Since moving back to Singapore and as a game-schooling advocate, I have thought long and hard about what games gain the most traction in the local “mainstream” market. Part of that conversation revolves around how games can teach our kids about the culture they have been born into. As my six and seven year old grow more aware of their Asian identity, it's important for me that they see representations of our Asian-ness in all the different facets of their lives, including the games that we play. To that end, I sought to discover what makes a modern Asian board game and came up with a framework to evaluate those games.

For this exercise, we will put aside production location as a factor, since most board games are manufactured by the world’s factory, China. Instead, Xeo Lye* from Capital Gains Studio, feels that “Asian board games combine the theme, mechanics, and a reflection of Asian habits, culture, and religion into game design”. In fact he would go so far as to say that “Asian published games designed by non-Asian designers and…

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Now, don’t get me wrong. You may have read the title of this article and thought I was going to straight dunk on a whole swath of digital games. And you’re damn right I am. But for the sake of argument, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why this style of digital play has become popular.

Why Are Physics-Driven Game Systems Popular? And Also, Uh, What Are They Again?

Depending on how much of a nerd you are, you may be familiar with the idea of a physics engine. If you aren’t, I’ll sum it up for you as quick as I can: video games need rules to tell them how objects interact. If this sword is dropped, what happens? If you crash into this wall, what happens? If you throw a wheel of cheese at this child, what happens? The physics engine is responsible for setting the rules…

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[mks_pullquote align="left" width="300" size="24" bg_color="#b2b2b2" txt_color="#ffffff"]“to have an effective discussion, we must agree upon our terms”.[/mks_pullquote]

So why do we game? The short answer: because it’s fun. But what constitutes fun? To paraphrase one of my favorite podcasters on The Secret Cabal, “to have an effective discussion, we must agree upon our terms”. Something that is fun generates some level of happiness within us; physiologically it activates the pleasure centers within our brains. Therein lies the difficulty in defining fun. We can universally describe how fun feels and we can discuss its effects, but determining its cause is a different story. Each of us may have a different idea of what activities generate the enjoyment that we call fun.

This leads me to the intersection of enjoyment and motivation. If a thing…

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Marcus Cathey

How do you feel about Monopoly?

I loved Monopoly growing up and still have fond feelings. I’ve always been a gamer, of all types, and Monopoly and Stratego were the heroes of my board gamer psyche in the 80’s-90’s. Monopoly was easier to get to the table and saved my little brother and cousins from boredom during a few school summers. I would see the $400 Franklin Mint version adverts in the local newspaper and dream of saving up my money for it. I finally received (and still have) the 60th Anniversary Edition. This edition seemed so special with its alternate old-timey looking artwork and color scheme. Unfortunately, we left a potato chip crumb in the folded up board and it caused a very unseemly oil stain.

Could you share a lasting memory of Monopoly?

Those games with my cousins were very cutthroat, except we always cheated before the end of the game. Especially the banker. If you went for a snack or a bathroom break, the banker might slip some money to the other players as hush money. An…

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But you know what? I don’t think this attitude is fair and there’s a strong argument to be made that it’s actually harmful to the hobby. Let’s take a deep dive into the good and the bad of Monopoly and explore why an ugly attitude doesn’t help anyone.

1) The Good: In Praise of Monopoly

Monopoly’s long-lasting popularity isn’t just down to effective business practices and marketing - there’s substance behind its survival. Modern Monopoly was published in 1933; it should be admired for its continuing capacity to please. It’s even been commended for its accessibility, with the individual playing pieces easy to distinguish by almost anyone.

Monopoly was easily the best game of the 1930s and for several decades following.  Old video games are revered despite their flaws, old board games despised because of them. Older cars are cherished as vintage. Dismissing Monopoly for those reasons alone is like suggesting that Nintendo’s Ocarina of Time was rubbish because Breath of the Wild exists now. Perhaps we need to remember Monopoly’s…

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I was never very close to my paternal grandmother. She was a second generation German, a devout woman who was both strict and idiosyncratic in ways that made her hard to be close to. After her husband died and her health began to decline, my father helped her move from Philadelphia out to southeast Minnesota where we lived.

[caption id="attachment_12628" align="alignnone" width="952"] (My brother John (left) and myself, circa 1994. Game: Tens from Waddingtons Games.)[/caption]

From that point on we saw a lot of her, but the relationship always felt more dutiful than anything else. She was a constant presence at family holidays, gatherings, and even just weekly visits. Here was a woman some 65 years my senior who still showed the signs of growing up in the depression-era, a woman who believed straight-laced and well-groomed equalled good and moral and intelligent. To 10-year-old ragamuffin me she may as well have been from another planet.

I obediently hugged her at every visit, counting the seconds until I was free to race back to my bedroom and my bucket of G.I. Joes, Battle Beasts, and Dino Riders. That is, until I realized something: she was the one person in…

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[caption id="attachment_10296" align="aligncenter" width="648"] Shyness can be gripping and overwhelming.[/caption]

Wait. Shy and extroverted, is that possible? Yes, in fact, these two personality traits have little to do with one another. Introversion describes a desire for quiet, low-stimulation environments; introverts recharge by time spent alone. Shyness, on the other hand, is a fear of negative judgment. Shyness often presents itself as low self-esteem, fear of rejection, or acute self-consciousness; often cripplingly so.

These two aspects of my personality conflict less than you might imagine. I feel no shyness around people I already know, so social gatherings with friends only fuel my extroverted needs. Additionally, I have no issues with social situations with strangers as long as I’m not put on the spot: a large crowded party is great as long as I don’t have to engage with a bunch of unfamiliar faces. When they do conflict is in meeting new people. I’ve moved…

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Regardless, Battlestar Galactica is definitely one of the greatest board games ever. If a board game is that good, people will find a way to play it.

If you frequently visit BoardGameGeek, you’ll notice that their forums can be pretty active. What you might not have noticed is that many games have a Play by Forum section. Dedicated gamers don’t like to let distance or lack of time stop them from playing, so they look for new opponents and ways to play. Thanks to Fantasy Flight Games’ generous cooperative stance with the BSG community, as long as you own a copy of the game, you can play it in the forum with other game owners.

Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game is one of the most played games on BoardGameGeek's forums. Since March 2009, over 600 games have been verifiably played this way. That doesn't count the harder to quantify number of variant games, which stray too far from the original rules. The only game that came close is A Game of Thrones: The Board Game (Second…

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This is the story of my first GenCon. This year would be my second, but my wife Jennifer and I opted to not go due to recently welcoming our new son into the world. Even though we’re not going this year, a lot of lessons were learned that someone thinking about GenCon might find useful. Even though some of the new hotness here has already become the old hotness, the lessons learned are just as applicable today as they were last year. So, sit back as I share my experiences and the things that I learned...

Gen Con has been billed as the “best four days in gaming”, but is it really? Having never been to one before, I envisioned massive crowds of smelly people zombie shuffling past communist Russia sized lines of consumers waiting to buy games. Just the thought of that filled me with dread. The way that Gen Con had been described to me was as one massive orgiastic buying frenzy with very little room or time for any kind of open gaming. That didn’t sound particularly appealing to me either. So it was that we set out for Indianapolis, filled with doubt and pretty certain that this would be our only GenCon ever.

Wednesday, August 16th, 2017

While our initial intention was to get up at some…

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[caption id="attachment_8621" align="alignleft" width="144"] Uwe Rosenberg as The Coen Brothers[/caption]

Uwe Rosenberg = The Coen Brothers: Start off in a difficult situation, it continually gets more difficult, and the best you can do is try to finish off better than everyone else

Stefan Feld = Wes Anderson: Every design is different (and perfectly symmetrical), but when you see one, you know it’s a Feld

Corey Koneizcka = Martin Scorcese: Intense narrative arcs, sweeping drama, and you can bet there is probably going to be some killing

[caption id="attachment_8622" align="alignright" width="157"] Eric Lang as Quentin Tarantino[/caption]

Eric Lang = Quentin Tarantino: Somewhat polarizing, designs are often inspired by older designs

Reiner Knizia…

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If you’ve never attended a board game con, check out our Board Gamer’s Guide to Board Game Conventions for suggestions on where to start.

Part of the Scene

This past Christmas I was given tickets to Dice Tower Con. Located right here in Florida, it was a hop, skip, and a jump for me. I was excited to finally be going to a gaming convention and, as a blogger, to get to meet some people as well. My 5 year old daughter immediately announced that she would not be left behind. Someway, somehow, she was going, too! As the months passed, the excitement began to build.

Then it all came crashing down as I began seeing things that turned my excitement into building dread. Accusations of…

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If you’ve ever spent time in game stores you’ve seen a group or two rolling dice, reading books, and using strange voices. You’ve probably even read a couple of our own RPG (role-playing game) articles here, here or, (my favorite) here , and wondered what it was like to play in these worlds. As an avid RPGer I can tell you I love it. While there are rules to follow, both mechanically and in the setting, playing an RPG is more about telling a story. You create a character that can be nothing like you or exactly like you. You explore their story and relationships in a fantastical world. You can sling spells, swing a mighty axe, throw deadly daggers, release dangerous arrows, and so much more. In RPGs the only thing that limits what you can do are not a game board and pieces but your imagination. Explore vast tombs, fight an ancient dragon, seduce the king, or steal from a bar patron. Whatever it is your character enjoys you can try it in an RPG.

[caption id="attachment_7566" align="aligncenter" width="1536"] Sitting in the GMs seat ready to lead the players on an adventure.[/caption]

One of the best places to be introduced to tabletop roleplaying games is a place we’re…

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It’s the fall of 2014 and a man in his late 30s is glued to his controller at 3am, traversing a beautiful landscape rendered before his eyes as he hunts, shoots, skins, rappels, drives, and hanglides his way to freeing the land from a tyrannical group of rebels. The game: Far Cry 4. The man: isn’t it obvious? Me. Back then, this was the pinnacle of my solo video gaming experience. A meticulously-crafted world where anything and everything could be done. There was no one direct path to victory, no 'right' way to do anything.

But to quote Ferris Bueller, “It's like a museum. It's very beautiful, and very cold, and you're not allowed to touch anything.”

Like most of us, I love to play games. It wasn't always just video games, they’re simply the shiniest and most accessible option available. As with every modern pop culture passion, the genesis of my love of gaming begins in the 80s (doesn't everything begin in the 80s?). Starting with the classic board games we all played as kids (Monopoly, Life, Candyland), to the more seemingly esoteric (Miles Bornes, Dark Tower, Crossbows and Catapults); board games became a particular obsession for me. Any chance my brother and I had, we'd break out…

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