Features (Page 3)
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Magic: The Gathering’s second D&D set Battle for Baldur’s Gate offers plenty for fans of both games
You better Bhaal-leve it.
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The RuneScape board game is a charming, comic adventure into MMO nostalgia - hands-on preview
We slay a vampyre, encounter the Gnome Child and meet a Noob in RuneScape Kingdoms: Shadow of Elvarg.
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These indie RPGs create compelling mysteries by asking players to tack evidence to the wall
This whole box is Pepe Silvia!
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Streets of New Capenna brings the messiness of the mob to Magic: The Gathering’s latest set
Crime doesn’t play.
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“I built a world where people were rebels”: Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith on why the tabletop RPG continues to endure
Designer talks filling the gap between Red and 2077, staying relevant over 30 years, and his collaboration with CD Projekt Red.
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Betrayal at House on the Hill: Third Edition offers the horror game's most immersive experience yet - preview
A horrifyingly good first impression.
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Digital without losing the physical, Teburu is a promising next step for hybrid board games
The app-powered board has a lot of potential - if it can find the right games.
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3D printing is changing tabletop gaming
From custom miniatures for RPGs and wargames to fans resurrecting old favourites and creating brand new worlds.
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Jurassic World board game The Legacy of Isla Nublar is more than prehistoric gimmicks - hands-on preview
Prospero Hall’s dino-centric legacy game doesn’t make players dig deep to find fun.
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“The most important thing is the conversation”: Root designer Cole Wehrle talks his next board game, Arcs
“I wanted a game that was faster and more dramatic.”
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Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty finally delivers on the promise of the Magic: The Gathering plane after almost 20 years
The long-awaited follow-up to the TCG’s underwhelming 2004 block is largely a deserved success.
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The real-life romance, loss and legacy behind relationship sim board game Fog of Love
Jacob Jaskov’s heartfelt passion project for his partner became a groundbreaking moment for tabletop gaming - but it took a personal toll.
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Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty avoids cyberpunk-shaped pitfalls and the ghost of its predecessor
The futuristic card set isn’t trouble-free but showcases Wizards' design team operating at its peak.
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Paranoia RPG stayed hilarious by changing satirical targets
This article is above your security clearance. Report for termination immediately.
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Coyote & Crow RPG is a joyous, respectful celebration of Native American storytelling in a world without colonialism
By imagining a future where colonisation never occurred, Coyote & Crow allows indigenous Americans to become the heroes of their own stories.
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“Desperation breeds innovation”: The board game publishers banding together against the shipping crisis
Small but mighty.
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The dark history of antisemitism in board games
Tabletop games have been used to express hate in ways both explicit and shockingly mundane for centuries.
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SPONSORED: 4 scary movie easter eggs in The Thing: Infection at Outpost 31
From flamethrowers to husky dogs.
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‘Games mean community’: LATAM Breakout throws a much-needed spotlight on the tabletop RPG designers of Sudamerica
Five games by five designers that capture the real Global South, in their own words.
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Innistrad: Crimson Vow showcases some of the very best - and very worst - of Magic: The Gathering
A marriage made in Hell.
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United Paizo Workers: How the Pathfinder creators organised, and what’s next for tabletop RPGs’ first union
Paizo employees have their recognition, but the hardest fights might still be on the horizon.
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Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast is like an episodic Spirited Away that’s part RPG, part legacy game - preview
The next GM-less storytelling game from Wanderhome and Wickedness creators.
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Warhammer 40,000’s most iconic and infamous tournament moment: Shooter, Wheels and the Kroot Conga Line
The greatest game that never happened.
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Experimental lyric RPGs are pushing the poetic power of roleplaying forward
By destroying the boundary between players and characters, lyric games innovate new ways to play - or, sometimes, not play at all.
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Wonder Book looks the part of an imaginative kids game, but doesn’t play like one
Don’t judge a board game by its cover.
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Iron Forest is a grown-up spin-off from Ice Cool that features plenty of finger-flicking theatrics
A swish, not a flick
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Lost Cities designer’s Art Robbery is one of the hidden gems of Essen Spiel 2021 you shouldn’t miss
Play light robbery.
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Kingdomino Origins isn’t quite a full evolutionary step for the excellent board game series
Kings of the Stone Age.
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Far Cry Beyond board game bears little resemblance to the video game series
A far cry from what we wanted.
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Azul: Queen’s Garden sprouts fresh ideas whilst sticking to its roots
Wake up and play the roses.
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The history and culture of Historica Arcanum, the D&D 5E book reclaiming the Near East in roleplaying
“We took the mystery of Istanbul and dialled that up to 1000%.”
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Indie RPGs are telling some of the greatest mystery stories on - and off - the tabletop
Hercule Poiroll.
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Old stories, new forms: Rewriting folklore as RPGs brings fresh perspectives and cultures to the table
“What is an RPG, but a seed of imagination designers give to players and game masters so they can grow gardens of their own?”
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Pokémon TCG had a Game Boy sequel that never released outside Japan - and we’ve played it
Prepare for trouble.
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10 board games to look for at Essen Spiel 2021 - preview
The biggest board games at the biggest show.
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“I’m constantly trying to outdo myself”: Dinosaur Island and Cryptid artist on the rise of board game illustrators and the struggle to innovate
“I need to slow down, but it's not happening.”
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The Civilization board game pioneered epic strategy a decade before Sid Meier
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tech tree.
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Avatar Legends RPG designers were prepared for success, but nearly $10m on Kickstarter changed things
Magpie Games talks supply chain logistics, shielding design from bloat and contributor pay.
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10 board games to look for at Gen Con 2021 - preview
From sequels to beloved classics, to new releases from renowned creators.
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Why does everyone hate Monopoly? The secret history behind the world’s biggest board game
Chance encounter.
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Before Carcassonne, there was Bus: a board game classic that rewards patience and planning with meaningful connection
A personal history of a worker-placement pioneer, 20 years, two continents and multiple generations in the making.
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Avatar Legends RPG does justice to The Last Airbender and Korra’s storytelling, but fumbles combat - preview
Golden Appa-tunity.
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“I'm hoping to offer something different in the co-op space”: Earthborne Rangers creator talks RPG influences and sustainability
“If this is the only game I ever get to make, I should just do the thing I love the most.”
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How visionary comic book artist Moebius inspired a new wave of weird tabletop RPGs
Jean Genius.
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Splendor designer’s ambitious co-op adventure Soul Raiders lacks story and sparkle - Kickstarter preview
Location, location, frustration.
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Modern Horizons 2 could finally make good on the promise of a game-changing Magic: The Gathering set
Once you’ve done your research.
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Roleplaying games were around hundreds of years before Dungeons & Dragons
The seminal tabletop RPG drew from generations of wargaming, storytelling and parlour games.
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Dungeons & Disabilities: Can tabletop RPGs redeem their problematic portrayal of disability?
“When including more diverse representation, disabled people continue to be excluded at alarming rates.”
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Magic: The Gathering players say Killian Lu is the “Panda Expressification of Asian Culture”
The character’s version of representation frustrates AAPI fans.
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Tabletop roleplaying has given players comfort, connection and control in a world that’s taken them away
“A really big thing is having an arena where you feel like you have some control over the stories that are told.”
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"Hope for the best and plan for the worst": The challenges facing tabletop gaming conventions after lockdown
Big tabletop events are likely to return this year, but they might look very different.
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Green Players: The tabletop studios and designers incorporating sustainability into board games
How publishers are adopting eco-friendly practices to help the planet.
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Monster Hunter World: The Board Game shows the right way to adapt a video game for the tabletop
It stands heads, shoulders and horns above the disastrous Dark Souls.
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Solo RPG The Wretched is a fantastic, if unintentional, pandemic anniversary game
All systems go kaput.
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‘It’s been a life-saver’: The Warhammer fans who’ve taken tournaments online during lockdown
Forward Slaanesh.
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Tabletop RPG Emet captures the powerful shared experience of being Jewish with humour and tragedy
Exploring one of the titles in Jewish roleplaying anthology Doikayt.
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Cancelled Warframe-inspired RPG highlights the destructive toxicity of online fandom
“This is a demonstration of a vocal minority of angry trolls getting what they wanted.”
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Animon Story is shaping up to be the perfect tabletop RPG for Pokémon and Digimon fans
Roll for PokéDEX.
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Queer players find more than a game in Dungeons & Dragons - they find a safe space
“We are here to play whoever we want to.”
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Colourful board game Kroma is a flashy concept that quickly flickers out - preview
Hue goes there.
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Good Old Plays: The throwback RPGs giving modern roleplaying “a breath of fresh air”
OSR designers are reviving the genre’s roots with compact rules, player-led storytelling and creativity in abundance.
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Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG first details: five playable eras, keeping Balance and how bending will work
Flameo, hotpeople!
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Magic: The Gathering’s new Strixhaven set enrols in some higher learning and packs a satchel full of historic spells
Less Harry Potter than high school.
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Indie RPGs show roleplaying can - and should - be far more than Dungeons & Dragons
The tabletop games and designers taking players from fantasy stories to real-world change.
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Kaldheim is another excellent Magic: The Gathering set that’s caused more chaos for the card game as a whole
Trickery to untangle.
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D&D's answer to American Idol changed the RPG - and its winner's life - forever
You could say it was open to ‘Ebberyone’.
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Monster Hunter World: The Board Game’s designers on tracking down the perfect tabletop adaptation
“We like people to make difficult choices that are also fun choices.”
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Our Shores designers want their Kickstarter to be the first wave of Southeast Asian RPGs going mainstream
Together, they hope to overcome national restrictions and find a deserving audience.
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The Dungeons & Dragons movie at 20: How the RPG’s first big-screen blockbuster suffered a critical fail
A D&D film was promised to rival Star Wars, but its cinematic debut ended up a box-office bomb. What happened?
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Star Trek: Discovery stars share their exploits and lessons from playing Dungeons & Dragons together
Boldly Action/Bonus/Moving where no one has gone before.
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“It's more important for us to be deeply loved than to be deeply successful”: How dark fantasy RPG Blackbirds took flight
Lead designer Ryan Verniere talks team building and trusting vision to others.
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Board games are expensive, so we tried to make our own for a tenner
It went about as well as you’d expect.
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“We had to quarantine our games”: Friendly local game stores’ struggle to survive during coronavirus
Board game café owners and retailers on the impact of lockdown and social distancing.
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What can board game Pandemic teach us about the real thing? We played with a disease expert to find out
Cardboard versus reality.
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Here are some of the best tabletop sessions from PAX Online x EGX Digital 2020
Queue up some of the best videos you might’ve missed at the online convention.
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7 board games to check out at PAX Online x EGX Digital
Get onboard with these tabletop titles.