How to Learn Any Board Game Rulebook Faster
Every board gamer knows the feeling: the box is open, the components are spread across the table, and the rulebook sits there like …
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Board game reviews & buying guides
Every review is based on real play sessions. Browse the newest picks, deep dives and practical guides for your next game night.
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A Parent's Guide to Board Game Age Ratings
You are standing in a store aisle holding two boxes. One says ages 6 and up, the other ages 8 and up. The six-year-old at home reads at a fourth-grade level…
Read More →How to Start a Board Game Shelf at College
The shelf is a cinder block and a plank, or maybe the top of a wardrobe. There are three boxes on it, a roommate who has only played Uno, and a floor that has…
Read More →Board Games That Teach Without Feeling Educational
A child asks to play the tile game again. Nobody has mentioned arithmetic, but the scoring has them adding three numbers and comparing two layouts. Another…
Read More →What to Do When a Game Falls Flat With Your Group
The rules were learned. The table was set. Twenty minutes in, everyone is being polite. Nobody is arguing, nobody is laughing, and the person whose turn it is…
Read More →Luck vs. Skill in Board Games: Finding the Perfect Balance
Few debates in the hobby generate more heat than the one about luck. One player dismisses a game because dice decided the outcome; …
Read More →Beating Analysis Paralysis Without Rushing Anyone
Everyone else has finished their turn. One player is still holding two cards, looking between the board and their hand, and the pause has grown long enough…
Read More →How to Keep Score Without Losing the Thread of the Game
Someone has the score pad balanced on a knee. A die is missing, the pen is out of ink, and the last round produced three different totals depending on who is…
Read More →Solo Board Gaming: How to Enjoy Tabletop Games on Your Own
For most of the hobby’s history, board gaming was framed as an inherently social pastime: you bought a box, gathered a …
Read More →Playing Board Games With Relatives You Only See Once a Year
The folding table comes out once a year. Around it sit a nephew who has grown several inches since the last visit, a grandparent who remembers the rules of…
Read More →Pacing a Four-Hour Game Session Without Losing the Table
Somewhere in the third hour, the table goes quiet in the wrong way. Nobody is thinking about the game. One player is calculating a move they have been…
Read More →What to Expect at a Local Board Game Meetup
You find a local board game meetup, read the description, and then spend twenty minutes staring at the RSVP button. The listing mentions open gaming, a library…
Read More →A Brief History of Board Games: From Ancient Dice to Modern Masterpieces
Board games are older than writing, older than most nations, and arguably older than organized sport. People have been rolling …
Read More →How to Pack Board Games for a Road Trip
The car is loaded, the route is planned, and someone wedges a stack of game boxes between a suitcase and a cooler because there is nowhere else to put them…
Read More →A First-Timer's Guide to Board Game Cafés
The door opens onto a room that sounds like a restaurant and looks like a hobby shop. Shelves of games run along one wall, numbered and wrapped in plastic. A…
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