Matthew M - BGG Community Manager
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octavianbgg.bsky.social
Matthew M - BGG Community Manager
@octavianbgg.bsky.social
1.6K followers 360 following 1.7K posts
he/him | Listening | Learning | BoardGameGeek Community Manager | Bills Fan | Whack-a-Mole Champion of the Universe | Coffee Please |
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octavianbgg.bsky.social
Beware of scammers posing as representatives of the platform you are on.

If there is time pressure to act, requirement to click a link, anything even slightly off about the sender (in this case it is clearly an account that has been hijacked) - you should Report and Block.
Screenshot of a private message sent through bluesky claiming that my account is suspended and will be terminated in 24 hours if I don't click a shady link.
November 13, 2025 at 4:21 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
In person 4p Terraforming Mars.

I ran away with it by funding all 3 Awards and securing first place in each.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/16...
The Awards section of one of the alternate Terraforming Mars boards. I've funded the awards for Founder (most tiles next to special tiles), Zoologist (most microbe and animal resources) and Forecaster (most played cards with prerequisites)
November 6, 2025 at 4:01 AM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
What's your candy bowl setup?
A skeleton seated in a chair with a bowl of full sized candy bars in his lap
October 31, 2025 at 10:45 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
I Made You a Mixtape is a quick and charming I-split-you-choose set collection game. You score for keeping a balance between your A-Side and B-Side tracks, keeping a good flow between songs, and focusing on genres
Box cover looks like an old school tape recorder. Cards from the deck look like a tape and matching the position of the tape ribbon from song to score scores bonus points.
October 28, 2025 at 1:33 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Wine Cellar is another bid-for-order game - this time trying to collect sets you are interested in as well as managing the score of your wine rack. Each bottle scores best in a certain position of your rack (1st through 8th) but each new bottle can only be placed in the front or back of the line.
Box cover for Wine Cellar and several of the wine bottle cards. Each card shows how it scores on your rack, a nation tag and label tag for set collection, and a number in the top corner for it's bidding strength. The cards you bid with in each round are the bottles available for auction in the next.
October 27, 2025 at 2:13 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Preparing to Innovate
The insert for Innovation Ultimate features handy card wells that can be used to hold the many available decks during play - in this case base cards and one expansion each for 11 different ages = 22 different decks
October 17, 2025 at 9:17 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
I love soup season
A bowl of delicious homemade minestrone soup
October 11, 2025 at 10:29 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Successfully landed at the red rated Warsaw airport in Sky Team via BGA on our second try

This is a devilish course. Stuck landing gear locks the low speed at 4, but you need to stall twice due to a short approach - with a tailwind adding +3 to your speed! TOUGH!

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37...
Screenshot of a portion of the BGA board. An X on the landing gears shows you can't deploy them. The corresponding blue speed threshold marker is permanently locked between the 4 and 5. meaning you need two dice to total 4 to move zero spaces - something we had to do twice even though wind was adding +3 to our move speed at the start. This required quite a lot of manipulating the plane's tilt to get the wind modifier down enough so we could stall, while still threading the needle to adjust tilt through some narrow movement windows on the track itself.
October 9, 2025 at 2:01 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Played Magical Athlete. Everyone within a couple spaces of winning in the final race.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/45...

The night's winners:
Figures for Huge Baby, Rocket Scientist, Scoocher, and Flip Flop
October 8, 2025 at 1:12 AM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Uh huh...
A post on BGG from an obvious bot. Their self introduction post includes "and I really enjoy [name 1-2 games you like]."
October 1, 2025 at 12:09 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Impossible to get work done in these conditions
A kitty curled up asleep on my office chair. Literally nothing I can do.
September 25, 2025 at 2:52 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Landed in Capetown in Sky Team via BGA

Sometimes you need some luck. This landing came down to us both blindly throwing our last die on tilt with no dice mitigation remaining. If they were the same, we win...

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37...
We both miraculously played 4s on tilt, assuring a safe landing Screenshot of the game chat: WHAT!!!! HOW!!!
September 23, 2025 at 11:02 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Crashed a few planes on Sky Team via BGA

The black rated courses are no joke. The penguin track we ALMOST had accept for a misplay right at the end. But Cape Town has been one instant crash after another.

And why are we training interns on these flights!?!

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37...
Screen grab of the Flight Log on BGA showing that we are 0 for 1 in attempts at landing in NZIR (Ice Runway) and 0 for 2 in attempts at Cape Town.
September 20, 2025 at 3:03 AM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
My #LastFourWatched

The Phoenician Scheme
Fargo
Goodfellas
The Grand Budapest Hotel

After Fargo's fake "based on a true story" title card I had to work extra to convince 16yo that Goodfellas' was real.
Screenshot of Letterboxd app showing my last four watched films. The Phoenician Scheme Fargo Goodfellas The Grand Budapest Hotel
September 19, 2025 at 9:44 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Same.
Picture of the Disney+ subscription cancellation confirmation screen.
September 19, 2025 at 8:49 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Finished a game of Sky Team via BGA - my first successful landing on a Red course - Sydney is WILD with alarms locking up actions, limited visibility, and turbulence. I still can't believe we landed this.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37...
Part of the Sky Team board featuring the engine dice and the landing brakes. I was only able to apply brakes once because of a malfunction, so our two engine dice both had to be ones to prevent a crash. Thankfully the coffee pot was working.
September 15, 2025 at 5:15 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Our summer lilac attracts a ton of butterflies, including this beauty.
A striking bright orange and black winged monarch butterfly next to a long purple flower nestled deep in a leafy green bush.
September 9, 2025 at 2:05 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
This will be the death of me, and it will be worth it.
A box of Reese's peanut butter filled Oreos
September 8, 2025 at 9:26 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Finished a game of Sky Team via BGA

Fantastic online implementation, and a neat logbook feature to track which scenarios you've completed.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/37...
Screenshot of the endgame state on BGA. The board simulates a cockpit dash including switches players need to flip, airplane tilt and speed, traffic, etc. Players manage everything with dice placements with the goal of a safe landing. We've landed in Paris. This scenario includes a wind tracker which affects your approach speed - we ended with a slight tail wind that made the landing a touch more difficult but still manageable.
September 2, 2025 at 5:33 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Zombie Lego Yoda haunts me
Lego Yoda used to stand proudly on our kids' playroom shelf, but has slowly fallen apart over the years. He is still unmistakably Yoda, but is eyeless, missing an ear and both hands, and generally looks like he has eroded.
August 31, 2025 at 6:25 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
The stage was set. A climactic roll of all 7 dice

Thanks to Faramir and Eowyn's heroics, Frodo could negate one hit and could withstand two more.

The first 3 dice cast into the tower were all hits, once again bringing Frodo to the brink.

The final four all missed.

It is done. Sauron is defeated.
The awesome Barad Due dice tower included in the game. 7 search dice in the exit ramp - only 3 resulting in hits giving the fellowship the narrowest of victories
August 30, 2025 at 2:28 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
But then something happened that Sauron did not expect. The realm of men fought back. Eowyn marched into Isengard, conquering it and Faramir met up with her to send Frodo his Friendship from afar.
Sauron is all WTF as Isengard and Moria have both been pacified. Eowyn is back on the way to Rivendell for an important meeting with Faramir that would decide the fate of the fellowship.
August 30, 2025 at 2:22 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Gollum smuggled Frodo into Mordor, however just as he was about to throw the Ring into the fire the skies darkened and an ill-timed search brought Frodo to the brink of despair...
Frodo and Gollum at Mount Doom, along with a whole host of work troops and five flying nazgul. Things aren't looking great for our heroes. Frodo's hope is one step away from an instant loss due to despair
August 30, 2025 at 2:17 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
Bluesky right now
"C'mon do something" meme altered to say "don't do something". Guy poking a stick at a rotund beady-eyed scowling ASCII face
August 30, 2025 at 12:38 PM
octavianbgg.bsky.social
The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship (solo two handed) - a brilliant co-op with a wealth of different ways for the familiar tale to unfold.

Eowyn used the Palantir to capture Sauron's gaze, allowing Frodo to destroy the ring unopposed.

boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/43...
Figures for Eowyn and Legolas near The Shore, surrounded by 7 Nazgul and a large red eye token representing Sauron's gaze. Sam and Frodo are a single figure - they stand alone at Mount Doom with an unawares massive orc army just one space away. Merry and Pippin, also a single figure, are seen in the background defending Erebor from a group of Easterlings.
August 20, 2025 at 3:56 AM