In board games, my campaign of Tidal Blades 2 is in full swing, and we finished scenario 11 out of 18 yesterday. We usually get 2 scenarios played per session, and currently play about twice per month, so we will probably finish this campaign around the end of the year. My other regular board game campaign is currently on hold, as the couple we are playing with just had their first child.

One highlight of my board game life last month was the visit to the Spiel 2025 in Essen, the world's largest tabletop games fair. I was rather pleased with my logistics organization for that, including parking near the fair a day early, as you can't get parking there during the event. But while the organization went well, the event itself left me unsatisfied. It was extremely crowded, and so, in spite of me being there all day, I had very little opportunity to get some game explained to me. That resulted in me buying games based more on a quick look or on what was considered hot by BoardGameGeek. And then the first hot game I actually played after the fair, Covenant, turned out to be not that great, at least not for me. As I can't optimize my fair visit any further, I currently think that I won't be going next year.

When I wasn't away for the fair, my regular board game nights continued. From the games I brought, we played Dune: Imperium and Steam Power. From other people's games I played 7 Wonders Dice and Finspan; while it was interesting to see the evolution of the "X-span" series, I didn't like Finspan very much, and find that the series is moving into the wrong direction, with decreasing player interaction. I might not have been the only one thinking that way, as we finished Finspan in an hour and a half, and would have had time to play another round, but nobody even proposed that.

In video games, I cancelled my PC Game Pass subscription last month. Not really because of the price increase, but also because I won't be needing it much when I play EU5. Before that subscription ran out, I played both Endless Legends 2 and Metaphor: ReFantazio. Both of which I rated "I'm happy I didn't pay for this". Endless Legends 2 looked a mile wide, and ended up being an inch deep. In Metaphor: ReFantazio, I was missing player agency, with both the endless cutscenes and dialogue and the time limit getting in the way of me playing the game the way I wanted. So, yeah, this is exactly what I had the Game Pass subscription for, and I'll probably return at some point, but I'll play EU5 and other Steam games first.