Casual Game Insider
Back to Nature:
The Spring of Environmental Themes in Board Gaming
6 min |
Spring 2023
Casual Game Insider
THE LAST KINGDOM BOARD GAME
A HISTORIC TALE OF EPIC PROPORTIONS
2 min |
Spring 2023
Casual Game Insider
Hand-to-Hand Wombat is Major Fun!
The Concept - No one knows why wombats enjoy architecture. A desire to build towers is buried deep in their bones. But there are exceptions: wicked wombats, born to make trouble.
3 min |
Spring 2023
Casual Game Insider
Project Not All Puzzles Are Created Equal
When sitting down to learn Project L, it may not seem to be a tabletop game at all, but rather the classic video game Tetris. After all, square-shaped board puzzles are acquired and players must fit various polyomino pieces into the recessed spaces of the puzzles.
7 min |
Spring 2023
Casual Game Insider
THE KULTURE OF GAMES:
How Board Games Continue to Reflect Growing & Emergent Communities
6 min |
Spring 2023
Casual Game Insider
CAT IN THE BOX
A fascinating twist on a well-known and well-loved genre, Cat in the Box brings a new dimension to trick-taking.
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
Essen SPIEL 2022: A Sparkle of Hope for Board Gaming
The last time I had the chance to attend Essen SPIEL, my son was just five weeks old, not exactly of the age where he could voice his opinion on the latest or greatest casual game.
8 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
The Root Beer Float Challenge is Major Fun!
You have come together to crown a new champion by assembling that most tasty treat, the root beer float! The ice cream, soda, straws, and cherries are laid out and ready.
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
BAG OF CHIPS
Carefully choose which objectives to complete in this tasty game of collecting chips.
1 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
GAME REVIEWS: DIVE
Dive deep into the ocean, avoiding sharks and seeking aid from turtles and manta rays as you race your opponents to the bottom.
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
Stroke of Genius: How Genius Games & Artana Gamify Science and History
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to make a board game, but at St. Louis-based Genius Games, one may join the creative process alongside designers, artists, and playtesters.
6 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
GAMING IN WAR: The Survival of the Board Game Community in Ukraine
Around 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022, Russian troops entered Ukraine and began bombing otherwise peaceful cities, airports, and critical infrastructure throughout the country from multiple fronts.
9 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
Out on the Tiles: The Evolution and Use of Tiles in Board Games
It's fair to say that any gamer who has spent enough time exploring the plethora of board games has played at least one tile-placement game. By its very nature, tile placement is ubiquitous because of its inherent versatility.
6 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
TIC-TAC-TOE EVOLVED: THE DEVELOPMENT OF FOUR CORNERS
Inspiration can strike in the unlikeliest of places. was sitting at an airport gate, waiting for my plane,” begins Ray Wehrs, and was mesmerized watching these kids next to me play games of Tic-Tac-Toe over and over again.” Wehrs watched as they stalemated numerous times and set right back up to do it again. In that moment, started thinking about how could make the game better.”
5 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
THE HAUNTED MANSION.. CALL OF THE SPIRITS
Venture into a haunted mansion full of ghosts, ghouls, and spooks! If you dare...
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
THE GREAT BRITISH BAKING SHOW GAME
Bakers: ready your decks, prepare the ingredients, and get baking!
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
DANDELIONS
Float on the wind, spread your dandelion seeds, and flower across the gardens in this elegantly simple mixture of area control and dice.
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
LIFE OF A CHAMELEON
Adapt to the shifting board, change your colors, and blend in to hunt down colorful bugs.
2 min |
Winter 2023
Casual Game Insider
Ethics of Gaming: The Unspoken Rules & Norms at the Table
My fiancée tells of a childhood memory of Monopoly in which her father her against trading other when it was not her turn.
7 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
Origins 2022: A Smaller Convention Can Still Be a Blast
Origins Game Fair 2022 felt like Origins 2021.
6 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
Kabuto Sumo is Major Fun!
If you listen closely, you can hear it...KLONK! The mighty Kabutomushi, the magnificent rhinoceros beetles are knocking heads, sumo wrestling.
3 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
OH MY RING!
Looking for a dexterity challenge? Try this tricky, ring-sliding game where players race to shift chunky, colorful rings from finger to finger to complete patterns.
1 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
THE CONVENTION USES THE BYPASS TO RETURN TO GLORY
In its 55th iteration, the detours caused by COVID were still figuratively and literally visible throughout the convention. Masks of all varieties and sizes were visible, and yellow wristbands proving one's vaccination status dripped from everyone's wrists after variable waiting times through the proofing line. It didn't help matters that outside the walls of the Indiana Convention Center (ICC), there were many incomplete construction projects coupled with recent real-world events, which stymied traffic to and from the ICC.
2 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
SO, YOU'VE BEEN EATEN.
Dive into the bowels of the beast to mine rare crystals or work hard to digest the miner inside of you for a good snack!
2 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
Ethics of Gaming: The Unspoken Rules & Norms at the Table
My fiancée tells of a childhood memory of Monopoly in which her father admonished her against trading with other players when it was not her turn.
4 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
POWER FAILURE
Help supply the cities with energy in this game that is a unique combination of engine building and dexterity.
2 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
GEN CON DRIVES 55
THE CONVENTION USES THE BYPASS TO RETURN TO GLORY
2 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
POWER FAILURE
Help supply the cities with energy in this game that is a unique combination of engine building and dexterity.
2 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
Origins 2022: A Smaller Convention Can Still Be a Blast
Origins Game Fair 2022 felt like Origins 2021.
6 min |
Fall 2022
Casual Game Insider
EXITING THE PAST: THE 200-YEAR TIMELINE OF THAMES & KOSMOS
One of the USA's hottest game publishers has a long history overseas.
4 min |