As we close the lid on 2023 and anticipate whether it has one last box fart for us, I wanted to look back on the year and what I’ve achieved. While I’ve struggled to update this blog regularly, between family commitments and lapses in inspiration, at the very least I wanted this new version of the site to stand as a portfolio of my work.

I’m incredibly proud of the work I’ve done and the skills I’ve learned, and I think there’s still a lot of potential in the concept of Board Game Feast, bringing people together through games and food. But I’m still trying to figure out the best format to reflect this spirit, balancing the fun of creation for myself, keeping it engaging for viewers, and providing some value to the community beyond edible fan art.

I recently attended PAX Unplugged in Philadelphia which was my first chance to meet a lot of friends and contacts in the industry. It was enormously helpful in providing some perspective on what I’d like achieve with Board Game Feast. I know better than to promise more regular updates here going forward, but I have been filled with a better sense of purpose in chasing what inspires me to create.

Social media is in a particularly dire state right now, straining under the weight of entrepreneurial ego, algorithm fatigue and generalized ennui. I started Board Game Feast to create a sense of community for myself during the Pandemic. Now so many relationships and communities have been scattered to the 4 corners of Discord servers, new media networks, or just burnt out on the concept altogether. So it’s increasingly important as a creator to have a digital home not beholden to fickle overlords.

I’m reassured by the establishment of several new media outlets emerging from the ashes of venture capitalism, especially in the video game space, such as Remap Radio, Aftermath and Second Wind. But they’re also a testament to how important it is for viewers to value quality media and provide what support they can. I’m privileged to not have to rely on my work here for any kind of income, so am also free to make what I want without external pressures. But words of encouragement are nonetheless appreciated.

That’s especially true for my podcast The Omnigamer’s Club. Mark and I have plugging away at that for over 2 years now and have made a lot of improvements in that time. We wouldn’t continue if it wasn’t fun for it’s own sake but podcasting is also a particularly thankless form of media with very little feedback to know who’s listening and what they’re getting out of it, like a karaoke singer behind one-way glass. At the very least it’s given me excellent opportunities to practice more serious games critique. They say to make the content that you want to see, and that’s definitely true of the pod. With the over-saturation of media constantly vying for our attention and dwindling time, I’ve really come to appreciate more in-depth analyses of specific games and themes. It’s something I’d love to see more of in the tabletop space and continue to contribute to in my own small way.

Feasts

Here are all of my edible creations of 2023, many of these were accompanied by overviews on TikTok, but I’ve been noodling with more recipe development too. My current goal is to have a recipe published along with a game.

Omnigamers