Author: Anthony

My first experience with Carcassonne wasn’t the same as most. It was the early days of the Xbox 360, and Microsoft was still figuring out how to approach their online arcade feature. Carcassonne was one of the games they offered, one of the few based on a board game. I remember being a bit underwhelmed by the game. I was a teenager and if I wasn’t playing Halo, I was probably playing stupid pranks on my friends. I didn’t have the patience for a German tile-building game. There weren’t any grenades to throw. Adult me has a much different story…

One of the reasons I enjoy conventions so much is that you never quite know what you’re going to find there. Sure, there are the big releases. The hot new games that hit the hotness list on BGG and the convention preview geeklists. I am fully aware of those games, eager to hunt them down, and usually find a copy or have demoed it by the end of the con. But it’s the oddballs and hidden gems that really excite me, which is exactly what we found this summer in Killer Snails. Nestled in the back corners of both the Origins and…

Another year, another of the best four days in gaming behind us. Gen Con 2016 was special for Board Gamers Anonymous, if only because it was our second year attending, and therefore the first time we had any idea what we were doing. A hotel in walking distance, a clear sense of the size and scope of the convention center, and a keen understanding of how many events you can actually squeeze into a day – all helped us have a heck of a good time. Not that last year wasn’t a blast, but the first time you attend this…

One of the hottest games of the last year is Blood Rage. The epic war-game/euro pitting viking clans against one another in a point-grabbing battle to the death is one of Eric Lang’s best to date, and is the subject of our If You Like treatment this month. In this episode we’ll look at 12 games you might like if you also like Blood Rage, along with 5 new acquisition disorders, 4 new games at the table, and the recent spate of new apps in board games revitalizing old classics. But first…. August Contest If you’re reading this, you can…

The following Blood Rage review incorporates experiences from 15 plays, including those at every possible player count, 2-5.  The sky burns red in the distance. The howls of creatures not of this Earth raise the hairs on your neck. Ragnarok comes and it boils your blood, axe beating your shield rhythmically as you wait for the order to Pillage. To run rampant through the halls of men and women, fighting for Glory and Glory alone. For Valhalla! If ever I doubted a board game could fill me with the thrill of a blood thirsty hoard of ravaging warriors, it is…

We’ve all played a game like this. One that sounds brilliant on paper. That has won numerous awards. That has people raving about how unique and innovative it is… Only to fall flat in execution because the people actually playing the game unintentionally cheat, take over decision making, or skip key mechanics that make the game work. That’s what we’re talking about this episode – the mechanics that sound brilliant but just plain don’t work in execution unless everything else is perfect. Also this episode we’ll be talking about several upcoming games we’re looking out for, some big new games…

Star Trek Frontiers is here (and currently on a steady rotation at my table). I’m not quite ready to review it, but let’s take a look at first impressions of this highly anticipated Star Trek redux of Mage Knight. I picked up Mage Knight, against the objections of at least one other BGA host about 3 years ago. I was in the early stages of board game obsession and wanted every big, meaty, epic, long game I could get my hands on, not yet realizing just how long it takes to actually learn and play them. The game languished on…

Until a shiny new set of metal polyhedral dice from Easy Roller Dice Co. arrived a few weeks back, I didn’t think much about the dice I used. Sure, I have my lucky set, and there are certain patterns I like more than others, but in the end, unless a D20 had become possessed and seemed intent to kill my character as quickly and mercilessly as possible, I didn’t think much about the dice I used. And now I have discovered that my general ambiguity toward dice was because I had always used crappy dice. Cheap, plastic, boring dice that do…

The BGA crew is back from Origins and it was a blast. The City of Columbus is quite the place, and the the Origins show (despite some notable organization related issues), was well put together, bigger than past years, and WAY more laid back than GenCon for first time con-goers. As such, it was one of the best times we’ve had in a long time gaming, and that means we played a LOT of games along the way. In Episode 103 we’re going to dig in and take a closer look at those games, what we loved about them, what…

Whether you’ve been gaming for years or are just getting into the hobby, you likely have at least a handful of gateway games on your shelves. Did you know there are multiple expansions for most of those games? Don’t run to the store just yet – some of these expansions are better than others. On this episode, we’re taking a look at the best and worst of these expansions, when you should consider an upgrade and which ones you should absolutely avoid. Plus our recent acquisition disorders, at the table plays, and a run through of the Dice Tower Award…