I still remember the day that I listened to ‘Lord of the Rings’ for the first time. It wasn’t an audio book, although now I am an Audible fan so that may change in the not too distant future. No, instead it was read by my father. I was six, possibly seven. He wanted to introduce me to the world of Dungeons and Dragons, and figured LoTR was a good way of doing so. He was right.

After introducing me to LoTR, I was introduced to D&D. It let my imagination take hold, and send me on the adventures of a lifetime. I still remember those as fond times and, looking back, so was born my love of gaming.

That love has progressed over the years. From the D20 roleplaying game to video games, and now back again to the beautiful board. Gaming has been a part of my life for years. Now, as an adult, I find it as one of my favourite past times, constantly seeking new ways to challenge myself, my friends, and, of course, as the amazing social tool it is for meeting new people.

This is not my first blog, it’s not even the first time I have written a blog to explore a piece of culture (are board games culture? Yeah, why not?) that I adore and has been influential to my life. The first of these was I Am Not The Batman, based around movies and comics, that I shut down in 2015. In it I would look at weird and wonderful questions to do with pop-culture – like how to ventilate the TARDIS, and what would happen if the Zombie Apocalypse really came to be? Some were silly, some (I hope) were thought provoking. This blog I hope to be similar, but not the same. It will explore a different aspect of culture. This blog will be solely dedicated to tabletop gaming as a whole.

I’ve been fascinated by games for a while. Games tell us so much more than just who can win and who can lose. They teach us something more about ourselves, let us be more than who we are, and let us explore ideas we haven’t considered before. It is through games that so many people have found solace, or have been able to explore their true ideas. As proven by the amazing online community that now exists, games have evolved. They help us learn about ourselves, as well as about the world around us.

So this blog offers, I hope, a slightly different perspective on games. I want to share a love for the art, and also offer a slightly different approach.

So, with that in mind, what are the different Catan Strategies? How quickly can a game of Splendor be won? Which Fluxx or Munchkin variation is best? All important questions, all worth exploring. With that in mind – what are we waiting for? Let’s roll the dice and play the game. Start your meeples.

Published by Luke

Board game nerd, comic book geek, Rubik's Cube solver, Splendor player, and Blogger. View all posts by Luke