Need to make a correction to the above entry about the mini-con. KOREACON is now scheduled for 1100, 12 December. The primary events will include RPG...
Tom: Theme is not strong enough of a word when dealing with Betrayal at House on the Hill; the word "atmosphere" is much better, as this game is absolutely...
Elchfest (Kosmos, Hermann Huber - 1999) is probably the most simple game of the Kosmos two-player series. In fact, it's probably one of the simplest games I...
Some of the Alea Big Box series are my favorite games (Chinatown and Ra), while others I think are merely good. But one thing is for sure, I haven't played...
In my opinion, Spinergy is one of the most underrated party games created. It's in my top ten, and certainly one of the most creative I've ever played. See...
I stand by my opinion that Ticket to Ride is THE gateway game - the best game to introduce to folk who aren't game enthusiasts. Every time I teach it, I have...
There were a lot of games released in the Essen fair of 2004, many of them quite excellent and many of them receiving quite a bit of press before the fair. A...
It's amazing how many times a year I play Age of Steam, considering that it's a game with a decent length and isn't what most people would consider a "light"...
Any company that is producing a card game (and there are a lot of them!) should follow the standard set by daVinci Games. I first saw their new style box with...
I don't normally enjoy abstract strategy games. I think many of them are beautiful; the strategy in many of them is quite undeniable - I just don't find them...
When I played Old Maid as a child, I felt immediate hatred for the game. Not necessarily the game play, which was merely blasé, but because of that accursed...
There were a lot of things occurring in the year 2004. The Presidential elections in the USA caused quite a ruckus, as did various other political events....
I've never played any of the Empire Rails series. For some reason, the "crayon-rail" games never had any massive appeal to me, but at the same time I wasn't...
When I read an interview of Martin Wallace on www.gamefest.com in mid 2004, I first saw mention of his game Struggle of Empires (Warfrog, 2004 - Martin...
Some games get unbelievable hype before they come out, especially if they are about a popular subject or theme. War of the Ring (Fantasy Flight Games and...
I love games and therefore am interested in people who are involved with games - whether they be designers, producers, sellers, or just simply enthusiasts....
Carcassonne has become quite the franchise in the past several years. On Boardgamegeek, I can pull up twelve different entries for the game, and five of them...
Recently I reviewed Dancing Dice, where I stated, "It's a lot simpler than Yahtzee, but the basic gist is the same where players try to roll different...
Interviews by an Optimist #2 - Francesco Nepitello Francesco is one of the three designers of the recent massively popular War of the Rings game, produced by...
Interviews by an Optimist #3 - Eric Hautemont Eric Hautemont gives this mini-autobiography... "Born playing "Risk" when it was still sub-titled 'La Conquete du...
I've always had a soft spot for Formula De, because its cool dice and boards helped bring me back into the boardgaming fold from my affair with miniatures and...
Hi Tom, I recently purchased M44 here in Korea and played it a few times with my some colleagues and it went over very well! Anyway, I loved this piece, Tom....
Interviews by an Optimist #4- Adam Hill Adam runs the online board game store www.Gamefest.com. Besides being an excellent place to buy games, Gamefest,...
Trick-taking games always need some kind of gimmick to make them interesting, to me at least. There's so many of them that a game has to have some new and...
Interviews by an Optimist #5 - Greg Aleknevicus Greg Aleknevicus is a computer programmer living in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. He has written for...
Spooks: the Haunting Mystery Game (Hootie Games, 2002 - Paul Koch) is a bad Clue rip-off with a terrible rule problem. That, my friends, is all I should have...
Blood Feud in New York (Eagle Games and Rebel Forge, 2004 - Chris Toepker and Kyle Weinandy) took me by surprise. I usually keep an eye on upcoming Eagle...
Interviews by an Optimist #6 - Bruno Faidutti Bruno Faidutti is well known in the gaming world for his many game designs. He has designed over a dozen games...
7 Ages (Australian Design Group, 2004 - Harry Rowland), is one of the few games I've ever purchased knowing nothing about the game. I'm not even sure why I...
Howdy, After talking to one of your esteemed members, a Mr. Tom Vasel, I decided to join this group. Send me anything you want. Me and my friend feel...
