Happiness in Fluxx - K. David Ladage

Congress of Gamers has become a part of my gaming life and routine since moving to Maryland thanks to the good folks at Meeple Mountain letting me know it was here and suggesting I go. I love getting to spend time with Eric and his wife when I go, playing games new and old, and meeting some very nice people. It is one of those events that come around every few months and brings me just enough decompression to keep me (relatively) sane.

The Spring session this year (2025) has been especially wonderful. My friend, Mike, was able to join us on Saturday. After we finished a 4-player game of Princes of Florence, where my daughter managed to eke out a victory in her first outing with the game, Mike noticed a young boy (perhaps 7 or 8 years old) sitting at one of the tables with a sign saying “Invite me!”--so we did. We asked what he wanted to play and he grabbed a copy of Eco Flux and grabbed his big brother (perhaps 10 or 11 years old). So we were in for a 6-player game. Let me tell you, those two kids knew Flux! And we all played and laughed as the rules and goals changed.…

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What is gaming without games? What is life without memories? In Gaming Memories Volume 03, our team shares happy, sorrowful, or deeply impactful memories of their lives, seen through the lens of tabletop gaming. Please join us for Gaming Memories, and if you have one you’d like to share, drop us a line.

Board Building - K. David Ladage

I was about five years old when I realized I had a thing for board games. I was about nine years old when I discovered role-playing games, and that took over much of my gaming energy. Once I was in the Navy  many years later, Magic: the Gathering had taken over most of my board gaming time, and GURPS was the linchpin in my RPG space. Once I left the Navy, my circle of friends for playing anything dwindled.

My Navy buddy, Rich, returned to civilian life not long after I did and moved to Iowa. While he was working, looking to get back into school he opened his own game store. He would often come to my place to show us new games he was selling. We discovered a lot of games in those days, some of them quite eye-opening.

One of the first of those games to alter my view of what a board game could be…

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