I was bothered by how much the "cult of the new" is making boardgamers unhappy. It’s time to fight back! When I think back to the time that I first got into games, I notice a curious thing. Most of the boardgames that I had recommended to me back then were not that new, especially compared to the films, books or television that people were talking about. Back in 2007 – long before the explosion of popularity that we have recently witnessed – they were often at least a few years old by the time anyone said “you should try this!”. These were not traditional games, like Chess or Go but many of the classic modern titles that we still...
Eight practical tips for first time exhbitiors at Spiel As regular readers will know, I took Magnate to Essen last week. I am glad to say it was an absolute blast; even if it was also so tiring that I needed multiple early nights just to bring myself back to full human functioning. Overall, I think we did a good job. We had a ton of email sign-ups, lots of reviewers visited the stand, and I handed out every flyer we had. But there were some things we could have done better. The following lessons come from my reflections on the most intense show of my life. If you are not already an "old hand" at this and intend to...
It’s not like losing a person. But when something you’ve spent ages working on has to go, it can be pretty rough. Apologies to everyone that my blogging has been so spotty lately as a result. Most people reading this blog won’t know much about a project that dominated my life for 6 years. The world of Naylor Games and the The Croydon Citizen, a local web and print news magazine I founded, have been deliberately kept separate. While it’s nice to know about other people’s projects that have nothing to do with games, I personally find it confusing messaging to keep talking about them. As much as Croydon is a totally awesome part of London (and I won’t hear...
Last weekend I attended a convention – and it was the best one I’ve experienced so far. Here’s five reasons why I loved it and what I’d like to see in other conventions as a result. Tabletop Scotland is a new gaming convention held in Perth. I recently attended it as part of my continuing mission to get Magnate playtested all around the country. Though only two days long, it proved the maxim that quality is better than quantity. It’s been my personal favourite so far; it’s organisers got so much so right. So here’s 5 reasons it worked so well and why I am almost certain I’ll be making the 900 mile round trip again. 1 – It has...
A group of experienced games journalists are publishing a 250 page hardback boardgame yearbook and it looks very interesting. While books are not really my focus here, it seems like an interesting product of itself with a strong proposition; making it worthy of a closer look. UPDATE: "The Boardgame Book" Kickstarter campaign is now live. Essentially, it's a Britannica Book of the Year for tabletop games: mixing reviews of the 100+ biggest titles of the year and interviews with designers (including big names like Martin Wallace, Matt Leacock and Reiner Knizia). The goal appears to be to create a single compendium which will capture the essence of what was going on in the boardgame world over the past 12 months....
