Everything about Stately Play emanates from one fact: we like to think about games. That means we like games which give players enough time to think about them, and which don’t cause us to react with disgust. Mobile strategy games, wargames, quality tabletop games, puzzlers, interactive stories–these are prototypical examples of what you’ll see covered here. Our plan is to write about games so well that we attract commenters smarter than we are, who will show us new ways to think about games and push us to think about them better.
Our reviews are intended to help readers choose whether to play a game. That’s tough–not only do none of us have a view from nowhere, but we are also trying to simultaneously imagine many potential players and evaluate whether the game would suit their needs. It is nothing like perfectly objective, and we are uncomfortable with attempts to make it seem more so by attaching scalar values. However, we’ll try to let you know what sources of bias we think might be relevant; post-modernism is no excuse for wanton indoctrination.
Dave Neumann has a background in embarrassing his children and not getting much of anything done. A big part of that revolves around gaming, particularly tabletop games and their turn-based counterparts on both mobile and his Mac (yes, he’s one of those). He loves heavy, economic and 4X games more than he loves his dog (it’s an imaginary dog), but will play just about anything and has even been known to (poorly) paint a miniature here and there. For the past 5+ years he’s been the main source of digital game news at BoardGameGeek with @iosboardgames and was also the editor and news director of Pocket Tactics for longer than it took you to read this bio. Have tips or just want to chat? Send me what you have at dave@statelyplay.com.
Kelsey Rinella has a background in academic philosophy he’s still getting over, despite having abandoned it to be a stay-at-home dad since the birth of his first child in 2008. His favorite games/series include Playdek’s iOS versions of Ascension and Twilight Struggle, Honeycomb Hotel, XCOM, Civilization, Portal, Warhammer: Chaos in the Old World, and Magic: the Gathering. He’s covered iOS games for Pocket Tactics and ZTGD, and currently games on an iPad Air, iPhone 7+, Xbox One, iMac (rarely), Nintendo Switch, and various tables, including one of his own design.
Tanner Hendrickson has a degree in screenwriting that he isn’t using and a background in talking about video games online in some form or another from an (honestly, too-) early age. He’ll play anything that sounds interesting, which seems these days to mainly be puzzle, adventure, and RPG games. And Picross. Lots of Picross. He’s covered iOS games at Pocket Tactics and harassed Nintendo on Twitter about localizing Picross games. He has a Macbook, iPhone 6s, and PS4, but has a special fondness for his New 3DS and Vita. Contact him at tanner@statelyplay.com if you think there’s something he should take a look at, so long as it’s not medical. He is not a doctor.
Alex Connolly is a kindergarten teacher by day, English tutor by afternoon, family man by evening and — if those bloodshot orbs are anything to go by — geek and illustrator by night. He began penning game-related pith on personal blogs long since lost to all but the scrupulous of Wayback Machine cowboys, and of late has been known to write for Pocket Tactics, Wargamer and Permanent Beta. Gun to the head, he’d respond calmly with Wargame: Red Dragon, Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars and Burnout 2: Point of Impact as his favourite games. You can find him on Twitter at @alex_connolly and via email at alex@statelyplay.com.
Tof Eklund is a non-binary transgender parent, professor, and all-purpose geek. They teach courses in game design and game writing at Full Sail University, subsist largely on coffee and dark chocolate, and retain only the most tenuous grasp on consensus reality. Tof’s scattershot endeavours include creating mini-comics about Derrida and Deluze, writing feminist smut, and editing a RPG series. Their interests include story-driven strategy games, visual novels with sim elements, pixel art, games with LGBTQ themes, punk and antifascist games, and videogame surrealism. Tof’s ideal game would be something like Ravenmark meets Hatoful Boyfriend, just set in the world of Vangers, with a meta game like that in Sword and Sworcery. You can find Tof on Twitter and Tumbler @tofeklund. They probably have a Stately Play email address but can’t remember the password.