So I did a post around this time last year that was quite popular about the behind the scenes financial stuff when it comes to me writing reviews. It also contained some high level reflections on my gaming year. This is basically the same but for 2024. For those that don’t know me, I usually …
Read more “Financials of a Hobby Board Game Reviewer – 2024 Edition”
The action-selection, combo-driven, point-salady Euro as a sub-genre has definitely become overcrowded in recent years. I for one had my fair share of games that worked well mechanically but were ultimately forgettable and without any stand out moments, one play being the same as the next, always leading me to the same question: why should …
Read more “First Impression of Galileo Galilei – Being Good Is Better Than Just Standing Out”
Euro games are a tricky category to design in. While their focus on balanced game play and avoidances of direct player conflict has given them immense popularity over the years, those strong points have also caused a lot of new releases to feel bland and interchangeable. Why should one care if one is building churches …
Read more “Origin Stories: Barcelona – An Interview With Designer Dani Garcia – Part 1”
Everybody likes an underdog, especially if it looks this pretty! Stamp Swap by Stonemeier Games hasn’t been out for long but it’s BGG rating has already dropped to a 7.2 and most reviews I’ve seen are somewhere in the “it’s not for me” (also known as the “I got this as a review copy and …
Read more “First Impressions of Stamp Swap – Sometimes The Right Framing Is Everything”
Preparing for a convention like SPIEL Essen, I always enjoy browsing all the pre-con reporting, anticipation lists, and pre-order threads. While I did my research for SPIEL Essen 2024, I came upon something I hadn’t expected at all and to be honest hadn’t thought I would need until I found it: a scenario book for …
Read more “Table Talk With Joshua Acosta – Roads & Boats: Book of Scenarios Volume 1”
It’s been a month since Essen and I thought it might be fun to quickly write about what things look like now that the dust has settled and some of the hype has normalised. While SPIEL is going on, everybody – me included – is of course excited about all the new releases and getting …
I don’t even remember how I got to my copy of the original Tokyo Highway. It might have been on a board game flee market or something like that, but I’m sure I hadn’t seen it on YouTube and I hadn’t read a review. I picked up that grey Ticket-to-Ride-sized box, looked at the back …
Read more “First Impressions of Tokyo Highway: Rainbow City – Smaller Package, More Toys”
Since the beginning, I’ve been fortunate that my reviews became popular on BGG quite quickly. My assumption has always been that it’s a mixture of the format (long form, in-depth), having lots of pictures that help to illustrate points, and that I don’t write fluff pieces. I don’t accept review copies and can thus write …
Read more “The Thumbs-Economy – Looking at the Data Behind a Review’s Popularity”
Two years in board gaming really feels like an eternity! I realised this more than ever before when I finally receiving my copy of Unconscious Mind a few weeks ago. Hard to believe, but it’s been two years since I decided to back this game, mostly on the strength of its visuals, theme, and because …
Read more “First Impressions of Unconscious Mind – What it Means to be Truly Thematic”
Since last year’s conversation for Origin Stories: Brass was so much fun, I once again caught up with Martin at SPIEL Essen 2024. I was interested to learn why there were suddenly so many releases of his at the fair. Also that very morning, I had played my very first session of Steam Power, a …
