Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Hello youse.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what I wrote last week – particularly that part about how we move new people into playing board games. It seems so fucking weird that I care. I’m trying to place myself in the shoes of someone who doesn’t give a shit about board games. They’re looking at me, I’m sure, thinking “Why can’t I just not like this crap? Can you please allow me to not like this childish crap?” But I’m getting weird about it. I think society needs more people playing games together at one table in one room. I think it might be a vital thing.

This week, I want to try to attack this thing head-on.
Read the rest of this entry »

2. Hello youse.
3. It strikes me that we haven’t done a LIST PIECE in a while, and that’s a little bit crazy. After all, everyone loves lists. Many of the most popular written pieces on the internet are purely lists. And nothing encourages debate more than a good list.
4. “Hey, did you see that list?” “I can’t believe what was number one on that list!” “That list is ridiculous! I am so outraged by the order of listed items on that list!”
5. That kind of thing.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

Listen. I’ve escaped from the jaws of Apple. If an apple can have jaws, that is. My household went a bit Apple-mad for a while there. I had an iPhone, my girlfriend had an iPhone, we bought an iPad for the living room table. I mean, we didn’t go INSANE or anything. It’s not like we did anything totally stupid like buying a Mac. But still, we were on board the Apple train like a couple of silly pips. That’s all changed, though. The iPhones are gone, because they were shite. We now never ever again have to use iTunes, a piece of software so hopelessly awful the timer programming on my microwave laughs at it.

But we still have the iPad. And it was on that iPad I played Talisman: Prologue. Why is this relevant to you? Why is this relevant to the Rock Paper Shotgun PC Master Race Gatekeepers Of Joy And Light? Well, it’s also a PC game. And Talisman: Prologue will be followed this summer by a game called Talisman: Digital Edition. And that’s coming to PC too, probably on Steam. And in this way we “do an introduction” to our “column”.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

We haven’t talked about Blood Bowl properly yet, have we? Let’s correct that shit right now. What kind of board game column is this if we haven’t even talked about Blood Bowl?

You want to talk about all things Blood Bowl? Cool. Me too.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

You all know how I feel about Talisman. If you don’t, you can read my giant Talisman piece here.

You back? What do you mean you didn’t even go? Okay, I’ll recap here for you. I love Talisman so much and I want to kiss it. That’s pretty much the size of it. So let’s look at Relic, the new Warhammer 40K-themed Talisman from Fantasy Flight. You know how I feel about Warhammer stuff, don’t you? What? You don’t?!

You really don’t know me at all, do you?
Read the rest of this entry »

1. NEW GAMERS JOURNAL – INTRODUCTION

See the Raven.

Watch the Raven as it watches you.

Time is running out for you. The Raven, one of many, will watch forever. Your eyes, however, will close.

Welcome to this week’s column about board games.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

In this first part of my series about bringing new people into board gaming, I invite you to join me in the process. We’re doing something special here. If you get even ONE more person playing these games, you’ve done them a service and you’ve done board game designers a service. You’ll essentially be a superhero. It will, quite literally, be the best thing you have ever done and the greatest thing you’ve ever achieved. That’s how crappy your life is.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

An interlude. I need to talk to you about Minigame Library, Level 99′s collection of small games in one box. I haven’t played all the games yet (there are 6 in total) but I’ve played enough to make my decision on whether or not you should pick this up. And you should. You really really should. Let me tell you why in a column I like to call “EVENTUALLY I GET TO MY POINT AND JUST SAY THIS – PLAY INFINITY DUNGEON”.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

When you want to initiate someone you like into the great hobby we call PLAYING BOARD GAMES AND DRINKING AND EATING AND TALKING you have to make some very special preparations. You get one shot at this, and one shot alone. It goes without saying that the first thing you do is make sure that Carcassonne is not involved in the process at any point, because this bland, unsexy game will kill your attempt immediately. Once you’re sure of avoiding that mistake, you can move onto my tips for seducing your friends and lovers with cardboard
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

Not every game needs to be perfect. Flaws are a good thing. Some of my favourite films, albums, video games and people are those ones with major flaws. Indeed, with board games, there is a danger that we all slide down the one safety chute, and all end up playing the same things. This is bad and harmful and will not advance board game design at all. Can I rant on this? Let me rant a bit on this.
Read the rest of this entry »

Hello youse.

After my enormous Talisman column last week, I thought it might be nice to take a little breather and just take a quick look at what’s happening on the board game scene right now. Last year, thanks to Kickstarter and such, there were almost too many new board games filling the shelves on a weekly basis. And this year looks no different. It is, quite frankly, exhausting. And only Elton John has a house big enough to hold all those board games. And he’s too bad-tempered to play them.
Read the rest of this entry »