5 Board Games I Want A Show or Movie Of

5. Dice Throne

This one kind of seems odd, but let me explain. I want this done as a cartoon where it’s just about the Mad King sitting on his throne. And then the rest of the series is this tournament with heroes fighting against each other in his tournament. Yes, there are other board games that give you that fighting experience as well. But I think that Dice Throne has rich characters for it as well.

I think this one works best a show. There are a lot of interesting characters to work with. And you can turn some of them villains to maybe then main characters that you want to follow their story. You see shows do this all the time, there are so many anime that have the tournament arc or even Ninjago has a whole season of that.

4. Aeon’s End

Aeon’s End is one of those board games that has story but doesn’t have story at the same time. Yes, they get more story as the games go along and the standalone expansions come out. But the base game is just tower defense. But it is tower defense with massive boss monsters and mages who power up.

Imagine a movie that focuses on maybe a mage going rogue and being the one who is opening up these portals. They think there is more to the world. So the other mages are fighting but only to find out that they have been betrayed. Of course, the final portal that is opened has a monster so massive that they aren’t sure that they can survive. It isn’t a complex story, but it basically writes itself.

3. Dragon Eclipse

Dragon Eclipse is one the board games on the list that I need to play more of to understand the whole story. I have played the video game version of Dragon Eclipse which is different but still a very fun game. I think with this one it’s probably a kids show again.

Why, because Dragon Eclipse gives you some of that Pokémon feel to it. And that obviously has been very popular. But it’s more than just going out into the world and collecting dragons. That itself would work well enough, but then the big bad who is trying to mess-up the world and finding out about them, there is story that could really be delved into there.

2. Gloomhaven/Frosthaven

Frosthaven and Gloomhaven now go into a more mature direction. These board games along with Jaws of the Lion could easily make a solid HBO/Netflix/Amazon Prime big budget fantasy show. All the wild creatures in there just work well. And while the stories in the games don’t often blow me away, there is a lot of lore and interesting elements to work with.

These games would make a really good epic fantasy multi-season series. And because that story is just fine, it would give the writers of the show a chance to really create some new epic moments. Honestly, you could make a show and then end up with that show turning into a series of missions for the game.

1. Stars of Akarios

Stars of Akarios is the first one that I thought of for the list. This one reminds me of so many stories. We have elements of The Thing, Space Dandy, Ender’s Game and more all thrown into one thing. Now, as a board game that works. And there is one medium where it would work as a show. And that would have to be an anime. It is a chance to be completely bonkers with what you are doing, change genres at times, and then bounce back again.

That said, I enjoy the writing a lot for Stars of Akarios. It is one of the writings in board games that I find works well. But oddly enough, I didn’t put my top one on there. Maybe because that experience is just so good as a board game. But Star of Akarios offers a lot of story to be delved into and enjoyed.

Board Games to Movies or TV Shows Final Thoughts

Let’s talk real quick about the one that I didn’t pick. I strongly considered Tainted Grail: The Fall of Avalon. There is so much great writing in that story. I think you could make a pretty epic show or movie from those games. But I didn’t pick it for one reason. And that’s because it’s just so good as a game. I think that the medium for experiencing it works well and that you’d probably need to tweak it to make it work outside of that board game. And I’m not 100% sure that I want it outside of that.

I also didn’t pick Detective A Modern Crime Board Game. But that is for another reason. I always say that it’s like playing a procedural crime show. So that would work as a show, right? Yes, but I don’t want to watch those. I watched a ton of NCIS for a while, and it gets boring, at least to me. For board games, it makes an interesting mystery and unique experience, but it already exists for television.

Which board games would you want to see turned into a movie or TV show?

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3 Reasons I Want a 3D Printer

3. D&D Characters

You want to play a new character, a 3D printer is great for that. You want to make it look awesome, you can find generic ones, but also you can pay for an STL file from Hero Forge and print it yourself now. And what happens if your character dies, now that was a waste, well, not so much, you can just print another one.

And there is more that you can print too. An NPC that comes along with the players, that is certainly an option. And while I mainly run theater of the mind, it’d be nice to have those moments when I can set-up a big fight, game moment for the players.

2. Upgraded Bits

For board games, one of the big things is upgraded bits. I like my fancy components, but if I were able to make them instead of buying them, that’s a bit cheaper for me. For example, I own all 3D terrain for Frosthaven. That is so much stuff. But I wish there were a few more things, or things had been printed differently.

If I own a 3D printer, then I can do that myself. And that is going to make my life simpler too for other upgrades that I might want. I know there are some things for PitchCar that you can 3D print. But also then just better coins for games, or other things like that.

1. To Make Better Storage

But the number one reason is storage. The insert I own for Frosthaven is 3D printed and it’s so much nicer than the one that I got from the campaign. It is more solid, stores easier, and just works better. That is my one beef with Frosthaven is the insert that I got from the campaign was not good.

While the other reasons are fun, this reason makes my life so much easier. If I 3D print an insert for Roll Player I might actually get it to the table more often. Or you print something cool for Aeon’s End, you might be able to get it all into the big Aeon’s End Legacy box. But even for examples that aren’t so large, you can create spots to hold different cards for games and just pull it out and get it to the table faster. My article about Heat: Pedal to the Metal and how I want a big box, I could probably create something that stores everything for that in the base box. That is why I want a 3D printer.

1 Reason I Don’t Want a 3D Printer

But let’s talk about the one reason why I might not. A 3D printer is work. I already dislike regular printers. The ink is expensive, and if you don’t use it often enough it gums up. with a 3D printer you have more than just that to worry about. You need it to be level so that nothing gets messed up. You don’t want it jostled and there is of course the filament itself as well.

And when something goes wrong, it is more of a hassle to have to deal with that some other things out there. This one reason is part of what has kept me from getting one, at least for a little while. But is this reason enough to keep me from getting one for all time? That’s the question, especially with a kid who is now interested in 3D printing and 3D printers.

Do You Have a 3D Printer?

What do you recommend for one. What are the challenges that you face with a 3D printer and what have been the benefits. And are the benefits really worth it for a 3D printer, or is it something that mainly just collects dust for you?

There seem like a lot of interesting uses of them. But I always wonder thing something like this, is it worth it. And is it better to get a really good one, or can just an okay 3D printer be good enough. All of this is stuff that I just don’t know, and keeps me from ordering one now.

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Take It Slow With New Gamers

First off take it slow. I think this one should be simple enough to understand. But I think when it comes to people who are passionate about games, they often rush new gamers into the hobby.

This is done in multiple ways. Sometimes it is just with the game that it chosen. But other times it is where you game.

If you play with someone who is really shy and you want them to get introduced to games, maybe a big game night isn’t the best option. Board games are a social hobby, and if this person needs time to come out of their shell do small games and only a few people first. And know the people you game with well.

Repeat Games

This next one I think is hard for gamers to do with new gamers. They want to get them up to the level of games that they want to play. But let’s be clear, you know how to learn new rules now. You can sit down and pick-up a lot of games quickly. If this is the first modern non-party board game that the person has played, it’s all new to them.

So play the game multiple times. Let them get familiar with it. Let them find out new strategies and figure out new ways to win or play the game. Discovery is part of playing board games. And while you might know them all, they don’t. So repeat games and let the new gamers have the same fun that you did.

Be Kind To New Gamers

This one I think will annoy some people. And I am fine with that. But when you are teaching new gamers, don’t stomp them in a game. Now, I’m not saying let them win. That is different. But be kind to them. Try a new strategy for you and see how that goes. You likely will still win. You are a more seasoned gamer. But don’t do the blitz to the end of the game almost guaranteed to win against someone who doesn’t strategy.

And this doesn’t just mean don’t destroy them in a game. It also means as you play engage with them on their turns. And when they are struggling to know what to do, or make a sub-optimal play, just let it slide. This is time to spend with a person, board games are a social activity, let it be that.

Now, that doesn’t mean that you never engage with advice. But leave it at that. If they are struggling to know what to do, ask them what they want to do. Then you can maybe help them understand how they can do that in the game. But there are gamers who use it as an opportunity to say that something is a dumb move. That is counter to what you’re going for.

Know The Games Complexity

This one is a HUGE one for a lot of gamers. I use it as a joke, kind of, but I’ve seen this. When someone is like: “Oh, I’ve played Clue and Monopoly and I want to find a new game, what should I play?” The answer is not “Scythe.” Yes, I have seen people say that to people who don’t play massive, somewhat complex board games. I get it, Scythe is nothing compared to Food Chain Magnate. But know your scale.

The Dice Tower talks about this fairly often with BGG weights of games. If you play a heavy economic 18xx or complex war games, Scythe is going to be a lower rating for the complexity of the game. But compare that to if you only have played Munchkin and Ticket to Ride, it’s a really complex game. So it’s all about your baseline.

And as a gamer, you need to know what your bias is in complexity of games. And you need to remember starting out games and what your baseline for complexity in games was. Now it might sound weird, but you did discover different strategies in games like Catan and Ticket to Ride at some point.

Jargon Comes Later

Finally, save the jargon. There is a language that we use in board games that normal people don’t use. And as gamers we often don’t even realize it. Let’s go with a real simple one that works, and a real simple one that doesn’t. At least for us board gamers they are simple. People know trick-taking as a term. Why, because there is generation that grew up with Hearts on the computer. And it’s a concept or term that is still out there.

On the flip side, you say deck building game, a new gamer is going to wonder why we are playing a game about building decks. So stow that jargon as you teach games to new players. There are so many examples that I could give. But let’s just do one more. Orthogonal. Who knew that term before board games? Not many people is the answer. So describe it, demonstrate it, but don’t use the terms

If they get into board games, they are going to pick-up the terms. It’s not your job to teach a board game, which is a lot already, as well as teach them what basically is a new way of using language as well.

Final Thoughts on Introducing New Gamers

There are more things that I could say. And a lot of them are mistakes that I’ve seen gamers do when teaching and introducing new people to the board game hobby. And this isn’t just board gamers, by the way. I was first introduced to anime with Berserk and Neon Genesis Evangelion. Want to know something, neither are great first anime. But I still love anime, so it worked out.

The whole point is that often times as gamers we know where we are now. And we remember the last step as to where we have been. I’m playing heavy Euro games now, and medium complexity Euro games seem kind of easy, that doesn’t make them easy. Remember when learning those games was more of a challenge for you. And maybe it was never that much of a challenge. That’s okay, but it will be for others, and know that.

What game got you into the hobby? And how simple does it seem to you now?

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Big Boxes For Board Games

A big box is just that. It’s a box that is really large. In terms of board games, it’s a box that is really large and can fit everything for that game into that one box. Or at least in theory that is what it should be.

There are two things that board game companies do to make big boxes that just really suck. The first is by making a big box for a game that doesn’t fit everything. Or maybe it does when it comes out, but then they keep on pumping out more content for the game and not just a little bit, but a lot. And then two years later, not everything for that game fits in the box anymore.

The other thing that companies do with big boxes is just give you a big empty box. Cool, everything fits in there, but it isn’t actually useful. I spent $30 on an empty box and for a few cents more, you could have provided some dividers, wells for cards, anything to make it functional. But nope, now I just have a big box, so the game is easier to move, but just as hard to get to the table.

5 Board Games that Need a Big Box

5. Clank! Catacombs

Now, this one is an odd one to have on my list of board games that need a big box. I think it does need one, but you could probably get everything into that core box still. The other reason that this one is odd is that they are doing a fancy, everything, version of the original Clank! for it’s anniversary.

But as they come out with more expansions for Clank! Catacombs, this is going to become needed. And this is one where it can work okay just to toss stuff into baggies. But the more stuff there is, or if anything is every separate from another expansion, heaven forbid that happens, then you’d want better storage. And I think with good storage for the tiles, and tokens, it could make it even faster to set-up and start playing.

4. The 7th Continent

This one it’s a smaller deal than some of the other board games on the list. Mainly because this one is just in two boxes. And when it comes to some of these games, they would be in a lot more than that. I should mention, I did skip campaign games. Some of those are just too huge to fit in a single box, though that would be nice.

With The 7th Continent, it is just so many cards in this game. And there is a core box and an expansion box. Now the expansion box is just more content for the game. But I dislike having to pull down two boxes to play the single game. I’d prefer if it was all in one box or if it was a standalone game that worked off of the same setting.

3. Heat: Pedal to the Metal

This one is starting to bug me when it comes to board games. Not because I don’t want all the expansions, I do for this game. But with Heat: Pedal to the Metal, you have a nice insert in it. And there is room in the base box insert for all of the cars coming from the expansions. So that means that they thought stuff through, right?

Wrong!

They didn’t plan for the boards and new tracks for the game to go into the base box. I am 99% sure that I’ll fit everything in there, but that means that I won’t have that insert for the game in there anymore. So if that is the case, why did you bother putting in those extra spots for cars for your game in there. So give me a nice box to store it all, it won’t even need to be that much larger than we have already.

2. Roll Player

You might be saying, this game already has a big box. But this is one of the board games where it gave you a big box and then no way to store stuff in there. This big box is a waste of space and effort put into it. I do own the insert that was made by a third party for the game. But that should not be how it works, and it’s a foam core one and I dislike how “well” they hold together. Why was this even made.

So I want a good one for this. I want one that makes it easy to get to the table with me just pulling out trays and it’s set-up to play. I don’t think that’s impossible for this game to do. They can do that with Lost Ruins of Arnak, and this one requires less set-up than that. So Thunderworks Games, I’m still hoping for a real one and a good one from you.

1. Aeon’s End

Aeon’s End is one of those board games that is just crying out for some sort of solution. And that is because there is so much for this game. I need a good weekend to just sit down and sort everything, because that is a possibility to do and I suspect it would actually take a whole weekend.

The big thing with Aeon’s End is that this is a massive deck building game so the majority of what the game has is cards. But I’d like to have all the cards split up nicely and good dividers for everything. And I’ll give this to Indie Boards and Cards, they did in fact give you dividers for everything, if you want. But there isn’t a box large enough to store it all. I’m sure I can find one on Etsy, but how many folks who love the game like I do would love a real storage solution.

Final Thoughts on Big Boxes For Board Games

I didn’t mention this, but sometimes with these big boxes, they aren’t actually needed for the board games. And as I mention with Aeon’s End, there are people who make them for these games on Etsy and other spots. But it would be nice if companies made good big boxes more often.

And a great one is one that I mentioned with Lost Ruins of Arnak. It takes a game that is a little work with all the baggies that I had and makes it simple to get to the table. It also makes it easier to store, and the box came with extra content. I know that some folks always want extra content when big boxes. But for some board games that would make the big box too big. So if there is great storage solutions for the games, then I’m fine without that extra content.

What is a board game that you want to get a big box?

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5 Things That Make Board Games Hard To Play

5. Theme

This one is a bit odd, but I think that it’s true for some games. Some board games just have themes that make sense for certain times of the year. Or they have a theme that only works for certain audiences. Two examples, one from each, are Santa’s Workshop, when do I want to play that one, at Christmas time. Or This War of Mine. Do I want to play a depressing board game about surviving as long as you can, I’m not sure about that.

Now, this one is five on the list. When I think about board games, there are times to play all of them. It is just limiting how often that I’m going to play the game. And it won’t keep me from learning the board game which is important. So this one is a minor thing, but for board game publishers, it is worth thinking about, how much is my game going to be played?

4. Symbology

This one is a big one for me when it comes to board games. Do I look at everything on the table and know what it does. Now, I won’t say that it is purely bad. I think there is a good reason for board games to have a lot of symbols. That is so that the board game itself is language independent. But if that is the case, then you need to provide great player aides so that the players know that all the symbols mean.

And even with that, a game needs to be small enough and easy enough to table if it has a lot of symbols. If you’re playing a three hour long game that is super complex, you’re not likely to play it that often or remember the symbols between games. But if it’s a game that you can play a few times in a row or gets to the table more often, then a good player aide and symbols aren’t too bad.

3. Table Space

Table Space is an issue that is becoming more and more common. I own a pretty big gaming table and there are games that don’t really fit everything. One of my favorite games of all time, Frosthaven, takes up so much table space. Yes, I have room for it all, but it crowds into player board area.

And that is often where the problem comes with board games and table space. It isn’t just that the board is so big. It is that the player spots are so big as well. When you need room the size of Scrabble just for your player set-up as well as then the board, that’s so much room. So games that I love, like Stars of Akarios, might hit the table less. And this is true for non-campaign board games as well.

2. Expansion Bloat

This one is a tricky one when it comes to board games. Mainly because it’s that trap of, I love this board game. Oh, there is an expansion, I should get it since I love it. Sometimes that’s easy to integrate. I think of a game like Lost Ruins of Arnak, yes there are expansions, but it’s still easy to get to the table.

But then there are games where there are ten expansions for the game. And you never play with all of them at once. And if you want to move it all to play, you need a u haul. An example of this is Dominion. If you own everything, how do you pick what to play with? And Dominion isn’t even the worse. Because it’s easy to just pick the cards you want and take them somewhere. And you are always sorting the cards anyways.

1. Bad Rule Books

Finally, we have those bad rules. Board games at this point in time shouldn’t have bad rule books. Why, because, there are so many companies that do it well. And board games are a more popular thing than before. Plus, if you design a board game you should be playtesting it as well, with players learning from the rules, not from you.

But it’s still super common. Maybe it’s sometime a language thing where you have someone who isn’t a native speaker translating it. Or maybe they just slap it into a translation app and that messes it up. But there are companies, Mythic Games and Monolith, that just tend not to put the effort into those games. Now, Mythic Games had other problems, but when you want to wait for the second edition of a game before you buy it, that’s a problem.

Final Thoughts on Tabling Board Games Troubles

There are other things as well that I can think of. In particular, things like learning the rules. That’s separate from having a bad rule book. This is just about learning the rules. Sometimes it’s just a lot and it takes effort to remember all the rules for a new game. Especially once you’ve learned a lot, or maybe different points in time of your life, learning rules seems like more work.

Then there are just sometimes the style of game. But that I didn’t want to put down. I know I don’t like heavy in your face/take that games that play with a lot of players. That isn’t a flaw with the game, that is what the game set out to be. But in terms of the style of game, it just doesn’t work for me.

What are the struggles that you have when getting board games to the table?

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5 Anime To Watch With No Romance

5. Little Witch Academia

This one is just an anime about a girl going to a school for witches. The big thing is that she’s completely inept at basically everything that she does. Her skill for magic is lacking but her heart is what drives this story and what makes this anime so good. It’s also one where it’s an all girls school, which doesn’t have to mean no romance, but it’s targeting a younger audience and handles relationships in a way that is going to make it more friendly to everyone.

This is one that I wish there was more of. It’s so cute and just a good time. It’s one of three on the list that I have watched with my kid and he liked it. There’s action, there are silly moments, and there is adventure, so plenty going on with this one without the romance element.

4. Dr. Stone

Dr. Stone moves away from school while still being about kids. What happens where there is a disaster and everyone turns to stone. But more so, what happens when they start to turn back from stone. It’s an interesting concept and then this anime takes a hard turn into survival, science, and more science.

Now, there are characters who like each other in this. But it’s such a minor point, one of the guys who is turned back from stone first finds the girl that they were dating. But it’s barely part of the story and there is no romance element to it, just that they are in a relationship. Dr. Stone is an anime that really feels like something completely different.

3. Fire Force

Now, when it comes to anime without romance, that doesn’t mean anime without fan service. Fire Force has so much fan service in it. One of the characters tends to lose her clothes, or at least some of them, a lot. And there are other characters wearing skimpy clothing. But in terms of romance, the main character is too dumb and driven to even realize if someone was interested in him.

This is just one big action anime that is just weird, sometimes in a good way, and sometimes in just weird ways. It has that anime thing where it tries to tie in religion, but it takes a weird take on Christianity and more western style religion that shows that the author really was unfamiliar with the concept other than that it was a thing. Now it’s not trying to be religious, but if you’ve watched anime and action anime before, you’ve come across it.

2. Campfire Cooking In Another World

How about a wholesome anime, these last two are the other two I watched with my kid, about a guy who gets sent to another world after he dies. He, though, has a skill that is just absurd as he can access an online grocery store. And the meals that he cooks just look amazing, and all these powerful monsters join him because they want to eat his cooking.

Yup, that is the premise. No girls really at all in it, just ones who are adventurers and things like that. It’s about his journey across the lands, exploring, making meals, and dealing with his familiars and some pesky deities who just want to eat.

1. Bofuri

And the final one is a video game anime. The main girl, all she cares about is not getting hurt in the video game. It’s an odd premise, but she maxes out her defense to the point where nothing can hurt her. And then, it turns out that is a completely broken build.

She picks up a rag tag group of other players to join her guild. But there’s no romance in the guild like in Sword Art Online. Instead it’s just all about the game and everything that is going to happen in there. The premise is a lot of fun and the execution of this anime is just wonderful.

Romanceless Anime

It’s fun to watch this type of anime as well. Sometimes you just want something that doesn’t have that romance and gives you a lot of adventure. Some of these fall into the category of more popcorn anime where if you miss something, because you aren’t paying attention, that is okay. But the ones that I picked here, I do think all have fun stories to them. And even with all the fan service in Fire Force, I would check them out and recommend them.

What is an anime that you like that doesn’t have romance in it?

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5 Romance Anime You Should Watch

5. Horimiya

This one is just a fun romance anime. And you’ll see a few different types on the list. here. Horimiya is not a will they won’t they anime. They start dating quickly in the show and manga. Instead this is more of a romance anime about them growing together as a couple.

It’s also about two characters who are pretty different but also how they have different sides of them. The girl is super popular at school, but just wants to lead a quite life. The guy isn’t popular but actually has this punk/bolder side to him. So it’s interesting to see the characters have these two different sides. But also how they show their true side/nature to the other one but not everyone.

4. Dealing with the Mikadono Sisters if a Breeze

Is this a romance anime, yes it is. But it’s kind of a less traditional one in terms of what you think of romance. The main character is brought into a family with three sisters. There isn’t a big push for him to marry one of them or fall in love with one of them. Instead, this is a show about him bringing them out of their shells and showing them that they don’t need to be perfect. Of course, along the way the girls fall for him.

But this one isn’t as overdone as Quintessential Quintuplets feels like in the same part of the romance anime genre. The main character is more likable for one. And you want to see him succeed at life, not that he must succeed at love. And that balance and character growth works for me. I almost put one of my favorite anime of all time, Bottom-Tier Character Tomozaki on the list but that one does many of the same things with less of the focus on it being a romance.

3. My Dress-up Darling

Another romance anime without the will they won’t they. Yes, it is a slower build to them admitting that they love each other, but there is no rivalry to it. It’s just a matter of time for it to happen. And My Dress-up Darling is one of the purest dirtiest anime that you can watch.

How is that, well it’s about cosplay and Marin’s choices for cosplay leave little to the imagination. On the flip side, the romance itself is about as pure as it comes between Marin and Gojo. When they fall in love, it’s something that just feels like it could happen, and they are teenagers and act like teenagers, but not in a horny way, if that makes sense. They really don’t know how to express their feelings.

2. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War

Now, let’s talk about the will they won’t they sort of anime. Kaguya-sama is a hard hitting comedy will they won’t they. Yes, you know that it’s a romance anime and that eventually they will. But for that to work in this anime that is where the anime has to end.

This is an anime where the banter, glares, and trying not to admit you are in love flies so fast and furiously. The story is a lot of fun, but it’s the narration of Ian Sinclair that makes this one shine so much. He is going so hard in this and so over the top that it’s just a joy to listen to. You don’t know that you want an anime where the narrator can steal the show, but this one is great.

1. Our Last Crusade

And then I thought let’s put down an anime that is an action anime but also a romance. And this is another one of those will they won’t they anime. It’s a Romeo and Juliet style of romance. On the opposite side of a war, how can they fall in love. And is their love doomed because they are so important to their side of the war.

It’s a pretty odd anime. And there are good comedy elements to it, but it doesn’t shy away from action either. I think that it feels different from a number of romance anime because of that to me. Now, will it or won’t it get another season is the biggest question for me because I hope that it does.

Even More Romance Anime

I could do another list of 5 more romance anime that I love and then probably come up with more after that. But I might do another list of anime where the romance isn’t even a thing. What anime are there out there, because a lot do the romance, harem, reverse harem thing. But what if you want something with no romance and maybe isn’t one of the main stream action anime, let’s talk about that tomorrow.

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Top 5 Board Games I Want To Play Again

Now, there is a rule that I have for this. When I talk about these board games, I can’t have played them this year. That is pretty recent for me when it comes to board games. Also these are not games that I haven’t played. If I haven’t played it, well, that’s another list. Also the order doesn’t matter. Finally, I must own the game. Otherwise, how am I going to get it played?

5. Atlantis Rising

I’ve played this game once and I had a ton of fun with it. I love the worker placement and the sinking land. When the game gives you that visual representation of things going poorly, that pressure is just fun. And I like the idea of pushing out further onto these parts of Atlantis. Yes, they give you better things, but what happens if it sinks, you get nothing that round.

Then the game becomes this tension of how you protect the land so it doesn’t sink, but also you need to get resources to complete your goal of saving Atlantis. When board games give you two things like that that you need to do, I think it is so much fun.

4. Project Elite

Project Elite is one that I have a good reason for not getting played. And that is that I didn’t own this game. But when I sell board games I also buy board games. And Project Elite showed up at a board game sale.

This game is just so much fun and so much chaos. I talk about how I don’t like real-time in games. But this game it works. You roll dice, advance enemies as you move and shoot them and try and complete objectives. But then you get a breather as you add more enemies of types. And then you do it again, and you need to take them out, complete your objective and all before they overrun your base.

3. Too Many Bones

When it comes to games, there are board games that I own a lot of and that I need to play my copy of the game more. Too Many Bones is one of the biggest offenders of that. But I want to own it all, and it doesn’t make the game harder to table owning it. But, I will say, that the game is already a little challenging to table.

The issue is that Chip Theory makes great, but complex games. I could have put Burncycle on the list as well as a game that I want to play again. So I need to spend time with Too Many Bones, relearn the rules and give it a go again. All of this, of course, requires more of my time to get it to the table.

2. Mistborn: The Deck Building Game

On the flip side, I could probably sit down and play Mistborn right now. Mistborn is not a hard game to learn or play because it’s mainly just a deck building game. And I know my deck building board games. The mechanisms work, but the reason I haven’t played it is that I like the game solo. But I think it’s better as a two player game.

And honestly, that is a reason for a lot of these board games to be on the list. I like them, but I might not find the specific time that I need to play these games as often as I could because of player count and things like that. I host a board game night once a month. We get 6-10 people. That means that games that I like with fewer or are bigger and longer get played less.

1. StarDriven Gateway

Finally we have StarDriven Gateway. I have played this game once at Gen Con. And then I backed it, like I do so many board games, because I knew that I’d like it and I wanted it for my collection. It is here now, and I haven’t played my copy yet.

StarDriven Gateway is a big game of exploring space, completing missions, blowing up enemies, but not a campaign game. And I like that about it, it could have been a campaign and I’d have backed it. But because it’s not, it means it’s more likely that I can play it again sometime soon. Plus, the mechanism around activating spots and managing your crew is one that I find to be really fun.

I Want To Mention More Board Games

I own so many board games. And while I don’t think that’s a bad thing, they bring me joy, I wish I had more time to play more of them. Because it’s just tricky to get them all played as much as I want. And I move on from some board games because I just haven’t gotten to them recently.

What board games are on your shelf that you haven’t played in a long time and you want to again?

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How To Play Popcorn

Like I said, Popcorn is a game about running the best theater. To do that you need to get the most buckets of popcorn at the end of the game, those are your victory points. But the game has more going on than just getting those, so let’s talk about how the game works.

Popcorn is played over a number of rounds where players bring in new movies to their theater, upgrade their theaters, and then place their guests. In turn order players can buy both theater upgrades and new movies. Then they place those into their theater board. You can only buy a movie and upgrade per turn.

Once every player has done that, then you draw out your movie goers. They might be one of four different colors or white. You place your movie goers into the seats of your theater. The rule is that they always start on the left and fill to the right. You don’t need to completely fill a theater, but a theater with two seats can’t fill in the right seat first.

While you buy things in turn order, the placing of the guests can be done at the same time. So can activating your guests. Your guests give you the bonus on their seat. Some seats, though, are a specific color and they only give you a bonus if that color meeple is in there. Then you slide your movie down so fewer bonuses are shown and continue the game.

The Bonuses

The first bonus is Popcorn. Very simple one, it is going to give you points if you get that.

Other bonuses are money. You need money to buy new movies and upgrade your theaters. You can even buy a third theater and get a movie for that with that money. This is your way to keep your movies viable and giving you bonuses.

You can also get more meeples. Or you can get rid of white meeples which won’t activate as many seat types or activate movies that match the meeples color.

Tickets are another bonus. Going up the ticket track sometimes gives you money. But the big thing is that it lets you draw more meeples from your bag for the theater each round. So you can place more.

A bonus token of a color. Each color has a bonus token that you can get. If you get that bonus token you get to do a bonus action on your next turn.

The final option is that you get an end game scoring card. They will give you more popcorn for the amount of movies of a color or seats of various colors, things like that.

End Of Game

Like I said, Popcorn is played over a number of rounds. At the end of the game players count up the number of points they got during the game and end game bonuses. The player with the most points is the winner of the game.

What Doesn’t Work

I think that the game feels fast. And I like that about Popcorn but I also think that means the engines you can build sometimes feel like they barely get going. Because that is what this game is, it’s an engine building game that reminds me, in some ways, of a game like Homebrewers. It’s light in terms of what it goes, but because of that, players might find that the engine doesn’t do enough for them or doesn’t run as much as they’d hope.

What Works

Now, when I talk about the negative, for me this is a positive as well. I think that Popcorn is a great game when it comes to giving people an accessible engine building game. The rules are pretty easy to learn and even easier to understand once you start and get going. But there are some fun moments of when do you pivot to getting points and when do you get money from a movie before it’s worthless to you.

I like that sliding mechanism of the movie. I didn’t explain it fully in the rules, but each round you cover up more of the bonuses for the movies. Think about it as a movie being in theaters longer. It means that fewer people are seeing it. So you need to get new movies in before a movie doesn’t have any bonuses left for you to use. It’s a good thematic mechanism that pushes you to change your engine throughout the game.

The game is also not that long. I mention it as a negative with how the engine maybe doesn’t feel like it fully gets going. But it’s a game that with turns elements happening at once, you feel like you are always involved. And maybe not a game that you’d shuffle up and play again in a night, but one that can get played more often because of those elements that happen all at once.

Who Is Popcorn For?

This is a welcoming engine building game. I think that it works well for people who play games and want that shorter engine building experience without as much overhead. But still one that is going to give you good choices. Like Homebrewers, I think with the theme I can teach a lot of the game pretty quickly and it’s a theme that people are going to like.

Final Thoughts on Popcorn

For me there is a lot to like about the game. There are interesting moves to make, there is a theme that is really working with the game. And the engine building is light, fast, and fun. I even like how you can do elements of the game at the same time. I don’t always need to know what you’re going for. But when I stop, say I’m getting a new end of game scoring card, I can see if I can figure out what you’re going for.

The big challenge for me about this game is that I don’t know when to flip between getting money versus getting points. Sometimes I realize that I have no money for a round and you get stuck doing not much. and if the movies don’t give you a lot of money, it’s an issue. But it is part of the strategy of the game. And while it might mean a dud turn, or maybe even a less than ideal game, the game is quick.

My Score: 8
Casual Score: 7.5
Gamer Score: 7.5
Luck: 4 out of 10
Strategy: 6 out of 10

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Why Make A Magic Item?

First off, let’s talk about why you’d even want to make a magic item. The big reason is that you want it to do something that the game hasn’t offered in the first place. And I am going to say that most of the time it is because it has something to do with the story that you are creating. If you just want to make it a one-off thing, that’s fine too. But when I think about making a magic item, it is something that I want to be impactful.

Now, with that, it can also be a little bit silly as well. We’ll see an example of that down at the end of the article. But when that is not a great thing to always have. I like silly in my games of Dungeons and Dragons, but if it’s always just silly, that has its own downside.

What Makes A Good Magic Item?

So let’s talk about what makes a good magic item and I think there can be a number of things that do that. Or a number that don’t.

Firstly it’s balanced to your game. I specifically am saying to your game here. It can be fairly unbalanced to Dungeons and Dragons if you want to play your game that way. Give your group something powerful and see what happens.

Secondly, make it useful. Now this one is probably something that people might not always do. But most of the time time, a magic item that you create should be, in fact, useful, for the party. Now it doesn’t mean that they always use that item, but it means that in certain situations it is useful.

Make it impactful as the third thing. This kind of ties into the previous ones, but beyond just a little utility, make it something that feels special. You are making a magic item here. If you make something mundane like a hat of water breathing, cool, but not impactful. There are already spells and rings and other items that do that.

Finally, tie it in. This one is probably the most important out of all of them for making a magic item. Though we’ll dive into it more. But a lot of the time you want it to tie into the story. Again, Dungeons and Dragons has many a magic item, so why make one if it doesn’t tie in.

Does It Need To Tie Into The Story?

But does it need to tie into the story? No, a magic item you make doesn’t need to tie into your campaign. But it is way more interesting if it does. If it doesn’t, it’s just a cool thing that the players can use. If it does, not the players feel like not only they got something useful, but someone that is informing them where the game is going. And that is going to feel better.

You might want to give them an awesome sword, but what’s the advantage of an awesome sword besides combat? It does +1 to hit and +1 damage and deals 1D6 fire damage, really cool. But why does it do that, why is it in this world? If you answer those questions it is more interesting than without answer it.

Does It Have a Downside or Curse?

This is a great question and the answer lies in the first thing that I said when creating a magic item. Is it balanced to your campaign. If you want a ton of awesome items and powerful magic and your players to feel like they have awesome things, then no, it might not. If you want to give them a +3 great sword, do that (I know that’s in the game). But if you want to give that and not just give the players a super powerful item, then balance that out.

Now, this is also something that should be used in balance with how much you hand out. Not everything should have a curse. Not everything should have a downside. I think that a mix is good, between those two things, and also not having any thing. You want to create something cool without a downside, that’s awesome and good. If everything comes with a cost, that isn’t as fun for the players.

Putting A Magic Item All Together

So let’s put two magic items together. I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about one of the ideas before and not about the other, because it is the reason for writing this article.

The Sword of Reincarnation

Stats: Great Sword with +3 to hit and +3 to damage

Ability: This sword rends the soul of those killed with it from their body. The soul is then sent out into the world where it joins with another soul. And they remember that it was you who killed them.

How This One Works

So let’s break it down as a magic item according to my guidelines set up above. Firstly, is this a balanced item to the world I am running. No, not really. This is a very powerful sword. And my players are not that high level yet. But it is balanced because of the downside.

Nothing like getting sold an awesome +3 sword at seemingly a discount. Only later in the campaign, and so while this doesn’t tie into the story, it creates it, an angry mob coming after you.

Soul Dagger

Stats: Dagger

Ability: On a success hit the being hit with it must make a DC 20 wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they are captured by the dagger and removed from combat.

The dagger stores up to 10 souls at once. You cannot identify which souls are in there. If you cast identify, you do not know how many souls are currently in there. You are able to voluntarily release the next soul. But the souls are always released from least recent to most recent. If the item is disenchanted or destroyed all souls are released. All released souls return to the world as when they went in without the sense that any time has passed.

Attunement required

How This One Works

There is a lot of wording there, but this is one that is basically a ridiculously powerful item. It is not just a do more damage, but you can effectively end any fight with it. But there is a downside.

There is a limited number of uses of the item, kind of. This is one that I am planning on using in my game. I want to get it into my players hands as an item that looks interesting, and has three charges left on it. They get to know some about the item when they find it, like the ability to capture souls.

The first soul released is going to be the creator of the dagger who is from thousands of years ago. They were stabbed with it and as a magic user with lots of intelligence but not much wisdom they got stuck in there. But the players will learn specifically about that time period and what that dagger was meant to be used for from this character.

So it’s story driven, it’s powerful, and there are 6 beings trapped in it that might be allies or enemies. The first one who is released is neither an ally or an enemy to the players. I like the idea of the scientist who cares more about the experiment than who has it now.

Final Thoughts

So there are just some ideas for building out a magic item. I’ve come across a cool website: https://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/ which would allow you make something that looks official if you want to print that off. That is a cool feature that you can add to your game.

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