A Fun Introduction to a New Solo Board Game Blog
Read the introduction to Gameward Bound, a solo board game blog with a dash of Calico Critters and Stealthy Elephants.
Welcome! After years of destroying wallets on the Solitaire Games On Your Table lists on BoardGameGeek, here I am with a blog… To potentially do exactly the same thing. Ha ha! I’m Jessica, and playing solo board games is one of my favorite hobbies. I hope to share that passion through a variety of content here. Have fun following along, and enjoy!
A Delicious Celebration
To start off on the right foot, or paw, a few of my adorable Calico Critters stopped by to deliver plenty of treats for all!
For those who have not followed along in the past, I often feature these animal figures and tiny accessories with my solo board games. They add a fun and silly element that makes my photography rather interesting… When no one topples over at regular intervals. All the same, enjoy them!
The blog’s focus is still on solo board games, of course.
It looks like these desserts won’t be around for long. Best pick out your favorite and run off before it gets stolen!
An Overview of the Planned Content
The blog needs a little time to start building up posts, but there are plenty of topics I have in mind. From articles and reviews to guides and sessions, I hope to create a useful resource for all sorts of solo players. New to the hobby? Welcome aboard, and enjoy exploring everything this unique part of the board game world offers!
Feel free to check out the lists of categories and tags to get an idea of the organization. Tags, in particular, will slowly expand, but will mostly be broken down by specific games to make navigation easy over time.
The language and subject matter will almost always be rated G or PG. Did the Calico Critters not give that away? Ha!
Comments and suggestions are also always welcome, so feel free to request I play a particular solo board game or ask a question. I typically write what interests me, yet I’m happy to look into topics that interest others!
Solo Game Preferences
My collection includes a variety of different board games, and lots of them! I play a lot, usually on a daily basis.
Theme
I like board games about building or creating, rather than destruction. However, I’ll play almost anything once.
Mechanics
Part of the fun with solo board games is to discover new ways to play. Area control is the only aspect I sometimes avoid. Other than that, nearly anything is fair game!
Additional Information and Resources
There are other places around the blog to find out some additional details. Is this a place for you? I certainly hope so, but it will likely take some time to figure that out. In the meantime, enjoy browsing through these internal links.
- About: Read all about the blog with general information, a backstory, and an author’s short biography.
- Colophon: Discover what the blog uses in terms of technology and other elements, such as fonts.
- Comment Policy: Understand the expectations and limitations of comments on the blog.
- Frequently Asked Questions: Find the complete answers to common blog inquiries.
- Privacy Policy: Learn about how the blog processes and uses private information.
Make sure to leave a comment below if you have any questions about where to find information about the blog. Or, use the contact form or one of the social media sites Gameward Bound has a presence on. I’m usually easy to reach!
Photography Details
I started taking photos of my board games as a way to have fun. My skills are fantastically amateurish, though the trick is to enjoy coming up with each shot!
My lighting can be uncooperative at times… I just consider that a way to present board games in their natural states. I admire those who can do so much more, though.
Hopefully the quality of everything will improve over time, though evening plays may suffer a bit. I’ll just call those artistic and say I meant to do that. Ha ha!
Or blame it on the Stealthy Elephants. They’re everywhere.
What is a Stealthy Elephant?
This silly concept started as a simple joke in the 1 Player Guild in the September 2017 SGOYT GeekList. Since then, I’ve hidden various elephants in my posts. Some are clearly obvious and need some more training, while others have gone weeks without being noticed. It’s just another fun little way to have more fun with board game photography!
I also welcome anyone who wants to hide Stealthy Elephants of their own! My skills often get put to the test, and I doubt if I’m much better than most. But I do know how to help them hide! In fact, there might be one around here…
Spreading the Word
I look forward to the future of the blog! It’s just getting started now, and I hope that it will prove to be a fun way to read more about the solo board game hobby.
Feel free to connect with the blog and me on social media!
Thanks for following along and sharing Gameward Bound!
Continue the Conversation
I appreciate the encouragement from countless individuals who helped me get this blog started! What do you think of Gameward Bound? Feel free to leave a comment with any thoughts. I have many more ideas for the future and hope you’ll have fun reading along. Thanks for getting to know me, and keep an eye out for much more!
Congratulations on your endeavor! I know nothing about running a blog, but hopefully you give it time to flourish and become second nature in maintaining and adding content. Good luck and thanks for starting it up! I’m sure you will have excellent content!
Thank you very much, Derek! It’s been an interesting journey to figure out how to get thing up and running. Quite the learning experience! Luckily I don’t seem to have broken anything, so that’s a big plus. Ha! Thanks again for the kind words, and I hope you’ll enjoy the future posts!
Your backstory sounds similar to mine where my current gaming group (grade / high school buddies from 30 years ago) has trouble getting together on a regular basis. Obviously, life gets in the way and distance from each other doesn’t help (50 miles). I’ve been searching for a group more local for more consistency, but nothing yet!
I hope you find a gaming group at some point. Playing solo is my favorite way to play, although the social aspect can never be replicated. Having a multiplayer group is always nice to have, and I know how lucky I am to have mine. Best of luck!
I’m excited for yo,u Jessica! Given how much you dedicate to your posts on the SGOYT, I’m sure your blog will do well. I’ll stay tuned indeed!
Thank you kindly, Jay! I’m currently trying to figure out how to make it easy to post my session reports on the blog and SGOYT… I’ll find a way to come up with some templates, since I can’t imagine not posting as much as I do to the monthly GeekLists. I appreciate the support, and hope you enjoy following along!
Congratulations Jessica! I am really looking forward to your content on here. I know it will be eye catching and thorough as usual!
Thank you, Frankie! I’m humbled by the positive response to the launch of the blog. I have another post already in the works, and so many ideas in mind. I suppose the best advice I have for myself is to pace… Myself? Ha ha! Enjoy!
Congratulations Jessica! I’m excited to see all the great content you will bring for all us solo gamers. Love the addition of Calico Critters and the hidden elephant, adds some fun when we come visit your posts. Good luck with your adventure and thanks .
Thank you, Kirk! I’m excited to see where the blog goes, and I’m thrilled that you enjoy the fun elements. Have a great time joining me on this adventure! I look forward to putting together lots of my ideas and bringing together solo players of all sorts. This hobby is awesome, and the community is simply the best around!
For me you clearly started of the right foot/paw. Your introduction was interesting to read, good job on that already. Didn’t expect less to be honest. You are doing so great in giving back to the solo board game community and I look forward to follow this new endeavor of you. And of course I wish you the best of luck and fun with it.
Thanks, Dimitri! I appreciate the very kind words. This is such a wonderful community, and I enjoy giving back in any way I can. I hope you have fun following along, too!
Following along… always interested in others’ perspectives and the critters make it even more intriguing!
Thanks, Arianne! I’ll likely feature the Calico Critters more than I have in my recent SGOYT posts. I finally have most of the tiny accessories neatly organized and easy to grab. I have so many silly ideas! Those photos are always fun to set up, and I love sharing them since they tend to bring about some smiles and laughs.
Just found the little Elephant by the way. It was well hidden! 🙂
Well spotted, Dimitri! This one seems to be well-trained in the stealthiness department. Keep those eyes peeled for others in later posts!
So awesome!
Like, I don’t have words, this is so awesome.
I need to have my browser open two home pages; bgg and here.
When I’m having a difficult day, I can just come here for a smile.
1PG too, but sometimes one needs easy access to the silliness (which is only one of the things you have with the Calico Critters, but it’s awesome.)
Thank you so much, Sara! I love to add happiness and positivity where I can. I hope you’ll find lots of reasons to smile around here! It’s the Calico Critters who deserve a lot of the credit, though I have the best times posing them. Maybe one of these days I won’t delete the outtake shots… One of them always falls over at the worst moment. Ha ha!
Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
Jessica, thanks for making this hobby so fun. I love your enthusiasm and happiness and of course, your content.
You caused me to buy the latest Obsession game with all the expansions (I never played or owned 1st edition so this will be new for me). I also love that you love Expedition NW Passage–one of my favorites.
Keep up the good work. You are a great asset to the hobby.
(Sorry for my ignorance, but is there a way to subscribe to this blog?)
You’re very welcome, Wesley, and thank you so much for the kind words! It’s awesome to be able to share this passion for solo board games with such a friendly community. If it wasn’t so positive, I don’t know if I would be as inclined to post as much as I do.
Great question about subscribing to the blog! There are links in the footer to various social media sites, as well as the RSS feed. I had an excellent suggestion to day about creating a BoardGameGeek blog with snippets to help with notifications over there.
I’ll include that in an update or at least add it somewhere on the blog soon enough. In the meantime, you can find it on BoardGameGeek.
Thanks again for visiting and commenting! And my apologies about the purchase… Though I don’t feel too bad because I love the game oh-so-much. I expect to have some hilarious stories about a few plays down the line!
Yay! That is all 😀
Thanks, Jesse! Sometimes a single word says everything!
Your game reviews on SGOYT are always so well-written, insightful and creative. I look forward to following your blog as I’m sure it will just as enjoyable. Congrats on getting this idea off the drawing boards and into production!
Thank you very much, Rosie! I appreciate the kind words, and hope to keep things going strong over here. I expect to still post on SGOYT, though potentially in a slightly different way. If only I had a way to pause time or get more of it… Alas, I guess that’s not quite possible yet. Ha ha! Enjoy following along!
Hey Jessica, and congratulations on getting set up!
I have a Stealthy Elephant equivalent of my own, but I can’t add it to games I play on Tabletop Simulator…
Thanks, Roger! Apparently Tabletop Simulator needs a way to add a custom image just to show off a Stealthy Elephant. That’s something we all need in this world, right? Ha ha! Maybe I need to keep an eye on your posts to see if I might spy the pachyderm…
I’m so happy for you Jessica! I always love reading your posts on SGOYT and I can’t wait to see what you have planned for your blog. Keep those cute critters and private pachyderms coming!
Ha ha! Thank you so much, Derek! I have plenty of ideas, and I’m excited to write even more than I usually do on SGOYT… If that’s even possible. I hope you enjoy following along!
For the first time I realize that you have this Blog, and it is fabulous, thanks for all the work you do!
My wife doesn’t play but she loved the site because of the critters!
You’re very welcome! Thanks so much for stopping by, and I’m thrilled to know that my Calico Critters photos are a hit! Always enjoy including them whenever I can for a bit of fun. All the best to you both!