The Singles Club uses pop culture to make high art

I had read that Phonogram vol 2 The Singles Club was the right place to actually start the series, the best of the three volumes. 

Well, I read the first volume first anyway. And quite enjoyed it. I found the complaints that you have to be familiar with the indie music scene for it to make any sense to be heavily exaggerated. You just have to understand fandom in general. 

Then I picked up The Singles Club. And couldn’t put it down lol

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The Singles Club describes the same night at a club seven different times. Wikipedia claims it’s based on a real event but I couldn’t find any other reference to that. More than that, there isn’t any dramatic moment in this evening. It’s eight different people having a night out.

I also want to note that this isn’t a Rashomon story, at least as I understand the term. None of the stories contradict each other. They are just different points of view.

(Rashomon is a movie that has really stuck with me. I know Kurosawa didn’t invent the concept but, man, he created such a definitive example. The dead husband testifying through a medium was so wild to me. And I also appreciate that every single person, even the woodcutter, turns out to be lying)

But that formula wouldn’t be enough to make for a good read. No, the reason the Singles Club is good is because the art and the writing come together to give memorable, believable, flawed, sympathetic characters. 

And the characters are everything. All of the action is internal. There isn’t a dramatic plot structure. Instead, we watch pretty much every character end a touch wiser than they started. 

And then they stick the landing with Kid-With-Knife. Who isn’t a serial killer and whose name I _think_ is a reference to the band Knife. A band I have only heard of through Phonogram. He’s a big, loveable goof. He was the Chas Chandler to David’s John Constantine in the first volume. And he’s convinced David to teach him about Phonomancy.

And KWK works so well as an endnote because he is such a contrast to every other character. He may be a loveable idiot but he knows who he is and he is comfortable in his own skin. His reaction to phonomancy instructions being listen to the music until it fills you is ‘Hell, everybody does that’

Truth to tell, as an old duffer, I related to Rue Britannia better. However, as a work of art, the Singles Club is better. The journey seems to go nowhere but takes you so far.

Paper App Golf makes minimalism a virtue

My interest in Gladden Design’s Paper app series was rekindled when I heard about Paper App Golf. Golf seemed like a good fit for the Paper App mission statement of a minimalist game you could carry in your pocket and play anywhere.

Oddly enough, I find golf an interesting subject for board games, particularly solitaire games, while I’m not very interested in the actual sport itself. I think part of that is that golf can be functionally a solitaire athletic sport. 

In a nutshell, each hole is a grid of dots and you roll a six-sided die to see how many spaces you draw the line per turn/stroke. You also always have the option of putting just one space. Amazingly, this is not the simplest golf board game I’ve played! (I’d say that goes to Par Out Golf)

The grit of the game comes from the terrains. Fairways give you a plus one to distance and let you draw a line through trees. Sandtraps, on the other hand, give a minus one. You can’t stop in water but you can draw over it. Near some holes are slopes, automatically moving the line. And you just draw the line normally in the rough.

There is also a speed variant if you can’t be bothered with dice. The ball can move six spaces if it starts on the fairway, three everywhere else and you can still putt one space.

Look, if you’re looking for a deep, involved golf game, you are looking at the wrong game. If you’re are looking for a game you can play while waiting in line at the bank, then you’ve come to the right place. And you probably don’t care about the weird looks you get at the bank.

I have to compare Paper App Golf to Paper App Dungeon, the game that made me aware that the series existed. While Golf is somehow even simpler than the minimalist Dungeon, I enjoy it more. The mechanics are cleaner and fit the theme much better.

Paper App Golf is very niche. It’s a game to play when you have basically no time, no space and no concentration. And there are times like that when I need a game break so I know I am going to keep playing it. I think the dice-less variant just turns it into a meh puzzle but I appreciate that the option exists. 

Paper App Golf isn’t that good a game but it does a very good job at what it’s meant to do.

Jim Shooter leaves behind such a messy legacy

On Monday, June 30, 2025, comic book editor, writer and publisher Jim Shooter died.

And when I read that, I was struck by two thoughts. First, as the editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics from 1978 to 1987, he had a huge impact on my childhood. Second, man, he left a complicated legacy.

Because, history has judged him as, to put it politely, quite the jerk. And, from what I can tell, not unfairly.

(I also can’t get over how he started writing comics professionally when he was fourteen.)

Trying to summarize his career, even just the Marvel part, is more than I think I can do without getting too much wrong.

However, during his time as Marvel’s editor-in-chief, he restructured it to be, well, more professional. I think it’s safe to say that allowed Marvel to thrive in the 1980s and his influence on both Marvel and the comic book industry can be felt to this day. From what I have understand, Marvel Comics was close to shutting down when he took over and he turned things around dramatically, making it the market leader.

It’s also safe to say that he could be a tyrant and a jerk, particularly near the end of his time as editor-in-chief. He instituted what were then viewed as homophobic editorial policies (which has to be saying something since it’s not like other media were very embracing) And some of the stories that were made under his watch or even under his pen are terrible. (Avengers #200 is one of the crowning examples. And, no, I don’t feel comfortable describing it)

I’m not very familiar with his work after Marvel so I can’t comment on it.

Jim Shooter leaves behind a complex, divisive legacy. He was profoundly hated by many. And I was only on board for a relatively small part of the journey, albeit what might have been the most important part. And I don’t know if I would have become a comic book fan without his work.

My June Gaming

For most of June, our printer didn’t want to talk to any of our devices. And, while I have plenty of games already made that I could have learned, the annoyance got in the way of me wanting to. Wow, I feel petulant writing that. However, for reasons known only to it, the printer decided to connect to the computer near the end of June and my whole dynamic changed.

I learned:

Roll for the Goal (Gladden Games)

Hens

Crunch the Numbers (Dr. Finn)

Leftover Letters (Dr. Finn)

Paper App Golf

Spell It Out (Dr. Finn)

Word Wrap (Dr. Finn)

The Little Flower Shop: Open for Business (Dr. Finn)

Nanga Parbat: Alone in the Wilderness (Dr. Finn)

Pen Pals (Dr. Finn)

Looking at the list, I realize that my real frustration was that I wanted to get into Dr. Finn’s Book of Solo Strategy and Word Games and wasn’t able to. In fact, I learned Hens on Board Game Arena just to learn a game.

I’m going to have plenty to save about Dr. Finn’s book as I go through it but I have to say that the best part is I want to keep playing the games. I go through a lot of Roll and Writes and a collection that keep me saying ‘let’s do that again’ is impressive and a joy.

It ended up being a good month for learning new games.

My June PnP

It originally looked like June would be a minimal PnP crafting month because our printer was acting up. However, near the end of the month, it decided to connect back to devices and I was able to make up for lost time.

I made:

Control (first edition)

Solo Dice (half sheet)

Six Sons of the Sultan

Roll for the Goal

Rolling Realms vol 9

Wayfarer - Switzerland 

Wayfarer - Spain

Wayfarer - Poland

Cosmic Run (Doctor Finn)

Crunch the Numbers (Doctor Finn)

Leftover Letters (Doctor Finn)

The Little Flower Shop: Open for Business (Doctor Finn)

My Perfect City (Doctor Finn)

Nanga Parbat (Doctor Finn)

Pen Pals (Doctor Finn)

Spell It Out (Doctor Finn)

Word Wrap (Doctor Finn)

Caterpillar Feast

Bowling Solitaire (skinny cards)

Seal (Creative Kids)

TetriGo (Creative Kids)

Koala Rescue Club - Map 3

Paper App Golf - Course 1

My big project for the month was the first edition of Control. I actually printed, cut and laminated it over two years ago. I decided that it was time to trim it, particularly since I wasn’t getting any printing done.

I’m giving Bowling Solitaire another try with Pack O Games style cards. I’ve tried it with regular cards and the tile set. It’s a Sackson design so I want to like it but I have yet to like it. The charming design of these cards was the real reason I made them.

However, what has led to the most fun and laminating has been Dr. Finn’s Book of Solo Strategy and Word Games. It’s exceeded my expectations and I thought it would be good to begin with.

The end of the month gave me a lot of Roll and Writes, ones I can see getting a lot of play out of.

Paper App Dungeon’s flaws make more sense to me… but they are still flaws

While my interest in Gladden Design’s PnP products was primarily on their Paper Apps Golf and Galaxy, I knew I would have to start with Dungeon. Because I also knew I probably wouldn’t try it if I didn’t get it out of the way first.

Paper Dungeon App is a very, very simple dungeon crawl. Each dungeon floor is a 12x12 grid (not counting the framing outer wall) with inner walls, monsters, treasures and traps. You roll a D6. You draw a line to show your path, moving the number of squares you roll. You start off diagonal on odd numbers and orthogonal on even ones. You only change direction if you hit a wall, not unlike Ricochet Robots.

If you pass through or end on an object, you interact with it. Hearts add to your life, with this version of the game having a 25 heart cap. Coins and treasure chests add to your money. Monsters subtract health. Spiderwebs stop you and subtract coins. And there are teleport warps.

There are 45 floors in the dungeon. Periodically, in between floors, there is a shop where you can spend those coins on an increasingly powerful set of one shot items.

Okay, Paper App Dungeon was designed to be carried around as a little spiral notebook. Potentially played while standing in line. And there are elements in the game that are clearly built around that mission statement which get in the way of, well, making the game more deep or interesting.

The biggest example of that is how there are no combat rules. Monsters subtract from your hit points. End of story. To be honest, if this was themed around something like cyberpunk net hacking, I think it would work better. Black Ice eating up processing memory, that sort of thing. A dungeon crawl without combat is just plain awkward.

I don’t have a problem with this but I have to note how the game is also designed for you to do all of the paperwork after you complete a floor. Monsters cannot kill you on the spot. After you finish a floor, you add up all of the hearts you got and subtract the monsters to find out if you’re still alive. Again, that’s clearly part of the goal to make the game as simple and portable as possible. And, unlike the lack of combat, I don’t have a problem with this. I just find it kind of interesting.

From what I can tell, paper app dungeon has had a few rules revisions. At least one version stated that you had to pick a direction that wouldn’t have you hit walls if you could and that you couldn’t backtrack or cross over your path if possible. Which would eliminate most of your decision-making ability. The rule set on the PDF version doesn’t have a rule about avoiding walls and just says not to backtrack on the same move if you can help it.

(Also, the printed version had procedurally generated floors, so each one would be different. Not necessarily balanced. The PDF version seems to be designed with balance in mind.)

To my surprise, the PDF version has improved my opinion of the game compared to the demo I earlier tried. More detailed rules is a big part of that. Smaller rooms with a lot more chances to pinball around also helped. I also decided that, even after a couple floors, playing the game as a campaign (which, to be fair, is what it is designed to be) is the only way to make it interesting. Treating a floor as a stand-alone game just doesn’t give me enough.

Paper App Dungeon is still painfully barebones and simple. I still feel that the lack of combat is a major thematic dissonance. Bad die rolls can make your path a tangled mess. However, seeing the game in its proper context does make me appreciate more what it’s trying to do.

While I will only play it when I’m in a brain fog situation, I can see myself completing the campaign. However, I am enjoying and playing the other two Paper App games more.

Dr Finn crunches some numbers

Crunch the Numbers is part of Dr. Finn’s Book of Solo Strategy and Word Games. I am going to get so tired of typing that name out by the time I get to the last game in it. That said, Steve Finn does design a good game so I’m glad to have the PDF of the book.

Crunch the Numbers consists of three 4x4 grids. And each column and row has a scoring condition. Every number being odd or even or different or the same or being smaller than a given number. And if you fill out a row or column properly, you get points and, in a couple of them, a one-shot dice manipulation.

Oh, gameplay consists of rolling three dice in writing a number in each of the grids. When they’re full, the game is over and you figure out your score.

Crunch the Numbers was the first game in the book I tried. Honestly, because it looked like the simplest game and a quick way to start. (As I’ve continued through the book, it honestly isn’t the mechanically simplest but it was still a good place to begin)

Filling out a grid and having the numbers have to fit within specific requirements, that’s nothing new. I am not even sure if filling out multiple grids at the same time is all that new.

However, as I routinely say, innovation is not a requirement for quality. You don’t need to make a new wheel in order to make a really good bicycle. Steve Finn has taken pre-existing elements and put them together into a package that is accessible, interesting and fun.

I have steadily been going through Dr. Finn’s Book of Solo Strategy and Word Games and I am not seeing a collection of games that are about breaking new ground. I see a collection of games that are easy to learn and that I think people will enjoy playing.