Munchkin Loot Letter

With only 16 cards and some loot cubes, Munchkin Loot Letter is quick and compact, featuring familiar cards from Munchkin and mechanics reminiscent of Knuckle Sammich. It’s a simple “draw one, play one,” with a hand size of one, leaving you choosing between two cards each turn. Each card has a value and an effect – the goal is to be either the last player standing, or the one with the highest value card when the deck runs out!

Effects come in a few different flavors, mostly ways to eliminate other players depending on what’s in their hand. By far the most common card is the Potted Plant, a 1-value card that lets you make a guess at what someone else is holding. If you’re right, they’re out! (You cannot, however, guess Potted Plant.) The higher value cards are deliberately inconvenient, meanwhile, like the Turbonium Dragon which must be discarded if you ever have the Net Troll or Dread Gazebo in hand. For a tiny, tiny deck, it’s impressively well-balanced! You’re meant to play multiple rounds, best-of fashion, with the loot cubes to keep track of who’s winning.

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The Wide, Wild World of RPGs

I’ve spoken previously about Overly Sarcastic Productions and their gloriously chaotic educational material, and today I want to specifically recommend Detail Diatribe: TTRPGs That Aren’t D&D (And Why They Slap) The Detail Diatribe series are long-form presentations digging into the real meat of a subject, and in this case it’s nearly two hours of RPG systems, their stories and mechanics! It’s a fascinating variety and you may hear about some of the particulars from me later, once I’ve had a chance to try them.

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Thud!

I would loosely describe Thud as asymmetric chess – an all-strategy game for two players, but in which each player is operating off of different rules. It’s based on a battle in Terry Pratchett’s Discworld featuring a smaller force of larger opponents, and a larger force of smaller ones.

Due to sheer size, the Trolls (the larger characters) both move more slowly and need only land adjacent to a Dwarf to capture it. Dwarves, on the other hand, zip about the map much like chess’s queens – but they can only capture if enough of them have lined up to fling the front Dwarf into the nearest opponent. Who must be directly in line with them. It’s rather challenging.

To the rules’ credit, they warn you that the Trolls are much easier to play, and the Dwarves take some getting used to. Also to their credit, the game is played in two rounds, so each player gets to play both sides – overall victory is scored not so much by who won, but by who lost less. If you fielded the Trolls’ jump-‘n-thump and their shove propulsion – their version of flinging a friend – enough to actually capture any of them, you’re doing pretty well. Presumably, it’s possible with enough practice for the Dwarves to present a serious challenge.

Ultimately, we decided this game wasn’t for us, and I hope our copy finds someone who cherishes it and enjoys the puzzle it presents.

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Welcome to Gallery 200!

Gallery 200 is an art gallery in West Chicago that’s run by artists, for artists, featuring the work of local creators in all sorts of mediums! Paint, markers, felt, jewelry, dishware… to paraphrase, “you can walk through three times and always find something new.”

My experience so far has specifically been at the exhibit openings, an evening reception with snack food, several of the artists, and, this month, live music! The gallery is usually open on afternoons, Wednesday through Sunday, and I’ve just learned they offer workshops as well! It’s such a magical little corner of the world, truly, full of pretty things and lovely people.

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