Alrightreads: Pan-demonium

Various, The Sixth Pan Book of Horror Stories

1931-65 (collected 1965) / Audiobook / 222 pages

***

I was expecting mouldy macabre tales, so the gorier and generally distressing ones caught me by surprise. I wouldn't have got through the dreary longer ones if they weren't being passively read to me on YouTube.

Faves: 'The Unforgiven,' 'No Flies on Frank,' 'My Little Man'

Various, The Seventh Pan Book of Horror Stories

1902-66 (collected 1966) / Audiobook / 239 pages

***

Mixes some then-vintage chillers with contemporary gross-outs and humdrum encounters with unknowable entities.

Faves: 'The Monkey's Paw,' 'The Last Experiment,' 'The Island of Regrets'

Various, The Eighth Pan Book of Horror Stories

1945-67 (collected 1967) / Audiobook / 236 pages

***

Notably shorter and snappier, often literally. I've stopped paying as much attention, to be honest, except when there's a jarring historical or disturbed child.

Faves: 'Playtime,' 'The Bean-nighe,' 'The Brindle Bull Terrier'

Various, The Ninth Pan Book of Horror Stories

1947-68 (collected 1968) / Audiobook / 252 pages

****

More surprisingly vicious and graphic yarns from before they were allowed to show that shit in films.

Faves: 'The Fly,' 'Thou Shalt Not Suffer a Witch,' 'Old Feet'

Various, The Tenth Pan Book of Horror Stories

1958-69 (collected 1969) / Audiobook / 236 pages

**

A distinctly pervier and sexist batch at the end of the decade, maybe they'd worn out the good writers by now.

Faves: 'The Necklace,' 'The Fat Thing,' 'Magical Mystery Trip'

Alrightgames: Sushi Go Party!

Sushi Go Party!

2016 / Card game / 2-8 players

****

A premature impulse purchase when the six year old went briefly crazy for the original game for about a day over Christmas, it went straight into indefinite storage until such time as she got re-obsessed and demanded more sushi or when we just needed something new to do, which turned to be the next half term break.

The equivalent of an unlocked game-of-the-year edition of the card game, this bigger box replaces the original in every way except portability, which wasn't enough to keep it from being eBayed. The new dishes are quick to learn and varied enough to reignite her interest for a while, at least. I mean, it's no Sailor Moon Monopoly or Monster High: Share or Scare.

Alrightgames: Some Gloom of Kilforth expansions

Some Gloom of Kilforth expansions

As a Kickstarter project, all manner of extravagant and unnecessary extras are available for the photogenic RPG, now at more affordable prices since their formerly devoted backers largely moved on and I can scavenge the scraps. I don't really need to upgrade from cardboard standees to miniatures, or to buy alternate art packs where they show slightly more cleavage (which actually exist), but a bit of variety's always nice.

Promo Pack 2 **

This puny pack isn't worth more than the couple of pounds I bid for it. Encounters with boom sticks and aliens are a bit out of place, and the alternate art card's pointless, but the versatile vagabond's helpful at least, and friendlier than the one in Stew. I later found a more worthwhile use for these when mocking up one of the sequel games on the cheap (work in progress).

Gloom of the North Fan Expansions *****

Finding some mysteriously home-printed Sagas in my second-hand game box, I tracked them to a fan site and discovered other passionately and clinically crafted free resources that I've already started mixing in to give the game legs. It's enough to inspire you to come up with your own, if you're the sort of person who can be bothered with that sort of thing.

Bitter Nights ***

Another fan variant for those repetitive Night cards that simplifies it to two lists and dice rolls. Using numbered cards from The Game makes it even simpler, even if they clash with the atmosphere somewhat.

Alrightgames: Gloom of Kilforth

Gloom of Kilforth: A Fantasy Quest Game

2017 / Roleplaying card/board game / 1-4 players

****

Another chapter in the saga to find my solo RPG comfort zone, from restrictive gamebooks and tedious journalling to impenetrable ordeal Machina Arcana, this repetitive activity of hopping around a scenic grid collecting keywords is more Advanced Forbidden Island than Morrowind, giving players the freedom to weave disparate prompts and random encounters into a coherent narrative or not bother as they see fit, and I always come away feeling like I've had an immersive experience. It's mainly noteworthy for its stunning art that helps with that immersion, even if much of the cast seems to have wandered in from a porn parody.

Alrightgames: Eiyo expansions

The Matchbox Collection: Eiyo expansions

If the samurai survival simulator somehow wasn't challenging enough already, here's some more flagellation.

Path of the Warrior ***

This is included in the main rulebook, but it's in the same spirit. I like to add these pests in so I have someone to blame when I clearly almost win.

Fukushuu **

Another boss of medium scariness added to the random draw options, this could have been worse, so I don't have to yell his name as a curse.

Adversity *

A super hard mode that's just taking the piss, I'm not going to bother.

Alrightgames: Eiyo

The Matchbox Collection: Eiyo

2020 / Card game / 1-2 players

****

How do you encapsulate the struggle of a lone samurai fending off an enemy horde in card game form? By making it overwhelmingly hard, that's how! The theme comes through nicely with the directional attacks and metal shield tokens (it's not humanly possible to play this without vocalising sound effects), which was encouragement to keep honing my skills to the point where I can almost succeed, when luck's on my side and I don't include the sadistic mini expansions. I won't use the little samurai figures for the two-player mode, but they've found honourable employment in Carcassonne.

Alrightgames: Sprawlopolis expansions

Sprawlopolis expansions

Sprawlopolis is a delicately-balanced game in just 18 cards, so naturally they had to release a bunch of expansions to ruin that. I don't love all of them, but it's nice to have the variety. Combining them all into a 32-card metropolis somehow maintains the balance (meaning I still narrowly lose on average), but unusually for me, I prefer to play with the basic cards most of the time. Being small and fast is sort of the point.

Wrecktar **

The first one I tried out, because silly. Its devastation is relative to how early or late it emerges from the deck, but having the fire-breathing colossus rampaging through your commercial districts is generally less trouble than it should be.

Points of Interest **

Mildly handy as half of an extra starting card and potential bonuses at the end, but in practice it tends to get buried and forgotten about.

Construction Zones ***

Describing itself as an "irritation" wasn't the best first impression, but they aren't too hard to deal with, and it's a nice dynamic element to bring you back to the theme if you've started seeing abstract colours and lines.

Beaches ****

Hard edges that punish and reward in the customary delicate balance while also just looking nice, this is easily my favourite of the expansions. They could have taken it further and made some kind of Seafarers of Sprawlopolis.

Interstate ***

Mainly designed to make the turn-taking puzzle a more viable two-player activity, the solo mode of taking turns on alternating sides also makes for an interesting change-up, though I don't use it very often, preferring not to hasten the inevitable mental breakdown.

48 Alternate Sprawlopolis Scoring Conditions (Fan Variant) *****

The permutations may be vast, but the 18 standard scoring conditions get familiar before long. BoardGameGeek user parchmentEngineer devised additional tasks, including putting the Points of Interest to use. Handy, clever and free, what's not to like?

Alrightgames: Sprawlopolis

Sprawlopolis

2018 / Card game / 1-4 players

*****

Ever since an X-Files knock-off of Circle the Wagons introduced me to the microscopic realm of Button Shy wallet games, I'd been particularly intrigued by this erratic urban planning puzzle, and I finally saw it for a bargain price (along with the expansions and sequel), so I didn't have to settle for a buggered-up print and play. The hype I'd built up for this 18-card microtropolis was deserved, as randomised goals and ongoing obligations merge and clash to create an ever-changing solo challenge that I even win occasionally. It may be less enchanting than solo classic Onirim, but it's a lot less hassle.

Alrightgames: 7 Wonders Duel – Pantheon

7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon

2016 / Card drafting game expansion / 2 players

****

Adding gods to an already convoluted game makes things more complicated, as in life. While the base game didn't need any fixing, this expansion adds variety, atmosphere and more interpersonal drama that at the very least makes it a worthy variant. I miss the guild cards, but the temples add tension in the final stretch, and adding extra wonders and tokens to the mix probably tips it into essential. Besides, the board would look naked now without the add-on. Hey, what are all those notches on the other side for...?

Alrightgames: Monopoly Expansion – Free Parking Jackpot

Monopoly Expansion: Free Parking Jackpot

2025 / Board game expansion pack / 2-6 players

**

Another one of these, but only after the young Monopoly fan agreed I could try to sell one of her outgrown Junior versions (it went to a charity shop in the end) and one of her disappointing Christmas games as an exchange. It's not as fun or crazy as Buy Everything, being closer to the normal game with loads of freebies and blowout jackpots to swing things (with more end conditions imposed), but you can combine the two to drive out even further from the centre and any sense of monetary value. Technically, you can't combine them, but you can.