George Barker
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scruffylooking.bsky.social
George Barker
@scruffylooking.bsky.social
Marketing @ Osprey Games

Freelance Games Writer with words for Tabletop Gaming Mag and Dicebreaker.

Editor, Bits & Pieces

He/Him

Opinions my own.
Thanks! A bit like playing Rokugan, it feels like opening something from a different time and hoping it's still good.

Absolutely, the diplomacy and raid tokens feel particularly dramatic and shape the map for the rest of the game.
November 15, 2025 at 7:23 PM
Fingers crossed. A new board would be great - the readability feels a bit dated compared to games now.

Played it recently and was reminded how much I enjoyed it. The bluff token in particular is one of my favourite elements of the game.

bitsandpieces.games/2018/01/31/b...
Best Bits – Battle for Rokugan: Bluff, Bluster and Bushido
In a game filled with gorgeous watercolour illustration and cards that cause seismic shifts in the board-state, how did the best bit turn out to be a small blank token?
bitsandpieces.games
November 15, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Battle for Rokugan is such a gem, I'd love to see it get another edition and re-theme.
November 15, 2025 at 5:28 PM
Didn't mean for this to turn into a thread but if you want to read me go into way too much detail on how board games try and capture the Force then here's this: www.tabletopgaming.co.uk/features/a-s...
Tabletop Gaming - A Short History of the Force in Star Wars Board Games
What really is the force? George Barker investigates how game designers have presented their answer to this question in their games over the years.
www.tabletopgaming.co.uk
October 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
It was the first time trying Rebellion's team variant and it really is the tabletop equivalent of handing your second player a controller that's not plugged in.
October 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
There are a lot of naff Star Wars board games but underlying brilliance of Memoir '44 and the tense cat-and-mouse that underpins Rebellion make these two bangers.
October 12, 2025 at 4:19 PM
It also falls into nearly every seasonal cliche 😆
October 10, 2025 at 1:06 PM
A few soundtracks to start then songs picked for their name. Gets less Halloween in the back half before I just start throwing everything at the wall to make sure there's enough music for the evening.

open.spotify.com/playlist/7ja...
🎃 Halloween 🦇 Party 2022
open.spotify.com
October 10, 2025 at 1:02 PM
That's this afternoon music sorted. Made a big playlist for a Halloween party a few years ago and it's stuck as my favourite playlist since. October really is the best month.
October 10, 2025 at 12:40 PM
Schnozzam?
October 9, 2025 at 1:08 PM
"You got a license to be undead?"

Bow Street Runner ready to investigate graveyard goings on.

#TheSilverBayonet
September 18, 2025 at 12:17 PM