I finished this game of Kart hurtling full speed towards the finish line with no brakes or ability to turn right, but I still won!

I'm Arwen. I turn 45 in 2 months; I started estrogen at 38. There's still time. I got to marry the woman I love, found my voice and who I really am and picked up a lot of friends along the way. Despite the hot mess all around us, it is way easier to navigate hate than inauthenticity.

It was great to get the latest version of Effervescent (@weirdgiraffegames.com ) to the table to see some of the new additions. If you like tile placement games, this is a really unique, thinky take on the genre that will be heading to crowdfunding later this month.

It's Cardboard Time! Episode 141 is now live (tinyurl.com/3534xv6p). On today's episode - Reviews of Pilgrims: Curious Adventures (Valor Mountain, Radim Jurda) and High Society (@allplay.bsky.social , Reiner Knizia).

Charlie took a trip with me to go see my parents this weekend in Buffalo while Aly is at GenCon. It's the first time he's been out of Ohio and fortunately he traveled well, but he's very tired.

Blorp Blitz! was intense, but things fell into place for me and I wound up with a score that I will likely never top.

I haven't heard many people talk about Fossilis (@kidstablebg.bsky.social, David Alberto Diaz) in a while, but they should. I finally got this out (solo) and I really want to play this with more folks. All the mechanical puzzle pieces here just fit so well together.

Kart ( @leder.games) sees players cobbling together speed machines that get progressively harder to control as they speed up. In our first play we slammed into hedges, tossed mud balls and water balloons at each other, and nearly slammed into obstacles at top speed. Can't wait for the next run!

I love our little fuzzball 💖.

Despite that b*tch Edith's best attempts to ruin my garden, the first two chapters of Three Sisters: Petalhaven haven't gone too bad.

It's Cardboard Time! Episode 140 is now live (tinyurl.com/mwft3wn2). On today's episode, @panda8ngel.bsky.social joins me to talk about all the fun we had at the Omaha Gaming Convention in Omaha, Nebraska!

I enjoyed the flow of Riverside and want to get it out with a group of folks instead of solo. I think the solo scoring on it when you're hurtling down the river might be different than when you are at a slower pace, which you don't control. Still, very enjoyable roll n' write for the $7.50 I paid.

@panda8ngel.bsky.social and I played Azure (@bitewinggames.bsky.social ) at OGC. Probably not a great game to start with so early in the morning because of how thinky it was, but the gameplay was very good! I'll get a few more games under my belt before diving into the additional modules.

Cretaceous Rails needs more eyes on it. Outstanding route & tableau builder with a very unique dual action selection mechanism that hits hard. Immediately went and late pledged on Gamefound for the whole thing after playing at OGC.

Charlie was very happy to see me at the airport yesterday (and vice versa).

That's a wrap on Omaha Gaming Convention for this year. Loved meeting so many folks and finally putting faces to names. The games were secondary to the stories that I now have to tell. Thanks to the team for an outstanding convention!

Day 1 tour of Omaha (I got 2 tours!) was conducted by Starla of @ourfamplaysgames.bsky.social and Dana of the Board Game Wagon. What a lovely time we all had visiting all the neat sites that Omaha has to offer like Spiel Bound, Bob the Bridge, and the different up and coming districts. #visitomaha

@peppermint_fox might be mad that I'm being sent home with this from the Omaha Gaming Convention (Long story). 🤣

It's Cardboard Time! Episode 139 is now live (tinyurl.com/4a6xm4ve). On today's episode, reviews of Blorp! (@smirkanddagger.bsky.social) and Corvids (@dvcgames.bsky.social). Apologies for the sleepy rambling after Cardboard Fest in advance 😅.

At first I thought "The FP" was referring to the 2011 movie where people in a post-apocalyptic future settle their beefs through deadly games of DDR. Actually, now that I think about it, maybe that is the future you're referring to.

Dan strikes again on one of @weirdgiraffegames.com games that isn't released yet (and I can confirm is quite delightful). I don't know how many people Carla showed it to, but I doubt Dan was one of them.

A note as well, make sure everyone is able to get something to the table they want to if you can. My friend Craig has been bringing Ticket to Ride Marklin to this home con for probably 7 years and we finally played it. I think it's my new favorite version out of them all.

The dishes are in the dishwasher and Cardboard Fest 2026 has come to a close. Every year we invite friends over to play games and share in some meals and community with us and each year it seems to get a bit bigger. I got to try some new stuff, revisit old stuff, and just have a great time.

I will not go to your board game night if you use shitty ai generated flyers.

Not many plays outside of Origins, but a good month overall.

Sometimes a game can be an iteration on something I've seen before, but it's just fun and I keep thinking about it. Blorp! by @smirkanddagger.bsky.social fits this category. A week out from our play & we're still making Blorp jokes and talking about bringing it back out for others to experience it.

It's Cardboard Time! Episode 138 is now live (tinyurl.com/473nb8pd). On today's episode, it's time for everyone's favorite episode type, the ride home. We're heading back from #originsgamefair in Columbus, Ohio and chatting everything that we saw and did over the weekend.

I'm not posting an Origins haul photo. I'm grateful to have received a lot of review copies (and you'll hear reviews), but the true delight of the weekend wasn't in the acquisition of games, it was in playing them. My feelings about having a great Origins and my play count are intertwined IMO.