Games Unplugged
Gaming magazine (60 pages average)
Fast Forward Entertainment, Inc. - $2.99 per issues
Games Unplugged is a fairly new magazine that deals solely with non-electronic games of all types, hence the name “Unplugged.” They are headquartered in Lake Geneva, where our favorite game started, a fact I noticed right away!
Flipping through each issue, you are treated to the typical editorial, followed by a section titled Gameorandum. This part of the magazine deals with news and events in the gaming industry, all of which are rather entertaining and informative. There’s nothing like knowing what is happening with your favorite gaming companies.
Games Unplugged, like most magazines of its type, also has a Preview section. Here they go into some detail on specific games and accessories that will be gracing store shelves in the months ahead. It’s always a pleasure to read up on exciting new games that are in development.
The middle section of each issue varies from month to month, with articles ranging from interviews with game makers, features on the gaming industry for 2002, a listing of great games that have missed the limelight, to mini-games that can be played right from the magazine. There's always something each month to interest any lover of great games (the non-computer type ones, of course).
Filling out the latter part of Games Unplugged is a bevy of game reviews, which are everyone’s popular thing to read in most gaming magazines. The reviews follow along the lines of what I call mini-reviews, with each one taking up about four to six paragraphs. Of course there are always a few exceptions, with some game reviews taking up a page or more. Either way, the reviews are informative and helpful in determining whether or not to purchase the products they describe. As for the rating system, all games are ranked by the old school grading system, from A+ down to F-, making it relatively easy to see at a glance how a products fared in its review.
At the end of each issue is a column called It Must Be Thursday. Like so many magazines on the market, the last article is a sort of filler thing, with no real definitive topic. One issue they're talking about gaming clubs, the next they’re arguing about bringing women into a gaming group. Personally I don’t care much for this article, but it does prove a point about some gaming topics (sometimes).
Last, and not least, for those fans of the old SnarfQuest comic, it’s now a regular addition to Games Unplugged. As is the norm, it’s set in the back of the magazine, where (almost) all publication put their comics.
Wrapping up this review, I’d say that Games Unplugged is where Dragon magazine was years ago, and where it should be now! For those not in the know, this is a compliment, as years ago, Dragon magazine actually highlighted other gaming systems, not just those from TSR (WotC). If you love games of the non-electronic type, from board games to taple-top war games, you should definitely give this magazine a try. You should be in for a real treat!
(review (c) July 2002 / David Flemming)