Must be the 'Season' of the "Twitch"

Well, it's "Official" as the "Pats" won't be going for their "three-peat" now! Since the "Broncos" put them out of their 'misery' last night, and today we have the vaunted "Colts VS Steelers" and then later on the "Bears VS Panthers", while I'm rooting for the "Panthers" and "Steelers" in their games as I'd like to see "Carolina" end UP here in SEATTLE! We're pretty happy about the 'Seattle - Washington' game despite the early 'problems' they'd encountered in that, while my heartiest hopes, are for a "Denver VS Seattle" 'Super Bowl'! Just a few years back, then this wouldn't have been possible, but NOW it can take place. There was a somewhat 'friendlier' rivalry between the Teams, compared with the "Raider Hatahs" that even still maintain their animosities for such. I know some folks who even have their "West VS East" and "North VS South" mentalities about these matters too, and for them, then this is well founded as evidenced by the BIAS of whomever they consult regarding these 'things'. Sure, this is on account of the develoment of our fair 'Nation' with its "Easternly" preponderance, while those of US on this 'side' of the ole "Miss" river, tend to become overlooked, and even looked down upon in most cases. That's WHY it is so 'righteous' for US when some "high falootin" EASTERN 'Team' gets whomp`d & stomp`d upon from our "backwoods asses" no matter what 'arena' this is conducted upon. I'm even GLAD for when the likes of the "Longhorns" are able to obtain their "National Championship" TITLE, since at least they're on the RIGHT 'side' of the "River" there`n!
"Hook`em HORNS!"
I'm still awaiting upon some enterprising "Canuck" to create an easy and representative GAME about the "C.F.L.", while it shouldn't be too difficult for this. I'm not very familiar with their 'system' and just how the actual 'games' are played out, but that is for THEM to figure upon.
UPDATE! the "Steelers" have 'done in' the "Colts", so it's OFF to "Denver" for them!
Now to await the outcome of the "Bears" and "Panthers" game-woo HOO!

There's also speculation upon what 'direction' that should be taken as regards any NEW and *Improved* type of gaming experiences that could become created. I don't know just what some folks expect or envision this to entail, as not too many of them could agree upon the "theme" in the first place. With plenty of already 'done deals' as it stands, then just WHAT else could there yet be "discovered" for this all? Chocolate 'bits'? I'm sure that the likes of "GO" could be easily adapted with "M&M"s, for those who wish to try that out. "Gummi" kinds are available for select kinds of games, and others should be soon to follow. Just think if someone made some components out of "pretzels", while you'd still need to provide the BEER for this too. In fact, you could PLAY "Pick UP Stix" with them straight "pretzels" pieces, or some variation of "Jenga" too. I'd bet that "Animal Crackers SCRABBLE" could be 'done' as well, with "cornmeal" gameboard to play upon, making it as: "the GAMING 'treat' that's Good to EAT!", once you're done 'playing' with your food. Just NOBODY 'combine' the likes of food, nudity, and "Twister" for some disgusting, digestive, degenerative derivative, thank you very much! I have heard mention from a few people, upon some simpler version of a "Galactic Conquest" type of game, since they're somewhat disappointed with what's out there now. I do know that ole "Dead-Eye Dick" of the "BGG" is still working upon HIS 'design' for this. He 'told' me so! In case you've forgotten about it, then this is to be called as: "StarQuest!" From what I recall upon the matter, then it is sort of like "M.O.O."-the computer game, while being conducted within a gameboard format for such. YOU-(the 'player') are to build UP your "reputation" through "deeds of derring-do" in that, so this probably won't appeal to those folks who wished to "Conquer Galaxies" as their 'prime directive'. And yes, we're ALL wondering just WHEN someone is going take on the "Herculean task" with creating a BOARDGAME about the "Sid Meier's Alpha-Centauri" computer one. I don't expect this anytime soon-if ever-since there's too much detail for THAT, of which it DOES require a computer for its resolution. I know, as I play that regularly and I just don't 'see' it ever taking place, unless YOU don't mind it having like 1500 & PLUS for 'bits' in this, and costing near to $200! There's currently '7'-Factions, and each has their various "ideologies" of which they have to ascribe to. Those will limit some of them, concerning 'developments' that they can pursue, while they strive to become the ONLY 'Group' remaining upon the Planet's surface. "Dumbing it DOWN" won't help matters either, since you have to pursue 'goals', to achieve enhancements that apply to your "Societal Ills", with "R&D", and "Alien Artifacts" greatly speeding the process up. Alright, well the 'Game' is ON and I'm outta here for now!

Cosmopolitan, Baby

People are always coming up to me and asking, "Joe Gola, are you cosmopolitan or what?" One has to chuckle, and of course my response is always the same. "Are you crazy? I'm practically the most cosmopolitan person you ever heard of. Don't even start with me already." Yes, it's true: blindfold me, stuff me in a trunk, pay a fortune to customs for exporting awesomeness out of the country, and mail me to any point on the globe, and ten will get you twenty that within two hours of arrival I will be cooling my heels at the swankiest cocktail party in the nation and sneaking squeezes of the springy dewdrop derrière of an ambassador's niece. "Ah, no no, cheri, you are too, too bold...."

Just to prove my point I will let the reader in on the secret that as recently as last weekend I traveled south from my country seat in Connecticut to the bustling burg of Brooklyn USA in order to cross swords in games of chance with no less a personage than Morgan Dontanville. What's that? Haven't met Morgan? Lower your voice darling, someone might hear. Surely you know sisteray of BGG, noted wit and raconteur, soon-to-be-published author of Spectral Rails and Recess? The world famous horse trainer, the importer of rare and fabulous manuscripts, the man who knocked up Princess Rajneesha on the night of her father's coronation?

In honor of Morgan's recent engagement to the winsome and tolerant Alice X, I arrived at his Brooklyn pied-à-terre carrying a four-foot ice sculpture of Leda and the swan, which, after our hearty salutations, was transferred to the sink. I was told that the fiancée and future brother-in-law were yet recovering from an all-night Battlestar Galactica marathon, and so it was decided that we would pass the time quietly with a game of Michael Schacht's Gods. It was a nice homemade copy of the print and play version, and it seemed to have a certain aura about it, a charismatic sheen, if you will, as if it had passed through the hands of greatness....

I was warned by Morgan that the people of Brooklyn are, as a rule, slow to stir on weekend mornings, as the winter nights are long and boozy, but we had barely scuffed the rules before we were handed the calling cards of two more noble gents, Sir Larry Chong and Jon Squires esquire. Larry, as the reader is no doubt aware, was a world-class breakdancer in his youth, and he only lost the championship in '83 because of a freak rotator cuff disintegration that happened during his infamous "Tweezing the Crease" move. That particular breakdancing maneuver has been since condemned by the Surgeon General and is no longer allowed in tournament competition, though of course it is still often attempted, with similarly disastrous results, in the numerous unsanctioned matches that take place in South America and the Ukraine. And Mr. Jon Squires? Witty, urbane, deadly. He wore a jaunty sherpa hat which my contacts in Bangkok tell me was taken off of a newly severed head as a trophy. He did not have his machete with him, thank God, or I would have been terrified to reach for the crackers; more than one hand has been lost to the Squires reflexes acting on their own. In any event, it was to be a quartet.

So, to the game. We each represented divinities trying to woo the mortals of the world to our worship. Temples were erected, villagers awed, whirlwinds and lightning unleashed. Halfway through Larry decided that he had been picked on by the table once too often and so demonstrated his outrage in interpretive breakdance. It was an emotional moment, with one particularly reproachful headspin causing the group to gasp in alarm, and several stacks of magazines were toppled in the process. However, heartfelt apologies were made and accepted and we pressed on. In the end, Morgan's cagy tactics and tile-flipping skill won the day. Bravo!

By this time we had been joined not only by the daylight-shy Alice and her brother Jack, but also by a mysterious and unpredictable man known only as Doktor Glaze. While we finished up our game the Doktor was loudly munching away on some sort of Jamaican cabbage patty, groaning with joy over the savory delight. Despite the fact that "Jamaican cabbage patty" also happens to be the name of a costly and immoral service which can only be provided by a specially trained escort who knows how to use a floor waxer, my stomach began to rumble quite noisily. It was agreed that those of us who had struggled along unnourished would cross the street for bagels and eggs; as we left the Doktor was dousing the heat of the zesty Caribbean spices by slurping water off the melting bosom of Leda.

The trip to the delicatessen was an adventure in itself, as a large plastic Santa Claus was looming in the rear of the store with a tantalizingly mysterious power cord issuing from his rear. I was content to ignore the thing, but Morgan, impulsive as a puppy, asked the proprietors if he could plug in the mechanical Kringle. They assented, and so Morgan electrified Santa and we were all treated to something...odd. The animatronic elf suddenly began twitching in every direction like a jolly epileptic, and a speaker buried within his chest started playing back a recording of a tinny Christmas carol as its mouth jerked open and shut in time to the music. Strangely, the statue had no legs, but rather the hips were connected directly to the ankles, and what was particularly offensive was that those hips were rolling and thrusting in a bawdy bump and grind not at all in keeping with the holiday spirit. I put a dollar in Santa's belt and Larry started break dancing to the music until the store owners threw us out.

On the way back in I unknowingly slammed the door in the face of a new arrival, a country lord from the land of Jersey, a Sir Gil Hova, also sometimes known by the moniker of Ingredient X. Gil and I knew each other from online discourse, and Gil informed me that I looked nothing like he had pictured me, which was as a Puerto Rican hunchback with a cape. He then proceeded to tell us all a story which prominently featured the phrase "fatty apron"; this was a new piece of vocabulary for me and I'm hoping to toss it off casually at a few cocktail parties this weekend. If I can somehow work it into a story involving a Jamaican cabbage patty I may even start a riot.

After one more late arrival by a man who shall only be referred to as "The Butterscotch Fog," our group numbered nine, and it was decided to attempt a playing of the two-board extravaganza Fische Fluppen Frikadellen. Doktor Glaze, Gil, Jon and I sat at one table, and Morgan, Alice, Jack, Larry and The Fog circled the other. Jon tied on his lucky sherpa hat and we began.

First: faring far and fro for fetishes. Gil finds fame filching fricassee as Jon in fleece fedora fondles fennel feloniously. Glaze farts out a fanfaronade (fault of flatulence: cabbage fermentation) followed by frenetic finagling. I ferry fish, flabbergasted from foofaraw. Finances fading and firewater futures fragile as frosty ficticious fertilzing fowl flows into fluid. Faster and faster! Foreigner Morgan floats in on frigate and flies forward feet first, followed by Fog flashing funds. Frantic fencing by franchises! Finally Fog finishes. Fudge!

Sadly, at that point I had to return to the bosom of my family, and so I kissed Leda on her rimy rump, said adieu, and pointed myself towards the fair fields of Connecticut. However the important thing is this: if anyone asks you if Joe Gola is cosmopolitan, you straighten your tie, dust off your coat, look him square in the eye and say, "Joe Gola who?"

Searching for a tagline.

I've always wanted a good tagline. Good ones are truly memorable. Who can forget "Keep your stick on the ice", and "And that's the way it is". Who do you think of when you see "Real men play boardgames" or even "MMM"?

People who come up with good taglines are lucky, and people like me are left saying to ourselves, "I could have thought of that." But what really irks me is that Mary (Sodaklady right here on this very blog) comes up with a classic tagline every week:

Talk nice to your dice
May your men control the Castillo
May all your farmers lie in large fields
I'll be trading my sheep for pesos
Only the mediocre are always at their best
Buy stock in Ziploc
May your camels be swift and plentiful
Until next time, Clubs are trump

These are just a few of the lines she has signed off with each Wednesday, and I can come up with bupkis.

It's killing me. I have thought about it on and off for 3 months, and the best I can do is, "Keep your snowboots handy".

I was waiting in my car the other day and I noticed a sign that had the line "The Champagne of Beers". That got me thinking. "The Champagne of Beers" isn't really a tagline, nor is it particularly good, but it is proof that a tagline doesn't need to be catchy to be identifiable. That lead to new ideas.

Hmmmmmm, "You know you're a gamer if you know more Knizia stats than Favre stats". It has the possibility of being adaptable, for example, "You know you're a gamer if you wait until you check out to decide if you'll buy coffee, tobacco, or sugar." But no, it is too long. Not a bad first try. Something edgy would be good.

"Will trade John Kerry for Francis Tresham". Edgy, yet outdated. It would only be good for a couple months at most. It is also too long and too political. (Note to self: that one might make a good bumper sticker.) Controversial, I need a little controversy to catch eye.

"Charles Darrow is a fag." Not just no, but hell no. It catches the eye. It's edgy. It's controversial. It's insider-ish. It's short. It's better than "Keep your snowboots handy", it's a mile better than "The Champagne of Beers", but I quickly discarded it before I alienate my last two readers. Maybe controversy isn't so good.

"Keep your nose to the grindstone." Ahhhhh no. Now I'm back off track. It's not controversial, but I want to keep my tagline search related to game topics and away from grandma-isms.

"May your opponent's sand timer be a few grains short". Now we're getting somewhere. It's game related and original. It's as good as the already taken, "May all your hits be crits" but it is too "chessy" ("chessy" not "cheesy", although it is a little cheesy).

I could use the phrase I am currently using on my geek badge. It's not political. It is a spoof on politics, though. "Knizia/Moon '08". (Note: After I had Knizia and '08 on the geek badge, I only had enough room left to put Moon or Berg in the second slot.) I put that one on my "possible" list. I then went to my wife to ask for a tagline. I should have known better.

"I'll play it by my rules" was her response. She thought it was hilarious. When she noted my squinty-eyed glare and lack of laughter she got serious and said, "Will game for food"? That was better, I put it on my "possible" list. Two days later she said, "I thought of one."

"One what?"

"A tagline."

"What is it?"

"Will trade John Kerry for Bruno Faidutti."

"That doesn't make any sense."

"Why not? I thought it was funny.

"That's like trading Marx for Lenin, it's way too insider-ish and I already decided not to get political."

"Well maybe I'll use it then."

It was clear that she would be no further help, and I had a back-up idea anyway. The other day I surfed on over to a local gamer website and I noted that many of the posters (video-game players all) signed off with "Currently playing (Insert Latest-Must-Have Video Game)". That might work.

Currently Playing Carcassonne. No. If I'm writing something I'm really not playing Carcassonne. It wouldn't make much sense, and no one would buy it. But I could modify it a little.

"Currently reading the rules to Reef Encounter". Most people would discard that, I on the other hand, am desperate for a tag line. Even though "Currently reading the rules for Reef Encounter" is original, it means nothing to the uninitiated masses and it has an elitist and snobbish ring to it. I don't see a downside.

I am currently reading the rules to Reef Encounter, Revolution: The Dutch Revolt, Railroad Tycoon, and Descent: Journey into Dark. I am always reading the rules to something.

Oh well, I've come to the conclusion that a good tagline is kind of like pornography. I can't define it, but I'll it know it when I see it.

Until next time, Keep your snowboots handy.

Coldfoot (Currently reading the rules to Reef Encounter)

It's Not if You Win or Lose ...

Grantland Rice, an American sportswriter who lived from 1880-1954, once wrote, "For when the One Great Scorer comes, / To write against your name, / He marks - not that you won or lost - / But how you played the Game." I'm sure we've every one heard that saying, probably in its shorter more succinct form.

There's no doubt that Rice's saying has become a touchstone for competition of all sorts. But, that doesn't mean that everyone agrees with his point of view:

Grantland Rice, the great sportswriter once said, 'It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game.' Well Grantland Rice can go to hell as far as I'm concerned.
—Gene Autry

I have never had much sympathy for the point of view, "it isn't whether you win or lose that counts, but how you play the game."
—Richard Nixon

Winning isn't the only thing; it's everything.
—Vince Lombardi

However, Autry, Lombardi, and Nixon were from an older generation than I; for myself, Rice's words were a simple tenet of life, to the point that I had no idea who might have first spoke them before I began to research this article. I was brought up to be gracious in defeat and polite in victory. Now, when I win a game, or even win a string of games, I'm almost embarassed to say so, online, in-person, or elsewhere. To do otherwise would be "gloating", "vanity", "poor sportsmanship" or other such bad things.

The Flip Side

Of course, there's a flip side to this. I always try and win the games I'm playing. And I get annoyed in a game if there's someone else who isn't playing to win. Now, I've never encountered some of the truly frustrating elements that I've heard other people mention in their gameplaying, such as someone throwing a game so that their spouse can win, but I've had players give up, start pursuing terrible strategies, or push the end of the game even when it's not in their best interest (or at least not in their best interest in-game, as their reasoning is sometimes, "Well, I'm going to lose anyway, and I just want to get it over as fast as I can").

That's not right, any of it, and I don't think people should be playing a game if they're not trying to win it. Which at first seems to fly in the face of good 'ole Grantland Rice's axiom. Fortunately our very own Reiner Knizia comes to the rescue with a quote of his own:

When playing a game, the goal is to win, but it is the goal that is important, not the winning.
—Reiner Knizia

Now there's an idea that I can fully stand behind, and not just because I was indoctrinated with the axiom as a youth (as was the case with Grantland Rice's famous saying). You do want to play to win, and that should be your goal, but if you end up losing, that should be OK too. Otherwise you end up with a bad experience when gaming as often as not, and what's the fun in that?

Defining Winning

Of course every question of this sort raises new ones, and the obvious response here is, "what's winning?" I always though I knew: it was coming in first, and if you couldn't do that, second, and if you couldn't do that, third. I always play to achieve the best position I can in a game.

Of course this can wind up being a probabilistic exercise. If I have a 5% chance of achieving first place, a 20% chance of achieving second, and a 75% chance of achieving third, and the criteria needed to achieve first place and second place are different, which do I go for?

In general I'll try and go for the first if there's a reasonable chance I can achieve it, even if it results in forgoing second, but if that chance for first diminishes sufficiently I might go for second instead.

When a new player joined my regular review group a year or two ago now, I was surprised to hear that he had a different philosophy: always play for first, whether you have a decent chance at it, a dwindling small chance at it, or no chance at it. Never accept anything less.

This has resulted in some entirely friendly disputes between us, and I think we both accept that we'll play games differently. But it can result in some awkwardness in a king-making situation. If I'm in third-place in a game, and I have a last chance to make a difference in another player's score, I'm likely to hurt the second-place player rather than the first-place one, unless the scores are very close. Hurting the second-place player can help me rise in position, but hurting the first-place does nothing.

The other player would do the exact opposite, always.

I feel like I'm vindicated somewhat by the fact that whenever I see a discussion of competitive ranking, inevitably the second place player is rewarded more than the third. I played Days of Wonder's Gang of Four for a long time before I figured out how to play a hand to go out, but during that early time period my ranking slowly rose because I regularly came in second out of four. Likewise, if I was playing Survivor and I honestly felt like my chance was second place (earning $100,000) or third place (earning an estimated $65,000) you can bet I'd play for that additional $35,000.

I'm a bit envious when I read about a game club designing their own ranking system (which inevitably rewards place), because it sounds like a neat way to recognize winning in exactly the way I think it should be recognized.

So, that's my definition of winning: achieving the best position I reasonably can, which may or may not be first.

Conclusion

It's not whether you win or lose? Perhaps not, and our society has definitely been sending that message for decades. But, nonetheless, I play to win, and I hope all the other players do too, whether they feel like winning is the only thing or not.

A Miserable Week

I’m sorry to say that my mind has not been on games this week. I’ve found the one thing that can get my mind off of games—sickness. I spent last Wednesday and Thursday at the height of a cold which left me lying on the couch with my box of tissues, cough drops, orange juice and television remote.

By Saturday I felt almost human and ready to play a game or two to celebrate my 50th birthday. Cori, Richard and I had Chinese food and an ice cream cake and then they proceeded to whoop me at Hacienda. Is that any way to treat the birthday girl?

Sunday morning Richard woke up with some kind of stomach bug so it was his turn on the couch where he spent the day but by bedtime Cori was also sick and took his place on the couch.

It’s now Monday morning and although I’m feeling alright so far, I thought I’d better put something together just in case so that you all don’t spend all day checking Gone Gaming to see where the heck my blog for the week is. But instead of a game related post, I’m left with only an interesting coincidence to share.

Thursday evening while I was holding down the couch and feeling like my head would explode, I searched for something worth watching on t.v. and found a Sci-fi channel movie called Epicenter, I think. It’s about an FBI agent trying to catch the bad during a major earthquake in San Francisco. It wasn’t really very interesting so after about 45 minutes and the obligatory chase scene through the streets of SF, I went in search of something else to watch. How about an Eddie Murphy movie I don’t recall seeing before called Metro? He’s playing a cop in San Francisco.

It wasn’t as entertaining as Beverly Hills Cop, but good enough for a tired mind to appreciate. Of course, there is a chase scene through the streets of San Francisco but wait…isn’t that the same Chinese arch over the street? Did we already have a chase scene in this movie? Oh, no, that black SUV just flew through the air, flipped 3 times and landed on it’s side—just like the chase scene in Epicenter. Yep, there’s the street car and the SAME driver. You know he’s gonna get shot. Uh huh, and he falls into the controls sending the streetcar racing down the hill out of control. It was very interesting to see where they’d cut out parts or added close-ups of their own characters to make this chase scene their own.

I’m not surprised by the use of an old chase scene, cut and spliced to fit the new movie, but it IS decidedly strange that I just happened to catch them both on the same night especially since the 2 movies overlapped in time. What are the odds of that and how many 6’s would I have to roll on how many dice to equal it?
---------
P.S. Wednesday morning. Everyone’s feeling much better and I didn’t get whatever is was that Cori and Richard had.
~~~~~~~~~
Until next time, do Meeples use Kleenex or Puffs tissues?

Mary

Pay Attention. This Will Be On The Test.

Were you ever walking down the street and some strange guy came up to you and asked, "What sort of results are produced by game classification systems?" Yeah? Me, too! I bet you felt pretty stupid when you couldn't think of an answer right on the spot, right? And then you wanted to call your local game store friend but the guy already took your cellphone and your wallet, right? Happens to me all the time.

Now you don't have to feel stupid! The following four comparisons make up the distinguishing aspects of the results of most game classification systems:

Single List vs Multiple List: Single lists present all games in their results. Their usefulness is based on how the results are sorted. Examples include lists ordered by: alphabet, popularity, sales, price, and so on. As long as all games can be compared based on one or more criteria, a single list can be presented. Typically, only parts of the list are relevant to most people, such as the top or bottom entries, or a comparison between the rankings of certain entries.

Multiple list systems return "buckets" of results; only those games that satisfy a certain criteria are returned, such as all games beginning with the letter "C", or all games from 1974 made in China. The results in a bucket may be sorted by additional criteria or may be left unordered.

Single Criteria vs Multiple Criteria: A single criteria system returns a list sorted by a single criteria (duh!), or derives buckets according to a single criteria. Single list/single criteria examples include: alphabetically, popularity, publication date, volume sold, and so on. Single criteria buckets include: games according to first letter, a matching search term, a single mechanic or theme, and so on.

Multiple criteria lists produce lists with a secondary sorting, such as "by year, and alphabetically within each year". Or they can produce more specialized or generalized buckets by combining criteria with logical conjunctions (AND, OR, NOT, ...), such as "is an auction game and was made in 1991".

Single Value vs Multiple Value: A system may insist that a game can be assigned only to a single value within a criteria. For instance, when the criteria is "theme", a game may be allowed to belong to "War of 1812" or "Western", but not both.

Some criteria really require that a game can be assigned to multiple values within the criteria. For instance, considering game mechanics, Amun-Re is both an "auction" and an "economic" game. Demanding that the game be assigned to one or the other of these values within the criteria, but not both, can give someone who is searching for the game a headache.

Discrete vs Weighted Criteria: Discrete values assumes that a game either is or is not something. For instance, a game has sold 40,024 copies or has not sold 40,024 copies. It either is, or is not, made in 2004. When sorting based on discrete criteria, it is easy to assign an item to its proper location based on its discrete value within the criteria.

Using weighted criteria, you can assign a percentage to a value. For instance, we might decide that Amun-Re scores 0.94 as an auction game and 0.88 as a strategy game. If we rank games according to "is an auction game and is a strategy game", we can come up with a formula that will place Amun-Re into its correct location within a list or bucket of games. I'm no expert, but something like the following might work (I'd be happy to see real life systems that do this better):

R = (C1 + (1 - C1)(N-1)/N) * (C2 + (1 - C2)(N-1)/N) ...

Where C1, C2, ... is the value within each criteria, N is the number of criteria, and R is the final ranking.

If the criteria themselves have weights (e.g. it is more important that the game be an auction game than an economic game), we can easily adjust the formula, multiplying the appropriate terms by the weight of the criteria.


You can find all combinations of these systems around the internet, and often multiple combinations on a single site. There is no one correct choice for which of each pair to choose; it depends on the type of information you are looking to present.


The Test

See? I told you that there would be a test. You didn't pay attention!

1. What type of game results do your favorite game sites provide?
2. What type of game results do you typically use/wish you could see?
3. Wouldn't it be cool if one of the search criteria was "pagan element"? ...

Fire: Light, Chaotic. A party game, such as Balderdash. High energy with occasional flare-ups.

Air: Light, Planning. An abstract game, such as Go. Cool and directed.

Water: Heavy, Chaotic. A Euro-game, such as El Grande. Immersive and interactive.

Earth: Heavy, Planning. A war-game, such as ASL. Wide and solid.

Yehuda

Only five days left to nominate for the Board Game Internet Awards! Hurry!

ch-ch-ch-CHANGES!

The "New Year" is here, and everywhere the "winds of change" are blowing! Even upon the 'blog' site as well, as I *notice* that they implemented a 'Link' address function underneath the "Title", as I write this up! Of course, the most relevant 'one' ongoing is upon the "BoardGameGeek" site, as no doubt many are discovering once they've checked into this. We're STILL awaiting upon 'word' about the CHAT there being RE-'implemented', since many folks and especially the "nOObz" tend to drift into there. While sure, I like to 'show off' for them as well with the inclusion of actual photos of GAMES from the site itself. Then, we occasionally have some people who just NEED an 'answer' for something or another concerning gaming, and usually with the variety of 'regulars' there, then they can obtain such handily. It sure was nice to Chat-Chit with others from around the WORLD at various times of the 'Day', when they were able to be ON that. And NO, I'm not at all 'concerned' with utilzing some other 'one' like IRC or IM and their 'problems' associated with those. As the '1st anniversary' for the "Geek Chat" approaches, then I just wonder how much MORE "wonderful" will this become? And just WHAT is that "must have" *feature* that they're proclaiming all upon the 'site' going to entail? Will this 'be' some sort of "online popcorn maker"? OR... shall it encompass some sort of "Geek" Cat-or-Dog grooming services? I'm sure that "our gal pal VAL" would prefer a 'Ferreting' out of unwanted 'North American Marsupials' from her garage space as well! Maybe a "shoo the foo" dispenser to entice undesireables away from where they're not as 'wanted' eh? That could become a useful 'tool' as well, with something along the lines of "Almost Wanted", for those 'fence sitters' of whom YOU all 'know' quite well. This will just have to be 'seen' to become 'believed' then, once they decide upon informing the rest of US about the matter at hand.

I've also 'noticed' a trend amongst the "Euro-Snobs" where they're going around and proclaiming to whomever they can, regarding "designer" GAMEs! What the 'fudge'!?! These ALL have to be 'designed' by SOMEONE! It's not like I go down the street and 'find' such laying about just waiting upon its 'discovery'! They haven't "fallen off the 'Games' truck" whilst on their 'way' to the 'market'. Yes, I realize that they're just trying to obtain a "status symbol" sort of distinction, to place their 'precious-s-s-s-s' apart from the "riff-raff", but insipid 'terms' won't cut it! How's about "GAMEs to look down upon others with" for this? It's WHAT they're trying to get across with anyway, so WHY "beat around the bush" for such? I'd prefer the "Euro-Snob" denotation version, as it is more succinct AND it conveys the 'spirit' as well. It also 'sounds' great too, so that when you 'point' a finger at them, you can 'say' thusly: "Euro-Snob"! So there you have it, you "Euro FREAKS!", courtesy of 'moi' and whomever else first uttered that phrase. While YOU can just 'call' myself as "your WOIST nightmare" if you'd like, and I don't mind in the least, as "sticks & stones may be employed to 'break' YOUR bones" as you utter something that I don't 'agree' with! But that's just 'me', while others might be more tolerant about the matter. Oh, and for those who take 'umbrage' upon what I've 'exclaimed' previously, then kindly remove your "funny-bone inserted within your butt", and get a 'sense of humor' we only hope then.

There's also the 'topic' about having additional "Admins" at the "BGG" site for the likes of "photo submissions" and it is a welcome extension for just such a 'project'. As it stands, then they ought to "review" MANY of what they already have, where these are over 100 or the like for just ONE particular and/or certain 'games'. Good GAWD! does there really 'need' to be that many taking up valuable "bandwidth"? Hey, I've had probably twice as many been "rejected" for some inauspicious 'reason' or another, and even where that was the ONLY 'pic' being submitted at the time! Then there's the kinds that have all sorts of unnecessary "background" surrounding their 'subject', like we REALLY want to 'see' their atrocious "home decor" as well. Sure, it allows for some good "making FUN of" times, but come on! Aren't the gamings supposed to BE for this? I could 'name names' if I HAVE to, but I haven't the'stomach' for such, just right now, and I'm sure many others would be more than willing to accomodate upon this matter as well.

As a 'final note' then I admonish YOU all to get IN your 'nominations' for any "Awards" either here or upon other 'sites' where this is taking place.

P.S.-has anybody been able to find out where the latest "Dice Tower" is located at?

Gaming in 2005

Ah the New Year and my first blog. Firstly, my thanks go to the team for the invitation to join them. Since it is the start of 2006, I thought I would talk about what games I played in 2005 and who I played them with. (Note that Melissa calls Daughter the Elder "Biggie" and Daughter the Younger "Otto")

In 2005, I logged 725 plays of 123 distinct games. 88 of those games had not been played by me in 2004 and thus could classify as new games.

In 2004, I logged 302 plays of 66 distinct games. 31 of those games did not get a repeat play in 2005, although it is fair to mention that they only accounted for 20% of the total number of plays.

What didn't get a repeat play in 2005 and why?

• They were owned by someone else:
  Loco!, Barabarossa, Doom, Goldbrau, Honor of the Samurai, Master Labyrinth, Odin's Ravens, Oh Pharoah, Pizarro & Co, San Juan and Wings of War - Famous Aces
• I didn't want too or I really, really, really didn't want to:
  Set, Basari, Spell Maker, Mouse Trap
• Destroyed by Daughter the Younger:
  My First Uno
• Couldn't find the right people or just couldn't convince anyone to play:
  Ninja Burger, Alan Jones Formula 1 Grand Prix Racing Game, Squatter

Full details of what I played and how often can be found in my GeekList Fraser's Games played in 2005 - an Annotated List.

Looking through who I played games with there are really a number of different groups.

Daughter the Elder
She turned seven this year. She and I play two-player games together most weekends. Some of the more blatant children's games like Snakes & Ladders, Ludo etc have dropped off or are in the process of dropping off our playlist. We still play Balloon Cup and now play Carcassonne Hunters & Gatherers with the full set of rules. We also notched up a few games of Lost Cities, initially playing open hands with some discussion but soon graduating to normal play. She's not winning yet, but is getting close. She began playing Connect Four at school this year and received a copy of her own for Christmas. I managed to chalk up ten plays with her between Christmas and New Year and we are running about even in our win/loss tally.

Daughter the Elder and Melissa and sometimes others
Mainly three player games. Daughter the Elder is a huge fan of Settlers of Catan, Melissa less so, thus it is Melissa who needs to be convinced to get it to the table. We have kept a record of each die roll in each of our three player games and the results are surprisingly good bell curves given the distribution sample for each game – even the one where my 8s never came up!

We have also played Carcassonne and Perpetual Commotion. Zendo is a recent acquisition in our house and a big hit with Daughter the Elder, which leads me to think we should bring out Cluedo for her to try. She has also played Pirate's Cove, Around the World in 80 Days, Circus Flohcati and Ticket to Ride with us and gamer friends and played very well indeed.

Halli Galli has been very popular with Daughter the Elder and her school friends. Hopefully it will become more obtainable in Australia soon.

Occasionally she makes wistful comments about Puerto Rico and Tigris & Euphrates. Whilst it would be good to have a ready-made third player at home for these, we think we have a fair few other games in our collection to work through with her first.

See also my GeekList of Games that Daughter the Elder trades bedtime books to play.

Lunch time games at work
Our lunch-time gaming group started off with two or three regulars at the start of the year and we now generally have five. The games played have to be an hour or less, and are usually card games. We started the year with Mag-Blast and graduated to Mag-Blast Second Edition when one of the group bought it when looking for Mag-Blast. In two player, we can knock over six games over lunch; with four players, that drops to one or two. Gang of Four took over as our flagship game in the middle of the year. We play with the Game Dealers edition because it is a quarter the price of the Days of Wonder edition. We are onto our second pack due to wear and tear and have developed a system of play for five players and a weird three player variant for when we are bored.

Other games with this group include High Society, Tower of Babel, TransAmerica, Bang!, Guillotine and Ra.

Friday night games
We have games at home every second Friday, alternating with another two daughter family each week. We usually have four or five players and occasionally more. This is pretty much a gamers' night, with game complexity up to things like Puerto Rico, Power Grid, Tigris & Euphrates and Louis XIV and varying to much lighter fare if it has been a long week at work and we are tired.

These Friday night sessions rarely go more than two to three hours, therefore we usually only play one game or a couple of shorter ones.

Gamers@Dockers
In late 2004, dacoutts , REGGY and I founded Gamers@Dockers , which ran every 2nd and 4th Thursday at our work. In late 2005, it went to every Thursday. We usually have had between ten and twenty people show up to each session. I find it to be a great place to look through the pile of games that people have brought and just ask "who can teach me this one?" as a way of working through my unplayed games and trying out new ones. Just this week, we got to play our first game of Wallenstein because someone had brought it along.

The Gamers@Dockers sessions generally run five or so hours, so it is quite possible to fit in a fairly long game or a couple of normal length games.

Melissa would love to be able to come to Gamers@Dockers regularly but the practicalities of childcare and after-school activities don't usually allow us both to attend.

KiddieCon
A lot of our friends are gamers and/or old roleplayers and quite a few of them have small children now. Kiddiecon is not a real convention, more an in-joke since we used to run a large RPG convention in the pre-Daughter the Elder days. We hire Daughter the Younger's child-care centre for a day on the weekend and play games, letting the children play in the purpose-built environment. It generally ends up costing us about $10 per adult. These sessions are pretty much like Gamers@Dockers in that there is usually a wide selection of games to be played or tried out. It is worth noting that we also get a few childless gamer friends who come along too – just for the games, or is that the pleasure of our company, nah probably just the games.

Inviting people over for games
With two young children needing our attention, it is difficult for both of us to get out for a games day or evening, so we often invite people over to our house to play. This is both casual gaming friends with or without children and the more serious gamer friends (who are generally without children at the moment).

We are very grateful to these people for making the effort of coming to us to play. Over recent months, this has meant that Melissa and I have played games such as Die Macher, Caylus and Das Zepter von Zavandor. Without these travelling gamers, this would not have been the case.



We are now just a week into 2006 and I have already experienced games with a number of the groups above. Next week we start our beach holiday and Melissa and I are looking forward to the Puerto Rico grudgefest as well as a bunch of other games.

Mmm meeples.

Fraser

Vacation Surprises

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I've been out of town for the last few weeks with little access to the internet. I would like to thank Ava Jarvis and Iain Cheyne for covering for me during my absence. The family and I enjoyed a nice Christmas vacation with our families in the lower '48. Although my wife and kids try to visit their grandparents at least yearly, it was my first trip outside of Alaska in 3 years (not counting a single jaunt over to the burlesque and gambling Mecca of the far-north; Dawson City, Yukon Territory).

I checked out a couple of the game stores I used to frequent back in my college days, and made a couple great finds.

Although I liked strategy games back in my younger days, I wasn't a game whore like I am now. No, far from it. I didn't discover the wide world of German games until I was 30. Until I discovered Boardgamegeek I thought Tactics II was the be-all, end-all of war games, Monopoly wasn't too bad, Talisman was the ultimate "insider game", and Advanced Civ was the pinnacle of gaming.

One store I used to frequent had 2038, Samarkand and a plethora of original Avalon Hill titles, including a couple Advanced Squad Leader modules in stock, in original shrink, with their original price tags. I picked up 2038 and Samarkand for a little bit of nothing. Those games were all probably sitting there when I frequented the store in my college days. I sent out a couple e-mails asking if anyone wanted the ASL modules, but none of my friends were interested. I would have picked them up for myself, but I had already spent too much on games because of this surprise...

World Games of Montana.

World Games of Montana. Yes. No joke. If you live within a couple hundred miles of Missoula you need to stop in. It is the best boardgame store I have ever seen.



The store carries some puzzles, and some games with mass market appeal, but there were no miniatures, no comic books, no CCGs, no RPGs, no baseball cards and no video games. The staff was very knowledgeable about modern strategy games, and was very friendly. They interrupted their game of Torres to teach me and my kids to play Gulo Gulo.

I said, "The staff was playing Torres". That has to be a good sign. And in case you missed my inference, they have numerous games open and ready to play, so you can try before you buy.

Daniel and Annie were pleasant, knowledgeable gamers, I was very pleased to make their acquaintance. Matt actually writes boardgame reviews for the local rag, The Missoulian, under the name Smatt. He also contributes to Knucklebones magazine, does a daily puzzle blog entitled simply, The Puzzler, and posts his game reviews on another blog, Traditional Game Reviews.

I bought entirely too many games, including some kids games for Christmas. I restricted myself to games that I know my local game store hasn't been able to get into stock. I could only pack 4 or 5 games in my luggage, so with the games I bought from a couple other stores, and the games I brought down with me, I had to ship most of them back to Alaska via the Postal Service.

But the surprises didn't end there.

Somehow the issue of games came up and my father-in-law (a non-gamer) mentioned that he used to be pretty good at chess back in the day. I shamelessly used that information to talk him into a game of YINSH. He picked it right up. We played a couple games and he did very well.



At one point in our first game I was down one ring to none. He was able to keep some serious pressure on me for a dozen consecutive moves. I couldn't do anything but play defensively, lest I went down 2 rings to none. He moved me from one tight spot to the next with ease, and that was just his learning game.

I also introduced my brother to Battle Line, Puerto Rico, Australia (a game I picked up at World Games of Montana), and a couple other German games. He really liked Battle Line, a game we were both just learning, and did well at numerous other games. I don't think I converted him to the dark-side, I doubt he will be starting a game club anytime soon. I'll have to try again in another three years.

Until next time,
World Games of Montana.
Remember it.

Coldfoot

P.S. And let the treasure hunt begin for the store still carrying original ASL modules.

The Year in Review: 2005

Another year is behind us, and as January slowly dawns over the horizon of the twenty-first century, our ever-human instinct is to look back and reflect upon what the previous year brought.

It was, in general, a year of growth and change for the gaming industry. I'm not convinced that any true classics were produced last year. I think that Caylus will ultimately prove too long to support its continued rating as a top-10 game. However, there were a decent number of good, gamer's games which I'm happy to own and which will continue to occasionally hit tabletop for many years.

The biggest trend of the year seemed to be a bifurcation of the gaming market. More of the gamer's games tended to top the two-hour mark, with Caylus being just the most extreme example of the trend in the Euro market. In the Shadow of the Emperor, Parthenon, Alexander the Great, Conquest of the Empire, Railroad Tycoon, and many of Fantasy Flight's new big-box games matched the trend, and although part of this is due to an increased Anglo-American influence in the designer game market, some of the most notable true Eurogames followed the trend as well.

On the other hand some of the older manufacturers seem to be slowly backing off of the gamer's market. Here Alea is the most extreme example. Louis XIV felt like a good game in the old Alea mold, but Palazzo is definitely trending toward the lighter side and most people don't have much faith in their pirate game already announced for 2006. In general, a much higher percentage of games from Kosmos and Hans im Gluck, as well as from top designers like Reiner Knizia and Wolfgang Kramer seemed to be pretty light.

The other big trend of the year was the evolution of the Internet. Though we saw setbacks with the fall of GameWire and The Games Journal, I think that was met with growth thanks to the creation of BoardGameNews and an increased number of regular and/or group blogs, including Gathering of Engineers, and of course this one. I believe that boardgaming news is better off for its transition to a more freewheeling and freemarket site, while the fight between traditional columns like The Games Journal and more open blogs is a general problem facing the Internet right now; though we're not necessarily better off for the ascendency of blogs over articles currently, that's only because we're still transitioning. On the more upbeat side, BGG.con 1 showed the real power of the Internet as an organizational tool that stretches beyond its own electronic boundaries.

The growth of the Internet also offers up the potential for future problems in our industry, and I think that Funagain games epitomized this in 2005. They secured no less than three games as exclusives: Control Nut, Havoc: The Hundred Year's War, and most surprisingly Carcassonne: The Discovery. I'm sure that every one of those publishers felt like the exclusive was best for their company, and in some cases the game might not have been published without funagain. Likewise, funagain may be considering themselves patrons of the arts, helping out in the publication of otherwise unpublishable games. However, I think that seducing people into eletronic sales at the detriment of local game stores which better support the industry at the street level is ultimately a very dangerous trend, and as a result I'm very wary about what funagain is doing.

The other trends of the year tend to be more personal, either on a company, game, or designer basis.

The Companies in Review

Here's a rundown of the major American board game companies & distributors and what they've been up to in the last 365 days.

Asmodee, after many years of largely ignoring the U.S. market, suddenly burst onto it. I think that's a great sign for the growth of the industry in the United States, and I also suspect it'll work out well for Asmodee, due to the better theming of French games in general, as I discussed in the waning days of 2005. This year we saw Dungeon Twister, an expansion for the same, and Mall of Horror--which altogether doubled the size of Asmodee's U.S. catalog--while next year it looks like they might double the size of their U.S. catalog again, with more Dungeon Twister expansions and Mission: Red Planet already solicited. And thus far Asmodee's U.S. games look to be fun.

Days of Wonder seems to have generally proven and stayed with their model in 2005. They want to produce Evergreen games that are continually supported, continually sold, and continally played, so this year we saw a gamer's variant of Ticket to Ride, a computer version of Ticket to Ride, a micro-expansion for Mystery of the Abbey, and two and a half major expansions for Memoir '44. We only saw one utterly new game, Shadows over Camelot, and that was almost immediately supported with a miniatures expansion. Days of Wonder has already announced another Memoir '44 expansion and another Ticket to Ride variant in 2006, so clearly this is working for them.

Eagle Games also stayed the course for much of the year, putting out more big-box American style games, but toward the end of the year they introduced something new to their lineup: Martin Wallace. Eagle Games had gotten some flack for rules & playtesting before this, while Wallace's Warfrog had gotten flack for component issues and production mistakes. You put them together, and it's a match made in heaven. The two releases thus far, Conquest of the Empire and Railroad Tycoon, have each produced rules that are just as good as Martin's originals, if different, and vastly superior components. I hope those trend continues into next year.

Fantasy Flight Games really blew off the doors in 2005 by producing multiple huge games, starting with Twilight Imperium 3 and moving on to Descent, Worlds of Warcraft, and others. Although not quite as big, Arkham Horror and the new Runebound fit straight into the same trend. These are very American games, but have an increasing number of good, German-style mechanics. FFG also continued to really support Reiner Knizia in the U.S., including multiple Blue Moon expansions, a U.S. Ingenious, Beowulf: The Legend, and a new edition of Through the Desert.

Mayfair Games seems to also be in a period of real expansion. Their new distribution deal with daVinci Games appears to have worked out well for them, because they put out a huge number of co-productions in 2005, though most were very light. They've also started distributing all of Phalanx Game's titles, and I think that's great timing because Phalanx seems to be just coming into their own; the playability of their games really increased in 2005, with Alexander the Great and Trick, Trumps, Game both being standouts and the rumor mill saying similar things about the just-released Mesopotamia. Mayfair also seems to be returning to their successful roots with a vengeance. They published no less than three Klaus Teuber games--Candamir, Elasund and the new version of Barbarossa--as well as a new edition of Australian Rails, quickly following on the heels of last year's brand-new Russian Rails.

Out of the Box and Playroom Entertainment continued to follow curiously similar paths in 2005. They're each putting out fairly simple games designed for the mass market, but that includes some light Eurogames. So from OTB we saw Moon's 10 Days in Europe and Knizia's Tutankhamen and from Playroom we saw Knizia's Poison and King of the Beasts. Both companies continue to put out German games that can be nice fillers for more serious players.

Rio Grande Games continued to produce the mix of games that's their norm. Some good games, some family games, and some others. However, I fear that Rio Grande Games is losing notable ground in the current market. They continue to put out some great games because of their manufacturer agreements. The new Alea games, In the Shadow of the Emperor, and Caylus all came out from RGG, and were definitely some of the best of the year. In addition they've expanded their network a bit and are now publishing Queen Games and an increasing number of small-publisher games, such as the aforementioned Caylus, Ys, Oltre Mare, Mall World, and the FFF games. However, some of their self-publications weren't quite as sharp, with the new Bohnanza supplement rules riddled with errors and Carcassonne: The Discovery ending up exclusive over at funagain. I have no doubt that RGG will keep putting out great games for many years to come due to their partnerships, but I don't see how they can ultimately compete against American companies who are larger and really have the resources to do top-notch publications of their own--such as Days of Wonder, Fantasy Flight Games, Mayfair Games, Uberplay, and Z-Man Games. RGG ultimately needs to grow to survive.

Uberplay heavily retrenched in 2005. The declining American economy cut deeply into their German manufacturing deals and so Uberplay ended them after one last release, China. Since they've been going with their own productions, such as Buy Low, Sell High, For Sale, and Ra. I've always found Uberplay's own productions to be of singularly high-quality games (with occasional theming complaints), while their co-productions were more varied, running as they did from Hansa and Tongiaki on the good to Manga Manga and their other small-box Kosmos games on the bad, so I can't complain about their new trend. I'm a little less enthused about their rollout of Simply Fun Games, which revolves around Tupperware style parties that again cut out the local game stores, but they tend to be lighter, more family oriented games, and so are largely off my RADAR.

Z-Man Games really burst onto the scene this year. In the past they'd published some B-movie card games that I found way too random and some other games that just hadn't received much attention. This year, however, they started publishing Eurogames, and Zev somehow managed to pick out the best games that weren't yet in print in the United States. Three big-names games that people already knew about were Santiago, Ursuppe, and Reef Encounter, but he also brought over no-names Street Illegal and Saboteur which both turned out to be really good games and is now on the front line of some of the new games getting lots of attention like Il Principe and Siena. At the same time this has dovetailed nicely with his own releases, such as Parthenon, a very nice combination of American and German aesthetics in a trading game. I hope this new direction works out for them, because Zev's taste in coproductions seems to be selective and singularly good.

The Games in Review

BGG shows six of 2005's games in their Top 100 (excluding wargames): Caylus, Ticket to Ride Europe, Shadows Over Camelot, Louis XIV, Revolution, and Arkham Horror, plus a couple of first American publications: Dungeon Twister, Santiago, and Ingenious.

It's the same mix I mentioned earlier of very long games and lighter/family games. Only Louis XIV and the republications of Santiago and Ingenious really match previous years' trends toward short, yet elegant and deep Eurogames.

Caylus is clearly the top story of the year, and the one game which a lot of people seem to think is going to be a new touchstone for our hobby. I managed to get in one play before the end of the year, and I can now say that I think that once Caylus gets into wider circulation in this next month we're going to see the honeymoon period pretty abruptly end.

It's a good game, no doubt about that, but the sloppy mixture of tactical & strategic requirements is a bit offputting, and the ensuing chaos that results is pretty high. Even more, the 2-4 hour playtime is really going to put most people off. I paid real cash for my copy of Caylus; it wasn't a review copy. And, I'm happy with that purchase because it's a game that I think deserves to be in most serious gamers' collections, but it in no way has the polish and superb development work of a Puerto Rico or a Tigris & Euphrates, and most of the time I can't believe I'll get more enjoyment from it than the 2-4 other German games I could play in the same time period.

Dungeon Twister is the only other game of the year that I think deserves additional comment, and that's because it has legs. It's never going to be a top gameclub game because of its core 2-player sensibility, but 5 years from now it's going to be considered a genre classic, and it'll be worth good amounts on eBay if Asmodee is foolish enough to let is slip out of print. The great artwork, fun theming, and excellent tactical play all combine to make this a standout.

Personally, I rated ten games released this year as perfect 10s over at RPGnet: China, Conquest of the Empire II, Dungeon Twister, For Sale, Memoir '44: Eastern Front, Ra, Shadows over Camelot, Three-Dragon Ante, Ticket to Ride Europe, and Trump, Tricks, Game. In retrospective I'm a little less confident about the ratings for For Sale and Trump, Tricks, Game, but then I find card games somewhat hard to rate because there's only so much the genre can do.

Of the aforementioned BGG top games, I haven't reviewed Ingenious or Caylus and I haven't even played Revolution. I suspect Ingenious would get an 8 or a 9, and I don't know about Caylus, but I suspect it'd be trending toward an RPGnet 10, with notable caveats that many players won't want to play it due to length.

So, 2005. It was a fair year for games. More importantly, the American gaming industry really seems to be on the upswing.

Now let's see what 2006 brings.

PS: If you haven't already, please submit your nominations for our 2005 Board Game Internet Awards.

I've Located the Problem

Just after Christmas I received Hacienda, which Richard and I liked after the first half game. We’ve played it a couple of times now, enjoying it more each time but so far Richard has won each time with very good plays and strategies which have slipped by my sensors. This has finally helped me identify my biggest problem when playing strategy games.

Some games, especially when there are only 2 players, move very quickly from turn to turn which means I’m planning my next move while the other player is taking theirs, often barely noticing what they’ve done. I have my plan and I move ahead with blind confidence, not stopping to ask myself “What did they do, why did they do it and should I be trying to stop whatever it is?” Pilots call this Target Fixation. Your goal is the only thing in your sights, excluding everything else even danger. This is my problem. Alright, to be honest, it’s probably one of many; but this is one I should be able to overcome.

In theory, it should be easy to take 5 seconds to look over the board and assess my opponent’s position and possible strategy, the equivalent of stopping to think before opening your mouth in a conversation (which I’m also not good at). In reality, I feel the need to keep the game moving, not slow it down and drag it out.

I think this is partly because I feel that my target audience hates to sit still for too long playing my games. There are many games that my family enjoys but not all of them so I’m not trying to place the blame on my family, but I know there are times when they’d rather be doing something else.

Another reason for this habit is just that—habit. Years of playing roll and move games where you pick up the dice as soon as someone finishes and press on with your turn have drilled into me the need for speed. There was no need to make a long-term plan or pay particular attention to what another player had done on his turn.

The last thing to mention is that I see games as fun, not to be taken too seriously with every choice a chance for disaster. I like to win as much as anyone else does, but I don’t mind losing as long as I had a good time along the way.

This desire to keep the game moving at a steady clip has thus become a habit which persists even when I have other gamers to play with. It’s only with play-by-email (PBEM) games do I take the necessary time to make my decisions since I know no one is sitting right by their computer waiting impatiently for me to take my turn.

Is my target fixation/full speed ahead method of play a habit that can be broken (or maybe I should say “fixed”)? Can I teach myself to take the time to see the situation, and then let go of my pre-arranged plan in favor of a more sensible course of action? Will it make me a better player or do I have other issues that are even more dire? For the answers to these and other questions, tune in next time.
~~~~~~~~
Games

This week I got to play Hacienda three times, twice with 2 players and once with 3, and I have to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that this is exactly our type of game. The rules are simple and easy to understand but the play is rich with decisions and options for scoring and making money.

I’ve heard this compared to Through the Desert several times but I think it more closely reminds me of Magna Grecia, a game that is less well-known than Through the Desert. In both you want to reach as much of the board as possible to make money or points from their markets, and the bigger your hacienda/city, the more points you’ll make. Both boards start empty, for the most part, and you can start anywhere as long as you follow the rules for beginning your hacienda/city. There’s the same tough balancing act between building your area and increasing your supply/hand of cards which seems to appeal to us so much.

I like games where the winner isn’t clear until the final points are tallied and this qualifies in that respect. There are 5 ways to score points, which are scored in mid-game and at the end, which means there are many combinations of strategies to try. The obvious one, connecting to many markets, isn’t necessarily the strongest one. In the one game that Cori played, she had connected to only 4 markets compared to Richard’s 7 and my 6 but still came in a close second, 4 points behind me.

One thing I’d also like to mention is the start-up table in the rules which shows the different number of cards/pieces used for the different number of players. This is something I usually write down on a small piece of paper for quick reference but there it all was in an easy-to-use format which I wish more developers would do in the future.

All of this goodness AND my husband likes it. I could tell because he said, “Yeah, I could see playing this again.” Well, what more could I ask for?

Long-time gamers won’t find anything new or innovative in Hacienda but if you’re looking for a well-developed game that’s fun, easy to understand and has tight, balanced play, I recommend it.
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Until next time, I’ll be trading my sheep for pesos.

Mary

You mean, like Merlot?

I've been running a game group for close to ten years. A lot of you, and you know who you are, have been spreading the love and joy about "better boardgaming" to the masses for this long, or longer in some cases. The result of this is that we who like these games are now the snobs of the game world.

The word "game" as currently used in the English language means "PC or video game". If you ask someone where a "game store" is, you will be directed to a store with racks of Sony playstation cartridges. If you tell someone that you play games or design games, they assume you mean computer games. A mass media list of the "top thirty games" for last year meant the top thirty video or PC games. "Gaming" is a hot term because is means hordes of pimply teenagers with disposable cash, tech grrls, and business suits extolling marketing segments, all collecting around virtual iconography and black boxes of witchcraft and wires.

"Board game" isn't doing any better. "You mean, like Monopoly?" is not just a derisive catchphrase with which we identify the teeming hordes of smirking, clueless citizens; it is a real question (much like, "How do I find the 'e' so I can click on 'the Internet'?" in another field).

When these citizens ask me about my game prototype, the question they ask is, "What is it about?" Now to me, my first question about a game is, "What is the game like?" Because, frankly, what it is about doesn't interest me as much as how the game plays. This is not to say that theme is totally unnecessary. But first things first. This is not the case with the rest of the world. If you say, "The game is about the Lord of the Rings", they will say, "Really? It sounds like fun." It does? Just because it is "about" the Lord of the Rings?

Yes, that is what it is all about. To me, 150 games of Sorry with different themes is 150 games of Sorry. It plays the same. It's still dumb. Not so to the rest of the world. These citizens can actually rank, in order, which games of Sorry they like based on the theme of the game. "I love Lord of the Rings Sorry. I would never play Powerpuff Girls Sorry." and so on.

In researching my Parlor Game post, I noticed that there were dozens of games that had essentially the same mechanic but had different themes. For instance, a game of additive remembrance, such as "The Minister's Cat" is a different game from "I went on a Picnic". The same is true for a variety of Simon Says games. The same game. Different theme. Yet I'm sure that you could have found hundreds of people who would tell you that they loved one of them and hated the other.

This post from Creating Passionate Users tells us why. In summary: when you learn about a niche culture, you perceive the objects within that culture differently. The movie Sideways demonstrated this within the wine culture; the main character can't stand a type of wine that most people would find pleasant and enjoyable. The article goes on to say that to sell these types of objects, you need to educate the consumer.

There is always a trade-off. When you know nothing about art, you might like 90% of all art. When you know a lot about art, you may like 20% of all art. Net loss: the enjoyment for 70% of all art. Net gain: a deeper enjoyment of the 20% you now like. And, a realization that the 20% you like is still so big a field that you won't exhaust it during your life. So who has time for that other 80%, anyway? It also means that you now have to be passionate about finding that 20% you enjoy, because it isn't going to be available at Walmarts.

If you are a passionate gamer, you should be able to understand that people who are not passionate about gaming have no more clue as to why you would like a deep game than you have a clue why someone would like ... just pick anything about which someone else is passionate but in which you're not interested.

As long as BGG remains a gamer's site, the best games for passionate gamers will always be on the top of BGG: games with fine tuned mechanics, beautiful components, complex game systems; these games are generally ugly and not fun for average citizens. The games don't associate with any of their favorite media stars, they have complicated rules, they take a long time to play, they are hard to play. The top games on Amazon and so forth are always going to be Lord of the Rings Monopoly, Bratz Sorry, and Flintstones Chutes and Ladders.

Fine gaming is a learned taste. We are the spokesmen and women for this game experience. Accept this. Do it in style.

Yehuda

Happy New Year's Day!

Happy New Year!
Well, here we have a brand spanking "New Year" upon US, and just what shall we expect from this upcoming occurance? Oh sure, we ought to 'reflect' or genuflect, and pay our 'tribute' to what already had been 'done' during the previous year's course of events. Much of that was of the 'Good', while there were other instances of which are just BAD, and yet some make you just go ''hmmm...'' Today is also a 'Day' of recuperation for many who are probably STILL feeling the 'effects' from last night! So I will admonish whomever to GET your 'nominations' IN for the "B.G.I.A." 'Awards' and let others KNOW about some little 'known' site that they ought to be drawing their attentions towards. Yes, I'm also wracking my 'brain' for these as well, and shall be bringing along some contenders of my OWN 'makings' for this too. There's also things going ON right NOW as I'm typing this UP and of which many ought to check into when they can.

One of these 'items' happens to involve an ole "shout OUT about" fellow 'blog`r' by the name of "Scott Nicholson" who has gone ahead and created his "VLOG"-(for 'Video-Blog') with a 'site' dedicated JUST for this! Here's the LINK for it then:
"Board Games with Scott"
BoardGamesWithScott

As you'll no doubt discover, then HE is making Great Strides in promoting "Better Gaming through MEDIA exposure", just as long as not TOO 'much' is shown off and this WILL 'include' the likes of "Strip Twister" I might heartily 'add'! It wouldn't surprise 'moi' in the least that others would go so far and we've got an 'award' JUST for such folks here:

NO, I'm not inferring that ole "Scott" is SUCH, you "numb-half-wits", while sure, there will be plenty of others that ARE, and I'll 'admit' as much myself! This will bring up many "not-as-familiar" types of 'issues' that people will have to discuss further and relate either FOR or NOT about those as these 'crop up'. I shall make *note* of the 'fact' that even "I" have attempted to bring the gaming 'phenom' to the small-screen through the "Public Access" Channels WAY back in the 'day' of the early 1990s. But once I'd left the excellent facilities of the SEATTLE area and settled within the barren 'media-scape' of where I'm at NOW, then this 'experience' was stunted further until the present. I've got some 'stuff' laying about that could be cobbled together for something or another in this regard. With the advances already made since those 'beginnings'- for myself at least-then I fully expect to SEE and 'create' yet others as well.

One prime example, would be for folks who aren't able to get IN as much 'gaming' as they'd like due to some 'factor' or another during their 'normal' daytime routines, and this is "Dream Gaming"! Yep, that's right, 'game' while YOU are asleep! That'll involve some working upon to get the kinks out, since some will resist the temptation of it-and it's "futile" in case you're wondering. Another method could involve "Stasis Gaming" where TIME is made to 'halt' while a 'game' commences within such. Then, when the 'players' re-emerge, they can pick up where their 'lives' had been placed on "hold" before, without skipping a beat to THAT! I can just SEE them "LARP" folks doing such while many will probably 'disappear' entirely into the 'lore' of their "gaming archives". They're SUCH "Freaks"! ya kno? Still, once a "wormhole" or the like is found out and put into 'uses', then there'll definitely become fresh, fertile 'grounds' for gaining "other worldly" gaming partners, as hopefully those 'peoples' will enjoy THIS "pasttime" instead of "How to 'SERVE' Man" recipe booklets. It sort of makes you wonder about whether or not the good ole "Dr Who" fellow does any kind of 'gamings'?