Author Archives: Joe Huber

2015 Year In Review

Posted on January 11, 2016

With 2015 now over, your intrepid Opinionated Gamers are taking a look back to answer the question on everyone’s mind about this time of year – what was the best game of 2015?  Of course, all being opinionated, we can’t … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of | 5 Comments

Tokyo Game Market – First Impressions

Posted on December 31, 2015

While gamers have been paying close attention to Spiel in Essen every Fall for many years, it’s only more recently they’ve started paying attention to the Tokyo Game Market (TGM), a biannual event featuring Japanese design work.  It’s still very … Continue reading →

Posted in First Impressions | 1 Comment

Book Review – The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game

Posted on October 2, 2015

The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game Written by Mary Pilon and published by Bloomsbury, 2015 —– I was thinking about it recently, and realized that the game I own the most books about, … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews

The Half Dozen (or is it more?) Decent Essen Games

Posted on December 25, 2014

Nearly twenty years ago now, Mike Siggins wrote in one of his excellent Essen wrap-ups in Sumo: “What is certain is that on the evidence of Essen, the German hobby is still a hundred times more active than our own, … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of, Essen 2014 | 10 Comments

Essen Preview: Fresh Fish

Posted on September 9, 2014

Fresh Fish Designed by Friedemann Friese; new edition to be published by 2F Spiele Once upon a time, the biggest source for German games in the United States was Adam Spielt, a German online store that was happy to ship … Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | 3 Comments

How Acquire Became Acquire

Posted on May 29, 2014

(The following article is based upon research I recently had the opportunity to complete at the Strong National Museum of Play in Rochester, NY.  I am indebted to Julia Rossi and Nicolas Ricketts at the museum for their tremendous help, … Continue reading →

Posted in Recap | 11 Comments

SdJ and KedJ 2014 – A completely different set of predictions. Mostly.

Posted on May 12, 2014

It’s nearly time for the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres nominations, so it’s time for me to take a guess at what’s going to happen.  Fortunately, I realized some time back what two (of the total of six … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary

Review? of Koryŏ

Posted on December 23, 2013

Our fearless leader Dale, not thinking straight Asked for reviews with an iambic fate As I had signed up to review Koryŏ I had to try a more poetic go

Posted in Reviews | 2 Comments

3000 Words Worth of Essen First Impressions

Posted on November 25, 2013

OK, having written a full Essen article without once mentioning a game, I suppose the time has come to write about the games. Back in 1995, Mike Siggins wrote: “What is certain is that on the evidence of Essen, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2013, First Impressions | 16 Comments

A Different View of Internationale Spieltage in Essen

Posted on November 4, 2013

This year, I attended Spiel for the first time.  I’ve known about the event for a long time; I remember reading the “instant” reports on the event on The Game Cabinet back in the mid-nineties.  But first my children were … Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2013 | 6 Comments