Category Archives: Commentary

Matt Carlson: Gencon 2019 (The Bizarre of the Bazaar)

Posted on August 11, 2019 by

If all my writing has you tired out, here’s a nearly all pictorial view of the oddball (to me) underpinnings of the show. Read on to see the overconfidence of a man in a purple jersey, class it up with … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Humor / Satire, Reviews | 4 Comments

Patrick Brennan: Game Snapshots –2019 (Part 15)

Posted on August 5, 2019 by

We recently conducted our Sydney-wide no-shipping mass auction, resulting in lots of new games falling into local gamers’ hands and a wealth of new games to be played. Over a 1000 games were simultaneously auctioned off or traded away (we … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sessions | 4 Comments

Gen Con 2019, Days 3 and 4: What’s Hot, and What I Played (Chris Wray)

Posted on August 5, 2019 by

That’s a wrap on Gen Con 2019! This is my conclusion post, with (1) a brief discussion of what was hot at the convention, (2) snap reviews, and (3) my winners and losers list of Gen Con 2019. The above … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Convention Report | Tagged , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Gen Con 2019, Day 2: What’s Hot, and What I Played (Chris Wray)

Posted on August 3, 2019 by

Day two at Gen Con has always been, at least for me, considerably more relaxed than the first day.  I didn’t arrive until after the exhibit hall opened. I looked around, did some more shopping, had a few meetings, then … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Convention Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Congratulations to the 2019 Spiel des Jahres winners!

Posted on July 22, 2019 by

The Spiel des Jahres jury just announced their winners, and it was Just One for SdJ and Wingspan for KedJ. Congratulations to the winners!

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Chris Wray: My Gen Con Most Anticipated List (2019)

Posted on July 21, 2019 by

We’re less than two weeks away, and I’m excited for Gen Con 2019. This will be my fifth year at the event, and my now-annual tradition of scrolling through Eric Martin’s amazing BGG preview tool is complete.  As I say … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Convention Report | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

The Opinionated Gamers (Try To) Predict the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres – 2019 Edition Final Guesses

Posted on July 19, 2019 by

For the past few years, our group of gamers has taken their best guess at trying to read the minds of the Spiel des Jahres jury members.  The nominations for the Spiel des Jahres and Kennerspiel des Jahres were announced … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Patrick Brennan: Game Snapshots –2019 (Part 14)

Posted on July 18, 2019 by

It’s been an infamously dastardly week in new-game territory. I’d like to blame it in on exploring the dregs of Essen 2018 but most of these come from before then, and it was actually one Essen game, Scorpius Freighter, that … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sessions | 1 Comment

Patrick Brennan: Game Snapshots –2019 (Part 13)

Posted on July 11, 2019 by

If a game is in the top 1000 in the BGG rankings, it’s a fair indication that it’s pretty good. It may not suit you exactly, but you know it’s going to be well designed with good components. The bar … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sessions | 7 Comments

Patrick Brennan: Game Snapshots –2019 (Part 12)

Posted on July 5, 2019 by

We recently had our 13th annual Contrail weekend, which consists of a dozen or so gaming buddies heading up to lodge at Wiseman’s Ferry. It’s called a resort, but that would be massively overstating the case. It’s simple but does … Continue reading →

Posted in Commentary, Sessions | 1 Comment