In search of an awesome general interest gaming magazine

Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/02/19/in-search-of-an-awesome-genera.html

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Not a tabletop gamer but I want to devour every issue of this magazine: eclectic, in-depth, and deeply passionate about its subject. Worth every penny and pound of its price.

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Thanks for info, that looks and sounds really interesting.

There was a time back in days of yore (say, pre-issue 90?) when White Dwarf aspired to at least general-industry coverage for RPGs, and even did some misc. tabletop/boardgaming stuff, but this looks bang-up-to-date and slick’n’modern too (but in a good way).

OMEG,* I am on the “pro” side of THAT argument.

* = Oh My Elder Gods

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Have you check out the “digital edition” ? How does it compare to the magazine subscription?

It’s not a magazine but most of my general tabletop gaming info comes from Shut Up and Sit Down which is sometimes supplemented with lurking around Board Game Geek

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+1 for Shut Up and Sit Down.

BoardGameGekk.com is exactly what it says and a mandatory destination for any table-tp gamer!

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There’s also a very healthy and active community over on reddit.com/r/boardgames which is where I get most of my boardgame-related news.

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Gnome Stew is also worth visiting on the regular: https://gnomestew.com/

Apparently you missed the short run of Gygax Magazine before a trademark dispute and family disagreements destroyed it. For a table top RPG gamer, it was fantastic.

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My unreliable memory says that it was earlier than that, maybe as early as 70? I remember noticing the change had happened by stealth, and then several months later the editors confirming that the zine was now the house organ for selling Games Workshop products. I stuck with it to issue 100, hoping that they’d reverse the decision, because it seemed important to me for reasons I no longer remember, but no.

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This looks incredibly cool but I doubt I’m going to be able to get it in Tokyo.

Also want to thank/blame @garethb2 for clueing me in on Ogre 6e, turns out that’s got an active community going online. Now if I can find people to play against in Tokyo…

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I’m amazed that something like this still exists.

I was an avid reader of White Dwarf, The Dragon, and especially The Space Gamer (which I also wrote for) back in the day. Also a bunch of short-lived zines, and (now that I remember) Ares magazine.

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How I loved that one! It’s kind of a pleasure to see many issues on archive.org

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I have all of my back issues to those same mags, plus SJ Games’ Fire & Movement and Strategy & Tactics magazines in my attic. I have like a decade of White Dwarf and years worth of Dragon, Space Gamer, Fantasy Gamer, and others.

Ares is back. Haven’t seen one yet.

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Wow, I never even heard about this. What year was it?

I guess the qualifier here is a ‘general interest’ gaming magazine. If you want something that covers miniatures based games, hobby games and RPGs in one spot, this probably works, given it’s broad versus deep approach. There are plenty of games dedicated to ONE of those things and many of them have been around for years, like Spielbox, Meeple Monthly, Wargaming Illustrated, GTM and others, some of which are listed here. Of course, many of these things have moved online (GTM is now Games Trade MEDIA, and has videos and such on their site).

This does look like a lovely magazine and a big plus is that it’s written in English by native speakers (something Spielbox can’t claim). Hopefully this magazine can survive…but it will need larger distribution in the long term, I’d wager. Spielbox only costs $62 Euros a year, Meeple Monthly is only $3.95 an issue…granted these aren’t apples to apples comparisons, but $100/year for a magazine is pretty dang pricey.

… And don’t forget www.dicetower.com , which has an extensive network of reviewers.

So pervasive, in fact, that one episode of “The IT Crowd” was supposedly based upon them.

Rumor had it that Graham Linehan was actually a closet fan of their shows.
“Shut the Fridge!” (“Shut the Door!”)

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I’ll watch The Dice Tower from time to time but Tom’s rant against local games stores really rubbed me the wrong way.

Highly recommend “Shut Up and Sit Down” …

Early brilliant rough-cut episodes of “Shut Up and Sit Down”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G3R0ZuUfik

Tabletopia (online “board” gaming): https://tabletopia.com/

Wil Wheaton @ Tabletop (Geek n Sundry): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87B1Wlz8fMo

Board with Life: https://imboardwithlife.tumblr.com/

Penny Arcade (mid-series SUSD reviews): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AsXG72SWAzk&list=PLjZRIC6PMEFkyCtBPgEoT2ULN-pdIGPxt

Going back in time (nascent): http://www.thegamesjournal.com/

I understand …

After he and Jason Levine won the contest to go on Tabletop with Wil Wheaton, I think Tom had been getting a bit big in the britches.

However, things change, and being the “tastemaster” for a variety of games brings a lot more pressure than just being an “enthusiast,” which his early reviews tried to emphasize.

It’s a full-time for-profit enterprise now with three paid reviewers. Personally, I prefer Zee Garcia on Dice Tower.

To each his own, I guess.