Saw this over on digg.com, it's called Castle Smasher, and it's a clever Java game that is strangely addicting...
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Castle Smasher
Saw this over on digg.com, it's called Castle Smasher, and it's a clever Java game that is strangely addicting...
The Great (but short) Space Race
My son and I decided to play the colorful Great Space Race a few nights ago. He chose the Manta (-1 Damage) and I chose the Space Guppy (+3 Shield recharge rate). The game is technically 3-player, but we've played it twice with 2, adding a couple of mines to the cargo bay and it's worked well.
It Begins
Manta started in position 1, and Guppy started in 3. Manta moved forward drew a Repulsion Cannon (move opponent within 2 hexes 1 square on a roll of 1-5, move yourself on a 6). Guppy moved forward, turned left and dropped a couple of mines.
Turn 2, Guppy pulled the Dimensional Rift Event (move opponent 3 hexes) and Wormhole. I moved Manta back three squares, 2 spaces from the wall, and popped a wormhole in front of him, and the exit 5 hexes back around the first corner. If he moves forward he jumps back, and possibly slams into the wall. If he slips right or left, it's a short trip to slam into the wall.
Wisely, he burned a "command" counter, turned right and moved forward avoiding my little trap. He did detonate a mine, doing 3-1=2 damage to his shield. Guppy continued moving, dropping mines along the way, and worked on widening his lead.
Mid-Game
A Major Event was pulled, and the Acidic cloud appeared. Manta put it ahead of us in the corner of turn 2. As in the last game we played, it bounced around in the corner, and was never really a factor in the game. Perhaps it mean more with more players, but we were able to easily avoid it.
We both continued to move around turn 2 then three, and Manta continued to play equipment cards, which allowed me to extend my lead. He played Robot Co-Pilot, then picked up an Atomic Device. He burned a couple more command counters, and eventually the Robot card, trying to avoid all my mines and the wall.
Another wormhole appeared, around turn three, and Guppy received an Atomic Device as well. He hit me with a Stowaway, we both reloaded mines.
During his second lap, he finally did hit the wall at speed 5, and rolled and 11-1=10 damage, burning down his shields and his hull down to 2. Fortunately, he played a Shield Up on the turn right after or he was in real danger with mines all over the board.
As Guppy began his final lap, about 20 hexes separated the two ships. I decided to drop my atomic device right near the start area. With the first wormhole within the blast radius I hoped to catch Manta in the blast and maybe even create a black hole in the narrow neck of the first turn. There's a 50-50 chance of this happening, and avoiding the hole with slow him enough to likely insure a win.
On the same "impulse", right after I drop the mine, he plays equipment, and draws a Guided Torpedo. He had a bizarre set of Movement cards, and twisting around on the next couple of impulses, ends up right in front of my soon-to-detonate Atomic Device, and fires his Guided Torp right at it, eliminating it. Perfect timing!
Finale
The distance stayed roughly the same as I refilled mines, Guppy had a few "difficult" Movement card pulls. Manta frantically tried to keep up, and then the big one hit:
Manta pulled the Major Event, 42 - Terrible Secret of Space (Douglas Adams tribute card). Three more Major's were pulled, Interstellar Slime (all ships go to speed 1), Asteroids (divy up all the Asteroid counters and distribute them around the board, 4 hexes away from each other and ships), and then... SPACE GOATS.
Each player must roll 2d6 for damage, and lose two speed factors. The goats then "fly away".
With only 2 hull left, and 6 shields, Manta rolls a 10-1=9 damage. Kaboom! Guppy rolls a 3, not even cracking the shields.
This ended the game mercifully, as the Guppy was well in the lead on the final lap with no hull damage.
It Begins
Manta started in position 1, and Guppy started in 3. Manta moved forward drew a Repulsion Cannon (move opponent within 2 hexes 1 square on a roll of 1-5, move yourself on a 6). Guppy moved forward, turned left and dropped a couple of mines.
Turn 2, Guppy pulled the Dimensional Rift Event (move opponent 3 hexes) and Wormhole. I moved Manta back three squares, 2 spaces from the wall, and popped a wormhole in front of him, and the exit 5 hexes back around the first corner. If he moves forward he jumps back, and possibly slams into the wall. If he slips right or left, it's a short trip to slam into the wall.
Wisely, he burned a "command" counter, turned right and moved forward avoiding my little trap. He did detonate a mine, doing 3-1=2 damage to his shield. Guppy continued moving, dropping mines along the way, and worked on widening his lead.
Mid-Game
A Major Event was pulled, and the Acidic cloud appeared. Manta put it ahead of us in the corner of turn 2. As in the last game we played, it bounced around in the corner, and was never really a factor in the game. Perhaps it mean more with more players, but we were able to easily avoid it.
We both continued to move around turn 2 then three, and Manta continued to play equipment cards, which allowed me to extend my lead. He played Robot Co-Pilot, then picked up an Atomic Device. He burned a couple more command counters, and eventually the Robot card, trying to avoid all my mines and the wall.
Another wormhole appeared, around turn three, and Guppy received an Atomic Device as well. He hit me with a Stowaway, we both reloaded mines.
During his second lap, he finally did hit the wall at speed 5, and rolled and 11-1=10 damage, burning down his shields and his hull down to 2. Fortunately, he played a Shield Up on the turn right after or he was in real danger with mines all over the board.
As Guppy began his final lap, about 20 hexes separated the two ships. I decided to drop my atomic device right near the start area. With the first wormhole within the blast radius I hoped to catch Manta in the blast and maybe even create a black hole in the narrow neck of the first turn. There's a 50-50 chance of this happening, and avoiding the hole with slow him enough to likely insure a win.
On the same "impulse", right after I drop the mine, he plays equipment, and draws a Guided Torpedo. He had a bizarre set of Movement cards, and twisting around on the next couple of impulses, ends up right in front of my soon-to-detonate Atomic Device, and fires his Guided Torp right at it, eliminating it. Perfect timing!
Finale
The distance stayed roughly the same as I refilled mines, Guppy had a few "difficult" Movement card pulls. Manta frantically tried to keep up, and then the big one hit:
Manta pulled the Major Event, 42 - Terrible Secret of Space (Douglas Adams tribute card). Three more Major's were pulled, Interstellar Slime (all ships go to speed 1), Asteroids (divy up all the Asteroid counters and distribute them around the board, 4 hexes away from each other and ships), and then... SPACE GOATS.
Each player must roll 2d6 for damage, and lose two speed factors. The goats then "fly away".
With only 2 hull left, and 6 shields, Manta rolls a 10-1=9 damage. Kaboom! Guppy rolls a 3, not even cracking the shields.
This ended the game mercifully, as the Guppy was well in the lead on the final lap with no hull damage.
Sunday, January 28, 2007
Game conventioning
Fascinating article mentioned on boardgamenews.com, regarding the canceling of GenCon So Cal, or GenCon Southern California.
Peter D. Adkinson was one of the founders of the powerhouse company, Wizards of the Coast, a millionaire because of his companies success in collectible card games. They bought TSR games, Hasbro, and got involved in many other ventures in the late 90's. Their founder left the company, spent a year rock climbing in France and touring the world. Then he bought the rights to run Gen Con, originally the convention hosted by TSR for role-players, dating back to 1967.
Okay, so this guy Peter (a millionaire) decides to run Gen Con in Indianapolis, and also Star Wars Celebration.
(poster for the European version in 2007 below) I know about SWC because my brother attended it when living in Dayton before the release of episode III.
Anyway, Adkison toys with the idea of running gaming conventions in Europe, and talks about why this would not work. He then opens a convention in Southern California, and this is the main scope of the article.
If you have an interest in the business of the games industry, or have ever been to a game convention, you will find this article about his experiences a fascinating inside look into the process.
The End of Gen Con So Cal
Peter D. Adkinson was one of the founders of the powerhouse company, Wizards of the Coast, a millionaire because of his companies success in collectible card games. They bought TSR games, Hasbro, and got involved in many other ventures in the late 90's. Their founder left the company, spent a year rock climbing in France and touring the world. Then he bought the rights to run Gen Con, originally the convention hosted by TSR for role-players, dating back to 1967.
Okay, so this guy Peter (a millionaire) decides to run Gen Con in Indianapolis, and also Star Wars Celebration.
(poster for the European version in 2007 below) I know about SWC because my brother attended it when living in Dayton before the release of episode III.Anyway, Adkison toys with the idea of running gaming conventions in Europe, and talks about why this would not work. He then opens a convention in Southern California, and this is the main scope of the article.
If you have an interest in the business of the games industry, or have ever been to a game convention, you will find this article about his experiences a fascinating inside look into the process.
The End of Gen Con So Cal
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Games played, 2006
List of games played in 2006:
Twenty-six times I played something from the Gipf series, Zertz, Dvonn or Tamsk. Looking at this in early January, I decided to buy Gipf in January at the Compleat Strategist in NYC, and I am glad I did. Grayson took to it immediately, and I am pretty sure these games will be the most played in 2007. They take 15-20 minutes if you don't take terribly long to contemplate your moves, and they can be connected together to form a larger game with the use of "potentials".
Carcassone was the second most played game, surprisingly we only played it 10 times. We played only the standard game, but one of the main expansions. I like Traders and Builders the best.
Star Wars Minatures and Race Day, both collectible minatures games, came up 16 times total. Fun for a month or so, I am not sure we will get back to them in 2007. Perhaps if Tab takes an interest.
The "big" games, Caylus, Puerto Rico, Power Grid, and Railroad Tycoon came up only a few times this year, which I guess is not that surprising. Given a choice, I could play just the games for the next 10 years. But they are heavier, and finding adult opponents is the challenge. Perhaps in 2007 this will change.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Pinocle
I was recently invited to Bill K's bi-weekly Pinocle group, after he discovered our mutual interest in cards. It's been a privilege to attend twice now, and has been quite entertaining.
I am more comfortable with bridge, spades, hearts and their ilk in the trick-taking family. My pioneer partner and I played pinocle back in 1991 for a short while, after I discovered the game in a book by John Scarne. (Scarne invented a few games too, and was very famous back in the 40's and 50's for his card tricks and being an expert in how to detect a card cheat).
I came in 4th of 7 the first time I played, and was "set" twice. Last night I was only set once after I made a mistake in under-bidding a double-run (A-10-K-Q-J twice), but improved my defensive play, and managed to bid and make a 215 point contract with 55 of 144 pointers (minimum being 37, the highest taken last night being about 65).
Next time I play, I will certainly not get set back, or misdeal (which I also did both nights), which should allow me to compete for a win.
Here's how they play:
For every player over 2 they add an extra deck, and remove the 9's. This means 6 decks in a seven player game, A-10-K-Q-J. So there are 12 of each card in each suit, 240 cards in a deck. 33 cards are dealt to each player, and 9 are dealt to the middle as a "kitty".
Bidding starts at 50, increments of 1 till 100, then by 5. Players must bid or pass for the right to chose a trump suit, and also exchange 9 cards in their hand for 9 cards in the kitty which is turned face up, then exchanged face down. If aces are buried they must be called out (this has not happened yet).
Meld is worth the following:
A's = 10, double 100, triple 300
K's = 8, double 80, triple 240
Q's = 6, double 60, triple 180
J's = 4, doubled 40, triple 120
Runs (A,10,K,Q,J of trump) are worth 16 single, 32 double. Double runs are worth 150 IF AT LEAST 150 IS BID BY THE THIRD BID. If a player melds a double run but does not bid 150+ by the third bid, the double run counts only as 32. Note: This is a very important rule, and probably the only "gut-check" made during the bidding process, unless a player is taking a wild chance due to the scoring situation).
Pincole (Q spades, Jack diamonds) 4, double 40, triple 120
Marriages, 2 non trump, 4 trump
Must have at least a marriage in trump to take the bid.
Must have at least 20 meld to lay meld, and must take at least one trick for meld to count.
A hand dealt with a player having no aces is handled as a mis-deal. Dealer loses 50 on a misdeal and deal is passed.
Game is made @ 250 times the number of players minus one, so 1500 for a 7-player game.
Bidder lays first card, and must take 37 pointers out of 160. To this they add their melded points, and if this exceeds their bid they score their total points. Non-bidders play against the bidder, and it's a team effort to try to take him down.
I am more comfortable with bridge, spades, hearts and their ilk in the trick-taking family. My pioneer partner and I played pinocle back in 1991 for a short while, after I discovered the game in a book by John Scarne. (Scarne invented a few games too, and was very famous back in the 40's and 50's for his card tricks and being an expert in how to detect a card cheat).
I came in 4th of 7 the first time I played, and was "set" twice. Last night I was only set once after I made a mistake in under-bidding a double-run (A-10-K-Q-J twice), but improved my defensive play, and managed to bid and make a 215 point contract with 55 of 144 pointers (minimum being 37, the highest taken last night being about 65).
Next time I play, I will certainly not get set back, or misdeal (which I also did both nights), which should allow me to compete for a win.
Here's how they play:
For every player over 2 they add an extra deck, and remove the 9's. This means 6 decks in a seven player game, A-10-K-Q-J. So there are 12 of each card in each suit, 240 cards in a deck. 33 cards are dealt to each player, and 9 are dealt to the middle as a "kitty".
Bidding starts at 50, increments of 1 till 100, then by 5. Players must bid or pass for the right to chose a trump suit, and also exchange 9 cards in their hand for 9 cards in the kitty which is turned face up, then exchanged face down. If aces are buried they must be called out (this has not happened yet).
Meld is worth the following:
A's = 10, double 100, triple 300
K's = 8, double 80, triple 240
Q's = 6, double 60, triple 180
J's = 4, doubled 40, triple 120
Runs (A,10,K,Q,J of trump) are worth 16 single, 32 double. Double runs are worth 150 IF AT LEAST 150 IS BID BY THE THIRD BID. If a player melds a double run but does not bid 150+ by the third bid, the double run counts only as 32. Note: This is a very important rule, and probably the only "gut-check" made during the bidding process, unless a player is taking a wild chance due to the scoring situation).
Pincole (Q spades, Jack diamonds) 4, double 40, triple 120
Marriages, 2 non trump, 4 trump
Must have at least a marriage in trump to take the bid.
Must have at least 20 meld to lay meld, and must take at least one trick for meld to count.
A hand dealt with a player having no aces is handled as a mis-deal. Dealer loses 50 on a misdeal and deal is passed.
Game is made @ 250 times the number of players minus one, so 1500 for a 7-player game.
Bidder lays first card, and must take 37 pointers out of 160. To this they add their melded points, and if this exceeds their bid they score their total points. Non-bidders play against the bidder, and it's a team effort to try to take him down.
Sunday, January 21, 2007
Saturday, January 20, 2007
Supernova
This new game (yet unpublished) looks fascinating... Check out this description at the geek:Supernova is a game of space expansion and exploration. 5 civilizations are abandoning their solar system to escape the upcoming supernova of their sun.
Conquer new solar systems by taking over planets, mining moons, and building the most powerful fleet of ships by upgrading your Weapons, Shields, Communications or Engines. Capture the most space by the time the star goes Supernova to be proclaimed the winner!
This game features some set collection, area enclosure and tile placement on a completely modular board. Play a short or a long version of the game without changing the board. Possibly the first space exploration game where 3D space not only matters, but could be the key to your victory!
This game is not yet published. The pictures are of a prototype and it is undergoing rigorous playtesting. It will be available to play at GenCon 2006 in November in Los Angeles."
It's going to be published by the same folks that produce Die Macher, looking forward to this one.
10-20-08: update, the rules are now available here.
Friday, January 05, 2007
Colorado Lightshow
This video below shows a Russian satellite part reentering the atmosphere over the Colorado sky... Wow.
Links to versions with some commentary...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWtqD_30-jU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH-NTr4cc04
Links to versions with some commentary...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWtqD_30-jU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rH-NTr4cc04
Monday, January 01, 2007
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