I have a major problem with Agent Avenue. I cannot win. It is a game that looks beautiful and engages you with its gameplay, but I am not the best spy. I can be an enigma because sometimes I’m very good at deduction games or bluffing games, and other times I am not. Whether it’s positioning myself in the right place or positioning my opponent, I go 50-50. But with this game and my daughter, I have found my weakness.
This expansion to an already beautiful and exciting game offers new characters, new board movement, and new black market cards. For anyone unfamiliar with Agent Avenue, it is a chase game where you are trying to keep your neighbor from discovering that you are a super-secret agent. Think Mr. and Mrs. Smith meets Modern Family. There is a lot to like about the art from Fanny Pastor-Berlie and the distinctiveness of the characters portrayed in the neighborhood. You already feel like the chase is on from the start as you make strategic moves.
Division M introduces mice that provide a bit of a pinch in the game. They can make movement more dangerous and require you to calculate your decisions differently. I find myself making different positioning decisions based on what cards I want my opponent to take versus what I want to take myself. The mice essentially add another token to the board that you now need to interact with and be concerned about. I’m also excited about the black market cards, with their new and different themes. I like them more than my daughter does in our games, and I can see how they improve replayability by changing which cards you use each time. The expansion is just the right size to be easily understandable and not out of scope for a small and interesting tabletop game.
For now, I’m going to have to stare at this game for a while and see what my next move is to become the best super spy in my house. At the very least, I’ll get more time playing the game. We rate it an 8.5 out of 10 for the great design the Kudahls have put together in this expansion, with the only drawback being the storage container and how it works with the original game. Go find it with Nerdlab Games and come play me so I can beat you.
You would think not having a 9-to-5 would open up your time. My new normal has been anything but normal and unlike anything I expected. Time is one of those factors. I thought this would open my calendar up significantly and, in turn, open my time exponentially. I have learned that it is just the opposite.
I have never been the type of person to sit on my laurels. I am a doer. I’ve always kept my time busy, and I find it is the best way for both organization and coping with the responsibilities I take on. It also allows me to move at the pace of the ideas my mind continually creates. Conventional wisdom would say that removing the responsibility of a full-time job would open up that space. I am here today to let you know that’s not exactly how it goes.
Being a person that people know can do things comes with something called the burden of responsibility. I came across that idea sometime in the last six months, although I would love to attribute it to a specific source, I just cannot remember where. The idea is that the more people recognize that you can do things, the more responsibility and requests to do those things will keep coming. I feel that tremendously.
As I try to make plans for where my future will go, I have gotten a number of suggestions or voluntolds about what to do with my time. Nothing shady or disingenuous, but typically things with real need. Time for charity, consulting with other leaders, or just outreach from friends with problems. I now appear to have time because I no longer have the job I always had, and it does change how others treat that availability.
I’ve been able to spend more time volunteering in my church than ever before. That is something I genuinely appreciate, and it is an example of how this new flexibility has opened doors that might not have been available to me before. At the same time, it has also made me realize that having more time available does not mean I have an unlimited amount of it.
I have used this in the last few weeks to my advantage, but also to my detriment. I have said yes to projects and ideas that otherwise might not have come to me if people didn’t think I had the time. I’ve had conversations with great people that I would not have otherwise had for the same reason. I have gotten to reconnect with people and explore opportunities that I might not have encountered in the same way while working my previous schedule.
On the other hand, my weakness for picking multiple directions and trying to go in multiple ways has reared its head as well. I have a glut of good ideas about what to do and good suggestions on what to pursue. It has made a mess of prioritizing and how I’ve used my time over the past couple of weeks. For somebody who doesn’t have a 9-to-5, I have felt awfully busy.
The challenge is that I am not just managing the time I have. I am trying to figure out what deserves that time in the first place. When my schedule was structured around a full-time job, some of those decisions were made for me. Now, I have more flexibility, but that flexibility also means more choices. I can fill my calendar with things that are important, things that are interesting, or things that other people need. The difficult part is making sure those choices align with what I want to accomplish and the person I want to be.
This is good, though. Last week, I was able to realize this was happening and take steps to contemplate how to solve it. This week, I am tackling it very differently. I set my schedule up to focus on specific areas that are the top priority each day, moving them around so I can hit multiple big priorities I’m working on throughout the week. I am analyzing the things that have worked and have not to maximize my success and impact.
I’m not giving up on some of the things that have not been working, but I’m not going to focus the majority of my time on them. I have connected back with friends that I haven’t spoken to in a long time, and that’s going to continue. I have appreciated every person who has reached out to check in and see how I’m doing. Even in the muddle of all the things I’ve taken on, there have been so many good things, and some pathways have lit up like street signs pointing me in the direction of where to go.
That includes this space, which I want to spend more time on. I don’t know the process that I will land on here yet, but it will be one where I can publish more of what I think and what I want to review. It means reaching out more to people on a regular basis in an automated format. The emails I want to get out once a week? We’ll do that, but I have to make sure they have the time and space they deserve.
I want this blog to be part of the structure I am building, not just another thing I try to squeeze into whatever time is left over. I want to be able to write more, share more of my thoughts, and continue reviewing the games and experiences that I enjoy. That will take some planning and consistency, but it is something I want to make room for.
I have to be guarded with my new time so it does not go every which way. I also need to keep evaluating, keep checking in, and keep moving forward.
The next few weeks are going to be about evolving with the things I have learned and charting the path forward. I keep looking at it with both fear and excitement. It’s something brand new, but also not, because it’s based on exactly who I am. I don’t know exactly where it will go, but that is the beauty of it.
I know that I am going to have to make some difficult choices along the way. Not every good opportunity will be the right opportunity for me, and not every idea needs to be pursued immediately. I want to keep that in mind as I continue figuring out what this next chapter looks like.
So send me a message; I’m sure I can find some time.
I find many people struggling in the world today. I talk with my parents and family about how easy it is to stay connected now, especially when we think about the power of the Internet compared to when I was a kid. Even with that, I’ve lost track of classmates, colleagues, and former students when I could easily keep in touch better. I have friends who say they have trouble making friends, and communicating with them can feel scary. My kids don’t wanna make a phone call. It seems like that’s the way the world is going. People can feel alone, isolated, and ostracized when left to it. I don’t want that; for me or for anyone else. This is the core of helping people.
Helping people can look like showing them amazing places all around them. I love to travel, and I’ve had the privilege of seeing a lot of different places and spaces. From the beauty of state parks to connections with thousands of people at conventions, there is opportunity in helping people figure out where they wanna go as much as how do we get there in a reasonable way. I also can help people find a donut that way. Those videos, I hope, help people see what’s out there but not make them feel like they can’t reach it themselves.
Helping people can look like finding joy in simple things. I have found joy in games my entire life. Different games mean different things, from solo games that make me think and contemplate for myself to games where the table is filled with smiling faces of those I care about. There are some people in the world who don’t play games because they think there is not something out there for them. GAMA has a goal of a game for every table. That’s true with people as well. There are games out there for everyone, but they may not have discovered what’s right for them. By exploring games with people and sharing them with the world, I hope that we can connect people to the games that will matter to them. It doesn’t have to be a big event, and might just be the five minutes of peace you have on your phone while you smash blocks with your finger. I hope finding games meaningful for people will mean more to the edges of their lives.
Helping people can look like finding ways for creativity to shine and connect. This past Gen Con, I was lucky enough to meet a gentleman named Alton in a Trading Spaces kind of moment. Huddled in a basement through a tornado warning, we found ourselves talking about people, family, and doing our best for others. He shared that his family were the creators of Ravenloft, Tracy and Laura Hickman, and inspired by them, he wanted to make something better for them. His wife grew up with them going to conventions and seeing them connect happily with the fans that played in their world. Alton explained that he started a company to better connect creators to their fans in a meaningful and memorable way. Beyond standing in line for a signing for five hours to meet them for five seconds, he wanted to give fans and creators a way to make and celebrate the depth of their connection. It felt so inspiring, both in what they were doing for the people they loved and what it could mean for other creators and fans. I’m proud to have made the connection, and I hope that I can help their idea soar for the good of everyone.
Helping people can look like doing things in the community that help others and yourself. I met the owner of my friendly local game store years ago when we were both in different places in our lives. After he started his own store and I became a regular, we each went different ways successfully to help the community. He started businesses that would bring different things to people and jobs to the community. I worked hard on bridging connections in education for those who needed it. Now, with both of us older and wiser, and life a bit different, I asked if he needed help while I had some time. That has led to me taking over and running board game events at the store starting next week. I hope this will help others find games and experiences within our community, while giving me a time to explore what I love in games and what I am going to continue moving forward with.
Helping people can mean a lot of different things. The new norm for me is balancing getting things into a starting pattern for finances and the new schedule. It’s talking to people in my community about where I can help since I have the time. It’s spending time with my online community and checking in on people. It’s helping a friend in a crisis. I will never have a shortage of things to do, but I want those things to start with helping people while I help myself.
I consider myself an educator. Sometimes it’s harder to find where you fit into education when you work in admissions and enrollment, but I never felt like that was hard for me. I got into it with the idea of helping students figure out the next step in their lives. Sounds a lot like an educator to me.
When I was working in student development at SUNY Delhi, I was lucky enough to work events for incoming students thinking about the college or celebrating their acceptance. I always found that work meaningful with people who had reasonable questions and needed the help. Upon finishing my master’s degree, the opportunity to enter the field at SUNY Oneonta opened to me.
I grew so much at Oneonta. I found myself outside of my original ideas in the field, but into something truly meaningful. My skills connecting with people and helping were on display every time I attended a college fair or worked an event. Corresponding with students and families allowed me to grow as a professional, as a writer, and as a well-rounded leader. I was lucky enough to move forward into the graduate side at Oneonta, adding even more experience and connection to another different type of student. I knew that I could keep moving forward to be a responsible leader in admissions and enrollment.
Eventually, I reached a level where I knew I could take on more responsibility in a place that mattered. This is how I arrived at SUNY Broome Community College. I did not have experience at the community college level, but I knew they were working with students in need of support and really growing across the system. I found a stride in this work; both reaching students who really needed and appreciated the support, and meeting colleagues who were truly devoted to the best for their students and each other.
I have felt the most rewarded by this work, particularly in what I have seen it mean to students. The work of a community college is meant to provide the best quality education, with a lot of support at a reasonable cost. I feel like we were doing that to the best of our ability, and moving in a direction to do better every day. Like all colleges, it’s not easy, but that’s not why we get into that work. It’s not about indoctrinating the youth, as someone would have you believe. It is giving people tools to find the most success possible and to know someone who is there to back them up.
Although my journey is at a crossroads, I would not change what got me here. This type of work is truly meaningful, and I say that to all my colleagues still doing it out there. Colleges are worth it and important. It may take work to find the right one for you or your student, but that really is what matters. Having a plan is what matters. I may not be the Director of Admissions right now, but if there is a student out there or family who has a question or needs help, I wouldn’t hesitate.
This week is the time of the year that I affectionately call my season finale. Not only is it the end of the cycle of what I do in higher education, but it is also the culmination of the largest gaming convention of the year. Gen Con is the convention that I call Home, as it was my first and remains one of my favorites.
This year is particularly exciting because I will be taking over the convention’s social media on two different days. I get to focus on my experience, going to Trade Day for the first time and learning more about design and the industry as I want to enter it. I also get to take over the first day of the convention, showing off my experiences with TTRPGs and board games. This is an opportunity that came about because I put myself out there to do it. I have many friends who have been lucky enough to do this over the last few years, and I’m happy that when I reached out, they liked my ideas and what I could do through collaboration.
Let’s break down some of the most exciting things I get to see at this convention. We will start with TTRPGs, as they are a great connector for so many people. Our first convention day begins with seeing Arcana Unleashed by Wizards of the Coast and seeing what they have in store for the upcoming year. I also get to be at the reveal of Daggerheart’s expansion, Hope and Fear. I’m eager to get my hands on it and, next year, experience more of this system that I haven’t had enough time with. I also get to stop and see new things from great publishers like Hit Point, Evil Genius, Mythworks, Eerie Games, and our friends at Imagining Games. There are so many possibilities across different settings and systems that everybody can find a place where they fit in.
There are many exciting board games coming out or being demoed at Gen Con for the first time. I’ve already had great experiences with games like DC Brave and Bold, Drakaina, Six Sided Seas, Mountain Goats Legacy, and The Game Makers. All of them are worth a stop if you have a chance to demo them. I really want to find time to play Mythologies, Pirates of the High Teas, Friendly Fishing, Enchanted Ivy, Cola Wars, Class of ’89, and Super Boss Monster 2. With over 600 new titles this year, there is no shortage of things to play.
Gen Con feels like Home because it’s also about people. I’ve made so many friends through this convention, and I get to see them again each year. This industry allows you to build incredible friendships with colleagues, and that’s something truly remarkable. Being the largest convention means the most friends are gathered in one place, and if you make the time, you get to spend it with them. Even now, on my drive in, I find myself making plans with friends throughout the week that I truly look forward to. That is what you can do with your current gaming friends—or by simply coming and making new ones.
The discourse as of late has been whether or not it’s worth going to Gen Con. There has never been a question in my mind after experiencing it and seeing all those people. It may be a ton of people, but there is a reason for that. You can see so much, buy so much, and experience so much that it really is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I’m just lucky enough to have had more than one lifetime here, and that is awesome.
There are times in our lives we find ourselves in the middle of a storm. That storm can come in many forms and in many ways. All I know is that the storm can rock you and blow you over if you let it. I should know it well; I have spent the last six months in a storm.
Now this storm is a a gale of my own making. I won’t paint it any other way as I let loose the winds that blow and roil. I held the rudder and it was my navigation that failed. With no notion of the choppy waters it was my failures that had led this dark water. Into the storm I went, without enough mind to steer away.
But if. If I had steadied my ship before the trip. If I had looked hard at my charts and reports. If I had saw the piling from bow to stern. If I had followed the charted course. The storm is filled with its and why’s. None of them are painless as the storm crashes waves of them on you. While it’s hard on the sailing to run into them in the storm, they are also the only way out of it.
So upon crashing on the storm I found myself adrift. The wind and water casting me to and frow, unable to chart a path. It can be many things when you’re drifting in the storm. It even seemed calm as you move through the eye, but still surrounded by turmoil either side. It was those times that I made use of the quiet facade to make a path forward. The first few times I still found myself a drift and after wave upon wave back in the eye. But eventually, I learned and made a course that I could keep.
Now, I find myself sailing out of the storm. I am wary, and parts are broken. But they can be fixed and even better, I have a plan to do that. Other ships, that of friends and family sail alongside listening to my story. They nod, make me laugh, and are truthful about what they see. I show them my path and what I’m learning, and even helped navigate charts with me. They, much like me wanna see the storm behind and not to wander back in.
Looking ahead, I will always remember what I’ve learned and where I’ve sailed. To some, it may be the story of a white whale or some out of tune sea shanty. To me it was life. To me it was the storm.
While traveling to PAX Unplugged I met and interviewed the chief creative of 9th Level Games Chris O’Neal. In these situations, I now always ask what a persons favorite donut is. Chris, much to my agreement, chose the white cream donuts from Dunkin. That moment unleashed a mystery in my mind: when is the last time I have seen a Vanilla Cream at Dunkin?
My go to order at Dunkin typically has included a white cream donut (when I’m not watching my figure). I realize over the last few months this has been nearly impossible. The Dunkin around my house was not carrying them, but that was not new. We went several months to a year without white cream in sight for it to come back magically, with powder instead of glaze. The glaze times were a dark time, but they were better than nothing. But I realize I have not seen vanilla cream in my travels the last few months either.
Is this a Dunkin decision? Was there an email to all the franchisees that we are no longer going in a vanilla cream direction? Is it Bavarian or nothing? I don’t find myself in the board rooms or conference calls with the best donut chain in the United States, so these answers are unclear to me. What I do think is that this is a larger thing than the last time that I lost vanilla cream.
What are we as donut lovers supposed to do with this situation? Can you put a doughnut picture on a milk carton? Do you make friends with the manager in order to get some of the inside info? Does the company have a hotline to report such mysteries? It is a time to send that tweet (bluesky or threads instead of that dumpster fire are actually)? Even as the donut expert, I don’t have that answer.
What I do have is a plan to understand and I need your help. If you are reading this from somewhere else in the country, I would love for you to tell me if you still have vanilla cream donuts at Dunkin without chocolate. This will help me understand the scope of what we’re dealing with and then where to take it from there. Or, if you have some pull at the company that America runs on then reach out with information or support. The donut loving community needs you.
The scene around me is surreal. The house is filled with boxes from clearance hauls and Christmas prep. Games are strewn everywhere—from convention finds to review copies. Dishes are piled up, and the cats are running amuck. In moments like this, time feels like a distant concept.
I’ve talked at length about how hard it is to find time to do anything. One thing I realized early on was that communicating like this—writing, sharing, reflecting—was going to take time. Even so, I’ve been excited to share thoughts about games and other things that catch my interest.
It all sounds so good in your head when you say it out loud. What people don’t tell you is that writing comes with the same mental load and anxiety as any other creative work. When life got busier and harder, the anxiety around what I was creating—and how long it took—grew right alongside it.
The system I set up for myself was (and still is) pretty solid. I write on my commute or late at night when the day has finally quieted down. What I didn’t anticipate was how much I was already using those times without thinking about it. Maybe I put on a video to unwind. Maybe I needed that time to call pediatrician offices or argue with the phone company. When you take away the time you didn’t realize you were spending on those things, all that work has to go somewhere.
So yes, you may have noticed I haven’t written in quite a while. The post from earlier today has been sitting in my queue for months, and so much has changed since I wrote it. I’ll share more about what’s nudged me back onto the positive side of the motivation train soon, but for now I want to start by recognizing the little things we do with our time. I may not come out swinging with ambitious writing goals, at least not yet, but I’ve got a clearer understanding of when and how I’ll write alongside everything else.
Some games have movement that just speaks to you. You see someone tilting pieces around or the game shifting on its own, and suddenly you’re hooked by the motion alone. Tilt N Shout did exactly that—both for me and my kids, separately, which honestly says something. When we all have the same “Okay, that looks cool” reaction, you know the game is doing something right.
I don’t pretend my internal algorithm works anything like my children’s, but it’s rare when we all spot a game and get equally curious about how fun it could be. Thankfully, Big Potato Games reached out with a review copy and we got to test that curiosity together. Spoiler: the frenetic gameplay and the laughter weren’t just for show. Watching others try it was just as entertaining.
The instructions are wonderfully simple—so simple you can basically teach the whole game using the back of the box. Setup is quick, too. (Pro tip: snap the marble board in place before you start tilting it like you’re trying to win a carnival prize.) The whole idea is to say something in the given category and then tilt the board so the marble heads your way. The back-and-forth becomes its own little duel as you try to think fast, avoid repeats, and not crack up.
I played with my daughter first, and we quickly discovered how easily both of us could stumble, start laughing, and lose the round. The categories are genuinely fun, and the mechanic hits that sweet spot of simple-but-chaotic. Big Potato definitely has something that works for groups or for a quick head-to-head showdown.
This feels like a game we’ll break out with friends when we need something engaging that doesn’t demand deep strategy—just quick thinking and the ability to keep a straight face. Honestly, some days those are the best kinds of games and the best memories.
Overall, on our rating scale, I give this an 8 out of 10. It’s absolutely worth picking up to play with a group you vibe with. Just make sure everyone understands that Snuffleupagus is not an animal and is, in fact, a puppet. Don’t ask my daughter about it—we might still be recovering from that specific disagreement. I’m sure she’ll get over it before the next round.
How sweet mornings with my grandparents shaped my love for comfort food and connection.
I have fond memories of eating donuts. That might sound like a silly statement, and I’m sure others haven’t put as much stock into the times they’ve snacked on sweet treats. But I’ve had so many donuts, in so many places, that most of them blur together. Still, I distinctly remember having donuts with my grandparents each week. I savored the delicious sweetness then, and as an adult, I now relish the memory even more.
It might seem odd to call eating a donut a canon event, but let me set the scene. I was a kid who spent a lot of time with his grandparents. They watched me regularly, and I went everywhere with them — car shows, funerals, and church events were just part of life. I was their co-pilot, and sometimes the one who actually knew the directions to where we were going. I’m sure they often wondered how to keep me occupied, or how to steer my endless chatter. Sometimes that meant a trip to McDonald’s or counting things as we drove. But often, it meant a stop at our local deli for a donut.
Being in an area without a regular bakery, our donuts were daily imports from Auburn, New York — from the Cameron Bakery. The style was classic, whether it was a chocolate-covered round or a fried apple fritter. A full case in the morning would be empty by midday. They were known far and wide across town, a sweet treat nobody could pass up.
I remember walking in with my grandfather, his demeanor much like mine today. He could talk to anyone. I’d sit there and marvel at how he remembered everything about everyone — their families, their stories, their triumphs and troubles. He’d order an apple fritter, then glance at me to see what I was getting that day.
Walking in with my grandmother wasn’t much different. Her sharp mind made her not only a great talker but also a great listener. As the village clerk, she knew so much about so many. Where my grandfather was a salesman, she was a public servant. Conversations about charities, helping folks in need, or cleaning out someone’s house after they’d passed were always on the menu. Her tastes in donuts varied, but she always ate them carefully — napkin in hand.
As I get older, I have a harder time recalling the details of our conversations. But certain things never fade: their smiles, their energy, the love they shared with me — and just how good those donuts were. That memory returns every time I take a bite. The taste washes over me, reminding me of some of the best parts of life, and of being the best I could be.
That’s why donuts are my comfort food. I’m sure I’m also addicted to the sugary goodness, but it’s more than that. Though my grandfather has been gone for many years, I still see his face with an apple fritter in hand. Bless her, my grandmother is 98 now, and I long to bring her a donut to share. It’s why I bring donuts to others — hoping to share a little of the comfort and warmth I feel every time I do.
