State of the Blog

This week is my blog anniversary! Happy four years to me! It was four years ago that I created my board-gaming alter ego and wrote my first post, and then a month after that, I went to my first BGG Con in 2014.

The blog originally started because the guy I was dating noticed that I was super duper excited about board games all the time, and, since he wasn’t a board gamer, said that I should write about all those things and find my people. So that I did. Around the same time, one of my favorite cooking blogs posted a how-to tutorial on how to start a blog, which I took as a sign, and created my website.

My, how things have changed! (Thanks Wayback Machine for this classic gem!) I also can’t believe I left that awful photo of Caverna in the header for an entire year! Totes shaking my head. I then changed the header photo to Battlestar Galactica a year later and kept it up for almost two years.

The first two years were just casual entries about gaming, and I feel like I didn’t start devoting extra time to actively creating content and being active on social media until about two years ago.

I also redesigned my website this past January to what it looks like today with my new logo, and 2018 has been by far my busiest blogging year. Woot!

So, if you don’t mind, let’s take a trip down memory lane. I’m digging out some of my favorites posts and blogger moments below.

My most-read post ever: Shogun/Samurai Swords/Ikusa. I get emails about this game surprisingly often, usually someone will remember this game from childhood and look it up in Google and run across my post. Lots of folks super nostalgic about this game!

My favorite photo shoot: Takenoko: Collector’s Edition. This was fun as I actually went outside in the middle of the day to take photos. Isn’t that panda darling? No joke, if my place was burning and I only had time to take one game, this would be it.

My first year-end top games list: Top 10 games I played for the first time in 2016.

A few super personal posts: Why I Play Board Games, Dating and recent Life Updates. Things have changed for me a lot since some of these posts, but it’s still nice to see where I was at that specific point in time.

My most-listened-to interview: I attended GMT’s Weekend at the Warehouse in October 2017 and, that year, I was doing interviews on my SoundCloud channel. I had a great time at the convention and met some really awesome people.

My first foray into a board-gaming podcast: I was co-host and producer of Hooked on Geek for six months, an experience that was invaluable, and shared what I learned during that time.

My first top 100 list: Check it on BGG, which I compiled in March 2018. Feel free to agree or disagree!

My first radio interview on Phoenix’s NPR station: This interview was done for the upcoming Arizona Game Fair.

I started editing rulebooks: My professional background is copyediting, and I feel blessed to be able to combine my two loves. (Where’s my red pen at?)

My first time as a guest on a board-game podcast: Check out Harold on Games as well as his other interviews with wargamers.

I launched an FLGS profile series: My first one was on Imperial Outpost Games in Glendale, Arizona.

I joined another podcast: I’m part of the Five By Games team.

My first article for a major website: I wrote an article on LifeHacker on the best board games for kids.

My goal for the blog was to write weekly, and I think that for more than half of the four years, I stuck with that. I’m proud of the work I’ve done here, and I’m happy to have made so many friends in the board-gaming community along the way.

I’ve learned so much about the ins and outs of the board-game industry, from game design and development to content creation either via writing, videos or podcasts, all the way to running your own game company or convention. For so many people who do this, often times this is not their primary job and that speaks volumes to me that a lot of the content we see is a labor of love.

I’ve also learned about how important visibility is in the board-game world. When I first started this blog, there didn’t seem to be too many women of color in this sphere, but that number has grown so much in just the few years I’ve been online in this community. It’s been so fantastic!

What warms my heart most are those times when every so often, I’ll get an email or message saying that seeing someone like me, a woman of color playing a heavy game or a wargame, inspired them to check out whatever game I had been writing about. Visibility matters 100 freakin’ percent. And equally important, making all gamers welcome. When you have a large and/or captive audience, it’s important to give a voice to people who aren’t the majority as well as to make sure that the gaming environment is safe for everyone.

In closing, thanks, dear reader, for sticking with me on this fun journey. Here’s to many more years of board gaming and blogging!

And whether you’ve been here for years or this is the first post you’ve read, say hello down below and let me know what you like most about my content.