I’ve got daffodils poking their heads out, work finishes while there’s still an hour of daylight, and I’m not waking up in pitch-black - Spring must be nearly here. I love this time of year, everything just feels a little more optimistic, for want of a better word. The best part about Spring, of course, is that Airecon is nearly here!

I’ll be driving the 400 miles each way to meet up with friends I’ve met before, friends I haven’t (i.e. online friends I’ll be meeting up with), and hopefully a lot of new friends too. It’s a brilliant convention, and as much as I’ll feel differently after 6 hours on the road, I can’t wait to get driving.

If you’ve never been, I highly recommend going. It’s a much friendlier, play-focused event than something like UK Games Expo, but still has a few stands to buy from, and an awesome bring-and-buy.

Speaking of UK Games Expo…

Tony, the head of UKGE, put out an open call for article submissions for the event’s official programme. I submitted some pitches, and head back literally five minutes ago that I’ve been picked! I’ve got to roll-up my sleeves now and write something I want my name underneath, but for now I’m very pleased.

It’s the second time I’ve had something in print, after being included in a crowdfunded magazine called Filmmakers Without Cameras. There’s another on the way, after a Japanese publisher got in touch with me off the back of my Wargames article, and asked to translate and print it.

Once UKGE has been and gone, I’ll upload some photos of the programme and publish the article on the website too.

I’ve been playing plenty of games, both at home, and with my group. Atiwa went down well (as it should, it’s brilliant), and my son got a real kick out of Barenpark, which was great to see. He’s at the age where anything I like is automatically uncool, so for him to openly admit to enjoying a boardgame is quite something.

In case you missed them, I’ve recently published reviews of Verdant, Atiwa, Scout, Pugs in Mugs, and Wreckland Run. You should probably read them if you haven’t. The latest scientific research (conducted by my pug, Jeffery) concluded that people who read my reviews are 24.5% more likely to find hidden Spanish gold in their breakfast cereal. So there’s that to consider.

Speaking of reviews, I’m going to experiment with a bit of a concession. Instagram is a hard nut for me to crack. I can’t bring myself to smile gormlessly at the camera while holding a game box, telling the world ‘I love this game so much’, day in, day out. The flip side of that means it’s hard to grow any following, and very hard to convert views to people actually reading what I write. Some people post reviews there, and while I’d never use that as my place to publish, I’m going to experiment with posting a sort of ‘Reader’s Digest’ style review when I publish new ones. The character limit on Instagram is too small to write anything too meaningful, but who knows, it might just give me a little more traction and interaction. We’ll see.

My collection isn’t the biggest in the world, but I still run out of room. Looking at my shelves I realise I have some new-in-shrink copies of games which I don’t need, so I’m going to run some more giveaways (like I promised before, but failed to do, oops). In fact, I’m running a giveaway right now.

If you’re a paid supporter as of this Friday (10th February 2023), I’ll be entering your name into a draw. The winner of the draw gets to choose between a copy of The Quest for El Dorado or Las Vegas Royale. Both are games I’ve covered before, and both are games which have stayed in my collection since. If this sounds interesting to you, hit the button below, show me some love, and put your name in the hat.

I only have two tiers, for £1 or £3 a month, so I’m not asking for your first-born or something. If you like what I do and want to help me pay the hosting costs, then magic, thank you very much. I’ll be giving back as much as possible this year, so it’s not just one-way traffic.

Thank you for reading, and if you’re in the running for the giveaway, good luck!

Adam