Author: Anthony
Anthony
Anthony cofounded Board Gamers Anonymous in 2013 and has been on (almost) every episode. Today, he lives in Philadelphia with his family and teaches first year writing at Thomas Jefferson University.
A couple years ago, I played an old out of print game with friends as a warmup to a long game day. It was quick, accessible, and a lot of fun. The game, Medici, was one of Reiner Knizia’s finest games, but also one of his many out of print titles and I was unwilling to spend $60+ on a game with admittedly awful graphic design and a 30 minute play time. Fast forward two years and Grail Games is bringing Medici back in a beautiful updated package with illustration by Vincent Dutrait. Suffice it to say, I jumped on…
Welcome back everyone! After a bit of a delay, Episode 4 of Table for One is here and I have three exciting games to talk about, plus some thoughts on board game apps as a whole. First on tap is recent play throughs, including the long awaited Star Trek: Frontiers which has been sitting on my table for a while waiting for a play through. Is it worth tracking down if you already own or have thoroughly played Mage Knight? Next up I discuss Mansions of Madness Second Edition, almost certainly not for the first time, and finally I dig…
Codenames is one of the hottest games of the last year. Winner of the Spiel des’Jahres, the Origins Game of the Year, and countless other awards, it’s on a bit of a roll, so we figured we’d dig in and make some recommendations for other games you might like if you happen to love this one. In addition, we’re talking about some of the games we’ve been playing lately, our big acquisition disorders, and Daniel is back! Shout it from the Tabletop This month, we have a lot of news to discuss including the big Games Workshop/FFG divorce (it’s not…
One of a handful of new releases at Gen Con this year for Cryptozoic, Mad Science Foundation, designed by Sharang Biswas and Max Seidman, is a straightforward set collection and drafting game with a bit of variable powers mixed in for good measure. It’s on the lighter end of the spectrum, and despite the size of the box (which we’ll get to), it’s small, short, and easy to setup and learn. Thematically speaking, I like it. There really aren’t that many games in this genre – not that it’s a massive genre to draw from, but it’s still a fun…
The Manhattan Project is a fantastic, well-balanced worker placement game that is often overlooked, largely because of theme. While gamers are more than content to slay orcs, Nazis, undead ghouls, and everything in between – it gets a little too real when discussing the most dangerous object in the actual real world. But the game is brilliant and if you can get it to the table, you should. For those that have trouble getting it out, or are looking for a quicker solo experience, Minion Games recently released The Manhattan Project Chain Reaction, a small box card game that takes…
Another week, another batch of solo games hitting the table! This week, I’m digging into a question that has been posted a handful of times on Twitter and Facebook – how do you handle games with long setup or breakdown times? Before diving into that, I offer some thoughts on the recent Games Workshop/FFG split and which games are worth tracking down that will be affected (as well as the ones that might come back in a new form). I also share one of the long awaited expansions that finally went back into print. For recent plays, I dive into…
A little over three years ago, when I was still fairly new to the hobby, I visited a game store in New Jersey, about a 25-minute drive from my house in Staten Island, NY. The store was mostly devoted to Warhammer and Warmachine miniatures and paint, but they had a nice wall packed with board games – mostly new releases – and when I stopped to look the owner yelled from across the room, “Francis Drake, you have to check it out! We’ve been playing it non-stop.” I wasn’t there to buy a game (just paints for me), but his…
Dinosaurs – little plastic dinosaurs. Seriously, if someone had just told me a year or two ago that Triassic Terror, designed by Peter Hawes and published by Eagle Gryphon Games, came with toys in the box to represent each player (and the ruthless predators roaming the board), I would have been all in a long time ago. Unfortunately, I did not realize and missed out on a clever, engaging area control game that really sings with the right complement of players. Taking place over 6-9 rounds (depending on player count), Triassic Terror takes you and your herds of dinosaurs through…
I can only imagine the backslapping and high fives that went around in the AEG offices when someone jotted “fantahzee” on the whiteboard during a product development meeting. The name is a classic – a pun that elicits chuckles from dads of small children (myself included) and groans from anyone under the age of 30. To which I say, genius! Everything you need to know about Fantahzee is in the name and as you’ll soon see, that particularly combination of dice sequencing, hand management, and high fantasy questing works in a strange, exciting way that I didn’t expect but fully…
Welcome back! On this week’s episode of Table for One, I’m talking about three more games that have been getting a lot of time at my table this summer. First, I’m digging into some recent news in the solo-verse, including the newest Torbey game in the Oniverse coming soon from Z-Man Games and some of the other hot games in the pipeline from FFG and others. At the table recently I’m discussing The Goonies Adventure Card Game, a recent light co-op that really works as a solo game due to the shared nature of the actions. I’m also looking at…