Today is the last official day of summer. Bummer. Before we know it snow will be on the ground, the days will be short, and we’ll be freezing. Aye. What a horrible way to start a blog post. Sorry for that.

Let’s cheer you up by covering the Boards & Barley I’ve enjoyed over the past couple weeks!

The Barley:

Perfect amount of pumpkin and raven!

BARLEY SPOTLIGHT: New Belgium Pumpkick

So Autumnal. So delicious. It has a very nice level of pumpkin flavoring. Much more manageable than the Southern Tier Pumking and Warlock brews. This beer makes me think of Fall, and I like Fall quite a bit, so this is an enjoyable beer for me.

• Southern Tier Warlock
• Spaten Oktoberfest
• Milwaukee Brewing Sasquash
• Deschutes Black Butte
• Brau Brothers Moo Joos Oatmeal Milk Stout
• Ayinger Oktoberfest

The Boards:

BOARDS SPOTLIGHT: Istanbul

This game has such a nice and simple mechanism of movement. It allows for great replayability. It adds interesting and tough decisions. And can allow you to mess with other players without it seeming like a “take-that” kind of game. I’m looking forward to playing this again.

• Camel Up x2
• Taluva
• Five Tribes x2
• Empires of the Void

Designer’s Corner:

I have made a lot of progress with the prototype for The Grand Illusion. I’m on pace to have it playable for our group’s Board Game Night this week.

I’ve laid out the gameplay foundation, which is quite simple mechanically. I’ve tried to include a system that will provide for some good interaction. And I’m just ready to play it. It will probably be horrible, but at least the logo looks okay! Hopefully I’ll have a report on Playtest #1 later this week.