Murder follows Mallory Viridian. Elementary school, college, day jobs, parties: If she’s there, someone is likely to die. And if they die, she’ll be uncannily drawn to the mystery of who did it, much to the ire and skepticism of law enforcement. She wanted to get away from the death, so she became one of … Read more
The 17th edition of Nuketown’s sci-fi and fantasy Summer Reading List features 19 books (16 novels, three non-fiction books), three novellas, and five graphic novels. The Summer of 2024 will be a fun one. My wife and I are going to Iceland with our extended family for a week and we’ll be spending a week … Read more
March 2024 saw us hit the trail with an “introduction to backpacking” trek to New Jersey’s Wharton State Forest as part of our upcoming return to Philmont. It’s our traditional starter trek, which is meant to introduce new scouts and leaders to backpacking. It also gives more experienced scouters an opportunity to get out their … Read more
It’s official: my son and I are returning to Philmont. We first went in July 2021, during a lull in one of the pandemic’s many viral waves. We were out west for 14 days; two days acclimating to the climate in Colorado Springs and then 12 days on the trail in the mountainous desert of New … Read more
Dig Dug is a quirky tunneling-based arcade game from the 1980s. It features an … exterminator? … in a white environment suit who ventures underground to wipe out the pests dwelling there. Released in 1982 by Namco, it became a staple of arcades and myriad game consoles. Quote I continued farther into the dark electronic cave … Read more
One of the definitive 1980s arcade games – maybe the Definitive Arcade Game (after all, did Asteroids or Space Invaders have their own theme songs?) – Pac-Man is a classic. The game was created by Toru Iwatani, and released on May 22, 1980 by Namco. The rest, of course, is history. Quote I continued farther into the dark … Read more
Donkey Kong is one of the legendary ancient video games. It gave us the first appearance of the plucky plumber Mario and his nemesis (frenemy?) Donkey Kong. The two went on to star in very different franchises (Mario taking on the princess-stealing Bowser in various surreal mushroom-powered kingdoms, while Donkey Kong became the patriarch of a … Read more
Rather than just go with my gut instinct for “favorite RPG of all time”, I decided to run the numbers. The numbers are, admittedly, a bit skewed. D&D 3rd Edition includes a bunch of d20 supplements (at least, those who survived my 3e purge) including hardcovers and splat books. I don’t have nearly as many … Read more
The most obscure game I’ve played is Gamma World 7th Edition (2010). It was designed by Richard Baker and Bruce R. Cordell based on the D&D 4th Edition rules and saw a core box set plus two boxed-set-based expansions. That level of support by a major publisher might lead you to believe the game isn’t that obscure, … Read more
In college, way back in 1992, a friend of mine ran the scariest session of Call of Cthulhu I’ve ever played in. Heck, the scariest session of any game. My friend – his name is Adam — is the best Call of Cthulhu game master I ever had. With candles burning low, and a mix … Read more