Loneliness is an epidemic. And evidence shows it is not just an issue in the USA where I live, but across the developed world. For some reason, as much as it promised to unite us, the Internet seems to have found so many ways to fracture and fragment society. Longer working hours and the pace of modern life combined with the geographic mobility often finds us living hundreds or even thousands of miles from our friends and families. And if you work remotely, it can be even worse. As an educator, I find that despite interacting with hundreds of teenagers every day, and attending several compulsory meetings with adults every week, I can start feeling isolated and lonely too. To make matters worse; despite living within walking distance of John Steinbeck’s birthplace (and grave), I have only one, small, used bookstore and no board game stores nearby. Fortunately, I travel often to attend conferences, present my research and check in on family a few hours away. And this has led me to a way to feel more connected.

[caption id="attachment_334660" align="aligncenter" width="1024"] It’s a beautiful Fall day in Santa Cruz, CA, so where should we go? The beach? Nah! I am going to my FLGS, Game Santa Cruz![/caption]

About three years ago,…

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One of the great things about being part of a regular game group is being exposed to titles you might have never seen before—because your friends also love games, and no two gamers have quite the same combination of tastes. Variety is one of my defining characteristics when it comes to playing games: I’d much rather play 6 games once, than 1 game six times. So when my friend Chas said “we’re going to play Bridges of Shangri-La”, a game I’d never heard of, I enthusiastically agreed.

Bridges of Shangri-La is an area control game from 2003. Set in the forbidding Himalayas, the goal is to earn the most points by training up masters in 7 different disciplines, then have those masters send their students to neighboring villages to “spread enlightenment”. Of course this is a friendly way of saying you’re going to beat the pants off them…except in Nepalese.

Did I mention that Bridges of Shangri-La is a bit…cut-throat? But I’m getting ahead of myself.

How to play Bridges of Shangri-La

The Bridges of Shangri-La board features 13 villages in the peaks of Nepal, each connected to several other villages by tendril thin bridges. Each player begins the game with 7 tokens, in 7 different disciplines. The goal is…

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The summer heat is intense, but it’s not as hot as Gen Con 2026. Soon gamers from all over the world will descend on Indianapolis for North America’s largest board game convention. Just like in past years, hundreds of new board games will make their debut – over 600 this year, an overwhelming number. But never fear, the Meeple Mountain team is here to help you find the gems among the coal. Our staff have scoured through the upcoming titles to select our most anticipated games of Gen Con 2026! So without further ado, here are our picks!

Check our past recommendations and see how we did!
Gen Con 2025 | Gen Con 2024 | Gen Con 2023 | Gen Con 2022 | Gen Con 2021

Andy Matthews

Class of '89

As someone who graduated from high school in 1989 I am, as the marketing literature says, “the target audience” for this upcoming release from Paverson Games. Class of ‘89 is set back in time when hair was…

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Full disclosure: I know nothing about the world of velodrome racing (aka indoor cycling); other than they ride bicycles, really fast, at angles that would make a mountain goat sweat. But the brightly colored artwork for Spokes, the new release from Radical 8 Games, drew me in. And while you might not be able to judge the game by its cover, you can guarantee that it will get my attention.

I don’t know anything more about the sport after several plays of Spokes, but I can tell you that I had a lot of fun. Let me tell you about it!

The track is calling. Are you ready?

In Spokes, 1-6 players speed around an oval track, trying to be the first to complete 3 laps. You accomplish this by moving along routes, composed of colored bars (spokes), initially placed randomly on the track. Move as far as you can on a single color, before ending your turn.

Each player has a personal board that guides and restricts your movement for a turn. On your turn, you move the spoke marker cube on your player board one, two, or three places clockwise.

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