Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Six Months of Gone Gaming

I received my first letter from Coldfoot on July 24. Gone Gaming began on August 1st.
The GG:BGIA call for nominations began on December 25, 2005, and posted results on Jan 30, 2006.


The original Gone Gaming byline, which had to be 500 characters or less:
If you look you'll never find me
I've gone gaming I'll be back
Got to finish what I started
Got a few things on my stack
Got to ship a few more barrels
Got to trade a brick or two
Got to buy some more provisions
Got to run this train on through
Got to roll a few more 6's
Got to draw a few more cards
Got to shake hands with my neighbors
'Fore I'm back in my backyard
But if you look up to the night sky
That's my spaceship passing by
Give a wave That's me inside her
It's farewell but not goodbye



A six month index, Aug '05 - Jan '06 (tags are arbitrary and inconsistent):


Coldfoot


Black Friday/Advanced Civ (strategy)
Bloglines gave me my life back. ASL threatens to take it away. (review)
Christmas in October? (report:Age of Steam)
Game Store Confidential: The Other Side of the Counter (social)
IGA nominees. (info)
It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you spin the session report. (winning, review: Mesopotamia, Star Wars Miniatures, Descent, Railroad Tycoon)
Musings, Ramblings and More Ramblings. (personal, cons)
On Spiel des Geek (awards)
Post-Season Wrap-Up (board game sites)
Powergrid. View from the rear. (report)
Searching for a tagline. (blogging)
Sound Familiar? (wizard needs games, badly)
The Candamir / Tower of Babel Conundrum (buying, blogging)
Vacation Surprises (review:game store)
Help! What's The Best Game to Introduce to a Non-Gaming Co-Worker? (hobby)
Welcome to Gone Gaming (admin)
Well, I just got up, what did you expect, brilliance? (wife's top games, blogging)
Winter in Alaska. Perfect Gaming Weather. I Mean... If You Can Keep Your Water Pipes From Freezing. (personal)

GROGnads


A time to savor graces & blessings (Katrina)
Beginning of the 'Regular' Football Season (minis)
ch-ch-ch-CHANGES! (BGG, Eurogamers)
Christmas & Hannukah are HERE and so am 'I' (happy holidays)
Guy on the "fly" (blogging, BGG.con)
Happy New Year's Day! (BGWS, dream gaming)
MOVIES that could become GAMES! (movie themes, plactic spaceships)
Must be the 'Season' of the "Twitch" (sports, edible components)
NEWS of the Day (blogging)
Playoffs and their RESULTS (sports, geekchat)
Shades of 'Grey' matters to come! (Blogging, minis)
Shape of things to become (component cost, game comboes)
So far Travels & Travails (personal)
Something I'm going to go ahead and TRY (variant:American Revolutionary War)
Speculative Gaming (Hasbro/AH, A&A minis)
Stating the case for ''state of the art'' (bits, expansions, criticism)
Stuck & Deserted without a 'CON' I can Game within (cons)
*Surprise!*Surprise!*Surprise!* (minis, BGG)
"Take 10" guest John 'Scrib' O'Haver (interview)
The Göt Nüttin Report (shopping, A&A)
The issue WITH Re-issues (re-issues, rights)
The latest in GAME expounding & expanding! (variant:the Russian Campaign)
Upon the past Week (BGG, A&A minis)
VARIANTs and their issuance (variants, rights)
WELCOME to ''the machine'' (blogging)
What the Fudgesickle? Game Considerations (designing, dice tower, conquestnw)
WHY I should ''give any 'chits'!'' (minis)

sodaklady


A Christmas Carol for Gamers (poem, review:Amun-Re)
A Miserable Week (personal)
Antidote for a Hectic Life (social, review:Rheinlander)
A Winter Game (cats)
Deal 'Em (cards, report:Ta-Yu)
Games, Games and More Games (shopping, review:Dvonn, reports:misc)
Happy Holiday (poem)
Happy New Year (5&10, review:Flandern 1302)
I've Located the Problem (game speed, review:Hacienda)
Learn History Through Games (education, shopping)
Name and Number Contest (contest, review:Fjords)
Play Me (personal, not shopping)
Print, Motrin and Play (making games)
Say Hello to: (interview)
Scary Stuff (gamers, review:Das Ende Des Triumvirats)
Stop Looking at Me Like That! (Katrina, social)
Techniques to Recruit The Non-gamer in Your Home (social, review:Architekton, personal)
The Addict (social, reviews:Robo Rally,Attika, personal)
The First Play Attitude (learning the game, review:Santorini)
The Game Psychiatrist (waiting, review:Vinci, poem)
The Teacher Gets and "F" (report:Hansa, personal)
The Yellow Brick Score Track (shopping, review:Fjordes, personal)
Today's Theme is Theme ("pasted" themes, reports:Stephenson’s Rocket,TtD,Taj Mahal)
Warning: This Blog May Cause Choking (humor, contest results, report:Ta Yu)
What Was Your Name Again? (personal, reviews:Bridges of Shangri-La,Taj Mahal)
Why Do I Need So Many Games? (personal, teaching games)
Would You Like to Play a Game? (online gaming)

Alex Rockwell


7 Player, 3 team Werewolf! (variant, strategy)
9 Player Werewolf (variant, strategy)
Better than Tichu (review and strategy:Fairy Tale)
Tichu (Passing strategy) (strategy)
Tichu: The Basics (strategy)
War of the Ring – Battles of the Third Age (review)
Werewolf! (review, variant, strategy)

Yehuda


Con-vinced (cons)
Don't sue me, Richard (CCG humor)
Encounter 1/9 (story)
Encounter 2/9 (story)
Encounter 3/9 (story)
Encounter 4/9 (story)
Er... My Turn. (personal)
Ethics in Gaming 5.0 (social)
Even More on Winning (social)
Every Day is Games Day (social)
Gaming Risks (social)
Happy New Year (personal)
I can complain too: my top ten problems with the game world (game world)
Meet Gilad Yarnitzky (interview)
Meet Haim Shafir (interview)
Meet Kadon Enterprises (interview)
Ode to the Games Journal (Internet)
Pay Attention. This Will Be On The Test. (classification)
Roll Against Your Wisdom To Post Here (poem)
Rules, Rules, Rules (variants)
Parlor Game Geek (humor, parlor games)
The Designer's Rules (variants)
The Game Hordes (social)
Winning Using Mechanics (strategy)
Whose Socks Are These? (social, cons)
You mean, like Merlot? (social)

Joe Gola


2005 (personal)
A Whole Lot of Nothing (ratings)
Cosmopolitan, Baby (personal)
Crusader Rex (report)
Dicefest (dice)
Down in the Flood (Katrina)
How to Eat a Game (humor (I hope))
How to Turn Family and Friends into Gamers Using Subterfuge, Mind Control and Violence
(social)
In Search of Lost Time, Part 1 (personal)
In Search of Lost Time, Part 2 (personal)
Old News Department: Rumble in Hekumet (review:Scarab Lords)
There's Gold in Them Thar Cards (review:Silverton)
The View from the Fifth Floor (review:Palazzo)

DWTripp


Advice For The Troubled Gamer (social)
A great year of gaming (reports)
Anti-rant Rant (Hasbro, dice, blogging)
DW's Field Guide To Gamers (social)
Euro-Snoots & Free Shipping (social, market, review:Giganten)
Fish In A Barrel (social, personal)
Funny stuff returns next week (Katrina)
Game Store Confidential (social, market)
Game Store Confidential ~ continued (social, market)
Game Store Confidential ~ Legends (social, market, MtG)
Game Store Confidential ~ Flesh Eating Hamsters & Death by Ennui (social, market, RPG)
Game Store Confidential ~ The Dice Gods Are Smiling (social, dice)
Game Store Confidential ~ The Pre-order List (social, market)
GAME STORE CONFIDENTIAL ~ The sweet smell of success (social)
GAME STORE CONFIDENTIAL ~ How dare you make money! (social, market)
GAME STORE CONFIDENTIAL ~ Dumb Gamers (social, market)
GAME STORE CONFIDENTIAL ~ Caution! Abnormal Blog Ahead (personal)
It's Showtime! (cons, personal)
The game that ate itself (CCGs)
The Highlander Effect (social)
Why Railroad Tycoon is Like a Topless Dancer (review:Railroad Tycoon, social)
Wyatt (personal)

Shannon Appelcline


Five Games I Don't Like (reviews, social)
Five Games I'm Thankful For: '05 (reviews, personal)
Games to Watch For: Essen '05 (looking forward)
It's Not if You Win or Lose ... (winning, placing)
Last Year's Top 70 Games (reviews)
Memoir '44, The Seafarers of Catan, and Other Scenarios (variants and scenarios)
My Life in Gaming (personal)
Redesigning Empire Builder, Part One (variants)
Redesigning Empire Builder, Part Two (variants)
Schools of Game Design (game design)
Shannon's List of Do's and Don't's for Game Component Design (game design)
Supporting Your Locally Owned Game Store (market)
The Collector Bug (shopping)
The Problem with Colors (game design)
The Problem with Game Boxes (game design)
The Problem with Indie Games (game design)
The Problem with Luck (luck)
The Problem with Player Numbers (game design)
The Year in Review: 2005 (looking back, game companies, reviews:Caylus,Dungeon Twister)
Three Designers: Knizia, Kramer & Teuber (game designers)

Fraser and Melissa


Holidays and Games: A tale of a car trip, a shop, a calamity and the game publisher that saved Christmas. (personal, shopping)
Gaming in 2005 (looking back, personal)
Oh I do like to be beside the seaside (personal, reviews)
Winning, Losing and the Killer instinct (winning, reiews)

Guests


Paul Sommer: Guest Post (social)
Dane Peacock: Guest Post (personal)
Dame Koldfoot: Master or Grasshopper (social)
Denise Patterson-Monroe: Boardgamers - The Next Generation (social)
Iain: The Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective series (reviews)
Ava Jarvis: The Dance of Theme and Mechanics in Games: A Fantasy (game design)
Gerald McDaniel: Gaming With a Grandson (personal)

Monday, January 30, 2006

Gone Gaming: Board Game Internet Awards: The Winners!

The Gone Gaming: Board Game Internet Awards results are in. A big thank you to the tireless staff at Gone Gaming for their work in selecting the winners, and especially to Shannon for tabulating the votes and creating the award images.

If your site has won, you may display the "Winner" image here on your site with a link to this post's URL or the main Gone Gaming URL.

Here are the results:






BEST GAME PUBLISHER SITE



Days of Wonder
http://www.daysofwonder.com
With its clean, friendly interface, online versions of its games, vast community support, buying guide, and clear navigation, Days of Wonder wins Best Game Publisher Site for 2005.





BEST GAME NEWS SITE



GameFest
http://www.GameFest.com
GameFest's GameWire was a bold initiative that raised the standards of board and card game news, regular articles, and reports to a new level, and wins Best Game News Site for 2005.





BEST GAME INFORMATION SITE



Board Game Geek
http://www.boardgamegeek.com
With over 20,000 game entries, ratings, session reports, strategy articles, pictures, links, and lists, Board Game Geek is the first stop for information on board games and wins Best Game Information Site for 2005.





BEST GAME COMMUNITY SITE



Board Game Geek
http://www.boardgamegeek.com
Board Game Geek has more than 60,000 registered users participating in general and game related forums, game ratings, geeklists, a marketplace, auctions, and even its own game convention, making it the winner for Best Game Community Site for 2005.





BEST GAME CLUB SITE



East Tennessee Gamers
http://www.easttennesseegamers.com
Nicely designed, full of information about members, games, sessions, favorites, and a marketplace, East Tennessee Gamers' website wins Best Game Club Site for 2005.





BEST ONLINE GAME JOURNAL OR MAGAZINE



The Games Journal
http://www.thegamesjournal.com
Sadly ended, The Games Journal was a monthly periodical full of the best articles about the game industry, game design, and a host of other interesting topics, and wins Best Online Game Journal/Magazine for 2005.




BEST ONLINE GAMING SITE



SpielByWeb
http://www.spielbyweb.com
Easy to use and navigate, simply but usefully designed, Spiel By Web wins Best Online Gaming Site for 2005.





BEST NEW SITE (2005)



Board Game News
http://www.boardgamenews.com
Inheriting the mantle from the defunct GameWire, Board Game News is a cleanly designed site that provides daily news from the board game world and hosts dozens of international game reporters and the Dice Tower podcast, which is why it wins Best New Site for 2005.





BEST STRATEGY ARTICLE (2005)



Board Game Geek
Princes of Florence, The: From the Library to the Laboratory (Linnaeus, 3 part article)
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/79193
Gerald Cameron's clear writing style and comprehensive analysis of the game Princes of Florence wins Best Strategy Article for 2005.





BEST PROMOTIONAL OR ADVOCACY ARTICLE (2005)



HourCNY TV news show
Scott Nicholson

http://scottnicholson.com/games/hourcny.html
An exciting leap into mainstream media, Scott Nicholson explains board games to the viewing public with grace and charm and wins Best Promotional/Advocacy Article for 2005.





BEST HUMOROUS GAME ARTICLE (2005)



Gamefest/Boardgamenews
New Misadventures in Gaming

http://www.gamefest.com/news/feature_detail/2514_0_3_0_C/
or http://www.boardgamenews.com/index.php/boardgamenews/comments/the_new_misadventures_in_gaming_1

Available on either the old GameWire or the new Board Game News, Dan Bosley continues his hilarious series of articles describing the intersection between the gaming and non-gaming world, and wins Best Humorous Game Article for 2005.





BEST ARTICLE SERIES (2005)



Tom Vasel
Interviews by an Optimist

http://www.thedicetower.com/interviews/int001.htm
Tom Vasel goes one-on-one with a who's who of boardgaming, and with close to a hundred fascinating interviews wins Best Article Series for 2005.





BEST SESSION REPORT (2005)



Mikko Saari
Reports on Essen 2005

http://www.melankolia.net/gameblog/archives/session_reports/essen_2005
Mikko Saari reports extensively from Essen, including a complete picture gallery, and wins Best Session Report for 2005.




BEST GAME BLOG



Chris Farrell's blog
http://homepage.mac.com/c_farrell/iblog
Chris Farrell writes deep analysis about the games he plays and doesn't pull any punches. Cleanly designed and well written, he wins Best Game Blog for 2005.





BEST GAME BLOG POST (2005)



Chris Farrell
So you want to play Civilization?

http://homepage.mac.com/c_farrell/iblog/C2097221587/E20051116234109/index.html
Chris Farrell's analysis and enthusiasm to get a classic game back onto the game table wins Best Game Blog Post for 2005.





BEST GAME PODCAST OR VIDEOCAST



Board Game Speak
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamespeak.php
One of the first podcasts on any subject, Derk and Aldie from Board Game Geek interview some great personalities in the game world, often humorously, and talk about their site and BGG.con, winning Best Game Podcast/Videocast for 2005.





BEST GAME PODCAST OR VIDEOCAST EPISODE (2005)



Board Game Geek
BoardGameSpeak 2005-06-05 (Knizia at KublaCon)

http://files.boardgamegeek.com/boardgamespeak.php?id=31
A story about a near catastrophic loss, two interviewers put on the spot by their famous guest, and some excellent insights from two board game luminaries, wins Best Game Podcast/Videocast Episode for 2005.





BEST NEW GAME BLOG, PODCAST, OR VIDEOCAST (2005)



Boardgames with Scott
http://www.boardgameswithscott.com
Scott' board game video log, or vlog, squeaks in at the end of the year with a unique approach to demonstrating games, and wins Best New Game Blog/Podcast/Videocast for 2005.




Congratulations to all the winners and honorable mentions. And thanks again to all of our readers for participating in the nominations.

The Gone Gaming Staff