Author | Lightnews

W. Eric Martin

@wericmartin.bsky.social

1.5K followers 0 following 22 posts

New site launching Feb. 2026 with personality-driven, deep-dive board game essays, reviews, news, announcements, interviews and more. Fediverse-first. Join me on: Mastodon: https://mastodon.social/@wericmartin Lemmy: https://lemmy.world/u/WEricMartin

mastodon.social

Posts Media Videos Starter Packs

Pinned

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · 1d

Starting Feb. 26, this feed will cover in-depth boardgame news, reviews, essays, interviews & more.

I'll also be writing/editing rulebooks and taking consulting projects for publishers & designers.

New site coming soon. Join me on Mastodon or Lemmy (see bio).

Contact: wericmartin at proton dot me

W. Eric Martin (@[email protected])

3 Posts, 29 Following, 37 Followers · 15 years at Board Game Geek. New website launching February 2026: board game news, reviews, essays, interviews, and more. Also: board game rulebook editing, writ...

mastodon.social

4 10 71

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · 1d

W. Eric Martin (@[email protected])

mastodon.social

4 10 71

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Aug 12

I have no say in the financial activities of BGG beyond receiving a paycheck, although I have pushed for a publisher-enabled pre-order system as it would be better for folks to order directly.

BGG also uses AWS for site hosting, but that's a separate issue, and I'm ignorant of alternatives.

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Aug 12

This event follows a recent 5-Week De-Google Challenge with 100 participants.

Amazon entices backers with free shipping and one-stop shopping — but the long-term cost of such "deals" is never a bargain in your favor.

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Aug 12

The challenge includes a support group (on Signal) and a printable plan. We'll help one another, step by step, through the process of finding alternatives for books, e-readers, gifts, groceries, smart home products, Amazon-owned businesses, etc.

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Aug 12

Amazon is one of the biggest harvesters of our personal data, and I encourage you not to enable businesses like Amazon that are fueling techno-feudalism with our data.

To find out how, join a 4-Week Escape Amazon Challenge that starts Monday, August 18: www.punchinguppress.com/post/how-to-...

2 3 12

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Jul 10

Thanks for reaching out, Marceline, and sorry for the delay. I barely do anything on social media these days. (eric @ boardgamegeek . com is ideal)

I finally picked up PAXU High Tide from my brother a few weeks ago, but I've yet to play that one, so I should pass on another copy of the game.

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · May 21

Correction approved.

Do you believe that "Charles Leicht" should be listed as an alternate name? That is, was he public about the pseudonym?

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · May 20

Only if I remember to look at Bluesky at some point! (I'm mostly off social media. Email is better.)

I see someone has approved the page for Jean M. Smith.

I don't see a pending submission for Leicht or a correction for Scribbage in the system.

1 2

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Mar 22

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Feb 24

Ready to divest from our corporate surveillors, rapacious monopolies, and the broligarchy?

Reclaim your time, attention, and money from the internet with DISENGAGE! The book costs $0, is newly revised for 2025, and has no affiliate links or tracking: www.punchinguppress.com/post/disenga...

Front cover of the book DISENGAGE: Opting Out—and Finding New Options—to Reclaim Your Life from Spammers, Scammers, Intrusive Marketers and Big Tech, with a woman's face half-covered by representing oppressive and dishonest data brokers who sell everything you do online

1 11

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Feb 11

I'll second the Kagi recommendation. In addition to the search engine being ad free, you can upgrade or downgrade or block(!) a site in search results, so once you stumble on a clickbait/linkfarm site, you can block them and never have them appear in results again.

1 2

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Feb 9

I switched to the Kagi search engine because it doesn't give garbage AI "answers". Even better, it's ad free since it's a paid service, and you can block a site from your results if you never want to see it again, which is a huge plus for avoiding ad clickbait farms. Give it a try!

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Nov 26

On Tyranny is a short book from 2017 by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, and I appreciate its actionable advice.

I've set up a GoFundMe to bulk buy the book and distribute copies to Little Free Libraries across the U.S. If you want to donate or share: gofund.me/f3b09297

Or buy copies on your own!

4 6 14

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Nov 26

In a four-player game, an opponent scooped 44 of a possible 48 points in the final round to catapult into victory.

1 4

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Feb 5

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Feb 2

Are there gameplay differences between Schafkopf 2023 and Schafkopf? Or is more about the graphic design and card layout? If the latter, we would merge the two listings since they would play the same.

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Feb 1

Approved and now in place: boardgamegeek.com/boardgamepub...

Thanks!

2 2

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Jan 28

Public Enemy rough draft:

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Nov 30

Time for one last stretch goal...

2 10

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Sep 27

W. Eric Martin @wericmartin.bsky.social · Jul 26

The only way to start this feed is with a basil pyramid.

Basil pyramid two feet across and one foot high