Darryl with one "R"

KEXP rocks!

Tillamook is indeed the best! I'm working on a tub of Salty Caramel Pretzel flavor. Outstanding.

Maybe the reason traffic is so terrible in Bangkok is that cars aren't actually allowed to move

My mouth tolerance for spicy food has remained the same as I've aged.

But my stomach tolerance for spicy food has lessened.

Every time now I stupidly think, "Yes, last time my stomach got wrecked. But maybe this time it will be different!"

Great first game! I love Ultimate Railroads! There's so much stuff in that box.

I hope you get a chance! The Nusfjord Big Box sold out quickly in the US after release last year, although someone on BGG said it should be returning to shelves in May.

If it matters, I understand a lot of people like Nusfjord's solo mode. I don't solo games often, but I like Nusfjord's as well!

Post-game personal board, part of the game board, and rulebook for Nusfjord.

Nusfjord, by Uwe Rosenberg & Lookout Games. Nusfjord feels somewhat similar to Rosenberg's big worker placement games, but in a shorter time frame. The fish economy is clever!

For my tastes, among Rosenberg's games it's 1a or 1b alongside A Feast for Odin. #boardgames

It is! The game end is triggered when both one player has 2 or fewer trains _and_ when there are 2 or fewer shared Shinkansen trains remaining!

Ticket to Ride: Japan board with black, yellow, and white Shinkansen trains

Ticket to Ride: Japan board with black and yellow trains

I played Ticket to Ride on the Japan map. Japan is a good one; among the maps I've played, it's at the top with Pennsylvania. The white Shinkansen trains -- which are shared by all players -- really change up the strategy! #boardgames

Cover for the series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House

I haven't watched Asura yet, but it's on my list!

The same writer/director (Kore-eda Hirokazu) also worked on the series The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House. I recently watched it, and I liked it quite a bit! It's gentle & heartwarming.

They want to ban the teaching of the unpleasant facts of American history because people might conclude injustices in the past that contribute to inequalities in the present should be rectified, instead of their belief, which is that some groups of people are inherently superior to others

I'm a big fan of Marcaibo, despite the theme. The expansion is neat, because it offers new game modes that turn the theme on its head: players can push the European powers out of the Caribbean.

The board game Pirates of Maracaibo, with Bun the dog looking on curiously in the background.

Today I played Pirates of Maracaibo from @capstone-games.bsky.social . The original Maracaibo is my favorite game, so I had high hopes for Pirates. A lot feels familiar, but it's streamlined. I like it! This will work great when I'm in the mood for Maracaibo but don't have a lot of time.

Finances of a Game Designer, 2024 edition Another year is in the books, which means its time again to review what my finances were like as a full time game designer for 2024!

I've just released my annual review of my finances as a full time game designer, take a look if you are interested in the details of what I've been up to in 2024. Any sharing would be very much appreciated, and if you have any questions feel free to ask them!

🎲✂️

open.substack.com/pub/matthewd...

after days of grifters and con men at CES we stumbled upon the booth for VLC. they were all dressed as wizards and told us, "we have nothing to sell, we just decided to show up". i told them I'd been using their software to pirate media for 15 years and they said "keep doing that"

All the Wong Kar-wai films! ❤️

This is now the official name tag for Friday night streams

Do you have a list of specific games you want to play while you're there? Or just whatever strikes your fancy?

I put those facts together because I was curious! But once I had them, I figured I might as well share here in case anyone else was interested.

I knew you would be!

Yes, I think so! I always worry that after I finish choosing a bunch of 1v1, I'll see the entire list at the end and something looks wrong. But nothing looked out of place to me. Of course, when I'm looking at my #25 vs. #26 game it's really splitting hairs. But no obvious problems, at least. ☺️

I just perused your list. Keyflower used to be my #1 a few years ago, and I still love it! Also in your top 10... Nucleum and Federation are high on my "want to try" list.

Maracaibo Seafarers journey to obtain wealth and fame in the 17th century Caribbean.

No, I'm not from Maracaibo. Maracaibo is a board game where players are privateers sailing the Caribbean in the 17th century. It's my personal favorite game. ❤️

More info about the game is here: boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/27...

Compared to the last time I did this 2 years ago: 6 games in my top 9 remained the same.

The 3 that moved into the top 9: Great Western Trail: New Zealand, Darwin's Journey, & Revive.

The 3 that were replaced: Spirit Island, Praga Caput Regni, & Pulsar 2849.

My top 25: 6 co-op games, 6 campaign/legacy, and 5 heavily feature dice.

Game designers in my top 25: Luciani (5 games in my top 25); Pfister (4); Gigli (3); Brasini, Daviau, Laukat, Leacock, & Suchy (2 each).

Publishers: Lookout (3 games); Cranio, Delicious, Red Raven, & Z-Man (2 each).

The first few pairings were easy choices. Then it hit me with Maracaibo vs. Great Western Trail: New Zealand, and I was sweating bullets from that point on. 😅

A picture of the covers of my 9 favorite board games: Maracaibo, Great Western Trail: New Zealand, Darwin's Journey, Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion, Skymines, Underwater Cities, Revive, Lorenzo il Magnifico, and Troyes.

I did the Pub Meeple thing for the first time in 2 years and re-ranked my board game collection. Here's my current top 9!

Is there any overlap with your favorites? We should be friends! ☺️

More info & data below. #boardgames

Rome, Open City is fantastic. That they were able to make a film -- especially a great one -- under the conditions at the time was an amazing feat.

The front cover of the 4K/Blu-ray film Farewell My Concubine.

The back cover of the 4K/Blu-ray film Farewell My Concubine.

Tonight I received as a gift the new Criterion 4k/Blu-ray of Farewell My Concubine. I'm so happy! It's one of my all-time favorite films: beautiful, poetic, devastating. I feel so many things every time I watch this.
📽️ #filmsky

The completely normal box art for Great Western Trail

"You'll be visited by three spirits"

The three spirits

Great Western Nightmare Fuel