Closet Report

"We are the Champions, my friend, and we'll keep on fighting ‘til the end....No time for losers, 'cause we are the Champions—of the World!" — Queen

"I totally 'dig' it!!" Allow me to introduce Gold Mine, an entry from Stratus Games that explores the interactions between players in a cooperative/competitive game of gathering gold.

In this Closet Report, our attention turns to an elegant and soon-to-be classic board game, Qin, an easy-to-play, easy to understand game of matching wits.

Othello: this easy-to-play, easy to understand game of field control and strategic overturn captures the attention and challenges players in fast-paced decision-making. Let's take a closer look.

Diplomacy is a conflict simulation game from Avalon Hill. Its gameplay is elegant and challenging, its ambiance historic and serious. While it is not considered a casual game, The Closet Report covers all types of games for comparison.

Discover your friends' surprising secrets! This fourth installment of the Closet Report series analyzes Looney Lab's party game, Choose One!, which reveals how well you know your friends and how well they know you.

Welcome to the lighter side of the loony bin: this third installment of the Closet Report series analyzes Stratus Games' offering of mental state mayhem and answers for all time the age-old question, "Are you sure you're all right in the head?"

Chess is the classic game that takes minutes to learn and a lifetime to master. This Closet Report analyzes the ancient game of Chess as a baseline for comparing other games to be featured in the series.

Ever wondered where those crazy infomercials got their bright ideas?

I am Jonathan Albin, the Game Market Guru, and this is the first installment of "The Closet Report," my in-depth and detailed analysis of tabletop games of every stripe. The Closet Report captures and outlines the merits, values, and details about these games in terms that a casual player or a die-hard veteran will appreciate, providing not only the "straight skinny" on the product in terms of the big 3 (Class, Character, and Creativity) but also in terms of Materials, Marketing, and Mechanics, as well as identifying areas of imagination, innovation, and ingenuity.