Author Archives: Mark Jackson

About Mark Jackson

follower of Jesus, husband, father, pastor, boardgamer, writer, Legomaniac, Disneyphile, voted most likely to have the same Christmas wish list at age 60 as he did at age 6

Solo Gaming: My Personal Journey of the Past Six Years

Posted on January 10, 2026 by Mark Jackson

In junior high & high school (1977-1982), I played a lot of wargames. At different points, I had a subscription to both The General (Avalon Hill’s magazine) and Strategy & Tactics (SPI’s magazine that included a wargame in each issue)…. and, for a … Continue reading →

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Solo Gaming 2025: The End of the Year Edition

Posted on January 9, 2026 by Mark Jackson

In the last year, I’ve played seventy-one (71!) different games solo… and this annual post is my attempt to share my impressions of those games and make some recommendations to my fellow solo gamers. I’ve been writing these solo gaming … Continue reading →

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Best New (to me!) Games of 2025

Posted on January 7, 2026 by Mark Jackson

Look, I play a lot of games. In 2025, that included around 95 new games… well, new to me games. That’s lower than usual – it was approximately 160 in 2024, 145 in 2023, and 150 in 2022. I’m privileged … Continue reading →

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Thanksgaming 2025

Posted on December 23, 2025 by Mark Jackson

I’m thankful for a lot of things – for example, I’ve been married 35 years to a wonderful non-gamer wife who encourages my board game hobby/obsession despite her near-complete lack of interest in playing board games. For a guy in … Continue reading →

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Unmatched: Float Like a Butterfly, Sting Like a Pizza-Scarfing Ninja Turtle

Posted on December 18, 2025 by Mark Jackson

Since 2019, I’ve been a devoted fan (and playtester) for the Unmatched: Battle of Legends game system – and been part of epic face-offs between so many different heroes in so many diverse locations. (There are – if you’ve acquired … Continue reading →

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Rocket Man: Galactic Cruise Solo

Posted on December 15, 2025 by Mark Jackson

I’m not going to bury the lede here – I’m enjoying the heck out of playing Galactic Cruise as a solo game. And since I started with a sly newspaper/journalism reference in the first sentence of this post, I’ll keep … Continue reading →

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