Random rants on the corrupting of the greatest work of fiction of all time.

Most gamers dedicate their lives to their hobbies – they game on a regular basis or, if lucky enough, produce them for a living. But is it possible to live off of games alone? And, if given the choice of lots of money but no games, would a gamer go for the cash or remain [...]

This week MetalJim brings you a review of the Paranoia: Mandatory Fun Bonus Game , a card game put out by Mongoose Publishing in 2005.

Nice article here on the all-too-infrequent Journal of Boardgame Design. The title says it all: “The Well Constructed Game”. Good reading.

Rhelik gives some insight about a pair of campaigns he’s involved in that no longer use experience points.

Some of the games we play are very good games, and yet they have overly-complicated rules and mechanisms for what happens at the end of the game – how does the game end, how do you decide who’s won, and so on. This is too bad for a number of reasons.

First off, it makes the [...]

To me the ideal Role-playing Game is the Sandbox kind. The games where the world Is created for you to play in, there are no real restrictions on your characters actions, and the quests are more like opportunities rather than obligations.

Spurred on by the analysis Rhelik presented to us in Tuesday’s post, I decided to examine the various character generation methods in the Dungeon Master’s Guide . I also decided to check out the array…

Well, we’ve been bogged down in Iraq for three and a half years now, and we don’t even have one decent boardgame to show for it. This post will consider the problems of conflict simulation in the modern era. Despite my extremely moderate political views, this post may still ruffle the political sensitivities of some — consider yourselves warned!

This week I further explain our situation in our campaign and explain our solution, and then share some observations about the D&D 3.x game system.

I didn’t think I could take Augsburg the before scoring round. Fifty thousand light cavalry against ten thousand heavy cavalry is the sort of thing that looks good on paper, but it’s a recipe for disaster in the field. The numbers were inflated on both sides. Otto – the Emperor-in-waiting – had the discipline to [...]

Those of you who have read my Magic & Dragons v3.5 article may be surprised to find out that I like many of the expansion books released. I’ve heard many people complaining about the seemingly endless stream of new Feats and Prestige classes. This is not a problem for me…

Most people who play D&D also involve themselves in other hobbies and pursuits. Many also involve themselves in the collection of comics. Therefore, most of you will be at least passingly familiar with the various characters I will be using as examples.

In DC comics, the most widely known team of super-heroes used to be the [...]

Oh yes, I’m not afraid to admit it. I like to play with myself from time to time. That’s to say I play BOARD GAMES by myself. What were you thinking?

In two of the games Rhelik plays in party encounters have become a problem. Help him with suggestions and experieces from your own game.

Here’s a very clever and funny little article: it’s the classic card game Bridge, with the rules told as per your typical Euro board game. Of course, gamers shouldn’t need to be tricked into playing Bridge, right?

This is what my gaming life is like, and so of course I consider it the norm….: You’ve got your little gaming group, gang, or clan. You own a collection of games, collectively. Some are group favorites and get played a lot. Some are lesser lights but get pulled out on special occasions. Maybe it [...]

Every year hundreds of thousands of people partake in a bazaar form of gaming called Fantasy Football. For three years now I’ve been one of them even with my nigh-total disinterest in the National Football League.

Following on the heels of last week’s post, I now present a base town that the characters can use to begin their adventuring careers. The town is located on the main westernmost island of the Shattered Isles, a place I’m calling Vodalia (after the merfolk community in Magic:the Gathering). The town, Coral Cove, is a [...]

What follows is MetalJim’s own inimitable review of this year’s German “Game of the Year,” a little something called Thurn and Taxis.