Can playing board games help us cope with failure?

Kingdomino - "I can't remember the last time I won this one" 

I have a simple rule with any board game: I am not happy until I've lost as many or more times than I have won. Losing in cooperative or competitive gaming is just as important for the enjoyment of the game as winning and a well designed game will recognise this and reward effort with entertainment, but how can losing at games help us in our daily lives?

5 Game Pieces That Look More Delicious Than They Should

I talk a lot about the importance of the tactile element of board games and how much the experience is improved with the inclusion of high quality pieces, but it's come to our attention that some game pieces are perhaps more delicious-looking that they have any right to be. So, following an incident yesterday in which an unnamed person taste-tested a game-piece, here is our list of 5 Game Pieces That Look More Delicious Than They Should:

[Editor's Disclaimer: I cannot stress this enough, please don't put game pieces in your mouth.]

Review: Dread - A One-Shot, Tension Guaranteed, Horror RPG

With Halloween a mere 6 months away I'm sure we're all starting to get our preparations started (no? Just me?), and horror RPGs are a great alternative to a classic party, and arguably considerably cheaper!

Creating a sense of fear and tension in TTRPGs can be a daunting task. Building in appropriate mood lighting, ambient sound, pacing, can all help put your players on edge but after all that work, what happens if they continually roll high and all the fear is taken out of your carefully crafted scenario?

Dread, designed by Epidiah Ravachol and Nathaniel Barmore (publisher: The Impossible Dream), is the answer. 

Dread is also the guarantee.

5 Board Games To Get You Started

Mainstream board gaming titles really dominate most shelves in your average high-street shops (Waterstones, and the like), meaning it can be difficult for people getting into the hobby to find new games that aren't intimidating.

Or perhaps you need a gift that goes beyond yet another version of Monopoly or Cluedo (I'm looking at you Monopoly: Bass Fishing Edition). To help we have compiled a list of board games that are well priced, accessible, and can be found easily online or on the high-street.

Review: It's a Wonderful Kingdom (Solo Mode) - Good Game, Bad Name

On an absolute spur-of-the-moment impulse buy I got my hands on "It's a Wonderful Kingdom" by OriGames (Designer: Frederic Guerard; Art: Anthony Wolff). I am always on the look out for games that accommodate solo-play and I was intrigued by the theme and found the box-art rather pleasing.

(We were actually in the shop to pick up Wingspan, which we are excited to try).

Review: OK Play! - a quick, portable and family-friendly game

 

I saw a video about this game on Tiktok and thought it looked like a good game to have in our inventory: simple (good for me), child-friendly (good for the small human), portable (good for Skullen as they cannot go anywhere without taking at least one game) and aesthetically interesting (good for all of us - carabiners, things that go click-click and bright colours!) 

D&D in the Workplace: Roll with it or a Critical Fail?

Dr. Jesse Olsen - "Why Dungeons and Dragons is Good for the Workplace"

Yesterday I came across a short article by Dr. Jesse Olsen - Senior Lecturer in the Department of Management and Marketing at the University of Melbourne, from 6th April 2023 discussing the merits of roleplaying games like Dungeons and Dragons in developing life skills such as "perspective-taking, self-awareness, empathy, creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving" and how these may be applied to the workplace to alter our perspective of team dynamics and how we deal with work-based challenges.