As the eagle-eyed of you have noticed, there has been a significant drop in the rate at which I post solitaire board game-related news articles both on my blog Table for ONE and subsequently here on Board Game Geek. A drop as in non-existent, which is about as big of a drop as they come. I will get to the underlying reason in a moment but first, allow me to provide a bit of context.

Back in the autumn of 2019, which was the time I launched my blog, I had officially hit rock bottom: I found myself deeply depressed and suffering from panic attacks due to several unfortunately coinciding life events that I won’t bore you with. The fact though was that I found myself in a literal and figurative position of sitting at home, basically trying to not succumb to the mental demons that were wreaking havoc in my head and soul. I concluded that I could either spend my time staring at the ceiling, or I could try to create an outlet, something that would keep my mind occupied. Since I had always been fond of writing and was playing A LOT of solo board games as another way to distract me from my depression and anxiety, I decided to combine the two. Hence, Table for ONE was born. At first, my output was fairly modest but then the thing happened…

The world was thrust into a global, widespread pandemic. Suddenly, social gatherings were prohibited and solo board gaming which let’s face it was not exactly on everyone’s lips prior to Covid suddenly became very, very popular. I could honestly not keep up with the onslaught of solo related board game news being pumped into the ether and even though I was unemployed and on sick leave, Table for ONE essentially became my “job”.

Fast forward to the present day and a lot has changed in my life, all for the better. I am feeling much, much better in terms of my anxiety (it’s still a work in progress and one that will be a companion for the rest of my life, a realisation that I am more and more coming to grips with and even accepting). As of October of last year, I am a doctoral student at the University of Umeå which is something I have dreamed of for many, many years so this is definitely something of a dream come true for me on several levels. It also means that between my job and personal life I have next to no time for posting and more importantly keeping up to date with solitaire board game news. There are simply too many fascinating, interesting, exciting games being announced at a rate that I cannot possibly even try to match. As a result, the thought of not posting news frequently enough is causing me stress and that is something I am desperately trying to avoid as much as possible. So, after some careful consideration, I have decided to put the Table for ONE news desk on hiatus indefinitely. I will still write and post reviews on my blog, as these articles are not associated with time demands and the process of writing still gives me great joy.

My sincerest thanks to each and everyone who has taken the time out of their busy day to not only read but also comment on my news articles. I also want to thank the most excellent Solosaurus podcast for featuring my humble blog in their news segment, I will always be forever thankful for their support and for providing me with the opportunity to connect with the solo board game community.

Sincerely,

Fredrik