I’ve garnered quite a few followers over the last week or so, which I’m very grateful for. However, I know social media of all kinds can be a bit of a followfest, without ever really knowing what the person you’re following does. What’s my deal, for example?
I’m a board game fan. I originally wrote ‘afficienado’ here but felt sick with myself for it and changed it. I like to talk about games, and so I decided ‘I’m going to review games’, and that’s what I do. Well, that’s what I do in my spare time. The rest of the time I’m dad to an increasingly-teenage 12-year-old and work full-time as a systems analyst. I’m not going to talk about that though, not directly. I talk about games.
Tirelessly.
To anyone stupid enough to listen to me.
I dabbled with making videos, but I don’t like what I look like or sound like on video, nor the amount of time needed to record and edit video. So I set myself up with my own little corner of the internet over here - punchboard.co.uk.
It’s okay. You can click it or tap it. I don’t mind. Indulge your curiosity.
I like Euro games for the most part, although my latest review, which I published earlier today, is for a game which is decidedly un-Euro - Hoplomachus: Remastered. If you read any of my reviews, you might notice that while I touch on the mechanisms of play, I won’t give you a full ‘how to play’ spiel. There’s no point, you can just download the rulebooks online, and they’ll (usually) do a better job than I could.
What I prefer to do is talk about what I feel is the soul of the game. I know, I know. That sounds pretentious and horrible, but it’s really the best way to describe it. I want to relate what’s fun about a game. Why I enjoy it. Which moments stick out like a shining beacon, and which like a sore thumb.
I also have a self-imposed rule to keep things to around 1,500 words, maximum. That’s about eight minutes of reading, and I think that’s long enough for anyone. You’ll also notice that I’ll tell you whether I really like a game in the first paragraph. That’s not by accident. How many times have you read the review of something - be it a book, film, videogame, or anything else - and found yourself skipping to the end to find out what the reviewer thought? I know, me too. Which is why I put it right at the top. If you’re intrigued, you might read on and find out why I liked the game, or didn’t, but if you don’t want to, well, I just saved you some scrolling at the very least.
So, if you’re a new follower, thanks for giving me a go. I‘ll try to keep my substack posts at least somewhat interesting. I’ll end with a question. What game are you currently enjoying, and why do you like it?
Cheers for now,
Adam