I love dartmoor
I love dartmoor
Looks like Adam Porter finally created his homage to Everdell, with the Andrew Bosley art to boot! boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45...
Hey @watchitplayed.tv I hope the publisher is sending you some royalties for using your likeness for these! š
Lovely!
I was very distracted by the cool looking mechanical keyboard āØļø
Congrats š„
Nice!
Warring Italian city-states! It's easy to over-commit your mercs to one battle when your cards have to last multiple. Pick and choose your battles, literally! Classic from '95, revised '07. Maybe new rules are fine, but this is a love letter to classic Condottiere. #boardgames youtu.be/odhTgqvfCj4
Me awaiting my legions of pre orders
I had an issue grokking the tile placement rules. My issue of course but thatās the experience I had.
I played one 3p game of this, I found it to be ok, a bit unintuitive in part and perhaps a bit too long winded for what it was.
Aaaaaaand I have COVID
Someone should do this for board game designers
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Is there much interaction?
How did you enjoy Suna Vahlo?
This? boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/31...
I went there when I traveled to Japan about ten years ago. Was very cool!
Get well soon!
Last but certainly not least, I have to recognize our Marketing Manager, Jillian Schumacher. Recently nominated for the prestigious Women in Toys Wonder Women Award, she manages a huge range of marketing initiatives with an approach that's smart, scrappy, and professional! @meanpomelo.bsky.social š§µ
1. Take almost any game from 2000s with a rating of 6.5 or above on bgg 2. Re-theme and update artwork 3. Slap on a solo mode 4. Re-release and watch this new edition achieve a min whole point jump in bgg ratings
Well cover art looks cool! Any more info available or is it still a secret š¤« ?
Oh and is Last Road a new game in the Ghost stories/ Last Bastion line?
Any favourites?
Cool gotta say this setting appeals a lot more to me!
This looks beautiful
Nice! I really enjoyed captains of the golf!
Teaching board games is my personal point of shame - I am terrible at it. So this is even more impressive to me.
Big congrats to you both! š„
Whatās the 3rd game?
Any major differences with the original game?
"What's your favorite UNDERRATED board game?" Proceeds to list all of the best selling board games of our time, every game highly rated on BGG's top 100, every game that has passed a content creators top 10...
Boardgame day Final cracked this.
Curious about the game too, will explore the description!
Mega charm
I might be confusing it with another game truth be told. But I am familiar with it and am aware it wasnāt anything near popular.
Oh wow 7.2 is better than I imagined as bgg rating.
I only know about this game from it being panned far and wide. But I am always a bit curious about those types of games.
Looks really cool
This is insanely good! I remember when Paul started with these drawings a few years back. His dedication and passion for the craft has paid off massively. Kudos! š
I know nothing of this game but it looks delightful
My wife and I really enjoyed this one.
Well not to be rude, but I would say that it doesnāt really have a theme. But a beautiful setting and thatās fine especially considering its more abstract underpinnings.
Beyond that I think things like high level summaries (what are we trying to do in this game) and quick start/my first turn guides are useful too. Thereās also room for more informal, conversational language and avoiding loading absolutely everything into the core steps of play.
I would say all the above! Separate solo rulebook, pictures + words etc. But seriously I think we have enough data about what things should be included and how they should be organised at this point. Itās a case of carefully reviewing this and implementing.
Thereās a great, new game release I played recently thatās very card driven, with each card having quite complex actions/effects, yet thereās no comprehensive glossary included in the game.
Thereās one area of board games that I still find frustratingly tedious - rulebooks. These STILL mostly read like technical manuals for assembling some pneumatic toilet. There are some exceptions but the best examples, still arenāt representative of an industry baseline.
This looks pretty interesting boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/44...
A lesson for broader society too no doubt!
Talk about table presence! Wow š¤©
Always loved the look of it, curious to play but not buy, although practically the chance of finding a game of it is pretty low!
Wow almost 390 views on my very barebones Essen preview video! Itās a lot for me and I appreciate everyone who took their time to indulge me content creation attempts youtu.be/dG1659-vCXA?...
A cynical take for sure, and itās nowhere near as impactful but I sense some truth to it.
Remember that we here, us discussers of board games, we take board games more seriously than most people - by definition. Nothing inherently wrong with that as long as we donāt let it turn into a disdain for the broader human population that enjoys board games of all stripes.
Yes true. And perhaps through that reviewer angle we can make it ok for a board game to have an agreeable setting but the focus being on engaging mechanisms rather than awkwardly shoving in a theme.
I agree. My main gripe is that I think publishers could make their lives easier if they were more happy to admit when their games only have a setting.
Yeah you really described it quite eloquently. I mean ultimately it doesnāt really matter much in itself- we get what people mean when they say āthemeā.
Because a discussion I had elsewhere, a quick thought about theme: I think we should use "setting" more. Example: Lets take the fictional game "Punhchline", a game about being a Comedian. Its a heavy, Worker Placement game, where you have to manage your time, gigs, money, touring the country...
Maybe hobbies are the new guilds/priesthoods. Require new members to suffer a period of initiation and elders gatekeeping the deeper knowledge, while mocking the ignorance of the initiates.
Indeed theme basically = any kind of chrome that a board game has
I had the exact same reaction. A bit too close to home perhaps!
For what it's worth, a tabletop writer who talks about game components or mechanics or strategy is engaging just as deeply with the game as someone who writes about theme or history or uses a game as a jumping off point for a personal essay. Tactility *is* the game. Colour is the game. Sound. Smell.
Solid thread. I think one issue is that most board game content that eschews a deep dive into theme, has also failed to penetrate the components and gameplay beyond a basic āgameplay overviewā level. But to be fair most board games have a setting rather than anything as indepth as a theme.
I remember you first sharing some thoughts on this years back. Am curious to see what itās about in more detail.
Ray has great things to say about Tabriz as a "classic cozy euro". It slots in at #6 on their Best Games of 2025 (So Far). Thanks @raybird.bsky.social, @cbarrows.bsky.social, & @ruelgaviola.com for the great discussion about Tabriz! #BoardGames #TabrizGame #Tabriz @craftygames.bsky.social
I honestly think most people do this, in fact I imagine most play these games with friends/family. I think itās more content creators and reviewers that amplified this quarterbacking issue.
Come to think about itā¦those of us here are a niche within a niche, board gamers who spend time chatting about them on social media.
A bit of a negative take on the hobby board gaming - Thereās a decent blob of snobbery and gatekeeping. Thereās a sense that people who are more into esoteric niches are somehow better more erudite than those slumming around with TTR or even Brass.
Yeah - with paintings for example, if people want to engage with paintings š¼ļø they will likely accept an artistic dimension as a core aspect of that medium. Not so much with games in general. You might beautiful visuals- but their impact beyond aesthetics will often be minimal.
Crazy good for deck builders
I am just coming to realise how much better board game apps are on an iPad than on phone.
Can you expand on your thought a bit more
š
Yes exactly, the urge to play is a human function level impulse. Itās from that stance that most people start their engagement with games, board games inclusive.
Of course I think credit is due for big channels like SUSD and TDT etc who have managed to reach a huge audience with critical content around the hobby more broadly
The Game Changers hits the shelves in paperback today! Do YOU want to hear all about the intertwining histories & modern communities surrounding one of our greatest artforms, games? I flipping hope so, because I'm not good at reading social cues indicating a lack of interest & I like to monologue
Those mentioned in the thread and others enrich the hobby, innovating concepts and popularising more obscure ones, so I am thankful to have them personally, but I think the drive for a bit of mental stimulation, escapism and a space for social interactions are the main drivers of board gaming.
The availability of more esoteric, artistic games also makes them harder to experience (As @colewehrle.bsky.social flagged). So inevitably the fundamental human drive to play gives (board) games their reach but likewise also confines the artistic/critical limits of the hobby.
Reading this full thread, I think the challenge is that board games as a hobby is comprised of niches within a niche. For most humans, board games are uno, monopoly and TTR. For hobby games maybe wingspan, gloomhaven and brass. Many of the above have no urgency to see board games critically.
Trading Against the Tide - Tides of Trade Review (Wayfarers of the South Tigris Expansion) āŖ@garphillgames.bsky.socialā¬
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Ah nice, I think I remember the original.
This looks super cutw
What kinda game is it?
Good luck to that Feld lad
Ooooh
Enjoy man!
This looks really cool
Some late night reading! This game has soared to dizzying heights on my āmost anticipatedā games list. Very curious to find out more.
I recently bought a game that had cardboard bags for key components but about 8 zip locks for you to use yourself to organise components š¤¦āāļø
Probably because it's tentatively scheduled for "Q2 2026 and beyond," which means we'll be lucky if it releases by the end of 2026. But I do think it looks sick and look forward to playing it upon release.
This looks cute
Congrats š„
Looks great! What kind of game will it be?
Those are some good olives š«
Looks tasty! š„Ŗ
I think it has to be targeted and active and worsening the targeted players progress. If you withhold a card usually youre hindering his progress, not wordenibg it