Spencer Vaughn's personal magazine-style corner of the web: reviews of board games and books, plus the occasional note about ordinary life in between.https://spencervaughn.net/en-UShttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/gardens-of-the-moon/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/gardens-of-the-moon/The first Malazan book nearly beat me three separate times, but the D&D-session comparison and the Oponn thread finally sold me on why people put up with the confusion.Tue, 18 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/harmonies/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/harmonies/A gorgeous little landscape puzzle that earns its price back fast as a filler, though the two-player game can grind to a halt when the market row gets stuck.Mon, 17 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/dominion/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/dominion/The original deckbuilder, still an easy sell on enjoyment per dollar, but a couple of attack cards can quietly hand a game to whoever they didn't ruin.Sun, 16 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/picking-the-game-for-someone-whos-never-played/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/picking-the-game-for-someone-whos-never-played/Nate brought someone new to game night for the first time in years and I overthought which game to hand her, and got it wrong in an interesting way.Fri, 24 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/marvel-champions/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/marvel-champions/Fantasy Flight's superhero LCG is a genuinely great puzzle to sit down and solve alone or with exactly one other person, right up until the expansion habit starts eating your wallet.Mon, 15 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/seeing-like-a-state/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/seeing-like-a-state/James Scott's case against top-down state planning is basically Taleb without the ego, and the smallpox and surname digressions stuck with me more than the famous Brasilia chapters.Mon, 08 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/dune-imperium-uprising/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/dune-imperium-uprising/A standalone sequel that fixes plenty about the original, but the sandworm doubling can hand the last combat, and the win, to whoever timed a hook right.Thu, 28 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/cthulhu-death-may-die/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/cthulhu-death-may-die/Great minis, fast and fun in short bursts, but the luck swings hard and the price tag asks more of you than the content actually delivers.Thu, 23 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/people-are-bad-at-odds/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/people-are-bad-at-odds/An occupational hazard of pricing risk for a living is that I can't sit through a game night, or a lot of regular life, without clocking exactly how wrong everyone's gut is about probability.Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/a-game-of-thrones/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/a-game-of-thrones/George R.R. Martin's medieval politics epic where nobody's safety is guaranteed just because they're likeable, and where the world building carries whole chapters that barely have a plot in them.Thu, 09 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-kickstarter-i-still-havent-made-peace-with/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-kickstarter-i-still-havent-made-peace-with/I already reviewed Rising Sun on this site. What I left out was the campaign itself, and the three hundred dollars, and how long I still haven't decided how I feel about it.Thu, 26 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/the-end-of-eternity/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/the-end-of-eternity/A great first Asimov, with a made-up upwhen/downwhen vocabulary that actually works and a twist ending that got me, though the romance leans hard on its love interest as a plot device.Fri, 20 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/what-is-actually-next-to-my-bed/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/what-is-actually-next-to-my-bed/I've never had a reading plan in my life, just whatever's closest to the bed when I finish the last thing, and I've mostly stopped apologizing for it.Mon, 16 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/at-home-in-the-universe/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/at-home-in-the-universe/Stuart Kauffman's case that life on this planet might not have been some one in a trillion accident, it might have been almost inevitable, and yes the prose fights you for it.Thu, 12 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/why-i-dont-buy-on-release-day/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/why-i-dont-buy-on-release-day/I almost never buy a board game the week it comes out, and I've made my peace with being three releases behind everyone else.Fri, 06 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/gloomhaven-jaws-of-the-lion/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/gloomhaven-jaws-of-the-lion/A smaller, cheaper entry point into the Gloomhaven system that somehow still delivers dozens of hours of tactical combat, and works surprisingly well with just two.Thu, 26 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/sea-salt-and-paper/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/sea-salt-and-paper/A tiny origami-themed card game that earns its keep as a two-player pocket filler, even with a last chance rule that a few players online just can't stand.Fri, 23 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/dune-imperium/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/dune-imperium/Worker placement and deckbuilding fused into something genuinely tense, but the two-player experience hinges entirely on how much you can stand the dummy player.Wed, 21 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-rainy-weekend-that-started-it/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-rainy-weekend-that-started-it/The short version is a buddy taught me Dominion on a rainy weekend. Here's the actual version, with the parts that don't fit neatly into an origin story.Tue, 23 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/i-used-to-think-rereading-was-a-waste-of-time/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/i-used-to-think-rereading-was-a-waste-of-time/For years I refused to reread anything on principle, treated it like a bad trade against all the books I hadn't gotten to yet. Use of Weapons broke that rule and I haven't gone back.Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/the-body-in-pain/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/the-body-in-pain/A dense, occasionally brutal academic book about pain and language that somehow finds you exactly when you need it, even if the Bible chapters drag.Mon, 08 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/lotr-duel-for-middle-earth/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/lotr-duel-for-middle-earth/A LOTR reskin of 7 Wonders Duel that actually earns its theme, and one of the tightest, cheapest-per-hour two player games I own.Mon, 24 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-word-that-gave-me-away/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-word-that-gave-me-away/I said 'kingmaker' in a reserve review meeting without noticing, and a coworker figured out exactly where I'd picked that word up.Fri, 14 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/home-football-saturdays-on-my-street/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/home-football-saturdays-on-my-street/Nothing to do with games or books, just what happens to a Clintonville street six or seven Saturdays a year when Ohio State plays at home.Sat, 08 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/use-of-weapons/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/use-of-weapons/Iain M. Banks sends a burnt out mercenary named Zakalwe back into service for the Culture, tells his present in order and his past backwards, and lands a twist that recontextualizes the entire book.Sat, 25 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/harry-potter-and-the-sorcerers-stone/A reread of the book that started it all, weaker than the rest of the series but still charming, with a couple of sharp reader complaints (yes, someone really compared it to The Cat in the Hat) worth taking seriously.Wed, 22 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/rising-sun/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/rising-sun/Eric Lang's negotiation and area control masterpiece plays as good as it looks, but watch out, the alliance system can let one losing player quietly pick the winner.Sat, 18 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTBoard GamesSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/foundation/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/foundation/Asimov's galaxy spanning empire is going to collapse no matter what anyone does, and the fun is watching a handful of very smart people try to shave a few thousand years off the dark age that follows.Wed, 08 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-dollars-per-hour-spreadsheet/https://spencervaughn.net/essays/the-dollars-per-hour-spreadsheet/I do dollars-per-hour math on my board game shelf without really meaning to, so I finally sat down and did it properly, and the results didn't match my gut at all.Mon, 06 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMTPersonalSpencer Vaughnhttps://spencervaughn.net/reviews/the-master-and-his-emissary/https://spencervaughn.net/reviews/the-master-and-his-emissary/Iain McGilchrist's case that the left and right hemispheres aren't just processing differently, they're two whole ways of being in the world, and that the left one is quietly winning.Wed, 24 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMTBooksSpencer Vaughn