Tabletop Games Archives


Orks in Space, Chinese Folk Religion, and the Power of Belief

Orks from Warhammer 40,000 and Chinese Folk Religion

No, seriously. Before you turn away and call me a loon or a bigot, do take note that I’m Chinese who was raised on this stuff. I grew up with this hodge-podge compendium of beliefs and superstitions that forms this syncretic religion. However, what I experienced may be a distilled version of it since we live in the Philippines. Our take on it may not be similar to that of Taiwan and mainland China, but I know enough to make connections with other things that may be like it. I also know enough about Warhammer 40,000 to write about wild green men in space. This has to be the most deranged blog post I’ll ever write in 2023, so let’s go for a ride. (more…)

The Hans Niemann Chess Cheating Controversy

Hans Niemann

Pardon me while I put up a brief write-up on this months-old news as I’ve been following it for quite a while. I don’t really have anything new to say about it, but I find it so fascinating as an on-and-off chess fan over the years. I’ve followed Magnus Carlsen since he was 16, and his 2022 has been the most seemingly eventful year in his career due to how different it has been thus far. Meanwhile, Hans Niemann is a fascinating person for both the right and wrong reasons. This situation has been going on for the past two months and has only started to cool down as it has now resulted in a $100 million lawsuit. (more…)

The Dichotomy of Skill and Luck in Games

In The Co-Optional Podcast Episode 56, the guest Babylonian (formerly of Rev3Games) discussed the relationship between skill and luck when Hearthstone was brought up, which piqued my interest in the subject. It touched upon the competitive aspects of games, whether tabletop or digital. This, along with having gone on a bit of a tirade about Five Nights at Freddy’s in a Facebook thread, pushed me to look deeper into this subject. (more…)