Hi, I’m Evan!

Welcome, fellow board game enthusiasts! I want to take a moment to share my personal journey that led me to this hobby and how I started blogging. As a lifelong board game aficionado, I have found joy in creating time devoted to sitting around a table, jostling cards and meeples, and celebrating both the wins and losses. In our ever-bustling world, I find comfort in being able to decompress through board games with friends and family.

How it all started…

Some of my earliest memories playing board games are with my dad and brother. Growing up, we’d use to play the old Victory in the Pacific game from 1977 whenever we’d take family trips. I’m not sure what happened to the board, so all we had were the counters stored in an old tin candy jar and my dad’s recollection of the rules from when he grew up. In addition to Victory in the Pacific, we also had Panzer Leader, Luftwaffe, and other WWII games from my dad’s era.

Like many, my first introduction to modern board gaming came when we were gifted Catan at Christmas one year. If only I’d known then how much that one game would shape my perspective on what board gaming could be. For the first couple of years, we played Catan almost nonstop. I haven’t opened the box in quite some time, but I’m sure the cards are worn from all of the plays. However, things really changed when we evolved from Catan to Agricola. Suddenly, Catan was old news and we couldn’t get enough of Agricola. Steadily, our board game collection grew from Agricola to Dominion, Pandemic, and by the time we purchased Terra Mystica we were hooked. With my grandfather’s assistance, I even built my own copy of Railways of the World and the Europe expansion; I printed out the map onto 8.5 x 11 pieces of paper and glued them to giant wooden boards. Today, my collection is well over 100 games, and while my comfort food is medium-weight euros, I’ll happily play most any game on the table, except for maybe Sagrada.

Goals for the Site

My inspiration for starting a blog was to provide an avenue for sharing my thoughts on games. There are countless reviewers out there, and I didn’t just want to be another voice among the crowd. Therefore, while I mainly plan to share recent gaming highlights and what I like and don’t like about the design, most of my posts will likely not be as in-depth as some reviews may be (I may offer the occasional top 10 list or discuss my current favorite games). To readers, while we may not always share the same opinions, I hope this blog encourages you to try new games, share gaming stories, and invite your friends to the table of life-changing board gaming.