Talk the talk

The mental skills behind planning, starting a task, switching between steps, and following multi-step instructions — the parts a complicated rulebook leans on hardest.

A small object — a spinner, a cube, a piece of putty — kept in hand to support focus or self-regulation, including during a long game.

A state of deep, sustained absorption in an activity, common in ADHD and autism, where time and everything else outside the task tends to disappear.

Enthusiastically sharing detailed knowledge about a favorite topic — a common and genuinely positive way autistic people connect, not oversharing to be corrected.

A meltdown is an involuntary response to being overwhelmed, not a choice or a bid for something — which is what actually separates it from a tantrum.

An umbrella term for brains that process, learn, and experience the world differently than what's considered typical — autism and ADHD are two examples, not the whole list.

The word for a brain that processes the world in whatever way counts as 'typical' — the counterpart to neurodivergent, not a judgment either way.

Being present and engaged at the same table without needing constant back-and-forth interaction — a completely legitimate way to enjoy a game night.

A pause taken specifically to step back from too much sensory input and reset, before rejoining whatever's happening.

The point where sensory input — noise, light, clutter, too much happening at once — outpaces what a nervous system can comfortably sort through.

How a brain takes in and makes sense of input like sound, light, texture, and movement — and why the same game can feel completely different to two people at the same table.

Chosen or designed with an eye toward lower, more predictable sensory input — not the absence of stimulation, just less of it landing all at once.

A rehearsed or planned way of navigating a social situation — knowing the moves ahead of time so the interaction takes less improvising in the moment.

A deep, energizing, long-running interest — common among autistic people — that someone returns to for genuine joy, not just a hobby among many.

Repetitive movement or sound — rocking, tapping, humming, fidgeting — used to self-regulate, focus, or process. A normal tool, not a problem to fix.

A picture-or-word sequence showing what's coming next, used to lower the uncertainty of 'what happens now' before it happens.

A pure-strategy game with little or no theme layered on top, like chess, go, or their modern descendants.

A theme-forward design tradition built on direct conflict and dice or cards driving the outcome, with story taking priority over abstraction.

A scoring style based on holding more presence in a region of the board than anyone else, rather than collecting points directly.

A game where players have genuinely different abilities, goals, or rules from each other, not mirrored starting positions.

A series of connected sessions that build on each other from one game night to the next, without the permanent changes of a legacy game.

A rule that gives players who are behind a boost, keeping the game close instead of letting an early lead run away with it.

A game where everyone plays on the same team against the game itself, winning or losing together.

A game decided by physical skill — stacking, flicking, balancing, or aiming — rather than strategy, luck, or reading the table.

A mechanic where players pick one item from a hand or pool and pass the rest along, repeating until everyone's built their set.

A mechanic where your early turns are spent assembling abilities and resources that combine into bigger, faster turns later on.

A design tradition built around indirect competition, resource management, and low luck, usually with a light or abstract theme.

A wargame style played on a hexagonal grid with cardboard unit counters, favored for precise movement and range.

A mechanic where one or more players move in secret and everyone else has to deduce or track where they've gone.

A game that permanently changes as you play it across sessions — stickers get placed, cards get torn up, and none of it resets.

A quick-to-learn, social game built for a big, loud group rather than deep individual strategy.

A design where a losing player can be knocked out of the game entirely before it ends for everyone else.

A mechanic that dares you to keep risking what you've already gained against a rising chance of losing all of it.

A game where players roll shared dice and mark the results on their own personal scoresheet.

A game where players are secretly assigned hidden roles or teams and must talk, bluff, and vote to figure out who's who.

A mechanic where players place tiles turn by turn to build out a shared map or their own personal board.

A design where each player starts the game with a unique special ability or asymmetric starting condition instead of identical options.

A mechanic where players place a limited number of pawns on a shared board to claim actions before anyone else gets there first.

Clear plastic covers that slip over individual cards to protect them from wear, bends, and sticky little hands.

Hobby slang for a game with so many pieces, tokens, and cards that setup and storage become challenges of their own.

A tower-shaped tool you drop dice through so they land randomized and contained instead of flying off the table.

A felt-lined tray that catches rolled dice so they stay put instead of skittering across the table.

An add-on set that extends a base game with new content — not a standalone game on its own.

The molded or custom tray inside a game box that gives every component its own spot.

The small person-shaped playing piece — first popularized by Carcassonne — that's now shorthand for board gaming itself.

Sculpted plastic or resin figures used as playing pieces instead of simple tokens or flat standees.

An individual board each player gets to track their own resources, score, or tableau, separate from any shared main board.

A small standing panel that hides a player's hand, resources, or choices from the rest of the table.

A fabric or neoprene mat, often printed with a board layout or play zones, that a game gets played directly on top of.

Small cardboard or wooden pieces standing in for in-game currency, materials, or points.

The booklet that explains how to set up and play a game, sometimes split into a quick-start guide and a full reference.

A flat cardboard cutout that stands upright in a plastic base, used in place of a sculpted miniature.

The small flip-top cardboard box a deck of cards ships in, sized to fit just that deck.

Games delivered to a short-term rental for the length of a stay, the same way you'd order dinner in.

A flat, one-way charge for a delivery trip — not per game, and not per mile inside our service area.

A refundable, per-game hold some rental businesses charge — not currently part of a rental with us.

A flat, per-game price for keeping a title across the weekend instead of a single night.