Learning together (Topic Discussion)

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It is nice when you have a regular games group, be it friends or family or a mix of both. You get to play games regularly, you can share each others' collections, you can maybe even decide to buy games together and split the cost and there are many other positives when you have a group of people to play games with. What I want to talk about in this article, is why I think it's so wonderful to learn a new game together with a group of people you regularly play with.

Stasi Raus, Es Ist Aus! (Saturday Review)

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The crowds were gathering outside, asking difficult questions, asking to be let in, not sure if we still had any control over them - but we fobbed them off with excuses, sent them to a different office and generally put up a smokescreen. We hadn't finished our final project yet. There was so much left to do, so much evidence to destroy or get out of the back door. We didn't know how much time we might have left, when we finally heard the chanting outside: "Stasi raus, es ist aus!" by DDR Museum.

Perseverance (Topic Discussion)

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Some games just click. There are very few rules and you can basically start playing after reading a couple of paragraphs. Other games take longer to learn, with pages upon pages of rules, turns that consist of multiple phases or maybe some sort of conflict resolution steps that take a while to grasp. In fact, even seemingly simple games can take a long time to master. So in this article, I want to look at how patient we are with games and why some games deserve our perseverance.

Klask (Saturday Review)

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I could hear screeching tyres and gunshots coming from video game machines, the melodic sounds of fruit machines and some general hubbub of laughter, talking and other noise. I was standing at one end of the air hockey table, with my opponent on the other side. Yet, even though it felt like we were at some sort of amusement arcade, we were both at home and hadn't left the house. We were just about to play a game of Klask.

Madeleine Fjäll (Let me illustrate)

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Madeleine Fjäll is a 2D-artist who loves to make artwork inspired by history and fantasy. She has a bachelor's degree in Game Design and Graphics and has a Higher Vocational Education Degree in 2D-graphics, which helps her a lot as an artist in the board game industry. Right now she's working at Ion Game Design and is an artist for the games Pax Viking, Bios:Mesofauna and Dawn on Titan.

Finding the fun (Topic Discussion)

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I think like pretty much every hobby, playing board games is about having fun. You might prefer to play solo, you might like to play with your partner or you have a group of friends you play with. You probably play different types of games with different people. Maybe you play lighter games with your loved one in the evenings, because you're both tired after work and want to have some relaxing time together, but when you play with your games group you want something complex and thinky to really stretch your brain. Ultimately though, I think it's all about having fun.

Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile (Digital Eyes)

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The Chancellor's new reign had begun, as the Exiles had fled to the far reaches of the land. They had failed in their attempts to usurp the ruler, but here was another chance for them. They would muster their warbands, campaign against the Bandits, explore the world until eventually, they were strong enough to try again and finally succeed in overthrowing the leading power. Yet, they could never be sure if their fellow Exiles would deceive them and maybe even swear allegiance to the Chancellor, instead of staying strong and following the Exiles' code of honour, sticking by the sacred Oath by Leder Games.

Top 5 Board Games of 2020 (Saturday Review)

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As is customary at the end of a calendar year, it's time for my top 5 board games of this, rather odd, year and for me to announce the winner of the Top Table Award 2020. Let me say that this year, I happily allowed games into the top 5 list that were published before 2020, as long as these games were new to me this year. There is a clear winner for me, not just based on the number of plays, the amount of enjoyment the game brought and the nostalgia factor that the game has for me, but because this game took a well-established genre and took it to the next step, making it more accessible to a wider range of people. However, let me not spoil it for you, but start at number 5 and work my way to the top slot.

Harald Lieske (Let me illustrate)

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Harald Lieske was born in 1975 in Siegen, Germany and is an illustrator, game designer and musician. After beginning to study art in Siegen, he switched to studying design in Münster with a focus on game illustration and comics. Even during his studies, he already created relationships with publishers and was created illustrations for a few games. During this time he also worked on a handful of game prototypes. At the end of his studies, he had two prototypes, one of which (Das Gold der Inka) has already been published.