Dice Tower West 2022: Board games in Las Vegas

Dice Tower West 2022: Board games in Las Vegas

My husband and I were going back and forth on attending Dice Tower West last weekend as it would be the first major convention we’d attend since the start of the pandemic. I had previously attended Consimworld in person last summer, but that was only about 200 gamers — Dice Tower West is probably nearly …

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Red Cathedral: Building church walls in Russia

Red Cathedral: Building church walls in Russia

This review of Red Cathedral was featured on Episode 118 of The Five By. Check out the rest of the episode, which also features Lost Ruins of Arnak, Cat Sudoku, Dice Miner and Dale of Merchants. In 2020, an unassuming board game that came in a box about the size of a medium hardcover book …

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Consimworld 2021: Attending A Convention Again

Consimworld 2021: Attending A Convention Again

A few weeks ago, on Aug. 28-Sept. 4, Consimworld held its annual convention in Tempe, and it was my first in-person convention since late 2019 because of the pandemic. My friends and I were going back and forth about attending something like this in person, and after attending the first day, we felt safe enough …

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Friendship Con 2021: Atlanta

Friendship Con 2021: Atlanta

My buddies and I try to meet up every year for our mini-convention affectionally dubbed Friendship Con. I couldn’t make it in 2019, and, for obvious reasons, a 2020 convention didn’t happen. Earlier this month though, we did manage to make plans and meet in Atlanta, where one attendee lives, and game together for nearly …

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Pusheen Purrfect Pick: Perfect game for new gamers

Pusheen Purrfect Pick: Perfect game for new gamers

This review of Pusheen Purrfect Pick was featured on Episode 108 of The Five By.  Check out the rest of the episode, which also features aco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza, Lucky Numbers, Ginkgopolis and Burgle Bros 2. The American Tabletop Awards recently announced their top games for 2020 in four categories: Early Gamers, Casual Games, Strategy …

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Brave Little Belgium: The WWI little army that could

Brave Little Belgium: The WWI little army that could

This review of Brave Little Belgium was featured on Episode 105 of The Five By.  Check out the rest of the episode, which also features Codinca, Root: The Marauder Expansion, Dice Throne and Concept. Every so often there’s a discussion online about how to bring in more diversity to wargaming and how to make wargames more …

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The Field of the Cloth of Gold: Giving gifts even when you don’t want to

The Field of the Cloth of Gold: Giving gifts even when you don’t want to

Dear readers — Happy 2021! As you may have noticed, I didn’t end last year with a recap of the best games I’ve played in 2020 because, to be honest, I didn’t play too many new games last year and overall just felt so drained and uninspired. 2020 was such a bleak year for many, …

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Hanamikoji: Getting charm points with the geishas

Hanamikoji: Getting charm points with the geishas

This review of Hanamikoji was featured on Episode 102 of The Five By. Check out the rest of the episode, which also features Forbidden Desert, Sorcerer City, Chai and Just One. There was a time in my life when my two-player games sat unplayed on my shelves. But since 2020, the year that none of …

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San Diego Historical Con 2020: Wargamers go online

San Diego Historical Con 2020: Wargamers go online

With in-person conventions falling by the wayside this year because of the global pandemic, a spate of online conventions have been cropping up. Last weekend, the San Diego Historical Games Convention — or SDHistCon for short — made the jump into the virtual convention world, and, as someone who has never been able to go …

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