Suffering, Acceptance, & Play

What the hell is going on when playing feels like suffering?

Being bad at a game often feels bad to me. That’s most true when I think I *should* be competent, or when I’m playing with my close peers, people I feel competitive with. Being bad at a game feels terrible when I’m emotionally attached to a specific outcome, especially if I think I’m failing my team.

But this suffering is worse in some games.

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Hobgoblin (from Mike Hutchinson)

Yesterday I played my first match of Hobgoblin. It was a delight, and an epiphany.

I’ve wanted something like this for years. I was in middle school when I got a copy of the core rulebook for Warhammer Fantasy. I read through that book cover to cover, and then I read it again. I bought a faction’s army book (for the Skaven) with all their special rules and abilities, and read through that over and over too. I bought my first box of models. I yearned to play.

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