Hear me out. What if you played Spot It AND killed monsters?

 I think Spot It is a lovely little game. You can play it with little ones who can’t read or show actual judgement or with brutally judgmental adults. 

So when Alexander Shen built a dungeon crawl around the idea of Spot It wasn’t something I could pass up.

Dungeon Spot consists of a stat card and thirteen dungeon cards. With the help of some tokens, the stat card helps you track health, attack, defense and treasure. Each card has four symbols on it and, in true Spot It fashion, any two cards share only one symbol.

You deal out two cards and draw a card for your hand. Pick any two of the three cards and resolve their matching symbol. Discard the used cards and draw two more cards.

(Why not have a tableau of three cards? Having a designated hand of one seems like a holdover from an earlier set of rules)

You fight monsters with attack and traps with defense. Items will improve your attack, defense, health or wallet. Fights are roll a die for each side. Add bonuses. High number wins and you win ties.

You go through the deck, you clear a level of the dungeon. You can choose to leave with your loot or go deeper, shuffling the deck again. And, this is a touch I like, your max hit points go down by one every time you go down a level. 

Oh, run out of health, you die and lose. Otherwise, points are loot and lowest dungeon level.

While I am having a lot of fun with Dungeon Spot, it has a number of issues. Some of which are because the rules really need some clarification. For instance, the only reason I know how item resolutions work is because of an example. It’s never actually explained in the rules themselves. And there’s one symbol, a hallway or maybe a shield, that I have no idea what it means.

I initially was worried that you’d only have two cards and no choices. Three cards and three choices, on the other hand, actually had the opposite effect. That gives you enough control that the game becomes weighted in your favor.

Which is why I like max hit points going down as you keep going. Because maxing out your attack and defense as early as possible feels like the best play, reducing the challenge of the traps and monsters.

So, I think the choices in Dungeon Spot are obvious and it takes bad cards AND bad die rolls to offer risk. Mechanically, I think it’s so-so.

But it’s Spot It as a dungeon crawl! The idea of the game and going through the motions are fun.

Meh game. Fun experience. 

What to pack?

 I’m getting ready for some travel. It won’t be a trip that will involve any gaming but you always pack a few games. Which has then led me to consider what to pack for the odd bit of solitaire gaming for a couple weeks.

And, yes, phones and tablets mean there’s a wide world of gaming at my finger tips. However, analog gaming, actually using physical items, make your brain work differently. Tactile is a different sense than sight or sound.

The first thing I realized was that, as this was a flying trip, space was going to be very limited. I have a friend who hates flying and I am convinced that it’s because it limits how many board games he can pack. And airlines are getting more and more unforgiving about luggage.

The second thing I realized was that there wouldn’t be any surprises about my packing choices. I wouldn’t be taking anything weird or experimental. Familiar, decompressing games that would just be used for mental coffee breaks.

(And I thought about including a game or two that I was still getting to know. However, minimal gaming time would just make that frustrating. But, as you will see, I did bend that rule lol)

At the very least, I knew I wanted one of my small cases of In-Hand games that basically live prepacked that I can throw in a bag or a coat or pocket at a moment’s notice. I have gotten so much mileage out of those. I am taking the ‘heavier’ one, which just means it has Palm Island. (I do like Palm Laboratory but it’s extra cards equal another game’s worth of space lol)

(And if I have to explain why In-Hand games are good for travel, that means you just need to have the term defined)

I have also been really mulling over Roll and Writes. A lot of them are only one sheet of paper, not counting some dice and something to write with. A relatively slender folder and a tiny tool kit of dry erase markers and dice becomes a pretty versatile game library. Heck, if I knew I was going to have a lot of dedicated solitary downtime, I would take a library of Radoslaw Ignatov games.

However, for this trip, I am just thinking of taking a couple of laminated index card-sized games. I have gotten far more mileage out of Knitzia’s Criss Cross than it probably deserves. And I’m just planning on using my watch’s die roller and skipping physical dice. If I don’t have table space, I’m not rolling dice lol

I’m basically looking at less than book’s worth of space here, even if you count the One-Card Mazes I keep in my pocket.

The one other thing I’m looking at, which actually moves away from the coffee break time space, is Chris Anderson’s Tempus games. You use the date stamp to create a number that dictates what actions you can take. Since the only moving part of the system is a writing tool, they are pretty ideal for playing on airplane tray.

The two flavors are Imperium which is about infrastructure development and Quest which is a resource management campaign. I think Imperium has more replay value but Quest is more interesting and dynamic.

I haven’t played the most recent version of the Imperium series, Tempus Imperium Aeternum. (I only seem to play them when I’m traveling) I decided that was a sign to print a few sheets out for the bag.

Oh and a regular deck of cards. Endless things you can do with a deck of cards.

So, I will focus on very limited space, comfort games and one slightly new game that is good for travel.

I didn’t know John Blanche’s name but boy, I knew his work

John Blanche passed away on June 1, 2026. When a friend told me that, I had no idea who they were talking about. However, I quickly realized that I had been exposed to a _lot_ of John Blache’s work.

John Blanche was a fantasy and science fiction artist, as well as a miniatures designer. More specifically, he did a ton of work with Games Workshop. He became their art director in 1986. He retired from Game Workshop 2023 but continued to work in the industry.

I’ve already said that I didn’t actually knew who the guy was but looking at his work now and knowing that he was their art director, I feel I’m on comfortable ground saying he helped define Games Workshop’s house style or aesthetic. Which means, damn, this guy was influential.

I’ve now heard him described as the founder of grimdark. He clearly knew that gothic and punk were a marriage made in heaven to cast a spotlight on hell. He knew how to decorate with more spikes than a porcupine and he knew how to use shadows better than Coubt Dracula.

Other people than me will give him a better eulogy. But John Blanche was clearly very talented, very thoughtful and, to steal a phrase from Neil Sharpson, bitten by a radioactive work ethic. He did a lot of work that shaped the hobby. 

Sorry for not knowing your name. Thank you for doing so much.

My May Gaming

 I would say that May was a busy month without a lot of room for learning games but I think that’s basically been my norm for the year. Eh, that’s how adulting works. (And, let’s be honest, if it really bothered me, I could rearrange my priorities. And I don’t because I’m happy focusing on other family stuff)

I learned:

Paper Putt

Dungeon Spot

It’s Rotten

I honestly was prepared for Paper Putt to be the only game I learned in May. However, I regularly check out Alexander Shen’s offerings and tried out some newer games.

Dungeon Spot is dungeon crawl that uses Spot It as its engine. It’s honestly more of a fun idea than a good game. (Rory’s Story Cubes is another ‘kiddy’ game that has been used an an engine for RPG play and is frankly more suited for it) 

It’s Rotten, however, proved to be a very happy find. It’s a super simple, very basic Tetris clone but it’s perfect for casual clipboard play on the couch so I know it will see regular play.

Yes,  one of the ideals of gaming is long, immersive games but finding games that fit into the time you do have is pretty amazing.

My May PnP

 I didn’t play or learn a lot of games during May but I did a fair bit of PnP crafting. Which, to be fair, arts and crafts is a very healthy way of decompressing.

I made;

Forest Rivals + expansions (playtest)

Count of Nine - Martian Retheme

Laser Battlefield

Blorg in the Midwest

Monotheism

The Cursed Cat Expansion - Fickle Paws (playtest)

13 Sheep

Bookmark TTRPGs from itch.io Contest

Dungeon Spot

It’s Rotten

Monotheism was easily my ‘big’ build of the month. It’s been on my list for a while and I’m hoping I find the time and mental space to learn it over the summer. 

Most of my crafting was making lots of little things, including revisiting some older games and tiny projects that can fit in inside spaces on laminating sheets.

The build that actually ended up giving me some play was a tiny R&W from Alexander Shen. It’s Rotten isn’t anything Earth shaking but it is good for causal play on the couch.

Like every month so far this year, June looks to be a busy one but I’ll still try and get some crafting in.