A personal blog about board games, science fiction and fantasy books, and the everyday life around them, written by Claire Donnelly.https://claireelsewhere.com/en-UShttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/what-thirty-below-does-to-a-tuesday/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/what-thirty-below-does-to-a-tuesday/A day in Saint Paul that had nothing to do with books or games, and everything to do with how a place shapes a routine you don't examine until it breaks.Wed, 19 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-first-law/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-first-law/Joe Abercrombie's grimdark trilogy starting with The Blade Itself, and the way it dismantles every fantasy archetype it sets up.Thu, 06 Aug 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe First LawClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/lotr-fate-of-the-fellowship/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/lotr-fate-of-the-fellowship/A choose-your-own-path co-op that leans on story more than most Leacock designs, and mostly justifies the shift.Fri, 31 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Lord of the Rings: Fate of the FellowshipClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/against-playing-games-alone/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/against-playing-games-alone/A mildly contrarian opinion about solo board gaming that I know a lot of people will disagree with, and I've made my peace with that.Mon, 27 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-forty-minute-rule/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-forty-minute-rule/Why I read before bed instead of doing basically anything else, and what happened the one time I broke the habit for a month.Thu, 23 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/dune-gf9/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/dune-gf9/The reprint finally makes this legendary negotiation game buyable again, and it's every bit as sharp as its reputation, spice-hoarding treachery included.Tue, 14 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTDune (GF9)Claire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-study-of-instinct/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-study-of-instinct/Tinbergen's foundational ethology text from 1951, not exactly beach reading, but the stickleback and herring gull chapters rewired how I look at animal behavior.Tue, 07 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Study of InstinctClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/ankh-gods-of-egypt/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/ankh-gods-of-egypt/CMON's area control game that lets the losers win something too, which is a much bigger deal than it sounds like on paper.Fri, 03 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTAnkh: Gods of EgyptClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-master-and-his-emissary/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-master-and-his-emissary/Iain McGilchrist's brain-hemisphere argument about Western culture, dense enough that I needed a notebook, and worth every page of the effort.Thu, 02 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Master and His EmissaryClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/arkham-horror-lcg/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/arkham-horror-lcg/Deckbuilding meets a genuinely good mystery campaign, and yes, I know exactly how much money this hobby has cost me since I started.Tue, 09 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTArkham Horror: The Card GameClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-grace-of-kings/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-grace-of-kings/Ken Liu's silkpunk reimagining of the founding of the Han dynasty, kites and airships instead of castles and knights, and a structure that took some adjusting to.Mon, 01 Jun 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Grace of KingsClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/godtear/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/godtear/No painting required, no army building, just a tight skirmish game, and it mostly delivers on that promise even if the champion balance wobbles.Tue, 05 May 2026 00:00:00 GMTGodtearClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/old-kings-crown/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/old-kings-crown/A hidden-role court intrigue game that lives or dies on whether your group actually likes lying to each other, which mine mostly does.Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Old King's CrownClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/teaching-ines-a-game-she-hated/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/teaching-ines-a-game-she-hated/A Thursday night that went badly, and the specific mistake I keep making when I'm excited about a game.Thu, 16 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/gloomhaven-jaws-of-the-lion/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/gloomhaven-jaws-of-the-lion/The gateway version of Gloomhaven that actually earns the word gateway, and somehow ends up being the one I recommend over the original.Mon, 13 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTGloomhaven: Jaws of the LionClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/explaining-base-rates-with-a-card-game/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/explaining-base-rates-with-a-card-game/A work problem that I ended up solving, sort of, using a game night analogy, and what that says about how differently people actually absorb probability.Sun, 12 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-stars-are-legion/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-stars-are-legion/Kameron Hurley's all-female, biological, self-healing generation-fleet novel, and yes it's as visceral as everyone warned me.Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Stars Are LegionClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/summoner-wars/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/summoner-wars/A tactical card-and-grid battle game that's simpler than it sounds and deeper than it looks, and the reboot fixed the faction balance the original was known for lacking.Fri, 13 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTSummoner WarsClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/ficciones/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/ficciones/Borges's story collection, labyrinths and infinite libraries and fake encyclopedias, read slowly over about three months because it demands that.Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMTFiccionesClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-index-card-thing/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-index-card-thing/A small ritual I do after every book or game, and why I still don't fully understand why it works the way it does.Sat, 28 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-game-i-evangelized-that-flopped/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-game-i-evangelized-that-flopped/A confession about pushing a game on people for months and slowly having to admit the problem might be me, not them.Wed, 25 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/sea-salt-and-paper/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/sea-salt-and-paper/A tiny card game about knowing when to stop, and somehow it's more tense than games ten times its size.Mon, 23 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTSea Salt and PaperClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/why-i-still-buy-physical-books/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/why-i-still-buy-physical-books/A stubborn, only partly rational reason I've never switched to an e-reader, even after multiple attempts and one genuinely good gift.Tue, 17 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-omelas-conversation-i-keep-having/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-omelas-conversation-i-keep-having/A short story I reviewed months ago keeps coming up in conversations that have nothing to do with books, and I've started to think that's the actual point of it.Fri, 13 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-ones-who-walk-away-from-omelas/Le Guin's short story about a utopia built on one child's suffering, and the specific line that I still think about a year later.Fri, 06 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMTThe Ones Who Walk Away from OmelasClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/thinking-fast-and-slow/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/thinking-fast-and-slow/Kahneman's System 1 and System 2 framework, read partly for work and partly out of curiosity about why I always overvalue my losses at the game table.Wed, 28 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTThinking, Fast and SlowClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/aeons-end/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/aeons-end/No shuffling, a hand-management twist on deckbuilding that finally solved my main problem with the genre, plus a nemesis AI that actually feels smart.Sun, 25 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTAeon's EndClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/rotating-whose-house-it-is/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/rotating-whose-house-it-is/A small logistical decision our Thursday group made two years ago that changed the actual shape of our friendship more than I expected it to.Sat, 17 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTpersonal_essayClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/his-dark-materials/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/his-dark-materials/Rereading Pullman's trilogy as an adult, starting with Northern Lights, and finding it hits even harder than it did as a kid.Fri, 09 Jan 2026 00:00:00 GMTHis Dark MaterialsClaire Donnellyhttps://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-ibis-trilogy/https://claireelsewhere.com/articles/the-ibis-trilogy/Amitav Ghosh's opium trade epic, starting with Sea of Poppies, and why I kept a running glossary in my phone the whole way through.Fri, 19 Dec 2025 00:00:00 GMTThe Ibis TrilogyClaire Donnelly