Mechanics & Meeples Series Index

Article Index

Year-by-year categorized listings of Mechanics & Meeples articles & Shannon’s RPGnet board game reviews.

  1. 2005 Article Index [12/31/05]
  2. 2006 Article Index [1/1/07]
  3. 2007 Article Index [12/31/07]
  4. 2011 Article Index [12/13/11]
  5. 2012 Article Index [12/31/12]
  6. 2013 Article Index [12/30/13]
  7. 2014 Article Index [12/31/14]
  8. 2015 Article Index [12/31/15]
  9. 2016 Article Index [1/2/17]
  10. 2017 Article Index [1/10/18]

This is a listing of all the continuing articles series on Mechanics & Meeples

Adventure Games

Talisman 4th EditionA multi-part look at the adventure gaming genre of board games.

  1. Overview: Worlds of Adventure [4/10/07]
  2. Fantasy Flight’s Adventure Games & That Old-Time Roleplaying [6/26/06]
  3. Adventure Games, Part Two: In the Cards [7/26/06]
  4. Adventure Games, Part Three: Dungeon Delving [8/10/06]
  5. Adventure Games, Part Four: Talisman vs Runebound [9/27/07]

Alea Analysis

Edel, Stein & ReichA series of articles discussing the strengths and weaknesses of the Alea series of games.

  1. Part One: Ra (#1), Chinatown (#2), Taj Mahal (#3) [8/6/12]
  2. Part Two: Princes of Florence (#4), Adel Verpflichtet (#5), Traders of Genoa (#6) [11/19/12]
  3. Part Three: Wyatt Earp (S#1), Royal Turf (S#2), Puerto Rico (#7) [2/25/13]
  4. Part Four: Die Sieben Weisen (S#3), Edel, Stein & Reich (S#4), Mammoth Hunters (#8) [8/19/13]
  5. Part Five: San Juan (S#5), Fifth Avenue (#9), Louis XIV (M#1) [6/23/14]
  6. Part Six: Palazzo (M#2), Augsburg 1520 (M#3), Rum & Pirates (#10) [2/2/15]
  7. Part Seven: Notre Dame (#11), In The Year of the Dragon (#12), Witch’s Brew (M#4) [6/15/15]
  8. Part Eight: Macao (#13), Alea Iacta Est (M#5), Glen More (M#6) [2/22/16]
  9. Part Nine: The Castles of Burgundy (#14), Artus (M#7), Los Vegas (M#8) [2/6/17]

Alea Treasures

Puerto RicoA look at the game design of the expansions in the Alea Treasure Chest — and how they changed the original games.

  1. Part One: Louis XIV & San Juan [9/16/10]
  2. Part Two: Witch’s Brew [6/25/12]
  3. Part Three: Puerto Rico [10/15/12]
  4. Part Four: Princes of Florence [10/29/12]

Anatomy of a Game

Shorter looks at individual games or even genres of games, to examine how they’re put together.

  1. Anatomy of a Game: Blue Moon [2/23/06]
  2. Anatomy of a Game: Catan [9/14/15]
  3. Anatomy of a Revision: Caverna [5/18/15]
  4. Anatomy of a Reimagination: Eldritch Horror [6/29/15]
  5. Anatomy of a Line: The Manhattan Project [12/19/16]

This article focusing on three games is clearly closely related:

  1. Anatomy of Three Conversions: Burgundy, Ra, and Galaxy [6/27/16]

Anatomy of a Game: Carcassonne

Carcassonne Computer GameA look at how Carcassonne has changed and evolved through various expansions and variants.

  1. Overview: Carcassonne: Not Just a City in France [1/2/07]
  2. Carcassonne, Part One: The Original Game [3/30/06]
  3. Carcassonne, Part Two: Balance & Tiles [4/6/06]
  4. Carcassonne, Part Three: Cooperation & Competition [4/20/06]
  5. Carcassonne, Part Four: Complexity & The Rivers [5/11/06]
  6. The Carcassonne Standalones, Part One: Tiles & Scores [3/15/07]
  7. The Carcassonne Standalones, Part Two: Rules Changes [3/29/07]

Anatomy of a Gaming Genre

An examination of specific genres of play.

  1. Auctions, Dutch: Five Design of Dutch Auctions [4/28/14]
  2. City Building: The Design and Care of a Tile-Based City Builder [3/27/17]
  3. Deck Management: Deck Management is the New Roundel [5/8/17]
  4. Real-Time: Six Design of Real-Time Games [5/26/14]
  5. Resource Management: The Design of a Resource-Efficiency Game [3/6/17]
  6. Voting: The Voting Game [11/8/16]

Anatomy of a Gaming Genre: Card Games

A look at card games, including some previous overviews, and a more specific anatomy article.

  1. Overview: Clubs, Spades … and Orange Chameleons?! [8/20/06]
  2. Anatomy of a Genre: Card Games & Randomness [9/13/07]

Anatomy of a Gaming Genre: Legacy Games

  1. A Legion of Legacies, Part One: Legacy Play [11/13/17]
  2. A Legion of Legacies, Part Two: Legacy Venn [12/11/17]

Anatomy of a Gaming Genre: Role Civilization

Analysis of the small fall of games that originated with San Juan and Race for the Galaxy.

  1. Part One: An Introduction [11/9/15]
  2. Part Two: The Empires [11/23/15]
  3. Part Three: The Galaxy [12/21/15]

Anatomy of a Gaming Genre: Train Games

A discussion of train games, focusing on the three major mechanics that make up the category of play.

  1. Part One: Connections [9/9/13]
  2. Part Two: Pickup and Delivery [9/16/13]
  3. Part Three: Stock Holding [10/7/13]

Board Game History

These are short, isolated looks at various historical periods of game playing & publishing. They’re arranged in the chronological order of the histories here.

  1. The Birth of the Modern Board Game: 1820-1869 [1/14/13]
  2. The American Board Gaming Century Begins: 1883-1935 [4/1/13]

Christmas Guides

  1. Shannon’s Christmas ’12 Gift-Giving Guide [12/10/12]
  2. Shannon’s Christmas ’13 Gift-Giving Guide [12/2/13]

Co-op Interviews

Arkham Horror, First EditionInterviews with the top cooperative game designers on how their co-op games work.

  1. Cathala, Bruno & Serge Laget [11/4/13]
  2. Knizia, Reiner — Lord of the Rings [2/17/11]
  3. Konieczka, Corey [8/5/13]
  4. Launius, Richard — Arkham Horror [11/25/10]
  5. Leacock, Matt [4/29/13]
  6. Leacock, Matt — Thunderbirds [3/10/15]
  7. Vogel, Eric B. — Dresden Files [5/9/16]

Deckbuilding Looks

DominionA series of articles dissecting deckbuilding games and talking with deckbuilding designers.

  1. Dominion, Part One: The Original Game [9/10/12]
    1. Dominion, Part Two: What a Difference a Box Makes [1/19/15]
  2. 3012 [4/15/13]
  3. Arctic Scavengers [5/13/13]
  4. Ascension [7/27/11]
    1. Deckbuilding Expansion: From Chronicle to Heroes [8/10/15]
    2. Deckbuilding Expansion: From Vigil to Champions [8/24/15]
  5. Asgard’s Chosen [11/18/13]
  6. Automobiles [7/25/17]
  7. Copycat [6/10/13]
  8. Cthulhu Realms [10/26/15]
  9. DC Comics [4/14/14]
  10. Demonslayer [11/24/14]
  11. Don’t Turn Your Back [9/28/15]
  12. Eaten By Zombies [9/24/12]
  13. Eminent Domain [6/15/12]
  14. A Few Acres of Snow [7/30/12]
  15. Flip City [12/7/15]
  16. Lewis & Clark [7/28/14]
  17. Lord of the Rings [1/11/16]
  18. Mystic Vale [8/8/16]
  19. Nightfall [3/17/11]
  20. Orléans [2/20/17]
  21. Pathfinder Adventure Card Game [5/12/14]
    1. Return to PACG [3/23/15]
    2. Return to PACG II: Skull, Wrath, and Mask [8/8/17]
  22. Penny Arcade [7/16/12]
  23. Pergamemnon [8/13/12]
  24. Resident Evil [4/28/11]
  25. Quarriors [8/30/11]
  26. Star Realms [9/22/14]
  27. A Study in Emerald [2/24/14]
  28. Tanto Cuore [10/18/11]
  29. Thunderstone [5/13/10]
  30. Trains [12/22/14]
  31. Tyrants of the Underdark [8/22/16]
  32. Valley of the Kings [4/24/17]
  33. Witches of the Revolution [9/11/17]
  34. Zeppelin Attack! [8/25/14]

Deckbuilding Interviews

Discussions with deckbuilding designers

  1. Seegert, Alf — Fantastiqa [7/2/13]
  2. Vogel, Eric B. — Don’t Turn Your Back [2/9/15]
  3. Vogel, Eric B. — Zeppelin Attack! [2/3/14]

Essen & Nurnberg (P)reviews

In Ye Olde Days I used to preview and review the most exciting games from the Essen and Nurnberg game conventions each year. It quickly proved too hard to track down German games ever year, so for more recent looks at new games, instead see New to Me, below.

  1. Games to Watch for: Essen ’05 [10/27/05]
  2. Games to Watch for: Nurnberg ’06 [2/9/06]
  3. A Top Ten from Essen ’05, Part One [4/27/06]
  4. A Top Ten from Essen ’05, Part Two [5/4/06]
  5. Games to Watch for: Essen ’06 [10/26/06]
  6. A Top Ten (or so) from Nurnberg ’06 [1/18/07]

The Expansion Game

Arkham HorrorThese are looks at what expansions add to games. These are really in two separate series, because I forgot about some while writing others, but they’re continuing looks at the topic.

  1. Expansive Theories (or: The Horror! The Horror!) [11/23/06]
  2. The Expansion Game, Part One: The History [1/31/08]
  3. The Expansion Game, Part Two: Boon or Bane? [2/28/08]
  4. A Second Look at Expansions (or: The Expansion Expansion) [1/27/14]

Gamopedias

These are exhaustive looks at a single genre of theming.

  1. Brawl of Cthulhu — A Lovecraftian Gamopedia [4/27/15]

IP, Morality & The Gaming Industry

Some discussions of moral issues in game design, development, and production. Only loosely connected as a series.

  1. IP, Morality, and the Gaming Industry [8/28/06]
  2. IP, Morality, and the Gaming Industry Part Two: Developers [2/15/07]
  3. Economics, Technology, Philosophy, and the Law [6/5/07]
  4. Bang! — New Copyright Decisions [9/29/14]

iPhone Game Design

Web of Power Card Game: The Duel Screen ShotThese articles were each written after I’d completed the design of an iPhone game adapted from a eurogame either by Reiner Knizia or Michael Schacht. Each one addresses some unique problems raised by that particular game.

  1. Turning Reiner Knizia’s Money into an iPhone Game [1/21/10]
  2. Reiner Knizia’s High Society: Making Computers Think like Auction Players [7/22/10]
  3. Reiner Knizia’s Kingdoms: What Makes a Great MobileEuroGame? [10/28/10]
  4. Michael Schacht’s Gold!: Sweating the Details for iPhone Card Games [2/10/11]
  5. Game Decisions & AI: A Look at Modern Art: The Card Game [5/26/11]
  6. Developing Web of Power Card Game: The Duel [7/23/12]

The Italian Design Scene

Six Degrees of ItalyA look at Italian board games, from a time when it looked like they were going to become a major element of the eurogame scene.

  1. Part One: The Analysis [5/25/06]
  2. Part Two: The Reference [6/1/06]

Kickstarter Previews

These were early looks at games then coming out on Kickstarter. This isn’t something I’m usually interested in, but these games caught my eye for whatever reason.

  1. DragonFlame [11/10/14]
  2. Monster Mansion [10/27/14]

Knizia-Thon

A few articles inspired by my year of playing Knizia games, supplemented by some later works focusing on Knizia games.

  1. Knizia-Thon, Part One: Marco Polo Expedition v. Blue Moon City [10/25/07]
  2. Knizia-Thon, Part Two: Obscurity & Palazzo [11/08/07]
  3. Reiner Knizia’s Amun-Re: Still Innovative After All These Years [4/13/11]

Knucklebones Magazine Articles

Knucklebones: November 2007These are articles that were originally published in the late Knucklebones magazine. They tend to be comprehensive overviews of various subjects that are more introductory in nature.

  1. Bruno Faidutti: Professor of Chaos [5/22/06]
  2. Clubs, Spades … and Orange Chameleons!? [8/20/06]
  3. Auctions: Bidding on Fun, Part One [10/30/06]
  4. Auctions: Bidding on Fun, Part Two [10/31/06]
  5. Carcassonne: Not Just a City in France [1/2/07]
  6. Competitive Fun: It’s Now Whether You Win or Lose … Or Is It? [2/27/07]
  7. Worlds of Adventure [4/10/07]
  8. Yo Ho! Yo Ho! A Pirate’s Game for Me! [5/28/07]
  9. He’s Z-Man: Catching Up with Zev Shlasinger and Z-Man Games [6/17/07]
  10. Can’t We All Just Get Along: Cooperative Gaming [10/21/07]
  11. Review: Winds of Plunder [10/22/07]
  12. Role-Playing Games: A Primer [12/17/07]

Mathematics & Game Design

A look at math — used for good or evil — in board games.

  1. Part One [10/12/06]
  2. Part Two [12/7/06]

New to Me

These are mini-reviews of games that I’d played the first time in the last 3 or 6 months before I wrote my article. Also see Essen & Nurnberg (P)reviews, above, for some systematic looks at new games in more olden days.

  1. New to Me: Winter & Spring 2012 [7/9/12]
  2. New to Me: Summer 2012 [10/8/12]
  3. New to Me: Fall 2012 [2/11/13]
  4. New to Me: Winter & Spring 2013 [7/8/13]
  5. New to Me: Summer 2013 [10/21/13]
  6. New to Me: Fall 2013 [1/14/14]
  7. New to Me: Winter 2014 — The Season of the City [3/31/14]
  8. New to Me: Spring 2014 [7/7/14]
  9. New to Me: Summer 2014 — The Season of Very Good [10/6/14]
  10. New to Me: Fall 2014 — The Season of the Mediocre [1/5/15]
  11. New to Me: Winter 2015 — The Season of Feld [4/6/15]
  12. New to Me: Spring 2015 — Resources & More [7/13/15]
  13. New to Me: Summer 2015 — A Lot of Good [10/12/15]
  14. New to Me: Fall 2015 — A Really Great Season [1/4/16]
  15. New to Me: Winter 2016 — So Much Very Good! [4/4/16]
  16. New to Me: Spring 2016 [7/11/16]
  17. New to Me: Summer 2016 [10/10/16]
  18. New to Me: Fall 2016 — A Key Quarter [1/16/17]
  19. New To Me: Winter 2017 — The Card Games [4/10/17]
  20. New to Me: Spring 2017 — So Much Co-op! [7/11/17]
  21. New to Me: Sumer 2017 — The Season of the Expansions [10/2/17]

Nickels and Dimes

An occasional look at my most-played games in a year.

  1. Nickels and Dimes: 2006 [1/4/07]
  2. My Fives and Dimes: 2011 [1/1/12]

The Problem with …

Colored ComponentsA series of rants on various topics that people tend to complain about (or complement!) in board games. I’ve written many more rants than these, but these are at least somewhat thematically consistent.

  1. The Problem with Indie Games [8/13/05]
  2. The Problem with Game Boxes [8/25/05]
  3. The Problem with Colors [9/25/05]
  4. The Problem with Luck [11/17/05]
  5. The Problem with Player Numbers [1/26/06]
  6. The Problem with Luck II [3/16/06]
  7. The Problem with Blind Bidding [4/6/06]
  8. The Problem with Horror Games [10/30/08]
  9. The Problem with Naked Aggression [8/27/12]
  10. Talkin’ ’bout My Degeneration [7/27/15]

Psychology of Gaming

Applying the science of psychology to game design.

  1. Loss Aversion [5/28/13]

Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror

A little at these genres and their use in board games.

  1. Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Part One: A History and Top Ten Games [5/24/07]
  2. Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Part Two: Three Mini Reviews [6/7/07]
  3. The Problem with Horror Games [10/30/08]
  4. What Makes a Real Science-Fiction Game? [8/22/17]

Six Degrees of Collaboration

American CompaniesThis is multiple iterations of the same concept: a map linking together all of the game designers who have collaborated together. It spans numerous countries and four decades of design.

  1. Six Degrees of Collaboration [2/2/06]
  2. Six Degrees: The Second Edition [8/24/06]

Strategy of a Game: Blue Moon

This was intended to be a longer series, but I burned out in my playing of the Blue Moon card game. As is, it offers a strategic look at the first four decks.

  1. Overview: Anatomy of a Game: Blue Moon [2/23/06]
  2. Part One: Hoax & Vulca [6/15/06]
  3. Part Two: Flix & Mimix [7/13/06]

The Tao of Board Gaming

The Tao of Board GamingA series of Zen koans on the topic of board gaming.

    1. The Tao of Board Gaming I [12/24/09]
      1. “The Student of Catan”
      2. “The Unlucky Player”
      3. “The Newcomers to Puerto Rico”
    2. The Tao of Board Gaming II [4/1/10]
      1. “The New Release That Went Up in Smoke”
      2. “The Fivefold Path of Gaming”
      3. “The Buddhist Nature of Gaming”
    3. The Tao of Board Gaming III [10/22/12]
      1. “The Tao Master Plays a Game”
      2. “The True Nature of the Award”
      3. “Deckbuilding & The Art of War”
    4. The Tao of Board Gaming IV [3/17/14]
      1. “The Serious Gamer and the Silly Game”
      2. “The Worthy Fear”
      3. “The Spirit of the Game”
    5. The Tao of Board Gaming V [12/8/14]
      1. “The Problems of the World”
      2. “The Nature of the Strategy (and Tactics)”
      3. “What We Do”
    6. The Tao of Board Gaming VI [4/25/16]
      1. “The Buddhist Nature of Munchkin”
      2. “A Thousand Victories”
      3. “The Long-Suffering Teacher”
    7. The Tao of Board Gaming VII [11/27/17]
      1. “The Buddhist Nature of Cooperative Games”
      2. “Moments of Time”
      3. “The Student of Dao’s Final Test”

Three Designers

Each article offers a brief overview of the work of three different designers.

  1. Three Designers: Knizia, Kramer & Teuber [12/15/05]
  2. Three Collaborative Designers: Faidutti, Colovini & Schacht [2/16/06]

Upcoming Companies

A list of companies that (at the time) were up and coming in the board game industry.

  1. Part One: Atlas, Cafe, Cheapass [6/29/06]
  2. Part Two: Face 2 Face, Jolly Roger, Your Move [7/6/06]

Wallace Strategy

When I was heavily playing Martin Wallace games for a few years, I wrote up some analytical strategy articles about them.

  1. Brass Tacks [1/7/08]

The Year in Review

A yearly look at how the board game industry changed year by year.

  1. The Year in Review: 2005 [1/1/06]
  2. The Year in Review: 2006 [1/1/07]

Also see my yearly looks at the history of the roleplaying industry, which appear over on my Designers & Dragons blog.

  1. The Year in Roleplaying: 2008 [12/13/11]
  2. The Year in Roleplaying: 2009 [12/20/11]
  3. The Year in Roleplaying: 2010 [12/27/11]
  4. The Year in Roleplaying: 2011 [1/2/12]
  5. The Year in Roleplaying: 2012 [1/1/13]
  6. The Year in Roleplaying: 2013 [1/1/14]
  7. The Year in Roleplaying: 2014 [1/1/15]

If you prefer, my RPG looks from 2008-2014 have also been collected in the Designers & Dragons: Platinum Appendix, a more attractive PDF.

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