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rid

@manaworm.com

67 followers 290 following 150 posts

he/him. board games. indiana pacers + fever. osrs. tyrese haliburton enjoyer. writing about games @ manaworm.com

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rid @manaworm.com · Aug 5

I started writing about board games over on a new blog! I'll be sharing my reviews/essays/etc. on BlueSky when I publish them. There's a couple already on there and they're pretty good, I'm proud of what I have done.

#boardgames #boardgamesky

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mana worm

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rid @manaworm.com · 2d

as a pacers fan, it feels like a cruel joke to have our first game without tyrese be clutch moment after clutch moment. gonna suck not seeing him out there all year. #nbasky

rid @manaworm.com · 4d

now that I think about it, an eastern conference team makes it to the finals *every year*.

rid @manaworm.com · 4d

Fear of the Unknown is the second standalone box in the Death May Die universe, designed by @ericlang.bsky.social, @robdaviau.bsky.social, and Marco Portugal. As the first "big" game I've really dove into, I didn't know what to expect.

My review: manaworm.com/2025/10/21/f...

#boardgames

Cthulu Death May Die Fear of the Unknown Review: Jumping Coffin

Until recently, I owned a single bookshelf that was host to my books, records, DVDs, and board games. I do not have a lot of space for big games with lots of components– so I don’t own …

manaworm.com

rid @manaworm.com · 9d

@kennysun.com made one of the most criminally underrated rogue-lites ever in mr. sun's hatbox. ball x pit might be even better! so good

rid @manaworm.com · 9d

Flamecraft is an adorable game about building up a town square and getting heaps of points for doing so. I enjoy enchanting and making potions but I find myself asking, "Is competition really the driver of the dragon-latte industry?"

My review: manaworm.com/2025/10/16/f...

#boardgames

Flamecraft Review: A Gentle Simmer

Flamecraft's world emanates a gentle warmth, provided primarily by Sandara Tang's watercolor illustrations. How can you resist little crystal dragons putting together a bracelet or purple potion dragons making latte art?

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rid @manaworm.com · 14d

Please Don't Burn My Village! is a neat 20 minute market speculation, push your luck game. There is a weird dragon whose face I don't like. But I do have some quite positive thoughts on the game.

My review: manaworm.com/2025/10/11/p...

#boardgames

Please Don’t Burn My Village! Review: Fiery Temperament

Oddly enough, I am reviewing a second game in the month of October whose name contains an exclamation point. In a related data point: I was, to this point, aware of less than five games whose names…

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rid @manaworm.com · 15d

this is how I learn dandan isn't just a picture of two boats (presumably both named Dan)

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rid @manaworm.com · 15d

I think your DMs are closed (to non-following at least)

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rid @manaworm.com · 16d

I'm fairly new to writing about and reviewing games but pyrotechnics looks like something I'd really enjoy!

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rid @manaworm.com · 21d

I love drafting games, but those games tend to be razor-sharp. Let's Go! To Japan offers a cozy alternative. It's a game for those who love reading Wikipedia articles and restaurant menus, basking in the anticipation of a well-planned trip.

My review: manaworm.com/2025/10/04/l...

#boardgames

Let’s Go! To Japan Review: A Cozy Week Away

Before I go someplace new, I revel in the opportunity to do some research. Reading blog posts from locals, restaurant reviews (and their menus), Wikipedia articles, rosters of local sports teams an…

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rid @manaworm.com · 24d

🎲 Got some good plays in this September. A couple of new favorites, too.

#boardgames #bgstats

BG Stats Sep 2025

Plays: 45
H-index: 3
Games: 24
New: 9
Players: 18
Locations: 5
Hours: 24
Days: 23

FlipToons
Duel for Cardia
King of Tokyo: Duel
Arigatō
Please Don't Burn My Village!
Sky Team
Slay the Spire: The Board Game
Leviathan Wilds
Apiary

37 designers:
326: 4%
Alessandro Zucchini: 4%
Alex Hague: 4%
Ammon Anderson: 4%
Anthony Giovannetti: 4%.

rid @manaworm.com · 25d

i like when something i worked on or set up on a previous turn means I get an easy, "obvious" turn somewhere later. i appreciate you labeling it as an "ebb and flow," cause that's exactly what I want in games too

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rid @manaworm.com · 28d

FlipToons takes the formula of Luck Be a Landlord and shrinks it down into a 20 minute small box card game. A great deckbuilding 101 style game, with a pretty good solo mode, too.

My review: manaworm.com/2025/09/27/f...

#boardgames

FlipToons Review: Luck Be a Ladybug

Like designers Jordy Adan and Renato Simões Silva, I was very intrigued by the video game Luck Be a Landlord. In that game, the player builds up a tiny slot machine to pay off the titular landlord.…

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rid @manaworm.com · Sep 26

shocking: local man finally tries out slay the spire board game and it's... really good. people really weren't kidding about how well it's adapted, huh

rid @manaworm.com · Sep 24

In Duel for Cardia, tactical losses compound to gradual wins. It is a clever treat, albeit one that may have trouble standing out.

My review: manaworm.com/2025/09/23/d...

#boardgames

Duel for Cardia Review: Seven Signets

The name “Duel for Cardia” did not instill confidence in me. Worse yet was my little brother, for whom the invocation of “Cardia” was less a tongue-in-cheek reference to, yo…

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rid @manaworm.com · Sep 23

this looks really cool, i've thought about trying to get a copy. is it easy to play/learn without being able to read korean?

rid @manaworm.com · Sep 18

With the second printing and retail release of Leviathan Wilds, I finally got a chance to claw my way up the side of all these behemoths. Here's my review, an ode to these sick leviathans and the heights they reach:

manaworm.com/2025/09/18/l...

#boardgames

Leviathan Wilds Review: Once More Unto the Beast

You can’t deny the inherent drama of The Climb. Starting low, looking up at the insurmountable; lodging an ice pick here, leaping there; finally reaching the precipice of what was always seem…

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rid @manaworm.com · Sep 12

Sky Team is one of the easiest two player games to recommend to just about anyone. I wrote about how good it is, even if the theme of two pilots who can't communicate is a little... strange.

manaworm.com/2025/09/12/s...

#boardgames

Sky Team Review: Don’t Talk to Me Until I’ve Had My Morning Cup of Crashing the Airplane

Much has been written about the precarity of Sky Team’s airplane. This is a plane that, if the intern-on-board hasn’t done sufficient grunt work, will disintegrate upon touching the tar…

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rid @manaworm.com · Sep 11

the running joke in my family is that I always *always* get a rule wrong that makes the cooperative game we are learning way harder to win.

i just saw someone explain the rules to the lord of the rings trick taking game and realized i did it again.

#boardgames

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rid @manaworm.com · Sep 5

I wrote about Blade Runner-inspired roleplaying board game Inhuman Conditions. It's about, among other things, Being A Normal Chill Guy.

My review:
manaworm.com/2025/09/05/i...

#boardgames #ttrpg

Inhuman Conditions Review: Act Normal

I’m intimidated by writing about RPGs. I have a deep-seated belief that everyone is playing every game so completely differently that valuable insight is hard to come by. The characters we in…

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rid @manaworm.com · Sep 5

a big cardboard box of plastic venerating and justifying all the other big cardboard boxes of plastic you know and love

rid @manaworm.com · Sep 2

🎲 Here's (most) of what I played in August. A very co-op, fairly light month.

#bgstats #boardgames

a five by five grid of different board games I played!
BG Stats 5 x 5.
Top Tier;
King of Tokyo: Duel;
Things in Rings;
Alibis;
Leviathan Wilds;
The Quest for El Dorado;
TEKKEN – the Board Game;
Fromage;
Sky Team;
FlipToons;
Castle Combo;
Toy Battle;
Landmarks;
Legendary: A Marvel Deck Building Game;
Let's Go! To Japan;
Tiny Towns;
Railroad Tiles;
Hanabi;
Kinfire Delve: Callous' Lab;
Just One;
Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition;
Forbidden Island;
Next Station: Paris;
Santorini;
Please Don't Burn My Village!.

rid @manaworm.com · Sep 1

I love @dom2d.bsky.social's art, deduction, and not blowing up. A lot of people seem to agree.

My review of Bomb Busters:

manaworm.com/2025/09/01/b...

#boardgames

Bomb Busters Review: Duct Tape Defusal

All good cooperative games should strive to be a heist movie. Not that they should be about stealing from some vault– though at least a couple are– I mean the opportunities for people t…

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rid @manaworm.com · Aug 25

I wrote about Alibis, a new game by Allplay about exonerating villains with one-word clues. If you want a new Codenames-adjacent game, you should give this one a try.

My review:
manaworm.com/2025/08/25/a...

#boardgames

Alibis Review: Your Honor, My Client Should Be Hooping

For my family, party games hit the table frequently. When I can wrangle together a group of my siblings, it is almost guaranteed that someone at the table will cap the type of game we play to somet…

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rid @manaworm.com · Aug 19

Kinfire Delve is a very cool take on the "one deck dungeon" style of smooshing a dungeon crawl into a tiny box.

There's a lot of offerings in the Kinfire universe but for 20 dollars, this seemed like a good place to start. My review of Callous' Lab:

manaworm.com/2025/08/19/k...

#boardgames

Kinfire Delve Callous’ Lab Review: Well Kept

In Kinfire Delve: Callous’ Lab, I’ve been beset on all sides by half-finished science experiments called husks. I’ve been befuddled by a sapience test when a guardian stumbled upo…

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