Interview
Civilization V developer Ed Beach transforms missionary work into videogame algorithms, drawing on his experience with boardgame design (Here I Stand) to create special powers for Egyptians and Chinese; Catholics and Taoists.
Columns
What do boardgaming’s stars look like? If Donald X. Vaccarino is any indication, they are difficult to grasp. The designer of runaway favorite Dominion builds games that change and remake themselves nearly to infinity. In his latest column Gus Mastrapa tries to get a foothold in Vaccarino’s twisty w
Columns
Our boardgame columnist looks at three new wargames that exemplify how simulated war is becoming kindler and gentler to court new opponents.
Essay
Gus Mastrapa tells the consumer’s side of the story in Bethesda’s upcoming role-playing sprawl, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.
Article
Gus Mastrapa talks to Tiny Speck founder Stewart Butterfield about the studio’s new massively multiplayer online game Glitch, regarding the importance of adults, illustrators, and doing nice things for each other.
Article
In our second boardgame column, Gus Mastrapa looks at how rolling the dice has changed from Monopoly and Risk to Catan and Troyes.
Article
We don’t normally associate collectible-card games with the NFL, but some recent new games and expansions draw out the metaphor. In our new column on boardgames and card games, Gus Mastrapa takes a look at the technique of deck building.
Article
Adventure games are a genre that everybody has nostalgia for, but nobody plays. That’s because games like Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective feel old-fashioned compared to the open-world, massively multiplayer, online-all-the-time games we’re used to. Some detractors have even gone so far as to call des
Article
After five years dedicated to the beautification of the boardgame, Mike Doyle found a new calling—Lego sculpture. It was this summer, on a trip to Legoland with his boys, that Doyle, a 43-year-old graphic designer from New Jersey, rekindled his passion for the building blocks. When he got home he s
mental health
A Personal Account of EverQuest, Grad School and Surviving Anxiety