Board Gaming with Bapter
@baptergames.bsky.social
Your friendly neighborhood board gamer
Birds🐦, bees🐝, and everything in between. My Publisher Favorites series continues with @stonemaiergames.com, a publisher that probably started a lot of our journeys into board gaming. What’s your favorite Stonemaier game?
Publisher Favorites: Stonemaier Games
Birds and the bees and everything in between!
baptergames.substack.com
I don't solo game too often. It always seems intriguing, but actually doing it feels hard. Here are some picks I have as a non-solo gamer for you other non-solo gamers out there!
Solo Games for Non-Solo Gamers
Approachable solo experiences for those who would usually rather play with friends.
baptergames.substack.com
3️⃣ new-to-me games hit the table, and all three delivered! My latest post features first impressions of... 🗺️ Pilgrims Curious Adventures 🦫 Timber Town 🏘️ Tenby Three very different experiences, with plenty of reasons to play each one again. Read more: baptergames.substack.com/p/three-new-...
Three New Games, Three Great First Impressions
My early thoughts on three games that brought something different to the table.
baptergames.substack.com
9. LinaKay plays Inkwell solo; adds Gen Con plays to BGG 10. James punches out Enchanted Ivy, organizes @allplay.bsky.social shelf 11. @baptergames.bsky.social unboxes Wondrous Creatures expansion; sets up solo Everdell Farshore 12. GameritisGuy plays solo game of The Great Evening Banquet 3/5
Next up in my Publisher Favorites series is @25thcentury.games. Do you have any top titles from them? Let me know what I should try next. 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/bapterga...
Publisher Favorites: 25th Century Games
A trio of titles stand out from the Atlanta-based publisher!
open.substack.com
All things July! Games, books, shows, movies, etc — open.substack.com/pub/bapterga... PWR inspired by @maudesbookclub.bsky.social
July PWR Roundup: Games, Shows & Books
A pretty big decrease in gaming, but it happens...
open.substack.com
The second post in my Publisher Favorites series spotlights @capstone-games.com! So many great games to choose from… 🔗 open.substack.com/pub/bapterga...
Publisher Favorites: Capstone Games
Zoo-building, tea empires, and guild duels, oh my!
open.substack.com
My first play of @direwolfdigital.com's western polyomino game was full of clever combos, strategic decisions, and a few pacing concerns. baptergames.substack.com/p/first-impr...
First Impressions: Wild Tiled West
Does this polyomino title hold its own against the genre's best?
baptergames.substack.com
Starting a new series where I spotlight some of my favorite games from different publishers. First up: @pandasaurusgames.com!
Publisher Favorites: Pandasaurus Games
Hands-down one of my most-played publishers to date!
baptergames.substack.com
Today at noon was officially the halfway point of 2026. Here’s my June gaming/reading recap and some solid notes from the first six months of the year — open.substack.com/pub/bapterga...
Halfway Through 2026: June Recap & Year to Date Notes
Six months down, plenty of games left to play!
open.substack.com
Post-Trade-In Haul: The Credit Didn’t Stand a Chance: baptergames.substack.com/p/wowee-new-...
Wowee, New Games!!!
After the big culling, new games have arrived to take their place.
baptergames.substack.com
Finally back at it! Here's this week's Board Games Anonymous, where we get games closer to the table: 1. I go through the Gen Con 2026 list to prep 2-3. @baptergames.bsky.social unboxes & preps Explorers of Navoria and other new additions 4. FreakboyNW works on Covenant and Red Cathedral 1/3
Rising Cultures from @capstone-games.com is a fun spin on two-player civilization building, offering a different puzzle within a well loved genre and theme. Here are my thoughts! 🔗 baptergames.substack.com/p/rising-cul...
Rising Cultures Review: Familiar Foundations, New Decisions
A thoughtful two player civilization game that swaps direct conflict for a satisfying strategic puzzle
baptergames.substack.com
I dove into the depths of BGG’s Strategy rankings to see what the bottom five games look like. Here’s what I found (spoiler alert — it’s not great 😂): baptergames.substack.com/p/bggs-worst...
BGG's Worst Ranked Strategy Games
It's not a pretty site down there in the BGG depths!
baptergames.substack.com
Getting our board games closer to the table! 1. I set up Kingdom Crossing 2. LinaKay plays Agueda 3. @baptergames.bsky.social preps Everdell Emerland 4. @bingbread.bsky.social un-evelopes Civolution Acceptance Letter 5-6. CosmicBeet unboxes Unmatched sets 7-8. Ryan preps Dwellings of Everdale 1/2
If Watergate and Caper: Europe had a fashion themed cousin, it would probably look a lot like The Battle of Versailles. Clever card play, meaningful decisions, and a unique theme make this @25thcentury.games title worth checking out. Here's my overview & review: open.substack.com/pub/bapterga...
The Battle of Versailles Review: A Catwalk Clash of Fashion and Strategy
A Fashion Rivalry Turned Into a Clever Two-Player Duel
open.substack.com
Some thoughts on Unmatched co-op, current games on the wish list, and collection/play styles - baptergames.substack.com/p/unmatched-...
Unmatched Adventures TMNT and Collection Reflections
Turtles, Wishlists, and Collection Thoughts
baptergames.substack.com
We really enjoyed our first play of A Wild Venture from PIKA Games. It’s a two-player-only game with charming artwork, clever engine-building/dismantling, and a light memory aspect that adds an interesting wrinkle to scoring: bit.ly/4ul7mzm
First Impressions: A Wild Venture
A delightful two-player engine-builder/dismantler
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After years of “maybe we’ll play it again soon,” a big cull has happened. Some easy decisions… some painful ones… but it had to happen: bit.ly/4dQ4s0t
14 Games Get Their Walking Papers
Some hard choices, but it needed to happen!
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16 games, including expansions, sit on what I call the Shelf of Shameful Opportunity: bit.ly/4ehIBPz What should we play next?
Shelf Of Shameful Opportunity Status
Let me call it whatever I want to, ok?
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Adding in some non-gaming content into the mix for my latest monthly recap! Here, I take a look at some of the best games of the month, books in progress, and shows I need to stay committed to: bit.ly/4dJN7X8
May Roundup: Games, Books, & More!
Life is about more than just games, right?
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🐵🍌 New preview up for Fruit Island from Analog Game Studios! A quick, light family-weight game from Reiner Knizia that’s all about collecting fruit, avoiding a thief gorilla, and ruining your friends’ plans in the nicest way possible. 🦍 🍍 Here’s a quick overview & some thoughts: bit.ly/3PPJndp
Fruit Island Preview: It’s All Fun and Games Until the Gorilla Shows Up
Collect and trade as much fruit as you can before the gorilla ruins your plans.
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What starts as a goat rescue mission quickly turns into a greedy scramble for treasure in Goats & Goblins, a chaotic cave-crawling game full of gems, gold, and cave-ins. Game overview & thoughts: bit.ly/43mo7Po
Goats & Goblins Review: Light Push-Your-Luck Fun
An zany push-your-luck card game about greed, gold, goats, and goblins.
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None of these games are anywhere close to leaving the collection, but I do feel a little sad that my plays of them have tapered off for one reason or another. 6 Popular Games I’ve Cooled On: bit.ly/4eHUIX0
6 Hot Games I've Cooled On
When the honeymoon phase wears off
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My buddy @jrrtubbs.bsky.social and I finally wrapped up our full head-to-head challenge ⚔️ , and the recap is now live with results and thoughts on each matchup. 🔗 bit.ly/4dTsHLa
Bapter Claims Victory in Digital Clash with TubbsPlaysGames
10 games. 5 picks per player. Who won which games?
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The BGG Top 50 Draft is complete 🎲 Some steals, some surprises, and a few picks that definitely sparked debate 👀 🔗 bit.ly/3PHZxW5 #boardgames
The BGG Top 50 Draft Results
The final collections, revealed in full
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Some fun new-to-me games hit the table in April, but digital plays returned to dominate the month. Spoiler alert: A Familiar Find from @darringtonpress.bsky.social was an instant hit. April round-up 👇 🔗 bit.ly/4uEIAuv
April’s Gaming Story: 51 plays, 70% Digital
After a big month of in-person gaming in March, digital plays dominated April
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Pocket Puffins - Lost in Space mixes adorable art with tight puzzle gameplay. Gameplay overview & first impressions: bit.ly/4tmikUQ
Pocket Puffins - Lost in Space First Impressions
Pattern matching, puzzle solving, and puffins floating through space.
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Five players. Ten games each. BGG Top 50. The twist? You’re drafting as if you’re starting your collection completely from scratch. Meet the draft participants and see what games were selected in round 1: bit.ly/3Plk2aY #boardgames
The War Room: A 5-Person BGG Top 50 Draft
Every pick matters when the board is this stacked.
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Just two guys, ten games, and a lot of opinions. Bapter vs. Tubbs. Let's do this! 🔗 bit.ly/4cEFNeI
Digital Cardboard Clash: Bapter vs. Tubbs
Just two guys, ten games, and a lot of opinions.
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