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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.

Card Gamer •

5 Ways That Star Wars Unlimited's A Lawless Time Set Feels Like a Heist Movie - Card Gamer

There has been no shortage of heists in the Star Wars universe. From getting hold of the Death Star plans in Rogue One, to the plot to steal coaxium in Solo, heists are front and center in plenty of Star Wars stories. A Lawless Time, the upcoming expansion for the Star Wars Unlimited Trading Card Game, seeks to tap into the frenetic energy of this action packed genre. Let’s talk about five ways that A Lawless Time empowers you to pull off your own cunning scheme in a galaxy far, far away.


In...
Wargamer •

The MTG Ninja Turtle Skateboard is showing up in decks for one of the game's strongest formats

A surprising new skateboard card is kick flipping its way into Legacy, one of Magic: the Gathering’s most highly competitive formats.Cowabunga! I don't know what was on your bingo card for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Magic: the Gathering set, but a skateboard powerful enough to be viable in Legacy certainly wasn't on mine. This crossover has already given us a whole sewer stuffed full of legendary creatures, pixel art cards, and some truly disgusting pizzas. Now it's on track to shake up one...
Wargamer •

Pokémon TCG Destined Rivals bundles are back in stock, as part of an unusual deal

Destined Rivals is a beloved Pokémon TCG set, and it's back in stock at the Pokémon Center store, bundled with another unexpected product.It can be pretty difficult getting your hands on Pokémon Cards. Popular sets, like last year's Destined Rivals, are particularly tricky to track down, and when stock runs low, you can be left having to pay fairly large markups for them. Well, fortunately for anyone hoping to crack packs from one of 2025's most beloved expansions, the Pokémon Center store is no...
Wargamer •

Rule Wonderland in this chess-inspired board game

Queen Alice is a delightfully illustrated board game that brings together chess, and a contest for the favor of the ruler of Wonderland.As board games go, it's hard to get more influential than chess. It's not the oldest game out there, Go is more than a millennium older, but Chess still predates Monopoly by roughly five centuries. Many games have taken important lessons from it across the ages. We even made a list of some of our favorite chess-like board games. The latest in the long line of ti...
Wargamer •

I have some mixed feelings about these pixel art MTG Ninja Turtle Cards

There are pixel art treatments of several Magic: the Gathering Ninja Turtle cards, they look great, but unfortunately, they're quite costly.Did you know that there are Magic: the Gathering pixel art Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle cards? They look fantastic, but I've got some conflicted feelings about them.
Contemporary MTG expansions feature an incredible variety of different artistic treatments spread out across their cards. While it can be tricky keeping track of them all, for most players all of...
Wargamer •

Roma XLI is a social deduction board game about seizing power after stabbing Caesar

Turn on each other after toppling a dictator in Roma XLI, a social deduction board game about crying havoc and conspiring with Cleopatra.So Caesar's dead. You and your co-conspirators all gathered together on the Ides of March to finish him off. Even his old pal Brutus got in on it. Roma XLI (or 'Rome 41') is a new Social Deduction board game that asks the question 'what comes next'?
Roma XLI takes social deduction gameplay (of the sort that characterizes games like Werewolf, Secret Hitler, and...
Wargamer •

These MTG Ninja Turtle 'technique' cards are sneaky shout outs to powerful spells from the past

If you ended up going to the prerelease for the Magic: the Gathering Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle set yesterday, you may have noticed some new cards with effects that feel strangely familiar. The set contains 11 'technique cards', two of each color, as well as Karai's Technique, which costs both black and white mana. In a series of references, many of these techniques have the same effect as famous spells from the game's past.
One thing that separates all of the techniques from the cards that the...
Wargamer •

These nostalgia-charged Pokémon TCG accessories are rapidly selling out

Pokémon TCG players will find that the Opening Scene Collection has a lot to offer, but also that it's selling incredibly quickly.11 days ago, the Pokémon Opening Scene Collection was announced. This generation one inspired selection of goodies consists not only of accessories for the Pokémon TCG, but also several pieces of apparel. Every item in the Opening Scene Collection depicts a black and gold battle between a Gengar and a Nidorino (a callback to the intro movie of Pokémon Red and Blue, wh...
Wargamer •

There's a board game about Portland International Airport now, and it's surprisingly adorable

PDX is an upcoming worker placement board game about becoming the best airline executive in the history of Portland International Airport.Perhaps it's because I'm British, and not American, but when I first heard that there was a board game called 'PDX', I had absolutely no clue what it was about. Is it an acronym for Pokémon Dance Xtreme? Pretty dreadful xylophones? Please don't Xerox? For better or worse, it's none of these things. Apparently, PDX is a commonly used shorthand for referring to...
SUPERJUMP •

50 Outstanding Games Released in 2025

Welcome to SUPERJUMP's annual Games of the Year celebration.As always, I like to introduce these awards by expressing gratitude for the year gone by.

Thank you game developers.You are creating marvels of art and science - important cultural artifacts - under increasingly difficult circumstances. Whether you work for a large studio or you're a solo developer: thank you. We continue to live in an increasingly turbulent and intolerant world; your creative talents not only give many of us a brief e...
Wargamer •

The MTG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle expansion contains a surprise gift for Dinosaur decks

There's a lot going on in the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle Magic: the Gathering set, including this flying dinosaur support card.Magic: the Gathering's Teenage Mutant Ninja set contains a selection of very strange cards. From some truly disgusting pizzas to high voltage seaweed that references a 35 year old video game. Mixed in amidst all of this noise is a support card for dinosaur decks that's honestly pretty effective, since it lets the big earthbound reptiles take to the skies.
Triceraton...
Wargamer •

These new Pokémon TCG Charizard tins have sold out almost everywhere immediately

Another wave of new Charizard Pokémon TCG products launched last friday, although most retailers have already sold all of their stock.You may, or may not, be aware of the recent Pokémon TCG Mega Charizard Tins that were released two days ago on February 20th. They came out at the same time as the new Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Boxes and, much like those boxes, they sold out pretty much everywhere essentially immediately.
The Mega Charizard Tins each contain four booster packs from a variety o...
Wargamer •

This board game about ancient Greece is stylized like a playable piece of pottery

For the Gods is a board game about travelling across Ancient Greece, building temples, and praying for the favor of Zeus, Ares, and Athena.Many board games set in Ancient Greece are all about war, but the Greeks had a lot of stuff going on. They wrote plenty of poetry, raced around in their chariots, and also invented the Olympics. For the Gods! is a game all about that classic Ancient Greek hobby of constructing temples, and it's designed to resemble the art that you would find on a piece of an...
Wargamer •

Singles from the Pokémon TCG's Ascended Heroes set are getting cheaper

If you want to pick up some Pokémon cards from the new Ascended Heroes set, then you're in luck, as prices are steadily trending down.With the official release of Ascended Heroes Elite Trainer Boxes yesterday, cards from the latest Pokémon TCG expansion are now more widely available than they were before. Now, granted, that doesn't mean that you'll be able to pick up sealed products from the set readily and easily. Like most recent Pokémon TCG expansions, these boxes sold out incredibly quickly...
Wargamer •

They're making a board game adaptation of this classic choose your own adventure book

The Warlock of Firetop Mountain choose your own adventure book may be 40+ years old, but that hasn’t held back its board game crowdfunder.It's unusual, but not unheard of, for books to get adapted into board games. From the cathedral building worker placement game Pillars of the Earth, to the beloved Discworld board game. If ever there were books that were just crying out for a tabletop adaptation, though, it's the Fighting Fantasy series, a selection of choose your own adventure stories that st...
Wargamer •

Head MTG designer explains why the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles don't mutate

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Magic: the Gathering expansion features many mutants but strangely abandons the old mutate mechanic.The upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Magic: the Gathering set isn't the first time that mutants have appeared in the game. The 2020 set Ikoria: Lair of Behemoths was all about massive monsters mutating into calamitous threats. Ikoria even introduced a mechanic called 'mutate' to the game, that represents these terrifying transformations. So, given that the Nin...
SUPERJUMP •

Interview: Creating Beat 'Em Up Sequel Super Alloy Crush

Super Alloy Crush is an upcoming 2D sci-fi beat 'em up. It currently has no announced release date, but a demo is available on Steam. The game is being developed by Alloy Mushroom, a two-person team based in China. I spoke with one half of the duo, who goes by the pseudonym "Mabi Mogu" (which means "paralyzed mushroom"). . What’s

Tell me a bit about yourself. How long have you been developing games, and how did you get into the business?

We are a two-person team called “Alloy Mushroom.”I (Mabi...
Wargamer •

The MTG Companion app is getting some major changes in 2026

The Magic: the Gathering companion app that coordinates Friday Night Magic events is just about to gain a brand new suite of features.For better or worse, draft nights at your local game store would be incomplete without the Magic: the Gathering Companion app. Its ability to quickly sort players into tournament brackets, and then seamlessly track their scores, is incredibly convenient, even though it sometimes faces some stability issues. Well this year, Wizards of the Coast has announced that t...
Wargamer •

The art on this Medicham Pokémon card goes hard, but its power leaves a lot to be desired

Outside of Pokémon Pocket, we've currently never seen a Mega Medicham Pokémon Card. All the same, this meditating martial artist just got a new printing in Ascended Heroes, complete with an illustration rare art treatment. Aesthetically, the card is pretty solid. Medicham is striking a combat ready pose and absolutely radiating power. When it comes to aura farming, Medicham clearly has no equal. Unfortunately, in terms of actual gameplay viability, this card is a lot more swagger than substance....
Wargamer •

Almighty is a deliberately goofy god board game of screwball divine antics

Board games about being a god often adopt a weighty and serious tone, Almighty instead offers a whimsical approach to absolute power.Almighty is an upcoming board game due to be published by Keen Bean Studios (who previously worked on titles like Power Vacuum and Roll Camera!). It advertises itself as "the godliest god game", but despite this thunderously formidable sounding subheading, it's clear that Almighty doesn't take itself too seriously. From the little bean folk that inhabit its art, to...
Wargamer •

MTG Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bundles face delays in North America

Wizards of the Coast has revealed that bundles from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles crossover won't release alongside the rest of the set.In a stroke of bad news for any Magic: the Gathering players in North America hoping to get their hands on bundles for the upcoming Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles set, Wizards of the Coast has announced that there will be delays before they reach stores.
Wizards of the Coast announced the delay on the official Magic: the Gathering website on Friday the 13th Feb...
Wargamer •

Japan's next Pokémon TCG set has been announced and it's Greninja themed

Ninja Spinner is queued up to follow Nihil Zero as Japan's next expansion for the Pokémon trading card game and it’s all about Greninja.Despite being a frog with a giant, uncanny tongue wrapped around its throat, Greninja has always been an incredibly popular Pokémon. It was recently announced that this Amphibious ninja is set to be the star of Japan's next Pokémon TCG expansion, Ninja Spinner, which is currently scheduled to release on the 13th March 2026.
Only a handful of cards have been prev...
Wargamer •

Ancient Empires is a strategy board game that wants to reward planning ahead

Ancient Empires is an upcoming board game from Archona Games, the publisher behind titles like Philharmonix and Small Samurai Empires. It's currently being crowdfunded, and it aims to deliver a short paced, but strategic, experience for 1-4 players.
But there are probably already more board games out there about building up an empire than there have been empires in human history. What's the unique selling point of Ancient Empires that makes it worth taking a look at?The game combines action prog...
Wargamer •

One of the two new MTG Lorwyn Commander decks is currently $12 off on Amazon.

The new Magic: the Gathering Commander Deck Dance of the Elements, from Lorwyn Eclipsed, is currently on sale on Amazon for 24% off.Good news for fans of elementals, the MTG Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander deck Dance of the Elements is currently 24% off on Amazon in the US. It's currently available for $37.88 (£27.86), a 12 dollar discount compared to its recommended retail price of $49.95 (£36.67).
In our financial breakdown of the two Lorwyn Eclipsed Commander decks, we identified that Dance of the...
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