Recent Articles & Reviews by Josh Simons

I’m an automotive mechanic by trade who has learned to love writing about life and hobbies.

My wife and I have made board gaming part of our family life since the early days of our marriage but it wasn’t until my brother-in-law gave us a copy of Lost Cities in 2014 that we truly entered the hobby gaming space. Then I started to learn words like Kallax and why I needed to have a lot of them. The Grizzled was the game that showed me how games were capable of creating vivid tension and emotions. These were the two formative experiences that made me fall in love with the hobby.

I love when games are thematic and draw me into the story being told on the table, but I also enjoy several games that have less theme. Maybe it’s my background as a mechanic but figuring out how to make a game engine work is even more important to me than winning. Some games are as stubborn and difficult to get cranking as vehicle engines. My favorite games are Tammany Hall, Spirit Island, Robinson Crusoe, Who Goes There? 2nd Edition, Santorini, Zombicide: Black Plague, Thunder Road: Vendetta, The Lost Expedition, Terraforming Mars, Azul: Stained Glass of Sintra and Othello.

My wife and I have four kids and we primarily play games as a family. Loving life together around the table is one of our core family values. In addition to board games, we also cultivate a family culture through faith, hiking, disc golf, vinyl records, story telling, fountain pens, homeschooling, and overflowing bookshelves. It’s not hoarding if it’s books.

If you want to check out what else I’ve been working on, you can find me at jpsimons.beehiiv.com.