Broke down and finally purchased Axis and Allies: Revised Edition, from Fair Play Games. Also added Twilight Imperium, 3rd edition. Reviews of both have been excellent, and with all the games that Burke and Austin have been playing of A&A lately, I figured if we're going to play, we might as well play a version that isn't broken!
I ordered it yesterday morning, it was picked up by UPS that day, and at 4:17AM if left the Maumee, Ohio distribution center - Should have it by Friday at the latest! Woohoo!
Link to rules of TI:3rd are here (in PDF format). Rules for A&A:Revised edition are here (PDF).
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Friday, February 11, 2005
Dilbert
I love Dilbert... and since there is a Dilbert board game (although I have not played it yet), I figured I would post a link (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/game/1814), and then get to talk about a quote I found on the washingtonpost.com website, in a public interview of Scott Adams.
"Fishers, Ind.: Do you think Asok {{ a Dilbert character }} will always be so "un-jaded" about his work?
Scott Adams: I haven't decided whether he will grow in wisdom (cynicism). I like him to be the one hopeful character so I can squash his dreams."
Hee hee. Classic. Link here.
"Fishers, Ind.: Do you think Asok {{ a Dilbert character }} will always be so "un-jaded" about his work?
Scott Adams: I haven't decided whether he will grow in wisdom (cynicism). I like him to be the one hopeful character so I can squash his dreams."
Hee hee. Classic. Link here.
Wednesday, February 09, 2005
I went back to Ohio, and my city was not gone
Went to Dayton last weekend, visited Tab and family. Great time. Played football (threw three touchdowns, got blisters on feet), Pirate's Cove, Foosball, Chess, Gobblet, a little Carcassone, some Star Wars Minatures, and picked up (and played) Cosmic Encounter.
Oh yeah, watched the half-time show of the Superbowl. Paul McCartney rocks.
Votes continue to accumulate on the next GOF, and right now 50% of votes are for Pinochle. Can someone please explain this to me?
Pinochle?
Oh yeah, watched the half-time show of the Superbowl. Paul McCartney rocks.
Votes continue to accumulate on the next GOF, and right now 50% of votes are for Pinochle. Can someone please explain this to me?
Pinochle?
Friday, February 04, 2005
The Games Journal
Frankly, one of the things that inspired me to create a blog, was some excellent articles written on this website: http://www.thegamesjournal.com/.
Going back to 2001, this site has scores of articles on games, design, rules, history, interviews, really fascinating stuff. Literally hundreds of pages of reading material regarding board games. Two Canadians, Greg Aleknevicus and Frank Branham are the editor and publisher of this internet magazine. An aritcle in this months edition discusses the 5 types of boards used in games: player aids, fixed, variable, domino, and hybrids.
"For me, there is an intrinsic interest in the boards themselves. Some are near works of art while others are little more than a pale canvas with a few lines scrawled about. Comparing the interpretation, the treatment for similar themes or maps can be enlightening. Consider that Vinci, Mare Nostrum, Civilization (Tresham/Avalon Hill), Age of Napoleon (Phalanx) and Risk... are all artistic interpretations of the same general area of this planet; the difference in the exposition is amazing ."
------------------------------------------------------------
Will be playing Carcassone, Chess, Serinissima or Mare Nostrum this weekend, maybe Settlers. Will also have the date for GOF 3.5 soon. Vote for your games below! (and COMMENT with suggestions if you don't care for my list)
Going back to 2001, this site has scores of articles on games, design, rules, history, interviews, really fascinating stuff. Literally hundreds of pages of reading material regarding board games. Two Canadians, Greg Aleknevicus and Frank Branham are the editor and publisher of this internet magazine. An aritcle in this months edition discusses the 5 types of boards used in games: player aids, fixed, variable, domino, and hybrids.
"For me, there is an intrinsic interest in the boards themselves. Some are near works of art while others are little more than a pale canvas with a few lines scrawled about. Comparing the interpretation, the treatment for similar themes or maps can be enlightening. Consider that Vinci, Mare Nostrum, Civilization (Tresham/Avalon Hill), Age of Napoleon (Phalanx) and Risk... are all artistic interpretations of the same general area of this planet; the difference in the exposition is amazing ."
------------------------------------------------------------
Will be playing Carcassone, Chess, Serinissima or Mare Nostrum this weekend, maybe Settlers. Will also have the date for GOF 3.5 soon. Vote for your games below! (and COMMENT with suggestions if you don't care for my list)
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Votes so far...
Well, with 8 votes in so far, we have 3 of them for Pinochle, 2 for Settlers, 1 for Mare Nostrum (that was my vote), 1 for Puerto Rico (probably Kevin), and 1 "other".
Pinochle is interesting. I am kind of surprised by this one. Considering how many other interesting games there are out there.
Giving thought lately to people's preference in games, I noticed myself talking more about "gamer's games" versus "regular games". Unless you are a game nut like me, I suppose you would have not thought much about what I'm talking about.
Let me break it down this way. There are three types of games: 1) mass market games, 2) gateway games, and 3) gamer's games.
Mass market games are distinguished by the fact that 90% of people have either heard of them, or played them. Often mass marketed by large American publishers, the can be in the public domain. I think of games like Sorry, Monopoly, Scrabble, checkers, backgammon, card games like Euchre, Spades, Pinochle, Canasta, Rummy, etc. Risk even falls into this type of game. Made in 1959, anyone who was shopped "on purpose" for games of a strategy type, would come across this ancient title in a store in one of it's many incarnations.
Gateway games might be found in a toy store. Games like "Axis and Allies" would be found there, but it's "A&A:Europe" or "A&A:Pacific" would probably be found in a hobby shop. Settlers of Catan would only be found there, as would others like "Memoir '44", "Risk 2210", "Acquire", "Pirate's Cove", "War of the Ring", etc. I call these "gateway" games because they have limited complexity, and have heavy themes (WWII, business, pirates, Tolkien, etc.), which would add to their appeal, and tempt non-gamers into playing. They also introduce more complex elements, and more interaction in the case of German games.
Gamer's games would include: Puerto Rico, Mare Nostrum, Tigirs and Euphrats, Princes of Florence, El Grande, go, bridge, chess, Power Grid, Tikal, Java, and their ilk. These titles require a deeper level of concentration to appreciate their beauty. They may use the most advanced gaming mechanisms in the world. Clear strategies may not be obvious, and may only appear after repeated playings. Games like chess, go, and bridge could really take a lifetime to master (and have much literature devoted to the study of their play).
Depending on a person's level of concentration, experience, time, and the desire that they have to flex mental muscles, different levels of games are appropriate. Personally, I will play just about anything except charades. I have taken a number of gaming groups from the mass market, up a level to gateway games. And a select few have made it to gamer's games. It's really fun to introduce new titles and expose friends to the joy of a well-played board game.
Back in the late 1980's, my brother Tab, and cousin Bob Oberheu played some games very heavily, and explored some strategies as far as they could go. I remember one night playing Monopoly about 10 times, and finally realizing the effect dice had on the contest. We were so well matched after dozens of plays (and the hundreds we had all played as kids), that we basically "retired" the game. We did this with others, like Axis and Allies (the Allies will always win using the standard rules, if played correctly), and almost burnt out on Acquire as well.
It felt like we burned out Settlers once or twice, but that games proves tricky to master, and except for Tab noone seems to be able to win consistanly enough to prove it "broken". Chess, Bob and I have pushed the boundaries of our brains a few times, but I've rediscovered the game since my six-year-old Grayson has taken it up. Now Tab's kids are playing him over the internet on Xbox Live!
I think Mike, Kevin and Doug may have burned out on Risk (or come close), and you could easily argue that they've played enough to see just about every strategy succeed or fail.
Have any of you played out a game? Explored it as deep as it would go? Uncovered intricate stategies like mining for gold?
Pinochle is interesting. I am kind of surprised by this one. Considering how many other interesting games there are out there.
Giving thought lately to people's preference in games, I noticed myself talking more about "gamer's games" versus "regular games". Unless you are a game nut like me, I suppose you would have not thought much about what I'm talking about.
Let me break it down this way. There are three types of games: 1) mass market games, 2) gateway games, and 3) gamer's games.
Mass market games are distinguished by the fact that 90% of people have either heard of them, or played them. Often mass marketed by large American publishers, the can be in the public domain. I think of games like Sorry, Monopoly, Scrabble, checkers, backgammon, card games like Euchre, Spades, Pinochle, Canasta, Rummy, etc. Risk even falls into this type of game. Made in 1959, anyone who was shopped "on purpose" for games of a strategy type, would come across this ancient title in a store in one of it's many incarnations.
Gateway games might be found in a toy store. Games like "Axis and Allies" would be found there, but it's "A&A:Europe" or "A&A:Pacific" would probably be found in a hobby shop. Settlers of Catan would only be found there, as would others like "Memoir '44", "Risk 2210", "Acquire", "Pirate's Cove", "War of the Ring", etc. I call these "gateway" games because they have limited complexity, and have heavy themes (WWII, business, pirates, Tolkien, etc.), which would add to their appeal, and tempt non-gamers into playing. They also introduce more complex elements, and more interaction in the case of German games.
Gamer's games would include: Puerto Rico, Mare Nostrum, Tigirs and Euphrats, Princes of Florence, El Grande, go, bridge, chess, Power Grid, Tikal, Java, and their ilk. These titles require a deeper level of concentration to appreciate their beauty. They may use the most advanced gaming mechanisms in the world. Clear strategies may not be obvious, and may only appear after repeated playings. Games like chess, go, and bridge could really take a lifetime to master (and have much literature devoted to the study of their play).
Depending on a person's level of concentration, experience, time, and the desire that they have to flex mental muscles, different levels of games are appropriate. Personally, I will play just about anything except charades. I have taken a number of gaming groups from the mass market, up a level to gateway games. And a select few have made it to gamer's games. It's really fun to introduce new titles and expose friends to the joy of a well-played board game.
Back in the late 1980's, my brother Tab, and cousin Bob Oberheu played some games very heavily, and explored some strategies as far as they could go. I remember one night playing Monopoly about 10 times, and finally realizing the effect dice had on the contest. We were so well matched after dozens of plays (and the hundreds we had all played as kids), that we basically "retired" the game. We did this with others, like Axis and Allies (the Allies will always win using the standard rules, if played correctly), and almost burnt out on Acquire as well.
It felt like we burned out Settlers once or twice, but that games proves tricky to master, and except for Tab noone seems to be able to win consistanly enough to prove it "broken". Chess, Bob and I have pushed the boundaries of our brains a few times, but I've rediscovered the game since my six-year-old Grayson has taken it up. Now Tab's kids are playing him over the internet on Xbox Live!
I think Mike, Kevin and Doug may have burned out on Risk (or come close), and you could easily argue that they've played enough to see just about every strategy succeed or fail.
Have any of you played out a game? Explored it as deep as it would go? Uncovered intricate stategies like mining for gold?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
