Today I got 41. Since it is summer and the web-site is not yet full of reviews and previews (also opinionated gamers go holidays sometimes) It is time to look back to my gaming life and see what made me a gamer.

1972 was nothing special in gaming word: Spiel des Jahres was not yet there and according to BGG and Rpggeek no special releases too. I start gaming since I was really young: LEGO, small plastic soldiers (using rudimental miniatures rules involving balls and dice) and inventing games squaring paper. In the meanwhile I was watching on TV almost all the robot series from Japan (Goldrake, Jeeg Robot, Captain Harlock, …) and other cartoons like Heidi, Candy Candy … almost everything … Taking also the first steps into fantasy and sci.fi worlds thanks to books like The Wizard of Oz.

The first board games that really shocked me were Goldrake and Monopoly and than, some years later, Scotland Yard, Dallas and Bermuda Triangle.

But the real turing point was somewhere in the ’80 when my brother start to play role playing games. I was fascinated by this new kind of games. In italy were the years of the IT and I bought my first boardgame: Grand Prix from Marco Donadoni. Some months later Idro, a non simmetric strategic boardgame of fighting in the ocean: Tritons and Sirens against the Crabs! Sometimes I still playing!

My dream was Zargos Lords but it was too much expansive (only many years later I was able to buy a copy). Zargos Lords was a nice fantasy wargame that offered the ispiration to Angelo Porazzi’s Warangel saga.

In 1988 I become member of club TreEmme, italian greatest and oldest gamers association that was founded in Modena in 1981. There I was exposed to all the newelties: rpgs, board games and miniatures games. I played any kind of boardgames from World in Flames to Bloch Mania passing from Battletech and the first edition of Blood Bowl. I started masteringn Rpgs: Advanced Dungeon and Dragons and Warhammer Rpg, playing also Star Wars, Call of chtulhu, Cyberpunk and many others.

A new season for me opened in 1999 when I was in Denmark 2-3 months every year for work and I met Mik Svellov. He introduced me to Euro Games and I bring back home most of the greatest titles that were still almost unheared of in Italy.

I start to buy a lot of games, more than I was able to play thorougly. I also started to be involved in Italian Convention organization, first as BG area manager and than as program manager. Finally, from 2008, I become Artistic Director of PLAY. I also honored to be invited as member of the International Gamers Awards committee. My last turning point was in 2010 when I started to work in the games market starting a collaboration with LEGO first and than with schools and istitutions trying to show teachers and students how standard board games can be usefull also as teaching tools.

Getting two kids (2001 and 2006) gaming is also an huge part of my parent’s task.

Now here I am, with 41 years, more than 1500 games that are both my passion and my work. I think I’m very lucky to be a gamer and I try to make as many people as possibile aware of how great is playing games.

Good play
Liga