I've been playing board games since the 1970s, and playing what are considered hobby games since the 1980s. (Yes, I am that old.) I've also played many RPGs in that time, and even a few wargames. I've seen many changes over the years, especially regarding the treatment of women in the hobby. Thankfully, things have improved greatly for women in gaming since those long ago days.

It was once the case that a woman just had to accept sexist remarks, inappropriate jokes, and offensive artwork as part of the gaming experience. Even after demonstrating interest and ability, many women were dismissed or belittled. Now, attitudes in many spaces have changed, and it is easier to find groups and shops that not only welcome women but embrace the different perspectives we bring to the hobby.

But…

As the saying goes, "The more things change, the more they stay the same." Unfortunately, even in the year 2026 CE, I still encounter more than a few casual assumptions about women who play and buy board games.

I don't bring this up to bash anyone, or to throw an entire gender under the bus. As I said, things have improved greatly. Learning is happening, and positive change is all around. There are some…

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Maximum Booping Chaos Ahead

The basic idea of boop Shuffle is the same as the original boop. You're placing Kittens out on the board in hopes of getting three of your color in a row so that you can graduate them into the Cats necessary to win the game. However, as Cats and Kittens are being played onto the table, they boop the cards next to them into adjoining spaces, or possibly off the table altogether. In order to win, you must get three Cats of your color in a row, or have all eight of your Cats out on the board. These win conditions are the same for both versions. That’s where the similarities end.

boop Shuffle is a card game, with cards taking the place of the cat meeples in the original. Each turn you will draw a card from the deck and place it into the 6x6 grid on the table. The placed card will boop any adjacent cards away from itself according to the rule of the placed card. If you run out of cards, reshuffle the discards and begin drawing again. 

[caption id="attachment_332475" align="aligncenter" width="1500"] Kitten cards and Blankie[/caption]

This isn’t simply a card game with the exact mechanisms of the original game, however.…

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The Stormlamp Rituals is billed as an "Illustrated Puzzle Narrative." At this point, you might be asking, "So what does that mean?" It's a hardcover book containing eighteen chapters, and each chapter consists of a series of clues to follow and puzzles you must solve in order to complete the main character’s adventure by the end of the book.

This isn't an easy thing to review because many things that I could tell you would spoil the puzzles and story for you. So let me just say that, generally, this is a story about a girl named Anna. She is a young witch trying to "uncover the dark secrets of her lineage." (That's a quote from the back cover of the book.) To complete her journey, she must solve puzzles and overcome obstacles in order to navigate a magical world called Twicelore. Her goal (well, your goal, really) is to complete the Incantation of Protection. When complete, the Incantation provides Anna with immense power.  

The Incantation is built from Anna’s experiences in Twicelore. Each chapter contains puzzles that, completed successfully, yield a word or phrase for you to write on the Incantation page. Each step/puzzle within each chapter must be completed in order, as each gives you…

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This is the third (and final) part of my series on how to get back into board gaming after a long hiatus. In Part One I looked at how to rebuild your gaming skill set. In Part Two, I discussed how to rebuild your gaming tribe if you find yourself alone. Now, I want to offer you my personal top six games that helped me accomplish those two goals.

Your top six (or ten, or fifty), should you ever need to think about such a list, will likely be different from mine. But hopefully seeing why I chose these six will help you if the day ever comes when you've been away from games for a while and need an easy way back in.

1. Dragon Castle

There have been times when I've wondered if I have too many games. I've purged a few over the years, and Dragon Castle was once on that list. I kept it, though, and good thing I did because Dragon Castle proved to me that there's nothing wrong with having a game available for every possible niche and contingency. I was able to offer this game to a group of mahjong players who ended up liking it. No, it's not "real" mahjong, but the similarity was enough to get them to…

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This is the second part of my three-part series on getting back into board gaming after a long absence. In Part One, I looked at ways to rebuild your gaming muscles. (If you want to skip ahead, you can go to Part Three (Coming Soon!) to read about the games that brought me back into gaming.) As with any hobby, a long time away can result in skill loss. Your ability to strategize and quickly learn rules can atrophy. The good news is, it's pretty easy to get those skills back with a little practice.

What's not as easy to regain is a lost group of board gaming buddies. My five-year layoff from gaming began with Covid and continued through a cascading series of family issues. By the time everything was somewhat back to normal, I'd lost all of my gamer friends. Covid destroyed my gaming groups, and caregiving for my parents left no time for games. When I looked around several years later, all of my gaming friends had moved on, either to new places, new hobbies, or new responsibilities.

Not being an extrovert, it's not easy for me to find new people to play with. However, I know that if I want to keep board gaming as a hobby, I have to gather my courage and get out…

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Threaded is a game about sewing Bargello-patterned tapestries. Well, sort of. You are using cubes as thread, after all. You may not come out of this game with a new afghan, but you will come out of it with your brain slightly aching from the puzzle you must solve. 

I grew up in the 1970's, seeing these groovy geometric patterns everywhere. My grandmother was a whiz with a needle and made all kinds of textiles featuring these stripy, blazing patterns, but I just figured it was a trend of the times. Little did I know that they were called Bargello, or that their origin dates back to the 17th century in the Bargello Palace in Florence, Italy. Right out of the gate, Threaded taught me something. 

[caption id="attachment_331060" align="aligncenter" width="1125"] My Bargello baby blanket, made by my grandmother[/caption]

Between having a strong nostalgic pull toward Bargello patterns and enjoying all kinds of needlecraft myself, it was a no-brainer for me to agree to review Threaded. It doesn't hurt that other needlecraft-themed games like Patchwork, Knitting Circle, and Calico have been big hits in my house. So does Threaded compete? Let's see. 

As I was reading the instructions, Threaded reminded me of Istanbul, and not in a…

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This is the first part of a three-part series on getting back into board gaming after an extended absence. (If you want to skip ahead, you can go to Part Two to read about rebuilding your gaming groups, and Part Three to see the games that brought me back to gaming.) Today we're looking at ways to re-build your gaming muscles (thinking strategically and logically, understanding mechanisms and how they interact, puzzle solving, etc.) that may have atrophied during a long hiatus from gaming.

My long hiatus began with Covid cancelling all in-person gaming and then swan-dived into three years of caregiving for my parents. When the storm abated, I looked around and realized that I had barely touched a board game in five years. Between having no time or mental bandwidth for games, my game shelf was covered in dust and, even more worrying, my gaming skills had atrophied.

I first tried to play Trollhalla, one of my favorite games. I felt stupid and slow. The game isn't difficult, but my ability to remember the rules and work through a strategy was shot. Five years of too much doomscrolling, constant stress, and lack of sleep did a number on my ability to think clearly. I tried other games with much the same results. It was depressing and…

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