RogerBW's Blog

Neighbourly Games 12 February 14 March 2024

I've been playing a bit with (by local standards) near neighbours.

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Eighth 1 Player Guild UK Meet 20 February 2024 - 2 comments

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. This was the eighth get-together for the UK contingent.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Thirsty Meeples February 2024 15 February 2024

Back to the boardgame café after a bit of a break over Christmas.

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Full Board Gaming in Torquay 08 February 2024

Off to a resort hotel for the first of a planned series of holiday-conventions.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 January 2024 20 January 2024

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Someone Else's Garden Games (January) 18 January 2024

Back again, playing with three and four. No photos this time; I was too involved!

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Stabcon 2024 10 January 2024 - 2 comments

Back to the Masonic Hall on a cold, but dry, weekend of boardgaming.

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New Year's Day Games 05 January 2024

Boxing Day Boardgames had to be cancelled after an extremely tiring incident a few days earlier, but I was able to get out for boardgames at a friend's place on New Year's Day.

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2023 in boardgames 03 January 2024

In 2023 my boardgaming life was more at conventions than in local groups.

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Airecon Northwest 23 December 2023 - 2 comments

I went to Airecon Northwest – the second spin-off venture for the Airecon team, in the convention centre in central Manchester. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 December 2023 19 December 2023 - 2 comments

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Thirsty Meeples November 2023 12 December 2023 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 20 November 2023 07 December 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Gridcon 4 02 December 2023

Gridcon is the convention run by Paul Grogan of Gaming Rules—patrons of that channel get first chance at the tickets, and as a result the remainder sell out very quickly. Still, I was able to get in this year.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 November 2023 28 November 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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More Mansions More Madness 23 November 2023 - 2 comments

Another Mansions of Madness session, this one with a last-moment scenario change.

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Airecon West 18 November 2023 - 2 comments

I went to ACWest – the first spin-off venture for the Airecon team. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Thirsty Meeples October 2023 14 November 2023

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 October 2023 09 November 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Games in Reading 02 November 2023

Over to a friend's place to deliver some games I'd driven back from Essen.

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Essen 2023 21 October 2023 - 4 comments

It's still the highlight of the boardgaming year, and I'm still going.

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Thirsty Meeples September 2023 19 October 2023

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Board Games 18 September 2023 12 October 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues.

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Marlow Board Games 5 September 2023 07 October 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues.

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ZatuCon 2023 03 October 2023

ZatuCon is a small boardgaming event run by Zatu Games for whom I write occasional blog posts. It's open to the public as well as to Zatu bloggers.

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Tabletop Scotland 2023 28 September 2023 - 6 comments

Back to one of my favourite conventions, though only for an abbreviated visit this time.

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Marlow Board Games 21 August 2023 21 September 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues.

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Games Afternoon At Home 14 September 2023

More gamers at home, on a warmer afternoon than last time.

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Marlow Board Games 7 August 2023 08 September 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues.

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Games Afternoon At Home 04 September 2023

Got some games (and gamers) together on a wet afternoon.

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Thirsty Meeples July 2023 26 August 2023 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Board Games 17 July 2023 17 August 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues, this evening at my place.

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Summer Stabcon 2023 27 July 2023 - 4 comments

Back to the Masonic Hall on a hot weekend.

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Marlow Board Games 3 July 2023 22 July 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues…

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Thirsty Meeples June 2023 20 July 2023 - 3 comments

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Board Games 19 June 2023 15 July 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues… this evening with a couple of new members.

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UK Games Expo 2023 11 July 2023

My first in-pandemic trip to UK Games Expo. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Thirsty Meeples May 2023 06 July 2023

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Board Games 3 April 2023 01 July 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues…

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Board Games at the Bear, 8 May 2023 27 June 2023

Back in the Usual Pub.

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Marlow Board Games 3 April 2023 22 June 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group skipped a meeting due to absences so some of us got together locally.

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Marlow Board Games 3 April 2023 15 June 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Board Games at the Bear, 10 April 2023 03 June 2023

Back in the Usual Pub, about eleven of us on a bank holiday.

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Marlow Board Games 3 April 2023 18 May 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia, but this time several people couldn't make it so we stayed closer to home.

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Someone Else's Garden Games (April) 13 May 2023

Back again, playing with three and four.

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Marlow Board Games 20 March 2023 05 May 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Thirsty Meeples March 2023 27 April 2023

Back to the boardgame café.

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Airecon in 2023 22 April 2023 - 1 comment

I went to this year's Airecon – my sixth visit to the show. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Marlow Board Games 6 March 2023 13 April 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Marlow Board Games 20 February 2023 06 April 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Thirsty Meeples February 2023 24 March 2023

Back to the boardgame café.

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Marlow Board Games 6 February 2023 18 March 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Seventh Player Guild UK Meet 11 March 2023

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. This was the seventh get-together for the UK contingent, back together in person.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Tekelilicon 2 23 February 2023 - 4 comments

I ran another mini-convention for the community from discussion.tekeli.li, as well as local gamers.

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Marlow Board Games 16 January 2023 16 February 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Thirsty Meeples January 2023 03 February 2023

Back to the boardgame café.

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Stabcon 2023 28 January 2023 - 2 comments

Back to Stabcon! Stockport barely managed to rain on me at all this time.

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Boxing Day Boardgames 2022 19 January 2023 - 2 comments

For the seventh year (having skipped 2020), a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames.

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Marlow Board Games 19 December 2022 12 January 2023

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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2022 in boardgames 03 January 2023

In 2022 I managed to play significant numbers of games across an actual table again.

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Games in Reading, 8 December 2022 29 December 2022

Boardgames at a friend's place again, on a frosty night.

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Marlow Board Games 5 December 2022 24 December 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Thirsty Meeples December 2022 22 December 2022

Back to the boardgame café.

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More Xia at Home 15 December 2022

Another gathering for Xia: Legends of a Drift System.

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Marlow Board Games 21 November 2022 10 December 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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More Wolvercote Games 06 December 2022

The Oxford Meeples had another quarterly games day (I've missed a few thanks to clashing events).

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Games in Reading, 17 November 2022 30 November 2022

Boardgames at a friend's place again.

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Board Games at the Bear, 13 November 2022 24 November 2022

Back in the Usual Pub with ten of us playing various games.

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Games in Reading, 10 November 2022 22 November 2022

I went over to a friend's place for boardgames.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 November 2022 18 November 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Silverstone Games 14 November 2022

A small game session to celebrate the end of a painful house-move.

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Thirsty Meeples November 2022 10 November 2022

Back to the boardgame café. Yup, last time we went was in December 2019.

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Someone Else's Garden Games (October) 04 November 2022

Been a while, as life got in the way…

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 October 2022 20 October 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Essen 2022 12 October 2022 - 4 comments

At the start of October I went back to Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or "Essen" as it's generally known in the boardgaming world.

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Games Weekend at Home 27 September 2022 - 2 comments

Another gaming weekend at home! Must have more of these!

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Board Games at the Bear, 11 September 2022 16 September 2022

Back in the Usual Pub with nine of us playing various games. A little less crowded than usual, and a very relaxed atmosphere.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 September 2022 10 September 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia.

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Tabletop Scotland 2022 03 September 2022 - 7 comments

I had originally planned to travel to Tabletop Scotland in 2020, but. This year I braved the 440-mile drive (home to Essen is only about 400) and gave it a try.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 August 2022 23 August 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the Britannia. (We've been going there for three months now, and it hasn't yet been cold enough for us to want to move inside.)

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Tekelilicon 17 August 2022

I've been wanting to rent the Bourne End library room again since I ran the second 1 Player Guild get-together back in 2018. So I invited along the community from discussion.tekeli.li, the forum that had a large influx of exiles from Shut Up and Sit Down when their own forum was closed, as well as local gamers.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 August 2022 03 August 2022

After time off for holidays and excessive heat, this Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet in the new pub.

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Summer Stabcon 2022 13 July 2022 - 3 comments

Well, the convention restarted a while ago, but this time I actually felt reasonably happy about going.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 20 June 2022 05 July 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet twice a month. (But the pub has started to have a quiz every Monday night, so we're moving to a new venue nearby.)

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Intercalary Games in June 25 June 2022

We went out scouting for a pub for the local Meetup group, and found one: and it's a McMullen house, which means the AK mild is a regular thing.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 June 2022 17 June 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet twice a month. (But the pub has started to have a quiz every Monday night, so we're moving to a new venue nearby.)

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Intercalary games in May 11 June 2022

Some friends live nearby, and I visited them for gaming.

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Board Games at the Bear, 8 May 2021 04 June 2022

Back in the Usual Pub with nine of us playing various games.

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UK Games Expo 2022 27 May 2022 - 5 comments

UK Games Expo is happening on the first weekend of June. I'd hoped to go, but having thought it over, I shan't be there.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 May 2022 23 May 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet twice a month.

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TringCon 30 April 2022 14 May 2022

This small one-day boardgaming event has been carrying on, mostly without me. I think it was about 30 people this time, with the organisers and the people I was playing with the only mask-wearers.

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Silverstone Games 09 May 2022

A trip to Silverstone for a small games day with a couple of friends and fellow-podcasters.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 April 2022 03 May 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet twice a month.

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Board Games at the Bear, 10 April 2021 26 April 2022

Missed the March meeting because I was at Airecon…

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 April 2022 22 April 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Airecon in 2022 13 April 2022

I went to this year's Airecon – my fifth visit to the show. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 March 2021 05 April 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Boardgames at Home 22 March 2022

Back together (cautiously, tested and well-ventilated as usual) for a day of games at home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 February 2022 12 March 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Valentine's Eve Board Games at the Bear, 13 February 2021 07 March 2022 - 1 comment

I avoided the crowded pub over Christmas, but went back to this group for their next meeting.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 February 2022 23 February 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Wolvercote Games 14 February 2022

I drove to a village hall near Oxford, where the Oxford Meeples were restarting their periodic larger gatherings. All masked, hurrah.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 January 2022 09 February 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Random Saturday Games Day 24 January 2022

A friend I don't see very often was able to visit, so in between the chat we played some games.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 January 2022 18 January 2022

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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2021 in boardgames 03 January 2022

2021 seemed to involve more talking about boardgames than actually playing boardgames.

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Boxing Day Boardgames 2021 31 December 2021

For the sixth year (having skipped 2020 for obvious reasons), a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 December 2021 22 December 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Boardgames in Isolation: November (part 2) 11 December 2021

More boardgames played from home. The numbers are definitely dropping now that I'm getting occasional in-person gaming.

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Boardgames in Isolation: November (part 1) 03 December 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 November 2021 23 November 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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More Star Trek Ascendancy 20 November 2021 - 2 comments

Second of what I hope will be an ongoing revived series of face-to-face games.

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Someone Else's Garden Games (November) 17 November 2021

All right, not actually in the garden now that it's a bit nippy, but in a well-ventilated room with masks…

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 November 2021 15 November 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues at the Marlow Donkey.

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Boardgames in Isolation: October (part 2) 11 November 2021

More boardgames played from home (and one face to face).

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Halloween Board Games at the Bear, 31 October 2021 09 November 2021

I accidentally found out about this group when doing admin on Meetup for the Marlow one, and since I know one of the people involved…

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 October 2021 06 November 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group has returned to the Marlow Donkey.

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Return to Star Trek Ascendancy 04 November 2021

So we were just getting started with Star Trek Ascendancy when the pandemic hit… but it finally seemed reasonable to have some people over to play it again.

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Boardgames in Isolation: October (part 1) 02 November 2021

More boardgames played from home. Yeah, this is definitely falling off now that actual face-to-face gaming is becoming a possible thing again.

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Games in Reading, 6 October 2021 30 October 2021

I went over to a friend's place for boardgames.

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Boardgames in Isolation: September (part 2) 28 October 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Boardgames in Isolation: September (part 1) 05 October 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Sixth 1 Player Guild UK Meet 21 September 2021

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. This was the sixth "proper" get-together for the UK contingent (some virtual meetings helped span the gap), and we were back in the upstairs room of the pub in Silverstone, a year and a half after the last one.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 September 2021 16 September 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment, though we may try the pub next time depending on numbers. For now we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA, as usual.

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Boardgames in Isolation: August (part 2) 13 September 2021

More boardgames played from home. (There was a plan for barbecue, beer and boardgames for some of the local gamers, but it turned out to be the first two and not the last one.)

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No Essen, Again 07 September 2021 - 3 comments

Essen SPIEL are doing a better job than UK Games Expo did, but I've very reluctantly decided that I'm not going anyway.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 August 2021 30 August 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: August (part 1) 18 August 2021 - 2 comments

More boardgames played from home, and on a small expedition that didn't get a blog post of its own.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 August 2021 09 August 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: July (part 2) 06 August 2021

More boardgames played from home. Now that I'm getting occasional face-to-face gaming again I'm doing rather less of this…

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Someone Else's Garden Games (July) 31 July 2021

On an unexpectedly wet day, I visited a tekeli.li forumite in London for outdoor gaming again.

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Boardgames in Isolation: July (part 1) 27 July 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Games Weekend at Home 21 July 2021 - 5 comments

On what turned out to be the hottest weekend of the year so far, several friends came over for games.

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UK Games Expo 2021 12 July 2021 - 7 comments

UK Games Expo is happening on the first weekend of August. I'm really glad I'm not committed to going.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 July 2021 08 July 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: June (part 2) 04 July 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Leaving Earth outcome odds 27 June 2021

I did some analysis of card draws in Leaving Earth to try to work out the odds in a particular situation.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 June 2021 25 June 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Someone Else's Garden Games 21 June 2021

I went to visit one of the tekeli.li forumites and we played games in someone else's outdoor space for a change.

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Boardgames in Isolation: June (part 1) 19 June 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 June 2021 13 June 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: May (part 2) 08 June 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Bank Holiday Garden Games 03 June 2021

On a warm Bank Holiday afternoon (can there be any stronger evidence that English weather is out of joint?) I got together with several friends for boardgaming, including one I hadn't seen in person for over a year (barring very brief handings-over of shopping etc.).

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 May 2021 21 May 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: May (part 1) 17 May 2021

More boardgames played from home. I'm definitely cutting back on these now that the real thing can happen again.

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A Return to Garden Games 13 May 2021

For the first time since last September, I've played boardgames face to face (or at least mask to mask) with other human beings.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 May 2021 06 May 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: April (part 2) 02 May 2021

More boardgames played from home. I think I'm getting more irked with remote play now that the possibility of the real thing exists again.

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Street Concept 24 April 2021

I quite enjoy Concept but the official teamwork rules are tedious. So this is a variant invented by Oliver of the Marlow gaming group, which works rather better.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 April 2021 23 April 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Space Sandboxes 21 April 2021 - 2 comments

There are three space sandbox games (i.e. with multiple things you can try to do in order to win) that I've tried. Which is best?

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Boardgames in Isolation: April (part 1) 17 April 2021

More boardgames played from home. Fewer games, but a bit more diversity, or at least that's the way it feels.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 April 2021 08 April 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BGA.

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Boardgames in Isolation: March (part 2) 03 April 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Boardgames in Isolation: March (part 1) 21 March 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 March 2021 18 March 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

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Sixth and a bit 1 Player Guild UK Meet 15 March 2021

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. We're, or at least I am, counting all the on-line get-togethers as the "6th", so this was 6b.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything (insofar as I'm even allowed to assert that given that they're screenshots).

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 March 2021 07 March 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

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Boardgames in Isolation: February (part 2) 05 March 2021 - 2 comments

More boardgames played from home.

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Flamme Rouge by Forum 21 February 2021 - 2 comments

I have written and released software for running games of Flamme Rouge by forum.

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Boardgames in Isolation: February (part 1) 20 February 2021 - 2 comments

More boardgames played from home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 February 2021 17 February 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

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Everything is the New Sprouts, Briefly 14 February 2021 - 4 comments

Shopping continues to be a bit strange.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 February 2021 08 February 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: January (part 2) 04 February 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Sixth 1 Player Guild UK Meet 30 January 2021

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. Not counting the on-line birthday party last year with many of the same people, this was the sixth get-together for the UK contingent – on-line, alas but necessarily.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 January 2021 25 January 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: January (part 1) 23 January 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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Letter Tycoon review and strategies 17 January 2021

Letter Tycoon, by Brad Brooks, was published in 2015 and is now quite hard to find. But I was recently introduced to it on BoardGameArena, and it turns out I'm quite good at it.

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Running a Vote 16 January 2021

I recently ran the vote for the Pearple's Choice Awards, which used to happen on the old Shut Up & Sit Down forum and now happen on discussion.tekeli.li.

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Fun with Letter Tycoon 13 January 2021 - 1 comment

I've been playing a lot of Letter Tycoon on BoardGameArena (it seems that losing at Scrabble to my wife is good training for this). I wanted a practice opponent. So I wrote one.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 January 2021 11 January 2021

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

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Boardgames in Isolation: December (part 2) 09 January 2021

More boardgames played from home.

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2020 in boardgames 03 January 2021

2020 was another very boardgame-ful year, in patches.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 December 2020 27 December 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: December (part 1) 23 December 2020

More boardgames played from home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 December 2020 16 December 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games online.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: November (part 2) 08 December 2020

More boardgames played from home.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 30 November 2020 03 December 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena. (I missed the mid-month meeting, but we had an intercalary one on the fifth Monday.)

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Pearple's Choice Awards 2019-2020 27 November 2020

Nominations are now open for the Pearple's Choice Awards for 2019-2020.

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Boardgames in Isolation: November (part 1) 18 November 2020

More boardgames played from home.

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Roger's Paradox of Game Design 15 November 2020 - 5 comments

I have noticed a paradox in the design of competitive games.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 November 2020 10 November 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: October 08 November 2020

More boardgames played from home. (No, you didn't miss an October part 1; I played very little in the first half of the month, mostly because of a secret RPG-writing project taking up my time.)

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First game of Thunderbolt Apache Leader 02 November 2020 - 3 comments

Last year I bought a copy of Thunderbolt Apache Leader. This year I played it.

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Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 October 2020 21 October 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 October 2020 10 October 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: September (part 2) 04 October 2020

More boardgames played from home.

[more]
YSDC Games Day 9 (ConVocation 2020) 02 October 2020

Ninth in this series of one-day conventions, which this year of course happened on-line.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 September 2020 25 September 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: September (part 1) 19 September 2020

More boardgames played from home.

[more]
Indian Summer Garden Games 17 September 2020

More boardgames in the garden, warmer than last time in a minor heat wave.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 September 2020 11 September 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: August (part 2) 05 September 2020

More boardgames played from home.

[more]
Bank Holiday Garden Games 02 September 2020

More boardgames in the garden, almost in traditional British bank holiday weather (a little chilly, but not actually raining).

[more]
Scoring a racing series 30 August 2020

I've been playing quite a lot of Rallyman GT lately, and I've been thinking about how racing games should be scored.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 August 2020 25 August 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; as usual we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: August (part 1) 22 August 2020

More boardgames played from home, though the rate seems to have gone down a bit.

[more]
More Garden Games 19 August 2020

More boardgames in the garden, on a painfully hot evening (still with masks).

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 August 2020 14 August 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Aeon's End in the Garden 08 August 2020

I got together with some local friends for boardgames in the garden (open air, though under cover in the gazebo, with masks).

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: July (part 2) 03 August 2020 - 2 comments
[more]
Perl Weekly Challenge 71: peak elements (and Rallyman tracks) 28 July 2020

I’ve been doing the Perl Weekly Challenges. The latest involved finding peak elements and more mucking about with linked lists.

[more]
First steps in Android: Netrunner 27 July 2020

You can't buy this game any more. So why on Earth would I play it?

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 20 July 2020 24 July 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group remains on-line for the moment; we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: July (part 1) 20 July 2020

More boardgames played from home, though the pace has slackened a bit.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 July 2020 14 July 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group has moved on-line for the moment; we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: June (part 2) 08 July 2020

More boardgames played from home, though the pace has slackened a bit.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: June (part 1) 25 June 2020

More boardgames played from home.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 June 2020 18 June 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group has moved on-line for the moment; we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Birthday Boardgaming 14 June 2020

This was not a One Player Guild meeting, but it involved several of the same people, getting together virtually for a birthday celebration with boardgames rather than in the pub in Silverstone.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 June 2020 07 June 2020 - 1 comment

This Meetup-based boardgames group has moved on-line for the moment; we got together on Jitsi and then played some games on BoardGameArena.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: May (part 2) 03 June 2020

More boardgames played from home.

[more]
A War of Whispers 23 May 2020

A War of Whispers, by Jeremy Stoltzfus, got some attention when it came out last year but sold out quickly, and as I write there's a Kickstarter for the second edition. Should you jump in? I've now played it twice…

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: May (part 1) 18 May 2020 - 2 comments

More solo and on-line boardgames.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: April 10 May 2020 - 3 comments

I've been continuing to play solo and on-line boardgames.

[more]
Arking Time 06 May 2020 - 2 comments

I've been running a small Discourse forum for role-playing and boardgaming for a while now, ever since UKRolePlayers shut down. It's suddenly got much bigger.

[more]
Boardgames in Isolation: March 03 May 2020

Since face-to-face boardgaming meetings aren't happening at the moment, I've been playing more solo and on-line games.

[more]
Airecon in 2020 23 April 2020 - 1 comment

I went back to this year's Airecon – my fourth visit to the show. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 March 2020 09 April 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group had what turned out to be its last meeting for the moment at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 February 2020 26 March 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues, in normal times, to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Star Trek Ascendancy games 2 and 3 18 March 2020

Star Trek Ascendancy is a huge game which I don't get to the table very often, but I managed it on a blustery February weekend.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 February 2020 07 March 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Fifth 1 Player Guild UK Meet 25 February 2020

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. This was the fifth get-together for the UK contingent, and we were back in the upstairs room of a pub in Silverstone.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Rallyman GT unboxing and first look 19 February 2020

My copy of Rallyman GT has arrived; I backed the Kickstarter in 2018, it was originally expected last November, and it finally made it to me on 30 January.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 January 2020 11 February 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Handycon 7 07 February 2020

This boardgame convention was still at the larger venue in Maidenhead, but with more people booked in and much more of a crush, especially on Saturday.

[more]
Games in Reading, 16 January 2020 05 February 2020

I went over to a friend's place for boardgames.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 January 2020 29 January 2020

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Stabcon 2020 25 January 2020 - 1 comment

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of January. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
New Year's Day Boardgames 2020 21 January 2020

On New Year's Day I went to the Jack of Both Sides in Reading (now renamed the Hope and Bear, but it has a different name each time I go there – all right, I only go there once every few years – and the locals still call it the Jack) for boardgames with the Reading Boardgames Social.

[more]
Boxing Day Boardgames 2019 19 January 2020

For the fifth year in a row, a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames.

[more]
Christmas Eve Boardgames 11 January 2020

I went over to a friend's place on Christmas Eve for some short games

[more]
2019 in boardgames 03 January 2020

2019 was another very boardgame-ful year.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 December 2019 27 December 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Houkago Saikoro Club 21 December 2019

2019 high school story, 4-koma manga adaptation in 12 episodes: AniDB. Miki is terminally shy, but learns to make friends through an interest in boardgames. vt After School Dice Club.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples December 2019 20 December 2019 - 1 comment

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 December 2019 16 December 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
V-Commandos at Home 09 December 2019

I invited some friends over for a day of V-Commandos, a cooperative boardgame of WWII special operations. (I'd planned for six but two couldn't make it.)

[more]
Thirsty Meeples November 2019 07 December 2019

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 November 2019 03 December 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Why I'm Not Joining the Car Wars Kickstarter 30 November 2019 - 1 comment

The Kickstarter for Car Wars 6th edition started yesterday and runs until 6 January. I'm not going to be joining it. Why not?

[more]
More Mansions of Madness Second Edition 24 November 2019

Another Mansions of Madness session, this one with a published scenario (Ill-Fated Exhibit).

[more]
Midcon, November 2019 20 November 2019

I went to Midcon, a long-running boardgame convention in Derby.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 November 2019 14 November 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Aeon’s End 06 November 2019 - 2 comments

Aeon’s End is a cooperative deck-building game by Kevin Riley, in which players work together to fight a monster (the “nemesis”) and save their home.

[more]
Essen 2019 02 November 2019

At the end of October I went back to Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or "Essen" as it's generally known in the boardgaming world.

[more]
Essen 2019 haul 29 October 2019

This post is about what I brought back from Essen – as well as some things I'd been thinking about but ended up not buying.

[more]
Demonstrating Games at Essen 26 October 2019 - 2 comments

I'm now a regular game demonstrator at Essen SPIEL shows. Here's my advice in case you're contemplating it.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 October 2019 24 October 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Games in Reading, 17 October 2019 19 October 2019

I went over to a friend's place for boardgames.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 October 2019 09 October 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
YSDC Games Day 8 03 October 2019 - 2 comments

Eighth in this series of one-day conventions in bustling metropolitan Baildon (suburban Bradford).

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 September 2019 29 September 2019 - 4 comments

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
V-Commandos Résistance: first look 22 September 2019 - 1 comment

V-Commandos: Résistance is the supplement to V-Commandos that I wasn't able to buy at Essen last year.

[more]
Fourth 1 Player Guild UK Meet 16 September 2019

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. This was the fourth get-together for the UK contingent; not enough people made it to justify renting the library again, so we met at my place. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples September 2019 13 September 2019 - 4 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 September 2019 07 September 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Handycon 6, Sunday 19 August 2019

This was my "set up a solo game and then people come along to play it" day. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Handycon 6, Saturday 17 August 2019

Saturday was a day mostly for fewer longer games. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Handycon 6, Friday 13 August 2019

Still at the larger venue in Maidenhead, and it felt about the same size as last time rather than overflowing its space. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 August 2019 10 August 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples August 2019 03 August 2019 - 1 comment

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 July 2019 22 July 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Buzzardcon 2, July 2019 16 July 2019

The Leighton Buzzard Boardgames group put on their second convention, and having seen a flyer for it at the last Tringcon I went. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples July 2019 14 July 2019 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Summer Stabcon 2019 10 July 2019 - 4 comments

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of July, on a sweaty weekend but not as hot as the last few have been. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 July 2019 06 July 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Reading Gamers, 30 June 2019 04 July 2019

I used to go to the Reading Boardgames Social quite a bit, but they went silent. I recently learned that they'd moved to Facebook and now Meetup, and went along to a Sunday afternoon meeting at the Greyfriar in Reading.

[more]
Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn 27 June 2019

Ashes: Rise of the Phoenixborn, designed by Isaac Vega and published in 2015, is a competitive game of wizard battles for 2-4 players.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples June 2019 25 June 2019 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boardgaming in Cambridge, June 2019 23 June 2019

Another of the occasional Cambridge boardgaming evenings.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 June 2019 21 June 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 June 2019 15 June 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2019: Sunday 11 June 2019 - 3 comments

Things were a lot quieter today… to the point that some demo people were leaping out at passers-by to try to get in one more game and potential sale.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2019: Saturday 09 June 2019

This was the most hectic day, with the halls heaving at times; even Friday had felt like previous years' Saturdays.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2019: Friday 06 June 2019

Friday was the first "proper" day of UK Games Expo.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2019: Thursday 04 June 2019

I've been to UK Games Expo again. And as before, I took Thursday off to help put up the show.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 20 May 2019 23 May 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples May 2019 17 May 2019

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 May 2019 09 May 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. (Pictures from new shinyphone in "HDR" mode.)

[more]
Thirsty Meeples April 2019 29 April 2019

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 April 2019 20 April 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. (Pictures from new shinyphone.)

[more]
TringCon 6 April 2019 08 April 2019

This small one-day boardgaming event has been resurrected with new organisers, but still at the same village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire. Up to about 30-ish people this time. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 April 2019 04 April 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples March 2019 27 March 2019 - 1 comment

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 March 2019 21 March 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Airecon in 2019 13 March 2019

I went back to this year's Airecon, still growing fast in Harrogate (it's now apparently the second-largest boardgame event in the UK). With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Dudley Bug Ball 2019 25 February 2019 - 1 comment

I often heard about this RPG convention when it was running some years ago, but it stopped before I got round to attending. The organisers have started it again, so I went along to find out more.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 February 2019 22 February 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Human Punishment 20 February 2019

Human Punishment is a social deduction game designed by Stefan Godot.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples February 2019 11 February 2019

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 February 2019 08 February 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Third 1 Player Guild UK Meet 06 February 2019

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. This was the third get-together for the UK contingent, and we were in the upstairs room of a pub in Silverstone.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 22 January 2019 02 February 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Handycon 5, January 2019 29 January 2019

Still at the larger venue in Maidenhead, but squeezing a lot more people into the space, this local boardgaming convention continues to grow.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples January 2019 23 January 2019

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 January 2019 17 January 2019

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Stabcon 2019 09 January 2019

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of January, on a slightly chilly but not cold weekend. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
New Year's Day Boardgames at Home 07 January 2019

Late on New Year's Day, we got together for eight-player games, and ended up on the unexpected theme of "games you can't buy right now".

[more]
2018 in boardgames 03 January 2019

2018 was another very boardgame-ful year: more playing, less buying.

[more]
Boxing Day Boardgames 2018 31 December 2018

This really is a tradition now – for the fourth year in a row, a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames.

[more]
No Enthusiasm for Keyforge 28 December 2018

Fantasy Flight Games has recently released Keyforge, a Unique Deck Game in which every deck one buys is different from every other. It's been getting mostly positive reviews. Why am I so comprehensively uninterested?

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 December 2018 24 December 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Boardgames at Home, December 2018 20 December 2018

A boardgaming evening at home; too long since I did one of these.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples December 2018 11 December 2018

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 December 2018 07 December 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Dragonmeet 2018 03 December 2018

Back to Dragonmeet, since it was happening (and I was being paid). All images are cc-by-sa.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 November 2018 26 November 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Online boardgaming with Tabletop Simulator 21 November 2018 - 1 comment

After some strong hints, I joined Steam and bought Tabletop Simulator.

[more]
November 2018 Solo Mini Convention 19 November 2018 - 3 comments

I spent another Saturday playing solo games. St Theoktiste of Lesbos, whose feast day is 10 November, supposedly spent 35 years in solitude, so seems an appropriate person to commemorate in this way. (Not to mention there aren't that many Lesbian saints.)

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 November 2018 17 November 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Post-Essen Solo Mini Convention 10 November 2018

Still a bit weary after Essen, I spent a Saturday playing solo games. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Essen 2018 haul 06 November 2018

This post is about what I brought back from Essen – as well as some things I'd been thinking about but ended up not buying.

[more]
Essen 2018 31 October 2018

At the end of October I went back to Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or "Essen" as it's generally known in the boardgaming world.

[more]
Second 1 Player Guild UK Meet 23 October 2018

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, communicating through BoardGameGeek. After the first UK meet back in January, I organised a second one at a library near home.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 October 2018 17 October 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples October 2018 14 October 2018 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Whartstock 2018 12 October 2018

Whartstock is the best gaming convention that you aren't invited to; it's the annual-ish gathering of the Whartson Hall Æthernauts.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 October 2018 09 October 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
YSDC Games Day 7 02 October 2018 - 2 comments

Seventh in this series of one-day conventions in bustling metropolitan Baildon (suburban Bradford).

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 September 2018 21 September 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Star Trek Ascendancy: first game 18 September 2018 - 4 comments

I bought Ascendancy (and the three currently-available expansions) at UK Games Expo, and I've just got it to the table.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples September 2018 16 September 2018

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 September 2018 14 September 2018 - 2 comments

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Star Realms Frontiers: first look 07 September 2018

Star Realms Frontiers is the new expanded version of Star Realms, by Darwin Kastle.

[more]
Who Goes There?: first look 05 September 2018

Who Goes There? is a new heavyweight social deduction game for 3-6 players, by Anthony Coffey and Jesse Labbe.

[more]
Human Era: first look 03 September 2018

Human Era is a new social deduction game by Zach and Jake Given.

[more]
August Bank Holiday Solo Mini Convention 30 August 2018

I felt like having a lazy and anti-social bank holiday Monday, so I played a bunch of solo games (something of a tradition for BoardGameGeek's 1 Player Guild). With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 August 2018 25 August 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples August 2018 23 August 2018

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Handycon 4, August 2018 19 August 2018

I started going to these conventions because they were local (a few miles away on the far side of High Wycombe). They've now moved to Maidenhead in order to get a slightly larger venue. Ah well.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 August 2018 13 August 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
SpringCon 28 July 2018 03 August 2018

The day after the excessively hot weather broke, I went back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Summer Stabcon 2018 17 July 2018

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of July, on a very very hot weekend. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples July 2018 13 July 2018

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 July 2018 09 July 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 June 2018 04 July 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples June 2018 26 June 2018

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boardgames at Home, June 2018 21 June 2018

It's been a while since the last boardgaming day, and we felt like doing it again.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 June 2018 19 June 2018 - 2 comments

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey; up to eight at this meeting.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2018: Sunday 17 June 2018

Sunday was mostly a demonstration day as the show wound down; it was much less crowded than Saturday.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2018: Saturday 13 June 2018

On Saturday I was mostly out in the show rather than at the table, because there was a team of extra demonstrators coming in just for that day.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2018: Friday 09 June 2018

Friday at UK Games Expo was a half-day of demos, followed by meeting friends.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2018: Thursday 07 June 2018

UK Games Expo expanded again this year, and either it sorted out most of its organisational problems or I managed to shift to doing the things which it's good at.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 May 2018 05 June 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. This time four of us turned up (I think we're getting into the spring illness season).

[more]
Exit: The Abandoned Cabin 23 May 2018

I borrowed a copy of Inka and Markus Brand's Exit: The Abandoned Cabin, one of the many recent escape-room-in-a-box games. (I will not reveal anything that's not immediately available when you start playing.)

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 May 2018 09 May 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. This time five of us turned up at the end of a long bank holiday.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples May 2018 05 May 2018 - 1 comment

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything. This time the theme accidentally ended up being "games that are quite like other games".

[more]
SpringCon 28 April 2018 30 April 2018 - 5 comments

Back, on a wet Saturday, to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 April 2018 25 April 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. I missed the last meeting through having been too tired after driving back from the Eastercon.

[more]
Mansions of Madness Second Edition, once more 23 April 2018

This was a second pass at the player-written Mansions of Madness scenario we tried last November (but were stymied by software bugs).

[more]
Black Orchestra unboxing and review 16 April 2018

My copy of the new (second) printing of Black Orchestra has arrived.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples April 2018 14 April 2018 - 1 comment

Back to the boardgame café after a couple of months away. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
TringCon revived, 7 April 2018 08 April 2018 - 3 comments

This small one-day boardgaming event has been resurrected with new organisers, but still at the same village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire. At 20-odd people it was quite a bit smaller than the 70 or so who filled the hall on previous occasions, and I'm not sure why. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boardgaming in Cambridge, March 2018 30 March 2018

Another of the occasional Cambridge boardgaming evenings.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 March 2018 26 March 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Airecon in 2018 19 March 2018 - 2 comments

I went back to this year's Airecon, still growing fast in Harrogate (1593 people through the door this time). With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 March 2018 09 March 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 February 2018 21 February 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 February 2018 07 February 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
1 Player Guild UK Meet 30 January 2018 - 2 comments

The 1 Player Guild is a group of solo game players, organised on BoardGameGeek. I do this occasionally, and when the inaugural real-world meeting was suggested in the UK, I went along. What could work better than a bunch of solo gamers getting together in one place? Actually, it was an excellent day - in a village hall in the middle of nowhere, bring your own food and drink (but much in the way of snack makings provided by the organiser), eleven people.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Handycon January 2018 28 January 2018

I missed the second instance of this because it clashed with the Worldcon in Helsinki, but made it to number 3. Given how far I travel for other games conventions, one that's just on the other side of High Wycombe is a pleasant change.

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 15 January 2018 24 January 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
A Better Statecraft 22 January 2018

I recently played Peter Blenkharn's game Statecraft, and I wasn't terribly impressed. Here are some ideas that I think might improve it.

[more]
Boardgames at Home, January 2018 19 January 2018 - 3 comments

With a role-playing session cancelled because of non-availability, the people who would have been doing that got together to play some boardgames.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples January 2018 17 January 2018 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Stabcon 2018 11 January 2018

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of January. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 January 2018 09 January 2018

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. We planned for a long day of gaming.

[more]
2017 in boardgames 03 January 2018

2017 was another very boardgame-ful year.

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Boxing Day Boardgames 2017 mark 2 28 December 2017

Since some people were free, we got together on actual Boxing Day as well as "Boxing Day" on the 16th.

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Magic Maze insert 24 December 2017

I picked up Magic Maze and its expansion Maximum Security (as well as some promo tiles) at Essen. But how best to store them, preferably all in one box? To the 3D printer!

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 December 2017 22 December 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey. This time it was a fairly small session; people seem to be in a pre-Christmas sort of mode.

[more]
Boxing Day Boardgames 2017 20 December 2017

On "Boxing Day" because it's a tradition now (i.e. we did it for the last two years), a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames. (Actually we did it a week earlier on St Eusebius of Vercelli's day, because some of couldn't make it on Boxing Day, and then they had colds anyway. Oh well.)

[more]
Thirsty Meeples December 2017 18 December 2017 - 3 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 December 2017 14 December 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Cities of Splendor 09 December 2017

Cities of Splendor is an expansion for Splendor, designed by Marc André.

[more]
Mysterium Secrets and Lies 05 December 2017

The new Secrets & Lies expansion for Mysterium is designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko.

[more]
Dragonmeet 2017 03 December 2017

Back to Dragonmeet, since it was happening. All images are cc-by-sa.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 20 November 2017 26 November 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 November 2017 21 November 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Burgle Bros. 15 November 2017

Burgle Bros., by Tim Fowers, is a cooperative heist game for 1-4 players.

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Mansions of Madness Second Edition, revisited 13 November 2017

I played the new edition of Mansions of Madness last year, and wasn't hugely impressed. But there's now an editor to allow people to write their own scenarios.

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Thirsty Meeples November 2017 09 November 2017 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Essen 2017 haul 07 November 2017

This is what I brought back from Essen. (Things for other people are not included.)

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Essen 2017 05 November 2017 - 4 comments

At the end of October I went back to Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or "Essen" as it's generally known in the boardgaming world.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 16 October 2017 03 November 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples October 2017 01 November 2017 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Tabletop season 4 24 October 2017 - 1 comment

2016, 21 episodes: Wil Wheaton and other minor celebrities play boardgames.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 2 October 2017 22 October 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Alien Frontiers 15 October 2017

Alien Frontiers, designed by Tory Niemann, is a dice-placement game for 2-4 players.

[more]
The Last TringCon, 30 September 2017 07 October 2017

This small one-day boardgaming event happened twice a year in a village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire. This was my sixth visit; I wasn't expecting to get to it, but YSDC Games Day was moved.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples September 2017 01 October 2017

Back to the boardgame café, after a skipped month because of holidays and such like. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 18 September 2017 24 September 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Warehouse 13 Game 16 September 2017

Here's another boardgame kickstarter that may be of interest, based on a television series I quite enjoyed.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 September 2017 06 September 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 21 August 2017 29 August 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Mysterium 23 August 2017 - 2 comments

Mysterium, designed by Oleksandr Nevskiy and Oleg Sidorenko, is a co-operative game of deduction for 2-7 players.

[more]
Colony 15 August 2017

Colony, designed by Ted Alspach, Toryo Hojo and Yoshihisa Nakatsu, is a dice-based resource-building game of post-apocalyptic survival for 2-4 players.

[more]
Colt Express: Fully Loaded 11 August 2017

My Colt Express set has attracted some envious looks. Here's what's gone into it.

[more]
Three boardgame kickstarters 04 August 2017

Here are three current boardgame kickstarters which interested me. Maybe they'll interest you. All offer shipping from within the EU.

[more]
SpringCon 22 July 2017 01 August 2017

Back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 July 2017 30 July 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey

[more]
A Board Game Is For Life 27 July 2017

…not just for Christmas. Or I think it should be.

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Thirsty Meeples July 2017 24 July 2017

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Summer Stabcon 2017 20 July 2017 - 3 comments

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of July. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 July 2017 16 July 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey, on an evening that was slightly cooler but still fairly sweaty.

[more]
Princes of the Renaissance, June 2017 06 July 2017

On a Wednesday night in Cambridge, with the usual GM unable to run the game we'd planned, four of us got together to play Princes of the Renaissance, a Martin Wallace design from 2003 not currently in print.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 19 June 2017 02 July 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey, this time on an excessively hot day.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples June 2017 24 June 2017

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 June 2017 14 June 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2017 06 June 2017 - 3 comments

UK Games Expo continues to expand; the trade hall was still in NEC Hall 1, but all the tournaments which had shared space with it were pushed into one of the other halls at the back. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 17 May 2017 02 June 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey – and, unusually, I was available on a Wednesday for the mid-month meeting.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples May 2017 23 May 2017

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 May 2017 19 May 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey – this time in the absence of our Glorious Leader.

[more]
SpringCon 22 April 2017 15 May 2017

Back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Firefly at home, April 2017 10 May 2017

A second evening Firefly session, again with a time limit though we didn't need it.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples April 2017 03 May 2017

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Flash Point variant solo: it burns, it burns 28 April 2017

I tried a quick Flash Point solo run to try out a new variant I'm working on. With images (cc-by-sa).

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 April 2017 21 April 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
TringCon 1 April 2017 13 April 2017 - 2 comments

This small one-day boardgaming event happens twice a year in a village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire, and has been going for quite a few years. This was my fifth visit.

[more]
Firefly at home, March 2017 06 April 2017

With some of the weekend-games regulars not wanting to play more Firefly, we got together on a weekday evening, again with a time limit.

[more]
Airecon IV 03 April 2017

After the Yog-Sothoth.com crew mentioned this fast-growing convention on Cthulhu Breakfast Club, I thought I'd give it a go even though it was in North. (Harrogate, to be precise.) With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Teaching Splendor 26 March 2017

Today I'll introduce Splendor. Anything in square brackets is to be thought about rather than read aloud.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 March 2017 19 March 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples March 2017 15 March 2017

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples February 2017 11 March 2017

Back to the boardgame café, which was calming down a bit after Christmas. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 6 February 2017 08 March 2017

This Meetup-based boardgames group continues to meet at the Marlow Donkey (now twice a month, though I can't make the Wednesdays). On a wet night the pub was fairly full, though it cleared out quite quickly once we'd arrived. Funny, that.

[more]
Firefly Crime and Punishment: unboxing and first look 04 March 2017

My copy of the Crime and Punishment expansion for Firefly arrived on Thursday.

[more]
Firefly at BBG, January 2017 24 February 2017

I don't usually get to the Bucks Boardgame Group because I'm normally busy of a Tuesday evening, but this time the other thing fell through, and I got in an unusual game of Firefly. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Teaching Grifters 19 February 2017

Today I'll introduce Grifters. Anything in square brackets is to be thought about rather than read aloud.

[more]
Boardgaming At Home, January 2017 16 February 2017 - 2 comments

A seven-, then five-player games session with some larger games that don't come out often enough. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Teaching Coup Rebellion G54 14 February 2017

Today I'll introduce Coup: Rebellion G54. Anything in square brackets is to be thought about rather than read aloud.

[more]
Handycon 2017 12 February 2017

This new convention happened just on the other side of High Wycombe from me, at a hotel that has some conference space. (Why would you choose to have a conference there? I suppose if you applied some sort of travel-time-minimising algorithm and worked out that you got the least total driving that way…)

With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Teaching One Night Revolution 10 February 2017

I've had a certain amount of practice teaching board games, so I'm going to post some of my introductions to them here. These are all put together from multiple sessions, generally at Essen. As a general principle, I have components lying on the table, and point to them and/or pick them up as they are mentioned.

Today I'll introduce One Night Revolution. Anything in square brackets is to be thought about rather than necessarily read aloud.

[more]
Flash Point solo: Let's Try That Again 08 February 2017

Another run of Flash Point, on the two-door map from the base game. This time I decided to go with six firefighters, to give me some leeway for using the non-firefighting roles, in Veteran mode as usual. Photos are taken at the end of each round, six turns.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples January 2017 06 February 2017

Back to the boardgame café on a mildly snowy night. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Stabcon 2017 31 January 2017

This long-running games convention had another instance at the start of January. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Bucks Boardgames pre-new-year games 23 January 2017

This group usually meets on Tuesday evenings, so although they're fairly nearby I hadn't had a chance to join them before. But over the Christmas holiday they met on a Friday afternoon as well.

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Boxing Day Boardgames 2016 19 January 2017

On Boxing Day because it's a tradition now (i.e. we did it last year), a bunch of us without family commitments got together for boardgames. Like the last session here, we stayed together as one big group.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 December 2016 14 January 2017

Third time at the Marlow Donkey and the sixth monthly meeting of this Meetup-based boardgames group.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples December 2016 09 January 2017

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boardgaming in Cambridge, December 2016 03 January 2017 - 1 comment

With role-playing cancelled due to illness, I played some boardgames in Cambridge instead.

[more]
2016 in boardgames 28 December 2016

2016 was a very boardgame-ful year. I didn't plan it that way, but I'm not objecting.

[more]
The Box of Splendor and the Cosmic Pot 25 December 2016 - 4 comments

I continue to design boardgame accessories for 3D printing; these two are for Splendor and Cosmic Encounter. Images are cc-by-sa by RogerBW unless otherwise specified.

[more]
Must Love Board Games 24 December 2016 - 1 comment

2016 short romantic comedy, dir. Travis Hedges Williams, Kacie Barnes, Tyler Grezaffi: IMDb

When Quinn meets David, she has to decide whether he is a worthy suitor: she knows the rules, just as she knows the rules of her favourite games. But he doesn't seem to be following them.

[more]
Flash Point solo: Well-Oiled Machine 23 December 2016

Flash Point is another game I don't get to the table often enough for my taste, so I gave it a solo play one evening. Lots of images (cc-by-sa).

[more]
Leaving Earth Outer Planets solo: Venus is Red, Comrade 16 December 2016

I know, I know. I got my copy of Leaving Earth: Outer Planets back in July, and I haven't had it to the table until now. I was hoping to get some suckers to play it with me, but instead I ran a solo game on a grey Sunday afternoon. (I haven't played any version of Leaving Earth solo before.)

Images were taken on the Powershot A1300 in "custom white balance" mode, under halogen incandescents; I thought it did quite a decent job. As usual, click on images to get the bigger version; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boardgaming At Home, November 2016 12 December 2016

A seven-player games session where we actually stuck with a single group of seven all the way through. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 7 November 2016 10 December 2016

Second time at the Marlow Donkey and the fifth monthly meeting of this Meetup-based boardgames group.

[more]
Leaving Earth 06 December 2016

Leaving Earth, designed by Joe Fatula, is a game of the exploration of the solar system for 1-5 players.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples November 2016 25 November 2016

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Steampunk Rally 21 November 2016

Steampunk Rally, designed by Orin Bishop, is a game of racing bizarre inventions… or a card-drafting, engine-building game that uses a racetrack merely as a way of keeping score.

[more]
Grifters 17 November 2016

Grifters, designed by Jake Tlapek and David Fulton, is a hand-building game of crime syndicates for 2-4 players.

[more]
SpringCon 22 October 2016 09 November 2016

Back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Essen 2016 03 November 2016 - 4 comments

In mid-October I went once more to Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or "Essen" as it's generally known in the boardgaming world.

[more]
YSDC Games Day 5 30 October 2016

Fifth in this series of one-day conventions in bustling metropolitan Baildon (suburban Bradford). All images are cc-by-sa.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples October 2016 28 October 2016

Back to the boardgame café again, on my birthday. There may have been beer beforehand. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 3 October 2016 18 October 2016

Having been evicted from the Two Brewers for not drinking enough, we gathered at the Marlow Donkey for the fourth meeting of this Meetup-based boardgames group.

[more]
Boardgames at the Derehams 14 October 2016 - 4 comments

As part of a sparsely-attended ThamesValley.pm meet, I got some boardgaming done in my local.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples September 2016 07 October 2016

Back to the boardgame café again, on a sweaty evening when we didn't feel like anything terribly complicated. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 5 September 2016 20 September 2016

Back to the Two Brewers on a muggy night, for the third meeting of this Meetup-based boardgames group.

[more]
Mansions of Madness Second Edition 15 September 2016 - 4 comments

Some friends of mine have got the new edition of Mansions of Madness, and I went along to try it out. Spoilers for the "Escape from Innsmouth" scenario.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples August 2016 09 September 2016 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café again. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Flash Point token upgrades 07 September 2016

The various markers in Flash Point Fire Rescue work pretty well, but they're a bit dull and cardboard. Well, they can't help it, poor things. Here's a replacement.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 1 August 2016 05 September 2016

This Meetup group was trying out a new venue, the upstairs room of the Two Brewers in Marlow – which was blessedly free of fashionable lighting.

[more]
SpringCon 23 July 2016 23 August 2016

Back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford, the first one I've got to for a while as it's usually announced at fairly short notice. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Suburbia component enhancements 19 August 2016

I wanted to improve the experience of playing Surburbia, so I designed some organisational aids.

[more]
Boardgaming At Home, July 2016 13 August 2016

A five-player games session on a hot afternoon at home. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples July 2016 05 August 2016 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café again. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Welcome to the Dungeon storage inlay 28 July 2016

Welcome to the Dungeon is an enjoyable short game that's hard to store effectively. I decided to improve this.

[more]
Marlow Tabletop and Board Games 4 July 2016 24 July 2016

This new group is organised via Meetup, and I went along to the initial meeting in the Churchill Tap.

[more]
Summer Stabcon 2016 16 July 2016 - 1 comment

This long-running games convention started off as a Diplomacy gathering. These days it's a blend of board-gaming and roleplaying. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Leaving Earth money board 12 July 2016

As will have become apparent, I'm a big fan of Joe Fatula's boardgame Leaving Earth. The thing that's most fiddly, though, is money: you reset your funds to a standard level at the start of each turn, which means lots of passing paper banknotes back and forth.

[more]
UK Games Expo 2016 06 July 2016 - 4 comments

UK Games Expo continues to expand, and this year moved the trade hall into the NEC for the first time. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples June 2016 19 June 2016

Back to the boardgame café again. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples May 2016 06 June 2016

Having missed a couple of months thanks to busy-ness, we returned to the boardgame café (which appeared to have undergone a complete staff turnover, though some of them are now just working on different days). With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
TringCon 2 April 2016 15 May 2016

This small one-day boardgaming event happens twice a year in a village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire, and has been going for quite a few years. This was my fourth visit.

[more]
Boardgaming At Home, March 2016 18 April 2016

We didn't make it to Thirsty Meeples in March but did manage to get together for a couple of longer games at my place. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Mini-TringCon 6 February 2016 05 April 2016

Mini-TringCons are all-day house gaming events run by the organiser of TringCon, in Deepest Buckinghamshire. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples February 2016 24 March 2016 - 2 comments

Back again to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boxing Day Boardgames 2015 11 March 2016

As the snow rolled in towards Wycombe, we had another session at home. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Exoplanets 27 February 2016

ExoPlanets, designed by Przemysław Świerczyński, is a tile-placement game of developing life on alien planets for 2-4 players.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples January 2016 12 February 2016

After a break thanks to Christmas scheduling clashes, back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Star Realms: Colony Wars 05 February 2016 - 2 comments

Star Realms: Colony Wars, designed (like the original) by Darwin Kastle, is the first "big" expansion for Star Realms. On its own, it's for 2 players.

[more]
Stabcon 2016 26 January 2016

This long-running games convention started off as a Diplomacy gathering. These days it's a blend of board-gaming and roleplaying. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Melee 19 January 2016

Melee, by Rikki Tahta, is the third of the games I was showing off at Essen 2015; it's an area-control wargame for 2-4 players.

[more]
Mini-TringCon 2 January 2016 15 January 2016 - 2 comments

Mini-TringCons are all-day house gaming events run by the organiser of TringCon, in Deepest Buckinghamshire. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Boxing Day Boardgames 2015 08 January 2016 - 2 comments

On Boxing Day because we felt like it, one long game and two shorter ones. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 22 December 2015 02 January 2016 - 2 comments

No Christmas party this year, but a good session in the back room of the Castle Tap. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Dragonmeet 2015 20 December 2015 - 2 comments

On a chilly December morning I went to Dragonmeet again. All images are cc-by-sa.

[more]
St Albans Boardgames Club 28 November 2015 11 December 2015 - 1 comment

St Albans is a bit far away for me to visit regularly, but their boardgames club was having a big Saturday event so I went along. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Kickstarter Watch: shiny dice and others 02 December 2015

Because there is no such thing as "enough dice". (And some other stuff.)

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 24 November 2015 30 November 2015

To the Castle Tap for more games. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
One Night Revolution 24 November 2015

One Night Revolution, by Ted Alspach after Akihisa Okui, is a game of hidden identities, deduction and deception for 3-10 players.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples November 2015 12 November 2015

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Halloween 2015 Eldritch Horror 08 November 2015

For Halloween properly this time, Eldritch Horror again. All images are cc-by-sa.

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 27 October 2015 03 November 2015

Great Expectations again, for a series of short games. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Coup: Rebellion G54 27 October 2015

Coup: Rebellion G54, by Rikka Tahta, is a game of hidden identities, deduction and bluffing for 3-6 players.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples October 2015 21 October 2015

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Essen 2015 13 October 2015 - 1 comment

I'm just back from my third trip to Internationale Spieltage SPIEL, or "Essen" as it's generally known in the boardgaming world. With photos; all are cc-by-sa.

[more]
Firefly Kalidasa: unboxing and first look 03 October 2015

My copy of the Kalidasa expansion to Firefly arrived yesterday. What's inside?

[more]
YSDC Games Day 4 28 September 2015 - 4 comments

Fourth in this series of one-day conventions in bustling metropolitan Baildon (suburban Bradford). All images are cc-by-sa.

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 22 September 2015 23 September 2015

Back at the Great Expectations. Food's not bad, but pricy; beer is much better. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Suburbia Five Star first look 21 September 2015

Suburbia Five Star (or 5★ if you follow the cover style) is the second expansion to Suburbia.

[more]
Mini-TringCon 5 September 2015 06 September 2015

Mini-TringCons are all-day house gaming events run by the organiser of TringCon, in Deepest Buckinghamshire.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples September 2015 02 September 2015 - 4 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Tabletop season 3 28 August 2015

2014-2015, 21 episodes: Wil Wheaton and other minor celebrities play boardgames.

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 25 August 2015 26 August 2015

With the Great Expectations booked by another group, we made one last (?) visit to the Wild Lime. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
SpringCon 22 August 2015 24 August 2015

Back to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford.

[more]
Boardgaming at home, August 2015 16 August 2015

On a somewhat muggy day in August, five of us played two big games.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples August 2015 05 August 2015

Back to the boardgame café, just two of us this time. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 28 July 2015 29 July 2015

Back to Reading, at the Great Expectations (post refurbishment, though the beer quality is still a tad below par).

[more]
Firefly Jetwash and Esmeralda: unboxing and first look 20 July 2015

My copies of the Jetwash and Esmeralda ship boosters for Firefly arrived on Friday. What's inside?

[more]
Reading Boardgames Social 15 July 2015 16 July 2015 - 2 comments

The Wednesday meetings are the main ones, but usually I'm occupied elsewhere. This time I wasn't, and ended up playing a series of small games. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples July 2015 15 July 2015

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
Kickstarter Watch on High Frontier and Nuclear War 10 July 2015 - 1 comment

Two current kickstarter projects hold a distinct appeal, so I thought I'd mention them here.

[more]
Summer Stabcon 2015 06 July 2015 - 3 comments

This long-running games convention started off as a Diplomacy gathering. These days it's a blend of board-gaming and roleplaying. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

[more]
The perils of Off-Table State 01 July 2015

What is off-table state, and why do I complain about it?

[more]
The Tournament Mentality in Gaming 25 June 2015 - 4 comments

There's a certain mentality in games (particularly wargames, but others too) which seems to be associated with tournament play.

[more]
Thirsty Meeples June 2015 03 June 2015

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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UK Games Expo 2015 01 June 2015 - 3 comments

This weekend I was at UK Games Expo, for the third year at the Hilton Metropole near the NEC – though next year it's mostly going to be in the NEC itself. Images follow: cc-by-sa on everything, and click the image for the full-size version.

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SpringCon 23 May 2015 24 May 2015

Back to this this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford.

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Thirsty Meeples May 2015 13 May 2015 - 2 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Reading Boardgames Social 26 April 2015 30 April 2015

Seven of us this time, at the Wild Lime in the drunken quarter of Reading.

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Revolution Tournament at Thirsty Meeples 28 April 2015

With my Men in Black hat on, I conspired with the boardgame café in Oxford to run a Revolution! tournament. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Thirsty Meeples April 2015 15 April 2015 - 3 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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International Tabletop Day 2015 in Reading 12 April 2015

Yesterday was the third International Tabletop Day, and the first time I've got involved in events for it.

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TringCon 28 March 2015 29 March 2015

This small one-day boardgaming event happens twice a year in a village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire, and has been going for quite a few years. This was my third visit.

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Reading Boardgames Social 24 March 2015 25 March 2015

About eleven people, at the Abbot Cook (formerly Jack of Both Sides) in Reading.

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Thirsty Meeples March 2015 04 March 2015

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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SpringCon 28 February 2015 01 March 2015

Back to this this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford, and I kept up my pattern of not winning any game I play.

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Reading Boardgames Social 24 February 2015 25 February 2015

Nine players this time, though a couple had to leave early.

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Firefly: playing the Interceptor 23 February 2015

The Pirates and Bounty Hunters expansion to the Firefly board game brought in two new ships, which are quite different from the standard Firefly. How should they be played?

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Zombicide at Wycombe Warband, February 2015 13 February 2015

I haven't had time to go along to Wycombe Warband since last month, but I was there last night playing Zombicide.

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Thirsty Meeples February 2015 04 February 2015

Back to the boardgame café for two new games and one old one. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Boardgaming at home, January 2015 01 February 2015 - 1 comment

On a chilly January day, nine of us ended up boardgaming at my place. (With images; cc-by-sa on everything.)

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Reading Boardgames Social 27 January 2015 28 January 2015

Since the group is apparently now on Meetup, we got a much bigger meeting than we've sometimes had in the past, around twenty people altogether.

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Thirsty Meeples January 2015 14 January 2015

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Stabcon 2015 05 January 2015 - 2 comments

This long-running games convention started off as a Diplomacy gathering. These days it's a blend of board-gaming and roleplaying. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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New Year's Eve 2014 02 January 2015

To a mate's place in London on New Year's Eve for beer, games and chat.

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Reading Boardgames Social 23 December 2014 24 December 2014

Quite a few people turned up for the Christmas Party (not actually all that party-like though the red bobble hats made an apparance).

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New expansions for The Resistance and Flash Point first look 13 December 2014 - 2 comments

In July I backed the Kickstarters for The Resistance - Hostile Intent & Hidden Agenda and Flash Point: Honor & Duty. My copies have now arrived.

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Dragonmeet 2014 07 December 2014 - 7 comments

On Saturday I spent the day at Dragonmeet, in its new venue at the Ilec Convention Centre round the back of Earl's Court. All images are cc-by-sa.

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Thirsty Meeples December 2014 03 December 2014

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything. (From the grotty mobile phone camera rather than the usual one, sorry.)

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Reading Boardgames Social 25 November 2014 26 November 2014

We got up to five with another newcomer, and mostly played Avalon.

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Boardgames in the Brewery 23 November 2014 24 November 2014

Daryl of the Reading Boardgames Social organised a day of boardgaming at the Siren Craft Brewery, on an industrial estate in the middle of nowhere south of Reading.

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Thirsty Meeples November 2014 05 November 2014 - 3 comments

Back to the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Revolution! Anarchy: first look 04 November 2014

Revolution! Anarchy is the new 5-6 player expansion to Revolution!.

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Halloween 2014 Mansions of Madness 02 November 2014

For Halloween, or at least All Saints', a friend hosted a session of Mansions of Madness, a game I'd heard about but never played. All images are cc-by-sa.

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Reading Boardgames Social 28 October 2014 29 October 2014

Four of us this time including two newcomers to the group, and we played a series of lightweight games.

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Firefly storage 12 October 2014

After the Blue Sun expansion to Firefly arrived, the inlay (which had been overflowing a bit already) was clearly inadequate; I needed a new way of storing the bits.

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Thirsty Meeples October 2014 08 October 2014 - 5 comments

Back to three players, and a reserved table, at the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Firefly Blue Sun: unboxing and first look 30 September 2014 - 4 comments

My copy of the Blue Sun expansion to Firefly arrived yesterday. What's inside?

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TringCon 27 September 2014 28 September 2014

This small one-day boardgaming event happens twice a year in a village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire, and has been going for quite a few years. This was my second visit, and probably the last autumn one I'll get to for a while as it will clash in future with YSDC Games Day.

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Reading Boardgames Social 23 September 2014 24 September 2014

Quite a small meeting this time, just three of us. (The main meetings are on two Wednesdays a month, but I have role-playing commitments then.)

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YSDC Games Day 3 22 September 2014

Third in this series of one-day conventions in bustling metropolitan Baildon (suburban Bradford), and a shift to a new time of year. All images are cc-by-sa.

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Social Deduction Games 13 September 2014

Quite a lot of games have some sort of hidden identity component: for example, Lords of Waterdeep and Discworld: Ankh-Morpork both deal each player a random role which then gives them a secret way of winning the game; Battlestar Galactica and Shadows over Camelot, while nominally cooperative, may assign a traitor role to one or more players; and the UFO faction in Illuminati can even covertly choose which victory condition to aspire to. But some games are entirely about the hidden roles and working out who's got which, and I seem to have been playing a lot of them lately.

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SpringCon 30 August 2014 31 August 2014 - 2 comments

Yesterday was my first visit to this small quarterly boardgames convention in Watford.

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Reading Boardgames Social 26 August 2014 27 August 2014

I've missed a few Reading sessions lately (with holidays and such). This time, with just three of us present, we played Dead of Winter.

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Uxbridge Boardgames 24 August 2014 25 August 2014

First meeting I've got to for a while, inspired by the bank holiday.

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Dead of Winter unboxing and first look 22 August 2014 - 2 comments

My copy of Dead of Winter has finally arrived; I pre-ordered it in December of last year. With images; cc-by-sa on everything insofar as I'm able to assert it.

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Boardgame Cafe in London 12 August 2014

I've been to Thirsty Meeples in Oxford quite a bit. Now there's a boardgame café set to open in London.

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Cornish Smuggler 06 August 2014 - 2 comments

No room at the boardgame café, so we ended up with some three-sided games at my place. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures 31 July 2014

Star Wars X-Wing is clearly designed to be a gateway game, encouraging players to buy lots of expansions. As I'm probably going to do. But before then, how well does it do at being playable out of the box?

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Indie Boards and Cards 2014 kickstarters 23 July 2014

People who know me will be aware that I'm an enthusiastic player of several of the games published by Indie Boards and Cards. They currently have Kickstarter projects running for two of them.

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Summer Stabcon 2014 07 July 2014

This long-running games convention started off as a Diplomacy gathering. These days it's a blend of board-gaming and roleplaying. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Thirsty Meeples July 2014 02 July 2014 - 2 comments

Another two-player session last night, trying new games at the boardgame café. With images; cc-by-sa on everything.

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Boardgaming at home, June 2014 16 June 2014

Finally, a chance to play Firefly on a table that's big enough for the game! (With images; cc-by-sa on everything.)

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Thirsty Meeples June 2014 04 June 2014

This time we tried a variety of shortish two-player games at this boardgame café, playing each of them twice just to get the hang of the basics.

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UK Games Expo 2014 02 June 2014 - 3 comments

On Saturday I spent the day at UK Games Expo, still alas at the Hilton Metropole near the NEC.

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Reading Boardgames Social 27 May 2014 28 May 2014

Feels like a very long time since the last of these.

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Firefly: The Artful Dodger 23 May 2014

In the Firefly board game, the Artful Dodger is an optional add-on ship. Is it worth picking?

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Firefly Pirates and Bounty Hunters: first look 09 May 2014

My hopes for the Pirates and Bounty Hunters expansion to Firefly were that it would increase interaction between players and make runaway victories more difficult. My copy arrived yesterday. At first glance, how does it do?

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Thirsty Meeples 6 May 2014 07 May 2014

This boardgame café has recently opened in Oxford, and I went along with some friends to try it out.

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Reading Boardgames Social 22 April 2014 23 April 2014 - 3 comments

This time it was just Firefly.

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TringCon 5 April 2014 06 April 2014

This small one-day boardgaming event happens twice a year in a village hall in Deepest Buckinghamshire, and has been going for quite a few years. This was my first visit.

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Reading Boardgames Social 25 March 2014 26 March 2014

A short session this time as I was a bit weary. New venue, just re-opened that day after an emergency closure which hadn't done the beer much good, and mildly tricky to get to with Reading Station being rebuilt nearby.

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Reading Boardgames Social 25 February 2014 26 February 2014

This group usually meets on Wednesday evenings, which I can't make, but has one Tuesday a month.

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Uxbridge Boardgames 23 February 2014 24 February 2014 - 1 comment

Since a planned session at home had to be called off, I went along to Uxbridge for an afternoon of games.

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Uxbridge Boardgames 2 February 2014 03 February 2014

Thanks to Manuel, the group has survived the loss of its coffee-bar venue; we met at his home. I played six different games, and enjoyed them all in different ways.

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Firefly the game 11 January 2014

Firefly is a 1-5 player boardgame of travelling through space, taking jobs, trying to make enough money to keep flying. I played it on the Sunday of Stabcon and bought a copy before the game was over. What's good about it?

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