Blog Archives
Introducing DT²
Just the other morning, something in my ear rattled. So I did what any red-blooded human person would do: stuck my pinkie finger in there and tried to repair the problem through brute force.
Long story short, I now require a tympanoplasty. But this expensive medical procedure has afforded me the opportunity to broaden the horizons of my little website. As of today, I’m proud to announce that I will finally be able to acronymize my name without confusing everybody. That’s because I, Dan Thurot, am now a proud member of the Dice Tower Network. We’re calling it DT².
Best Week 2024! The Index!
Another year, another Best Week. Below, you will find my favorite thirty tabletop titles of the year, ranked according to obscure criteria I found sensible at the time. Click any of the images to be whisked to the proper article. Happy New Year!
Best Week 2024! Better Together?
Yesterday we talked about the best board games that embodied our hobby’s unique sense of togetherness. Today, we must invert the concept. These are the best board games of 2024 that are also about togetherness… in the word’s more uncomfortable sense. Cramped alliances, awkward bedfellows, partners of convenience. A fitting end for one of the strongest years in memory.
Best Week 2024! Better Together!
Board games: aren’t they really about family? Friends? Togetherness? Eh, sometimes. But for those times, today we’re talking about the best games of 2024 that thrive on positive human interaction. These are the games that are about sharing experiences with your loved ones. Especially if you aren’t in the mood for anything too competitive.
Best Week 2024! Combined!
Combinations! Good stuff, those. When board games ask us to put things together, a special alchemy occurs. Sometimes we’re even treated to surprising consequences. That’s why today I want to celebrate the year’s board games that ask us to assemble peculiar engines, categories, and words.
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Best Week 2024! Adapted!
Adaptation, the process by which a work is transferred from one medium to another, is a delicate and skill-intensive art, prone to going wrong at either end of its metamorphosis. Licensed games often get a bad rap. Maybe because they’re often bad. But that only makes good adaptations all the more important to celebrate. That’s what we’re doing today. These are 2024’s best adapted board games.
Best Week 2024! Snacked!
2024 has been another incredible year of board games. For the first day of Best Week, Dan Thurot brought to me… the best snacks of the year! These are the titles that pack the most gameplay into each cubic millimeter, the ones that can be carried in a backpack or even a back pocket, the stuff that makes for a perfect day trip.
How the Sale of Space-Biff! Affects You
By now you’ve heard that Space-Biff! has been sold to the Embracer Group, the private equity firm that owns a wide range of digital and tabletop publishers, most notably Asmodee. Not to worry! I have the firm’s assurances that Space-Biff! will continue to be profitable for weeks to come. Even if it isn’t, their buyout was enough to persuade me to take the leap. I can’t discuss details, but let’s just say it was a four-figure payout. High four figures.
Enough about me. What does this buyout mean for you, my longtime readers? Let’s break it down.
Best Week 2023! The Index!
I suspect we enjoy end-of-year lists because they ease our underlying certainty that everything will eventually be swept away by time and the sea. Anyway! 2023 was a much better year for board games than some will admit. Or perhaps my affection arises from this being the first year that my nine-year-old pretty much earned her own category. Regardless of the reason, below you will find links to every day of Best Week 2023, and from there to reviews of the year’s finest board games, puzzles, and diversions.
Here’s to another. And another. And countless more beyond.
Best Week 2023! War By Other Means!
“Wargame” has always been a wonky category, and as more board games experiment with systems and modes of expression, it only grows flimsier. To wit, today we’re looking at the best titles of 2023 that blur the boundaries of the genre, whether by covering war-adjacent topics or by using card-driven mechanisms traditionally at home in conflict sims. These are the year’s best board games about war… by other means.
SPACE-BIFF! 