In my first foray into trying to create a design orientated “functional” boardgame review, I look at a game I have distinctly mixed feelings about: Century: Golem Edition Why this approach and a crucial caveat As I explored in my previous post on the topic, what I want to create is the kind of review I want to read more than any other. A review that really gets under the skin of how a game operates, for the benefit of an audience of designers. Not a description of the mechanics, but the bit where the real magic happens: how the mechanics create experience. It seems from the success and interest in my previous post that this is something other people...
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...
There’s something missing from the boardgame review landscape. This is what I think it might be – and what I am going to experiment with to fill it. Why even bother with more reviews? I’ve wanted to do more reviews for a long time, but I’ve not had the courage to even make the effort. It’s not just that the space seems saturated; everyone seems to have a review-oriented youtube channel or a blog these days. But that the prospect of trying is genuinely daunting, because so many of the reviewers out there are doing what they do so well. While most reviews may still only be exploring their subject at a relatively basic level, as the recent editorial from...
With Essen nearly upon us and all the final preparations going on at Naylor Towers, I thought it was a good opportunity to give you the lowdown on playing Magnate: The First City (5C132) at the show. Magnate, the game I've been working on for the last few years, will be live at the biggest boardgame convention on earth, all show long. What an awesome sentence to type! Where can I play Magnate? We're at stand C132 in Hall 5, conveniently located right on the edge, on the way to Hall 6. Here's the very official convention map (its literally what I was sent in the post by the organisers) plus a discreet addition from me: We've got three decent...
In September there were a lot of firsts for Magnate: we got our first ever review, did our first podcast interview and the first ever “pretty prototype” was assembled. Now our first big show is upon us! Tabletop Scotland a huge success & our first ever review At the beginning of September, I travelled north of the border to Perth to playtest Magnate for, what I only realised later, was the inaugural Tabletop Scotland. The playtesting was a huge success. It allowed me to test out a solution to the longstanding problem where players are mystified by bidding for turn order on the first round. I am glad to say that solution worked very well. I also got a chance...
