Three Different Kinds Of Game Day!
Plus my RPG books are now restocked at Pure Panic Comics & Games
Hello and Happy October, friends! It’s been another busy, overwhelming week for me, as I continue to single parent my kids while their dad is in Asia. This meant that I had to press gang them into service to help me set up for the recent Indie Tabletop Day at Pure Panic Comics & Games! Because the Arsenal game at Newcastle was at 11:30 that day, I could only stay for set up, but all the reports I’ve received say that the day was a success and everyone had a blast. Bonus: I got to restock my games, so you’ll find copies of Equinox, Honey Hex and Camp Elementa on Pure Panic’s shelves! And, as always, digital copies are available at my itch.io store.
The night before, I’d rather hopefully asked the kids whether, since we’d be parked in downtown Silver Spring anyway, they’d like to take the bus to the sports bar afterwards. The twins were super excited, and my eldest eventually capitulated, even before I rewarded him with Pokemon cards for his help at the game store. He was being very 14 year-old throughout the morning tho, all memes and brainrot and incitement of his younger brothers. It was very trying.
But not as trying as some of the officiating in the Arsenal-Newcastle game! We already knew the ref, a Liverpool fan, was going to only very grudgingly decide for us if he absolutely had to. But when he rescinded the penalty call he’d very slowly awarded us, everyone in Franklin Hall knew that we had a real problem. So to win that match so emphatically, to have so much depth and character despite being up against a bullshit team and a bullshit set of refs (who let poor Viktor Gyokeres get absolutely battered in the box)… well, we tore the roof off of the bar cheering, singing and dancing at both the winning goal and the final whistle. The NFL fans who’d come early for the Sunday games were definitely astonished at our passion, but none of us cared. And I, personally, was super glad to be able to congregate with so many of my friends in the DC Armoury to celebrate a necessary win. The kids were also happy to get in the spirit and jump around, yelling, so it was a pretty good day overall! Also, the Arsenal won again in midweek, defeating Olympiacos in the Champions League. I stayed home for that but definitely posted on BlueSky throughout!
In other game news, I got to post my review of The Dungeonmeister Deck Of Side Quests by Jef Aldrich & Jon Taylor today! I had the chance to test it out on my Ghosts Of Saltmarsh Dungeons & Dragons group during our last session, adding two of the cards to the end of a big combat, where I had the Unseasonable Fog begin to gush out of the defeated nightmare creature’s mouth, and the Babbling Brook begin to sound immediately after, since a stream had been part of the landscape, as per the campaign book. My players were thoroughly creeped out, even as I made dad jokes that cracked me up while they gave me the stink eye.
Reading-wise, I really enjoyed Jonathan Hill’s Lizard Boy #2: The Most Perfect Summer Ever this past week. The book took me a while to warm up to since I wasn’t familiar with the premise. It seemed to me like your fairly standard cast of misfits having adventures, albeit with a cryptid twist. So I was more than pleasantly surprised when this turned out to be a thoughtful look at community and loss and all the messy emotions that come with wanting to belong. It’s smart and sensitive and by far the best Middle Grade graphic novel I’ve read this year so far.
Let’s see, I also surprised myself by beering on the first day of the Reality TV Mini League over on Learned League. Of the eight shows mentioned in the six questions, I have watched exactly one, to give you an idea of how big my surprise was. I just don’t have a lot of time for TV, especially nowadays, unless one of the kids wants me to watch something with them. Eldest has gotten me to watch the first five episodes of Win Or Lose with him recently, but keeps getting too caught up in gaming with his friends to schedule the rest. I’m sure we’ll find time soon!
And speaking of time, it’s time for me to wrap up, so see you in seven, friends!
Currently Playing (Music): Beethoven’s Symphony #2 in D Major; my Declan Rice and 2025 Energy playlists; Stela Cole’s I Die Where You Begin; Jessie Murph’s Sex Hysteria; Megan Moroney’s Am I Okay? (I’ll Be Fine); Ravyn Lenae’s Bird’s Eye.
Currently Playing (Games): The Light In The Mist puzzletale, The Wild Beyond The Witchlight, Metazooa by Trainwreck Labs, Learned League trivia, NYT Connections, Your Friend In Witchcraft by Kay Marlow Allen; The Wolves Of Langston by Obvious Mimic; My Late Father’s Correspondence by Storybrewers Roleplaying.
Currently Reading/Writing (Games): Ghosts Of Saltmarsh, The Dungeonmeister Deck of Side Quests
Currently Reading or Just Read (Books): Sour Crime Donuts by Ginger Bolton; Lizard Boy #2: The Most Perfect Summer Ever by Jonathan Hill; Don’t Sleep With The Dead by Nghi Vo; The Holy Roller by Andy Samberg, Rick Remender, Joe Trohman, Roland Boschi & Moreno Dinisio; The Board by Katy Farber.