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Category: Fantasy

I Played It, Like, Twice...
A shot of two mini figures from Warhammer: Lost Relics, a robed warrior brandishing a lamp and a hammer-wielding cleric prepaing to strike, both standing on a sample of the various ground textures available to dungeon crawl through

Unexpected Joys in Small Packages in Warhammer Quest: Lost Relics

By Orrin Grey • January 23rd, 2023

Lost Relics feels a bit more like a game of chess (albeit played against the board) than a standard dungeon crawl.

Letter from the Editor
A selection from the cover art for Unwinnable Monthly #158, featuring several gremlins from the movie Gremlins grinning at the viewer.

Unwinnable Monthly – December 2022

By David Shimomura • December 15th, 2022

Welcome to the Gremlins issue! But before you dig in, there are some rules that you’ve got to follow…

I Played It, Like, Twice...
The covers for Bardsung and Myth placed next to each other. Bardsung has a cloaked character with horns, or maybe a jester hat, grinning and holding a lute. Myth has an elfin warrior with a bow standing against a horde of point-eared orcs while magical fire flies in the background

Versus Mode: Myth x Bardsung

By Orrin Grey • November 30th, 2022

Both Bardsung and Myth are dungeon-crawl games at the high end of the complexity scale, but that’s where the surface similarities end.

I Played It, Like, Twice...
A close of up the box art of Massive Darkness 2: Hellscape, with a tentacled demon on the left wielding a spear in front of three heroes posing in front of a glowing door

2 Massive 2 Darkness: When Your Darkness is Maybe a Little Too Big

By Orrin Grey • November 2nd, 2022

As much as I love a good dungeon crawl game, much of the time they are too big for me.

I Played It, Like, Twice...
The eponymous leaders in the game Hidden Leaders: Axe Guy, Bowl Cut, Mace and Braids, Requisite Grizzled Soldier, Ponytail Thief, and Tired Druid

I Guess No One’s Coming: The Art and Arithmetic of Hidden Leaders

By Orrin Grey • August 15th, 2022

Hidden Leaders is one of those games that is deceptively basic but can grow strangely complex as you play.

I Played It Like Twice...
Five miniatures from Tiny Epic Dungeons stand at the ready, featuring skeleton, ghost, knight, spider in web, and fire elemental

Burning the Torch at Both Ends: Peril Comes in Small Packages in Tiny Epic Dungeons

By Orrin Grey • June 6th, 2022

These are minuscule board games that come in boxes about the size of the ones you used to get checkbooks in, back when anybody had checkbooks.

The Broken Sword

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • January 3rd, 2022

Heads pop off like bottle caps.

Revving the Engine
A Norse figure stands with axe and shield on top of a massive hammer.

Broken Helms, Shattered Shields

By Sara Clemens • August 19th, 2021

Videogame Vikings are having a moment.

Try Reading...
A bird, a ghost, and a girl travel together among falling leaves.

Magical Grieving

By Harry Rabinowitz • July 1st, 2021

Harry digs into some heavier topics via middle-grade graphic novels!

Another Look

Revisiting Destiny 2

By Yussef Cole • May 10th, 2021

Yussef returns to a world that’s moved beyond light and beyond him.

Feature Excerpt
An armor clad figure draws their sword to do battle with a dragon.

Hidetaka Miyazaki’s Middle Earth

By Jamie Redgate • April 29th, 2021

How does one go about making a modern fantasy touchstone?

Stormbringer

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • September 14th, 2020

Will you face your doom head on or seek to outrun it?

Feature Excerpt

Your Choices Matter: The Real Power Fantasy

By Ruth Cassidy • August 28th, 2020

An interview with the co-narrative leads on Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire about subverting that power fantasy of the Chosen One.

Self Insert

Quarantine Fics

By Amanda Hudgins • August 10th, 2020

When the entire world is on lockdown, even alternate universes start hitting closer to home.

The Schwarzenegger Conan Movies

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • August 3rd, 2020

Vintage RPG Podcast listeners, what is best in life?

Self Insert

No Beta We Die Like Men

By Amanda Hudgins • July 8th, 2020

Readers never know what they’re going to get with this tag. It may be a warning, but it’s not always deserved.

No Accounting for Taste

Beyond the Farthest Shores

By Adam Boffa • June 10th, 2020

Ursula K. Le Guin leaves no stone in Earthsea unturned, even when that means challenging her own history.

Try Reading...

Buck Destiny

By Harry Rabinowitz • May 14th, 2020

In Norroway, is destiny something to fulfill or defy?

This Mortal Coyle

Iris From the Drawn Trilogy

By Deirdre Coyle • May 8th, 2020

The concept of turning artwork into reality—into an escape—has never been more tempting.

Feature Excerpt

Sticks and Stones Might Break My Bones But Words Will Never Hurt Me

By Autumn Wright • May 4th, 2020

Marvel’s New Warriors series is an attempt to land the most expensive “how ya doing fellow kids” meme in the history of late capitalism.

Here's the Thing

I Hope the FFVII Remake Changes My Mind

By Rob Rich • April 10th, 2020

Rob isn’t the biggest fan of Final Fantasy VII (to put it lightly) but he’s hoping that the upcoming remake will change that.

Try Reading...

New Kid on Earth

By Harry Rabinowitz • April 9th, 2020

Space Boy Volume 1 proves that – even eons into the future – moving still sucks.

Feature Excerpt

Expanding Worlds with Video Game Tabletop RPGs

By Scott Roepel • April 2nd, 2020

Unlike in roleplaying videogames, for tabletop roleplaying, all you need is an imagination, a good storyteller and a set of dice.

Feature Excerpt

Carrington’s Dreamscape

By Daniel Lipscombe • April 2nd, 2020

Videogames, especially those of the horror variety, could seriously stand to take a leaf from surrealism’s book.

The Shadow People

By Stu Horvath and John McGuire • March 23rd, 2020

Descend into the depths of the earth to meet The Shadow People!

Feature Excerpt

Picking Fruit in Hyrule: Playing Breath of the Wild Like It’s Animal Crossing

By Alyssa Wejebe • February 21st, 2020

If you’re sick of emptying your pockets to Tom Nook and microtransactions, another Nintendo mainstay may be exactly what you’re looking for.

Feature Excerpt

Heavy Metal Hits the Tabletop

By Tom G. Wolf • February 21st, 2020

For both metal and tabletop gaming, the allure of the forbidden draws in similar crowds.

The McMaster Files

The Dreamers of the Dreams

By Jason McMaster • January 14th, 2020

Jason says goodbye to the architect behind one fondly remembered virtual bastion.

Feature Excerpt

The Art of LARP

By Sharang Biswas • December 20th, 2019

LARPing is as much about community and art as it is about roleplaying.

The Burnt Offering

Fracas in Freshtovia

By Stu Horvath • November 5th, 2019

Wendy’s admittedly committed attempt at a tabletop RPG is every bit the corporate advertisement it tries not to be.

Feature Excerpt

Two Hands Off the Wheel: Learning to Embrace the Chaos of Zweihander

By R. M. Jansen-Parkes • October 24th, 2019

Most tabletop RPGs boil down to a roll of the dice.

Feature Excerpt

Grim, Perilous and Inclusive

By Adam Brown • October 24th, 2019

Zweihander: Grim & Perilous is a fresh take on dark fantasy and tabletop RPGs.

Feature Excerpt

Dwarves in Space

By Ian Williams • September 24th, 2019

The gig economy is everywhere, even in our videogames. At least Deep Rock Galactic makes it fun.

Checkpoint

Sometimes, Pixelated Spectacle Is All You Need

By Corey Milne • September 12th, 2019

Domina wasn’t what Corey expected, but, hey, at least there’s wine to go with all that gore.

The Burnt Offering

Grab Bag

By Stu Horvath • July 5th, 2019

Stu has a handful of thoughts on everything from The Name of the Rose to dungeon synth.

Self-Insert

A+ Parenting

By Amanda Hudgins • May 12th, 2019

Fanfics dive into how one generation’s crappy fictional dad makes the next generation’s neurotic protagonist.

The Burnt Offering

Metal is My Church

By Stu Horvath • April 4th, 2019

Stu Horvath ponders the alchemy behind taste as he reconsiders a “cheeseball” artist from his nascent metal education.

The Burnt Offering

Hail to the King

By Stu Horvath • March 8th, 2019

There are many King Arthurs.

The Burnt Offering

The Feels

By Stu Horvath • December 3rd, 2018

What happens when a horror story tries to manifest in the real world?

Lore’d of the Rings: The Horror of Knowledge

By David Shimomura • November 27th, 2018

They say knowledge is power, but sometimes it is just isolating.

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