The Art of Play

A few months ago I stumbled across a video on YouTube about a board game called Tak. Something about the name seemed familiar but I couldn’t put my finger on it. It turns out that Tak is a fictional game invented by Patrick Rothfuss in a fantasy book called Name of the Wind. I read the book a few years ago but I admit I glossed over the intricate rules to get on with the story but thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign it became a real game that you can actually play.

This sent me down a rabbit hole of trying to figure how I can get the game and why it wasn’t available to buy anymore. Lucky me, this game is almost impossible to find. To the point where people are selling homemade pieces on Etsy for hundreds of dollars. Still, I thought I’d try my luck at a few different board game shops here in Brooklyn to see if I could find the cheaper original one that was made. Spoiler alert: I have not found it. But that hunt did lead me and my fiancée to a small shop called The Art of Play.

The shop specializes in beautifully made board games, puzzles, toys, and anything else you’d make if your 6-year-old self had your adult sense of taste and endless money. I can’t stop thinking about a few items they had for sale, but mostly I can’t stop thinking about the genius name of the shop. I’m sure I’m not alone when I say that I used to play a ton of games but over the years they just became less of a priority as life happened. So I’ve been trying to find time for the art of play again and I think you should too.

in this issue

🃏 Playing cards

⚔️ Ghost of Yotei

🐭 Winter Burrow

🃏 Playing cards

The cheapest things for sale in the Art of Play were the playing cards, so naturally that’s where I gravitated to. I mean, how nice could a deck of playing cards be? Turns out very. I have a few fairly nice decks of cards lying around that I got from my days as a product photographer and I also have a deck from David Blaine (humble brag), but I never really fell down into the rabbit hole of playing cards.

I’m typically a solo gamer and unless you’re playing Solitaire I don’t know many 1-player card games. But these are so cool that I almost bought a few decks just for the visuals. There are plenty to choose from but the one that caught my eye was the Yosegi playing card deck inspired by Japanese wood marquetry.

⚔️ Ghost of Yotei

I know this game has been everywhere for a few weeks already but if you’re at all into games that are basically playable movies, you have to check out Ghost of Yotei on Playstation. This is the sequel to the Ghost of Tsushima game but you don’t need to have played that in order to enjoy this one. I didn’t. This game is absolutely beautiful to the point that there are a few times when you just want to put the controller down and leave the game playing as a screensaver in the background. Reddit is full of people getting some pretty insane shots using the photo mode. Fair warning, this game is not for you if you’re not a fan of violence.

The story follows a pretty standard revenge plot that results in a lot of blood being spilled (especially if you turn on the Miike mode for extra blood and mud) but if you don’t mind it then I can not recommend this game enough. I finished it last night and now I’m just going to pivot and focus on being a better in-game photographer so I can save some heat to my characters fictional 'gram.

🐭 Winter Burrow

While I thoroughly enjoyed Ghost of Yotei, that is the first game I have picked up in years that is not a cute, whimsical, cozy game. I’m more of a Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing kind of guy, which is why I got so hyped when I saw the trailer drop for Winter Burrow. This is an indie game where you play as a cute little field mouse and have to gather supplies to survive.

While it isn’t out yet, I’ve read that the gameplay mechanics are similar to Don’t Starve which is a game I actually have played and am absolutely terrible at. Thankfully, Winter Burrow is supposedly not as difficult, but even if it was I would still want this game for the hand drawn art style alone. It reminds me of old children’s books. This is what you'd get if you took Frog and Toad and smashed it together with If You Give a Mouse a Cookie and then made that thing a playable game. I can’t wait.

Special thanks to Cool Supply members:

Abstronautica

Taylor Cash

Ben Sorensen

Daniel Hernandez

Becca Farsace

Abraham Perez

❤️