Hi there! I’m Jordan—welcome to my blog!

I’m a software developer living in Devon, UK, with a wonderful wife and four amazing kids. I have a habit of diving deep into hobbies, and over the years, I’ve explored everything from music (I play mediocre guitar and piano, have drummed in various local bands, and dabble in electronic music production) to programming, web development, and artistic pursuits like painting, drawing, and even the occasional cross-stitch!

But one passion that has stuck with me since childhood is board games.

Growing up, I played plenty of the classic mass-market games - Monopoly, Cluedo, The Game of Life - alongside a steady mix of card games like Rummy, Gin, and Whist, and party games like Taboo, Guesstures, and Absolute Balderdash. But my absolute favorite was Electronic Talking Mystery Mansion, a game my sister and I would happily lose hours to.

More recently, I’ve fallen headfirst into the world of modern board games. Starting with gateway staples like Catan, Carcassonne, and Pandemic, I quickly realized that today’s board games are a huge leap beyond what I played as a kid. That discovery led to countless hours of watching and reading game reviews, followed by curating a small-but-satisfying collection of my own.

Since I mostly play with my kids (my wife will join in occasionally, but board games aren’t really her thing), my collection leans toward lighter, family-weight games with shorter play times. Even within that niche, the sheer variety of experiences is incredible. I love that even with my moderate selection of games, we always have something brilliant to play that fits the mood, player count, and timeframe. And on the occasion that I get the chance to visit local game groups, I love getting the opportunity to play heavier, more complex games that would never make it to the table at home.

Beyond playing games, I’ve become interested by the theory of game design - the mechanics, psychology and creativity that bring a game to life. I’ve consumed countless hours of podcasts (favourites include Ludology, Board Game Design Lab, and Fun Problems), and enjoy watching Adam in Wales’ fantastic videos on youtube.

Board game design takes a bunch of my interests and smooshes them together: maths, problem solving, creative thinking, graphic design, and most importantly a whole lot of fun. I’ve not yet made anything more than the most basic of prototypes of just a handful of ideas, however board game design is a neverending buzz in my brain. New ideas for themes and mechanisms are constantly popping into my head. This blog is intended to be my creative space, a place for me to:

• Dump my ideas and hopefully develop them further
• Document my progress on any games I do get round to actually creating
• Write about board game design, maybe even sparking some discussion and inspiration along the way

If you’re into board games - whether as a player, a designer, or both - I hope you’ll find something interesting here :)