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A Gaming Life
Bottoscon Winter 2026 Retrospective
Rob Bottos is a great guy.
Not only is he kind and really interesting to talk to, but he also looks after his fellow gamers.
He’s run the regular Bottoscon in New Westminster since 2007 (with one year’s break due to COVID) and it’s been a smashing success. (This year it’s moving to Burnaby, but that’s another story)
However, after all of the insanity down south beginning in January 2025, with many Canadians either not wanting to risk the border crossing or not wanting to spend their money down there, he offered a new convention last June, Bottoscon Spring at the Royal City Curling Club in New Westminster.
This year, he’s gone even further.
Yes, last weekend, we had Bottoscon Winter 2026 at the Royal Canadian Legion in Coquitlam.
Three conventions! Just to help out gamers who really like going to cons.
The Winter and Spring cons are smaller, more intimate affairs, and there’s something to be said for that.
It was a cozy weekend of just gaming, a smaller group of attendees, and some really great games.
A couple of things before I go into the weekend, however.
First, there are many people helping Rob, and they deserve a lot of thanks as well.
Between Rob and them, the cons have gone off without a public-facing hitch (I know there have been hitches behind the scenes, but it’s rarely made obvious to those attending).
So hats off to them as well!
Secondly, I have to say that the Royal Canadian Legion was a great place to hold this smaller con.
The space was great, and the staff at the bar and the owner of the restaurant there were top notch.
It was nice being able to have a beer with my games, and a huge shoutout has to go to the the guy who runs the Cranky Old Fork restaurant in the Legion (I’m sorry, Rob, I can’t remember his name!).
He opened in the afternoon on Friday and Saturday for us so we could have lunch, when he normally opens at 6:00 pm.
The food was very good and reasonably priced.
The Mac & Cheese with garlic bread was so tasty!
Anyway, the Legion is a great place to play wargames (it fits, don’t it?) but of course the con is about more than wargames.
I love cons, partially because of the people I meet (more below on that), but also because it gives me a chance to play games with friends that I don’t see all the time.
What can be better than that?
Of course, still recovering from a cold that I had been suffering from previously didn’t help, but I still had a ton of fun.
So let’s take a look at what I played this weekend.
Read MoreClank! The Mummy’s Curse Coming Soon to Digital
Two posts in one day, but I just saw this amazing news and had to pass it along (so this will be short).
The wonderful Clank! app published by Dire Wolf Digital is going to be getting the second expansion soon.
The Mummy’s Curse has just been announced to be coming soon to all digital platforms.
Sunken Treasures came last Summer.
So maybe this Summer?
Or sooner, even?
Yes, please!
This expansion takes the game to the desert, with new treasures, new rooms, pyramids, and a new dragon!
Not to mention a wandering mummy who might just end your adventure sooner than planned.
You can check out the BGG link for everything the boardgame expansion comes with, since I’m sure it will also be in the digital expansion.
You can bet a review of this will be coming when I’m finally able to get my hands on it.
It’s amazing how much the app revitalized this game for me, when I wasn’t quite as impressed with it on the table compared to Clank in Space.
This announcement has me salivating.
You?
Let me know in the comments.
February 2026 Gaming
I thought February was going to be a big month for games, with two days of a convention at the end of the month of on top of our normal gaming.
Sadly, me getting sick for over a week eliminated one Sunday along with a number of lunch-time gaming opportunities, which meant it was pretty much the same as last month.
Which isn’t bad!
Even better is that while there were only two new to me games played (so that post will be short), there were a number of games I haven’t played for a long while on the list.
So I’ll talk about them a little bit here!
Here’s what I played last month.
And here it is in grid format.
Many thanks to the wonderful BG Stats app for this valuable data!
I played 19 games (20 last month) a total of 33 times (29 last time).
Of course, the reason for more plays is because of a 5-game marathon of The Gang at Bottoscon Winter, which I’ll talk about in that post.
Still, not too bad!
Here are some highlights.
Read MoreFriday Night Shots – Updates
It’s been a while since a Friday Night Shots post, but I’m also going to do away with the ongoing “welcome to the bar” jokes for it.
However, I am actually at a place with a bar, and I may be actually drinking a beer as this posts.
That’s because I wanted to update you on how things are going with me, with my gaming, and with my blogging especially.
I’m proud of myself because I am allowing myself a little grace, which I don’t always do.
I’m proud also because, for the entirety of 2026 (and also probably since the beginning of December), I have done at least 3 posts a week.
Typically they were Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with the occasional Saturday instead of Friday.
Those of you who have followed me, and have read my annual Blog in Review posts, know that one of my major issues is imposter syndrome and actually working up the energy to write posts (or to write anything).
I get into these posting funks where I start to doubt myself and whether I am writing anything that other people even care about at all, and then I end up going 3 weeks without posting anything.
That streak of posting consistently on those three days is most likely going to end on Monday.
Read MoreSo Many Birds! – Final Girl – Terror From Above Review
I’ve never seen the classic Hitchcock thriller, The Birds, but I’m very familiar with the trope!
Some birds are just creepy.
They sit and watch you. Crows can recognize you, which can be good or bad depending on whether you’re a good person or an asshole to them.
I think it’s the eyes.
Terror From Above is the first vignette for the now-classic (in my opinion, anyway) solo game franchise, Final Girl, and it has to do with sinister clowns.
No, you dolt, I mean birds! That’s why I’ve been talking about birds so much already!
Yes, this vignette is full of birds.
It was designed by series creator A.J. Porfirio with artwork by Vladyslava Ladkova and published by Van Ryder Games in 2021.
Vignettes are designed around a new killer, using a location from a feature film that you already have.
So you can’t just have the Core Box and be ready.
Thus, this review will be shorter than the rest!
Don’t all clap at once.
Read MoreBGG Top Games – 2001 Through 2100
We’re into a new millennium!
Not year-wise, of course.
We are sadly still in 2026.
But in looking at the Boardgame Geek game rankings, we are now over 2000.
Some might say we’re getting into the dregs, where I haven’t played, or even thought about, most of the games.
Surprisingly enough, there are still some decent options here!
That’s the thing about the BGG rankings.
Depending on when you get there, sometimes you’ll see games that are on their way up.
And sometimes you’ll see them having settled around where they’re going to be.
Like I mentioned last week, Pendragon is still falling a bit, having dipped even further to #2005 (it was #2001 last week, but when I had started last week’s post, it was in the 1901-2000 range so I talked about it).
There is always so much movement in these ranges, it’s interesting to see!
In this century, I own (or have owned) four games, and have played six of them.
But in looking at the list, there are some games I wouldn’t mind trying out.
The list I’m talking about is here, though keep in mind that things can change over time.
Let’s begin with the ones that I’ve played and whether I want to keep playing them or not.
Read MoreKids’ Play Time Can Be Weird – Fort Review
Boardgames have had many themes, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game where the theme is the rise and fall of friendships when you were a kid.
Not to mention playing around the neighbourhood, building a tree fort, and just passing the hours running around outside.
Now I have!
Fort is a game that encompasses all of that, using deckbuilding mechanics but where you can actually lose cards if you don’t use them.
Designed by Grant Rodiek with artwork by the great Kyle Ferrin, the game was published by Leder Games in 2020.
It plays 2-4 players, and you’re all kids trying to navigate life, attracting more kids to your entourage, and maybe just losing them if you don’t play with them.
Kids have feelings too.
Read MoreBook Review – A Death in Berlin by Simon Scarrow
Since I did a “book series you should read” post about the first two books in Simon Scarrow’s “Criminal Inspector Schenke” series, I should probably review the third book now that it’s out and I’ve read it.
Right?
The third book, A Death in Berlin, finally resolves the Ration Coupon investigation that’s been going on throughout the first two books, in an intriguing and explosive conclusion that brings Kripo Inspector Horst Schenke to ally with some unsavory people in order to safeguard not only the German populace who are trying to get by, but also his own life when his Jewish lover gets caught in the crossfire.
This series continues to be incredible, as we see Schenke have to wrestle between being a cop who wants to do well by the populace but also has to weigh his position in an increasingly authoritarian state with the Nazis taking over.
Read MoreBGG Top Games – 1901 Through 2000 – Supplementary Edition
Thanks for those of you who have already checked out today’s post about the latest century of games rated on Boardgame Geek, the coveted (I tease) 1901-2000 slot!
The reason for this updated post is that I completely missed talking about two games that should really be talked about.
Rather than just editing that post, I wanted those of you who have already read that one to see this too.
I can only blame delirium for somehow going right over the top of these!
Read MoreBGG Top Games – 1901 Through 2000
It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve done one of these BGG centuries posts, though not because I was getting tired of them.
There were just more important things to post about!
I enjoy writing these BGG posts, even when the games are kind of lackluster, mainly because it gives me the opportunity to talk about games that I haven’t said much (if anything) about.
And who can complain about that?
Especially since one of my favourite blogs to read daily (because he posts daily), No Rerolls, just last week said this about my blog (mainly about my Top 10 Games played of all time, but I like to think it carries through in all of my posts):
“each write-up is delivered with the easy charm of someone who simply loves talking about the games that stuck with them”
I love that! (And seriously, go check out his site, especially if you like Magic: the Gathering and RPGs, along with some other boardgame content as well).
Anyway, we are now on to the last of the Top 2000 games, though this series may continue further than that.
Hell, with my Top 50 Games Played of All Time done, what else am I going to write about?
Today, we’re talking about games ranked 1901-2000.
Here’s the list of games, though keep in mind that, depending on when you visit this post, the games will probably have changed!
Certainly the rankings will have.
In this batch, I’ve played 8 of them and own (or previously owned) 4 of them.
That’s down from last time!
Oops, it’s been so long since the last post, that one of the ones from last time has actually fallen into this century.
I won’t be talking about it again.
Let’s begin, so this post won’t be so long and make me a liar!
Read More