iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Under Falling Skies, at the Game Guru cafe in Birmingham. I'm failing miserably at #solotober, but I'm enjoying this. The pic is from my second play of three so far. I won them all, with the difficulty up to 2 on the most recent. I'll do a few more before the campaign. #sologaming

Mid-game board of Under Falling Skies. Long and thin, with dice and spaceships.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Second family visit to the GameGuru #boardgames cafe in Birmingham. Grab Bag Jungle to warm us up, which did its job but I don't think we'll go back to. Then, most of the time on our first play of Flamecraft, which we enjoyed a lot and are looking forward to revisiting.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Some new #boardgames on our first visit to a board game cafe today, the GameGuru in Birmingham. We started with three quick games of Nekojima, a family favourite that we didn't bring over to the UK with us because of space restrictions. Up to level 5 on one game! 1/2

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

First new game after moving back to the UK: Bookshelf (lovely art by @rorymuldoon.bsky.social). Lots of fun. Played about 8 times with 5 as a record height so far. We're blaming the table for this pathetic performance. #boardgames

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

I have a #drum kit set-up that I like (weird mix of beginner set, cocktail set and one fancy cymbal) in a basement with no close neighbours. I'm probably spending the next year in an apartment. Given that I'm a very basic beginner hobbyist, what should I be looking for in an electric kit? #drumsky

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

I was hoping to be at #UKGE this year, after starting to take #boardgames more seriously as an academic pursuit as well as a hobby. Alas, despite planning to spend most of the next year in Birmingham, I'm not there now. Maybe 2027. Now to decide whether to read everything I can, or mute the tag.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

What's the easiest way to draw graphs with labeled vertices and edges? I've muddled through with clumsy direct TikZ in the past, but reached a point where I want a more appropriate/efficient tool. Bonus points if it creates TikZ (or something) that I can paste in. Thanks for any help, #mathsky.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

No longer routinely in my office for a while, and so I took photos to remember what I had (and what is where). It made me realise how cool it is that I have a job where I'm surrounded by (and get to play, at least a bit) board games. What are you playing? #boardgames #boardgamesky

Shelf of games, including Root, Azul, Qwirkle, Wingspan and many more.

End-shelf of games, including Roughly, Sleeping Queens, Mutant Crops, Fika and more

Shelf of games, including Carcassonne, Sagrada, Pandemic, Galaxy Trucker and more.

Shelf of games, including Daybreak Saltfjord, Risk, Candyland, Lucky Numbers, and more.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

#BoardGameSky and #sologames, I'm looking for recommendations. I want to play, or at least learn more about, environmentally-themed solo or co-op games. I'm not sure what the scope is exactly. Daybreak and Conservas are pefect examples. (1/2)

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 21/02/2026

Third play of Lucky 7 about to start. Will this be my first win? #boardgames

A game of Lucky 7, ready to start: a grid with seven cards inside some map cards, and a pile of threat cards ready to cause trouble.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 17/02/2026

I've been enjoying Conservas. After three games winning pretty comfortably at standard difficulty, I decided to redo March at the higher level. I lost that yesterday and am ready to try again.

Solo game Conservas, set-up and ready to play the March scenario.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 09/02/2026

Today's mailbox. I've been looking forward to both of these.

The Score, a book by C. Thi Nguyen and Conservas, a solo game by Scott Almes.

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Reposted by Matt Ollis

Emerson College - School of Arts & Interdisciplinary Studies @emersonsoarts.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

Specialist in climate and environmental communication Suzie Hicks ‘18 will be discussing interdisciplinary education and early career success in the Little Building, room 229, from 11am-12pm tomorrow. Come find out more through the presentation and a Q&A. See you there!

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 05/02/2026

First play of Lucky Seven from @coincidence.games. A fun solo challenge. There's something about using cards as movable pieces on a grid that I like, see also Summoner Wars and Crownfell. (Other suggestions?) I lost. I had four squad members survive to the end, but did not eliminate all threats.

Grid of cards from the game Lucky Seven. End of game. Four squad members still alive, but also four threats, meaning a lost game.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 03/02/2026

#mathsky, #boardgamesky Does playing board games in itself entail quantitative reasoning? I'm teaching a math of puzzles and games class at the moment, whose ultimate goal is to improve the quantitative reasoning skills of the students. (1/n)

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 22/12/2025

Today's #boardgame delivery: 3 Witches. Looking forward to trying this @coreyyoung.com three-player trick-taker with the family.

Photo of the game 3 Witches by Corey Young in its box: small and red with three witches around a cauldron.

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Reposted by Matt Ollis

Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 19/12/2025

If you're looking for a quick present for someone, ebooks are always great, and I've got a great one for the poli-sci, cyberpunk, big data nerd, and/or sci fi political thriller fan in your life. www.kobo.com/ww/en/ebook/...

the cover of infomocracy, by Will Staehle

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Reposted by Matt Ollis

Tim Clare @timclare.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

Not to be like a pushy d-bag but time is running out & I have 2 kids to feed so if you want a great gift for the boardgamer in your life get them my book The Game Changers (UK) / Across The Board (US) all about how games shaped civilization & make us human. Many critics have vouched for them!

The cover of my book Across the Board, showing various boardgame paraphernalia

The cover of my book The Game Changers, decorated like a stylised ludo/Parcheesi board

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 11/12/2025

The Last Lighthouse from @buttonshy.bsky.social set-up and ready to go. I think I understand the rules, and I'm on normal difficulty. Let's see how long I survive. #sologames

The Last Lighthouse game, set up (10 cards displayed, and a face down deck of the remaining 8) and ready to go.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

Today’s A Nice Cuppa came in at 9pts, just about “satisfying tea” and still satisfying to play. Less good, I messed up the printing on Pentaquark so i couldn‘t even try that. #sologames

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Reposted by Matt Ollis

Matthew Dunstan @matthewdunstan.bsky.social · 02/12/2025

We've just launched the Kickstarter campaign for 52 Duels, our latest release from @postmarkgames.bsky.social ! It's a 1-2 player game using 2 decks of standard playing cards to duel with your opponent. Lots of different characters and strategies to explore! www.kickstarter.com/projects/pos...

kickstarter.com

52 Duels: Fight with Playing Cards

Heroes clash in this 1-2 player print at home game from the creators of 52 Realms ⚔️

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 01/12/2025

13pts and perfect tea on my first play of Scott Almes’s A Nice Cuppa, from @buttonshy.bsky.social. Unfortunately, it was too interesting for me to retire it and claim I’m too good at it to play again. I might not hit these heights again, so I thought I’d declare it here. #boardgames #sologames

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Reposted by Matt Ollis

Mike Berg, We 🧡 Games @weheart.games · 28/11/2025

The entirety of #Crownfell 's existence was triggered by a throwaway joke... With just 8 hours left in the crowd sale, here's the story of how it got started, and where it went from there. 🎲✂️

weheart.games

Crownfell Design Diary: No such thing as a bad idea - We Heart Games

What started as a joke post snowballed into my favourite game design yet. Here's how it happened.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

Three-player game of Fromage today, my second play. A close win for the 14yo on debut. We now understand it well enough to fully enjoy it, I think. And it's very enjoyable. I also checked out what's in the Formaggio box, but we haven't tried adding anything in yet. #boardgames

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 28/11/2025

@weheart.games very kindly resized the beautiful #Crownfell cards to fit the PVC credit-card-like cards that the Emerson Print Shop have. They came out great! The black and white with flashes of red/blue really suits this, I think. Now I have to play it! #boardgames

A selection of Crownfell cards, printed on 30mil PVC.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 22/11/2025

Going to play Fromage later this afternoon for the first time. We also have Formaggio (completely unplayed). For a first game is it best to stick with the Fromage board pieces, or are any of the Formaggio ones good to sub in on a first play? #boardgames

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Halfway between daydreaming and serious planning #2: what are some cool events or things to do that are: * related to #maps, * taking place between mid-May and mid-June 2026, * accessible from Birmingham, UK? Bonus points if they have an academic slant.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

Halfway between daydreaming and serious planning: what are some events or things to do that are: * related to #boardgames, * taking place between mid-May and mid-June 2026, * accessible from Birmingham, UK? (And are not UK Games Expo---got that one!) Bonus points if they have an academic slant.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

New #boardgames! All arrived this week from Kickstarter. On the one hand, it's exciting to get new games and the delay that comes with kickstarter means that they feel like more of a surprise/present than a purchase (even though I know that's not how it works). 1/n

Boardgames: Fromage, Night Soil and Formaggio.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

All set to spend some time in the fishing villages on the Norweigian coast of Vermont. #Saltfjord #boardgame.

Three-player game of Saltfjord, set up and ready to play.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 03/11/2025

Today's new #boardgame: Tacta, a candidate for using in my Math of Games class next semester. I played all hands of a three player version. Quick, intuitive and fun. And luckily my table was just the right size for this player count. Next: find, or make, a genuine #sologame version.

Completed three-player game of Tacta: brightly coloured cards in an overlapping pattern filling a table.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 21/10/2025

Enjoyable work task for today: learn Sagrada. I played the solo mode and I think I got the rules right, but took a while to understand even very basic tactics. Haven't scored it yet, but I don't have high hopes for victory, even though I played on an easy level. I will try again soon.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

One of the many advantages of teaching a game studies course: when Canvas is down, you can declare a games day while staying on topic.

Stack of games, inlcuding Azul, Cosmos Empires, Mutant Crops, Happy City, Linx, Challengers, Flip 7 and more.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

A good weekend for some quick #boardgames: Tussie Mussie while waiting for food in a restaurant, new-to-us Kluster, Nekojima with the new Torii expansion, and physically-new-but-BGA'd Kingdomino. All fun!

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Good time with #Everdell today. We picked it up because it looked so good it jumped the queue on other #boardgames. We don't have many worker placement options. It's more cutesy than I like ("critters", ick) but fun. Looking forward to playing it again without the first-play acclimation.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 28/09/2025

Does the "show less like this" option work on the Discovery feed? I've been hitting it constantly for pictures of pets (boo, hiss, I know) and American sports, but they're still a good fraction of what I see. Maybe everyone else is getting almost entirely cats and baseball, rather than 10-20%?

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 27/09/2025

Hey #boardgamesky! I'm looking for examples of /weird/ board games. Games that do something you don't expect games to do, whether theme, mechanic, player experience/emotion, or other surprises. Bonus points for being cheap, recent and/or quick to play, but none of these are essential.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Is there a subgenre of SF for books that look at future/high-tech democratic systems? I just noticed that two of my favourite series---The Centennial Cycle by Malka Older and the Prefect Drefyus books by Alastair Reynolds---fit this description. I'd like to read more! #SpecFic #BookSky #SFF

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 08/09/2025

Today's lesson plan: play Pandemic: Hot Zone.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 07/09/2025

Another request for help on my math of games and puzzles gen ed college course pitch. What should I call it? "<Stupid Pun>: The Math of Puzzles and Games" is the obvious format---what should the pun be? Other format suggestions welcome too. #mathsky #boardgamesky #puzzles

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

After decades of claiming that math is an art, and idly threatening to defect from the Natural Sciences dept to the Arts at my last college, an organisational shake-up at Emerson means that I'm now in the School of the Arts. There might be a name change soon, but I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

First play of Deadly Dowagers. Lots of fun with social climbing via murdering husbands. 14yo won. I bought it on the basis of designer Sarah Shipp's academic book about thematic game design. Probably not an efficient promotion strategy, but at least 1 in the sales column from it. #boardgamesky

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

I'm pitching a math of games/puzzles course. Intro level, primary goal is to meet a QR requirement. I have a good idea of what I want to do---indeed, my main problem is going to be narrowing it down---but new ideas always welcome. What would you do with such a course? #mathsky #boardgames

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 28/08/2025

Recommendations request: I'm looking for non-premium solo games on BGA. I'd like a list of 3-5 that are relatively easy and quick to learn/play and cover range of game mechanics. Ideally, the final list will give a newcomer to games a sense of modern board-gaming. #boardgamesky

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 27/08/2025

Does anyone know of an article on Mamdani's Scavenger Hunt from the perspective of using games to engage people politically (or something similar)? It would be for use early on in an interdisciplinary #gamestudies first-year seminar (for non-game majors). #boardgamesky #politicalscience

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

Scavenger Hunt: Game where you have a list of tasks (possibly clue-based) to solve in any order. Most solved/collected wins. Treasure Hunt: Game where you have a series of clues, one leading to the next, with a fixed final winning point. A US/UK distinction? Or 30yrs out of date? Or just wrong?

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 20/05/2025

I might have an hour or so to kill in Manchester NH during the day soon. Recommendations for stuff to do? Places that sell board games or scifi books most likely to get me to accidentally part with some money. Bass guitars also fun to browse, but I probably have enough discipline not to buy one.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 15/04/2025

Request for #BoardGameSky and/or #MathSky. I'm looking for examples of latin squares in games (definition in next post, but if you've played Azul or done a Sudoku, you know what one is). As many and as varied as possible. It's for a thing. I don't know what thing yet, but definitely a thing.

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Matt Ollis @mattollis.bsky.social · 13/04/2025

First plays of Daybreak. One disastrous loss, an expected step on the way to understanding, then a surprisingly smooth win. The crises and dice were gentle, far more by luck than prep. I played the 4 player version to appreciate/learn the full game. Worth checking out the solo version? #sologaming

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