Tabletop Archives - Unwinnable

A photograph of the expo hall for PAX Unplugged showing many colorful booths full of games to play and dice to buy for the throngs of people walking around

Pain 2 Glory at PAX Unplugged 2024

By Luis Aguasvivas • December 18th, 2024

A place where tabletop game enthusiasts can simply be.

Crop of the cover of Monster Mayhem, a painting featuring your classic mosters like Sexy Ghost, Necktie Werewolf, Dog Collar Dracula, Too Many Teeth Mummy, and Jock Zombie

Offensive Stereotypes: Monster Mayhem Rises from the Crypt… But Maybe Shouldn’t

By Orrin Grey • September 30th, 2022

Despite its cartoony demeanor, Monster Mayhem is no different from White Wolf’s RPGs, and its approach is… not exactly sensitive, even for 2007.

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.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Versus Mode: Batman: The Animated Series – Rogues Gallery x Sinister Six

By Orrin Grey • April 5th, 2022

To be honest, at the time I played Rogues Gallery, I had never so much as heard of Sinister Six. Once I had played them both, though, the startling similarity of their concepts was enough to make me briefly wonder if they shared a designer.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

figures from the game Space Hulk, blue and red, moving across a tabletop.

They’re Coming Out of the Goddamn Walls: Reliving a Moment with Space Hulk

By Orrin Grey • February 28th, 2022

It is difficult, for me at least, to separate the game itself from that dream, solidified by glossy magazine photos of massive Space Hulk boards set up.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

On a playmat with characters are the playing cards and tokens for Campy Monsters, brightly colored and showing creatures.

Of Monsters and Mortals: Playing Campy Creatures On a Dark and Spooky Night

By Orrin Grey • October 21st, 2021

Campy Creatures is, as the box declares, a “Ghoulish Game of Deduction & Bluffing.”

I Played It, Like, Twice...

Dead Ends: Learning Something About Myself with Cursed City

By Orrin Grey • September 30th, 2021

I dove into Cursed City in the hopes that the familiarity of its similarities to Silver Tower would help to ease some of that intimidation fact, but Cursed City has more in common with Blackstone Fortress.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

two character pieces with colored based standing on a board game surface.

Candles Against the Dark: Surviving the Night (and Each Other) in Deranged

By Orrin Grey • August 26th, 2021

A character who is Deranged is normal by day but becomes a monster by night.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

On top of a board game (Ex Libris) lays an orange cat.

Shelf Stability: Good Design Gets Out of the Way in Ex Libris

By Orrin Grey • July 29th, 2021

Ex Libris looks complicated, but all the moving parts click together pretty seamlessly, and there are rarely any of those awkward moments where you’re left scratching your head over how one card mechanic interacts with another.

I Played It, Like, Twice...

On a wooden tabletop sits a bunch of cardboard playing tiles. On these tiles are three plastic zombie figures.

Rising Tension: The Odd and Appropriate Specificity of Resident Evil 2: The Board Game

By Orrin Grey • May 13th, 2021

I decided it was high time for me to crack open my copy of Resident Evil 2: The Board Game and see how it stacked up against my memories of the real thing.