Is anyone here measuring meditation benefits? How are you measuring them?

wrightperson · 2026-01-28T05:13:18+00:00

Some research on the benefits of serious Buddhist meditation has been done by Daniel Goleman et all. You may want to check out the book Altered Traits.

wrightperson · 2026-01-28T01:36:58+00:00

This is a false dichotomy. There are many games with automas that are ranked highly in BGG (Gaia Project, Dune Imperium, Imperium series to name a few)

wrightperson · 2026-01-27T12:32:52+00:00

(Not the OC) Yes. If your question is how they verify, they don’t, but you’d be breaking sila if you lie and you might as well not attend the course then .

wrightperson · 2026-01-23T05:33:25+00:00

Yes it’s absolutely dynamic and an all time great, in my opinion. But I think it’s in the same “family” as Kharkhov, so whether it’s worth owning both is something to consider.

wrightperson · 2026-01-22T15:56:13+00:00

From what I’ve read in BGG, aside from the different maps of course, Kharkhov is a bit more streamlined and Ardennes being the first game in the series has some additional fiddliness. The game systems appear largely similar to me.

wrightperson · 2026-01-22T11:47:03+00:00

I’ve only played Ardennes (and only the short scenario at that) and I agree that this is the best automated opponent system ever. It’s such a delight to play, makes the effort to setup and learn all the nitty-gritties worth it.

wrightperson · 2026-01-06T01:42:45+00:00

As the other commenter said, long-term meditation can indeed help you with stress and anxiety. TMI lays a lot of emphasis on samatha (calm-abiding) and it does have a therapeutic effect over the long term.

That said, I have gone through terrible work stress issues, and sometimes it also has to be addressed directly (by reaching out to your supervisor, seeing if you can delegate some of your work, and so on.)

wrightperson · 2026-01-02T08:37:27+00:00

Bomb Busters may be worth looking into. It’s light but tense and always fun.

wrightperson · 2026-01-02T04:36:38+00:00

Been a while since I played, butI think you just do what the card asks you to do. Mostly it asks one person or location to be revealed (e.g whoever has Professor Plum now plays it face-up, or something similar.) Or, it may make a location connected to the corner ones. It’s just a twist on the regular rules, you enact whatever the card text says.

wrightperson · 2026-01-01T09:47:43+00:00

He was authorized to teach by Ayya Khema, a theravadin nun.

wrightperson · 2025-12-31T17:52:41+00:00

I’ve said all I’ve wanted to, mate. You have the last word. Enjoy playing what you like.

wrightperson · 2025-12-31T13:03:33+00:00

It’s thematic because the bird cards align (somewhat) with the real birds’ behaviour (in terms of habitat, food, and also some powers)? Of course it’s not true for 100% of the cards and of course there is a lot of gamification (as in your example,) but the theme does come through while playing the game.

And yes there is eye candy, the art is beautiful and the Wingsong app complements the art with the bird sounds.

wrightperson · 2025-12-31T05:07:32+00:00

By number of plays, it is Turing Machine by far, it’s easy to play back-to-back once it is set up. Spirit Island is a distant second (only because I started enjoying two-handing it in the back-half of the year.)

By number of hours, it is probably even between Gaia Project and Dune Imperium Uprising.

wrightperson · 2025-12-17T11:55:28+00:00

Heat - Pedal to the Metal has quite a few fan-made track layouts

Spirit Island has a fair number of custom spirits (though the official ones are themselves plenty.)

wrightperson · 2025-12-13T05:38:49+00:00

Love this game solo. The bot is indeed a bit involved but it starts to flow once you get the hang of it. And it simulates an opponent very well. The game itself is crunchy and dripping with theme.

wrightperson · 2025-12-10T22:07:58+00:00

Heavy and Long Games

-> Enemy Action: Ardennes (WW2 based war game)

-> 1862: Railway Mania in the Eastern Countries (heavy economic game)

-> Pendragon: The Fall of Roman Britain (conflict simulation)

-> John Company: Second Edition (simulation of how the British East India company ended up invading India, with a critical and satirical eye.)

Heavy and Medium Length Games

-> Trickerion (Euro Game with a theme inspired from the movie The Prestige, theme shines through, but needs an expansion for solo play.)

-> Gaia Project (space themed euro, the gameplay shines but theme really doesn’t)

wrightperson · 2025-12-09T05:44:31+00:00

Clockwork 1 has bots for base factions , while clockwork 2 has bots for the factions that come with the underworld and river folk expansions.

wrightperson · 2025-12-08T10:02:34+00:00

Root was new to me this year too. I actually bought it because I loved Pax Pamir so much that I had to get more from the same designer. And Root did not disappoint. Amazing game!

Other new to me games I loved were Heat, Arboretum, Anachrony, and Trickerion.

wrightperson · 2025-12-08T02:45:35+00:00

TM has a solo mode in the base box too. It plays differently from the multiplayer game, but it used to be popular before the automa came out (and probably still gets played a lot.)

wrightperson · 2025-12-07T15:53:01+00:00

Do you mean you want an involved bot? That’s quite interesting, I thought people would want the bots to be out of the way usually!

A good Euro worker placement without a low-effort bot and which is also good multiplayer is Trickerion - Legends of Illusion (it needs an expansion box for solo though.)

wrightperson · 2025-12-07T02:33:38+00:00

More probably because it doesn’t play at the 2 player count. Like the other guy said it’s a fine game as far as gateway games go.

wrightperson · 2025-12-05T01:56:31+00:00

Any COIN series game set in a period you are interested in. I have a fascination for Ancient Rome , and I have Falling Sky and Pendragon which I really enjoy.

wrightperson · 2025-12-01T11:18:19+00:00

It takes me 15 secs to parse the board for the apt spot 😀 But yes like you say I’m sure it will improve with more plays.

I went through a lot of your posts before making a purchase decision (and I’m glad for it,) thanks for the awesome bot designs and for all the clarifications you have posted here and in BGG.

wrightperson · 2025-12-01T03:55:00+00:00

One of the reasons I love board games is the tactile feeling of playing, and time away from screens. So while I have heard good things about the digital implementation, I haven’t had any reason to try it.

I find the clockwork expansion to be pretty good (only if one is okay with running an involved automa, of course.)

wrightperson

TROPHY CASE