This is my post listing and reflecting on the games I played over the year. They’re listed in the order I played them.

  • Band of Blades. My Monday crew played to the end of the retreat to Skydagger, and we had a great time with it. I think this is the best descendant of Blades in the Dark out there at the moment in terms of working with the system, and the theme is great. Without a doubt my game of the year (although Electric Bastionland–see below–is a close second).
  • Damn the Man, Save the Music. This was a great one-shot game, we had a hilarious time screwing theings up and then dealing with the consequences. It may be a love-letter to a very specific story, but it does that story perfectly.
  • Goblinville. A fun take on dungeon crawling with a bit more heart (and absurdity). We played a multi-table game at a convention and that had a few issues, but the basic game workds well and we didn’t break it very badly.
  • Honey Heist. Does what it says on the tin. Great.
  • Decuma. Demo of the Decuma tarot-based game setup tool (the kickstarter was still going at this point). It’s a really well-built and fun game, and provided us with characters and setup for a science fiction game we all would have liked to play in afterwards.
  • Heavy Metal Aeons. I’ve run a few more playtests of this over the year, and I’m currently overhauling it to be more streamlined for one-shot play. The previous version just had a bit too much cruft left in there.
  • Dialect. Absolutely wonderful. A really emotional and melancholy game came out, and by way of the game making us introduce (and later change) the language of the group it brought out a lot from all participants.
  • Miseries & Misfortunes. Another good convention one-shot. We had a small group which made certain things a bit tough, but it was still enjoyable. Would very much like to play an extended series.
  • XG-ULTRA. This is another playtest of my own design. It’s an idea I’ve had hanging around for a while that’s mostly inspired by Stargate SG-1. Although it’s currently basically complete, I’ve got some changes to work through (mainly about re-framing it to be centrally anti-imperialist, whereas there’s a fair bit of white saviour/colonialism in the setup right now).
  • Electric Bastionland. This is currently my favourite take on what D&D is supposed to do. Simple, a great sketched setting that you can do your own things with, and the games I’ve played have all been really nifty.
  • John Carter of Mars. Played a single adventure over a few online sessions. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected to, it’s a solid system and really captured a pulp adventure style with the momentum mechanics.
  • Alone Among the Stars. Interesting and a good basic concept, but I found there were just not enough prompts to provoke really interesting play, and those that were there were not varied enough.
  • The Natural Philosophers. I ran an online one-shot for some friends who were interested in giving it a go. Fun, and provided some very good feedback which got folded into my next iteration.
  • a|state. I got invited to take part in playtesting of the new edition of this game (which directly informed the quickstart/demo pack that’s available). Really enjoyed these games and looking forward to the finished product now.
  • The Bloody-handed Name of Bronze. While everyone was stuck at home, game designer Joshua A C Newman ran a few demo games of this one. My copy turned up just before the lockdown in New Zealand and I couldn’t quite envision how it played from the text. It was really nice to play with the designer to get that straight, and I feel much more confident with my ability to teach or play it myself now. Also great that the plague gave me a chance to play with Newman, who I have known internet-wise for many years but never actually chatted to in person before.
  • Feng Shui. After finishing Band of Blades, the Monday crew took a trip to Hong Kong for some martial arts action. We had fun with the game, but now that our series has come to a close I’m ready for something with a bit more story again.
  • Nice Marines. Another great one page game from Grant Howitt. It was hilarious and fun, although we ended up causing such carnage that I felt sorry for the imaginary civilians of the world we were “rebuilding.” Also mad props to the psi-tiger.
  • Agon. The second edition is a really great streamlined take on the core play of the old version. I really enjoyed my games, and this is going to be one I keep returning to for one-shot play. I’m also looking forward to getting a full journey in some time, as the rules for an ongoing series look really cool.
  • Fiasco. Another second edition that keeps the great core play of the original but in a much simpler and streamlined package. Plays better than the original while also requiring many less rules. We had a great game with the “Beast of Sucker Creek” set, encountering frauds, fraud-busters, shootings, and an encounter with the actual Beast (or was it…?)