We're working hard on Board Game Beat and are grateful that even before launch, we have lots of support from advertisers and members (both free and paid). Want a sneak peek? It's www.wericmartin.com, passcode 9763. (The text is placeholder and the RSS isn't live, but everything else is there.)

My last Newsletter of 2025 and it is yet more changes! I have moved Forward Thinking into the Newsletter and added a news section to the newsletter. I have now said news too many times! Anyway you can sign up for free on my Patreon to be notified when it goes out. www.patreon.com/posts/decemb...

This is a really good summary of the last 15 years of RPG design and influence. Great work.

Just under the wire it's my favourite gaming moments of 2025. giantbrain.co.uk/2025/12/31/f...

Happy new year everyone! Thanks for all the friendship, debates, and chats over the year. It has been another one full of change for me but it has been a fun ride. Can't wait to see what awaits in 2026.

Just under the wire it's my favourite gaming moments of 2025. giantbrain.co.uk/2025/12/31/f...

That's another year wrapped! Whew. It was a rough one. Good games, though. Anyway, here's the index for Best Week 2025, complete with all five lists and thirty amazing titles. Feel free to share. Or don't. I'm not your mom. spacebiff.com/2025/12/31/b...

In my last review of the year I look at the resurgent pandemic system in Fate of the Fellowship giantbrain.co.uk/2025/12/26/2...

Hello to all the new peeps following my feed! I'm based in Scotland, where we have a thriving indie games scene. Take a look at this Starter Pack, and if you think you should be on it but ain't, hit me up!

In my last review of the year I look at the resurgent pandemic system in Fate of the Fellowship giantbrain.co.uk/2025/12/26/2...

Merry Christmas everyone! Hope you have a relaxing day however you spend it. Thanks so much for supporting us over the year. 2026 is already shaping up to be an interesting one! I'll be putting out my last review of the year in the next day or so and then my gaming moments round-up next week.

Working on my favourite gaming moments of 2025. Here is what I highlighted last year. I prefer to round up the year talking about experiences over particular titles though those can be one and the same. giantbrain.co.uk/2024/12/19/f...

I took a few too many words to review @felixisaacs.bsky.social's The Wildsea for @tabletopbookshelf.com. This was a "read & review" that made me really want to run (or play) this game. Beautiful book, wildly imaginative setting, *lots* of mechanics. Check it: tabletopbookshelf.com/blogs/tablet...

I love movies so much. Someone has something they need to express so badly they build a team of talented people who create a completely new world and decide how to present it to you to tell a story and make you feel something. What an astounding art form. Games are the same way.

The Knight Without Pity strikes again! Delighted to record live in Kyiv, Ukraine with @idearoll.club at their studio. We played some @chaosium.bsky.social Pendragon. Will our bold knights prevail to gain glory from @sirlarkins.bsky.social or die in ignominy to the strange beast of the woods?

Hear me out: Kindred of the East vibes, but without the racism. #SelfPromoSaturday #ttrpg #dnd

I love me some Pendragon and the brand new edition looks nice, but for me, the fiddling around the rules to make it Greg's ideal edition are just a bit awkward. So, for conventions I stick to my 5.Gaz rules. (Rules as I remember them. 😁)

Forged in the Dark innovators thread! Who's doing cool new stuff with the FitD model? (promote your own or someone else's). I'll start: Slugblaster, by @wilkiescandylab.com is a smart hack of the core systems, tweaked in just the right way to fit the more light-hearted adventure style of the game.

The Old Dog Games year in review, including some Blades '68 artwork I haven't shared before. olddoggames.substack.com/p/the-old-do... (sorry for still using substack etc etc etc)

Can I recommend to you all this eggnog recipe. Made it last few years and it is excellent. jeffreymorgenthaler.com/clyde-common...

Here it is. The final 24 hours. You've helped coax banked embers into a steady flame. Tell me, what is one thing you'll bring with you into What-Comes-Next? Seeds? Thread? A good kitchen knife? What will you make of what's left? Together, let's light up the world. www.kickstarter.com/projects/lum...

Not to be like a pushy d-bag but time is running out & I have 2 kids to feed so if you want a great gift for the boardgamer in your life get them my book The Game Changers (UK) / Across The Board (US) all about how games shaped civilization & make us human. Many critics have vouched for them!

Hey, new announcement for DIE RPG. Next year, @rowanrookanddecard.bsky.social will be crowdfunding DIE RPG: THE METADUNGEON - a huge dungeon where each level is explicitly about a different period of RPG history. @mytholder.bsky.social has gone berserk. Sign up! www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...

It's the last ever episode of Brainwaves. We coincidentally wrap up some of the biggest stories of the last little while on top of new ones of course. giantbrain.co.uk/2025/12/15/b...

It's the last ever episode of Brainwaves. We coincidentally wrap up some of the biggest stories of the last little while on top of new ones of course. giantbrain.co.uk/2025/12/15/b...

A delight to get back in the saddle tonight and start recording Season 4 of Cult of the Old with @mattthr.bsky.social and @sanildefanso.bsky.social

Tomorrow the last episode of Brainwaves will grace the podwaves. We plan to do a retrospective in the new year, looking back on the cast, talking to hosts new and old, with a special guest running the show. It's been a privilege to do this cast with some fantastic folk. Love to them and to you all.

It's hard to believe that it's only been ten years since UCLA English Lit grad Lee Gold launched her influential zine Alarums & Excursions (named after Elizabethan drama). Its hard to believe, as it's actually 50 years, as it launched in 1975, and she only wrapped it this year.

Nice thread from Jon here with some cool projects to check out.

After doing contemporary drama with Mum Chums, I needed a pallet cleanser. Thus my next game is a Occult Action Thriller inspired by a 2000yr old poem, oWoD stylings, and films like Dark City or The Killer. www.kickstarter.com/projects/flo...

Does anyone know how I can get in touch with Austin Walker, the deigner behind Realis?

Have you got a TTRPG project coming out in Feb 2026 or beyond? Let me know about it! I am always on the lookout for new games to feature in my forthcoming and indie round-up columns for TTGM. DM me, reply here, email me, however you would like to get in touch.

Very sad that I felt I had no choice but to resign from The Infinite Monkey Cage - a victory for the transphobes and other bigots - I did it because so much of the media has chosen to believe the kind and empathetic people are a fiction - they are real and so often unrepresented.

In the latest episode of But Why Vikings? @ava.foxfort.net and I answer a question from @marcelineleiman.bsky.social on the stigma of the phrase 'Gateway Games' and discuss how to teach games on BGA as posed to us by @ivanbrett.bsky.social open.spotify.com/episode/2run...

Please give this a watch and see what you make of it, as I reckon it conveys playing Mum Chums really well.

It occurred to me some of you might be interested in the interviews I did on my podcast where we discuss writing for tabletop roleplaying games. There are a few, which I shall share now! Here's one where I chatted with Grant Howitt: @gshowitt.bsky.social on.soundcloud.com/rgokFrdSM3P2...

Mythic are finally no more. Been coming for a long time.

Issue 21 is out now and available at senetmagazine.com. If you’d like to advertise in our gorgeous pages, contact us at [email protected], and we’ll send you a media pack and rate card. #boardgamesarebeautiful

But Why Vikings? is the ludological agony aunt podcast I do with @ava.foxfort.net and @timclare.bsky.social. The cast should be available everywhere. Ratings and reviews really help so if you've enjoyed the first 3 please do give the cast a share and rating. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

Seeing the responses to the boardgame recommendations piece @senetmagazine.bsky.social curated for @theguardian.com is so gratifying. Loads of people going 'wait... this list is actually good?' There's such a demand for quality mainstream boardgame coverage & I hope editors take note.

I'd like to say a couple of things about UKGE and their silence in regards to the whole AI debacle. I'll start with a disclaimer: I know UKGE is a HUGE opportunity for many small businesses and publishers, and in the current unstable financial situation we're all in, skipping it because of ethical>

This TTRPG bundle supporting Trans people in Aotearoa New Zealand resisting the governments cowardly and anti-science move to ban puberty blockers is LIVE, and it's got my WIP game Green Corridor in it, alongside some incredible titles. @kiwirpg.bsky.social itch.io/b/3421/ban-t...

Gamers! The Bundle of Holding has a great new offer for RPGs based on BLADES IN THE DARK, including the official game based on John Layman's excellent comic, CHEW. bundleofholding.com/presents/For...

Turns out @ryandancey.com thinks AI will make excellent art eventually, according to this post on linkedin

I think we're starting to find a groove with this and I like how earnest I get to be, while also having two boys to gently troll. What a bargain.

There's now under 24 hours to pick up the Salvage Union Bundle of Holding which includes the Core Book and all 3 adventures in PDF for just $19.95 bundleofholding.com/presents/Sal...

The ENNIE-nominated mech RPG Salvage Union is available in a bundle deal that expires on the 9th.

You can find my new boardgame agony aunt show with @ava.foxfort.net, @timclare.bsky.social on all podcast platforms. Please do give us a follow and review on your podcast host of choice and share the cast if you've enjoyed it. Helps us reach a wider audience podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/b...

Second shout on this - a one shot showcasing @theworldanvil.bsky.social 's amazing Fairytale horror game, Broken Tales, in #ActualPlay

Just backed this. I enjoyed 52 Realms Adventures, I will get around to reviewing the extra content. Postmark Games are just doing really interesting design in this space.