Controlled Area Gaming – Board Game Quest

Castle TriCon – Necessity Breeds Ingenuity

Tahsin Shamma — Mon, 01 Mar 2021 16:04:23 +0000

Even though 2020 is firmly behind us, the specter of those dark times remains. Much like the novel’s ending of Lord of the Rings, the world comes back from the brink, but it’s changed. The needs of social distancing ask us to question what, ultimately, we need from every single interaction we have in real […]

Source

Documenting Designing

Tahsin Shamma — Wed, 27 May 2020 14:02:35 +0000

Being on camera is not easy. If you’ve ever tried to film something for YouTube or other social media where you need to share your self-image, it can be challenging as well as intimidating. Never mind that we’re by nature a visually judgy species, the other hurdle is just putting your thoughts and creations out […]

Source

Why We Play

Tahsin Shamma — Mon, 16 Mar 2020 14:42:51 +0000

As I write this, much of the world is in the grips of dealing with the COVID-19 (aka Coronavirus) pandemic. The impact of “social distancing,” extraordinary health precautions, and the wave of anxiety around public space closures has come to a head here in the United States as it has already been felt in other […]

Source

Board Game LYFE!!!

Tahsin Shamma — Fri, 29 Nov 2019 18:23:04 +0000

I want my readers to know how old I am. It will help stave off the flood of negative comments and rage-infested emails when I release my pre-written review of Ethnos 2nd Edition: Slovenia Too. I am old enough that I had to check Urban Dictionary for “lyfe” to make sure I was using it […]

Source

What Makes A Great (2nd Edition) Game

Tahsin Shamma — Fri, 07 Jun 2019 14:07:34 +0000

Games, like any media, are about selling product. You don’t have to make a lot of money, but what do you do if you’re an up and coming game publisher and you want to hone the needed skills of project management, art, graphic design evaluation, and business acumen? Well, one thing you could do is […]

Source

Three Things About Terraforming Mars

Tahsin Shamma — Thu, 20 Dec 2018 14:58:26 +0000

Over at the Board Game Quest bunker, we communicate over a Discord channel. It helps us maximize our time during the day to efficiently gather our thoughts. I’m kidding. It’s more of an echo chamber for the writers to criticize and bemoan the wacky workings of the board game industry. We also have philosophical debates […]

Source

What Makes A Good Auction Game?

Tahsin Shamma — Fri, 02 Mar 2018 14:40:04 +0000

Here at the Board Game Quest bunker/headquarters/nail salon, we’re hard at work endlessly discussing games. We take them apart. We beat them ‘til they bleed. And we even dissect the entrails to find what makes good games breathe. With this article series, I’ll be tackling a certain game mechanism genre every so often to get […]

Source

Turning a Page on 2017

Tahsin Shamma — Fri, 22 Dec 2017 14:44:30 +0000

It seems to be an unwritten rule of calendar based civilizations that once your roll of years increases its count, there’s a required moment of reflection over what has transpired. As our thermometers drop and heating bills rise, my birthday also comes around, so I might as well consider both occasions are telling me to […]

Source

Lessons Learned: When Not To Back

Tahsin Shamma — Fri, 15 Dec 2017 14:42:14 +0000

While Kickstarter may be the best place for publishers to nurture a game idea into existence, it presents some challenges for consumers. Instead of a simple store listing and a “Pre-Order” now button right next to the product image, Kickstarter gives creators a huge amount of visual real estate to craft their pitch. Here’s the […]

Source

Middle Earth Meets Dungeons and Dragons

Tahsin Shamma — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 14:44:16 +0000

I used to play roleplaying games. I’ve been a Dungeon Master for Dungeons & Dragons (Basic, Advanced, 2nd Edition, 3rd Edition), Shadowrun, d20 Modern, Pathfinder, and even a little bit of Vampire. Each system should be judged on the game mechanisms for the type of world it aims to serve and how those work with […]

Source