Jonathan H. Liu

Portland

Senior Editor at GeekDad

Full-time dad, @GeekDads Senior Editor. Tabletop games, books, Etch-a-Sketch. (he/him) Bsky: @jonathanhliu.bsky.social Not really here on Twitter much anymore.

Articles

Stack Overflow: Alien Intelligence

3 days ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

We’ve named ourselves Homo sapiens because what sets us apart—according to ourselves—is the way that we think. We are knowledgeable, wise, sentient in a way that other creatures are not… aren’t we? What happens when we encounter minds that are quite different from our own? Today’s stack includes a few stories of people encountering alien intelligences.
Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: The Return of ‘Whale Riders’

6 days ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

Whale Riders travel up and down the Ice Coast to trade, and with the coming winter, there’s time for one more trip before everything freezes over. What Is Whale Riders? Whale Riders is a resource-management game for 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up, and takes about 45 minutes to play. It’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, with a pledge level of $47 for a copy of the game along with the Whale Riders Card Game. It was originally published in 2021 by Grail Games, and APE Games has licensed it.
Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: ‘Fú: Festive Fortunes’

2 weeks ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

Celebrate Lunar New Year with tasty snacks and red envelopes!What Is Fú: Festive Fortunes? Fú: Festive Fortunes is a worker placement game about Lunar New Year for 3 to 5 players, ages 10 and up, and takes about 45–75 minutes to play. It’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, with a pledge level of about $38USD (50 Singapore) for a copy of the game, or $58USD to include the Feast & Flavour expansion, or $80 for the all-in level that also includes deluxe components and an additional expansion.
Stack Overflow: 4 Time Travel Tales

2 weeks ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

It’s that time again … again! Today’s stack includes four very different stories involving time travel. I’ve got a picture book, two comic books, and a novel. Or, if you want to look at the types of time travel: two of them involve actual machines (one of which causes a time loop) and two of them are more like mysterious portal situations.
Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: ‘Earth: Animal Kingdom’

3 weeks ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

Expand your options for Earth by introducing animals that will interact with the flora and terrain. What Is Earth: Animal Kingdom? Earth: Animal Kingdom is an expansion to Earth, a tableau-building game for 1 to 6 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 45–90 minutes to play. It’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter. You do need the Earth base game to play.
Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: ‘Solar Titans’

4 weeks ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

Assemble your capital ship and engage in space battle in this deck-building game. What Is Solar Titans? Solar Titans is a deck-building battle game for 1 to 4 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 30–60 minutes to play. It’s currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, with a pledge level of $25 for a copy of the game.
Review - Wonder Woman #20: Murder on Olympus

4 weeks ago | geekdad.com | Ray Goldfield |Jonathan H. Liu

Wonder Woman #20 – Tom King, Writer; Guillem March, ArtistRay: In the aftermath of the battle with the Sovereign, Diana is taking a bit of a breather – so of course, that means going into battle with the literal Gods. She gets an urgent message from her mother, Hippolyta – conveyed through a talking goat, as you do. Ares has been murdered, found dead in his bed – and Hippolyta was next to him, and is now prime suspect #1.
Taking the Mixx Revival 55 Record Player for a Spin

4 weeks ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu |Ken Denmead |Michael Knight |Mariana Ruiz

When I was a kid, we had two record players. One was my sister’s Fisher Price record player (circa 1978) that served as its own carrying case. While it was capable of playing full-size records, we were only allowed to use it for our 45s. I remember having several of those book-and-record sets (“when you hear this sound—*briiiing*—turn the page!”).
Kickstarter Tabletop Alert: ‘Dealers in Hope’

1 month ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu |Will James

Factions compete for territory in a world wrecked by climate change. What Is Dealers in Hope? Dealers in Hope is a deck-building wargame for 3 to 5 players, ages 14 and up, and takes about 90–150 minutes to play. It’s launching soon on Kickstarter, with a pledge level of $69 for a copy of the game, which will also include the expansion.
Stack Overflow: Curious Collections

1 month ago | geekdad.com | Jonathan H. Liu

A lot of people like to collect things, sometimes useful and sometimes not. Our house is filled with books and board games (probably not a surprise), but we also have a windowsill covered with rocks of different sizes, and a whole lot of mugs from different places, and way too many charging cables. My kids have collected things like the little plastic stands inside pizza boxes, little animal eraser puzzles, acorns, and late slips from school.