Recent Posts

Today’s stack is a mixed bag of comics and some fiction for kids! City Spies: Mission Manhattan by James Ponti We’ll start with this middle grade novel, which is the fifth book in the City Spy series. I’ve written about the previous books in this series here (1 2 3 4), and I’ve really enjoyed following […]

The garden gnomes are competing to harvest mushrooms—the winner gets to head to the forest! What Is Gnaughty Gnomes? Gnaughty Gnomes is a trick-taking game for 4 players (two teams), ages and up, and takes about 30 to 60 minutes to play. While the box doesn’t have an age recommendation, BoardGameGeek has it listed as […]

This time last year I reviewed The Forcing by Paul E. Hardisty. The Descent, publishing this month, is a companion novel, continuing where The Forcing left off, but whilst filling in some more of the historical backstory. Combined, the novels form a gloriously whole, arguably greater than its parts, giving us a haunting eco-thriller that lingers in the memory.  […]

MegaCon hit Orlando hard February 1st – 4th, 2024 with high-profile guests, amazing artists, and impressive panels to entertain and educate conventioneers of all ages. This massive four-day con was the mecca for geeks from all walks of life. With an estimated 190,000 people in attendance, it was the not-to-be-missed event of the year so […]

Biome /ˈbīˌōm/ (noun): a large, naturally occurring community of flora and fauna occupying a major habitat, e.g., forest or tundra. Play as a fearless environmentalist, working to develop a flourishing and diverse biome! What Is Biome? Biome is a tableau-building game for 1-4 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 90 minutes to play. […]

As part of the dual anniversary of Dungeons and Dragons—50 years for the game, and 10 years for the 5th edition—Wizards of the Coast has been teasing the release of revised editions of the core rulebooks for Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition. Playtesting has been underway for months, and feedback has improved the efforts of […]

In the Valley of a Thousand Dewdrops, in the world of Mycelia, mushroom folk gather magical dewdrops from their forests and bring them to the Shrine of Life to get help from the Goddess of the Forest. In the new tabletop game Mycelia, you must gain the support of the mysterious and heroic forest dwellers […]

Following up on my columns about comics for kids and young adults in the past month, this week I’ve got some comic books for adults. A few of these may be appropriate for older teens—some of them have content that may not be appropriate for younger readers, but others I think will just not interest […]

Shortly before Christmas, I received a care package from Symbiote Studios, a creator of fine pop-culture plushies from big-name licenses (including My Little Pony) as well as their own homegrown creations (like Catnip Bravo). Included were Dinobot Slug from the Transformers line and the titular Shovel Knight himself. While neither shape-changing outer space robots nor […]

The Fights That Make Us arrived unlooked for in the post. I have a mystery friend at Usborne Books, who sends me books for review, and I have them to thank for opening my eyes to some amazing children’s fiction published in the last 12 months. Usborne’s stable of authors seems to be able to deliver […]

I was disappointed in many ways with what 2023 had to offer. Looking back on my Geekdad preview of 2023 movies, so few of them impressed me. Indiana Jones and The Dial of Destiny was decent, but not what I’d call inspired. Spider-Man: Across The Spiderverse was nowhere near as good as the first film […]