Modern, Magical Jigsaw Puzzles Are the Hot New Thing
Clickbait headline: You won’t believe the mind-blowing twist ending in these new jigsaw puzzles! In 2020 the newly-established Magic Puzzle Company raised over $3 million dollars on Kickstarter selling a set of three 1000-piece puzzles…
Setup Time: Board Gaming’s Secret Killer
And 11 games that get it right. I love board games. You probably do, too. But there are some drawbacks to the hobby. Especially when compared to something like video…
These Mini Bricks Might Become a Lego Fans’ New Obsession
A deep dive into a smaller, more affordable option. One particularly fun discovery I made while learning more about generic Lego alternatives over the last year or so was a line of…
20 Excellent Board Games That Cost Under $20
It doesn't have to be an expensive hobby. Modern board games are great, but they are not cheap. In some ways it's a miracle of global supply chains that they…
The Many Shades of Grey in the Questionable World of Lego Knock-Offs and Alt-Bricks
Several years ago there was a knock-off Lego band called Lepin. Lepin sold copies of popular Lego building sets direct-from-China for half (or less) of the Lego price. The sets weren’t…
Polygon: The Magazine – Gaming’s Lost Print Publication
Almost a decade before there was Polygon.com there was Polygon… the magazine. Launched in 2003 by now-defunct publishing house Deviation, Polygon was an early attempt at a higher-brow, classier grade…
The Best Board Games for Two That Also Scale Up
The first modern board game I bought was a very clever, fast-playing two-player card game called Lost Cities, back in 2009. My partner and I played it dozens of times…
The History of Magic’s Arabian Nights: the Game’s First (and Weirdest) Expansion
Magic's first expansion is also its most wild. Find out why... Arabian Nights, Magic’s first expansion, was released in December 1993 - just four months after Magic: the Gathering itself. Magic’s…
Why Digital Board Games Feel So Much Less Fun
Why would you say something so controversial, and yet so brave? So far in Paperwave I haven’t exactly gone out on many limbs. Lego sets are great. Solo board games are... also…
A Complete Beginner’s Guide to Solo Board Games
Recommendations from a veteran. There’s nothing odd about setting up and playing a board game by yourself. Stop looking at me like that. This is my newsletter, anyway! 😤 But…