I was recently in the US for a conference, and while there I decided to finally pick up a Steam Deck, which is hard to find in New Zealand. This is my review of [spoiler] a pretty amazing gaming device.
In terms of gaming, there were a few "problems" I wanted to solve.
Time to play
First, I wa...
A gaming miniature usually has a base it stands on so that the miniature doesn't tip over during your game. After you paint a miniature, the finishing touch is to clean up the base, because inevitably paint has splattered on to it as you've been painting. Some people decorate the base with tiny shru...
Wargaming and, to a lesser extent, tabletop RPG poses an interesting data management problem when it comes to miniatures. The challenge is that your imaginary player character can have an infinite variety of weapons and adventuring gear, but the little plastic miniature (or paper token, or whatever...
I decided that during 2024, I'd create one game every month. This month, I've created Magic slinger, a game using the assets of the Grimslinger: Duels box.
Grimslinger: Duels is a game that I bought on a salesperson's recommendation that seemed promising, and ultimately turned out to be not v...
I've been having a lot of fun playing the narrative campaign of Space Station Zero by Adam Loper and Vince Venturella, and this is my review of the game. The rules are, impressively, just 44 pages out of its total 120 pages. You read about 20 pages for the rules (after which, you've learned everyt...
I've collected five or six small armies for wargaming, but I'm still new to the hobby. I've (maybe slower than I should have) noticed some patterns about the process of preparing an army. These are the 5 steps I'm trying to take while planning to assemble an army.
1. Research lore
When I'm think...
Dark Cults by Kenneth Rahman was published by Dark House in 1983. It contained 108 cards, came in a plastic ziplock bag, and even got an extension pack later on. It's my all-time favourite game, not just for its clever mechanics but for its atmosphere and interactive creativity.
At the start of t...
Do you have an irrational fear of painting miniatures, because you just know you'll mess it up? I had the same problem, and still do every time I sit down with a freshly primed miniature. Unpainted, the miniature is basically perfect. It's just really really plain. But perfect. And when you start pa...
Many of us tabletop roleplayers tend to categorise ourselves, and others, into two groups: role players and roll players. The implication is that you either prefer acting out the conversations and emotions of your character, or else you prefer to keep distant from your character's inner workings...
Published by Atlas Games, Dungeoneer is a dungeon crawler that uses a deck of cards for tiles. This is a big deal if you've got limited space or you travel a lot, because there's a lot of game in this simple 104 (or thereabouts) card deck. The game is out of print now, as far as I can tell, bu...
If you've played a popular RPG like Pathfinder, Tales of the Valiant, or anything in with direct D&D lineage, then you know that there are at least two modes of the game. First, there's the roleplaying mode. When you're roleplaying, you pretend to talk to non-player characters and you make choic...
Imagine a far future where space travel is trivial, mercenary missions are determined by a random table, and your wargame rules use a d20. Sound unlikely? It's all real, and it's a wargame by Andrea Sfiligoi called Rogue Stars, published by the ever-reliable Osprey Games.
Rogue Stars is a 64-pa...
I decided that during 2024, I'd reinvent one game every month. This month, I sat down with a game I've regretted buying to see whether I could make it fun.
Years ago, I asked an employee at a big game store about some games for 2 players. One game is quite well known, with lots of awards and posit...
The Fallout video games are the story of a desolate and dangerous post-apocalyptic world. Each Fallout is a computer RPG known by varying degrees for branching story paths, player agency, a unique real-time yet turn-based combat system, and character customization. The board game attempts to...
My first experiences in hobby shops (specifically, but not exclusively, a Warhammer store) were not great. And yet some of my best experiences in the hobby have happened in a Warhammer store. I think there's a secret to turning a geeky hobby, like building and paintng 28mm toy soldiers so you can pl...
In my review of the Mansions of Madness board game, I noted that you could play the game with one player running the mansion, making up a story, while other players could play the characters. Like in an RPG. There are a few games like this, but the ones I own and enjoy are Mansions of Madness an...