As part of my #Italian studies I’ve been studying Pinocchio. 4 chapters into this children’s story and there been two fights, an arrest for kidnapping, and a murder. I guess the world of serialised children’s story in 1880s Italian newspapers was a very different time!

Played For Sale. Another game i enjoy but never do well in! One days id really like to make a “2 part game” like this. Everytime ive tried its always been edited out. #boardgames

Played Spyrium. Still one of my fave games of all time. I had a very odd game with no real points engine but stil managed to eek points around the olace to finish 4th in what ended up a very close game. #boardgames

Played Wolves. I still really enjoy this. I think today was first time i ever won! New players are always taken a back by how quick the game actually goes! Especially in the end when players start chaining all the extra action tokens. #boardgames

Played Flip 7 with a Vengeance. Its the same as the base game with a bit more chaos. #boardgames

Played Ra followed by Ra and Write. Ra is a classic, I enjoyed Ra and write but its not Ra. I think if it was something totally different it would stand out more rather than be compared to other game. Both were enjoyable though it felt Ra and Write needed a deck preparing rule! #boardgames

Games played yesterday… Die Macher. 4 player game took 2 hours including teach. It seems the reputation of previous version precedes it as people thought it would take many hours longer. I still want to try the full length version one day. #boardgames

As someone with #Coeliac this article has annoyed me but not the way you might think. The owner of this kitchen did everything right. Its _incredibly_ common for food places to flat out tell you if wouldn't be safe for me to eat there. I prefer to be told the honestly www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Finally played Torchlit. I thought Cat in the Box was mind be bending but this trick taker was such a twisty thing i was lots of fun to play. Only down side was there were maybe 50% of turns where you had one card and had to follow suit so no choice to make. #boardgames

Played Endeavour: Deep Sea. The more i play this the more in liking it. It just feels such a satisfying puzzle to solve but most importantly this isn’t completely solitaire. We irritate each other in a fun game sense. #boardgames

Played more Bomb Busters. Even after maybe 50is scenarios with still a whole box to open its still feels fresh and innovative with only one dud mission. Surely there must be an expansion for this day. #boardgames

Played Brass Birmingahm and did appealingly! Everytime i play this i regret all my choices and everytime i want to play again. #boardgames

Yesterday learnt Oathsworn as weve “finished’ Frosthaven. This felt like two very different games in one box. One half is a ‘go to locations, get clues, go somewhere else, story experience. The other half was a very cut down hex fight game lasting barely 30 mins! Still enjoyed it though #boardgames

Finally played Harvest. A very quick mix of “take that” and match 3. For 5-10 mins of filler i quite enjoyed this. #boardgames

Played The Gang with increasingly silly variants. I often forget not everyone plays as much poker as me and things like burn cards and tapping the table before dealing look strange to people. But i will die on the the hill that ‘trips’ and ‘a set’ are not the same thing! #boardgames

Played a Decktective game. Quite enjoyed this one shot puzzle. We failed! “Moreover” I also think I’ve been been studying italian a lot when a few specific things on one clue felt very ‘this is an italian designer who’s not been to UK’ #boardgames

Today I learnt Arkwright. I do something enjoy a beige spreadsheet Eurogame and this was incredibly beige and incredibly spread sheet. I would play again depaite it being very slow. I think i just prefer Smartphone Inc which felt similar but more of a game going on. #boardgames

Finished the day with Letter Jam. Always one that should be “Relooked” at #boardgames

Player Mytikas. Fun little old school style eurogame. Nice twist of moving resources to the location the want to use them to build. This i would like to try with more than two players! #boardgames

Played Amerigo. This is one of my fave Feld games though a weird map with no large islands. Maybe the expansion volcano! It meant there wasn’t thar much competition on islands. Still always happy to play this again.

Played Codename: Duet. I acquired a copy of original code names second hand so lots of new words to play with now! #boardgames

Played The Beeching Axe 2 player. This is definitely the least tested olay count and definitely some balance issues. Trying a few other ideas after Tests at Airecon that look like they will stay in the game. Think i need to make a new prototype! #boardgames #playtesting

Played Ark Nova. I do enjoy this but don’t ever want to play with more than two players. The end game scoring feels strange still. A chunky euro game and finishing on 4 points! #boardgames

Played Newton. Ive not played this is a while and really enjoyed it. My fave genre of game is “lots of actions possible but all really short”. Definitely one i need to play more. Might try the BGA version. #boardgames

Today was an all day #boardgames day! Started with Sanibel. As a rule ‘cozy drafting’ isn’t my thing but i found the decisions and planing more interesting than i expecting and there was enough looking at my opponents board to keep me interested.

Had a #Playtesting evening. Had a good discussion about a few of my games and got ideas to try tomorrow for The Beeching Axe!

Tried to play The Gang on boardgamearena….. Remembered why co-ops online are a bad idea. People just seem to get so angry in the chat box in a way they don’t when it’s competitive. #boardgames

Today is a #GlutenFree Foccacia day. Recipe here. I use rosemary and salt rather than olive today. theloopywhisk.com/2023/12/02/g... #baking

When i booked London travel to see Black Box Recorder i did think “do i just wait for a Leeds date?” Still a bank holiday trip to London isnt the worst thing and ill be seeing friends not seen in ages! Yay not paying for a hotel.

Finished by played Blood Bowl: Team Manager. Hadnt played in ages. All the chaos of expansions thrown in. Came dismally last. Had a great time and want to do it again. Who needs new #boardgames anymore?!

Then i played The Mind: Soulmates. Definitely the best version in this franchise. Still a game i wish i could design! #boardgames

Then i played The Rose King. Superb 2 player abstract with utterly irrelevant theme. Again i do wonder would this come out now. Is there still a market for two player abstracts that take about 20 mins to play. #boardgames

Tonights #boardgames were mostly old ones. Started with Havana. I really like this game but when i play then i always wonder would it be published now? I think the way this game handles action selection and turn order is still very novel even if came out over 15 years ago.

The game Flip 7 is now big enough to be sold in the games section of an airport WH Smith.

Finished the evening with Take Time. I do enjoy this best at 3 player. And Bomb Busters with more than 4. What feels odd is the person who’s game it is, after losing a mission wants to play the next. Apparently thats the rules? I want to to keep going untill we succeed! #boardgames

Now playing Federation. Really enjoying this after not playing it for a while. I think my fave genre of game is “lots of action, all really short”. #boardgames

Even Airecon recovery continues its still games night tonight. Starting with Ingenious 3D. A nice abstract to wake the brain up again. #boardgames

Finally at #Airecon inplayed the eternal classic Capt’n Clever. If i do become lists person this is high up as its the perfect game. 2 rules and 15 minutes of glorious spite and malice.

Then i played Ruins at #Airecon. The idea felt fun, card shedding with the ability to modify the cards. But trying to shuffle and deal cards of different thicknesses felt strange.

At this point of #Airecon my ability to think was lacking. So when i played Knizia’s Money! I mist have some inate ‘Knizia strategy’ gene and pulled a victory out. Not 100% we did rules right as the zero bid card seemed fairly meaningless when bidding was simultaneous.

I played a quick game of Deep Sea Adventure. Id love to be able to design a game this that so tiny yet fun to play. #airecon

My #Airecon Sundays these days usually involve very few games and its more a chance to speak to all the people I’ve missed! My face shows my tiredness I feel! I did get few abstracts in and apart from Quarto, that I know, I forgot to note the names. Also note Flav’s amazing Micro Macro Suit.

Final day at #Airecon i playtested the Beeching Axe as player prefer this theme to Numbers Station. Ive got a couple or fiddly bits that always confuse players i need to iron out. But i hope to be pitching this at UKGE too. Also I’ve realised Im terrible at it.

At #Airecon on sunday I tet make that my Playtesting Day. Ill be loitering and playing there a lot I really want to play Numbers Station again. Not played in a whole and would be good before i start pitching it again.

Played Wits And Wagers and #Airecon. I really enjoy this. I wonder if might be a reprint one day. Lots of questions started with “as of 2018….” There was a very US centric focus on the questions too Played twice and finished on minimum score both times! Would play again!

I then sat with Friends and played The Gang way to much it ended ip being en exercise of trying over poker variants and and seeing just how many silly ideas would could try. Playing with 9 hole cards and using any of the 14 available broke me. #Airecon

At #Airecon i had a play test of Stone Circles. Players are building a stone age settlement whilst competing over different scoring conditions that change over the rounds. I always love play testing new things and will hopefully try it again at UKGE to see what direction this goes in.

Played Murano at #Airecon. Another game that i think my fave genre. Ie “games with lots of actions, all really short”. I played Village the day before and I’m thinking have Markus and Inka Brand ever made a bad game? I think I’ve started to realise how much there game influence what i make.

Played Latitude to be published by @markr8games.bsky.social games. A map making game where you earn points for correctly predicting what size different regions will. Im really happy to see this is finally going to released after play testing earlier versions on line a few years ago. #Airecon

I make no apologies for exposing more people to sadist genius of Capt’n Clever. A game that comes with to every convention. Now when i play it people come ip and say they went and found there own cooy after. My work here is done. #Airecon