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Benjamin Macready

My name is Ben, and I am a Gold Standard NCTJ certified journalist. I specialise in pieces about gaming and the culture surrounding it. I believe that games, whether they are played digitally or on a tabletop, are unambiguously art. Games can tell branching stories that wouldn’t be possible in other mediums. I aim to document and critique them on their own terms.

Wargamer •

Some MTG Lorwyn prerelease kits accidentally have ninja turtles hiding inside them

Players at the prerelease for the new Magic: the Gathering set Lorwyn Eclipsed have been surprised by some ninja turtle cards sneaking in.The prerelease for the new Magic: the Gathering set Lorwyn Eclipsed was last Friday. Lorwyn is the first release of the year, with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles due to follow it in March. At least that was supposed to be the plan, but Magic: the Gathering players have been reporting all across social media that instead of the mystical fey that live on Lorwyn, t...
Wargamer •

One of the new Pokémon TCG World Championship decks is named after a Hip-Hop artist and YouTuber

The 2025 World Championship decks are due to release this April, and one of them contains an unexpected reference to a famous YouTuber.The 2025 World Championship Decks for the Pokémon TCG were revealed earlier this week, and one of them just wasn't quite like the rest. "KSI's Gardevoir" is a variant of the Gardevoir ex deck that's currently got the whole of the standard format locked in its Psychic Embrace, at least until rotation comes for Gardevoir ex in April. Olajide Olayinka Williams Olatu...
Wargamer •

Cozy Stickerville takes legacy board games to some novel new places if you can look past its awkward name

Cozy Stickerville won't be winning any awards for its cumbersome name, but it's still an original board game with plenty of heart.I'll be honest, when I first heard the name Cozy Stickerville, I wasn't immediately won over. The title is trying far too hard to be twee, and comes across as a cloying Lisa Frank style slap across the face. Nevertheless, this sticker-based legacy board game experiments with some bold new ideas, and has genuinely piqued my interest for when it releases on the 6th Febr...
Wargamer •

The power armor from the new MTG Fallout Secret Lair may be the weirdest reprint of all time.

Let me welcome you to the exciting world of overlays in Magic: the Gathering. Sometimes unofficially called "skins", overlays are the official term for those cards with two names, one fake flavor name written across their title bar, and their second actual name written just underneath. The recently announced Fallout Rad Superdrop features one of the strangest uses of an overlay in MTG's history.
Typically, cards are reskinned to allow characters that exist outside of Magic's multiverse to have t...
Wargamer •

Small Time Heroes is a cozy Slay the Spire inspired board game

Whether you prefer to play them online or your tabletop, roguelikes are always incredibly popular. There are few roguelikes that have had a bigger impact than Slay the Spire, which straddles both worlds, existing as both a Video Game and a Board Game. Small Time Heroes wears its Slay the Spire inspiration on its sleeve, and offers a light weight alternative to its hefty table filling predecessor. It's currently crowdfunding both a reprint of its first edition, and a new expansion pack.
Like most...
Wargamer •

New Mega Starmie ex Pokémon card hides its most iconic feature… its terrifying legs

Mega Starmie ex has been confirmed for the upcoming Japanese Pokémon TCG expansion Nihil Zero, but its scary legs are nowhere to be seen.Now that the Pokémon TCG has entered the Mega Evolution series, we're seeing all kinds of beefed up mega Pokémon make the journey from screen to tabletop. From Mega Dragonite, with its adorable head-mounted wings, to the hauntingly powerful Mega Gengar. There are some Megas, though, that I would honestly rather not think about. Mega Starmie is infamously uncann...
Wargamer •

Magic: the Gathering's newest five color commander is a callback to a classic card

Mass of Mysteries is MTG's latest five color legendary, if it seems familiar to you that's because it's a reference to an older elemental.Mass of Mysteries is the backup commander from Dance of the Elements, one of the two new commander decks from the Magic: the Gathering set Lorwyn Eclipsed. It costs one mana of each color, has first strike, vigilance, and trample alongside a 5/5 stat line. It also grants an elemental you control myriad (an effect that enables a creature to clone itself when it...
Wargamer •

Yokai Forest Duel is a spirited board game about choosing your battles

Yokai Forest Duel is a quick duelling game for large groups of players that's currently putting down roots in a crowdfunding campaign.Yokai Forest Duel is a breezy and quick game of woodland duels for 2-8 players from German publisher Godot Games. Everyone takes control of a Yokai and attempts to battle their way to the top of the forest food chain.
Yokai Forest Duel is light and uncomplicated, and so is its official instruction video, which claims that it can teach you everything you need to kn...
Wargamer •

The blight mechanic in Lorwyn Eclipsed demonstrates a change in MTG's design philosophy.

It's rare to see a Magic: the Gathering mechanic with a downside in 2026, making the Blight mechanic from Lorwyn Eclipsed highly unusual.As the power level of Magic: the Gathering has risen over time, we've seen fewer mechanics with downsides make their way into the game. In Magic's early days, they were relatively common, from Cumulative Upkeep that forced you to pay an increasing fee to keep your cards in play, to phasing that caused creatures to blink out of existence every other turn. Blight...
Wargamer •

Chaotic Kickstarter card game lets you eat gnomes with piranhas

Chaos: the Card Game is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter. It was designed by Andrea Chiarvesio, one of the creators of Marvel Unlimited. Its Art has been produced by Giovanni Meroni, a creator of deluxe sets of playing cards.
True to its name, Chaos's rules are chaotic yet uncomplicated. Two to four players choose a deck from one of four factions: The Depths, The Emerged Lands, Tartarus, and The Blackness.Once everyone has picked their decks, they shuffle up and draw five cards. Then everyo...
Wargamer •

MTG and the Jim Henson Company to collaborate for a Lorwyn puppet preview

This Monday, Magic: the Gathering will collaborate with the Jim Henson Company to put on a short Muppet movie about Lorwyn Eclipsed.The Muppets are coming to Magic: the Gathering. No, this isn't a new Secret Lair or the announcement of an upcoming Universes Beyond crossover set. Instead, this Monday, we're going to see Wizards of the Coast partner with the Jim Henson Company to put on a short film to kick off spoiler season for Lorwyn Eclipsed, which will release on the 23rd January.
This collab...
Wargamer •

Critically acclaimed Invincible card game comes back for a second season

Invincible fans are in luck, as there's a wide range of board games, card games, and other forms of tabletop entertainment to keep them engaged. There's an Invincible TTRPG on the way, a dice game, and several card games. One of those card games is about to receive a sequel, as the Invincible: Aftermath - Season 2 crowdfunding campaign gets ready to launch.
True to its name, Invincible: Aftermath - Season 2 follows the second season of the show. In a moment that spawned a million memes, Mark Gre...
Wargamer •

Several fossils set to return to the Pokémon TCG for the first time since 2018

A Nihil Zero reveal shows that Tyrunt, Tyrantrum, Amaura, and Aurorus will finally be getting new Pokémon cards after a long absence.Six new fossil Pokémon Cards have been revealed for the upcoming Japanese set Nihil Zero. New cards for Tyrunt, Tyrantrum, Amaura, and Aurorus have been shown off. There are also cards representing the fossils associated with them, the Jaw Fossil and the Sail Fossil, respectively. This is the first time that cards depicting these Pokémon have shown up since 2018, w...
Wargamer •

Lorwyn Eclipsed is going to pack all of the chaos of Magic: the Gathering's spoiler season into a single week.

It has become a recurring joke that the spoiler season for Magic: the Gathering never truly stops. A constant cavalcade of cards keeps the community in a perpetual state of hype, ensuring that they'll never disengage and wander off to play Yu-Gi-Oh! instead. Despite this, the festive season of 2025 was reasonably muted. The Fantastic Four, and a selection of other cards from the upcoming Marvel crossover, were revealed on the 9th December. We also got a handful of Lorwyn Eclipsed previews that w...
Wargamer •

Budew conquers the Pokémon TCG's online client

A Budew themed event will be running through January on Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, celebrating the strength of the little green plant.Pokémon Trading Card Game Live, the Pokémon TCG's online client, has been completely overtaken by Budew. The little sprout has enwrapped the entire game in its tendrils and spread its roots all over the app.
If you're wondering why Budew, of all Pokémon, was chosen to be the new face of Pokémon TCG Live, it's all thanks to its incredible power. Yes, you read...
Wargamer •

Build a new dungeon every week in 2026 with this villainous print and play board game

Dungeon Pages: Underboss is a print and play board game where you'll be rolling and writing through a new dungeon every week in 2026.What's your New Year's resolution? Will you be joining a gym, learning a new skill, or do you have other ambitions in mind? Well, if your goal is to become the boss of an RPG dungeon, I have good news for you. Dungeon Pages: Underboss is the latest Roll and Write Board game from PNP Arcade, and it will let you live out your dreams of becoming an evil overlord, with...
SUPERJUMP •

How Changing One Mechanic Elevated Reus 2 Beyond Its Predecessor

Reus, designed by Abbey Games, is a simulation game about gods, giants, and growth. You start with a barren planet and gradually fill it with life. First, you place down biomes like swamps, forests, oceans, and deserts. Then you fill these wild spaces with animals, minerals, and plants. When humans come to settle the land, you support the development of their communities so that they can flourish, but you also need to ensure that you don’t give any one group too many resources too quickly, other...
Wargamer •

The most popular MTG commander of 2025 is this magical cat girl, and it isn't even close

Y'shtola, Night's Blessed is the biggest Magic: the Gathering commander of 2025 with more than 28,000 decks to her name, let's discuss why.Every year Magic: the Gathering's Commander format gets a massive influx of new legendaries, all competing to be the most beloved by card gamers across the globe. This year, Y'shtola, Night's Blessed came out on top, utterly stomping the competition as more than 25,000 players built around her.
According to data from EDHREC, currently 28,344 players have made...
Wargamer •

My favorite board game of 2025 was this symphonic space opera

Usually, Sci-Fi board games involve epic battles waged across the stars. From Twilight Imperium to Arcs, chances are that if you're playing a tabletop game set in space, you'll be spending your turns blowing up fleets of enemy battlecruisers. Philharmonix takes a decidedly different approach. Instead of conducting full scale interplanetary warfare, you'll be conducting an alien orchestra. Philharmonix is slightly bloated, maybe a bit too complex for its own good, and it's my favorite board game...
SUPERJUMP •

I Tried Out the New Stranger Things D&D Module… Even Though I’ve Never Seen the Show

Can you still welcome yourself to the Hellfire Club if you've never seen an episode of Stranger Things?

When I was a university student 10 years ago (oh dear, I am getting old), I was on the committee of the adventure gaming society. We were a small, but lovable, group of geeks who gathered together every Saturday to play board games and tabletop RPGs of every persuasion. We played a lot of Fantasy Flight’s Game of Thrones board game, which is at its best and bloodiest when you can get a whole...
Wargamer •

Vivi's back on top thanks to the new Final Fantasy MTG scene boxes

Vivi proves their persistence by returning to the world of Magic: the Gathering once again as part of the Final Fantasy IX scene box.Given that Vivi Ornitier was banned in Magic: the Gathering's Standard format more than a month ago, you may have thought that you had seen the last of the small but mighty spellcaster. Well, for better or worse, that's not the case, and Vivi's returning with a vengeance thanks to the Final Fantasy scene boxes.
 Just what are these "scene boxes"? Well, Final Fantas...
Wargamer •

The next Japanese Pokémon TCG expansion is all about Zygarde

Nihil Zero will be the next set of Pokémon cards to be released in Japan, this expansion will focus on the legendary dragon Zygarde.The next Japanese Pokémon TCG set has officially been revealed. Nihil Zero is due to release in Japan on January 23rd. It highlights Zygarde, the legendary black and green dragon and ground type, who is also the mascot of the recently released game Pokémon Legends Z-A.
Currently, only a limited amount of information about the set is known. Zygarde will get a new ex...
Wargamer •

The Witcher Legacy breaks the record for the longest endgame of any board game on Gamefound

The endgame phase for the Gamefound crowdfunding campaign of The Witcher: Legacy has stretched on for an unprecedented 4 days, breaking the site's previous record.It's safe to say that the crowdfunding campaign for The Witcher: Legacy board game is doing pretty well. Since it launched on November 25th, the Gamefound page for The Witcher: Legacy has raised more than ten million euros, smashing past its initial goal of one hundred thousand euros in four minutes. It has now broken the record for th...
Wargamer •

Machiavellian merchant board game currently 50% off on Amazon

Council of 4 is currently 50% off on Amazon, it's hand management game where you gather influence and build up a medieval merchant empire.From Concordia to Hansa Teutonica, board games about being a merchant are in no short supply. Council of 4 takes this mercantile premise and adds in a crunchy extra layer of political scheming and intrigue. This game of nobles, merchants, and underhanded deals is currently on sale on Amazon at a 50% discount.
Council of Four is a hand-management game, in which...
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