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Flying the gamer geek flag, wearing the tabletop gamer badge with honour

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Times have changed. It used to be that being a gamer was anything but cool. Being a gamer meant being an outsider, a geek, a nerd.

Despite that I've always been one to wear my hobby with pride. I didn't hide the fact that I was a gamer. I carried my Warhammer rulebooks with me openly. I had Futhark Runes written on my denim jacket. I paid to import Games Workshop T-Shirts from the UK. I was never ashamed to be a gamer.
Today being into games doesn't mean you have to be a pariah. Now being into gaming isn't even just normal, it's often considered cool. I'm still getting used to that. One of the benefits of this culture change is that it's now easier than ever to fly your gamer geek flag. [ READ MORE ]

Lost In Translation – What to do when you’ve got a bad rulebook – Episode 28 – Tabletop Bellhop Podcast

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 This is the 29th episode of Tabletop Bellhop Live, an edited version of our live show recorded on February 13th, 2019. Join us as we stream live every week on Wednesdays at 9:30 Eastern on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio you can also watch/listen to an unedited version of the show over on YouTube.

Ep 29 - Lost in Translation - What to do when you get a bad rulebook. In addition we talk Arkwright, DC Deck Building, Gloomhaven 2 player, War Chest, the Onitama App. and more. [ READ MORE ]

Sandbox Sci-Fi in Xia, the Gloomhaven Campaign Resumes, Sintra, and Four Kids Games. – Tabletop Gaming Weekly

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So far February has been turning out to be a great month for gaming. I've already gotten in over forty games this month!

This past week there was the usual Friday Gloomhaven game, followed by some Azul: Stained Glass of Sinatra. Saturday I spent the afternoon playing games with my kids. These included Riddle Moo This, Professor Noggin's Creatures of Myth & Legend, Battle Sheep and Qwirkle Cubes. Then on Saturday I had a group of friends over and we tried out all of the expansions for Xia: Legends of a Drift System, which recently showed up from their latest Kickstarter. [ READ MORE ]

Finding a Board Game Teacher – Ask The Bellhop

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How do you go about finding someone to teach you to play tabletop games?

This topic is a direct follow up to last week's Ask The Bellhop article where I talked about what to do when you've got a bad rulebook. In it I suggested a variety of ways to learn games other than the rules included in the box. My final suggestion was to find someone to teach you the game. But how exactly do you find this game guru? [ READ MORE ]

The Hook – Games For Catching New Gamers – Episode 28 – Tabletop Bellhop Podcast

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 This is the 28th episode of Tabletop Bellhop Live, an edited version of our live show recorded on February 6th, 2019. Join us as we stream live every week on Wednesdays at 9:30 Eastern on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio you can also watch/listen to an unedited version of the show over on YouTube.

Ep 28 - The Hook - Games for catching new gamers. Shafausa, Scoville Labs, Hogwarts Battle, Shadowrun and something new in Gloomhaven. Followed by a talk about games to hook new gamers on hobby board games. [ READ MORE ]

Burning my brain in Arkwright, War Chest for date night, and more -Tabletop Gaming Weekly

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This past week in addition to trying a two player random dungeon in Gloomhaven, I finally got to try play the rather heavy game Arkwright which was quite the brain burner.

This past weekend my wife and I had a night out and as part of that we tried out War Chest which she had given me for my birthday. We also played some digital Onitama while waiting for our food to arrive.
My last physical game for this week was a game of Star Wars Destiny with Big G. [ READ MORE ]

Bad Rulebook? No Problem. – Ask The Bellhop

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When most people sit down and try to learn a new tabletop game for the first time they usually start with the included rulebook. But what do you do if that rulebook isn't actually good at teaching the game?

Charles Barouch asks,
Why is it that no one seems to know how to write gaming rules that can be understood clearly? I spend a lot of time on Board Game Geek, or tracking down a gamer who can teach.
While I may not be able to answer Charles' question directly I can make some suggestions on way to learn games other than from the included rules. [ READ MORE ]

Getting those unplayed games played – January #LessShameMoreGame update.

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The goal of the #LessShameMoreGame challenge is to get those unplayed games played.

At the start of the year I took inventory of my current collection of unplayed games. At that time my pile of shame contained 79 games and expansions.
Today I'm going to take a look at where I stand one month in, as well as talk a bit about each of the pile of shame games I managed to play in January. [ READ MORE ]

Bellhop Boardgaming Birthday Bash – Episode 27 – Tabletop Bellhop Podcast

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 This is the 27th episode of Tabletop Bellhop Live, an edited version of our live show recorded on January 30th, 2019. Join us as we stream live every week on Wednesdays at 9:30 Eastern on Twitch. If you like some video with your audio you can also watch/listen to an unedited version of the show over on YouTube.

Ep 27 - Bellhop Boardgaming Birthday Bash. So many games played and reviewed this past week there was no time for a question. Two birthday parties as well as our regular Gloomhaven game. [ READ MORE ]