New Birth of Freedom (an Interview with John Poniske)

John Poniske is a life-long gamer and has been designing his own games for almost fifteen years, with a wide variety of titles published, available on VASSAL, slated for preorder systems, or still in the works. Perhaps his most recognizable family game is Leaping Lemmings, and he also has published a children’s game, Hugs. The bulk of his production is in war gaming, with an eclectic mix of both familiar and unique subjects; from Civil War battles to Native American-Colonial conflicts to the Haitian slave revolts. As a teacher, John sees gaming as not only an engaging hobby, but as an opportunity to teach and educate. His reprint of Hearts and Minds: Vietnam 1965-1975 (Worthington Games) just successfully funded on Kickstarter. Currently his card-driven, politically minded, strategic Civil War game Lincoln’s War (Multi-Man Publishing) is on Kickstarter and is almost 70% funded with 22 days remaining. We asked John a few questions about this title, which has been long in the making, and he was gracious enough to talk with us.

All You Need is Love (a Review of Hugs)

Aphenphosmphobia.  Don’t ask me to pronounce it – I wasn’t even able to type it!  But if you’ve got it, don’t play this game.  You see, aphenphosmphobia is the fear of touching, and so is naturally associated with clinical hugging anxieties.  In the game of Hugs, you’ll be putting the squeeze on so many friends and family that your face will turn blue and your extremities will go numb.  Yeah, the term “personal bubble?”  Doesn’t exist, here!