Cardboard - 7 Wonders: Duel Board Game Review

Antoine Bauza's original version of 7 Wonders is one of my favourite games. A clever card-drafting civilisation-building game, it's quick to explain, plays fast and the simultaneous gameplay means there's no downtime even with its maximum 7 players. The only trouble with it is that the two-player variant brings in a third 'dummy' player, which always rings alarm bells for me.

That's where 7 Wonders: Duel comes in. This time Bauza has teamed up with Bruno Cathala to create a new version of the game that's specifically tailored for two players.

NSPCC Big Board Game Day (Part 2)

This Friday was the NSPCC's Big Board Game Day event, where they asked everyone to play games at work, home or school and donate money to support their important work looking after vulnerable children in the UK and Channel Islands.

The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery (with giveaway!)

Ever since Pam pushed me off a cliff into the addiction that is cross-stitch (last year at the Handmade Fair) I've been slightly smitten with the adorable patterns of The Frosted Pumpkin Stitchery that she introduced me to. This is a small company formed by two friends in California, US; Ashleigh works on design whilst Amanda looks after the business side, making a brilliant partnership that creates colourful kawaii designs.

NSPCC Big Board Game Day (Part 1)

The NSPCC's Big Board Game Day is fast approaching, so I thought I'd take another look through the fundraising pack they sent over to make sure I'm ready!

The NSPCC is a charity that fights against child abuse in the UK and Channel Islands. They help children who’ve been abused to rebuild their lives, protect children at risk, and find the best ways of preventing child abuse from ever happening.

They're asking everyone to join in with their Big Board Game Day on 27th May 2016, playing at work or at home with friends and family to raise some money for a great cause while having an amazing time. Such a great idea!

The fundraising pack has everything you need on the day:

• Event poster
• Fundraising guide
• Sweepstake kit
• Tournament chart
• Sponsor form
• Donation box
• Sticker sheet

Absolutely anyone can get involved, so if you'd like to find out more about how you can join in take a look at the NSPCC Big Board Game Day website.

All going well, I should be joining in by trying out some games at work as well as playing at home with friends, so I'll post again to let you know how it goes!

Guest Post - Getting Started with Comic Books

One from the archives of the old blog, here! My husband Barry offered to put together a comic-based guest post, because at the time I was complaining that comics were hard to get into and I didn't know where to start. I have no idea how he fits so much information into his brain, but his wide-ranging interests make him really well placed for recommendations, some of which you'll find in the article. He's made some updates since it was originally published, and has been through to make sure he hasn't changed his mind about anything!

If you want to know more about comics or are just looking for something different to read, I hope you find something new and useful below.

Podcast Love - Polygon Longform

I used to have plenty of free time that I'd spend playing a lot of video games, and as part of that I kept up-to-date with plenty of gaming news. These days life, work and baby have meant that free time is tighter and there's a lot more to fit in. Audiobooks and podcasts have helped a lot, allowing me to multitask-tetris entertainment into daily life where it wouldn't otherwise have been practical.

Recently filling the videogame void for me is Polygon Longform, a podcast that gathers spoken word versions of feature articles from gaming news and reviews site polygon.com, read by Polygon's Dave Tach.