Raf Reviews - Secret Hitler Social deduction games are usually not my thing. I like Coup quite a bit because it’s more bluffing than deduction, but games like Werewolf, Mafia, or The Resistance are just OK in my book. In fact, The Resistance is one of the few games that I will politely decline. I was not excited for Secret Hitler; I agreed to play at GenCon mostly because a number of my friends wanted to try it. I assumed its success hinged on an edgy theme and that I’d find myself longing for Coup or Skull. I was wrong, 09/08/2016
Social deduction games are usually not my thing. I like Coup quite a bit because it’s more bluffing than deduction, but games like Werewolf, Mafia, or The Resistance are just OK in my book. In fact, The Resistance is one of the few games that I will politely decline. I was not excited for Secret Hitler; I agreed to play at GenCon mostly because a number of my friends wanted to try it. I assumed its success hinged on an edgy theme and that I’d find myself longing for Coup or Skull. I was wrong,
Raf Reviews - Dragoon Humans ruin everything. The land of Dragoon was a peaceful one. All the dragons had their own caves and they were all good friends, hanging out and doing whatever friendly dragons do. Campfires maybe. Then the humans showed up. They brought villages, cities, people, and – most importantly – gold. Beautiful gold. That ruined everything. Calling Dragoon an abstract game may be accurate, but it doesn’t really paint the whole picture. After my first game I sat looking at the gorgeous cloth board 09/05/2016
Humans ruin everything. The land of Dragoon was a peaceful one. All the dragons had their own caves and they were all good friends, hanging out and doing whatever friendly dragons do. Campfires maybe. Then the humans showed up. They brought villages, cities, people, and – most importantly – gold. Beautiful gold. That ruined everything. Calling Dragoon an abstract game may be accurate, but it doesn’t really paint the whole picture. After my first game I sat looking at the gorgeous cloth board
Raf Takes a Look at Dark Souls My first experience with the Dark Souls video game was short lived. I’d heard a lot about it and it was free on the PlayStation Network. “Why not?” I thought. I didn’t last long. I didn’t understand how it worked and it wasn’t calming me down like I’d hoped playing some video games would. I promptly moved on and didn’t play it again. “Git gud” was beyond me. When the Dark Souls boardgame campaign launched, I was intrigued but not necessarily hyped. The IP held no particular appeal and there 08/22/2016
My first experience with the Dark Souls video game was short lived. I’d heard a lot about it and it was free on the PlayStation Network. “Why not?” I thought. I didn’t last long. I didn’t understand how it worked and it wasn’t calming me down like I’d hoped playing some video games would. I promptly moved on and didn’t play it again. “Git gud” was beyond me. When the Dark Souls boardgame campaign launched, I was intrigued but not necessarily hyped. The IP held no particular appeal and there
Raf Reviews - War Co. The sergeant looked on in horror as the River Runner engaged the enemies Poseidon class ship. It was a suicide mission. The green blip moved rapidly along the radar, making up in speed what it lacked in power. At 600 meters the larger red blip pulsed; the bright green blip left a light afterimage that slowly faded away. A voice cut the silence from the rear of the bridge. “Well done Sergeant. Turn your focus to lower orbit and bring Starship Astrum online. The fate of the River Runner is 08/09/2016
The sergeant looked on in horror as the River Runner engaged the enemies Poseidon class ship. It was a suicide mission. The green blip moved rapidly along the radar, making up in speed what it lacked in power. At 600 meters the larger red blip pulsed; the bright green blip left a light afterimage that slowly faded away. A voice cut the silence from the rear of the bridge. “Well done Sergeant. Turn your focus to lower orbit and bring Starship Astrum online. The fate of the River Runner is
Raf Reviews - Guild Ball: Mid Season Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the 07/31/2016
Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the
Raf Reviews - Guild Ball: Match Day Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the 07/11/2016
Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the
Raf Reviews - Cuba Libre 90 miles off the coast of Key West sits an enigmatic little island. To some Americans, talk of Cuba conjures up images of white sands, mojitos, and classic American cars cruising through idyllic Spanish-Colonial streets. To others it’s a reminder of the Cold War, of a time we sat on the brink of nuclear war. And finally, to a small group of people it is still a reminder of revolution, of conflict, and of flight. Never mind that it’s not actually possible, the first time I posted a picture of 07/07/2016
90 miles off the coast of Key West sits an enigmatic little island. To some Americans, talk of Cuba conjures up images of white sands, mojitos, and classic American cars cruising through idyllic Spanish-Colonial streets. To others it’s a reminder of the Cold War, of a time we sat on the brink of nuclear war. And finally, to a small group of people it is still a reminder of revolution, of conflict, and of flight. Never mind that it’s not actually possible, the first time I posted a picture of
Raf Reviews - Guild Ball Painting Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the 07/01/2016
Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the