I’m writing this on the last day of the 2025, and I hope things are going well 35 days into the new year. The week between holidays are always a bit weird, but the world spins back to life with the coming Monday and it’s off to the chaos of another twelve months.
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forest pool eight stone wisps
fly lumber today beyond genes
fire chore smoke lake curfew
The italics looks a little rough. I normally prefer going big, but small can also highlight areas for improvement.
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Cat on the balcony!
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We had fun floating a few Vikings in a pan.
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It was fun shaping the numeral one with the letters. I gave this to a friend to celebrate his kid’s first birthday.
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Both figurative and architectural. Feels like this could be an entry into a real coffee shop, except that the door handle would slam into pedestrians walking past the store.
Serves the right.
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We just made some 3-2-1 cookies. They had a ton of fun shaping these butterballs in the molds.
Washing all the stuff was a little less fun. But they were tasty.
Cya next time!
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PS—Sushi Go!, Phil Walker-Harding, 2013
Move over Dominion, this is my daughter’s new favorite game. Skip the buying, straight into drafting. Plus cute art!
We’ve played this two player, though I suspect it’s better with more. Coincidentally, I’ve been playing Magic The Gathering online in their Arena program. One of the main ways to play that game is also drafting.
Funny how card games are just a bundle of numbers and mechanics. Strip out the art and they all rhyme.
Daddy’s favorite game is Magic. My favorite game is SUSHI GO!!!!
—October 2021
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PPS—Dream Cakes, Ravensburger, 2014
When my daughter was younger, she would turn anything (non-stuffy) into cakes, so my sister gave us this game for Christmas.
At first, the girl didn’t want to play the game competitively, but she quickly realized this game is all just luck. She still gets annoyed if her baby brother does well.
Maybe this will be the gateway to teaching her to become a good loser. I’m not a competitive guy. Maybe it’s because I fear failure so much that I suppress myself. Avoiding goals sidesteps disappointment!
Then again, I have simple goals. I always prefer slow and steady strategies. I’d rather lock up 2nd place than risk everything for a win. I enjoy being part of a well played game. I applaud a competitor’s brilliance, and I chuckle when lady luck stabs me in the spleen.
There are many ways to game—maybe she’ll settle on just playing cooperative games. But the real world doesn’t always let you turn something into a “team game” when you’re behind. Sometimes you will lose, however small the stakes.
If this boardgame starts that process where she can handle losing, then its a good start.
—January 2022, Update: it turns out it was the boy who really hates competitive games. Aside from Snorta and Chess, he exclusively plays cooperative, often to the boredom of his sister.
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PPPS—Cardline Animals, Info, year
This isn’t a game, just a deck of cards with great art and an interesting concept.
To be fair, publisher doesn’t pretend there is much of a game. It’s just placing animals in order of weight, length, or life expectancy. And it’s as compelling an experience as as it sounds on paper.
But we’ve played with the cards a lot, and spent one afternoon placing all the cards against a long tape measure to see the real length of these animals.
Except for the whale. They’re too long.
—September 2021
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PPPPS—Practice
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