As developers — especially game developers — we are naturally attracted to digital games: after all, video games are what we do; right? We are immersed in that world, we thrive for it, we learn from it, we discuss it. Because of that, we tend to forget physical games; in particular boardgames. However, boardgames may be much more than a simple alternative to multiplayer video game; they may be the best defense against mental health problems.

Luck is not on my side. I went to Milan for business, I’ve got the flu and stayed in the hotel room for the entire week. Is this a glorious waste of time and money? Probably. However, luck is a matter of attitude. So I have to think to this event as an important opportunity for reflection. (Yeah, I know…)

This month I am a bit late; I have good reasons! A lot of things happened in between the end of February and the begin of March. So, it is better not to lose more time.

It was the summer of 2018. I was a bit burnt out by a mix of anxiety, work and a bloody hot week. So, I decided to go to my parent’s mountain house. The plan was straightforward: go there, disconnect from the world, write fiction, read books, do long walks in nature. I wanted to do the things I used to do a long time ago when life was breezy :D.

However, after just one day, I found myself doing the same things I usually do at home: checking news, looking for interesting, reading opinions, checking Twitter and so on. It was then that: I did not know how to relax anymore. I did not know how to be creative anymore.

Here we are again on this monthly update in which I talk about everything and nothing — a small summary of what I am doing, arranging and brewing, both on tech than in life.

The new year has come and, with it, a plethora of new challenges! Life is never linear or straightforward: December has been the worst and the best month so far. Can January be even more disruptive? I hope not. Anyway, I am ready to face 2019 with the idea that this will be a year of change. Every year is a year of change, of course, but 2019 is where a lot of pending life-events are starting to pile up. So, or I make it, or I break it.

Here we are again for this monthly update. I wanted to put other blog posts in between, but I had super busy days; both in work, and in private life, and psychologically. November has been a challenging month. But let’s start from the beginning.

It is November. The Holiday season is upon us! And, most important, I am back after a 6-month hiatus. What happened in this months? Why it took so long? Let’s go over this step by step in this kind of “release notes” for myself.

Now that I finally completed my PhD studies, I started rethinking about my path up here. This is a path I started a long time ago. For some reason, this was the path I traced for myself since my childhood. When I was 10 (or earlier, I don’t really know for sure) I answered for the first time the question: “what do you want to do as a grown up?”. And the answer was “I’ll make games” (“I’ll make Mario’s game”, to be very precise).