Do you ever have that experience where an obsession just grabs you and won't let go? For many gamers, I'm sure it's common. Anyway, an obsession has recently caught hold of me, and it occupies my every other thought. I am currently obsessed with anything having to do with infamous game design and balance genius, David Sirlin.

Here is how my obsession is manifesting:

1. I already bought and read his book, Playing to Win, about playing games competitively, but I am reading it for a third time now.
2. I've read his articles about multiplayer game balance and design and other articles on his blog and on Gamasutra.
3. I bought Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, which he rebalanced, among other things.
4. I've spent hours on his sites (sirlin.net; sirlingames.com; fantasystrike.com), learning about his newest games set in his Fantasy Strike universe: Yomi, Flash Duel, and Puzzle Strike.
5. I received Yomi for Christmas and continually marvel at its design (and wish I had more people to play it with).
6. I recently built myself a test version of Flash Duel to see how it plays to see if I want to buy it. (I do!)
7. I wait anxiously for his expansion to Yomi, his new non-collectible card game in the works, and his eventual Fantasy Strike fighting game, and I scour the web for news and updates on these.
8. I've searched out every last review, podcast, and news item I can find featuring him and his games.

And I still can't get enough. His games astound me. His ideas and opinions fascinate me. I feel as excited to play Yomi and Flash Duel as I do to play actual video games! Board and card games have never caught my imagination like this before. Seriously, they are awesome games, and it will be some time before I am able to shake the intense grip of this obsession. This blog is an attempt to start that shake-off by openly acknowledging my fixation.

Any other Sirlin fans out there? Or Sirlin critics?

Happy GameSpotting!