Listen Now

We all learn rules for games differently. I would even say, we learn rules differently for different games. I do like games that are easy to teach and learn, where the rules allow you to start playing pretty much straight away and you learn new rules as you go along. However, that's not always possible and for more complex games, learning rules tends to be more involved. Yet, now that more and more games are also available digitally, there seems to be another way of learning a new game.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/23/learning-digital-topic-discussion/LinksRoot review: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/20/root-a-game-of-woodland-might-and-right-digital-eyes/Dized: https://dized.com/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

It was an outrage! The Eerie had invaded our peaceful clearing. They blatantly ignored our sympathy. Those feathered warriors would regret it. The next birdsong would be full of revolts and they would rue their decision. Using guerrilla tactics, we would show everyone not to mess with us. We weren't as defenceless as we looked. We would solve the problem and get to its Root by Leder Games.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/20/root-a-game-of-woodland-might-and-right-digital-eyes/LinksRoot: https://ledergames.com/products/root-a-game-of-woodland-might-and-rightLeder Games: https://ledergames.com/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/237182/rootIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

İrem Erbilirgil is an accomplished 2D and 3D artist from Istanbul, Turkey. She is currently working on the upcoming game Keystone: North America by the recently founded Rose Gauntlet Entertainment, where her realistic art style really comes to the fore.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/17/irem-erbilirgil-let-me-illustrate/

The last time I checked my board game player profile on Quantic Foundry was back in April 2020, so nearly a year ago. So I thought, it's time to run through the questions again and see if much has changed. You can check yours as well. Just follow the links at the bottom of this article.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/16/board-game-player-profile-update-topic-discussion/LinksQuantic Foundry‘s tabletop player profile: https://apps.quanticfoundry.com/surveys/start/tabletop/April 2020 profile update: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2020/04/28/board-game-player-profile-updated-topic-discussion/October 2019 profile update: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2019/10/29/tabletop-player-profile-updated-3December 2018 profile update: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2018/12/25/tabletop-player-profile-updated-2December 2018 profile update: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2018/12/25/tabletop-player-profile-updated-2October 2018 profile update: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2018/10/06/tabletop-player-profile-updated/June 2018 profile update: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2018/06/11/co-op-or-competitive/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

Our peace had been shattered. We had been living underground for centuries, happily going about our daily chores. We had spread across many moons around the planet and were very content and happy until one day a meteor impacted and threatened everyone's lives. It was time for us to come above ground and start mining our moons for resources, so we could build new technologies that would save us. We were able to communicate with the other moons and co-ordinate our efforts, so we were hopeful. Yet, time was running out and we had to be quick and efficient if we wanted to escape our doom and flee to Uranus by The Dark Imp.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/13/uranus-saturday-review/LinksUranus!: https://www.thedarkimp.com/games/uranus/Kickstarter: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/thedarkimp/uranus-a-life-and-death-alien-space-raceThe Dark Imp: https://www.thedarkimp.com/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/328793/uranus2020 Board Game Workshop Design Contest final results: https://theboardgameworkshop.com/design-contest/2020-design-contest-final-results/Uranus! unboxing video: https://youtu.be/D9Mmw54dmO0Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Regain by Sascha Schulz (https://filmmusic.io/song/3153-regain)License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

I have talked about house rules before, but what I want to talk about in this article is slightly different. When you play a game for the first time, or when you play a game you know with someone who plays it for the first time, the rules aren't always clear and it's possible someone misunderstands them. That's to be expected, but when you base your whole game, your whole strategy on your misunderstanding, then the game experience can really suffer. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/09/relentless-topic-discussion/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

We were at the dawn of a new civilization. We didn't know it yet, but we were going to embark on an exciting adventure that would offer us a lot of new opportunities, some challenging times and many new discoveries. It would take a very long time indeed, but we would not only master fire, but eventually reach the stars. We would explore the world and stamp our mark on it. We were ready to make a reality of our Plans & Ploys by Stonemaier Games.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/06/tapestry-plans-ploys-digital-eyes/LinksTapestry: Plans & Ploys: https://stonemaiergames.com/games/tapestry/tapestry-plans-ploys-expansion/Tapestry: https://stonemaiergames.com/games/tapestry/Stonemaier Games: https://stonemaiergames.com/BGG listing: https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/315708/tapestry-plans-and-ploysIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

Jacqui Davis was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and moved to the UK as a kid. After graduating with a 1st in Animation from Staffordshire University in 2012, she began freelancing. She is also known as the Logic Fairy and currently lives and works in Lytham-St-Annes, where she enjoys walks through the woods or ambles along the estuary. She paints everything from adorable animals to villainous wizards, bringing life to characters she is passionate about. She listens to a good audiobook or has a movie on in the background while painting, and when she is not painting she keeps the creative mojo going by doing a spot of writing.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/03/jacqui-davis-let-me-illustrate/

We all have a soft spot for the latest and greatest board game that's coming out next. After all, it'll be better and more wonderful than the game that came before it, or so we're told. We are entranced by the playthroughs, we gawp at the beautiful components and we imagine how much fun we'll have playing this amazing new game. Yet, sometimes these new games aren't actually that new and we're too blind to see it. So in this article, I want to explore what this means for us, as the board game buying public. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/02/02/the-emperors-new-games-topic-discussion/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

The sky suddenly darkened above me. As I looked up, I saw the giant spaceship that was filling up more and more of my view. It towered above the skyscrapers like a huge saucer, dotted in lights and what seemed like openings. It was hard to make out, but it seemed to be bigger than downtown. Suddenly, small aircraft emerged from the spaceship's openings and started to descend. It felt like we were suddenly living Under Falling Skies by Czech Games Edition.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/30/under-falling-skies-saturday-review/LinksUnder Falling Skies: https://czechgames.com/en/under-falling-skies/Czech Games Edition: https://czechgames.com/en/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Epic Blockbuster and Epic Dramatic Trailer by AShamaluevMusic (https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com)

Let's face it. The pandemic has made a huge impact on the world overall, including, of course, board games, which is what I want to focus on in this article. Without being able to meet in person, many of us have changed how we play games, while others have stopped playing board games altogether and turned to other forms of entertainment. All of that has directly impacted the design and development of new games and I want to try and evaluate what that impact is. (This topic was inspired by the always wonderful Bez.)Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/26/change-of-interest-topic-discussion/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

I had to get my message to the Princess. It was vitally important that she would hear this, but I had to be extremely careful. Many people were plotting against her, and against me, so nobody could be trusted. I had to try and get past the guards, the handmaiden and others to reach her. My heart was beating in my throat and my emotions were welling up. I tried to keep it together, because I was so close to delivering to her my Love Letter by Z-Man Games.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/23/love-letter-saturday-review/LinksLove Letter: https://www.zmangames.com/en/games/love-letter/Z-Man Games: https://www.zmangames.com/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Now We Ride by Alexander Nakarada (https://filmmusic.io/song/6074-now-we-ride)License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license

Nikita Sullivan has always been a techie and surrounded by nerds. She has a BSc in Computer Science: Artificial Intelligence and after working as a software engineer, she became a freelance graphic designer. She always loved being creative, so decided to become a board game designer. It allowed her to learn a lot of new […]Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/20/nikita-sullivan-let-me-illustrate/

It is nice when you have a regular games group, be it friends or family or a mix of both. You get to play games regularly, you can share each others' collections, you can maybe even decide to buy games together and split the cost and there are many other positives when you have a group of people to play games with. What I want to talk about in this article, is why I think it's so wonderful to learn a new game together with a group of people you regularly play with.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/19/learning-together-topic-discussion/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

The crowds were gathering outside, asking difficult questions, asking to be let in, not sure if we still had any control over them - but we fobbed them off with excuses, sent them to a different office and generally put up a smokescreen. We hadn't finished our final project yet. There was so much left to do, so much evidence to destroy or get out of the back door. We didn't know how much time we might have left, when we finally heard the chanting outside: "Stasi raus, es ist aus!" by DDR Museum.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/16/stasi-raus-es-ist-aus-saturday-review/LinksStasi Raus, Es Ist Aus!: https://onlineshop.ddr-museum.de/buecher-spiele/422/stasi-raus-es-ist-aus?c=148DDR Museum: https://onlineshop.ddr-museum.de/Unboxing video: https://youtu.be/oSbAsWqcgE0Playthrough video: https://youtu.be/CBZlnCK9G_AIntro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)

Some games just click. There are very few rules and you can basically start playing after reading a couple of paragraphs. Other games take longer to learn, with pages upon pages of rules, turns that consist of multiple phases or maybe some sort of conflict resolution steps that take a while to grasp. In fact, even seemingly simple games can take a long time to master. So in this article, I want to look at how patient we are with games and why some games deserve our perseverance.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/12/perseverance-topic-discussion/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Acoustic Breeze by Bensound (https://www.bensound.com)

I could hear screeching tyres and gunshots coming from video game machines, the melodic sounds of fruit machines and some general hubbub of laughter, talking and other noise. I was standing at one end of the air hockey table, with my opponent on the other side. Yet, even though it felt like we were at some sort of amusement arcade, we were both at home and hadn't left the house. We were just about to play a game of Klask.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/09/klask-saturday-review/LinksKlask: https://klaskyourway.com/Big Potato Games: https://bigpotato.com/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Motion by AShamaluevMusic (https://www.ashamaluevmusic.com/)Sound Effects: BBC Sound Effects (http://bbcsfx.acropolis.org.uk/)

Madeleine Fjäll is a 2D-artist who loves to make artwork inspired by history and fantasy. She has a bachelor's degree in Game Design and Graphics and has a Higher Vocational Education Degree in 2D-graphics, which helps her a lot as an artist in the board game industry. Right now she's working at Ion Game Design and is an artist for the games Pax Viking, Bios:Mesofauna and Dawn on Titan.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/06/madeleine-fjall-let-me-illustrate/

I think like pretty much every hobby, playing board games is about having fun. You might prefer to play solo, you might like to play with your partner or you have a group of friends you play with. You probably play different types of games with different people. Maybe you play lighter games with your loved one in the evenings, because you're both tired after work and want to have some relaxing time together, but when you play with your games group you want something complex and thinky to really stretch your brain. Ultimately though, I think it's all about having fun.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/05/finding-the-fun-topic-discussion/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Tranquilize by Purple Planet Music (https://www.purple-planet.com/)

The Chancellor's new reign had begun, as the Exiles had fled to the far reaches of the land. They had failed in their attempts to usurp the ruler, but here was another chance for them. They would muster their warbands, campaign against the Bandits, explore the world until eventually, they were strong enough to try again and finally succeed in overthrowing the leading power. Yet, they could never be sure if their fellow Exiles would deceive them and maybe even swear allegiance to the Chancellor, instead of staying strong and following the Exiles' code of honour, sticking by the sacred Oath by Leder Games.Read the full article here: https://tabletopgamesblog.com/2021/01/02/oath-chronicles-of-empire-and-exile-digital-eyes/LinksOath: https://ledergames.com/products/oath-chronicles-of-empire-exileLeder Games: https://ledergames.com/Intro Music: Bomber (Sting) by Riot (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/)Music: Village Ambiance by Alexander Nakarada (https://filmmusic.io/song/6586-village-ambiance)License: https://filmmusic.io/standard-license