Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played three games today at our meetup and one was new to me.

Five Tribes
Pioneer Rails
Queendomino👍👍

November 23, 2025 at 10:40 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played four games at our meetup and two were new to me. It was also the first time in close to 20 years that I played The Pillars of the Earth. It's even better than I remembered.

The Pillars of the Earth
Fromage 👍🏻👍🏻
Llama Llama 👍🏻
Lost Cities

November 9, 2025 at 9:54 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

October was a very busy work month, had the Solotober gaming challenge, and was full of good food.

October 2025 Wrap-Up

www.danieljisom.com

November 3, 2025 at 3:01 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Back over 100 plays for the month, fueled by Solotober. I also had more unique plays (41) than any other month this year.

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
17: Mandala;
13: Solitaire;
7: Can't Stop Express;
6: Kingdom Builder;
5: Shut the Box;
4: The Guild of Merchant Explorers;
4: Sea Salt & Paper;
4: NMBR 9;
4: Bandido;
3: Cartographers;
2: Survive The Island;
2: River Valley Glassworks;
2: Food Chain Island;
2: Orchard: A 9 card solitaire game;
1: Survive: Escape from Atlantis!;
1: Glass Road;
1: Creature Comforts: Kickstarter Edition;
1: It's a Wonderful World;
1: Nidavellir;
1: Pioneer Rails;
1: Verdant;
1: Farkle;
1: Rolling Realms;
1: Yahtzee;
1: Spots.

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
1: Railroad Ink;
1: Welcome To...;
1: Cascadia: Rolling Hills;
1: The Game;
1: Metro X;
1: My First Castle Panic;
1: No Thanks!;
1: On Tour;
1: Regicide;
1: Super Mega Lucky Box;
1: The Chameleon;
1: Circle the Wagons: Lone Cowboy;
1: Sushi Go!;
1: Balloon Pop!;
1: Forage: A 9 card solitaire game;
1: Grove: A 9 card solitaire game;

November 1, 2025 at 3:07 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

I enjoy all things Cascadia and @flatoutgames.bsky.social so this was an insta-back for me.

Cascadia: Alpine Lakes

A standalone puzzly tile-layering follow-up to the award-winning game Cascadia, with beautiful artwork by Beth Sobel!

www.kickstarter.com

October 14, 2025 at 3:41 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played three games at our meetup today.

Creature Comforts
Nidavellir
Survive: Escape from Atlantis!

October 12, 2025 at 7:53 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

The Xawskil expansion map for The Guild of Merchant Explorers is hard! Played a couple of games tonight for Solotober. Lost the first after failing to complete one of the missions and then barely pulled out a win on easy difficulty.

The Guild of Merchant Explorers, Xawskil map

October 6, 2025 at 10:09 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Haven't been posting my Solotober games this year, but I've played at least one game each day so far. Today I played my first solo play of Glass Road, many years after my first & only multiplayer game. Such a satisfying puzzle, scored 24 points after getting lucky with double forest end game tiles.

October 5, 2025 at 3:48 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

September meant back to routine for the family, played a few less games than usual, and I found a new favorite chip flavor.

September 2025 Wrap-Up

www.danieljisom.com

October 1, 2025 at 2:09 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

First month this year where I didn't reach 100 plays, but still played quite a bit. Solotober starts today so I expect a return to 100+ plays this month.

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
24: Kingdom Builder;
14: Sea Salt & Paper;
9: Verdant;
5: The Guild of Merchant Explorers;
5: Cartographers;
3: River Valley Glassworks;
3: Cribbage;
2: Survive The Island;
2: Mountain Goats;
2: Sushi Go!;
1: Meadow;
1: La Isla;
1: Res Arcana;
1: Whale Riders;
1: Knitting Circle;
1: Cat in the Box: Deluxe Edition;
1: Point Galaxy;
1: Propolis.

October 1, 2025 at 11:21 AM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played three games at our meetup and two were new to me.

Meadow
Cat in the Box 👍
Propolis 👍👍

September 28, 2025 at 8:44 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played four games at our meetup and one was new to me.

La Isla
Whale Riders
Point Galaxy
Knitting Circle 👍👍

September 14, 2025 at 9:54 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Another trip, plenty of gaming, and a new snack that my daughter and I have been enjoying.

www.danieljisom.com

September 5, 2025 at 11:26 AM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Had the least number of plays in a month so far this year, but it was still over 100. Not sure if the streak will continue through the end of the year, but it's been the best year of gaming yet.

BG Stats 5 x 5.
Play count:
16: Mountain Goats;
10: Verdant;
9: The Guild of Merchant Explorers;
9: Kingdom Builder;
9: Kingdomino;
8: Sushi Go!;
7: Cribbage;
5: Finca;
5: Sushi Go Party!;
4: Tiny Towns;
4: River Valley Glassworks;
3: The Fox in the Forest;
2: 6 nimmt!;
2: Welcome To...;
1: The Isle of Cats;
1: Stone Age;
1: Cacao;
1: Juicy Fruits;
1: Jaipur;
1: Rolling Realms;
1: Cascadia: Rolling Hills;
1: Point Galaxy;
1: No Thanks!.

September 1, 2025 at 1:02 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Nobody else showed up for our meetup today, but I did get to try Point Galaxy solo so that was nice.

August 31, 2025 at 8:53 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played and won all three games at our meetup tonight.

Juicy Fruits
Cacoa
Rolling Realms

August 28, 2025 at 12:14 AM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

July had a couple of trips, lots of gaming, and opportunities to enjoy a new hobby.

July Wrap-Up

July 2025 Wrap-Up

www.danieljisom.com

August 6, 2025 at 2:21 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Played four games at our meetup today. I forgot how much I enjoy The Isle of Cats. I should bring it more often so I can eventually start using all the KS content I have.

The Isle of Cats
Kingdom Builder
Sushi Go Party!
Cascadia: Rolling Hills

August 3, 2025 at 10:05 PM

Daniel J Isom

@djisom.bsky.social

Last month I broke my total plays for all of last year. Now I'm over 1150 total plays for the year already. BGA continues to fuel the vast majority of them, but there's still a handful of in person plays each month.