Grumpy Gamer

That escalated quickly.

It's time to take a stand.

If game designs are labors of love, critics must be insensitive haters. Or are they?

Some of you may know I left the 1Player Guild (meaning more time to dedicate to Solitaire Times!), and in the end, that's all about a...

Zerbique sings the praise for grumpiness against respectable industry representants and bloodsucker big boxes that want to eat you whole!

Scratch that. Athena landed her promotion at work and immediately left for vacation. And now I’m stuck here without a note or whatever to...

Fantasy and Science Fiction were the main two genres that used to offer us a way to escape reality. But lately a new theme has emerged...

Athena: HeroQuest sucks JW: Good evening to you too. Athena: It’s a children’s game for childish people. JW: Cool! Athena: Some...

There is one thing that annoys me, and that’s echo chambers: when a small community starts to adhere to a creed and keeps repeating it on...

JW: “Hey kids, let me tell you how Athena and I first met. It was a few years ago, this very weekend, that I had posted something on...

August is boring. The whole editorial alphabet, from Athena to Zerbique, left the office for a Summer Break. 😞 I've dusted the laptops....

As you may know, I started collecting playing card decks last year. To make my plays of Patience more colourful, and also out of...

JW: Athena, you look flushed! You're sweating. Have you been working out? Athena: No, I have a fever. I got my first vaccine dose...

I became a member of BGG in January 2017 and have been both growing and culling my games collection ever since. It now sits at 65 titles...

JW: I don't remember allowing pets in here, what's this? I nearly stepped on it. Eeww, it smells! Athena: It's cute. JW: You know you'll...

Athena: I don't feel like doing a grumpy post. I don't feel like doing anything. JW: Yeah, I'm bummed too. I have no idea if it's the...

Publisher Board & Dice decided to suspend all future collaboration and work with their top designer Daniele Tascini because of his racist...

I just received Underwater Cities. In many ways it looks heavily inspired by Terraforming Mars which is one of my favourite solo games....

When I was young, so much younger than today, I already was crazy about dice. Custom dice, coloured dice, big dice, small dice, with dots...

This evening Athena sent me a list of games that are expected to launch on Kickstarter next year. Her suggestion was we'd both write a...

When Athena and I were discussing what new features we could add to our website now that it's rising in popularity, it suddenly hit us....

Athena: Booooo! Boo, comrade! JW: *startled* Athena, what are you dressed up as? Athena: A ghost, obviously. JW: And why are you holding...

JW (taking off his raincoat): It's cold, and raining cats and dogs outside! Let's have some herbal tea to warm up. And I'd like to chill...

Athena: JW, something is wrong with me. I can't think of anything grumpy to say about the games that launch this month! JW: Have you...

Sometimes it's easy to tell if something is a bad idea: I know that if I wear a latex dress, I'll look like a sausage. So I'll never...

Athena: JW, I'm getting ready to go on vacation but... there's a couple of Kickstarters I want to follow... and I won't have good...

I've been nagging about this and that for a while, dispersing my silly complaints over a series of Grumpies. Now I compiled them into a...

Athena: JW, a heatwave is going to hit Greece in a few days. Not the best conditions for gaming... Are there any good Kickstarters to...

What you go through if you are subbed in the Solo Gamers group on Facebook, and you are NOT interested in Jaws of the Lion: *scroll*...

Athena: JW, would you be interested in playing a meta-game? Shelfie Stacker is about gamers with mild OCD stacking game boxes on their...

The results are in for the best new games of the year, as voted for in the Annual Golden Geek Awards on BoardGameGeek. Wingspan is Board...

Athena: May is blooming with Kickstarters, JW. Are you backing anything? JW: I am spring cleaning my collection. Only interested in games...

Our fellow 1PGer Kevin Shaud posted this article on his BGG blog (Kevin's Korner) yesterday and, upon reading it, we decided it makes...

Athena: JW, does this pandemic signal the dawn of the solo gamer domination in the board game world? I read articles that say quarantines...

When 1 Player Guild-member and superbacker Kevin Shaud (kevinruns262) told us he had an idea for a post, we told him, sure, go ahead. It...

JW: Well, we can act as if there are a lot of interesting games next month, but everybody will be backing Frosthaven, right? Because...

I recently watched a video by Daniel Davis (The Dungeon Dive YouTube channel) in which he talked about how his expectations of Secrets of...

Athena: JW, have you seen anything you fancy from the February Kickstarter list? JW: Not really. Athena: Nothing? It can't be. Let's take...

Athena: JW, January sounds like your ideal Kickstarter month. It has not one, not two, but at least six sci-fi games launching. Not to...

82,90 euro. That's how much I forked out to buy Zeppelin Raider: Imperial German Naval Airships. The theme appealed to me, I had never...

Athena, tearful: JW... December is almost devoid of Kickstarter campaigns!!! I knew this was coming but it still pains me... JW: We have...

Two months ago, the CMON Time Machine Kickstarter funded successfully. Part of it was the Time Vault. Backers could get access to...

We are thrilled to present you our first female grumpy guest from the One Player Guild: Maricel (mtsedwards) Apex Theropod is headed for...

In Pangea you try to save a group of animals from the Great Dying (the End-Permian extinction, some 250 million years ago). It takes...

Where we find ourselves in the virtual editorial office, discussing the November Kickstarters and kissing our money goodbye. JW:...

There is a demon that often captures (solo) gamers' souls: he lures them into purchasing a game, and when they give in and acquire it,...

That feeling when you open a new game box. It is hard to describe. It is mind-blowing. Awe-inspiring. We are so small and insignificant....

- I want to play a fantasy game, but I have no imagination at all. - No problem, we couldn't let a story emerge from gameplay and...

Discussing the Kickstarter releases of October with JW. Me: I remember you saying you didn't like 1066, Tears to Many Mothers as a solo...

Today we have the pleasure of hosting our fellow guild member, Eric Miller (govmiller). What is it with these creators? I mean, c'mon...