Dan Thurot

Cats Knocking Things Off Ledges seems like a perfect game for a cat-obsessed seven-year-old. With sturdier components, it might have been. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/10/26/c...

Two weeks of plays here. Some really cool stuff happening. What did you get to the table?

Because I've been sick, I've been neglecting preview season. Not to worry, because today I'm covering three, that's right three, previews of interesting and strange board games! spacebiff.com/2026/10/22/r...

RIP BioWare

Six years ago today, I wrote about Versailles 1919. The title caused one thousand people to correct my pronunciation (it was a joke), and the text made a few grumps grumble that they still didn't know anything about the game. So: one of my best! spacebiff.com/2020/10/19/v...

All I want to do is talk about You Can See Everything with every person in earshot.

Such a disappointment. A successful and profitable studio shut down for... what? Some truly noteworthy titles down the years. Best of luck to all involved.

I think You Can See Everything might have convinced me that p-zombies are real. Anyway, I loved it, which probably isn't a surprise. More questions than answers. Apart from the p-zombies.

I'm excited for how this game explores the shifting truths of history, the processes of historiography, and the academic pressures that distort those processes. I'll be reading this eloquent review a good few times: Dan brings both a historian's and a personal perspective to Collins' work.

"Plenty of games use historical settings, but not many of them are *about* history. Wiñay Kawsay is about history. [...] The result is a warning as much as it is a love letter." — @danthurot.bsky.social reviews Wiñay Kawsay spacebiff.com/2026/10/13/w... #BoardGame #History #Inca #Peru

This sounds absolutely fascinating, and a cracking game - very excited for release:

I've been so excited for this to come out for years now. As usual, Dan really nails what's so compelling about it. Alison really knocked it out of the park with this design, and I think it's going to blow people away.

Wiñay Kawsay doesn't merely use history as a setting, but as its core concern. As much a warning as a love letter to the process of writing history, this one blends sharp gameplay and sharper critique. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/10/13/w...

This is such an uncomfortable question, haha. Kindergarten. When I would take books to school to read during recess because I didn't want to play wall-ball.

Braided Skies is a stylish worker placement game with an evolving map, clever recall turns, and a solid sense of place. Smooth as it gets. Possibly too smooth? My review: spacebiff.com/2026/10/12/b...

It was a rather light week round these parts! What did you get to the table?

Enchanted Ivy is a solitaire game about building an inn to house a bunch of fussy guests. It's utterly lovely. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/10/09/e...

Once again - Dan is a blazing beacon when it comes to thoughtful board game discussion and reviews. Go read his stuff, enjoy, and then support his Patreon to help keep the good stuff coming.

Once again, my quarterly newsletter covers the best board games, movies, books, and video games of the quarter. It's on Patreon, but it's open to all. Take a look! www.patreon.com/danthurot/po...

Once again, my quarterly newsletter covers the best board games, movies, books, and video games of the quarter. It's on Patreon, but it's open to all. Take a look! www.patreon.com/danthurot/po...

Some guy on BGG wants to know why Christian missionaries increase the demand for opium in An Infamous Traffic. Me: Hey, I'm a professor of Christian history! I can answer this! Guy: I don't like your answer. I don't believe it. Those missionaries wouldn't have done that. ... okey dokey

Such great writing and such a potent finale paragraph

Pax Playground is about childhood, but not in some simplistic sense. Between its challenging cardplay and open-ended victory conditions, it captures the ups, the downs, and the apprehensions of having your whole life ahead of you. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/10/07/p...

Yet another masterpiece column by Dan Thurot

I always enjoy reading Space Biff's reviews and previews, this one especially so

That final paragraph is 👨‍🍳💋👌

I'm relieved to report that the long-awaited second edition of An Infamous Traffic is even better than the original — in gameplay, in narrative, in clarity. My preview: spacebiff.com/2026/10/05/a...

Nice to have a busy week for a change. What did you get to the table?

Finance bro skipped his humanities courses and it shows.

Satchel Quest gives you a bag of holding and asks you to go on a dungeon dive with it. The results are... mixed! Appropriately mixed, with monsters and potions all sloshing together. It's a smart puzzle that grows a little long in the tooth. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/09/30/s...

Grabble is another crowd-pleaser from CMYK, a tactile deduction and guessing game that takes five minutes to play — provided you play only once. I suspect this one will be more divisive than some of their recent fare. Personally, I love it. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/09/29/g...

Shards of Creation is a trick-taker set in Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere. But before you Cosmerenauts get too excited, maybe read about why it's one of the weakest trick-takers I've played. My review: spacebiff.com/2026/09/28/s...

Played some lovely games this week, despite being a bit low-energy. What did you get to the table?

climbed a mountain today

Reading @danthurot.bsky.social's criticism inspired me to design my own games and to make them as plucky & idiosyncratic as befits their subject matter. King Ludd, he writes, is "a challenging, thought-provoking rumination on an oft-misplaced history ... Stark, sobering, and sometimes hopeful."

Upland & Prairie is a fast-playing disc-laying game that feels like a distant little cousin of certain Reiner Knizia disc-layers. Emphasis on "distant" and "little." My review: spacebiff.com/2026/09/23/u...