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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Time for a little September recap thread. First off - my September in board games! An overall quieter month for games but still lots of fun especially with my many plays of Nebular Colors and first play of Hellas. The first pic is in person plays, the second is BGA plays. BGA added Bus!! 🥳

An image generated by BG Stats App showing my in-person board games played with the number of plays for the month of September in a 5×3 grid. The games and plays are: Nebular Colors (28), Lost Cities (18), Orbita (15), The Yellow House (6), Scout (6), Abandon All Artichokes (3), Royal Visit (2), Patchwork (2), Linko (2), Mandala (2), Penguin Party (2), Hellas, Piñatas, Hanamikoji and Nut.

An image generated by BG Stats App showing my online plays for the month of September in a 5×3 grid. The games and plays are: Tigris & Euphrates (4), Azure (4), Schotten Totten (4), Toy Battle (3), Targi (2), Azul (2), My City (2), Patchwork (2), Bus, Café, Nanga Parbat, Trinket Trove, Hey That's My Fish!, and Flowers.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Such a thoughtful example/exploration of what you might have to sacrifice for efficiency. Rodney is speaking specifically about Youtube AI tools here but the message feels relevant to lots of choices we are presented with these days.

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Peer Sylvester @peersylvester.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

My designer diary of Upland&Prairie is online and if for nothing else, ppl should read it to learn how lineages of inspiration can flow. boardgamegeek.com/blog/1/blogp...

boardgamegeek.com

From the King of Siam via Afghanistan to Sweden and back to Berlin: Upland & Prairie | BoardGameGeek Blog

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Madeline Miller never misses. Mestra is a bite sized delight. I loved it. #booksky

A photo of me holding Mestra: A Short Story by Madeline Miller. The cover is red with gold lettering and an illustration in gold of a sparrow in flight.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

More people should be talking about this. This was enchanting. A fantasy novel divided into 4 interconnected stories, one per season. Dark fairytale/folklore vibes. Witty, moving, charming, creepy. I loved it. Highly recommend Seasons of Albadone by Élan Marché and Christopher Warman. #booksky

The cover of Seaons of Albadone by Élan Marché and Christopher Warman. A girl stands facing away from the reader, towards a yellowing forest with plumes of smoke rising from it. The girl grips a shining feather in one hand and a satchel in the other as her green cape blows in the wind.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

I played my 25th game of Nebular Colours today, along with my 50th game of Orbita. Not too shabby for games I started playing in July (Orbita) and August (Nebular Colors)! My husband and I continue to be totally obsessed with both.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

One of my favourite passtimes tbh. 😅

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 07/09/2026

I've been saving this series for when I really need to return to a favourite author I can rely on. Now's the time! Barker's Tide Child Trilogy is a top 3 series for me & the Forsaken trilogy is incomparably imaginative too. I've read one page of this & am already so excited. Let's goooo!!! #booksky

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Kareem the board game minimalist @gameminimalist.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

What the heck games are you even excited about anyhow???

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

I'm rereading my childhood copy of Peter Pan. And my gosh, these illustrations by Francis Donkin Bedford have charmed me my whole life. They are incredible.

An illustration titled "Peter on Guard" by Francis Donkin Bedford. It featured Peter Pan asleep with a sword across his lap, in front of a small house built of sticks, with fairies dancing in the foreground.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Oooh! Hellas made a very strong first impression. We had our first play today and it was everything I hoped it would be. The strength of this game and Medina makes me wonder if I should give Sardegna another shot. I feel like Stefan Dorra's designs are exactly my thing. But I bounced off that one.

A photo of the board for the board game Hellas by Stefan Dorra and published by Playte. This photo shoes the end of a two player game. The board is a map of hexagonal spaces, some of which are occupied by pieces representing houses, palaces, temples and marble quarries.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

This was a beautiful read. Just what I needed as a reset after a couple of disappointing books in a row. Schmendrick is such a great wizard character.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

So far this week I've read two popular fantasy books I had high hopes for that wound up being letdowns. Here's hoping that The Last Unicorn will be a better experience. Three of my favourite authors (Hobb, Williams & Le Guin) have reviewed it favourably which gives me some confidence on that front.

My hand holding up the book The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. The book features a stylized drawing of the silhouette of a unicorn, framed by colourful drawings of water, trees, feathers and horns.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

These are my top 10 favourite #boardgames. I recently reassessed my current top board games & card games. I thought I'd share. The games are: Babylonia Cuzco (Java) Fae (Clans) The King is Dead (König von Siam) LYNGK Medina Mexica Patchwork Tigris & Euphrates YINSH Card games in the next post ⤵️

Two stacks of board games on a table. From top to bottom the left stack has the games: The King is Dead Second Edition, Fae, Babylonia, Medina and Mexica. The right stack: Patchwork, Tigris & Euphrates, Cuzco, YINSH and LYNGK.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Here are my in-person #boardgames stats and plays for August. It was a big month for new games with the highlight of discovering a new card game obsession in Nebular Colors. July's obsession with Orbita has also continued. Both are now definitely some of my top favourite card games. #bgstats

An image generated by BG Stats App showing my in-person board game statistics for the month of August 2026. Stats include: 113 plays, H-index of 5, 42 games, 13 new games, 7 players, approximately 40 hours and 20 days.

An image generated by BG Stats App showing my in-person board game plays for August 2026 in a 5 by 5 grid. Image 1 of 2. The games and plays are: Lost Cities (14), Nebular Colors (10), Orbita (9), Linko (6), Mandala (5), Scout (5), Toy Battle (5), Patchwork (4), Bookshelf (4), Royal Visit (3), The Yellow House (3), Rattlesnake (3), Tinderblox (3), Cat-a-Comb (2), Pick-a-Pepper (2), Top Cap (2), Trinket Trove (2), Dojo (2), Songbirds (2), Forgenesis (2), Penguin Party (2), Phantom Ink (2), Light Seeker (2), Pueblo and Sunrise Lane.

An image generated by BG Stats App showing my in-person board game plays for August 2026 in a 5 by 4 grid. Image 2 of 2. The games are: Piñatas, Fae, Village Green, Wingspan Pocket, Botswana, For the Emperor, Money!, Otter, Wonder Tales, Abandon All Artichokes, Spill & Spell, Spicy, Things in Rings, Nut, Flowers, Viking See-Saw and Orc.

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Jeff Leiper @jleiper.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Oh wow! Congratulations to Ottawa's Amal El-Mohtar for winning the Hugo prize for best novella, The River Has Roots. Beautifully written and haunting, this one has stuck with me longer than I might have thought. This is such well-deserved recognition.

ottawa.bibliocommons.com

The River Has Roots — Ottawa Public Library

The River Has Roots — El-Mohtar, Amal, — "In the small town of Thistleford, on the edge of Faerie, dwells the mysterious Hawthorn family. There, they tend and harvest the enchanted willows and honour ...

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Locus Magazine @locusmag.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Ursula Vernon AKA T. Kingfisher presents the Hugo Award for Best Novel to The Everlasting, Alix E. Harrow (Tor US; Tor UK). #HugoAwards

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Amabel Holland @amabel.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

In 1990, an elementary school teacher won $16,500 on a game show, and used her winnings to publish a board game about the Exxon Valdez oil spill. This is her story. youtu.be/r1g7C0o9Oqc

youtu.be

Tracia Newman's Board Game: Oil Spill & Amateur Art

YouTube video by Hollandspiele

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I got in some first plays today: Pueblo: expectations were high & met. I got absolutely destroyed & must seek vengeance. Money: interesting auctions. I expect it'll excel at 3p+. Wingspan Pocket: a pleasant surprise. Card based engine builders are not typically my thing but this one works for me.

A photo of the board game Pueblo by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling. This is the Playte edition which comes in a small box. Corner shaped blocks are arranged and stacked within a grid.

The card game Money by Reiner Knizia. This is the AllPlay edition including the (totally unnecessary but nice looking) scoring meeples. Cards representing cash in different values and currencies is bid over.

A photo of Wingspan Pocket by Elizabeth Hargrave. Cards representing different birds and food types are arranged on a table along with cute little wooden eggs.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Thankfully from Ontario at least, it still says Lake Ontario.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Hummingbird Chocolate makes the absolute best chocolate around. Bean to bar, outstanding quality, delicious chocolate. I guess I'll have to redouble my support of them. How delightfully tasty that sounds.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

I just watched the Hadestown proshot and my gosh, that was everything. A beautifully captured film of a musical that means so much to me. "To the world we dream about, and the one we live in now." 3 years and a day ago I got to see it on stage. Tonight from my living room. Perfect both times.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Trinket Trove is too stinkin' cute. The joy it gives me sending Gouda out to claim trinkets is immeasurable.

A photo of the game Trinket Trove in play. There is a top row of cards being bid on, and then a row of cards being offered by the bidders, represented by the mice Gouda, Penfold and Nimbus. Adorable Sandara Tang art everywhere. The cards you bid on are for delightful things like gems, lures, bottle caps, feathers, keys, marbles and shells.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

These game pieces from the game Cat-a-Comb excite me. They are little wooden cubes and each face has a different illustration. They are easy to handle and look great. I wonder why more games don't adopt these as an alternative to meeples/standees/minis. Illustrations by Behemot. #boardgames #bgg

All 15 player pieces included in the game Cat-a-Comb. There are 6 for the black player depicting a white cat playing with a knife. 6 for the white player depicting a black cat playing with a skull. And 3 neutral brown ones depicting a tabby cat playing with a roll of toilet paper. I have them all arranged so you can see the different illustrations for each side of the cube.

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beth @bethsobel.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

As an attention-shy human, I have complicated feelings about my name on game boxes. That said, in this era of AI trash, if I do not see a human artist name on a game box, I will hesitate to buy it.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

"Hey hun let's play that clever small box 2 player space themed card game from Korea with foil accents on the box that we just picked up very recently and are completely obsessed with!" "Which one?" #boardgames

A photo of the card games Orbita and Nebular Colors.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

2 more rounds of Nebular Colors tonight. Brilliant. So much to think about. And such a clever intentional design of both gameplay and aesthetics. I clued in at the end of our third game that the cards have subtle helpful clues in their graphic design about how they score. Genius. 1/2 #boardgames

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

We wound up playing Nebular Colors tonight. Wow! Very fun and quite unique compared to any of the other card games in my collection. Can't wait to dig into it some more.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

My plans for Saturday morning just arrived! I am so excited for each one of these. And grateful for Playte's L-boards saving me some valuable shelf space.

Three board games all published by Playte sit side by side on a table. The games are Nebular Colours by Marceline Leiman, Pueblo by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling, and Hellas by Stefan Dorra.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

My favourite ongoing series continues next May!! I cannot wait to see what tricky spots Chih lands themself in this time.

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Bart de Jong @bartgamedesign.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Life would be a much better game if they fixed the runaway leader problem

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Patti LuPone Queen Joni Mitchell

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

4 days & one unexpected pet health scare later, I'm finally back to trying out these games. We just played our first 2 rounds of Pick-a-Pepper. Very interesting game. I was worried it might feel too similar to Linko, but not at all. The closest comparison I could make might be Dojo/Meister Makatsu.

A photo of the game Pick-a-Pepper in play.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

I just had my first play! It was a blast! I really enjoy silly little dexterity games like this and I think Bookshelf is an awesome entry into that genre. And it makes quite a big impressive structure for coming out of such a small tin!

A photo of the dexterity game Bookshelf in play. Cards are stacked up with little wooden book tokens between the layers, while my husband tries to place a wooden cat token on the top card.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

Got some new games to play! Rattle Snake looks super cool & I preemptively miss Osprey Games. This has been the year of Kramer & Kiesling so I'm excited to try another Kramer design with Pick-a-Pepper. + I'm thrilled to finally have a game with book meeples! These AlleyCat tins are always great.

Three board games sitting on a table. The games are Rattle Snake, Pick-a-Pepper and Bookshelf

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

I reliably get about 3 likes on all of my posts but this seems like fun so I'm going to go ahead and answer these questions, no likes required. 1. Maybe The Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams? Once we get into novels, definitely Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie, which I've always been enchanted by.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

There are lots of books here that I will need to check out. But The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow and A Mouthful of Dust by Nghi Vo are both extraordinary works by two of my favourite authors. So it's wonderful to see those two books on this list. I also liked The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

PSA to fellow #boardgames fans with my exact taste in games: the Mexica/Bridges of Shangri La/Gheos/Reel Rivals (i.e. El Caballero) Kickstater from @playforkeepsgames.bsky.social has launched! I'll probably never again be this excited for a crowdfunding campaign. www.kickstarter.com/projects/pla...

kickstarter.com

Mexica // Bridges of Shangri-la // Gheos // Reel Rivals

Four renowned euro-style board games return with triumphant new editions.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

My husband and I spent the afternoon and evening on some great games we've been neglecting lately. We have a goal to play all of the games we own* by the end of the year. After today's games we're 80% of the way there. *exceptions apply 😅 (nothing that can't be played at 2 & excluding some oldies)

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

A lazy holiday morning was the perfect opportunity to try these games. Wow, what a fun line of quick abstracts! Top Cap and Cat-a-Comb particularly surprised me by how clever they were. I wish Light Seeker had a play mat, and player aids would help Forgenesis. But they were all fun. #boardgames

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 02/08/2026

I've been unsuccessfully trying to hunt these soda can 2p abstract games from ThunderGryph for ages. So colour me surprised when I stumbled upon them randomly today at my (small) FLGS! Can't wait to crack these open & play. They are such quirky but appealing packages, with fun components too.

4 board games in soda can looking containers sit on a table. The games are: Cat-a-comb, Forgenesis, Light Seeker and Top Cap.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

July reading wrap up - finished Between Earth and Sky by Rebecca Roanhorse. Stunning series overall - my heart broke multiple times over during The Eye of the Leviathan by M.A. Carrick - Fonda Lee's Untethered Sky made me yearn to fly - I began my Faithful and the Fallen journey with Malice #booksky

My Storygraph July 2026 wrap up image showing my 5 reads that month and the ratings I gave them:
- Fevered Star by Rebecca Roanhorse, 5⭐
- Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse, 4⭐
- The Eye of the Leviathan by M.A. Carrick, 4⭐
- Malice by John Gwynne, 4⭐
- Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee, 4⭐

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

Here are my July board game stats and plays! Lots of different games played, as well as lots and lots of Orbita which was new to me this month. An instant new favourite. #boardgames #bgstats #tabletop

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beth @bethsobel.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

There is so much lasting joy to be had in learning a skill in which you are interested. AI is out there stealing all that joy.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Through the Mountains!? A sequel to Through the Desert!?!? I am so ready. Lots of announcements from AllPlay in this article.

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Rachel Gilmore @rachelgilmore.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

The multi-billionaire CEO of Shopify thinks a “good system” is one where the poor don’t get to vote in elections and the rich get to vote several times over. I wish I was kidding. Oh, and guess what? This guy and his pals are trying to influence our politics -- and they're arguably succeeding:

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Another day full of #boardgames. Woot woot! So far today my husband and I have played 14 different games. And I don't think we're done yet. I'm so glad we gave ourselves a couple of days to just play and chill. A much needed change of pace.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

It's been a hard week. Brutal exposure therapy sessions. Many panic attacks. Today my husband & I spent the day playing games including one each of the games on our tracker. Play is healing. Sitting at a table and engaging with a clever work of art can turn a bad day good. It did today. #boardgames

A wooden tracker for board game plays mounted on a wall. On the left is a list of ten games, and beside each is 5 spaces for placing meeples denoting the winner of matches of that game. The games are: Botswana, Dragon Master, Flamecraft Duals, High Tide, Jekyll vs Hyde, Otter, Penguin Party, Piñatas, Toy Battle and Trinket Trove.

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Fiona @fionajackson.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

All I want is to live in the Flamecraft town. Is that too much to ask!? Please, send me to a town full of artisan shops run by a diverse set of people and cute little dragons. A crème brûlée finished by dragon's breath would fix everything for me tbh.

An overhead shot of a bunch of cards from the game Flamecraft Duals. Art by Sandara Tang.

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Fae Johnstone @faejohnstone.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

I truly thought and hoped that, when the attack on transgender rights began in Canada, we would see a real growth in financial support for trans advocacy. That hasn't happened. And idk how to put in words how sad and worried that makes me.

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