Since I live in Chicago this post will review 2 things: The Polar Vortex 2019 board game convention outside of Chicago Jan 25-27, and the Polar Vortex 2019 weather event, happening right now in Chicago, Jan 30-31. Sign up for updates! Talk about the Weather Less to discuss here so let’s get this out of …
To follow up our play of Dinosaur Island, we took out Duelosaur Island for a couple of spins and had a lot of fun. This is sort of in the vein of 7 Wonders Duel and Caverna: Cave vs Cave, as it’s a 2-player-only version of more elaborate game that is played by 3 or …
We started off 2019 by diving into one of the most-talked about, most photographed and most socially shared games of 2018 in my un-scientific opinion, and that’s Dinosaur Island! Hey everyone’s doing it: Getting their own private island, synthesizing DNA, growing dinosaurs, and charging people to see them! But of course, it’s an ultra competitive, …
I see the question on other blogs: How much play testing do you need to do? Also, I’ve gotten some feedback, that I don’t respond to feedback, and got to thinking about how challenging it can be to handle all the feedback I get. This post addresses both areas. As far as how much testing to …
Is Kickstarter over-saturated? I was going to blog about something else entirely, but this topic has heated up in my mind to where it’s overflowing like a volcanic island. By over-saturated, I mean simply: Have we reached the point of saturation of games coming out on Kickstarter to where a finite gaming community can’t take …
Worker placement games are some of the most fun types of games I’ve played, and one good thing about it is that it’s a pretty distinct genre, and pretty much any semi-serious gamer knows the meaning of “worker placement”. I’ve played a lot of them, but certainly not all. For me, these rise to the …
If I did what was practical, Cage Match would never be a game. I was working on another game entirely, one that I was sure would go nowhere, when the idea for Cage Match came through, and it’s a good lesson to learn: If you want to design board games, Always. Be. Designing. Like Alec …
5 can be an awkward number as many games can only play up to 4, or work best with an even number of players. But 5 is the perfect number for many great games: Colt Express (2014) First off, Colt Express is a great game. It’s a fun, quick (under 1 hour) little romp where …
There are a lot of great games being designed in Chicago and the surrounding area, and I got to try out a lot of them a little over a week ago at the third annual Protospiel Chicago. I had some other obligations to keep this weekend, so I couldn’t attend Protospiel for more than about …
This post pertains to both upgrading your favorite game components, replacing lost components, and creating your own games. If you or someone you care about loves the games Agricola, Orléans, Stone Age, Tzolk’in, Colt Express or others, you’re about to find out how to make those games even better! Upgrading your games This might be …