I've played very small journaling games in the past (things where you imagine a house taking on the personalities of three generations of families--that sort of thing), and they are fun, particularly if you love creating stories (I do).

Letters to the Stars expands on this concept making the story creation unfold largely based on a tabletop RPG about space adventure. I play solo (which this game does support), but one of the strongest elements here is the multiplayer which involves firing off letters each turn to someone else (another ship captain? a home base? who knows?) and who knows if and when you will get a reply and how that will shape the game, and that makes it even more of an adventure.

If I were to play with my brother across country, for example, I think the ideal way, to make the passage of time a real element here, would be sending snail mail back and forth. Yes, that would make for a very long game, but space travel between worlds seems like a very long thing.

Besides, there is not a huge board with components that will crowd out your game table. It's pencil, paper, rules, and a few d6 (and for me cards because I've ordered the cards).

This is a really thoughtful (and different) game. :) John C.

Sandy Koufax reaches back and heaves his magically "jumping" ball toward the plate frustrating Mookie Betts to win the second Dodgers time travel world series!

This game is absolutely fantastic, and I've played stats-based baseball from APBA, Avalon Hill's Statis Pro, and Strat-O-Matic. For me all of them shine when you can pull out two legendary teams from different eras and play a "what if?" game that feels satisfying and legitimate.

Here, decades later, Deadball not only makes the game feel as if you are watcing the game play out in your head (I'm not sure how W.M. Akers has managed that, but, well, HE HAS), but the game is quick, easy to learn, not overly stats heavy. At the same time you get the sense that the games make sense. OH THERE ARE those crazy blowouots, but that's baseball! Unless you are totally wedded to box scores over "the game," this is the one you want. I've been on board with this system for years, but if you are new to it, go with the Second Edition; it incorporates all of the key variants of the prior books.

I've loved W.M. Akers's writing since his Deadball (game) books and his Westside series of novels. The writing style is vivid, laced with unexpected twists, and studded with humor. Critical Hit brings something new to the experience, it is inspired by the universe of Old School RPG's.

On my Kallax shelves, near my 1st Games Workshop edition of Talisman and the much-newer Gloomhaven I have a prized book on a display stand; it's my 1st Ed. AD&D Dungeon Master's Manual. I grew up playing early TSR Dungeons & Dragons and still occasionally find myself in a Pathfinder session with my daughter and her friends on Zoom. Video games? I have stacks of JRPGs. The dungeon crawl is a world I am familiar with. In Critiocal Hit Akers shows that it is his world as well. It's an adventurious "what if?" story of that world of graph paper and polyhedral dice and smudged character sheets coming real. Gamers, mystery buffs, fantasy/adventure fans have got themselves a real page turner here.

I had to chuckle at the last review because aside from Marshall Burke, a fellow I worked with while going to college, I have never heard anyone who had even heard of Syts-O-Matic Baseball (and they do still exist!). I sort of cut my teeth on Avalon Hill's Status Pro. I loved pitting ancient powerhouse teams against the teams I loved growing up.

This is a MUCH streamlined stats-based game (with plenty of interesting polyhedral die randomization which really feels like it reflects the swings of a team's season).

I'm new to Deadball, but I'm nearly through a fantastic set of series: '63 Dodgers V '81 Dodgers for the NL Time Travel Penant, '63 Yankees V '81 Yankees for AL Time Travel Pennant. Winners play in the Time Travel World Series. I absolutely love the tweaks you get from advanced rules, traits, etc., and it seems impossible that a dice chucker would make you feel and SEE the game unfolding in front of you, but that is exactly what happens.

This is not as math-heavy as many stats-based games, and that's good; it moves right along. At the same time it is grounded in the actual stats, so player strengths (and weaknesses) DO come to the surface.

I love Deadball. :)

The only probem with Quick Star is that you will want more. and More, and MORE! This is a fantastic game. :)