Time to pause

Dear readers,

It is at this time that i am announcing that me and Ty are taking a break from the blog. We are going to look at it again in January and see if there is a direction we would like to go with it. Thank you to everyone who has supported us along the way so far....Here is to the next chapter.

Game Design Minute - Art Style

I am currently finishing up my second game and while in the process of talking to my best friend about it he suggested that i do 3-4 Friday articles about my experience and what i learned from it.

The first one i want to talk about is art style.

Review - Petting Zoo (2016) - Self Published

Do you like animals? cute little animals? have you ever wanted to build your own petting zoo? Well come and walk through the park you have created in Petting Zoo.

A lot to be thankful for.

My apologies for being a day late.

 Being Thankful

 As i played Fluxx with my son on Thanksgiving I have a ton to be thankful for. I'm thankful for my family first and foremost, but i am really thankful for this hobby. This hobby that we all love so much (you must love it enough to be reading a game blog). This hobby has changed my life in so many ways. It gave me some untapped quality time with my family and friends. It made me some new and amazing friends (which in your 40's is quite an accomplishment). This hobby helped me unlock my creative side with this blog and two games that i have be able to make (hopefully with more on the way). I never though i would find something at this stage of my life that would reinvent me on so many levels. and for that i am grateful. Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Review - Grim - (2015)

 

In a sea of kickstarters this one stood out to me. It called to me like a voice from beyond the grave. Maybe it was the art? or the dice? Maybe it's the fate cards (spoiler alert it's totally the fate cards).

Winning The Game You Always Lose.

All of us have been there. There is a game we love, but for some reason we never, ever win. That game for me is 1st & Goal By R&R Games. Being from Western New York, I have a predisposed affinity to football. I don't know how this game does it, but it actually feels like a game of football.

Kickstarter Review - Hunting Sasquatch (2017) & Our New First Player Rule aka Angry Dice

In the mail the other day i received a game that is currently on kickstarter. The tag line is "Press your luck, roll the dice, and compete against other hunters seeking to capture the legendary Sasquatch. Do you believe?" and the truth is....

Flick 'em Up Q&A with Gaetan Beaujannot

We love Flick 'em up at our house. It has the toy factor to it and we love dexterity games.I contacted Gaetan Beaujannot to talk about the process of making the game.

Review - Ark & Noah (2012)

As the old biblical story goes, Noah gather two of each animal and put them on the ark, but what if there was not enough room? In this game you must work together to get the ark in good enough shape for the voyage while also adding pairs of animals. Did we make it? was the ark secure? was it a three hour tour? Sorry wrong ship...

An Interview with Rachel & Heinze of Semi Co-op

Even if you don't know it by name, by now i'm fairly positive you have seen at least one comic from the site semi co-op. Rachel & Heinze were nice enough to give me a few minutes to talk about their comics and this hobby we love so much.

Review: Kill Doctor Lucky Cheapass 19.5th Anniversary edition (2016)

 I'll tell yeah. people really want to kill Dr. Lucky. They want to kill him in a mansion, in Craigdarroch castle, in a secret lair, On a boat (I'm on a boat (I'm on a boat), I'm on a boat (I'm on a boat), Everybody look at me cause I'm sailin on a boat (sailin on a boat))......We decided to play "The family board game of cold blooded murder" 19.5 Deluxe Edition

An interview with Keith Baker designer of ILLIMAT

When i first heard about the ILLIMAT kickstarter  I was not sure about it. I mean i am a fan of THE DECEMBERISTS, and i am also a fan of Keith Baker's work (see Gloom) but would these two things go well together. That was answered quickly when i saw the pictures of the game. It looks amazing and the rules are very well done. I contacted Keith to talk about the various aspects of ILLIMAT.

Luchador! Mexican Wrestling Dice (2013) - Backspindle Games Ltd.

Although I no longer watch, I grew up a huge wrestling fan. The 90's were amazing for wrestling. I used to get VHS tapes from Mexico and Japan of my favorite international stars (pull up a chair and let grandpa tell you about the days before the Internet!). I recently rediscovered LUCHADOR! and sat down with Ty to have a battle TO THE DEATH!...TO THE FINISH (no one actually died in playing this game).

Kickstarter Review - Crazier Eights Camelot

When we were young (maybe not you younger kids with your tablets, and the Interweb and such), most of us learned the classic card games from our parents. Go Fish, Crazy 8's, 3 Card Monte...errr sorry that last one was probably just my dad....anyways what if someone took one of those staples of early games and updated it? gave it a gamer's touch? What you would get is Crazier 8s: Camelot

Review - Flick 'em Up! (2015)

There he was, across the table... His eyes starring at me, then at the table... Then at me.  And then, in a flash, the sheriff was face down, a bullet hit him in the shoulder.

This is just the narrative from a half of a turn in our game of Flick 'em Up! Mosey on in, pardner, and I'll tell you all 'bout it.

Blind Accessible Board Games

When I opened my copy of new copy of Arabian Pots, I noticed there was a braille card inside.

Review - Heir to the Pharaoh (2016) - Eagle-Gryphon Games

 If you have children you have disliked them at some point i'm sure.
Not so much that you would change your will and give everything to your pet right? maybe? Well that is the premise of the game Heir To The Pharaoh by Eagle-Gryphon Games. Bast and Anubis duke it out Gato y Perro for control of Egypt.

Why are there no negative reviews?

Recently I received and email from someone asking why we never have negative reviews on the blog.I would like to answers the question publicly.

Kickstarter Review - Apocalypse Frenzy

Sooooo.. do you like hidden agenda games? how about an agenda to save or DESTROY THE WORLD...WORLD.....WORLD....

The Diary of Chad Thriftington III

This is the followup story to the thrift find of Jati in Alaska. On BGG I am a guild member of  The Ancient and Loyal Order of Thrifters. We talk about each others thrift finds and we all celebrate thrifting. Well someone posted something very odd in the comments section of the original post....

Review - Shootin' Ladders: Frag Fest (2009) - Smirk & Dagger Games

It does not happen very often but every once in a while when i set up a game for me and Tyler to play my 13 year old daughter will say "I want to play that." It just so happens that this game about first person shooting gingerbread men was the game that caught her eye.

Kickstarter Review - Originz - Flavor Faction Studio

I like comic books.When i was a teenager i actually worked at one. have you ever thought "what if this type of hero fought this type hero?"  Originz gives you the chance to find out.

Review - The Game - IDW Games

Co-op games do not hit the table a ton in this house, however i have been wanting to play The Game since it cam out. It just so happens that Tyler was up for a co-op game so i immediately grabbed this game.

I Believe in Santa Claus - Santa's House Thrift Edition

   My brother has lived in Anchorage, Alaska for over 25 year and i have never visited him. This year was the first opportunity I was able to do so.

Review - Noir of the Indies - Noir - Level 99 Games

I recently complete a trade on BGG and as i throw in the person who traded me threw in fate of the indies and this game, a retheme of the game NOIR. I had heard good things about noir but never looked into buying. However, since it was right here in front of me, why not.

You can't hide from me forever Master Win Chiu Woo

I love heroscape. I have loved heroscape since i first found out about it. The fact that you have dragons and robots and samurai and... well you name it and it's in this game. You want to just have an old west shootout. you can do that. Do you want to see how revolutionary soldiers would do against Shaolin monks, you can do that. They pretty much have everything vs everything (not to be confused with everything vs. everything). Recently i started picking up pieces again and there are some pretty elusive figures. For me there are is have tried and fail to get either because of price or availability. 2007 Master Win Chiu Woo

Review - Exploding Kittens (2015) - Self Published

Okay.  Now, right off the bat, I want to say I know what your're thinking.   "Exploding Kittens? Really?" and that's what I thought when Tyler asked me to get it. So, I went into this review with extreme bias that I would more than likely not like this Kickstarter juggernaut.  With that said....

Interview - Jamie Keddie - Designer of Random Encounter

Tyler was very excited when I showed him the kickstarter for this game and we backed it almost immediately and watched it just miss the funding goal. Alas like a phoenix...errr Troll King, IDW games picked up Random Encounter and the rest, as they say, is history. Today I sit down with Jamie Keddie and talk about the game and the rollercoaster that is kickstarter

Review - Dungeon Scroll - Game Salute

It's not often that you have a game go from an app to a physical game but that's what happen with dungeon scroll. Tyler is not a word game kids but liked the them so we gave it a try.

Interview - Anthony Gill - Dungeon Scroll

Dungeon scroll is a game I discovered as an app a while ago, and more recently as a card game. Anthony Gill was kind enough to give me a few minutes to talk about how this game went from an app to a physical game.

When you get the rules wrong - Random Encounter replay

Well.....

we all have messed the rules up on a game. Admit it. I am guilty of this and was informed by IDW Games on the review of random encounter that i played it far too random and you are suppose to assign the armies to each of the 5 piles rather than just blindly assign them (I took the random far too literally).

So......

Interview Stephen McLaughlin - Co-Designer Of The Duke

There is no shame to admit this. I love the duke. It was my first abstract when I started collection board games and I still love it to this day. Co-Designer Stephen McLaughlin answered some fanboyish questions I had about the game.

Review - Odin's Ravens - Osprey Games

Decided to give the reprint of Odin's ravens a try with Tyler. I mean how can you not give a try to  a game that has loki cards.

The gaming view from Japan is amazing

I have always been a fan of Japan. When i use to be big into video games i would often try to find the weirdest or most unique games i could and buy the for my PSX and PS2. I had tons of games. King of crusher, Pepsi Man, Vacuum Cleaner Kids. Those are ones just off the top of my head. As i have played more and more board games i have wanted to try to find some odd games from japan and i stumbled across this site. Board Game Every Day list tons and tons of games from Japan. It has releases from all over and it's amazing. now grant it, i can't read it but i can translate it and find the games on Board Game Geek. So i would like to show you a couple i have found on the site. If you have some free time it's super interesting to look at all the things posted at this site.

GENCANT Part 3 - Final Day

We had to wrap things up early on the final day so we did not have a ton of time. But we did decide to make Sunday fun day.


 

GENCANT 2016! - Part 2 - Day 3 - Stones Of Fate, Hera & Zeus And HEROSCAPE

Day 3:

We started out the afternoon with playing games that were chosen from a list i put up on my Instagram account. There was a tie in the voting so we played them both.

GENCANT 2016! - Part 1

No no spiderfriends, that's not a typo. When you can't go to the big show, you go to the non-show.

Review - Raptor (2015) - Matagot

I am always on the lookout for a good 2-player game for us. This one has been on my radar for a while, and I was able to trade for a copy (and right after I did, it went back into print). So, I figure now would be a good time to review it.

Review - Bisikle (2009) - CEPIA Games

I have wanted this game for a long time, but I never pulled the trigger on it. Well, recently that changed, and I was finally able to acquire a copy in a trade!

Review - Random Encounter (2016) - IDW Games

Ty was excited about this game when it was on Kickstarter because the art was done by Jamie Keddie, an artist on Minecraft: Console Editions.  Unfortunately, the game did not reach its funding goal, and he was saddened.  However, victory was around the corner, as IDW games decided to publish the game! After much anticipation, Ty challenged me to a game of Random Encounter.

An interview with Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold Games

Today on the blog Stephen Buonocore owner of Stronghold Games was kind enough to give us a few minutes to talk about his love of gaming, podcasting and Orphan Black.

Review - Onitama (2014) - Arcane Wonders

When I heard that Onitama was coming out, I immediately thought of one of my favorite games, The Duke. I figured that if any game was going to replace it in my collection, it would be this one. Does it measure, or even take over as my favorite abstract game?

An interview with Chris Castagnetto

After Love Letter was released, the market was flooded by a deluge of micro-games. I have pretty much shied away from them, but there is one that has been getting a lot of pre-Gen Con buzz. So, I decided to have an interview with Chris Castagnetto to talk about, among other things, 3 Wishes.

Review - Heroes (2015) - Lion Games

Sometimes, games get passed over because of a title that does not catch your eye, or that just sounds kind of generic. When I saw the title of this game, it didn't grab me, but the mechanics seemed interesting. and if there's one thing I'm addicted to, it's trying new game mechanics.

Interview With Chris Leder - Director Of Fun - Calliope Games

Chris Leder, whose actual job title is Director of Fun™, gave me a few minutes of his time to talk about what they have going on at Calliope Games with the Titan series.

Review - KLASK (2016) - Competo - Buffalo Games

There has been a lot of buzz about KLASK. It's mentioned in Forbes as a toy to watch in 2016. It's a recent addition to the shelves in Target. It was about time I grabbed a copy and brought it home to try with Tyler.

Interview With Game Designer Pat Roach

Naturalist Games' current Kickstarter is for the game Lairs (Full disclosure: I recently backed the game after a demo at Origins, and then asked for an interview a couple weeks later).  Pat Roach was kind enough to give me some insight on the project.

Review - Wakanda (2014) - Blue Orange Games

I am always on search for new two player games. And it was in my search a stumbled upon Wakanda. A non-dexterity stacking game?

DML's First Ever Interview! Game Designer Diego Ibañez

I had never heard of Diego Ibañez (pictured with his game Banjooli Xeet) when I met him this year at Origins. He politely walked me and Mike through a demo of his new two-player game, Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft, and earned himself two sales for his time--neither I nor Mike could resist owning a copy. I was so impressed that I reviewed it with Ty as soon as I returned home, and sent Diego a quick message of praise on BGG.

Later, I mentioned the note I sent, and someone suggested I do an interview for the blog... Wait, my first interview? Well, okay, since I wanted a little more insight into the development of the game anyway, I contacted Mr. Ibañez, who was happy to be my first victim! Let's see how this goes!

Review - Holmes: Sherlock & Mycroft (2015) - Devir

Upon attending my first Origins Game Fair, I came across this game. And I'm thrilled that I did!

We're going to Oranges!!!

Hello, True Believers! By the time you read this, I will be on my way back from a one-day stint at Origins 2016. It's my first major game convention, so I'm sure I will have some cool pics on my Instagram and/or Twitter, feel free to swing by there! 

The story I am going to tell, however, is when I asked my non-gamer wife about going to the convention. I wanted to go to Origins this year, and I knew that due to my work schedule, I would only be able to go for a single day. I had all of this worked out in my head, as I figured out the 5-hour drive, that my BFF Mike was going to go with me if I went, and how much money I thought I needed to go. I worked at all of this without ever explaining to my wife what it was. So, here is the conversation from the car ride back from an in-law's dinner a few months ago:

Review - Can't Stop (1980) - Sid Sackson

Sid Sackson is a legend of board game design. The very long list of games he has designed includes Acquire, Executive Decision, I'm the Boss, and Sleuth, just to name a few!  Today, we are looking at Can't Stop, a game designed in 1980 that still holds the test of time.