What is an “anti-fatigue” mat? One with a picture of coffee on it?
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Meant for places where a person has to stand for a long time. Reduces strain on your feet and legs. See them at cash registers and such pretty often.
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Oh OK, on Googling they actually sound pretty high-spec. Soft enough to cause less impact on foot motion, unstable enough to promote posture change, stable enough to prevent slipping, hard enough to avoid bottoming out or increasing fatigue, and restoring to their original shape on foot movement fast enough to do the job.
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The one I stand on for work cost a couple hundred bucks. I thought that was a little steep, but my former employer offered it, so I took it. your explanation makes it clear why they’re expensive.
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Yeah, and ours, I suspect, is from the Aldi’s “aisle of shame”, so expectations range anywhere between “exacting, German engineering” and “something you bought for $19.99 at a grocery store”.
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It certainly does sound like something where the “50% less fatigue!” from trials of hi-spec mats for 8 hour shifts on concrete floors has been appropriated to sell $20 vinyl mats.
(I wouldn’t know: I sit on my arse all day)
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Mine is also four or five times the area of yours, it’s about 4x6. It replaced a rubber bar floor mat, which was a lot better than nothing.
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I put up my first Ebay Kleinanzeigen Ad for a games bundle in… ages. Yay 
Hopefully, I’ll soon find a different owner for 7 of my games that will not get played again.
edit: and sold. I made a good price and something was going to carry the rest
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Brass: Birmingham has made it to no. 1 on BGG. Linked Eric Martin’s article as he’s caveats it with the usual warning about this game might not be for you.
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Interesting.
Perhaps Frosthaven’s arrival is causing the “algorithm” to devalue the high ratings of people who ranked both Frosthaven and Gloomhaven very highly. And maybe Brass: Birmingham has always been “ranked higher” but the same phenomenon occurred with the two Brasses
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I think it’s less arcane than that. People simply re-rate older versions of the “same” game so the new version can have a relatively higher rating. Same thing happened with through the ages.
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There’s a guy on the BGG Rallyman Dirt forums saying “lots of people are rating this game 1 because the company’s gone bust and they’re left out of pocket. So please rate it high!” Which, um, no.
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I don’t get either side in that argument.
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I see similar things on Amazon reviews. 1 star ratings because the package arrived late and the box was dented. Okay, sure, the delivery sucked, but how is the actual product? Could you rate that instead and be helpful to those of us trying to see if that product would be something we want?
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This Gloomhaven vs Brass: Birmingham nonsense is what happens when you make board gaming your entire personality
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Oh, wow, now it has dropped to 3rd. Well, c’est la vie
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Ethnos is getting a reprinted with a theme change! From generic fantasy art to errr… colonial[sic] exploration.
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Friends over for dinner… planning ahead I collected a few 7+ player games to offer up for desert. It used to be I would have real trouble finding games I wanted to play for that player count. Note: „Blitzdings“ (aka Anomia) is only 6 players I know… not in the picture is Deception Murder in Hong Kong. The youngest is almost 12 yo, so Deception may or may not be a good call. No idea if anyone is going to want to play anything anyway. The kids may just want to have a go at our PS5.
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If everything is political, then nothing is political; stolen from the Incredibles as a variant of if everyone is special, then no one is special.
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“Everything is political” can also mean “Everything I do that affects anyone other than me should be done with some consideration of the overall effects it’s going to have, not just what it’s going to do for me”. Which seems to be a good starting point.
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