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...
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...
Progress to publishing Magnate continues to move at a pace. Here’s a quick round-up of the latest developments from August. Magnate BGG page is up I am very happy to say that Magnate now has it’s own Boardgamegeek entry. Suddenly, – as I’m sure hardcore gamers can readily imagine – it all feels a lot more real. This both makes sense and doesn’t at the same time. Of course, BGG is still the closest thing to the officialdom in the industry but if Magnate wasn’t real before, what have people been enjoying all these years? I suppose there will always be a buzz seeing your creation listed among the greats in the place for games regardless! As it turns out,...
