The two classic responses to crises are avoidance and action. If you don’t want to hear any more about rampant diseases and what to do about them,...
The Only Fun Pandemics
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Games
I’ve always been a gamer, from the first Atari 2600 my dad put in my hands. As many of you know, frustrations with my friends throwing monkey wrenches in my carefully-plotted D&D campaigns gave rise to my writing career in the first place. This column covers some of my favorite SciFi- and Fantasy-themed games of all kinds.
An RPG you have time to play
Sleeping Gods is a different sort of RPG. Or board game. Or both. See, this is where it gets a little hybridy. It’s a board game with a map...
You had me at lightsabers
Ask any child from the Star Wars era whether they’d like to play with a lightsaber, and it’s a good bet you’ll get an enthusiastic "YES!" Yet from...
The best of games / The worst of games
I don’t feel like I’m doing it a disservice to call Dwarf Fortress the game with the worst user interface in the history of successful...
For the Horde!
I played World of Warcraft waaaaaay back in the day, back when there didn’t need to be suffixed qualifiers to explain...
Heroes are More than Tavern Brawls
If you're a fan of board games, there's a good chance you've at least heard of Red Dragon Inn, even if you haven't played it. Well, that...
Firefly: You can’t take this board game from me
I've never made a secret of Firefly being one of the main inspirations of my Black Ocean universe. And when it comes to themed board games, there...
Seasons: more than just awesome dice
Today I want to talk about a wonderfully whimsical game called Seasons. It is high fantasy in a vacuum. It is a myth without context, or any attempt...
Race for the Galaxy: the game I’ll never get sick of
I play a lot of board games. I love sci-fi. Where the two of these passions best overlap is a board game called Race for the Galaxy. This is my...
RPGs: the Fantasy Author’s Gateway Drug to Writing
This past weekend, I got together with the same group of guys I've been gaming with since the mid-'90s for some tabletop D&D action. Even though...
I’m battling cyborgs, building Dyson spheres, and corrupting primitive societies with advanced tech…
I can't be the only gamer around here, can I? My wife and I just got back from a publishing conference, and I'm still recovering. Between shoveling...