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Games tell stories. They can tell a big story of victory and defeat, of treachery, of despair, or even of how you managed to impress a king a bit more than the other players. But how they do it, that's the real question.

A long time ago, after spending countless hours pondering the question of what defines an Ameritrash games and why I chose to pin my colours to that particular mast, I was struck by the realisation that what I, personally, look for in a game isn’t particularly theme, or drama, or randomness but interaction. Most of my favourite games are highly interactive, all my favourite Euros are and indeed I’d go so far as to say that a high level of player interaction is almost exclusively the marker that separates average Euros from the best. ...

Why do you keep saying "theme?" I do not think it means what you think it means.

Consider for a moment -- you’re a soldier in a big concrete bunker.  Coming up the hill towards you are: a) a group of 20 men with rifles, and b) a tank.  Beside you in the bunker is an artillery piece, the words “Anti-Tank Gun” written on it.  Which should you fire at?  The men, or the tank?  This isn't a trick question; go with your gut.

One of the most vivid memories I have of actual lessons in high school was a series of history classes about the society and economics of pre-industrial England. Not the most inspiring of topics, you might have thought, especially for someone that ended up graduating in life science. But what made it memorable wasn’t the subject matter but the manner of delivery. After a couple of desultory standard lectures, the teacher handed us all a sheet of paper detailing another person from another time and place that we were going to be over the next few weeks. Suddenly, history...

A while back you may recall I did a piece on why I gave up role-playing games. As part of the discussion which that generated, people started throwing ideas at me for some more moder, streamlined, narrative-based games that I ought to check out. And I have to admit I was pretty intrigued by some of these. Not to the point where I’ve actually gone out and played one, that would be a pretty fast change of opinion, even for me. But certainly enough that I went out and bought a couple. And almost inevitably, as soon as I’d...

"You need to teach that boy how to go on offense." Before you can fully understand how concerned I was when these words left my wife's lips I have to review something about the nature of twins.  In each pair, one is the good, the other the evil.  The boy my wife was speaking about in the sentence above is the evil.  You never teach an evil twin how to go on offense.

One of the fun things about being active on Twitter is getting know about people and organisations that you might never otherwise come across. So it is with Hide & Seek and their lead game designer, Holly Gramazio. As a game fan, you might be surprised to come across a games company and a designer you’ve never heard of before. I was. But it turns out that Hide & Seek aren’t an ordinary games company. It’s kind of hard to describe just what they are, but they seem to be equally interested in board games, video games and social...

F:AT LOOKS BACK. This article was original published May 15, 2009 with the title Topical Trash. Ken B.'s internet conection was blown out by the storms, so let's look back and enjoy this classic in which he coined the term DoaM  

I’ve played the vast majority of my 70-odd games of Twilight Struggle online, either against live opponents or via e-mail. But a few times I’ve had the pleasure of playing it face to face. I love teaching it to other people because it’s such a great game and it’s a delight watching them gradually pick it up until the penny drops and they’re totally in the zone with it. I can remember taking it to visit my regular gaming opponent Graham and teaching him how to play with an open hand for the first turn. I...