The new Netflix documentary series about the early video game industry, High Score, features the winner of the first-ever national championship for a video game, who became a lauded game developer and entrepreneur. She’s also a transgender woman who’s now a mom and a grandma.
A new educational card deck created by Pura Belpré Honor Award winner Maya Gonzalez and Matthew Smith-Gonzalez is designed to counter gender stereotypes and offer kids an opportunity for self expression—all through a variety of fun games!
This past weekend, at the Mythic Championship professional tournament of the fantasy-themed card game Magic the Gathering (which boasts a $500,000 prize pool), a transgender, nonbinary player won first place for the first time in history. I’ve been playing Magic myself with my son for some months now, so even though my skills are nowhere near tournament level, I know enough to be thoroughly impressed. You should be, too.
It’s not news that Dungeons & Dragons, the venerable role-playing game, has taken a queer-friendly turn in recent years. (I wrote about it myself in 2014.) But did you know that a recent D&D adventure includes a two-dad family?
My family and I had the joy last weekend of going to PAX East, the giant convention of all things gaming and geeky. Here are some things we saw and a few games to recommend.
Like many writers, I love word games, and am eager to get a copy of the just-published fifth edition of The Official Scrabble Players Dictionary, which includes more than 5000 new words. One of the new entries is the Yiddish word “schmutz” — and for those of you unclear on its meaning (hint: it’s not the same as schmuck), Judy Gold, a “comedian, actress, writer, and Jewish mother” (also a lesbian mom) is here to help you out.
A few weeks ago I posted about the new rules for Dungeons & Dragons that are explicitly inclusive of characters with diverse sexual orientations and gender identities. I also promised to tell a personal story about an encounter with the people at Wizards of the Coast, the makers of D&D. Here it is.
Yep, I’m that kind of geek. I first played Dungeons & Dragons — the original edition — back in high school in the early 80s. Now my son plays. I was thrilled, therefore, to discover that the new version of D&D, which officially launches next week, is clearly and deliberately inclusive of a diverse range of gender identities, gender expressions, and sexual orientations.
Although my son has an apparently infinite capacity for playing Candy Land (interspersed only by rounds of Cariboo), I have a limit. I don’t, however, have a limitless budget for buying new games. My solution has been to create variations of older kid/adult board games we already have around the house. Here are a few
I’m reporting to you live from the site of the Candy Land World Championships, where our resident Grandmaster is napping before he takes on his next challenger. My son finally gained the patience to play a board game a few weeks ago. My partner and I are avid (though not obsessive) gamers, and already our
