Category Archives: Games

The Puzzle and Game Legacy of Godzilla

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Godzilla has been a cultural icon for seventy years.

Across dozens of films, in a film market with hundreds of behemoths, leviathans, and titans to watch, Godzilla is still the King of the Monsters. Godzilla has battled humanity, aliens, robotic duplicates, and other kaiju, bringing joy and wonder to millions of moviegoers. Godzilla has evolved from personifying the specter of nuclear annihilation to representing the spirit of a proud nation against threats like pollution, environmental catastrophe, and war.

The cultural influence of Godzilla cannot be overstated. So you shouldn’t be surprised to see that it extends into the world of puzzles and games as well.

Now, sure, Godzilla isn’t popping up in crosswords on the reg. Xwordinfo tells us that Osaka has been clued a half-dozen times in relation to Godzilla (and Tokyo nearly as many times).

Godzilla has appeared in New York Times crossword grids four times (including one where they cross paths with King Kong). In comparison, fellow Kaiju Mothra has appeared in New York Times crosswords five times.

Godzilla and Osaka are both in this themeless crossword from Trenton Charlson on June 2, 2018.

But The New York Times isn’t the only publication worth discussing here. No, to truly appreciate the puzzly legacy of Godzilla, we have to discuss G-Fan magazine.

The art for this cover (and a half-dozen others) was done by my marvelous friend Matt Harris!

G-Fan is the premiere magazine for all things kaiju, especially Godzilla, and it was flipping through an old copy of the magazine that inspired this post. (It’s amazing what you unearth when you’re packing up your whole life to move.)

Among interviews, movie reviews, and wonderfully nerdy deep dives into various monster-centric topics, I stumbled across not only a Godzilla-shaped maze (pictured at the start of this post), but a crisscross all about my favorite skyscraper-sized monster.

So, naturally once I started, I kept digging, delving into the G-Fan archives and reaching out to JD Lees, the man behind not only G-Fan, but the annual G-CON / G-FEST convention!

He was kind enough to take some time out to discuss the puzzles periodically appearing in the pages of G-Fan.

What inspired you to start putting puzzles into G-Fan?

When I was a teacher, I would often include puzzles in the worksheets I created for students. I figured it was a way to increase engagement that was a bit fun and different for the kids. I found I enjoyed making them, so when I was creating G-FAN Junior, puzzles seemed a natural thing to include to break up the articles, add variety, and fill space!

Do you have a favorite puzzle (either in terms of topic or overall execution) from over the years?

I have a lot of fun creating the puzzles where a monster’s name is hidden in an unrelated sentence. I first saw this done with the names of the U.S. states and their capitals. I think it was in a puzzle book I used in my Grade 10 math class.

There’s a Godzilla Monopoly game. Is your affection for Godzilla potent enough to make you endure a game of Monopoly through to the end?

Ha ha! I look back and marvel at those long-ago times when my friends and I used to enjoy playing Monopoly. Maybe I’m just getting old. (Actually, no maybe about it!) However, I did buy the Godzilla version of Monopoly for the Gaming Room at G-FEST, and it was used. The second year someone stole all the kaiju tokens, so I replaced them with generic monster figures. Overall, G-fans are very honest, but thousands attend the convention, so I guess there will be a few bad apples.

Although he’s currently taking a break from G-Fan, JD did say he expects to construct more puzzles in the future (though they might not be so kaiju-focused.)

Speaking of the Godzilla edition of Monopoly, that brings me to the other half of today’s post: the legacy of Godzilla in board games.

The many ways Godzilla has been translated to board games. Clockwise from upper left: Godzilla Electronic Wargame (1984), Godzilla: Monsters Attack! (2008), Godzilla pen and paper game (1988), Godzilla: Kaiju World Wars (2011), Godzilla Game (1978), Super Godzilla Tempest (1990), Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2020), Godzilla: Kaiju on the Earth LEGENDS (2022).

There are literally DOZENS of board games inspired by Godzilla and the many kaiju that followed in those monstrous footsteps.

Alongside the aforementioned official Monopoly version, there’s an official Godzilla Jenga, a Godzilla version of The Incredible Hulk Smash (one of several dismal tie-ins promoting the atrocious Fox 1998 Godzilla film), as well as expansions for Cthulhu: Death May Die and an upcoming reimagining of the game Battle Masters called Battle Monsters.

Godzilla-inspired board games date all the way back to 1963, when the imaginatively titled Godzilla Game was released. It was actually the first Godzilla toy produced in the US and only the second Godzilla toy ever made.

In 1978, another Godzilla Game was released, followed by a Mothra vs. Godzilla game in 1982. There have been strategy games (like a pen-and-paper game in Swiss gaming zine AHA in 1988), dice games like Godzilla VS Kong from 2022, and loads of, quite frankly, fairly disappointing board games.

This trend has only reversed in the last fifteen years or so with releases like my all-time favorite Godzilla game, Godzilla: Tokyo Clash from 2020.

There’s also a curious pattern of Godzilla card games with names that go unnecessarily hard, but I respect the manic energy they bring to game shelves. These names include Godzilla: Stomp! (2011), the delightfully named Godzilla Boom (2012), and Godzilla Total War (2019).

Confusingly, there seem to be both a board game AND a card game called Godzilla Rampage, and they both have supplements adding other monster/monster-fighting icons like Ultraman, Gamera, and Daimajin to the mix.

But easily my favorite discovery as I strolled down the well-stomped memory lane of Godzilla games was this 1994 Hungry Hungry Hippos-style game.

From cutesy to vicious, from the pages of fanzines to coffee tables across the world, Godzilla has moved far past the silver screen and become part of the cultural language. People who have never seen a Godzilla film — yes, they exist, and we pity them — still know the name.

Bridezillas the world over owe their monstrous reputations to our beloved atomic-breathed kaiju. We know dozens of other monsters because of Godzilla. Rodan, Mothra, King Ghidorah… heck, even King Kong rides those enormous coattails from time to time.

And it’s fun to remember that even the world of puzzles and games is not immune to the mighty roar or the deep, deep shadow of the King of the Monsters.

Thank you to JD Lees, Matt Harris, and several chums from the Board Game Geek forums for helping me with this post. Be sure to check out the G-Fan website for all things Godzilla, and enjoy this not-at-all-exhaustive list of G-Fan issues with some of JD’s puzzles:

  • Issue #110, Fall 2015
  • Issue #109, Summer 2015
  • Issue #108, Jan/Feb 2015
  • Issue #97, Fall 2011
  • Issue #49, Jan/Feb 2001
  • Issue #42, Nov/Dec 1999
  • Issue #39, May/June 1999
  • Issue #37, Jan/Feb 1999
  • Issue #36, Nov/Dec 1998
  • Issue #33, May/June 1998
  • Issue #32, March/April 1998

Do you have a favorite Godzilla film, Godzilla game, or Godzilla pop culture moment, fellow puzzlers? Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!

A Monster Mash-Up Game!

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In honor of Halloween and all the delightful monsters that make for great movies, impressive costumes, and memorable moments, I’ve put together a game for you called Monster Mash-Up!

Some of these are film, TV, and video game monsters, some are mythical creatures, some are cryptids. Can you mash up two of these famous monsters by overlapping letters to create a proper monster mash?

Image courtesy of Psychonautica on ArtStation.

For example, what would you call seductive female demons hanging out in the Pacific Northwest?

Hopefully, you’d come up with Succubigfoot! (Don’t worry, they get better from here.)

Without further ado, let’s get to the game!

TWENTY MONSTER MASH-UPS!

  • A Canadian lake haunted by a Japanese kaiju?
  • Twas’ Boo-ty killed the beast?
  • A visit to Jabba’s palace gives you butterflies, sorta?
  • She has snakes up there and dune there?
  • Things get hairy in a flower shop?
  • More necks mean more bites? Or more places to bite?
  • A Mexican wailer looking for fellowship?
  • A blue fuzzy being beholden to the moon?
  • Nothing good happens after midnight, either when fed or lurking in a woman’s dreams?
  • An abominable way for livestock to go?
  • A Spanish devil with an appetite?
  • A serpent king of the smelly Everglades?
  • Straight from hell to an Asian desert with mysterious electrical flashes?
  • A bridge disaster of Biblical proportions?
  • From crimson kids books to Grimm’s fairy tales?
  • A giant giant Native American raptor?
  • A chimera in the Black Lagoon?
  • A First Nation monster, but small, green, and mean?
  • A shell of a way to find monstrous tangled rodents?
  • A horny Legend of Scottish folklore?

How many did you get, fellow monster maniacs? Let us know in the comments section below. We’d love to hear from you!

A Mysterious Halloween Music Mashup!

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This month, I’m trying to do one Halloween-themed post every week.

Last week was the 31 Games of October countdown, offering a different scary, eerie, or horror-fueled board game or tabletop roleplaying game to try out.

And for this week’s festive endeavor, I’m resurrecting a spooky musical trivia challenge from almost a decade ago!

This video is the brainchild of musician, artist, and comedian Ali Spagnola. Ali created a masterful mashup of 20 tunes loaded with Halloween spirit! Can you name all 20 songs?

I confess, I’m a little disappointed that Warren Zevon’s “Werewolves of London” didn’t make the cut, but otherwise, this is awesome.

And while we’re enjoying Halloween tunes, here’s another delightful musical offering. This one comes from D&D player, DM, singer, and content creator Ginny Di:

Did any of your Halloween favorites appear among the unnamed 20 songs in Ali’s mashup? Let us know in the comments below! We’d love to hear from you.

A Horror Game For Every Day of October!

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It’s officially time for all things spooky, scary, terror-inducing, and horror-fueled to take over for a whole month, and that should include your games! So I’ve assembled a list of 31 games fit for the season. Some are silly, some are tense, but all fit the Halloween vibe nicely.

So, without further ado, let’s get to the list!

OCTOBER 1: Betrayal at the House on the Hill

Let’s get a classic out of the way first. This game is loaded with various storylines to keep you spooked for hours on end, and its ever-shifting game board makes every play great fun. Controversial take: The Scooby Doo edition is the superior edition.

OCTOBER 2: Cult Following

Looking for a party game with a sinister twist? Look no further than Cult Following, the card game where you try to build the best cult and pitch it to your fellow players in the hopes of winning their hearts, minds, and unending loyalty. This is definitely on the sillier side, but the cult gimmick makes it perfectly Halloween-appropriate.

OCTOBER 3: Dead of Winter

If you’re looking for tension, high stakes, cooperative gaming, and the potential for self-serving surprises, it’s hard to beat Dead of Winter. The players are trying to survive the zombie apocalypse, but each player also has their own agenda (which might not always align with the group’s interests). This is an awesome game with plenty of replay value.

OCTOBER 4: Horrified

More family friendly than some other spooky games, Horrified is a good way to balance scares and good times. In this cooperative game, your group of heroes is pitted against some of the classic Universal movie monsters like The Bride of Frankenstein, The Wolfman, and The Creature from the Black Lagoon. You must work together to complete specific tasks in order to defeat the monsters. (There are loads of different versions. My current favorite is the American Monsters edition!)

OCTOBER 5: There’s Been a Murder

In this card game that’s quick to learn but harder to master, there’s a murder to be solved, and every card can help or hinder the investigation, depending on your motives. Will you help the Detective solve the crime, or will the Murderer dispatch the Witness and get away scot-free? This is a murder mystery condensed into a card game, and it’s brilliantly done.

OCTOBER 6: Werewolf

With the full moon, how could I not put this here? This is a classic social deduction game where a group of townsfolk are trying to find the werewolf in their midst. A great party game with very little prep, it’s always a winner. (For similar gameplay but different story trappings, check out Salem 1692 and Are You the Robot?)

OCTOBER 7: So You’ve Been Eaten

This is more sci-fi than horror, but I think the concept still fits the bill. You’re a miner inside the body of a giant space beast, and you’re trying to get your crystals before the beast’s bacteria turn you into so much bodily detritus. This game can be played with 1 player (as the beast or the miner) or with 2 players (the beast versus the miner), and it’s a peculiar mix of sci-fi horror and strategy.

OCTOBER 8: Dread

Ever play a scary game with your friends involving nothing but imagination and a Jenga tower? That’s the brilliant concept behind Dread, a horror roleplaying game where your choices lead you to pulling blocks from the tower, and if it falls, you die! With all sorts of scenarios to play, Dread is a new game every time you play. A perfect introduction to roleplaying games for anyone.

OCTOBER 9: Ghost Stories

The players take on the roles of Taoist priests protecting village from ghosts. This feels like a Halloween-fueled variation on Castle Panic!, given both the difficulty of the game and the relentless waves of spirits to defeat. But it’s a great time and one of the best cooperative horror games out there.

October 10: Ten Candles

Easily the bleakest game on the list, Ten Candles is a game about the secrets we keep until the end. This collaborative storytelling game after trying to endure as long as the candlelight lasts. It’s fantastically dark and makes you appreciate every single moment.

OCTOBER 11: Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go to Ghost Town

What if 20 Questions, but about psychics delivering pizza while battling ghosts? That’s the insanely creative idea behind Psychic Pizza Deliverers Go to Ghost Town. One player (the Mayor) builds the town and challenges the other players (the aforementioned Psychic Pizza Deliverers) to find a pizza and deliver it to the proper house in 20 turns or fewer. It’s bonkers, but with the right group, it’s so so fun.

OCTOBER 12: Welcome to Night Vale RPG

If you’re not paranoid or horrified enough yet, this is the perfect game to put you over the top. A roleplaying game set in the town from the wonderful titular podcast, Welcome to Night Vale RPG gives you eldritch horrors, governmental conspiracies, and all the weird your brain can handle. Fun and scary in equal parts, this is great stuff.

OCTOBER 13: Call of Cthulhu RPG

If you’re looking for mind-shredding scares and sanity-challenging evils, Call of Cthulhu has been the champion of the genre for decades. Based on H.P. Lovecraft’s legendary mythos, Call of Cthulhu has very human, very mortal characters dealing with unknowable cosmic horrors. Tension runs rampant in this game, so be warned.

OCTOBER 14: Terror Below

Ever wanted to test your mettle in a Tremors-style scenario? Terror Below is where it’s at. Featuring tense gameplay, beautiful design (especially the minis), and all the giant worms you’ll ever need, Terror Below is an underappreciated gem.

OCTOBER 15: Nyctophobia

There’s perhaps no fear more primal than the fear of the dark, and Nyctophobia uses that to its advantage, plunging all but one player into darkness. (Blackout glasses are provided for the players.) The now-blind players must try to escape a dark forest, while the one player who can see stalks them, removing them from the game one by one. When properly executed, there’s no board game more immersive and scary than this one.

OCTOBER 16: Float from the Deep

You’re lost at sea, with untrustworthy people on the raft with you, and strange terrors lurking in the deep below. Can you make it to the island in the distance before your fellow players betray you, you drown in the unforgiving waters, or something drags you into the briny deep? This survival game (that could be cooperative, depending on the cards) might start a fight at the table, but it’s gonna be one heck of a game night.

OCTOBER 17: Don’t Go In There

You know how kids are with haunted houses? They wander in, they get haunted by ghosts, and they desperately try to get out alive. This is definitely on the less-spooky end of the selections in today’s list (and one of the shortest to play), but it is still a good time and worthy of a spin at your table, especially with newer players.

OCTOBER 18: The Faceless

In this game that feels like Stranger Things but with magnets instead of powers, you must navigate your group around the board, following a compass’s directions, manipulating it with cards and the magnetic figures around the board. Part-strategy game, part-scary hunt for your friend’s lost memories, The Faceless is a unique experience.

OCTOBER 19: Nemesis

This is, hands down, the best way to play the movie Alien with your friends. Aboard a deteriorating ship, overrun with alien monsters, you can only trust your skills and your fellow crewmates… despite their own agendas. Oh, and the longer the game takes, the stronger the monsters become.

OCTOBER 20: The Night Cage

The light is fading. The tunnel behind you looks different than it did before. There’s something in the dark, and it’s getting closer. The Night Cage is brilliantly anxiety-inducing, so challenging and scary and atmospheric. I cannot say enough good things about this game.

OCTOBER 21: Arkham Horror

During the Roaring Twenties, you and your fellow investigators must hunt monsters and prevent one of the Old Ones, a great cosmic evil, from being released and dooming the world to insanity and darkness. This cooperative game puts a little bit more of an action-y spin on the Lovecraftian horror genre, but it’s still an engaging horrorshow of an experience.

OCTOBER 22: Mysterium

Nothing makes a game atmospheric like a murder to solve, and Mysterium goes way beyond Clue by having players work together to find the murderer. But there’s a twist, as one of the players is a ghost, and cannot speak. Instead, they offer visual clues to all of the other players, who are psychic mediums. The mix of clever communication and immersive storytelling makes this an excellent choice for a macabre night of gameplay and murder-solving.

OCTOBER 23: The Thing

It’s hard to make a board game capture the tension and paranoia of an all-time classic horror movie, but man, The Thing does one hell of a job translating the creeping terror of that isolated polar station at your table. Can you figure out which player is the creature before it’s too late?

OCTOBER 24: Grave Robbers from Outer Space

I love movie-based games that break the fourth wall, and this game hits all the high notes for that genre of gameplay. You are the producer of a B-grade monster or slasher movie, sending monsters or villains to attack the movies behind made by your fellow players. It’s meta in the best way, and a really good time.

OCTOBER 25: Sub Terra

Some horror scenarios are very simple and terribly effective, and this is one of them. In this cooperative game, you’re a group of cavers exploring a network of subterranean tunnels, and you’re trying to find your way out with diminishing light and resources. This tile-laying game is brilliantly claustrophobic and will get your heart pumping!

OCTOBER 26: Dead Man’s Cabal

Sometimes it’s hard to gather friends and loved ones for a party. Well, in Dead Man’s Cabal, that’s not a problem, since you can simply raise the dead and make them attend your party! As players compete to gather the most undead partygoers for their event, they can affect not only which guests arrive for their party, but the queue for other players’ resurrected guests as well. The dark tongue-in-cheek humor of the game only enhances the experience, making for a raucous and ridiculous time for all involved.

OCTOBER 27: Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG

If you want scares and monster-slaying, wrapped in a story-fueled package, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer RPG is the perfect way to get it. Told like a season of the show, you get to build your character’s strengths and flaws, battle the forces of evil, and maybe trigger a plot twist or two along the way. This is a top-5 roleplaying game for me. Do yourself a favor, grab some friends, and try it out.

OCTOBER 28: Mansions of Madness

Can you survive a Lovecraftian horror in a mansion? That’s the question posed by this app-assisted game that will have you in knots for hours. With numerous scenarios and game pieces to choose from, this hits a lot of the same checkmarks as Betrayal, but with a decidedly more sinister vibe. Plan your whole night around this one.

OCTOBER 29: Gloom (or Gloomier)

If you’re looking for a darkly fun game with shades of The Addams Family or Edward Gorey, then Gloom is the game for you. In Gloom, each player is the head of a spooky family, and it’s your job to make them miserable in hilariously ghastly ways before they croak. And as you do so, you regale your fellow players with the ongoing tragic tale of their fates. The gameplay is accentuated by the beautiful clear playing cards, which allow you to stack different events and effects on your family characters and still be able to see what’s going on!

OCTOBER 30: The Doom That Came to Atlantic City

Have you ever wanted to play Monopoly but steeped in APOCALYPTIC MALICE instead of greed? Good! In this game, you crush houses to claim properties, play Chants (instead of Chance) cards, and basically try to be the best doomsday cultist at the table, summoning your monstrous god to end the world before the other players can. It’s tongue-in-cheek and great fun.

OCTOBER 31: Endangered Orphans of Condyle Cove

Here is my all-time favorite spooky game. Everyone plays orphans visiting all the creepiest places in town, hoping to be the last one standing before the boogeyman gets you. It’s so gloriously dark and creepy and an incredibly good time. This one might be hard to find, but it’s so worth it.

Will any of these games be haunting your Halloween game tables, fellow players? Or is there a spooky favorite of yours that I missed? Let me know in the comments below!

Donate to a Worthy Cause with Power Word Meal!

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There are always worthwhile charitable efforts going on in the world of puzzles and games, and that’s true in the roleplaying game community as well.

Will of DnD Shorts is partnering with the United Nations’ Share the Meal program for a charity promotion called Power Word Meal, a charity venture with a simple, yet very important edict: no child should go hungry.

Every 85 cents donated means 1 meal given to someone in need. A $40 donation is FIFTY meals.

Tabletop game designers from all over the world are helping amplify the reach of this project, spreading the word across social media and contributing to a special gift for donors.

And there is a bonus for any RPG enthusiasts who donate:

Everyone who donates to this campaign can receive a free PDF bundle including an epic one-shot adventure and a new playable species for Pathfinder and Dungeons & Dragons, letting you and those you love play the heroes in your games that you are in real life. You are saving real lives while forging bonds and memories across the game table.

Please click this link for more information, and if you’re an RPG fan, just use your email to sign up for alerts, follow the instructions, and share the PDF receipt of your donation to receive your free PDF bundle.

And for those unfamiliar with the world of tabletop RPGs, you might be wondering about the origins of the name Power Word Meal.

There are a series of spells in Dungeons & Dragons based on the idea that you’ve learned a word of power, and that by speaking that single word, you can cause a magical effect. Power Word Stun, Power Word Blind, and most famously, Power Word Kill, are terribly dangerous, terribly effective spells.

Which makes it genuinely lovely to see that idea turned on its head with Power Word Meal, spreading the idea that we DO have the power to help others. Not with a magic word of eldritch might, but with a few clicks, a few screen taps, a few dollars, a few moments of our time.

So please cast Power Word Meal with us and make the lives of some deserving strangers better.

Thank you, and happy spellcasting, everyone!

The National Toy Hall of Fame Finalists Are Here! Still Time to Vote!

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This year’s contenders for the National Toy Hall of Fame Class of 2025 have been whittled down to 12 finalists, and the competition is fierce.

You’ve got classic toys from across the decades (Furby, spirograph, Star Wars lightsaber, Tickle Me Elmo), representatives from more physical activities (scooter, cornhole), board games (Battleship, Catan, Connect Four, and Trivial Pursuit), and even materials kids play with (slime, snow).

The idea of “play” is represented in so many different ways across these 12 finalists, and it really encompasses just how vast and varied play is, how much imagination and expression and creativity are reflected in all sorts of different childhood experiences.

Personally, I’m rooting for the lightsaber, Trivial Pursuit, and snow to make the cut. I’ve been a Star Wars fan since I was 2. Trivial Pursuit was the first trivia game I can remember playing (even if it was an edition intended for players way older than I was at the time). And snow is so fundamental to winter play — sledding, snowmen, snowball fights, DAYS OFF FROM SCHOOL TO PLAY — that it’s surprising it hasn’t already been inducted.

(Though I suspect Catan, Connect Four, and Tickle Me Elmo will make the cut instead of some of my faves.)

And voting is still open for another day.

Yes, while the final determinations are made by the National Toy Hall of Fame’s National Selection Advisory Committee — ooh, so formal! — the three toys that receive the most public votes will be submitted for consideration alongside the top three submissions from the Selection Committee.

Which of these twelve contenders would you like to see join such playtime luminaries as Lite-Brite, My Little Pony, the stick, the Atari 2600, and the Rubik’s Cube? Let me know in the comments section below! I’d love to hear from you.

And while you’re at it, tell me what toys you think should be in the National Toy Hall of Fame!