Squawk 'N'Roll

Fresh Plays I love that my local game convention (Strategicon-Orccon) falls on my birthday weekend in February. Not only do I get the opportunity to offload a bunch of games via the virtual flea market, but since it's my birthday, I'm basically immune to feeling guilty when I end up bringing home a "few" goodies for myself. Often, I'll get the new games home and be all excited to try them, but I have some several games I've picked up from a year or more ago, which I still haven't played. But,...

Monthly Round-up I'm feeling pretty good going into month two of 2026. Most days I feel soooo behind and incredibly slow with everything. But on those rare occasions when I take a moment to pause and reflect, I realize I am making progress on all fronts. How's that expression go?... "Kickin' It Creative wasn't built in a day"??...yeah, something like that. The point is, small wins make a difference, and it's cool to celebrate them every once in a while. For example, my good friend Nate helped...

Fresh Plays Greetings! I hope your 2026 is off to a great start, and if not, I hope things get better for you soon. Thanks for continuing to hang in there with me as I adjust to my new freelance "work" life and schedule. I always feel bad skipping a month of SNR Fresh Plays, but sometimes I have other conflicting priorities that dominate my mental energy. It feels like I've been in an endless loop of trying to stay on top of so many things, while actively trying to avoid feeling...

Fresh Plays I've been offline for a bit, navigating some "unexpected-turned-exciting" life changes. Before I dig into that, I want to wish my beautiful, Pinochle-loving mother a very happy birthday! She's amazing, and I would not be where I am today without her endless love and support. It's not always easy living so far apart, but the memories we make when we see each other are unbeatable. I'm looking forward to seeing which games I can get her into this upcoming year. I mean, she's a mere...

Monthly Round-up I sold a bunch of games this month and freed up a bunch of space in my board game "barn". It's slowly but surely getting more and more organized each day. Of course, I had to help other gamers free up space on their shelves, so I picked up a few goodies on the Strategicon VFM – see the two shelves below. I can't wait to play all of these!! Content Highlights 🎥 🎙️ Dragons Down on Cardboard Creations Dragons Down is a super cool adventure game that's heavily inspired by an...

Fresh Plays I was supposed to be in New Orleans this weekend for a little retreat with the SDHistCon board members and the other advisory board members, but I decided it was best for me to hang back. To minimize the FOMO, I had to bust out a beefy historical game... BOARD GAMES Gandhi I (finally) played Gandhi: The Decolonization of British India, 1917–1947 – a game I've been wanting to play since I got it back in 2020. I know...crazy. COIN games can be difficult to get to the table. But...

Monthly Round-up My mom came back for another visit this month, which was wonderful. I'm grateful to have such a loving and supportive mother...you know, the type that still visits in spite of getting whooped by her daughter in so many games. It was a highlight for me to introduce her and my close friends to Santiago, which is one of my favorite family-weight games. It has a juicy auction each round and the player who passes first or bids the least becomes the canal overseer that everyone...

Fresh Plays July is turning out to be a very exciting month on my end. Our 3d printer is (FINALLY!) back up and running thanks to Matt with some premium Eagle Scout assistance from our good pals Nate & Steven...so I've been printing inserts galore to consolidate and organize my favorite games and tackle my board game clutter "situation". Feels so good to finally have some time home to take care of projects like this. Butttt, the real exciting news is, The Hobby: Tales from the Tabletop (a...

Monthly Round-up Life has been wacky and wild. Soooo, nothing new. I've been feeling really good about tackling some cleaning/organization projects I've been putting off forever. ...and of course, still channeling my inner Bob Ross. you'll see more of this fella soon... Cacus from Black Rose Wars: Rebirth Content Highlights 🎥 🎙️ I Flew to Paris to Watch the World's Best Ticket to Ride Players Battle! I mentioned my trip to France in last month's SNR monthly update, so I'm excited to share the...