best Hobbit.

It was, for a very brief moment, a sense of normality.

The best ongoing work tracking the US industry is done by roomescapeartist.com . They do a yearly report - roomescapeartist.com/2025/12/29/u...

I'm not aware of a similar international effort that I trust.

They are here as
@roomescapeartist.bsky.social

Simple. You ask (and then threaten) all the other players to just give you the cards you need so that you can win the game.

At least you know it's not AI-generated!

A bearded man with a blueish greenish beard and hair

Well, the bottle said Enchanted Forest but it came out more blue than green in my hair!

I had this happen with someone well-known in the community who I respected.

No matter what I said, they did not believe that I wasn't talking about them(and I wasn't!). It was one of the worse series of emails I've ever had.

I now try to avoid this person at events as I have bad feelings about it.

How to Play Electric Football by Tudor Games YouTube video by Electric Football by Tudor Games

Get an Electric Football table.

Blood Bowl Time!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1kv...

When I ran a public board game group, we had a "Game of the Month", where we would pick a game that would hit the table each week of the month.

The result was that we built up our game teaching capacity as a group, as more people knew a set of games well enough to teach them.

I've saved you a seat in the booth

Why a top 4?

Because there is just no other game that would sit along these for providing me with a consistently enjoyable experience.

If I had to pick a 5, it would be Illiterati, but there's a gap between it and the other 4.

As I've been sorting all of my games after the move, I've been thinking about my top games. Here is my top 4.

- Agricola (with card drafting)
- Indonesia
- Railways of the Lost Atlas
- The Voyages of Marco Polo

I've recently added into some other social media tools:

@scottnicholson on Gander (a Canadian-only social media app)
@scottnicholson on hey.cafe

and then I'm still active on Facebook at professor.scott.nicholson

ok so I'm boring with my handles.

:)

this is exactly how I feel when I ask people what they are doing at cons and game nights.

I shall enjoy it as well.

One of my favorites!

Really enjoyed Peak Team Rangers, a cooperative board game by Scott Almes. A lot of forced cooperation rules kept it from being Alpha Gamer Saves the Day.

checks out. :)

Attending one about 15 years ago when I was just dipping my toe into doing research on board games and being told "board games aren't real games" did two things:
- Stopped me from doing research on board games
- Stopped me from going to conferences with "digital" or "video" games in the title.

Everyone should watch this

Is there a game design program at a nearby college or University? They may be willing to take them, as they can:
- Keep them in as part of a playable collection, or
- Give them to game design students.
- Take them apart and use the bits in prototypes for class.

OK - If you want to try to change their minds, use cooking analogies.

Complexity: You don't make a better dish by adding more ingredients.

Party games: A few ingredients, prepared well, is a fantastic dish. Appreciate the technique.

Game is bad: Every food has a culture that appreciates it.

Breathe in.

Sigh.

Walk away.

Enjoy what precious time we have on this earth doing something else.

People wonder why I take COVID so seriously.

This is why.

I've been through this "mysterious immunodeficiency virus with a government that doesn't care to do anything about it" before.

oh

oh dear

that is a thing.

that is an amazing thing.

Good for you!

I'll have to remember that trick of thinking "where would I put a new one", instead of what I usually do which is buy the replacement, and then when I go to put it up, find what I was looking for.

That's great to know! I'll add a link to those in the video notes.

Comparing Small Poker Chips YouTube video by Scott Nicholson

I've been on the hunt for sets of small poker chips with values to supplement my Poker to Go set. Here are my thoughts on the Travel Poker set that is on Amazon. youtu.be/QSc6oALheGw?...

Freeze it. I have done this, then poured my own new candle. You can get kits with the wax and wicks, add scented oil, and you've just gotten yourself a new hobby! Why spend $5 for a new candle when you can spend $50 on wax and oils! :)

kit example: www.amazon.ca/Beginners-Su...

Someone in Japan Designed a Gaming Toilet and It’s EPIC It’s no secret that toilets elsewhere on the planet are nothing compared to those in Japan, and with one local illustrator’s next-level vision, it’s safe to say that there’s really no competition. Beh...

nextshark.com/japan-gaming...