3B - Board Games, Books & Beyond

  Artificial intelligence has become impossible to ignore in 2025. It’s writing short stories, assisting with coding, enhancing accessibility tools, and — increasingly — taking a seat at the tabletop RPG table. Whether as a co-GM, a lore generator, or the full-on Dungeon Master , AI now shapes how players create, explore, and immerse themselves in fantasy worlds. For some, it’s a revolution: the most powerful creative ally since the invention of the digital character sheet. For others, it’s an existential threat. But the truth, as usual, is more complicated — and more interesting. How AI Found Its Way Behind the Screen AI didn’t arrive at the table in one leap. It seeped in slowly: First as name generators Then as random prompt tools Then as worldbuilding companions Then as virtual character actors And finally… as full solo-mode GMs Now we have entire platforms modeling party interactions, managing combat, or writing thousands of words of campaign content in minu...

  Not every game needs to be a tactical slugfest or a high-stakes dungeon crawl. In 2025, a quiet but powerful movement is reshaping both board gaming and TTRPGs — a shift toward cozy, comforting, low-conflict play . It’s a response to stress, burnout, and a global craving for gentler ways to connect. It’s also an evolution of game design philosophy: games that nourish, restore, and let players breathe. From pastoral board games and slice-of-life campaigns to journaling RPGs about tea shops and forest spirits, the cozy renaissance isn’t a trend — it’s a rebalancing of how we play. Why Cozy Games Exploded in 2025 Cozy design isn’t new, but something changed recently. The cultural moment pushed comfort games from niche curiosities into mainstream hits. 1. Burnout Culture People are exhausted. The endless treadmill of “hustle” has made combat-heavy and high-stress games feel… like more work. Cozy games offer the opposite: low pressure gentle pacing emotional grounding...

  Accessory Economy: Dice, Dashboards & the Side-Hustle of Roleplaying Tabletop RPGs have always been about imagination, but in 2025, imagination has an economy — and it’s thriving. Beyond rulebooks and minis lies a booming world of dice artisans , character dashboards , 3D printers , class kits, condition rings, spell slot trackers, VTT assets, and handmade props that elevate the tabletop experience far beyond the kitchen table. This accessory economy didn’t just appear out of nowhere. It grew from fandom passion, side hustles, the Etsy renaissance , and a generational desire to make every game session feel like an event. And whether you’re a collector, a GM, or a player with a flair for flair, the accessory boom has changed the tabletop landscape forever. The Birth of the Accessory Boom Five years ago, dice were dice. Now they’re artifacts . Character sheets were paper. Now they’re branded dashboards . DM screens were cardboard. Now they’re heirloom-quality narrative ...

  Once upon a time, tabletop RPGs were the outsiders of geek culture — fringe experiments that borrowed from other media but rarely shared the spotlight. Today, the tide has turned. Now it’s everyone else borrowing from them . From Fallout and Diablo to Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Witcher , 2025 has become the year of the licensed TTRPG . Game shelves, crowdfunding platforms, and social feeds are overflowing with adaptations of beloved franchises. But this isn’t just a pop-culture cash grab — it’s a sign of an industry finally being recognized as a serious storytelling medium. Let’s explore why tabletop licensing is exploding, what makes a good adaptation, and how this surge might reshape the next decade of play. From Niche Hobby to Narrative Powerhouse The idea of adapting popular franchises into TTRPGs isn’t new. In the ‘80s and ‘90s, fans saw everything from Star Wars to Ghostbusters get the tabletop treatment. But those early games were often clunky or deri...