Geoff Engelstein - The Universe Explained with Cookie out now!

Reviewers have a responsibility to get the rules right. Before publishing negative review because something isn’t working, double check you got the rules correct. Designer will be more than happy to help.

Shame on GAMA for once again not including designers in their "Excellence in Game Design" award announcement.

Last year they promised that this would be corrected in 2026, but again designers are not given the recognition they deserve.

The omission is no longer an oversight. It is a GAMA policy.

DC Breakout making a big splash at GAMA! If you’re there please stop at @wizkids.bsky.social and check it out!

Saw this at gencon and it’s been on my radar ever since.

A chart showing that there were 63 cases of measles in 2023, 2,279 in 2025 and 1,111 already in 2026.

Children are going to die needlessly from measles.

This is madness.

Putting everything else aside (civilian deaths, constitutionality, whether there really was an 'imminent threat', etc, etc), as a student of history, I don't believe there's ever been "regime change" from air strikes alone. There's always had to be boots on the ground.

So get ready for that.

Playing with Designers | Agenda | GDC Festival of Gaming This unique session will allow you to play a board or card game with the designer present, who will discuss design decisions and options during play and their development process. This session will fe...

We've got a fantastic slate of tabletop events at GDC this year.

Here's a unique one - Play with Designers. We've got an all-star lineup of designers (and then me) each running 1-2 tables of their games, explaining their design decisions during play.

schedule.gdconf.com/session/play...

Game changer! New AI chatbot knows the answer to any question that you ask it, but refuses to tell you.

Screens are never revealed until the end. So you need to have confidence folks are following the rules, or have someone who can act as a ref for the first playthrough.

However the biggest hidden info is the location of the Fellowship, so you can talk about other stuff for the most part.

Well, count me as a sicko because we've played this with 8, and it works fine. Biggest issue is people being able to see the dice. Theoretically you could play with a roomful using a projector, bingo-style.

So it's a highly interactive experience as you try to bluff your opponent, figure out what they are doing, and counter their plans.

Since you just play against your neighbors while sharing all the die rolls you get a tight 2-player experience that is also fully competitive multiplayer.

Third is where you activate Nations (e.g. Gondor and Isengard) to your cause, and at the very bottom is where you recruit and deploy your armies to conquer your opponents.

You play your Free People against your left hand neighbor, and Shadow against your right hand neighbor.

The screens are broken up into four sections (same on both sides). Top is the map of Middle Earth, where the Fellowship moves towards Mordor and is Hunted.

Second contains all the characters you can recruit to gain special abilities.

Some deets on Circle of Conflict! Each player gets a dry-erase screen that has the Free Peoples on the left and the Shadow on the right. Each turn two dice are rolled and all players choose one die to use Free and one on Shadow. You can then use the die icons to do various things.

🧵 1/4

And feet!

And here’s a teaser video!

youtu.be/vNTQz44peDo?...

Geoff brought the prototype of this to @sdhistcon.bsky.social East 2024, and I loved getting to play it. Really cool design even at that point; can't wait to see the finished version!

Announcing The Lord of the Rings™: Circle of Conflict™ The destiny of The One Ring, and the fate of Middle-earth itself balances upon the decisions you make in The Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict, a new strategic dice game set in the rich world crea...

CIRCLE OF CONFLICT, designed by Geoff Engelstein & Stephen Buonocore, published by Office Dog/Asmodee, is pre-releasing at GEN CON; full release at Essen Spiel!

This is a truly unique “strategic dice game”:
www.officedoggames.com/announcement...
@gengelstein.bsky.social @podfathergaming.bsky.social

Circle of Conflict It is the Third Age of Middle-earth and a great war between the many nations is unfolding. Will you recruit iconic characters for The Free Peoples or perhaps muster the troops of Mordor to fight for S...

Very excited to announce my next game - Lord of the Rings: Circle of Conflict! Co-designed with @podfathergaming.bsky.social !

You play the forces of light and darkness simultaneously, in a unique game experience. Can’t wait to share more!

www.officedoggames.com/game/circle-...

Only 3 hours until 6:00!

Ugh

YouTube video by Chandra X-ray Observatory Tour: Supernova Remnant Video From NASA's Chandra Is Decades in Making

A video of a supernova explosion decades in the making. Super cool!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nvq5...

HEX FACTOR: THE ADDICTIVE, REAL-TIME PUZZLE GAME Race to claim territory by being the first to solve puzzles in an easy-to-learn, real-time, abstract strategy game.

Hex Factor by TTGDA member Frederick Weller is a fast-paced abstract game for 1-4 players where you claim territory by solving puzzles where the pieces have a mind of their own. 1 minute to learn and 10 minutes to play. It's currently funding through 3/17.

www.kickstarter.com/projects/sne...

Seoul Journey Welcome to Seoul Journey, the exciting card-based board game that lets you explore the bustling streets of Seoul!

I am absolutely in love with the artwork in the latest Play To Z game - Seoul Journey! Campaign just started on Backerkit:

www.backerkit.com/c/projects/p...

Vonnegut's GHQ pieces and board

This game that Kurt Vonnegut designed and failed to sell before becoming an established author is actually pretty great. Surprisingly dynamic and strategic. Plus a great little booklet on the history of the game with plenty of archival materials.

The Diana Jones Award For Excellence in Gaming

The nomination period for the Diana Jones Award Emerging Designer Program is open! See our website for details. You can nominate yourself or any worthy tabletop game designers in their first three years of publishing.

Nominations close March 16.

Spread the word! Thanks!

www.dianajonesaward.org

Hey, it's the key mechanic in my latest title, so I'm disqualified.

Don't hate on R&M!

LIVE NOW: Get your first look at Seoul Journey from @playtozgames.bsky.social! This fun travel tableau-builder launches on Backerkit tomorrow! #boardgames

Campaign: www.backerkit.com/call_to_acti...

Watch:

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@ruelgaviola
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/ruelgaviola

The Snow of Damocles

Q-Workshop webstore showing a search for “Harry Potter”, showing 17 results. The top result being a Griffendor Dice Bag.

Q-Workshop, known for their dice products, has released 17 Harry Potter products seemingly overnight and no prior announcement

DO NOT PURCHASE PRODUCTS FROM Q-WORKSHOP

Don’t support those who support megalomaniac transphobes by any means necessary 🎲✂️