The Archive

When Religion Comes to Play

When Religion Comes to Play

Civilization V developer Ed Beach transforms missionary work into videogame algorithms, drawing on his experience with boardgame design (Here I Stand) to create special powers for Egyptians and Chinese; Catholics and Taoists. 

Jun 5 Interviews It's Your Move
To Build and Break

To Build and Break

What do boardgaming's stars look like? If Donald X. Vaccarino is any indication, they are difficult to grasp. The designer of runaway favorite Dominion builds games that change and remake themselves nearly to infinity. In his latest column Gus Mastrapa tries to get a foothold in Vaccarino's twisty world.

Feb 15 Columns It's Your Move
Things I Ate in Skyrim

Things I Ate in Skyrim

Gus Mastrapa tells the consumer's side of the story in Bethesda's upcoming role-playing sprawl, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim.

Nov 2 Essays
Magic Mistakes

Magic Mistakes

Gus Mastrapa talks to Tiny Speck founder Stewart Butterfield about the studio's new massively multiplayer online game Glitch, regarding the importance of adults, illustrators, and doing nice things for each other.

Oct 13 Articles
It's Your Move

It's Your Move

We don't normally associate collectible-card games with the NFL, but some recent new games and expansions draw out the metaphor. In our new column on boardgames and card games, Gus Mastrapa takes a look at the technique of deck building.

Jul 20 Articles
Review: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Review: Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective

Adventure games are a genre that everybody has nostalgia for, but nobody plays. That's because games like Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective feel old-fashioned compared to the open-world, massively multiplayer, online-all-the-time games we're used to. Some detractors have even gone so far as to call designer Shu Takumi's Phoenix Wright series a collection of "interactive novels" rather than games. Thank goodness he hasn't taken his eviction from the clubhouse to heart.

Feb 14 Articles
Boards and Bits

Boards and Bits

After five years dedicated to the beautification of the boardgame, Mike Doyle found a new calling—Lego sculpture.

It was this summer, on a trip to Legoland with his boys, that Doyle, a 43-year-old graphic designer from New Jersey, rekindled his passion for the building blocks. When he got home he searched the Internet to see what kind of art, if any, people were creating with Lego. He discovered sculptors, like Nathan Sawaya, who use the bricks to create art pieces much bigger than your average play set. "I had no idea that Lego could be manipulated to the degree that people were doing," he says.

Dec 22 Articles

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