Tiny Maze Things was the last Alexander Shen creation I learned in 2024. Shen’s little puzzles and games are such delightful guilty pleasures. And Tiny Maze Things may be one of the simplest of their works I’ve tried.
Monday, December 30, 2024
Tiny Maze Things - when I’m too tired to think
Friday, December 27, 2024
Protector- Larry Niven’s dark revision of Known Space
Larry Niven is a fun author. One of the things that has always struck me is how determined he is to make aliens really alien, at least biologically. And in Protector, he takes that in a direction I don’t think he had before. (Other than the short story Protector was expanded from)
Wednesday, December 25, 2024
Xmas Sweaters for Christmas
Xmas Sweaters was my Christmas game this year. It’s a free Print-and-Play Roll-and-Write themed around decorating a holiday sweater. Of course, it’s abstract to the point where you could replace the holiday symbols with anything from geometric shapes to Doctor Who logos and you wouldn’t notice the difference.
Monday, December 23, 2024
Gaming taught me about Jose Garcia
In 1812, the French forces who had been occupying the Alhambra placed bombs in order to destroy the palace before abandoning it. Jose Garcia, an injured member of the Corps of the Invalids, managed to defuse enough of the bombs to save most of the Alhambra. (Napoleon’s forced did blow up eight of the towers)
Monday, December 16, 2024
A charming game about tea
Since I have been a tea drinker most of my life (don’t worry, I drink plenty of coffee too) and a fan of Scott Almes’ Simply Solo series, you would think that A Nice Cuppa would be a slam dunk for me. And you’d be right.
Saturday, December 14, 2024
Trying out weird little dice games on Board Game Arena
I went back to Board Game Arena for the first time in a long while in order to get in some different games for Dicember. Mind you, what it really meant was that I binged Jump Drive but I noticed some quick and dirty fife games has been added since I was last on the sites
Wednesday, December 11, 2024
Echoes of Wisdom turns Zelda into a Swiss Army knife
The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom may be my favorite Zelda title. It is also almost assuredly the easiest one I've played. Those two things are definitely linked. Echoes of Wisdom isn't fun because its easy but because of the way that they made it easy.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Scribbly Gum goes beyond dot-to-dot
I learned that Scribbly Gum existed thanks to Koala Rescue Club. When Postmark Games said that Koala Rescue Club was their second collaboration with Joey Games, who I’d never heard of, I had to find out what the first one was.
Wednesday, December 4, 2024
World building via the Wandering Library
It has been a few years now since I last participated in NaNoWriMo. It is not because I haven’t had the time but because I haven’t prioritized NaNoWriMo. I think this is a meaningful difference because it isn’t nearly as full of self-pity lol
Monday, December 2, 2024
My November Gaming
November didn’t feel like a strong month for learning games for me. However, when I looked at it, I realized that play testing games actually helped shore that up.
And My Tax
Dionysia: Soliloquy (playtest)
Jardin Japones
Caterpillars
The Wandering Library
Adventurous (playtest)
Sunday, December 1, 2024
My November PnP
When I look at my Print and Play projects from November, I realize that a good chunk of them were for play tests.
Roll and Reanimate
Dionysia + expansions (playtest)
And My Tax
Cave In
Mysticana - Shifting Sands (playtest)
Adventurous (playtest)
As I mentioned, half of the projects I made were Button Shy play tests. And they make up a larger percentage of the actual components. Honestly, Button Shy will make me order more crafting supplies sooner than I planned to lol
My official ‘big’ project for November, though, was Cave In. Which I still haven’t played yet but it looks a bit different than my usual fair, which is reason enough to make it.
I also did a lot of prep work for future projects. I have a folder full of laminated sheets of cut cards that just need to be trimmed. Sometimes, just finishing a project is its own emotional reward. And, let’s be honest, I don’t need a pile of finished but unplayed games.
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
Sinai’s City is surprisingly timeless
When I was a teenager, I tried reading Clifford D. Simak. After all, the guy was awarded the third Grandmaster from Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association, which is its big, lifetime achievement award. That’s the same guys who do the Nebula Awards. So clearly he was a big deal.
Monday, November 25, 2024
I don’t have the context to truly appreciate A Simple Life but I still like it
From what I can tell, A Simple Life is a board game simulator of a farming video game. (One reviewer compared it to Stardew Valley, a game I know nothing about) For me, it was like a Roll and Write version of Agricola.
Sunday, November 24, 2024
I don’t know what an essential PnP library is anymore- and why that’s cool
Every once in a while, I try and write about what I think would be a good introduction to Print and Play. What would be good to start with, what would be easy to craft.
Wednesday, November 20, 2024
Around the World in 10-15 minutes captures family game night on one page
Around the World in 10-15 Minutes is a family weight Roll and Write about being a tourist across the globe. It’s from No Box Games whose earlier Beards and Booty is a hidden gem as far as I’m concerned. Around might be one as well. I’m not sure yet but I think it has the potential.
Monday, November 18, 2024
Peanuts Untold is a tiny drop of gentleness
I recently very accidentally stumbled across a Peanuts tribute called Peanuts Untold. Honestly, I avoid fanfic as a general rule. However, Peanuts Untold wasn’t a deconstruction or a parody of Peanuts. Instead, it looks and, more importantly, reads like it was actually written by Charles Schultz.
Friday, November 15, 2024
When a game makes me appreciate other games
I ran across Caterpillars in my never ending search for casual Roll and Writes (NOT to be confused with Canterpillar’s Feast, which is a significantly better casual Roll and Write) And my take away from it is not that Caterpillars is a better game than it seems to be. It’s not. No, it is that it makes me appreciate the light, casual R&Ws that I do enjoy.
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
Tamora Pierce’s The Immortals is a blueprint for epic level druids
I’ve been slowly making my way through Tamora Pierce’s work. 2024 was my year to read The Immortals series, her second series in the Tortall universe.
Monday, November 11, 2024
How life solves shelves of shame
Binging the webcomic Semi-Coop, I kept coming across the concept of the Shelf of Shame, all the games that you own but haven’t played yet. I was already all too familiar with it but the comic definitely brought it back.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Dungeon Monsters and the IRS
And My Tax is another Alexander Shen game that makes me ‘That was a nice little fluff… let’s play it four more times’
Tuesday, November 5, 2024
My October gaming
October wasn’t crazy busy for learning new games but I did learn more than just one.
Axolotl Dice
A Nice Cuppa
Evil Lab: Color Rampage
Dragon Hero
Town Constructor Junior