We're now on Round 2 (with 32 games) in my podcast's annual Mark Madness voting/predicting contest. It's about individual designer "versus" designer teams of various types. Predictions are now closed but EVERYONE can vote for the games they want to win. Please do!
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/375...
Voting for favorite/best boardgames is now open in my Mark Madness 2026 bracket. This year it’s themed/grouped by designer teams.
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/375...
Whoa, you also played Africa, Mel? I thought only retro-boardgamers like me did that! This Knizia was my first game of the day
The 64-boardgame "bracket" for this year's Madness-style single elim prediction & voting contest. Each division of 16 titles has games centered around Germany/Kramer, America/Moon, France/Cathala, or Italy/various
My boardgame podcast's own version of March Madness is up. This year we've set it up around pairs & teams of designers: Kramer & Kiesling, Moon & Weissblum, Cathala & Faidutti, Luciani & others.
Make a prediction or just vote for favorites in the upcoming rounds
boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/370...
The Kansas legislature passed new laws that persecute transgender citizens by invalidating their driver's licenses. That leads to many problems. It's targeted cruelty, plain & simple.
Neighbor state Colorado has good people helping others to leave Kansas. I donated.
www.zeffy.com/en-US/donati...
Over on threads someone just use ai;dr and we all need to adopt that right quick
No, it sure doesn’t. But still—thank you for pointing this out. It’s exactly what I’m looking for…other than its poor reputation and overlong gameplay. :)
Ah yes! A similar system to her Agricola game about early Britain? I liked that one.
But what else? Are there no more games about Charlemagne? Nothing about Cologne? I remember a card game about Frankfurt from 10+ years ago.
Also, reading about some German history reminded me of In The Shadow of the Emperor, which features electors around here (Dioceses of Trier, Köln, Mainz, plus County Palatinate of the Rhein). Or the much more recent German history in Wir Sind das Volk.
Ok, Boardgame Bluesky, give me some ideas about boardgames that relate to this area of the modern, German (mostly) map. I've thought about Charlemagne (Aachen), which leads me to Carolus Magnus, and (sort of) Web of Power with its older countries/kingdoms. What else?
My online gaming never slowed down. Mostly old favorites in November, but a few new tries, too.
After a month or two without as much in-person gaming, November was a good bounceback. Helped a lot by @sdhistcon.bsky.social and @geekyteas.bsky.social . Sentimental favorite was playing Hanabi with my family again after a long absence.
That’s where I watched it. A pleasant surprise!
Tilt? Stall? I’m not even a pilot and you guys are killing me with this stuff. :-)
Crazy talk
Games played in September. It was an unusual month—these are almost all online, inc a bunch played live with friends & audio. Great to play Pergamon and Bohnanza again.
Introduced this favorite to some newer boardgamers recently. I was worried they would find it too light, too random. The research points are just a *touch* fiddly. But fortunately they seemed to like it.
Organized another online game day for listeners of my podcast. Another fun time with some great titles & friends.
Yes, but unfortunately we tried Southern Rails with only three players. Definitely needs more.
A whole bunch of online boardgaming, though. Loves getting back to Dragonheart, joining faves Tuscany & SS+P. Also enjoyed revisiting History of the World. One “history game” on the list, Wir Sind das Volk, was another fun revisit.
A lighter month of August for in-person gaming. I really loved getting to play Die Fugger and Krass Kariert again. Endeavor Deep Sea is another standout. The Hunt just barely kept my wargaming alive.
🦠 💩
And here are the games I played online in July. Mostly BGA, of course, but I’m enjoying getting back into BSW for its unique games (Tuscany, Notre Dame, Qwinto). Still some Yucata, too (eg GAH, Maori).
The in-person games I played in July. All but one of these were at EsCon, since summer con season interrupted my regular game group.
Small Fjords by @grailgames.bsky.social is a slick, little package. Quality packaging & components similar to Oink, but a little larger which permits more inside. I just played the solo variant to this 2-player version, but may end up liking it that way the best.
I loved this entire system Leonardi invented. Still do. I’ve owned the WW1 original, the WW2 and jet fighter sequels, and then X-Wing vs TIE. Then the Lost World Series brought it down to a fun, RPG-ish personal scale. And back up to Battlemechs.
Thanks for having me on. Great fun. For anyone curious about that German realtime online gaming site it's called Brettspielwelt and can be found at brettspielwelt.de . There's a way to get most of it in English (click the flag), and it still has some games you won't find anywhere else.
I've been enjoying these whippersnappers and their newfangled podcast for a while. Now I was able to join them for a game day. Then was able to talk about a classic boardgame on their show as a guest!
Had a great time at EsCon as always. Good friends, good games, and a “mini event” of our own. This time it was a focus on Rudiger Dorn games. We called it the Dornücopia! Whoever won a game was adorned The Great Dornholio