The Joy of Discovering Hidden Gems
I have always loved to discover fun board games that most people aren't aware of. As a child I would gravitate to weird board games in book stores and comic shops that I had never heard of and would immediately become obsessed with them after purchase. I would also make it my mission to introduce as many people as possible to these "diamonds in the rough" that I had unearthed on my recent expedition. Games like Kinesis, Titan, and Lone Wolf and Cub are some of the games I found during these years that remain cherished parts of my collection today.
From my very first Gen Con, I've been in love with entrepreneur's alley: a part of the exhibit hall where all of the small release, indy published, and obscure games come to congregate and call my name. I've bought many a game from a designer or publisher that I had never heard of and in some cases would never hear from again because something in their sales pitch or description of the game peaked my interest. Many of these games have turned out to be duds, but every once in a while I've discovered a game like Outer Earth that is super unique and I will never part with.
On a whim one day, getting anxious to attend that year's Gen Con, I decided to start a YouTube channel talking about one of my favorite hobbies. It really did take quite a while and a lot of work before my channel had gotten large enough to attract the attention of some companies looking for me to review their games. The very first company to ever reach out to me was Atlas games with their new release, Cursed Court. Cursed Court rocks, but it is a fairly well known game. I was super excited when companies that I had never heard of with games I'd never seen started to reach out. As much as I absolutely love all good games and gaming, I get that special thrill when I'm offered a hidden gem to discover and share my opinion of with the world.
One of my favorite things about having a YouTube channel has definitely been sharing my joy with my viewers. One of my other favorite things about my channel has definitely been to introduce my viewers to new games that they enjoy. Games like NXS, Vivaldi, The Game of Y, Rally 7, Wizard's Garden, and many more have been a true thrill to discover and share.
I will of course continue to cover more main stream games. Atlas continues to be one of my favorite companies and biggest supporters of my channel along with many other main stream publishers like Paizo, Free League, and many others. Lots of these publishers have a consistent level of quality that I love. But there is a certain excitement that I get when discovering a new game from a new publisher that nobody is talking about.
If you made it this far, thank you for watching my videos and reading this blog. Thank you for letting me share all of this with you.