Alex, Author at Talking Shelf Space

Origin Stories: Hegemony – An Interview With Co-Designer Vangelis Bagiartakis – Part 1

by AlexOrigin Stories 12/03/202303/07/2024No Comments

One of my most unique gaming experiences of 2023 was without a doubt Hegemony: Lead Your Class to Victory, designed by Vangelis Bagiartakis and Varnavas Timotheou. It’s a thriller woven out of heavily interconnected political and economical concepts that pits up to four players against each other, each trying to get their unique, asymmetric faction to …

First Impressions of Voidfall – But wait, there’s more!

by AlexFirst Impressions 11/25/202311/26/2023No Comments

It all started when the sheer gigantuous box that is the Galactic Edition of Voidfall arrived at a good friend’s doorstep after many months of anticipation. Would I be interested in playing it? Of course! I had been close to backing Voidfall myself but ultimately decided not to, mainly because I couldn’t decide whether I …

Origin Stories: Concordia – An Interview With Designer Mac Gerdts

by AlexOrigin Stories 11/22/202311/22/2023One Comment

When discussing modern classics of the board game hobby, one quickly ends up talking about 2013’s Concordia. While its theme of trading in the Mediterranean nowadays is considered a cliché of the hobby and a synonym for unremarkableness, the gameplay of Concordia is far from it. In fact, Concordia can be seen as a master …

Celebrating Fan-Designers of Automa

by AlexStory Time 11/18/202303/04/20242 Comments

I was playing I C E yesterday, which is just about as gorgeous as games can get. Great table presence, lovely theme, … and it has an unfortunately pretty mediocre solo mode. It’s an efficiency puzzle without competition in a game that’s all about player interaction and stealing stuff from under another player’s nose. So in the …

How I Photograph Board Games

by AlexStory Time 11/15/202303/04/2024No Comments

A couple of people have expressed interest in my process of creating the photos I add to my first impressions and reviews. That came as quite a surprise as I still very much feel there is a lot I need to learn and improve. But I guess I figured out a few things along the …

First Impressions of World Wonders – Wait, There’s a Tile Layer Behind Those Wooden Toys?

by AlexFirst Impressions 11/14/202311/14/2023No Comments

I’ve written before how difficult it was to get a copy of Sky Team at Essen this year: it’s not out in Europe yet, there was a lot of interest in it leading to queues forming within minutes of the fair opening, and the publisher Le Scorpion Masqué had only a limited quantity on sale …

metal coins for the board game Maracaibo

Financials of a Hobby Board Game Reviewer

by AlexStory Time 11/13/202303/04/2024No Comments

I was asked the other day what my approach to crowdfunding is and which pledge levels I usually back. As those of you that follow my first impressions and reviews might have noticed, a substantial part of the games I play (roughly 1/3) actually are coming from crowd funding, so that was indeed a good …

First Impressions of Votes for Women – Board Games as a Medium to Tell History

by AlexFirst Impressions 11/12/202311/12/2023No Comments

Ever since discovering John Company Second Edition and Carnegie, I’ve become interested in board games that have some historical foundation. While Carnegie was merely inspired by the name-giving philanthropist and has little resemblance of the actual, complex and controversial person that was Andrew Carnegie, both games inspired me to buy books on their topics and …

On the Table: Hegemony, Tapestry, Votes for Women, and more

by AlexOn The Table 11/05/202311/05/2023No Comments

It’s Sunday, I just finished packing some games I sold off (which always feels good), and there is a good stack of new things that have come in. Feels like it is time for another On the Table, my sneak peak format on what I’ve been playing lately. As always, keep in mind these aren’t …

Origin Stories: Brass – An Interview With Designer Martin Wallace

by AlexOrigin Stories 10/31/202310/31/20232 Comments

The story of Brass from it’s original version to – in the form of Brass Birmingham – becoming the number one board game on BoardGameGeek is a fascinating one for multiple aspects: how did a game from 2007, a time where the hobby looked much different than today, manage to stay relevant for so long? …