As I browsed DTRPG site looking for some printable board games or mini-games I stumble upon this publication. Since I wanted to learn a more about games in general and considering the company behind the magazine was Avalon, a name I consistently see over and over again the games I browsed (including many of them in my wishlist), I decided to give the magazine a chance (it is one Dollar anyways).

There are two documents included in the product, one of the PDFs has 13 pages and the other one 52, I thought they were different but they (at least) start the same, the 13 page PDF looks lik a cut down version of he 52 page version but I do not know really the reason of such an attached document, perhaps a mistake in the moment of uploading the product.

In the first pages reading the magazine I learned about a company called Metagaming that dominated the niche of micro games in the late 80’s and early 90’s (something I totally ignored so the investment in the magazine started paying from the first pages). The Map of the Month section is a promising one, the map is reproduced for printing a the one seen in the section is unusable due to the prominent non related text over it.

Advancing the magazine I found some comics sponsored by ComStar games, probably from their own intelectual property I clicked on the link to see their games offer but the site is dead. I can see the magazine has a varied content up to these pages and after the comics I found a serialized novel.

Adding fiction to the formula is a great move to bring variety however I had rather prefered a stand alone story than a serialized novel and with two pages per issue, this novel probably will take long long time to fold, easy pass, not interested in starting something I could eventually never end to read.

Next comes a section called Multiverse that seems some sort of scenario for a game called S&G (what does S&G stands for?) which I deduce is a war game from the company but unless you are very interested in this game this seve-page game report looked as some sort of “fill in” pages. The publisher assumes the reader knows the game and plays it but as a newcomer I did not find any use of this section so I passed it. I think they could keep in mind that every magazine is first magazine for someone and at least have made a brief explanation about the game so the newcomers could catch up with what they are going to read in the section. Next there is a section called “Paper Make It” talking about some sort of mapping software.

The Review section talks about an obscure (at least to me) game system that is also available in DTRPG. The magazine does not review anything mainstream so after reading almost half of the publication I think the name is misleading, “Game Geek” is too ambitious for this magazine “Avalon Game Geek” or “DTRPG Game Geek” could have been a better choice to resemble the nature of the magazine.

In the other hand you can find some interesting information about things other mainstrain magazines does not cover as it is the Decoder Ring Theater podcast. Although the magazine is perhaps 80% promotion for the Avalon games the price $1 is more than fair if we take into consideration the large expansion (apparently exclusive from the magazine) for the Battle Axe game and the discount coupon for the Arcanum game.

All in all, the magazine feels more like a newsletter than an actual magazine but still is a nice reading for a low price and if you love, play and buy Avalon games, this magazine is a source for games you would want to consider.

Initial impressions are a delightful ramble through a fellow gamer's head... starting with a muse from Robert Hemminger about the start of his gaming obsession (somewhere about the same time I began role-playing), and moving on to talking about the history of the micro-game concept beginning with things like Ogre and Melee (oddly enough I picked said games up in the past week, the originals having long vanished!).

Next is what's promised to be the first 'Map of the Month' - a fine tower just waiting for a wizard to move in. Unfortunately, while it looks good the 'map' is just a cut-away sketch, if you need an actual floorplan of the place you will have to make it for yourself. This is followed by a comic strip called 'Junkyard Wars' - not quite sure what that's all about.

Things look up a bit then with the opening of a story which it is intended will be serialised in future issues of this magazine. The Coral Thrown is a fantasy novel, and while it is a bit reminiscent of work done in a creative writing class, it has sufficient appeal that I'd like to know what happens next. No author is credited, alas.

Next, continuing the theme of a collection of material about games of all sorts, comes a battle report from an S&G miniatures skirmish. A well-detailed one, following the action play-by-play, lacking in analysis but describing what transpired clearly.

Sometimes it's a bit unclear what is article and what is advertisement - the next page explains how PaperMakeiT's onscreen map generation program works, but I think it's a ad from them rather than an article about them. You see, next comes some equally detailed explanations of a new character card for Battle Axe, the Avalon Game Company's table top skirmish game, but the main clue that this is an article rather than an advertisement is by checking who publishes this journal!

Next comes a piece about another Avalon Game Company product, the Arcana Fantasy RPG World... which would be easier to follow if not written in white on a very pale background. Even my usual trick with a spot of inverse video doesn't get further than eye-strain, an improvement on illegible but not by much. Pity, it seems to be a nice cavern system to explore... This is followed (in black type on a darker background of course) by a good review of a miniatures skirmish game from Wyrd Miniatures, best known for making miniatures but making a successful foray into game design, and an article about podcasts in true pulp style from the Canadian group Decoder Ring Theatre - quality productions with good voice talent and scripts.

Next is a rundown on new and forthcoming product from Avalon Game Company, chiefly the Arcana Fantasy World and a new minigame - monster steam-powered 'land ships' to send out to do battle... sounds fun! There's also some clip art, Orcs for Battle Axe and a couple of rather good-sounding books about fantasy sailing ships. Just in case you are still bored, there's also a solo game Armageddon Hour where you play a mutant-hunter prowling a complex looking for a mutant about to set off a mutation-inducing bomb, with one hour and minimal equipement to get the job done... and more, a board game where aspiring mages set their own victory conditions and attempt to achieve them to win the game.

Ahhh... and now comes what was mysteriously labelled 'Free Section' on the contents page. Bigger and better copies of maps shown earlier - including better pictures of that wizard's tower (although still no floor plan!), the map for the cavern-exploring Arcana adventure, and a Goblin Fetish Maker for Battle Axe complete with several cards for the items he can supply to your troops. The whole thing ends with a comprehensive round-up of Avalon Game Company product lines, which should help you decide which are of interest depending on your gaming tastes.

A (mostly) well-presented and visually appealing mix of personal reflection and company brochure, with enough to hold the interest, several goodies if you already play their games and sufficient to let you decide if you want to play the ones you haven't tried yet. Promising start, keep it up...