Author Archives: Joe Huber

Making of Lone Sevens

Posted on June 13, 2018

You can thank – or blame, take your pick – Dale for this article; he suggested that I write it up. Lone Sevens is a solitaire game I designed recently.  Ever since Rattlebones was released, I’ve thought that there were … Continue reading →

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Review of Q.E.

Posted on June 8, 2018

Designed by Gavin Birnbaum and published by Cubiko Games One of the central aspects of auction games is the limits on capital.  Which has many advantages, in terms of game play – but this also introduces a artificial limitation into … Continue reading →

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Book Review – Fascination: The Lifetime Boardwalk Adventure

Posted on April 2, 2018

Fascination: The Lifetime Boardwalk Adventure Written by Randy Senna and self-published —– Fascination was once a staple of American amusement parks, as ubiquitous as Skee-Ball.  Often referred to as “Bingo with balls”, a Fascination table is a long, inclined table, … Continue reading →

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My top 189 games of all time

Posted on September 19, 2017

For more than a decade now, I’ve made a tradition of ordering my favorite games – all games I rate an 8 or higher.  In spite of playing an ever increasing number of games – as I write this, I’ve … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Of | 11 Comments

Book Review – The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming

Posted on March 28, 2017

The Civilized Guide to Tabletop Gaming: Rules Every Gamer Must Live By Written by Teri Litorco and published by Adams Media, 2016 —– Does the gaming community need its own Miss Manners?  While I’m not sure – I think there’s … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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