, after some people have left or in between other games, while some of you freshen themselves up. So in this article, I want to look at these "in-between" games.

Prey Another Day (Saturday Review)

Post read time 4 min readLeave a Comment on Prey Another Day (Saturday Review)

The forest is dark and eerie. A cold wind whistles through the branches and makes them creak and groan. The rustling of the leaves goes some way to hiding the noise of your prowling through the undergrowth. You have your prey in sight, but suddenly, at the same time as you break cover, other hunters reveal themselves. There is a moment of confusion which our shared victim uses to their advantage to escape to safety. It looks like we are all going hungry today and we all have to accept that we will have to Prey Another Day by Matthew Dunstan and Brett J. Gilbert from Pegasus Spiele.

Pixies (Saturday Review)

Post read time 5 min readLeave a Comment on Pixies (Saturday Review)

As we were walking through the forest on a mild, damp spring morning, with the mist still rising and the trees and other plants slowly waking up as the sun was peeking over the horizon, we saw, to our great surprise, little creatures emerging from flowers and the hollows of the trees. Some wore cupule hats, while others had slung oak leaf ponchos over their bodies. We even spotted some with little string instruments made from walnut halves. They were magical to behold as they walked along the forest floor and formed little groupings, three side-by-side and three deep. These were clearly Pixies by Johannes Goupy from Bombyx.

Not for the Win – games aren’t necessarily about winning (Topic Discussion)

Post read time 5 min read2 Comments on Not for the Win – games aren’t necessarily about winning (Topic Discussion)

If you're a competitive person, you want to win. If you're a really competitive person, winning is your absolute goal. Competitive games will probably be your favourite, but even when you play cooperative games, you probably still try to do everything in your power to beat the game and take the win for the team. However, I don't think playing games is necessarily about winning. There are many other benefits of enjoying a board game together that I want to talk about in this article.

Hidden Agendas (Saturday Review)

Post read time 4 min read2 Comments on Hidden Agendas (Saturday Review)

We all had our different plans. Getting the right bills through the Senate was never easy. There would always be compromises and endless debates. We all wanted to further our own goals. The odd promise of a bribe, digging up dirt on the other parties' representatives and some last-minute voting changes all helped to get what your party wanted. At the end of the day, we all had our own Hidden Agendas by Josh Rossman from Big Boom Games.

Cultural Games – board games as cultural assets (Topic Discussion)

Post read time 4 min readLeave a Comment on Cultural Games – board games as cultural assets (Topic Discussion)

The term Kulturgut is very hard to translate into English. In fact, I don't think there is a similar concept in the UK. "Cultural asset" doesn't really do it justice, because the term describes things that have a cultural value and need to be preserved. Literature is a type of Kulturgut for example. As a British person, you can easily see how the works of Shakespeare have a cultural value and require to be preserved. Yet, when it comes to our hobby, people don't necessarily think of modern board games as Kulturgut. In this article, I want to look at this a little closer.

Berlin Brettspiel Con 2024 (Saturday Review)

Post read time 6 min readLeave a Comment on Berlin Brettspiel Con 2024 (Saturday Review)

Over the weekend during a hot July in Germany at a different, but much cooler location compared to last year, around 16,000 people attended the "big summer board game festival for gamers, geeks and the whole family", as the event describes itself. Located in my home city, the convention I am talking about is, of course, Berlin Brettspiel Con 2024.

Knarr (Digital Eyes)

Post read time 6 min readLeave a Comment on Knarr (Digital Eyes)

Vikings were known for plundering, but what many people forget is that they also did a lot of trade. In fact, the Viking Era saw an increase in trade in the English Channel, the North Sea and the Baltic. There was one vessel that was specifically made for the exchange of large quantities of goods. It was a cargo ship with a shorter hull than the commonly known longships, which were mainly warships, and that had only a partial deck or sometimes none at all. It was specially adapted to the high seas to transport goods safely from shore to shore. To the Vikings, it was known as the Knarr by Thomas Dupont from Bombyx.