My name is Tom McDonald, and I’m a journalist who has covered games for the past 20 years. I’m Editor-at-Large of Games Magazine, and the “Game Theory” columnist for Maximum PC.
I plan to use this site to talk about all kinds of games and play: board, table, card, logic, video, computer, and beyond. It is not meant to be an exhaustive news or review site, although it will contain news and reviews. It is, instead, meant to offer the perspective of one writer who writes about games for a living, and enjoys them in his free time.
I will not distinguish among different styles and formats: a new Eurogame may share space with a variant way to play a classic American game, and a discussion about shadow tag may follow a review of a new app or videogame. I also intend to write about playing cards and abstract strategy games, because I believe their elegance, simplicity, and familiarity provide a fine counterpoint to more complex adult boardgames.
Although I will write about "plugged" entertainment, I want to focus more on "unplugged" entertainment, particularly emphasizing simpler, traditional board and card games. I think we gain something intangible when we turn off the electronics, face each other across a table, and share time with a good game with pieces you can hold and move. In particular, parents need to make sure their kids don't lose contact with games that last. Card and board games have been played for thousands of years. The latest hot video game will be in the discount bin within a year.
Introductory Posts
Who Am I?
Why Am I Here?
What’s This Blog?
Resources
Classic Games
Eurogames
Contact
games =at= aptopub.com
Official-like Third Person Biography
Tom has been a full-time freelance writer and editor since 1991, publishing 3 books and more than 1,500 features, articles, and reviews in consumer, specialty, and academic publications.
For the last ten years, he has been Editor-at-Large of Games Magazine, responsible for a section of reviews, features, and columns in each issue. In addition, he’s written the “Game Theory” column for Maximum PC for 14 years, and is a regular contributor to the National Catholic Register. He has been a Contributing Editor and Columnist for PC Gamer, Computer Gaming World, T3: Tomorrow’s Technology Today, Game Players PC Entertainment, Cemetery Dance Magazine, PC Ace, and Computer Life.
Other work has appeared in publications as diverse as The Newark Star-Ledger, PC Magazine, Faith & Family, Atlantic City, The Thomas Wolfe Review, Fortean Times, Shaman’s Drum, BookPage, AudioFile, Mystery Scene, Armchair Detective, and many other newspapers, anthologies, magazines, and journals, as well as on websites like Gamespot, CNet, IGN, DVDReview, and many others.
He also contributed multiple entries to Supernatural Fiction Writers (Ed. Richard Bleiler. Scribner, 2002) and The Fine Art of Murder (Ed. Ed Gorman, et al. Carroll & Graf, 1993). In 1999, he created and wrote the text for a special museum exhibit on the history of golf games for the World Golf Hall of Fame.
Tom’s books include Sun Tzu’s Ancient Art of Golf (with Gary Parker Chapin), Sea-Cursed (Ed., with Stefan Dziemianowicz and Martin H. Greenberg) and Tom McDonald’s PC Games Extravaganza (published in 14 languages).
He is an experienced journalist, ghost writer, editor, technical editor, and photographer. In addition to teaching writing and mentoring writers, he has been a moderator, panelist, and guest at various writing and genre conventions. He is also a certified catechist in the Diocese of Trenton, teaching Church history and preparing students for Confirmation. He earned his BFA from New York University in 1990, with a double major of Film and English. Before turning to writing full-time, he worked in film and television production in New York.
He’s a member of the American Chesterton Society and the New Chaucer Society.
Disclaimer/Notification
As a working journalist who does regular product coverage, almost every game I have (outside of my private collection) is provided by the manufacturer. This in an industry standard, and does not constitute any kind of "promotional consideration." I have no intention of cluttering up my writing with constant reminders that I receive review copies, so consider this my General Notification for Bureaucratic Busybodies: I receive review copies. I have always received review copies, as does every working writer who covers any product. Review copies are a normal part of my work, and they certainly don't buy my good opinion, as you can see here.
+JMJ
