Tag Archives: New Year New Games 2023

On the Tabletop

My Thoughts on the D&D OGL

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Introduction

Editor’s Note: I wrote this before the decision to reverse course by Hasbro. Turns out all of the gnashing of teeth and wailing worked for now. However, I now see that emboldened nerds and some of them push for more. Some people are never happy.

If you wonder what the D&D OGL covers, then join me as I give a TLDR version. As I understand it, the document gives the community the ability to make homebrew content and make money from that content. Wikipedia explains it in better detail if you want more than that. I only know about the document now because a leak showed that Hasbro/WotC meant to update it.

And by update it, of course, the mean to basically gut the thing and make it almost impossible for anyone but them to make money from the game. Please bear in mind that all of my information here comes from the sometimes less than reliable world of social media (Facebook mostly), so take this whole article with a grain of salt if you want. However, I will say that they reversed course pretty quickly once people started to get loud about it. So, methinks that they hit a nerve.

Warning: Anti-Capitalist Message Ahead

Once a student said to me, “I bet you like the pony guy.” “Vermin Supreme?” I responded. “Love him!”

I mean, just this weekend I said to a friend, “I’m about to sound like a communist sympathizer here.” I say this to provide context. Believe me when I say that I have no use for large corporations throwing their weight around to bully citizens. On the other hand, having grown up to see nerd culture become popular culture, I watch as nerds have almost weekly breakdowns over something or another. Captain Marvel? A more diverse Star Wars?

So, ignorant of the details in the first case and my opinion colored by the history of the second, initially I shrugged at the news. Obviously, I came down on the wrong side of history. People kept trying to explain to me that Critical Role might suffer because of it. I don’t interact with them at all, so that didn’t bother me.

I soon learned that Pathfinder came into existence because of the D&D OGL. Okay, I though, this could be big. Then, it trickled down into some of the Patreon campaigns that I support. Once that happened, I realized that I made a mistake by writing it off as another nerd temper tantrum.

The Verdict

I wanted to end New Year, New Games 2023 on a more positive note. Unfortunately, I also wanted to come clean. With all of that being said, I can’t find it in me to be all that fussed about the D&D OGL. Sure, it harms player and potentially the game. But, as Blizzard shows time and time again, if you give players enough time, they forgive and forget nearly everything. Come back after the next season of Stranger Things and this will all become a footnote in history.

Besides, unless you belong to Critical Role or one of the half dozen (maybe) other content creators that this affects, simply ignore the new OGL. Go on about your business playing Dungeons and Dragons as you do with your friends and family. Plenty of resources exist out there to enhance your gaming experience for every edition of the game. And, if it doesn’t, here’s an idea. Come up with the resource on your own and share it with those you love. My favorite D&D experience came from writing the adventure for Quinn. I loved it so much, I planned several others. Just get out there and have fun.

Digital Playground

Fire Emblem GBA: Great, Good, Decent

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Introduction

You probably remember that I said that this article would be about the new Fire Emblem game for the Nintendo Switch. Unfortunately, my current gaming budget prevents me from purchasing that right now. But, fear not, faithful followers! I searched for “best Fire Emblem” games. That led me to this page and the game that I most wanted to try on the list was Fire Emblem GBA.

I remember my time with the Game Boy Advance fondly. I purchased no less than three separate consoles including a retro style Super Nintendo motif. I loved the Super Nintendo. It remains my favorite console of all time by leaps and bounds. When Nintendo gave us the opportunity to put all of those game into our pockets, I welcomed that opportunity.

A (Very) Short History with Fire Emblem

In spite of all of that, I never played any of the Fire Emblem games. When I texted Chris after learning about the new Switch game, he admitted to never playing them either. He owned one of them at least. And, the reason he never played it is that it requires a console that he doesn’t own. But, as Chris said, all of the Fire Emblem games come highly rated. So, it surprises me even more that, not even during my emulation phase, I never played a single game. I wanted to remedy that with Fire Emblem Engage. Because, watching a TFT stream earlier, someone mentioned the game. So, maybe the game could finally get me some juice on the page. Alas, we wait at least one more pay cycle for the new one.

I mean, the game looks like the type of games I enjoy. So, for now, let’s enjoy it.

The Decent – Graphics and Combat

Graphics – Look, I understand the age and limitations of the Game Boy Advance. Even with those caveats, this game looks primitive. The color palette ignores about 32,760 of the available colors. The sprites need help, too. It looks almost like a late cycle NES game. Granted, it came early in the GBA life, so I guess that makes sense. Still, the look of the game surprised me from what I remember about the SNES/GBA.

Turn-Based Combat – I’m used to games with more freedom to their movement like Zelda or Final Fantasy. Therefore, I found the limitations of the movement in this game annoying. A minor complaint, especially when you consider that combat works much the same as those games. But, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that.

The Good – Short Prologue and Other Graphics

Short Prologue – When I heard them talking about the new Fire Emblem game, they said something about still being in the part of the game where it tells you sword beats axe, etc. While probably true here as well, the story so far (more on that in a minute) makes it bearable.

Other Graphics – Outside of the main world, the graphics become more detailed. The battles animate each attack satisfyingly. But, the graphics engine shines in the cut scenes. Fully colored and well drawn characters interact to push the story forward in a satisfying way.

Hey, you. You’re finally awake.

The Great – Something New and The Story

Something New – Even though I mentioned Zelda and Final Fantasy earlier, I like Fire Emblem GBA because it represents something new and different from those games. I think I needed that change of pace because now I want to play through this one and as many of the others as I can find. I definitely need the new one now.

The Story: I made fun of the introduction dialogue in that caption up there. But, I kid because I love. Honestly, I don’t know what I’d do if I played an RPG at this point that didn’t start with me waking up. It’s just such a huge part of the genre right now.

The Verdict

I only played through the prologue and Chapter 1 so far. But, I enjoyed what I saw and played. I promised Fire Emblem Engage and delivered Fire Emblem GBA. Other than graphics, I honestly can’t see that there’s much of a difference between the two. But, join me after I get Engage and we can see together what the differences actually are.

Digital Playground

Red Dead Redemption II: Cowboy Up!

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Introduction

I never played any Grand Theft Auto. Imagine my surprise then when GTA 3 released. I searched and found the first two games were top down racers. Then it made sense why I never played them. But, I played the heck out of 3 and then Vice City. I stopped playing during the San Andreas days. I actually forgot about Rockstar Games until the first Red Dead Redemption. Then, over Christmas break, I remembered that I owned Red Dead Redemption II.

I know the game doesn’t technically fit into the New Year, New Games theme of the month. Liam watched me play briefly and said, “This game looks really good. Makes me even madder that Pokemon is so buggy.” I replied, “Yeah, and it’s a four year old game.” But, I only recently discovered and started playing it. Plus, I needed another digital playground article for the month. And, so, Red Dead Redemption II gets included. Besides, it’s my page. I can do what I want.

Humble Beginnings

I thought I might not even get a chance to write this article. As I played through the tutorial and introduction, I got increasingly irritated and more bored. Then, during the chase quest, after I failed, I restarted the entire quest. Christine remarked when I said how much I liked the game, “Oh yeah, it sounded like it as you swore at it this morning.” But, once I figured out how to start the specific quest and not the whole chain, it got better.

Plus, I got to play with the lasso a bit more in that quest, so no harm, no foul.

I only finished a few more quests. I got to the part where the snow finally starts to melt before Aiden took the XBox back upstairs. As a result, I probably won’t play much more Red Dead Redemption II until Febrary break. Quinn and Aiden both have commitments (soccer for Aiden and swim and scouts for Quinn), so we won’t travel during that break. We planned on going to Niagara Falls for April, but nothing in February. I can come back then to update on my progress.

The Verdict

Initially, I joked that Red Dead Redemption was just GTA with horses. After playing it, I enjoyed it so much more than I ever liked GTA. Other than GTA 3, I never beat any of those games. I played the original RDR until I beat it and then I played after to finish up some other Easter eggs in the game. I probably bought RDR II shortly after that. But, with the XBox in Aiden’s room most of the time, I never played it until this past Christmas. I plan to bring the XBox back downstairs during February break and you better believe that I’m going to play cowboy during that week off.

On the Tabletop

Failing Up(?) in Pathfinder Solo

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Introduction

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Humble Bundle. It contained information to receive a free (or discounted) copy of the Pathfinder Beginner Box. Always on the lookout for new games (especially since we are in New Year, New Games), I filled out the required information. The shipment came a week or two before Christmas. I spent part of Christmas looking through the set and learned about the Pathfinder solo adventure.

Like the D&D counterpart, it comes with some premade characters, an abbreviated version of the player’s handbook and dungeon master’s guide, a set of dice, and additional character sheets. Unlike Dungeons and Dragons, it also includes a solo adventure for those of us with no friends. Okay, that’s not entirely true. Quinn likes to play RPGs with me.

Choose Your Own Death

I took some time the other day to play through the adventure. In fact, it took far less time that anticipated. The Pathfinder solo module runs like the old choose your own adventure games with some dice rolls mixed into the fun. Obviously, the mode lacks role playing. Unless you count the “WTF Dice” comment that I put in my notes as I was playing through.

Proof. Also, that “dead” there is not for me. But, it didn’t take long…spoiler alert.

Okay, I think I got ahead of myself a bit here. First, I needed to find the adventure. I lost the insert that told me where to go, so I searched online. That brought no answers. I finally found it after looking through both books in the box. Then, I started. It played like a choose your own adventure at first. Do I want to search for the thing killing wildlife for 10 gold? You betcha! Then, suddenly, I found myself in combat with a mangy old wolf.

Wait? Do I need to use one of the character sheets? I picked Wizard at first until it felt like keeping track of spells might be too much for a newbie like me. But, no, no character sheet needed. They give you all of the relevant information in the adventure. Okay, wolf, no problem. Dead in one round. Do I want to continue? You bet I do.

A giant snake? Ha! I laugh at the “challenge”. Also dead in one round of combat. But, the dice low rolled me a bit. Take this as a warning adventurer. Between this and the RPG calendar, solo adventuring amplifies bad luck. You can’t rely on your party members to help you out when things go wrong.

Things went wrong quickly. I disturbed a living statue. The dice rolls blew up in my face both ways. The statue killed me in spectacular fashion. Go to #17, the book instructed. “Yeah, you’re dead”, it said. No saving throw. No do over. Just died. But, hey, try again, loser.

The Verdict

Overall, I mostly enjoyed the Pathfinder solo adventure. I missed the interaction with other players and role playing aspect of the game. But, the action moved quickly enough to keep me interested and rotten dice rolls gave me the necessary danger to make it exciting. I think I might take another shot at it. Also, seeing the structure of the adventure inspired me to put together a series of my own to go with the duos I developed for me and Quinn.

Digital Playground

Teamfight Tactics Update 2023

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Introduction

A few weeks ago I wrote about possible mobile games to add to my daily rotation. For those wondering, Marvel Snap made the cut. I even paid for the “deluxe’ battle pass or whatever that includes 10 levels. It gives me exactly what I want. An IP I’ve been following my entire life since becomign a teenager. A quest chase that takes no more than 15-20 minutes. Just enough strategery that makes every match interesting and unique. What other game can give me that? As today’s Teamfight Tactics Update 2023 shows, certainly not the topic of today’s article.

So, why take the time to write an entire article about the game? Well, just because TFT lacks the qualities of Marvel Snap doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy the game. In fact, I took quite quickly back to playing it and played it nonstop over the weekend, both in anticipation of writing the article and because I genuinely enjoyed the game.

So, Why TFT?

My enjoyment of “autobattlers” goes back to one of the originals. I kept hearing about Dota Auto Chess a few years ago. I played some Dota and League of Legends, but stink on ice at both games. My favorite story is when I famously played 5 games of LoL and only won one single game and that’s because one of the players was friendly and helpful enough to just carry the rest of us on his back.

And, I’ll bet you do, too.

But, I figured, “I like chess.” Why not check out this game that has the word in it’s title. It instantly hooked me and before long, I actually chased some fame and status in ranked. Then, something happened. I think they updated the game and started inundating me with paid content. As with most of you, once a game does that, I lose interest quickly. Sure enough, I played less and less.

Through some research, I found Dota 2 Underlords and TFT. I liked TFT more. The graphic style and colorful characters kept my interest far better than the grimy surroundings of Underlords. Quinn hung out with me during my gaming time often then, too, and he preferred TFT as well. Then, something happened. This time I think my gaming PC crapped the bed (again). Either the mobile app didn’t exist or I didn’t own something capable of playing it. To be honest, I still don’t My phone screen is way too small for my old eyes and the app taxes my poor tablet.

After exploring my options, I tried both Underlords and TFT. This time, I actually preferred Underlords. I quickly discovered that Valve more or less killed it. I downloaded Autochess to check that one out. But, I haven’t been patient enough to let it download the data to get started. And, so, TFT became my main autobattler again.

What About Battlegrounds?

Okay, I play Battlegrounds way more than I ever play TFT. But, for the time begin until the patch hits, I load up TFT for a few games every night. It helps that I dropped the 13 bucks or whatever for their battle pass. So, cart before the horse, that gives me motivation to keep playing.

I started with Hyper Roll. According to my research, the games went faster and you farmed battle pass XP faster as a result. Personal experience shows that isn’t entirely true. Playing normal often pits you against only 3 or 4 actual humans and either bots or AFK players in the other slots. As a result, getting a victory there becomes much easier since you basically just have to have a functioning brain to get top 4 or above.

I enjoyed Hyper Roll, especially when I got a top 2 and thought I might finally have gotten the hang of it. The game quickly disabused me of that notion and I fell back to my usual 5 or 6 spot. That’s when I looked up to see if completing quests gives me credit in normal. It does, so I main normal now.

The Verdict

It took me longer than usual to accept TFT into my normal rotation. I suspect that without the battle pass and my discovery of normal, it might end up rotting or getting deleted after writing the article. As it stands, writing the article inspired me to fire the game up to check on my quests. My Teamfight Tactics update 2023 finds the game healthy and firmly in my rotation at least until I evaluate the next version of the battle pass.

On the Tabletop

The Voidspark Chronicles: Humble Beginnings

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Introduction

Once upon a time, I refused to purchase anything through a link in Facebook. Then, I bought a pair of Pittsburgh Penguins mittens only because they came with a Bernie bobblehead. I also purchased a couple of Funko figures that took forever to arrive. So, I thought my decision to leave Facebook out of future purchases vindicated. Then, an ad came across my Facebook and I fell for it again. I clicked on the link for Sundial Games and their 2023 quest desktop calendars. For 40 bucks, I got a set of dice, some dry erase markers, and a day-by-day calendar with a solo RPG adventure attached. And, so, on January 1, 2023, I embarked on my Voidspark Chronicles humble beginnings.

Since January has the theme of “New Year, New Games“, that brings the perfect opportunity to talk about this unique idea. Before that, I want to say something. The calendar sits on my desk and not one of my students asked about it yet. That’s surprising since they usually stick their noses in all of my business. Oh well, probably just a matter of time.

Rules and Character Building

Rules? Who needs rules? The only rule is that you ignore all the rules and play however you want. What’s this? You need to refer back to the previous day to resolve today’s story. Hmm, maybe I will take a look at those rules after all.

To be fair, that’s the only rule that you need to follow. The rest of it more or less comes down to your capacity for and forgiveness of bad dice rolls. More on that in a bit. Speaking of dice rolls, at least in the beginning, they streamlined character creation. You roll a d4 and that becomes your bonus for each stat. Then, during the course of the story, you get your inventory and you’re off.

Escape, Combat, and Near Death

So far, I engaged in combat twice and made a decision twice. The first combat went smoothly. I killed both sentry drones without a scratch. I also escaped my prison quite easily with a single Dexterity roll to pick the lock. Man, I thought, this stuff is easy.

I know better. Don’t ever piss off the dice gods. They smite without prejudice those who do. Over the weekend, I failed a dexterity roll and then took two blasts to break down the door. Then, today, I came close to dying in combat because my dice rolls came out on the low end. Hell, I “cheated” a bit by allowing myself 3 rolls to free someone else from being captured and twice to find a med kit since I used the other one to heal after nearly eating it.

The Verdict

My Voidspark Chronicles humble beginnings give me all the joy of playing a role playing game daily. They also bring the same frustrations of low dice rolls. As I proved, those are easily countered by “do overs”. Maybe I need to limit myself to one “do over” per day because otherwise, what’s the point of rolling. Just take the loot and move on to the next day. In any case, I’m glad that I bought the calendar and look forward to each day’s next adventure.

Noob's Book Club

Dragons of Deceit: Noob’s Book Club

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Introduction

My wife misunderstood my request on my Santa list. I asked for the new Dragonlance source book for Dungeons and Dragons. She bought me the new novel, Dragons of Deceit. I forgive her for this transgression Weis and Hickman wrote the new book and anything by them that involves Dragonlance needs to be on my bookshelf. Besides, I fixed it by buying the new source book for myself.

When I thought about reading it, I got the idea for this series. It allows me to dabble in podcasting and maybe video production again without having to make a commitment to Chris that I might have to break because life gets in the way. Plus, if I can maintain this commitment, maybe it will show Chris that I’m out of the time in my life where I need to flake all the time.

Noob’s Book Club

I started to flesh out the format of this during my weekly trip over to the dump. I still don’t know if I will make it strictly an audio show or if I will try to add video. I think it will work better if I start with audio and then expand into video with the next one.

I also need to figure out the logistics of the show. How many chapters to read each week? Again, most likely to start with two and maybe expand from there. What book to read next? That one takes more thought and planning, but we also have time for that.

If you find this page and want to follow along, you can purchase Dragons of Deceit at the Amazon link. As of right now, I receive no compensation as an affiliate, so that’s only a suggestion. As of right now, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday are open on my weekly schedule. I doubt I will have this done by Monday, so look for the first installment on Wednesday.

On the Tabletop

2023 Tabletop Games Look Ahead

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Introduction

I thought about specifying RPGs in the title, but I also want to talk a little bit about my humble beginning as a miniature painter. But, then specifying RPG and miniatures seemed too clunky for the title. So, I take the risk that anyone searching ends up finding the page because they are looking for board games, which are probably the most popular option. Just a bit of a look at how the sausage is made and how I arrived at the title, 2023 tabletop games look ahead.

While I really only play Dungeons and Dragons on a regular basis, I always want to branch out and try the various other role playing games available. I also often look at the miniature games forlornly and hope for a day that I have an actual army to bring to the table. Alas, right now I only have a single skeleton archer and an ogre barbarian. I also painted an elven archer a few years ago at a local learn to paint class, but I think that one is buried in the closet somewhere.

I’m proud of these two guys. Can’t wait to give them some brothers and sisters.

Pathfinder in 2023

I discovered Pathfinder via recommendation from a former student. I bought some books on Humble Bundle. However, I still need to actually play the game. Luckily, Humble Bundle also recently offered a starter set. Once I play that, I can have a better idea of what the future holds.

Miniatures in 2023

Earlier, I searched “How to get started in miniatures.” I, then took some time during Aiden’s soccer practice to go to the local nerd store. Instead of starting at the comics like I normally do, I went to the miniatures section. Without any guidance (because I didn’t read the article), I decided to wait on that purchase. Good call. I spent just under 120 dollars on comics. Explaining another 75-100 on miniatures to my wife would be a bad scene.

So, I currently plan to read that article. I also want to buy the rule/lore book for Warhammer 40k. I figure that it differs from D&D. Normal Warhammer looks too much like general fantasy. 40k offers a more science fiction vibe that I find intriguing. Hopefully, in a couple of weeks I can offer an update on the army I chose with some pictures.

Dungeons and Dragons in 2023

I told the story more than once that I took over both the middle and the high school Dungeons and Dragons clubs at my old job. Consequently, starting in the summer of last year and through the rest of the year, I spent a stupid amount of money in an attempt to get all of the 5th edition source books. I started with the campaign settings because I enjoy reading about the lore. Then, I moved on to some of the collector’s sets before finishing with the adventures. I got every one of them except for Rise of Tiamat (and I hear they are re-releasing that one) and the Stranger Things module, which I found a free PDF that surely violates copyright law on at least one level.

Even though I know longer work there and the books now sit on my bookshelves upstairs, I’m still glad I bought them. They brought joy to several of the students in the half year we played together. Just the other day, I said that I might ask the D&D advisor at my current job if he wants me to help. So, maybe they live to fight another day.

As a result, this year I focus on the new releases. In addition to the previously mentioned Tiamat reissue, this page has a few others. None of them grab me other than Planescape. But, as the release, I will buy them and probably review them here. Also, D&D One remains on the horizon. No idea what it actually involves, but keep an eye out regardless.

The Verdict

Of the gaming genres I discussed this week, tabletop looks like the one with the most potential for growth this year. This month alone, I planned an article about my solo adventure in Pathfinder and my new army in Warhammer. Add in a possible return to D&D club and Planescape and you have a recipe for fun this year. The PC article brought me down and I think the console might have a similar effect. But, the 2023 tabletop games look ahead gives me hope for this year.

Digital Playground

2023 PC Gaming Look Ahead

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Introduction

I altered the format of the title slightly. I think it gives a little something more. A je ne sais quis, if you will. I haven’t decided yet to go back and change the other titles in the series right now. It requires a bit more tweaking in the background than I’m willing to do right now. Maybe over the weekend when I have no other articles to write. So, what’s in store for this 2023 PC gaming look ahead?

To be honest, not much. While committed to finding my roots as a gamer once again through the page and maybe some other content, I’ve never been much of a PC gamer. Discovering Steam and the masterpiece that is Portal 2 helped, but mostly I prefer consoles and, especially recently, mobile games. But, I saw a couple of titles that I want to highlight.

Three PC Games That Caught My Eye

As I’ve done with the other articles, I started with a Google search for “2023 PC games”. That took me to this page. I scrolled…and scrolled…and scrolled. As the heading of this section says, I found only three that I consider to be worth my time to discuss here. Let’s take them in order of excitement level.

Hogwarts Legacy (Excitement Level: Slightly Above Meh)

Once I finally got around to reading them, I liked the Harry Potter books. I also enjoyed most of the movies. It bothered me that they split book seven into two movies and then made quite possibly the most boring fantasy movie I’ve ever seen with Part 1. No lie. I fell asleep the first two times I watched that one. That has nothing to do with my reaction to this game. I actually wanted to illustrate how much I like Harry Potter and that I should be more excited about this one. I’m sure once I get to play it, I’ll have fun. I know that I liked the original games and this one gives me more of a chance to be the wizard I want to be instead of one of the main characters from the story.

Street Fighter 6 (Excitement Level: Hadoken!)

Wow, didn’t realize just how light that logo was. They framed it on a dark background, so it showed up much better on the actual page. Oh well, too lazy right now to go and fix it up in GIMP, so it is what it is. Speaking of the page, I only scrolled through and read some of the basic information there, so I have little to no information about this game. Even so, as long as I can throw fireballs and dragon punches, I’m in.

Diablo IV (Excitement Level: Send Me to Hell!)

It took me forever to play Diablo III. Like many, I heard the negative feedback from the launch and never fully recovered from that. In fact, I played Torchlight II until my fingers bled and never even considered Diablo II as an option. Then, I think Chris might have picked it up. Or, we played it to compare to Torchlight for the podcast. Either way, once I finally played it, I loved it. I am again in a bit of a hiatus from the game, but once I get back into it, I’ll be ready for the fourth one.

The Verdict

All of these games will be available on consoles and that’s probably where I will play them. Nevertheless, I might end up splurging again on a gaming PC to get that experience from Diablo and Hogwarts Legacy. I mean, honestly, Street Fighter is meant to be played on a console sitting next to your best friend on the couch. Honestly, three games is more than I thought I’d be able to find for a 2023 PC gaming look ahead, so consider that a win.

On the Tabletop

2023 Collectible Card Game Preview

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Introduction

Christmas break ended yesterday and we all went back to work and school today. Well, most of us. Quinn stayed home because he is sick with something. We tested him for Covid and it came back negative, but he’s still blowing gross snot all over the place. Sorry, bad image there. In spite of all of that, I return with our 2023 Collectible Card Game Preview.

News moves fast in this day and age. Our mobile game article is already outdated. I discovered yesterday, after paying for their stupid battle pass, that Valve discontinued support for Underlords. Good news? I guess I have like 8 or 9 years to finish out the five dollar battle pass. Hopefully, nothing goes out of business after writing this article.

The Old Gray Lady: Magic the Gathering

I wrote more than once that MtG no longer holds the same place in my heart. Yes, I enjoy the game and play daily on Arena. Chris also just mentioned yesterday to try to get together for another day of Commander or whatever other crazy shit Jason convinces us to try. However, I wonder if I am done with collecting. I bought product for neither Brother’s War nor Dominaria United. I must say that in the past, Phyrexia got me back into the game on more than one occasion.

And, just like that, I’m back in.

According to this page, after that we travel back to Eldraine and then Ixalan. I don’t care all that much about either of them, but Quinn enjoyed Ixalan because of the dinosaurs. Amazing. I went from completely out to back in for the rest of the year in only half an hour. So, look forward to my previews of all of those sets.

The Precocious Adolescent: Hearthstone

Unlike Magic the Gathering, little information exists on the Hearthstone front. We know from previous years that the new year drops sometime in the early spring. Until then, we get three months of an increasingly perverted meta as players scream for a new expansion. Maybe we get a broken card or two from a mini set related to the Lich King. Otherwise, they can make it up to me personally by updating Battlegrounds to make up for not doing so with the most recent expansion.

The New Kid on the Block: Disney Lorcana

Normally, I wouldn’t mention this game. I’d file it away as another game with potential that never realized that potential. I mean, the landscape is littered with them. But, the game came up in the group text with Chris and Jason. I figure, if it is popping up on the radar of a guy who considers himself an MtG purist, they must be doing something right. Join us here for world exclusive content about this game.

The Verdict

Other than Lorcana, I don’t see myself straying from the games I played in the past. I picked up Legends of Runeterra again, but haven’t worked it into my daily rotation. I enjoy the game but just haven’t developed that same attachment to it that I have with the other games. Hell, even Lorcana makes me think of Kingdom Hearts and that game still gives me goosebumps when I think about it. Thanks for reading our 2023 collectible card game preview and come back around tomorrow for the PC article.