Tabletop Gaming #110 Heads to war!

It’s been a busy end of year for Mantic Games, as designer Matt Gilbert breathlessly highlights the company’s major moves. With updates for both Epic Warpath and Kings of War, these refreshed releases are bringing conflict to a tabletop near you. Elsewhere, we ponder the history of everyone’s favourite new bogeyman: artificial intelligence. From Deep Blue to DeepMind, we ask what chess, Go and Settlers of Catan can teach us about today’s thinking machines.

And in a trifecta of terror (war, AI and the end of times – well, it is January!), we talk modern-day horrors with the husband and wife writing team behind Apocalypse World, who share the real-life calamities bleeding into their dystopian RPG.

Other highlights include…

BEST GAMES OF ESSEN SPIEL
With only so much luggage space, Chris Marling sorts the wheat from the chaff at Germany’s monster games event.

DRAGONMEET 2025 IN PICTURES
Owner John Dodd takes us through the photographic highlights as the popular games show completes its first year at London Excel.

LUCCA COMICS & GAMES 2025
Our epic Italian adventures included gaming insights with the Stranger Things crew, chats with bona fide legends Sir Ian Livingstone and Matt Mercer, and a catch up with asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler.

NETRUNNER WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Iain McAllister discovers how a game being kept alive by its devoted fans attracts 361 players from 29 countries to its showcase Edinburgh event.

UNBOXED: MOONSTONE
Creator Tom Greenway on the challenges of making it in the world of miniature gaming.

TALES OF WOODCREEK
Daredevil actress and GM Deborah Ann Woll and player Anjali Bhimani (Critical Role) on the liveplay game filmed in a 19th century town.

DISNEY LORCANA
Can you hear the Whispers in the Well: Gargoyles are coming.

REVIEWS
Our run down of the latest gaming releases is fresher than a newly cracked booster pack, including many of the popular titles from Essen.