Ben Chapman

📰 From the St Louis Post Dispatch: “Tax scheme will test GOP’s populist rhetoric.”

www.columbian.com/news/2025/ma...

The state of the boardgame industry right now.....

This is great content, thank you.

Blood on the Clocktower! You can play with a rule called "Angel" which makes people less willing to kill off a new player.

I have currently:

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Games should come with two times. Normal play time, and play time with *that one friend.*

And yes, I'm absolutely *that one friend* as much as anyone else.

Just got this ad on the other platform. So things are BAD bad.

It may be time for creators on TikTok to start pointing out that our platform has an agenda -- and not a particularly subtle one.

I LOVED Skeleton Crew also! It was so much fun.

Stellar. I couldn't recommend it more highly.

The action system makes it feel fast and gives it some real strategic depth while still not overwhelming you with options and complexity. Are you a fan of TCGs?

More Star Wars Unlimited cards probably, lol.

ARMADA!!!!!!

So holler if you and I share any favorite games! Let's talk about them.

The lineup of games coming out in 2025 is looking better and better. I'm sure this list will look different next year..

Plus, I'm hopeful that one of my designs might finally hit Kickstarter or Gamefound! And I know a couple of friends who are cooking up real cool stuff.

The best part about making these lists yearly is that games aren't going down, instead new great games are being added.

Star Wars Unlimited had me hooked from turn 1. Clash of Cultures finally delivered the EXACT type of epic experience I was looking for. And Hegemony is just absurd fun.

I went back and forth on who deserved the top spot, but honestly after something like 60 games of Blood on the Clocktower under my belt, which is HUNDREDS of hours of gameplay, I'm still more excited to play it each time I get a chance.

It absolutely deserves to be #1.

As of the end of 2024, these are my BEST 9 GAMES OF ALL TIME!

At the moment, it leans towards heavier games, and there are some lighter titles that DEFINITELY deserve an honorable mention, but if I have 3 hours to spare, I know any one of these will deliver an absolute blast of a time.

That's true. Also, it's almost always a good thing for the overall health of the hobby when publishers make money -- particularly on gateway-level games.

Every comment thread about these three boardgame announcements is saying either "Take my money" or "What a shameless cash grab" and it's such a good reminder that no designer or publisher can make everyone happy.

"No one goes downtown anymore, there's too much traffic" has become, "no one uses email anymore, our inboxes are too full."

Hell yah

Ahhhh I hear that. I play spread of rampant green a lot — it’s important that I find a way to be in everyone’s business, lol.

Spirit Island was one of the first heavy games I played! You got a spirit you play most of the time?

Things are going great in the Drone spotting Facebook group….

You said it

Unlimited is so so so good. And I love that it feels like there isn’t a super overpowering “meta” right now. People are trying all kinds of stuff.

Ooooh I've only played once or twice but I love how deep the deckbuilding is in it. It's such a well crafted game and it seems like there's so much to explore.

RIGHT? It's a blast. I'm a huge fan of KLASK also -- it's all about the biscuits. How about you?

Oh jeez, that's a great question. Probably between 30 and 50? Going to conventions really runs that number up.

You got any favorite new-to-you games from the last year?