Author: Drew

A mid-week dump of the best blog posts from the last 7 days It’s been a fantastic pre-GenCon week of great blog posts. From a history of electronics in board games, to a breakdown of D&D’s 5th edition and a walkaround at the World Boardgaming Championships, the past week has informed and amused me. Herewith are your Four Fab posts of the week! 1. Wargaming is…Unmanly! (Games on Tables) 2. How Electronic Board Games Have Changed Over 100 Years (Clever Move) 3. Ten Things You Might Now Know About D&D 5th Ed Player Handbook (DieHard GameFan) 4. Get Rid of…

The Reddit Report is a weekly review of the most interesting and informative Reddit threads & comments, published every Saturday. But this week I was a few days late due to vacation. Anybody know the reference in the title? (see below) Now, on to 6 great Reddit threads from the past week! What would you do if you had to organize a mini-convention for 150 people? I wouldn’t know either. That’s why this Redditor needed help. The thread will give you a few ideas on how to organize a little board game block party for your neighborhood. I just…

I was out of town for the week, and where I was staying had a very bad Wi-Fi connection, so I couldn’t stay on Skype very long. I had to drop out after the News, and I’m not even sure how much of that came through cleanly. Anyway, here are some of the links to News items I was sharing… Hasbro Hit With Suit Over Candy Land Movie Plans, by Bill Donahue, Law360, July 17 Candy Land makers claim there was a limited license on the game which didn’t include movies. Microsoft helps to launch free web-based version of Catan…

A mid-week dump of the best blog posts from the last 7 days I’ve been on vacation this week, so “Hump Day” is Sunday! Here are your Four Fab posts of the week! 1. Why It’s Not Cool to Hate on Classic Games (iSlaytheDragon) 2. Kit of Adventuring (iHeartPrintandPlay) 3. Probability for Game Designers (League of Gamemakers) 4. 15 of the Best Filler Games (Clever Move) LA CREME DE LA BLOGWEEK  Why It’s Not Cool to Hate on Classic Games, by Jennifer iSlaytheDragon, August 1 Yeah, there are elitists in our hobby, who sneer at the phrase “casual gamer” and…

(Almanac of Games is a weekly feature, published every Sunday) National Win With Civility Month So, the next time you win a game, be civil to the pathetic losers at your table. OBSERVED ON AUGUST 3rd is… …Grab Some Nuts Day! Don’t some of these “holidays” seem to you artificially created by marketing departments as excuses to buy the product? Well, there’s a website just for you: PartyExcuses.com. They don’t care where the ‘holiday’ originated; it’s all an excuse to cut loose and have fun! Some of the “National” days listed here have been created by companies & PR agencies…

The Reddit Report is a weekly look at the most interesting and informative Reddit threads & comments, published every Saturday. TRY IT, YOU’LL LIKE IT! I took out half the cards out of [King of Tokyo], and it is a much better experience submitted by nobody7x7 I agree. Some of the cards add high-powered randomness to a game that is already chock-full of it. Trimming the fat of this game makes for more strategic use of cards. OP didn’t actually list the cards to remove, but you can give some thoughtful attention to the deck and come up with some…

A look at the top 4 unreleased games, based on the number of Board Game Geek members who’ve added it to their Wishlists, as of August 1st. NOTE: These games won’t necessarily release in August. MACHI KORO—2nd English ed. (KOSMOS) IDW & Parndasaurus bring their J-Game to the first North American edition of this internationally-popular card game. July was promised, but it’s August now… Status is still listed as “At Printer” HANSA TEUTONICA—3rd ed. (Argentum Verlag) Original publisher Argentum Verlag (Z-Man dropped this like a hot potato) is bringing out a 3rd edition. I don’t get the buzz. Nobody in…

Every Thursday I post some news from the outside world, to reassure fellow gamers that the public at-large still thinks kindly of us. This week I’ve got quite a few here because this is my first post. After this I’ll be posting weekly, so it won’t be so overloaded… D&D’s 40th ANNIVERSARY BLITZ Of course there would be a lot of attention on the now-legendary Gygax/Arneson creation. A Game as Literary Tutorial by Ethan Gilsdorf, The New York Times, July 13 D&D “has influenced a generation of writers” including pop culture icons George R.R. Martin, Dan Harmon, Matt Groening and…

A mid-week dump of the best blog posts from the last 7 days 1. Rocks Fall, So Now What (Across the Board Games) 2. Oh, look, a monster… (Jeff’s Gameblog) 3. Holmes, Sweet Holmes (Every Man Needs a Shed) 4. Teaching a Game (League of Gamemakers) THE POST OF THE WEEK Rocks Fall, So Now What?, by Nicole Jekich Across the Board Games, July 23 Subtitled “What I Learned as a First Time Dungeon Master,” Nicole’s article deals with her turn in a rotating series of DMs. The format is a chance for more players to step into the role…

A look at each day’s most interesting and informative threads from the Board Game Geek general gaming forum. (Geek Peeks is published every Monday.) MONDAY, JULY 21 Terminology Twins “Board Game” vs. “Tabletop Game” submitted by Tobias Wehrum A Masters candidate tries to devise a concrete distinction between the two. Boardgame Terminology Opinion Survey #1 submitted by Mezmorki A quick follow-up tries a different tack: Asking BGG users multiple choice and open questions about their use of various terms (fiddly, weight, etc). Check out his Google Doc questionnaire. TUESDAY, JULY 22 Theming – the biggest barrier to a HUGE audience…