A community for Southern California Tabletop Games.
Session Reviews are discussions of games played in a specific session. They include elements of a review plus details of a specific play of the game. Some call them ‘gonzo reviews’.
Written by E.R. Burgess
As much fun as this has been, I must wrap up. While I’ve loved going through happy memories of playing board games with friends after a year and a half away from conventions, both a collection of short stories and a non-fiction memoir of my tabletop gaming life are deep in development. I need to […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
Hello again board game fans and thank you for joining me on my memory journey through the Gathering of Friends 2021. I know this has been going on for some time but I’m enjoying writing them so I hope you enjoying the reading. If you missed the previous parts, they’re here: Part 1, Part 2, […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
If you’re taking my GOF journey with me and missed Part 1 and Part 2, well, click those links earlier in this sentence to find them. Onward… I really hate Facebook and only my love of board games keeps me on this horrific privacy nightmare of a platform. Professionally, there’s also a reason why, but […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
Back to mid-week at the Gathering of Friends. If you missed the previous part, well, you can find it here. Onward… While I was in Niagara Falls, work was infringing a bit. A work friend was dealing with some personal issues so I had to step up a bit. I was happy to do it […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
My reports on attending Alan Moon’s invitational tabletop event, the Gathering of Friends, have been as inconsistent as my old podcast schedule. When an event happens, some content may happen…or maybe not. This year, however, I am inclined to write about the experience for both my own recollection of the healing, heavenly week I enjoyed […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
Disclosure: The makers of Aroma: A Game of Essence provided a review copy of the game for an independent written review. Unique mechanisms in board games are harder to come by these days. So many games feel like Frankenstein’s Monster versions of other good games, which sometimes works. The folks who made Aroma: A Game […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
Silver Amulet (also known as Silver, since it introduces a new line) is a card-shedding game for 2-4 players newly-released at GenCon 2019 from Ted Alspach and his shingle, Bezier Games. You can learn a bit more about the game by watching my recent 5 Quick Questions session with Ted (or read it – we […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of getting a visit from legendary SoCal game designer Jeff Siadek and his producing partner Joey Vigour over to my place to try out the second edition of Battlestations!, Jeff’s magnum opus. The original was a huge success, with a massive community of gamers adding to […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
Call to Adventure is kind of a revelation. I have been increasingly interested in games that effectively tell a story while also having a tight set of mechanisms that make for a clean game. Brotherwise Games, previously best-known for the video game nostalgia-fest Boss Monster, have delivered on this combo in spades. While their Kickstarter […]
Written by E.R. Burgess
Time Breaker is another wacky game from the mind of the great Andy Looney. In the game, which is perhaps a spiritual sequel to Andy’s earlier Chrononauts, players are part of the Time Repair Agency chasing a Time Breaker through time to bring him to justice. But this is not a cooperative game; players want […]
