What the Heck is a Living Card Game? (Four Years Later)
Exactly four years ago today, Barrister Brian wrote an article on Fantasy Flight Games’ series of expandable card games known as Living Card Games. Fittingly enough, Brian went on to work for Fantasy Flight shortly thereafter, so we can …
What are Pool-Building Games, and Why are they So Engaging?
Good pool-building begins with a shovel. Dig a hole in the ground, buy a diving board, and fill the thing with water. Blammo, you’ve got a pool—
Just kidding. We’re here to talk about an entirely different type of pool. …
Art Cards Games
Blurring the lines between “strategy game” and “party game,” Dixit made a name for itself in 2008, which I believe laid some important groundwork for the board game industry. I believe that it began a movement which could be described …
The “Judge Picks” Mechanic
The board game landscape was forever changed in 1999 when Out of the Box Publishing first printed Apples to Apples. It featured a totally new game mechanic, where the Judge in each round would select their favorite response among …
Musings: Will We See a Low-Stakes Genre of Tabletop Gaming?
Traditionally, game-playing has been synonymous with competing. Whether it’s cards around the kitchen table with grandma, or at a high-level tournament with prize money on the line, we play games because we enjoy it, but we also play to overcome …
Before There Were Stars & The Soft Skills that Come After
There’s something truly captivating about activities that encourage us to be the best versions of ourselves. Television shows like The Great British Baking Show or Repair Shop (aside from being delightfully British) feature people being kind to each other, people …
Early Arithmetic
There’s no denying the usefulness of a strong sense of arithmetic. Whether you’re counting change, planning out craft projects, or scoring up points at the end of a board game 😉
Practicing addition, subtraction, multiplication and division at a young …
Learning through Pretending: Playing Diner
This week at Barrister Unschool: Learning through Pretending!
I remember playing Diner when I was growing up—setting up a table and menus for my parents, getting out the little pretend server pad, taking their fake money, bringing out plastic …
Barrister Unschool: Expanding our Knowledge
This week at Barrister Unschool: We’re expanding our knowledge!
Discovering a game that’s fun to play is one thing, but we’re always SUPER impressed when we come across a game that makes it fun to learn.
Covering geography, history, …
Barrister Unschool: Growing Logic Challenges
This week at Barrister Unschool: Growing Logic Challenges!
Repetitive, iterating challenges are a staple for many solo puzzle-style games—whether you’re moving object A to point B, completing a circuit, or beaming up cows into your UFO 
and when done right,