Teen ninjas, big feelings, and bigger fights—a narrative-first anime TTRPG of friendship, wild named attacks, and saving the world!

ALT: a man with a beard is standing next to a wolf on a rock .

While traveling to PAX Unplugged I met and interviewed the chief creative of 9th Level Games Chris O’Neal. In these situations, I now always ask what a persons favorite donut is. Chris, much to my agreement, chose the white cream donuts from Dunkin. That moment unleashed a mystery in my mind: when is the last time I have seen a Vanilla Cream at Dunkin?

I may have too many things going. The scene around me is surreal. The house is filled with boxes from clearance hauls and Christmas prep. Games are strewn everywhere—from convention finds to review copies. Dishes are piled up, and the cats are running amuck. In moments like this, time feels like a distant concept. I’ve talked at length about how hard it is to find time to do anything.

Tilting and Shouting Some games have movement that just speaks to you. You see someone tilting pieces around or the game shifting on its own, and suddenly you’re hooked by the motion alone. Tilt N Shout did exactly that—both for me and my kids, separately, which honestly says something. When we all have the same “Okay, that looks cool” reaction, you know the game is doing something right.

How sweet mornings with my grandparents shaped my love for comfort food and connection. I have fond memories of eating donuts. That might sound like a silly statement, and I’m sure others haven’t put as much stock into the times they’ve snacked on sweet treats. But I’ve had so many donuts, in so many places, that most of them blur together.

A wonderful wedding getaway. There was a big question in the air about what we’d do the weekend after our wedding. We had the kids set with their own plans, but Jocelyn and I waited until the last minute to decide where we were going. It was Labor Day weekend, so prices were steep, and that added a little apprehension. Still, we knew we wanted time together, just the two of us.

Capybaras Get Their Heads in the Game Capybaras have been living rent-free in our heads lately. The zeitgeist is strong—you see them in games, posters, and funny videos. I’ve never been the type to hold strong opinions about them, but their simple cuteness is undeniable. That charm serves them well, especially as the foundation for a game. Capybara Crush, designed by Dylan Coyle, fits right into the aesthetic of the Charming Games Collective.

Our Wedding With Simple Love My partner and I are easily entertained. Over the past few years together, we’ve learned that the simple things make us happiest. Since we’ve both been married before—and we each have kids—we knew we didn’t need a grand production this time around. What we wanted was a celebration: something warm, genuine, and full of the people we love.

Do you see wetlands, a building or more? There are so many tropes about how we see the world. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. The grass is always greener. Is your glass half empty or half full? I usually land on the half-full side. I like to be positive and look for the brightness in things. That perspective guides much of my life, but as I grow personally and professionally, I’ve realized how important it is to think outside that single frame.

I’m not Gherkin your chain. Have you ever embellished something? Was the fish longer in your story than it was in real life? Does your dating profile talk a bit more about your passion for reading than may be true? Is your age dependent on the day? This may be exactly the right game for you. We first came across this game earlier in the year by Left Justified Studio.

A box of delicious tradition. Is Beaver Falls part of Pittsburgh? When I gave the call out to get an idea of where to go in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania this was easily the top commented place to go. I’m not as familiar with the area as I would like to be so I do not know if this is exactly in the greater area.

Read and Tell Me The Joke While traveling last week, a friend brought up that they judge donut shops based on a glazed donut . They get that variety of donut wherever they go, and use that as their baseline looking at places. It is not my methodology, but it does bring up a great point to think about; could a glaze donut be the universal measure?

Princesses with Power My experience with Rebel Princess goes right along with my experience with princesses. I find myself dazzled a bit every time I get a chance to see them, but you can’t marry someone you just met. This game is quite different because I’m happy to get it out to play anytime. Let’s start with the gameplay itself. Trick is all the rage but this game layers strategy around whether or not you want to take the trick or influence somebody else on it.

The Best 4 Days in Gaming I spent the past week at Gen Con in Indianapolis, my fourth time at the convention. This is my first trip to mix a bit of business with family as I brought my two children along for the ride. This was their first convention ever, and I thought if we were gonna go anywhere with it, why not go to the largest one possible.

David Hoppe President of Gen Con’s As much as I wanna write about Gen Con and the amazing parts of this convention that are exhausting me to no end in the best ways, tonight I’m reflecting on how much games have meant to me building friendships. I for years was the kid who struggled making deep friendships. I was always a kid who was on the fringe, wanting to be friends with everyone, but not best friends with anyone.

We have a big week next week. A lot of my year culminates in going to Gen Con, and participating like a madman there. I get to see friends, meet with companies and designers and this year I get to take my kids for the first time. I’ve known about this for a year and I’ve had all that time to plan ahead.

Avoiding a “Catastrophe” Being in the space of reviewing and rating means that you have to have a system. There’s no basis of comparison without actually saying that you’re comparing things on a scale that makes sense. In the video format that is not easy. There is no simple system to show what you are thinking about games comparatively based on the software or the display models within the videos.

Once Finger Lakes Today a friend told me “ how do you do it? It seems like a different city every time I talk to you.” In some ways this sounds like praise but in my mind it is a moment to take a break and really evaluate what the hell I’m doing. When that happens, you need to take a moment and think.

Otter by Charming Games Collective This game came across our feed with Capybara Crush. We were immediately intrigued by the cuteness of the art and how it just seemed like something cozy. They were nice enough to send us a review copy and upon getting both games I could see the appeal. First, these are small and easy to travel boxes.

You would think as a person who eats a lot of donuts that I spend a lot of time with Dunkin’ Donuts. There’s not really a joke there because you’d be absolutely correct. I spend way too much time on the yummy snacks and carbohydrates that I can get from there. In a professional sense though, I don’t record while being at Dunkin or other national chains very often.

There is a tidal wave out there. From the depths of classical cartoon nostalgia comes a tsunami of live action remakes. From The Lion King to Little Mermaid you see cartoons of your past come to life. I say that tongue in cheeks since most of it is digital art everywhere, but I digress. As each of these has come along, I have found myself in a place and wonder if others are as well.

A Tree of Balance I first encountered Offshoots walking around Origins Game Fair during the GAMA media event. There were many tables, but I found myself looking across them at what appeared to be a pretty tree built up. I was immediately drawn from far away and that pulled me right in. Walking up I found many other content creators I know we’re already experimenting with the game.

Sunset When I look at the calendar, everything tells me that we are in the summer. We’ve hit the summer solstice, and if you look outward, the weather has gotten nicer. Beyond that the heat waves or a clear sign that boy it is the warm time with the sun. But many days I don’t feel like it’s summer. In our past, summer was marked by a genuine break of our regular schedule.

The Donut Pub NYC I have come across so many different types of donuts in my time I get the question often “What is a good donut ?”. From those who are getting gourmet delights to those who are grabbing a bag from the county fair, everyone has a perspective on what makes a good donut. Everything is to taste when it comes to food, and donuts are subjective and varied by those who make them, the regions they come from, and the nature of those eating them.

Origins game fair created some really great memories for me as a first time convention attendee. I was very stressed about the idea of only attending one full day of the convention and if I would get the real feeling out of being there. I quickly found that my fears were unfounded, and I met both friends and new friends having such a good peaceful convention.

Why does all candy have to have a chewy version now? You’ve seen it for the past several years where a candy company decides that there sugar rocks go too hard. Somebody out there with more gums than teeth is not taking advantage of our amazing delight. In that moment a chewy version is born. Today’s grand offender is the chewy TicTac.