Boardgame News

The Unboxing of Betrayal at House on the Hill, 2nd Edition

Sat, 08/21/2010 - 3:00am

Previewed game:  Betrayal at House on the Hill

Categories: Game News

Patrick Brennan: Gaming Snapshots – August 2010

Sat, 08/21/2010 - 1:00am

Gaming Snapshots – August 2010

This past month has seen a higher than usual proportion of decent new games, which has made for a nice change. I've also had a chance to repeat play most of them, which is even nicer.

The month has also marked the making of some yearly numbers, being 100 new titles and 365 different titles for the year. It's by far the earliest I've hit them within a year. Why have these goals? They help me assure variety, make it quicker to choose what to play next on any given night, get older games to the table, and encourage me to try out stuff in non-preferred genres, expanding my gaming boundaries. Apart from the obvious increase in gaming knowledge and experience that ensues, the most rewarding aspect has been an increase in my tolerance and enjoyment of all the games I play, from the ordinary to the stellar. It's funny how the worst games can often be the most fun!

Of the games reviewed last month, none re-hit the table. You'll understand why when you read the quality line-up we've been exploring in their stead.

In other games, our re-exploration blast from the past this month was Krieg Und Frieden, which was both better than I remembered (i.e., it hung together well) and worse (i.e., being a 90-120 minute luck-fest in which cards you get when). We added in a bunch of recommended (and sensible) scoring and catch-up variants gleaned from the Geek. They worked, but not well enough to improve the game from the 5 rating I gave it ten years ago.

Anyway, to the first-timers over the past month ...

At The Gates Of Loyang – I'm a fan of low interaction games where you have decent control over your own destiny, but I'm wondering if this hugely tactical beast has too little interaction even for me. Each turn you're trying to maximise your money to advance multiple steps along the VP track. Your opportunities to make money each round will be dictated by the two cards you'll keep (via the novel discard / draft mechanism), plus turning the vegetables you've laid in previous turns into money this turn the best way you can, done via Jambo-style demand cards. There are a bunch of "helper" cards which allow you to use other players things, but I was surprised how little that affected the play (although I'm sure some cards will be cruel to an opponent at times). The score track was a good feature: pay $1 for the first VP you acquire each turn, and also $x for each additional space you'd like, where x is the number of VPs you'd get to as a result of each move. It provides some interesting dilemmas in the early to mid-game where you're weighing up investing the money into your money-producing engine for later VPs vs acquiring cheap VPs now that may win you the game. The engine-building / VP-generating challenge was interesting in and of itself, with lots of ways to combine your actions (resulting in serious downtime at times, however), and probably worth a higher rating, but I mark it down in the end due to the lack of tension induced by its solo nature, the impression it leaves that each game will play out exactly the same as the first, and that your success will be dependent on whether cards come along that match your production at the times you need them. A 7 to begin with, and could go either way from here.

Egizia – A worker-placement concoction where you can only go down the line (the Nile) collecting stuff. The twist is that once you've passed over spots, you can't go back to them. Spots include stuff like getting crew, building a grain engine to feed them, building a quarry engine to generate stones which your crew use to get VPs, the actual VP-earning spots themselves, plus a bunch of special action cards. Your aim is generally to keep everything in balance – crew, food, quarry. Your hard decision each turn (which provides plenty of tension) is assessing what everyone else will take and determining whether you can take this close spot, giving you more options for next turn, or whether you need to take the spot further down the line right now because that's the one you really want, forgoing all other closer spots this round. That's the essence of the game-play and about as difficult as it gets. The end-of-game VP cards will drive your strategy in terms of which VP building spots (aka, stone-spending) you want to get into each round. One potential downer is that the VP cards are not well balanced – a card that provides average points in a two-player can be great with four players, and others work the other way around. So buy lots of cards to maximise your chances of getting a good one. Another is that your accounting housekeeping can be fiddly. It does work surprisingly well as a two-player game, so kudos there – there's less tension in the competition for building but more focus on nailing your strategy correctly. It's an interesting game that I'm enjoying playing. It may drift down to a 7 over time, but it starts as an 8.

Forbidden Island – This has been well-received by family and gamers alike as a co-operative venture, where you get to jointly overcome the game rather than compete against each other. And there's no accidental about it – you have to co-operate to win by sharing and consolidating the treasure cards you draw into one person's hand. Turns are generally straightforward: You're moving around (each tile is an action) to get next to a flooded (flipped) tile and undo the flood (because if it floods again, you'll lose that tile) or you're moving to someone else's spot and giving them a card. Once someone gets four-of-a-kind, they trade it in on the right tile for one of the four treasures. Once you have all four treasures, everyone gets to the home tile and someone must play a helicopter card to win. So the game is moving, flipping, sharing. It's easy enough for smart seven-year-olds to pick up, and works well with family, although it can be hard for kids to kick the competitive habit and truly understand that it really doesn't matter who saves the treasure without the need to get sulky. A good result is dependent on your ability to not have to spend actions moving, instead saving them for card sharing and flipping / saving tiles. It's especially so at the harder levels. And this will depend on how the treasure cards come out – you want each player to receive just one type rather than each type being split amongst everyone – and whether the flood tiles are close to you or further away. The more you play, the more you realise your result is a function of this card distribution. The available actions are limited. The interesting and challenging choices that those used to the dynamism and broad possibilities of Pandemic may expect are not there, so it certainly doesn't replace it on the shelves. But it can be fun if everyone plays in good spirit. It creates some tension along the way and offers a nice sense of satisfaction when you succeed. It has its niche, and it racked up ten plays in a matter of days, so I'm starting this as an 8, but I could see it dropping to a 7 over time as we continue to do all the right things and become slightly disillusioned with the luck.

Hansa Teutonica – Very dry game of cube placement, aiming to own all the cube spaces between two towns so as to either earn the tech tree improvement offered by the town or place an ownership marker in the town to earn VPs. Tech tree improvements include extra actions each turn, increased cube replenishment rate, more merchants (souped-up cubes), etc. There are lots of ways to score points in the game, so it's a matter of finding a strategy that doesn't have competition and being strict about it. There's not a lot of tension, but there's enough pussage in the game (a la special action chits and blocking moves) to keep things interactive enough. In fact, one of the issues I've had with the game is that if players are too intensely focussed on playing blocking moves so as to get bonus cubes out (which happens when the blocks are subsequently dislodged), the game can become one of constant denial and frustration at not being able to make progress. This has made one game particularly unenjoyable, enough to lower the rating and turn me off playing for a while. Anyway, with limited actions, turns go quickly enough so that downtime isn't an issue. Not sure I'd ever want to play this with more than three again, given you want to keep it pacy. The game doesn't make me come alive due to its repetitive nature (placing cubes over and over again), but it at least works well, it provides a nice mental workout and there seems to be lots of different scoring strategies to explore. A 7 for the moment, but it's been descending.

Jaipur – Your turn is to collect cards (six different colours of various raritude) from the five card draft, or sell cards from your hand for VPs. I think the camel idea it implements is clever here – instead of the usual pick one card (very staid), you have the option of picking all the camel cards in the draft (they don't get assessed against your hand limit), and then on a later turn exchanging as many as you like with cards in the display, quickly increasing your hand. That leaves a bunch of camel cards in the draft, which the other player may now decide to acquire for later, and the wheel turns. The game also creates pressure to sell which is nice: Sell early and you get the best VPs, but hold onto them and trade three, four or five at a time and you'll get bonus points, Thurn and Taxis-style. The seven card hand limit also drives the selling. The game is pleasant to play and seemingly spouse friendly. Turns roll along, no big or hard decisions, picking up for a few turns in a row, selling cards for VPs, then back to picking up, but always being aware of what the other player is doing to improve your own decision making on what to pick up and how. Like Fjords, you may want to play only one short hand rather than the rules-driven two out of three, but like Lost Cities you probably need to play the extra hands to help balance out the luck of the draft draw. Funnily enough my first playing of this was as a three player where it played similarly and worked fine. A 7.

Margin for Error – A pretty standard trick-taking game quite similar to Hearts and another in the long line that can be played with a Sticheln deck if you want to try before you buy. It doesn't have enough oomph or twist to give it excitable replayability over the many other trick-takers out there, but it's playable for variety. The dealer declares which suit is the "point" suit (i.e., each card in that suit will be worth one point, all other cards are worth zero). The dealer also secretly advises their partner whether they're playing "low" (they'll win the hand if they win four cards or fewer) or "high" (need ten or more of the 14 cards). You're usually long or short, high or low in something, so it's not usually too hard to find a call that's makeable, but you have the option to pass on the declaration if your hand is middling. You get to pass cards with your partner which is a nice decision to make on how to help your partner – except that you have no idea what their hand is like after all, so there's the first ladling out of luck. Your opposition don't know whether you've played high or low until halfway through the hand, so you have plenty of opportunity to get rid of high cards in the early tricks if you've called low, and vice versa. All hands are no trumps, so the play-out is pretty straight forward and without too much decision. If you're the opposition, you'll be watching closely for indications on whether they're going for high or low, preparing yourself for either way if you can, but being wary of the bluff so you can't over-commit either way. There's considerable luck in the declaration and the synergy of your partner's hand which can overwhelm a hand, which marks it down a bit for me. The lumpiness of the scoring – you either make it for full points or fail for nothing – doesn't provide the trick by trick tension that Hearts can provide. But the killer blow was that we found it just way too easy to make the misere hands, which became the inevitable call, leading to a sense of ennui. A 5.

Masquerade – The Z-man re-release of the 2003 Japanese design. A game of gathering spell cards (which mostly allow you to amp up your attack number) and then go whack opponents, or the treasure pile, for victory points. Attack resolution is simply supplementing your base power with spell cards (paid for a la San Juan / RftG), highest number wins. Much of the game is spent alternating between acquiring spell cards and having a whack, and occasionally getting a life back from the fountain of youth if you lose some fights, which makes it pretty straight-forward – maybe too straight-forward for the 90-minute length. Each character has a special power to use through the game (e.g., get an extra card; a spell costs one less card) which differentiates strategy. More powers can be gained if you win an attack against a treasure card. If things aren't going well, you can dig into the event deck and play something to upset the apple cart – maybe steal someone else's power. So the game is easy enough – choose the action you want in turn order – whack treasure, whack opponent, get spells, get events, but not a lot of tension, not a lot of drama. You win some, you lose some, hit the leader. Eventually a deck will run out, the game will end and someone will win. A 6.

Shipyard – Excellent three-player game. There are seven available actions in the game which you use turn by turn to collect bits of everything you need to build ships: bows and sterns, different types of crew, sails, propellers, etc. And within each action there is cheap stuff and dear stuff, so you need to balance your need for something in particular vs the cost. The needs come from the VP drivers which are three-fold: your overall objective cards which will drive you to build ships a certain way (many, or big, or lots of cranes, etc.), plus the speed and attributes of the ship, plus the bonus point drivers you choose via the canal tiles you pick up. There's a lot to juggle and gradually bring together at the same time, a lot of considerations on how to build ships, and a lot of tradeoffs with your actions. The user interaction is very limited, but vital. You can't take the actions they've taken since your last turn, which can make for hard decisions on what to do next, and they can beat you to things you want, so there's tension if you need something badly. Thankfully there are so many things you need to do there's almost always something useful available. And if you go a money strategy you can get out of any action hole by spending big to take a bonus action. Turns are fast. It's satisfying to score your ships when they're completed. Decisions are delicious throughout. My two hesitations are that there are so many things to acquire for each ship that it may start to feel like work, and it may be too long for four players, but I'm looking forward to exploring further. An 8.

Topas – It's not so much a bad game; there just isn't that much game here. I don't expect much of recent Knizia releases, and this met those expectations. Each turn you place a dominoes-type card, which has different coloured gems on either half, scoring points by extending as many rows of gems (in their colours) that you can. It's similar to Qwirkle in concept, trying to score multiple rows at once, but Qwirkle satisfies because you can create set-ups from turn to turn due to the variety and exactitude of tile required. Here, with no shapes and only four colours to play, and all likely to be in each player's hand, anyone can score anything (to the max of seven gems/points in any given row anyway) and the game is intensely opportunistic. Anything you lay this turn will be well and truly used up by the other players before it gets back to you, so don't bother setting up plays; just score the max possible in a way that limits what the next player can do. Ideally you want to be able to score two or even three directions at once – which is in the lap of the player to your right and in the hand of the three cards that you have. As a result, there's not much thought required; just the ability to scan the tableau for possibilities. Scores will be close. No one will care. A 4.

Uptown – An okay game of joining tiles up across a board to try to form one big group. It's play one, draw one, with a hand of five, with the tiles either being A-I, 1-9, one of the nine Sudoku-type sub-squares, or your "play anywhere" tile. Placement is on a Battleship-type grid labelled (you guessed it) A-I on 1 side and 1-9 on the other, so placement of a tile has the obvious restriction of only being able to be placed in the row / column / sub-square that it represents. Your challenge is by the end of the game to have one completely joined group, which generally means going both up and down AND acrossways. Of course how your tiles come out don't make that easy, nor does the fact that your opponents keep getting in your way. At least you can zap their tiles (overlaying them) as long as you don't split their group into two or more groups, which means you only get to nibble at their edges. Meaning you want big long strings of tiles where tiles can't be taken from the middle. While it's okay and decent to play, there's a fair bit of luck in getting tiles that allow you to extend existing groups (especially early on), there's luck on who your opponents hit, and the game is beset by a lack of tension – you simply play whatcha got. Some fun and not bad, but the abstract nature of the game means it won't see the table regularly. A 6.

And that's the wrap for this month.

Cheers,
Patrick

Categories: Game News

Chicago Express Coming to the iPhone

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 11:13pm

In case you missed this news item in Mary Prasad's absolutely gigantic Origins 2010 report, I thought it worthy of a call-out: Programmer Charlie Sheppard is developing a Wabash Cannonball application for the iPhone/iPod Touch, with an estimated release date of September 2010. Here's a quote from Sheppard, courtesy of Prasad:

[The] Wabash Cannonball [app] brings Queen Games' popular board game Chicago Express to your iPhone/iPod Touch! Set during America's golden age of railroads, players represent investors determined to make their fortunes from America's great westward expansion. Outsmart the competition through clever stock manipulation and efficient use of resources to win renown as the richest robber baron of the age!

This challenging strategy game offers solo play against up to four computer opponents. Owners of the Chicago Express board game will appreciate Wabash Cannonball as a player aide, with automated calculation and charting features that increase the pace of play.

And here are a few screenshots of the still-in-development Wabash Cannonball app to whet your appetite:

Categories: Game News

More Innovation from Asmadi Games

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 9:35pm

Game name:  Innovation expansion Designer:  Carl Chudyk Publisher: Asmadi Games — June 2011

Asmadi Games' Chris Cieslik mentioned in an Innovation forum thread on BoardGameGeek that the publisher has started work on an Innovation expansion, tentatively scheduled for release at the 2011 Origins Game Fair, with a possible beta test/prerelease version of the game once again being published in the months prior to the game's release. The expansion might include as many as 110 new cards for the game, although Cieslik notes, "We're pretty early in the design process."

As a huge fan of Innovation – check out my rave review here on BGN – I'll take this opportunity to say, "Huzzah!"

Categories: Game News

Origins 2010

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 8:23pm

The 35th Origins Game Fair was held in Columbus, Ohio, June 23-27, 2010. Attendance was up from last year by just over 6%, from around 10,000 to 10,669. Exhibitor space sold out this year and sponsorship increased to 19. Fair-only passes were once again offered for a cost $5 per person/day or $10 per family/day. Fair-only passes allow entrance to the exhibit hall, art show, Origins Theme Area for breakfast or evening events, auction, open gaming, and the Mystery Dinner (with additional $40 fee), but not ticketed events.

This year was a bit of a challenge for the GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association) crew running Origins. Although the convention has been running for 35 years, this past year or two saw a lot of turnover. In some cases it was like starting over. This included the website and registration system. In addition, on Wednesday, the first day of the convention, they were unexpectedly overwhelmed with registrants. From the Executive Director of GAMA, John Ward: "We had a fantastic surprise on Wednesday as 68% of last year's numbers were already in the door by close of business Wednesday night! Next year we will be ready for the rush!"

Several factors probably contributed to the rush, including the new system coming online later than in past years and a surcharge added for registering online. John: "I am generally pleased with the new event management system. There are still some areas we need to address and the issues with the badge printer interface on Wednesday was a real problem. Thanks again to the staff and volunteers who worked into the wee hours to fix it. We already have some issues addressed, like the surcharge for next year, and I am confident that our solution is much better than the tools of the past."

There were a few other bumps along the way, like badge holders being sent to the wrong place, not enough swag bags being stuffed before registration opened (partially because of the unexpected large numbers of registrants on the first day and partially because they received some rather nice swag at the last minute), and confusion at registration.

35th Anniversary

This year marked the 35th anniversary of the Origins Game Fair and the 36th Origins Awards. The organizers had a few surprises for attendees. John Ward: "This year we celebrated our 35th anniversary in two major events, prize support for events and birthday cake. Each of the event headquarters had prize support for the games in their area. Each game table determined who was the 'best player' and that individual went to the HQ and rolled a die. If they rolled high enough, they picked out a new game! If not, they got a set of free 35th anniversary dice. We also had birthday cake for every attendee on Saturday at noon in the main concourse. Companies sponsored cakes with their logo and attendees got a piece of birthday cake for free!"

I honestly don't know how I missed the cake. Now I'm very sad.

Free cake!

Where did it all begin? Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo, Inc., and the President of GAMA had this to say in this year's Origins magazine:

I remember 35 years ago, when I got the letter from the Avalon Hill Game Company, inviting me to participate in the first Origins Game Convention. I remember how excited I was. At the time, there were small regional game conventions all over the US (most of them in the Midwest). I attended many of these, but of course as a small game company I couldn't afford to go to all of them. I'd meet some of my fellow publishers at one convention in Detroit, and some others at a convention in Cincinnati. But there was no one convention where EVERYONE would show up. However, THIS convention was sponsored in part by THE wargame company. Obviously everyone would attend this one. And so they did indeed. There were 23 exhibitors there,.. It was the largest accumulation of game companies I had ever seen in one place. It was held at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and was run by Interest Group Baltimore, a club of fans of The Avalon Hill Game Company and Donald Greenwood (an employee of AH). They called it "Origins" because it was being held in the city where Avalon Hill was located – the company who originated the idea of historical wargames.

Fun Facts: John: "Every large event has quirks that happen, a convention is no different… The Convention Center towed the GAMA VIP car and we had to pay $140 in CASH to get it back!"

Ribbons

What are ribbons and how do they work? They are actual physical ribbons in various colors that are stuck on the badges, usually along the bottom. They typically have foil lettering on the front identifying the type. All event ribbons cost $16; they allow access to all events covered by the corresponding ribbon. These should not be confused by the "fun" ribbons given out or sold at the convention, or the ribbons used for participating in the Mayfair Ribbon Quest. Nor should they be confused with the ones given to Guests, Press, Educators, and any number of other special attendees. All-in-all there are quite a lot of ribbons. I have seen kids walking around with ribbons hanging from their badges down to the floor.

Here is a list of the event type ribbons:

1. Amtgard – unlimited play in the Amtgard boffer combat area (I have no idea what that means)
2. Big Experiment –access to all Looney Labs events
3. Board Room – access to the Board Game Room (The "must have" ribbon!)
4. Federation & Empire – covers the entire "Weekend at War" event. There are also 1 day or 4 hour passes available
5. HOT – access to all historical miniature events
6. Mayfair – access to the Mayfair Games room, including all scheduled events and tournaments
7. Origins After Dark – access to the Origins After Dark events. Events began at 6pm each evening; geared towards the 18 and over crowd
8. Puffing Billy – access to Puffing Billy train game events and tournament qualifiers
9. War College – access to the War College seminars
10. War Room – same as the Board Room except for war games

The new Board Game Room

Board Game Room

Once again CABS (Columbus Area Boardgaming Society) hosted the board game room. This year it was on one side of the main convention halls (gigantic!). Attendees could purchase a ribbon for $16 (see the section above on ribbons) that allowed them to check out any of the over 1,090 games from the library. 1605 checkouts were recorded with 384 different games. The top thirteen games checked out, starting with most popular, were: Dominion, Dominion: Intrigue, Innovation, a tie between Stone Age and Carson City, a tie between Lost Cities and Power Grid Factory Manager, a tie between Power Grid and Small World, and a tie between Fresco, Race for the Galaxy, Agricola, and Founding Fathers.

Fun Facts: According to John Ward, "The CABS guys got a cool new space for the game library and promptly locked the door. It took us hours to get them back inside." Well, at least we know the games are safe at night.

A record 1,500 ribbons were sold! This year, every ribbon holder received two random games from Rio Grande and Z-Man, plus a small card game, Transformers Top Trumps. In addition, Rio Grande generously bought lunch and dinner for each Board Room ribbon holder as a special thank you for supporting them over the years. You can see the line-up for one of the meals in the board game room photo (left side). By the way, the line went amazingly fast. Rio Grande also provided wi-fi access for everyone in the board game room area. Jay Tummelson (Rio Grande) says he plans to continue to provide wi-fi access at Gen Con and again next year at Origins.

Eric Summerer, co-host of The Dice Tower Podcast, had this to add "I did talk with one family of four that was extremely grateful to Jay for paying for meals in the Board Room. Food was going to be a big hit on their budget, and this let them get more games during the fair."

Eric Summerer (The Dice Tower) "gently" directs his (losing) team in a game of Aargh!Tect in the Board Game Room. His teammates (L to R): Brad Keen (The Dice Tower), Justin Moore, Ravindra Prasad (Snoozefest), and Ashley Moore

Jay mentioned that next year will be the 10th anniversary of Rio Grande's Carcassonne release, one of his most popular games, as well as its 10th anniversary for winning Spiel des Jahres, the German Game of the Year. He says we can expect some special products! Yay!

Two young board gamers receive their free games

Fun Facts: About 1,250 Rio Grande games and about 1,100 Z-Man games we given to attendees. Some of the games given away: Assyria, Phoenicia, A Castle for All Seasons, Alea Iacta Est, Hare & Tortoise, Darjeeling, Merchants of Amsterdam, Dragon Parade, Street Illegal and a bundle of Gloria Picktoria and Wool Rules.

This year CABS added to the free game opportunities. They still held the raffle as usual; tickets were passed out in the board game room at different times throughout the show and on Saturday, 250 games from numerous vendors were given away. In addition, there were random drawings for teaching a game or learning a game. Anyone teaching others a new game or anyone learning a game that is new to them could fill out a slip to be entered into the drawing. Twelve Wallenstein games were given away each day. Also, there were golden tickets inside random games in the library – whoever checked out the game and brought the ticket back to the CABS librarian won a copy of Wallenstein.

Bud Sauer of CABS (right) with a lucky golden ticket winner.

Food

By now, everyone should be acquainted with the North Market, located about a block from the convention center. It is the place to eat lunch during Origins. This year I went crazy over Taste of Belgium – not only for their deliciously sweet Belgian waffles (cooked up fresh) but also for the crêpes! I had them custom make me a combination of two I saw on their menu; I couldn't decide which one to order, so I combined the best of both! Who says I can't have it all?

If you want to be really decadent, try a scoop of ice cream from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams on top of your Belgian waffle. Homer can have his doughnuts!

Taste of Belgium. Mmmmm!

The Dice Tower Annual Dinner

Once again listeners, hosts, co-hosts, and contributors of The Dice Tower podcast converged upon Max & Erma's restaurant for dinner. We pretty much took over the downstairs room. Of course I had one of my favorites, the Tortilla Soup (melted cheesy goodness in a bowl!). This year I tried the fresh pretzel sticks as well - very yummy, especially when dipped in the cheese sauce. And because the guilt was starting to get to me, I actually shared a hot macadamia nut cookie with Debbie Zielinski, Dice Tower contributor Mark Zielinski's wife.

Wits & Wagers Game Show

This year the Wits & Wagers Game Show in the Board Game Room was hosted by Eric Summerer of The Dice Tower and John Richard of Game On! With Cody and John podcast, with help from Matt Mariani, and Luke Warren of North Star Games (the makers of Wits & Wagers). Eric contributed a couple questions and the rest came from the new Wits & Wagers Family edition. Eric: "It was a pretty good group, and it got sillier as the game went on. One guy augmented his bets with food items. Round one he brought clementines, round two, oranges, etc. By round seven, he dumped an entire container of Hershey's Kisses on the table along with his two chips. We joked that we had lunch for the next day taken care of." The word is out – Eric can be bribed with Kisses (just don't tell his wife).

Exhibit Hall

This year the exhibit space sold out. There were a variety of vendors, including one that sold underwear for "big" men called Chubby Hubby Undies. I found Travis Reynolds getting the sales pitch. I tried to egg him on but he wasn't going for it – "No way am I spending $25 per pair when I can get my tighty whities at CheapMart for $1.50 a pair!" (At least I think that's what he said; I tuned out partway through – TMI!)

As usual, I just had to check out the Hills Wholesale Gaming and Chimera Hobby Shop booths for my favorite CCGs. And as usual, I ended up buying more boxes than I could carry. By the way, chivalry isn't completely dead – one of my guy friends helped me carry them. Husband was nowhere around, also as usual… although in this case probably a good thing; he would try to talk me out of my preciouses, uh, purchases.

Chimera Hobby Shop booth – nice display of T-shirts!

Rio Grande Games

Egizia (Origins release, 2-4 players, 12+, 75 min. MSRP $40) has a team of designers: Acchittocca, Antonio Tinto, Flaminia Brasini, Stefano Luperto, and Virginio Gigli. Fortunately the team worked well together to produce a nicely thematic and fun game. The game board depicts the Nile river running across it, ending at the Mediterranean Sea, with stations along the river for workers to be placed. The goal of the game is to earn the most victory points by placing workers effectively in building monuments of ancient Egypt while at the same time keeping workers fed.

One of the things that makes this worker-placement game different from most others is that once a worker has been placed, a player cannot place another behind it (i.e. upriver) again for that turn, unless a card allows it. There are a lot of choices to be made in selecting worker positions, but all involve deciding whether to move further downriver or taking a chance on a closer selection at the risk of losing out on something downriver to your opponents.

Asteroyds (Summer 2010, Frédéric Henry and Guillaume Blossier, 2-6 players, 10+, 30 min., MSRP $54.95) is part of the Ystari line of games (note the clever use of the "y" in the name?). Up to six players race to survive a constantly moving asteroid field in order to be the first ship to tag all gates and claim victory. The ship movement is programmed, reminiscent of Robo Rally but much faster due to a timer. The game can be a bit fiddly during the asteroid movement phase but if it is done in an organized manner, it shouldn't be a problem. I very much enjoy this game! If only I could survive it...

The next expansion for Dominion, Prosperity (planned for Gen Con release, Donald X. Vaccarino, 2-4 players, 8+, 30 min., MSRP $44.95), is similar in size to Seaside and will require the base game to play. It adds 25 new Kingdom cards and 2 new basic cards (a higher treasure card and higher victory card than Province). The central theme is wealth: treasure cards with abilities, cards that interact with treasure cards, and more powerful higher cost cards.

New England Rails (4th quarter 2010, Walter H. Hunt and Gregory M. Pozerski, 2-5 players, 12+, 120-180 min.) is a new rail game coming to Rio Grande! Walter Hunt, one of the designers had this to say about it "New England Rails is a business strategy game set in the middle 19th century in New England. Players are trying to maximize the value of their assets by developing businesses in the six New England states, claiming special routes, state subsidies and contracts for delivering mail, and competing for rail routes and depot placements. The game should appeal to train and strategy gamers - I call it the love-child of Power Grid and Silverton." Sounds interesting!

Dominion displayed on a banner in the Rio Grande Games booth

Fun Fact: My "day job" is professional photographer. I shot the game photos displayed on the Rio Grande Games banners.

Mayfair Games

Once again, Mayfair had an exciting line up of events. Here is what Bob Carty, Mayfair Games, had to say (slightly summarized):

Participants in the "Great Ribbon Quest" to become a Knight of Catan had to play five games and collect or trade to obtain a set of one each of the five ribbons. Those who completed the Knight program and presented themselves, and their ribbons, were thereby knighted and received a boon consisting of...

1. One special item of their choice from the following:
   • One of the 5 special limited Catan Geographies Maps: Germany/Hesse, Germany/North Rhine Westfalia, Germany/Bavaria, U.S.A./Indiana – Ohio, or U.S.A./West Virginia – Virginia - Maryland – Delaware
   • Fishermen of Catan scenario
   • Great River of Catan scenario
   • Catan Playing Card Poker Deck
   • The Settlers of Catan Pre-2007 Adapter Kit
2. A coupon discounting the purchase of one Mayfair game at the booth.
3. A raffle ticket in the great raffle. Many prizes were given away, including the grand prize of a Catan Treasure Chest, a large travel bag packed with games, and a number of games, clothing items and other fun stuff.

Participants in the "Great Ribbon Quest Level 2: Defender of Catan" program must have already completed the Knight of Catan, then have played three games out of a limited pool of seven specific titles. Those who completed the Defender of Catan program and presented themselves, and their ribbons, were thereby titled as such and received a boon consisting of...

1. One special item of their choice from the following:
   • One of the 5 special limited Catan Geographies Maps: Germany/Hesse, Germany/North Rhine Westfalia, Germany/Bavaria, U.S.A./Indiana – Ohio, or U.S.A./West Virginia – Virginia - Maryland – Delaware
   • Fishermen of Catan scenario
   • Great River of Catan scenario
   • Catan Playing Card Poker Deck
   • The Settlers of Catan Pre-2007 Adapter Kit
2. - OR – a special level two item of their choice:
   • Mayfair Aluminum water bottle
   • One of the five special new Catanimals (plush resources: sheep, ore, brick, wood, wheat)

Children who played in the kids room could participate in two different programs, Pages, for kids under 8, or Squires, for kids 8-12. Special prizes were provided for play from an appropriate library of games.

We estimated that 3,500 to 5,000 people demo'ed games in the booth. The evening party in the Mayfair Games event room was certainly a success and it seems that the pre-view play program was also well received.

Between the event room late night and the Mayfair Games booth, 75 different titles were taught.

In other news from Mayfair, the new Settlers of America: Trails to Rails (July 2010, Klaus Teuber, 3-4 players, 12+, 120 min., MSRP $55) is part of the Catan Histories series. Unlike many of the other Catan games, the goal of the game is not to gain a certain number of victory points, but to deliver a pre-specified number of goods. Goods are delivered to cities owned by opponents via trains. Trains are moved, using coal resources, along tracks (players build tracks instead of roads in this version, though the building rules are different). Players start out populating the east coast of the U.S. with their cities and build west. Settler wagons (up to two per player) may be moved 1 to 3 spaces using wheat cards; they are used for expanding, i.e. establishing cities, simply by moving to an empty location (the settler is converted to a city).

Gold has been added as a resource, which may be gained in different ways (e.g. if you received no resources during a roll), and helps remove some of the luck factor of dice resources. This is a big improvement in my opinion. Another interesting twist is that as players establish cities further to the west, they will run into hexes with a "?" on them. They will take a "loose" number token from a hex in the east (usually populated by an opponent since it will make that hex a less valuable number) and place it on the "?". This simulates deforestation and fallowing of the land in the older establishments. I am very much looking forward to trying this game! Preview copies were on sale at Origins.

Wacky Wacky West (August 2010, Klaus Teuber, 2-4 players, 9+, 60 min., MSRP $35), otherwise known by its German name Drunter und Drüber, is a reprint of the 1991 Spiel des Jahres winner. In this strangely themed game, players build tile networks of tracks, streets, and rivers hoping to destroy their opponents' buildings. Just to complicate things, outhouses cannot be built over unless there is a town majority vote (Town Charter Amendment #5).

In the card/dice driven game, Lords of Vegas (3rd Quarter 2010, James Earnest and Mike Selinker, 2-5 players, 60 min., MSRP $45), players represent powerful developers in 1950 Nevada. The goal is to gain victory points by building the biggest and most profitable casinos on "The Strip." For the most part, players may perform any number of actions on their turn, limited by the amount of money they have, for example, build a casino on one of their lots for base cost, build a casino on a lot they don't own for double base cost, or trade with other players. Players may also gamble at another player's casino, change a casino's theme, or reorganize a casino.

Automobile (3rd Quarter 2010, 3-5 players, 12+, 120 min., MSRP $50), the reprint of Martin Wallace's original Treefrog Game, is all about the car industry. Each player invests in factories then decides how and when to build and sell vehicles. Players need to keep an eye on market demand. Of course, newer models will sell before older models and older factories gain inefficiency cubes for their owners – thus players must keep pace with technology.

The upcoming 1830 release (4th Quarter 2010, Francis Tresham, 2-6/7 players, 14+, 300 min.) marks the relaunch of the line of 18XX games. The new edition will include the original Avalon Hill game play as well as 1830+ on the back side of the board. The original side will include new art and clearer rules. The "plus" side will have a separate rule set and include more companies and more tiles. Mayfair is hoping to increase the number of players to 7.

Vectorform

Vectorform, a third party developer, showcased Settlers of Catan on the Microsoft Surface in the Mayfair Games booth. The Microsoft Surface is a table-like computer with a multi-touch top "surface" that allows users to interact with virtual objects in an intuitive way. The starting price is $12,500 plus installation (required) $720 plus shipping $240 for a whopping $13,460. Unless you are a billionaire, this might be a bit much to spend if it's just for board games.

(L) Mollie Harms (game producer) and (R) Loren Bedner (programmer) of Vectorform

Eagle Games

Eagle's first fantasy release, Defenders of the Realm (Origins release, 1-4 players, 13+, 90 min., MSRP $85) is a cooperative game by Richard Launius, the co-designer of Arkham Horror. Players take on the roll of heroes to defend against four powerful generals who are leading their armies against Monarch City. There are several ways for the game to win thus players must be very diligent in order to have a chance at winning.

The Defenders of the Realm: Dragon expansion (Essen release, Richard Launius, 1-4 players, 13+, 90 min., MSRP $60) – formerly the Black Dragon expansion – will include three dragon miniatures, new general cards, additional tokens and quest cards, new Global Effects cards, Hero cards, and Darkness Spreads cards, and a few other surprises.

Defenders of the Realm: Barbarian (July 2010, Richard Launius, 1-4 players, 13+, 90 min., MSRP $5) is a small expansion, originally a preorder bonus for Defenders of the Realm. It includes a hero figure and character card.

Railways of the World: The Card Game (Origins release, James Eastham and Steve Ellis I, 2-4 players, 8+, 30 min., MSRP $38) is a faster/lighter edition of the popular board game. It includes all the usual features: connecting cities, upgrading engines, and delivering goods. The game comes with two sets of rules, one that's family friendly and a more gamer type version.

Railways of the World: Railways Through Time (Essen release, Charlie Bink, 1-4 players, 12+, MSRP $40) is an expansion for Railways of the World. The base game is required. The rules follow the same game play as Railways of the World but introduce the idea of time travel between eras.

Railways of the Western U.S. (1st quarter 2011, Rick Holzgrafe, 2-6 players, 12+, MSRP $35) is another expansion for Railways of the World. The base game is required. It is made to fit against the base game's Eastern U.S. map. Additional mechanics included.

Age of Steam: Time Traveler (Essen release, Charlie Bink and Sean Brown, 3-6 players, 13+, 120 min., MSRP $35) is an expansion for Age of Steam that introduces the idea of time travel. Play and theme will be similar to that of Railways of the World: Railways Through Time.

Baltimore and Ohio (Essen release, Eddie Robbins, 3-6 players, 16+, 180 min., MSRP $60) is a no luck, non-auction train game where players compete strategically and economically for ten historic railroads, from 1830 to 1900. Originally part of the Winsome 2009 Essen set.

Fun Facts: In 1989, Keith Blume, the Managing Director of Eagle and Gryphon Games, was in the Marine Corps and stationed in a place where he could see the sun rise on the Pacific Ocean and set on the Atlantic. Where was he located? See below for the answer.

Gryphon Games

Charon, Inc. (October 2010, Emanuele Ornella and Fred Binkitani, 2-5 players, 13+, 45 min., MSRP $40) was described to me as a hybrid between Hermagor and China/Web of Power. (Emanuele Ornella was the designer of Hermagor.) The game is set in the future, year 2288, on Charon, the largest moon of Pluto. Players take on the roles of CEOs of opposing mega-corporations as they colonize the planet and exploit its resources. From the website: "You will stake claims to the various mining regions of Charon, acquire resources for building facilities, use special actions (fair and unfair) to gain advantages over other CEOs and build your empire to achieve victory in this fast-paced game of planetary domination!"

Fzzzt! (4th quarter 2010, Tony Boydell, 2-4 players, 8+, 30 min., MSRP $15) will be released as tin box game. It is a set collection game in which players are mechanics competing to buy robots and production units represented by cards in an assembly line. Players bid with their hand of cards. Robot cards can either be used to bid or used as components in production units for extra points. Production units require certain types of robot cards (collecting element). If you are looking for a light but enjoyable game, I recommend Fzzzt! There will be an expansion available for a longer game or one with 5 to 6 players (MSRP $5).

Yin Yang (October 2010, Reiner Knizia, 3-5 players, 8+, 20 min., MSRP $15) will be released as a tin box game. It is a sort of a rethemed version of Relationship Tightrope.

Fun Facts Answer: Keith Blume was serving in Panama, the one place in the world where the Pacific Ocean juts up east of the land region near the former Panama Canal Zone and, at the other end of the canal, the Caribbean part of the Atlantic Ocean lies west of the land region of Colón, Panama.

Zev Shlasinger, ready to sell games!

Z-Man Games

Once again Z-Man gave a 50% discount for teachers on all but their newest games.

Road Kill Rally (August 2010, Daniel A. George, 3-6 players, 12+, 60 min., MSRP $60) has been described by the Z-Man crew as Car Wars (the game) meets "Death Race 2000," the 1975 cult sci-fi action film starring David Carradine, Simone Griffeth, and Sylvester Stallone. According to IMDB, its tag line is "In the year 2000 hit and run driving is no longer a felony. It's the national sport!" This sums up the game rather well, seeing as the object of the game it to shoot the opponents' cars, run over/shoot pedestrians (extra points for seniors and kids), and survive long enough to cross the finish line (preferably first). The surviving driver with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. The game includes 40 pedestrian minis and 6 cars. A nice feature of the game is that cards have multiple uses, e.g. they can be used for their printed actions, to adjust your car's speed hit points, or as discards for an extra die.

Duel of the Giants (August 2010, 2-4 players, 10+, 30-60 min., MSRP $65), designed by Friedemann de Pedro who also designed Duel in the Dark, is a World War II tank battle on the Eastern Front. The game includes 10 plastic tanks and one Stuka plane. One of the coolest things about the game is that the turrets on the tanks actually turn to show the direction of fire!

The Swarm (Originally 2008, 2-4 players, ages 12+, 75 min., MSRP $50) is a game based on the novel by Frank Schätzing. It was designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling and is part of the Kosmos line of literature-based games. The Z-Man reprint was made available July 2010.

Perry Rhodan: The Cosmic League (Originally 2007, Heinrich Glumpler, 2 players, 10+, MSRP $25) is part of Kosmos 2 player series of games. It is card-driven game set in the Perry Rhodan universe, a widely popular German space-opera book series that has been published since 1961. Players take on the roles of traders, transporting goods and passengers between planets. Players may upgrade their ships, e.g. they may add more cargo space, faster drives, and other improvements. The designer is a fan of Merchant of Venus. It is evident in the design of the game; it plays like a lighter, faster version. There is a 3 player variant by the designer posted in Issue 18 of the Z-Man Games newsletter. The Z-Man reprint was made available August 2010.

Currently available, Tien Zi Que (Originally 2009, Ta-Te Wu, 2 players, 8+, 25 min., MSRP $10) and Queen's Ransom (July 2010, Kevin L. Jones, 2-5 players, 10+, 20 min., MSRP $10); both boxes are about the same size as No Thanks and Archaeology. Tien Zi Que is like Mahjong for two. Queen's Ransom is a deductive game where players try to figure out where the Queen is being held and who is her kidnapper.

Earth Reborn (October 2010, Christophe Boelinger, 2-4 players, 13+, 60 min., MSRP $80-$100) is beautifully announced at here at BGN. Price will depend on the cost of extras, such as painted vs. unpainted miniatures.

Fun Facts: When asked what makes a good convention, Zev "Z-Man" Shlasinger replied "the availability of good food!" then as an additional thought "oh yeah and good sales." He's definitely my kind of guy! Other important factors: good people and great atmosphere. So what conventions are at the top of his list? 1. Essen, 2. Origins, 3.BGG.Con (he likes the Texas BBQ).

Lou Zocchi

This year Lou had his own booth. He always has interesting tales to tell. So many in fact that he sometimes holds seminars, for example he has one on Industry Insider Hearsay. He told me about how he helped Crystal Cast turn a 10,000 unit misprint into a salable item through convention marketing. The mistake was in the form of a pencil-shaped die, originally intended to be numbered 0-9 but wound up being 1-10. Lou published his first game, Gettysburg, in 1959 (wow, that's even before I was born!). He began selling games in 1965 with Avalon Hill – out of his house. A couple of his older titles: The Battle of Britain (1968) and Luftwaffe (1970).

Lou Zocchi, the dice king!

Asmodée

Recently released, Cyrano (2010, Angèle Maublanc and Ludovic Maublanc, 4-9 players, 8+, 45 min., MSRP $40) is a game based on the play Cyrano de Bergerac, where Cyrano writes poetry to help another man woo a woman. In the game, players make up a poem using a theme card with a topic and two word endings that must be used to make unique words, e.g. the word ending "-on" could result in gone or iron. Poems consist of 4 lines, two that use one word ending and two that use the other. Players read their poems aloud and score points similar to Boggle where each unique word using a specified ending is worth one point. Points are recorded on a ladder (printed on a special note pad that comes with the game), representing each lover's climb towards his intended. Next players secretly vote for the poem they liked best (based on whatever criteria they deem worthy). Each player who voted for the same poem gets to mark off the sum of those who voted for it on the maiden's descent from the tower. The player who first gets the lovers together is the winner.

Buzz it! (Origins release, Patric Scharnitzky, Reiner Knizia, and René-Jacques Mayer, 4 or more players, 7+, 30 min., MSRP $22) is a party game with an electronic timer; 5 or 8 seconds can be set before it will buzz (thus the name). Each player receives three cards, each with two questions. On a player's turn, she may ask one of the questions on one of the cards. Players in turn must give answers until one player cannot answer or does not answer before the timer buzzes. This player receives the card, counting as a negative, placing it aside. The timer is passed and the game continues. The game ends when all players have used their cards. The player with the fewest negative cards set aside is the winner.

Identik (July 2010, Amanda Kohout and William Jacobson, 3-10 players, 12+, 45 min.) is a reprint of Portrayal. It is a party game where one player (art director) describes a unique and bizarre image while the other players (artists) try to draw the image. When time is up, the artists trade drawings and ten previously hidden criteria for the image are uncovered. Next each artist judges whether the drawing they hold meets the criteria or not. Points are awarded for meeting criteria. I played the Portrayal version about a year ago and had a blast. I will definitely be getting a copy of Identik.

7 Wonders (Essen release, Antoine Bauza, 3-7 players, 10+, 30 min.) is a card drafting civilization game. I only played the game one time but since resources can be garnered (at a cost) from your adjacent neighbors, I suspect the sweet spot for this game will be 3 players. Each player starts with a player mat including places to organize their cards, a special power, and a starting resource. The game is played over three rounds (ages) of 7 cards each. Cards can provide resources, developments, discounts, or bonuses for scoring at the end of the game. As usual in a card drafting game, a player chooses a card then passes the rest to his neighbor. All cards are revealed simultaneously and played. The process is repeated through the last card, then a new round begins. Cards are passed left-right-left for the respective three rounds.

Stefan Brunelle, Asmodée. I hope someone buys his games before he knocks them over

Out of the Box

Pirate versus Pirate (August 2010, 2-3 players, 8+, 20-30 min., MSRP $25) was available as a limited Origins release. It is a light strategy game in which players try to conquer an island by capturing treasure or by eliminating the enemy opponent. The game is on the same scale as Ninja versus Ninja so players may use the figures on either board; the characters are just as cute, in an evil pirate sort of way. Unlike the Ninja versus Ninja board, which uses square spaces, the Pirate versus Pirate board is made up of triangles. Artwork is by John Kovalic and Cathleen Quinn-Kenney.

10 Days in the Americas (2010, 2-4 players, 10+, 20 min., MSRP $25) is the next game in the 10 Days series by Alan R. Moon and Aaron Weissblum. This edition adds ship tiles and cruising. Two or more ship tiles may be placed next to each other, similar to how neighboring countries/states could be placed next to each other in the other games. If you own the other editions of the game, Out of the Box has a variation, 20 Days Around the World (excludes 10 Days in the USA), posted on their website.

Giant Word on the Street in the After Dark room

Bucephalus Games

Girl Genius: the Works (August 2010, James Earnest and Phil Foglio, 2-4 players, 10+, 30 min.) the card game is being reprinted with a mix of 80 new and 20 old characters. In this printing, all cards will have actions (not true in the previous version). The new edition will be "grittier" to more closely follow the comics by Kaja and Phil Foglio; Phil is also doing the art for the game. The basic game goes like this, deal 5 cards to each player and lay out a patchwork grid of 12 face down cards with two cards in opposite corners turned face up. Each card has colored symbols along the sides. On a player's turn, she turns over one of the face down cards then turns any face up card 180 degrees. After turning the card, if any of the symbols on the edges match adjacent cards, the one(s) with the most matching will "pop," i.e. the action will activate and the card will be added the player's score pile. Cards in hand are used to replace any popped cards. The winner is the first player to reach 100 points.

Dogfight (November 2009, Dan Tibbles, Jeremy Holcomb, Joseph Huber (II), and Stephen McLaughlin, 2 players, 8+, 15-30 min., MSRP $49.95) comes with eight unique hand-painted solid metal die-cast WWII airplanes (whew! that was a lot to say!), which store inside a solid wood game board. The planes have a little fitted space in the base of each in which to place a die. The rules are simple: if you have no dice in your airplanes, roll your dice and place one in each plane. Select one plane with a die and move it forward the number of spaces shown on its die. If you move onto or over any opponent's planes, you capture them. Change your facing (direction of flight) – if you moved one or two spaces, you may turn up to three times, three or four spaces, two times, five or six spaces, one time. Each time you re-roll, you may reinforce, i.e. add one of your captured planes to one of your empty starting spaces. The winner is the first player to make 6 captures or remove all the opponent's planes from the board. This is a simple strategy war game that looks great on the game table, coffee table, or game-coffee-table (see the section on Geek Chic). It also look fun to play – and I don't even like war games – but I plan to give this a try.

Anthony Gallela demoing Dogfight

Wattsalpoag

The idea of Last Call: the Bartender Game (Scheduled for Essen 2010 release, Kris Gould, 2-5 players, 8+, 15-20 min.) is to get the right bottles to one of the bartenders so she can mix your drink. Unfortunately if the bartender ahs too many bottles, she will water down your drink with ice cubes. The goal is to get four drinks made with the fewest ice cubes (negative points) along the way. Simultaneous play.

Several Jet Set expansions are scheduled for an Essen release: Investors & Business, Hubs (for extra bonuses), and Distant Lands. Most are card expansions; Distant Lands includes two small boards that sit on the side of the main board.

Fun Fact: Where did the name Wattsalpoag come from? "With all this talent sitting around, let's put out a game!"

Kris Gould, Wattsalpoag, in his signature tropical shirt (hey, be happy it's not a coconut bikini top)

ElfinWerks

Strada Romana (2009, Walter Obert, 2-5 players, 8+, 45 min., MSRP $50) is being revised and has an estimated release of September 2010. The new revision will have clarified rules to be less ambiguous, but game play is the same.

The goal of Jerusalem (August 2010, Michele Mura, 2-4 players, 12+, 90 min., MSRP $55) is for players to control the critical areas of the city, which are key to gaining the resources required to win. The game includes over 230 wooden pieces, 35 cards, 4 player screens, 44 die-cut coins, and a game board. I didn't have a chance to play it but it is getting excellent reviews on the 'geek.

Will Niebling and his lovely wife, Schar

Queen Games

News – Shogun: Tenno's Court (August 2010, Dirk Henn, 3-5 players, 12+, 150 min.) is the first expansion to Shogun, by the same designer. German Railways (September 2010, Harry Wu, 3-6 players, 10+, 60-90 min.) is the reprint based on the original Preussische Ostbahn game in Winsome's Historic Railroads System. Also scheduled to be published this year, It Happens… (Fall 2010, Stefan Feld, 2-5 players, 8+, 30 min., MSRP $25) and the long awaited Wallenstein – Special Edition (Autumn 2010, Dirk Henn, 3-5 players, 12+, 90-120 min.).

iPhone programmer Charlie Sheppard is working on Wabash Cannonball (Chicago Express) for the iPhone with an estimated September release. Here is what Charlie had to say:

"Wabash Cannonball brings Queen Games' popular board game Chicago Express to your iPhone/iPod Touch! Set during America's golden age of railroads, players represent investors determined to make their fortunes from America's great westward expansion. Outsmart the competition through clever stock manipulation and efficient use of resources to win renown as the richest robber baron of the age!

This challenging strategy game offers solo play against up to four computer opponents. Owners of the Chicago Express board game will appreciate Wabash Cannonball as a player aide, with automated calculation and charting features that increase the pace of play."

Screen shot of Wabash Cannonball for the iPhone

Other games newly released in 2010 are Fresco (Marcel Süsselbeck, Marco Ruskowski, Wolfgang Panning, 2-4 players, 10+, 45-60 min., MSRP $60) and Samarkand: Routes to Riches (David V. H. Peters and Harry Wu, 2-5 players, 8+, 30-45 min., MSRP $60). Queen plans to release two expansions to Fresco in October, 2010, Fresco: The Glaziers and Fresco: The Portraits. Each will include modules that expand play, similar to the ones that come with the game. I have played Fresco twice so far and really enjoy it. I'm looking forward to the expansions.

North Star Games

Say Anything Family (1st quarter 2011, Dominic Crapuchettes and Satish Pillalamarri, 3-8 players, 8+, 40 min., MSRP $25) will include kid friendly cards and subjects of more interest to kids as compared to the standard version, Say Anything.

Also soon to be released, Crappy Birthday (1st quarter 2011, 4 or more players, 8+, 15 min.), where the idea of the game is to submit the worst present according to the judge.

Johannes Goethe, Swan Panasia Distribution

Swan Panasia Distribution

Fuzzy Tiger (2009, 2-5 players, ages 8+, 20-30 min., MSRP $30 – show special $25) designed by Shao-Ying Chen from Taiwan, is a game where players take on the role of monkeys trying to pluck tiger whiskers without waking the beast. Tiger whiskers, for some reason, are considered an honor in their society (i.e. they are worth points in the game), so it's worth the risk of getting bitten. This is a simultaneous play game where the monkeys try to sneak up on the tiger (i.e. play a movement card from their fixed set of nine cards; duplicates do not move this turn) but if they move too quickly the tiger will start to wake up, thus players have to balance their movement with the tiger's wakefulness (keep an eye on that sleepiness meter!). If the tiger wakes up, the closest monkey will get bitten and suffer damage. When a monkey manages to pluck a whisker, the monkey (alone) in last place will receive one damage as a token of his cowardice. The monkey with the most damage can't win the game. Damage is subtracted from each monkey's final score. The monkey with the most points at the end of the game is the winner. This is a decent filler, probably best with three players since with more, there is more chance of players selecting the same cards.

The goal of the game Rabbit Hunt (2009, Shen-Yang Pan, 2-4 players, ages 8+, 20-30 min., MSRP $25) is to get rid of all your rabbit cards and have captured the most rabbits of other players. The game ends when the draw pile runs out or when all players are eliminated. You start with three of your own color rabbit cards in your hand and a small board made up of a grid of face down field cards around a farm card where the farmer pawns start. During your turn, you may perform two actions (the same action may be performed twice), play a card face down to the fields, take a carrot, or use carrots to move your farmer around the fields. Wherever your farmer lands, you flip the card. If the card is an opponent's rabbit, you capture it. If it is your own rabbit, you may put it back in your hand. If it is an action, you take the action (may be good or bad). Nice light game for both adults and children. As an Origins special, fitted sleeves for all the cards in the game were included.

Fuzzy Tiger and Rabbit Hunt were probably the cutest games I saw at the show.

Swan Panasia also distributes game bags and card sleeves in lots of different sizes.

Mayday Games

Hagoth: Builder of Ships (June 2010, Mike Drysdale, 2-4 players, 8+, 10 min. per player) was recently released. It is a card driven set collection, resource-building game with attacks. Players compete to design, build, and sail ships in order to score victory points. First player to 25 victory points is the winner.

The big news from Mayday Games is that they will soon be importing Crokinole boards made to similar specifications as the professional boards. It will include a score box with 14 each of black and natural wood disks (two of each are extras) and 2 sets of pegs, one metal with rubber tubing and one wooden. Red and green colored disks will be available separately at an additional charge. The game will retail at $135.

Mayday sells custom sleeves in premium or standard thicknesses. To get the right size for your game, they have over 600 board/card games listed on their website, in PDF or Excel formats. They also sell tokens, e.g. Animeeples, Vegimeeples, Stone Age tokens, Yucatan tokens, 10mm wooden cubes, and train tokens.

Mayday Games' Crokinole board

Looney Labs

Not only will Pirate Fluxx (April 2011, Andrew Looney, 2-6 players, 8+, 15 min., MSRP $16) include new cards, but also four surprises!

Coming on September 3, 2010, Back to the Future: The Card Game (Andrew Looney, 2-6 players, 11+, 20-60 min., MSRP $20). From Looney Labs, "Now you can jump into the action of the 'Back to the Future' movies, with this ingenious new time travel card game! In Back to the Future: The Card Game, you play as one of the descendants of Marty McFly, Biff Tannen, Doc Brown and others, as you travel back to the events depicted in the movies. Your mission is to make sure pivotal events are not changed by other time travelers before time travel itself gets un-invented. Using a unique, patented game mechanic for simulating time travel, Andrew Looney now puts you in the driver's seat of the famous DeLorean!"

Valley Games

The unnamed Days of Steam expansion (Essen 2010 release, 2-4 players, 10+, 60 min.) adds upgradable locomotives and factories to the game and expands on the use of coal in the base game.

The Dice Turret

The Dice Turret booth had cardboard dice towers for sale. Just what my game room ordered! These are much quieter than others I have used (wood, plastic). Of course I took home the one that looks like a castle (leftmost in the photo).

Brian Favereau, The Dice Turret

Twilight Creations

Zombies!!! 9: Ashes to Ashes (Origins release, Todd and Kerry Breitenstein, 2-6 players, 13+, 90 min., MSRP $18) is the next incarnation of the Zombies!!! line of games. This one takes place in a graveyard (who would have thought?). It includes 16 new map tiles, 32 new event cards (including a new "Automatic" card type), and 25 zombie kids. This is an expansion; it requires the base Zombies!!! game to play.

ZombieTown 3: Big Boom Theory (August 2010 release, Todd and Kerry Breitenstein, 3-6 players, 13+, 60 min., MSRP $10) is an expansion to ZombieTown (required to play). ZombieTown 2 is recommended but not necessary. ZombieTown 3 includes 24 item cards, 6 house cards, and 20 event disks. Game play is similar to the base set with the addition of disks that are added to the street spaces. Most are good, such as master keys, +1 action, or +1 health, but there are hidden zombies and obstacles too.

Zombies play board games too, invite one to your next event!

Forever Young: A Vampire Game (August 2010 release, Kerry Breitenstein, 2-6 players, 13+, 60 min., MSRP $35) is a new game by Twilight Creations. From the box: "Forever Young brings the excitement of life as a vampire to your gaming table. Each player plays the head of a vampire family struggling to maintain control among his minions and human protectors. Beware, your opponents are aiming to convert your servants and... Well, let's just say they have something a little more 'unkind' in mind for your humans. Forever Young is a light strategy game that involves secretly placing your vampires and humans, hiding weapons and items and trying to discover where your opponents have hidden theirs."

APE Games (Advenced Primate Entertainment)

Rolling Freight (2011, Kevin Nunn, 2-5 players, 10+, 90 min.) is a rail building and pick-up/delivery game set in the years following the American Civil War. It will come with 2 maps, Western US, which will play in about 1.5 hours, and South Eastern US, which will play in about 2.5-3 hours. The maps were created by National Geographic artists. The game will come with custom dice that will allow multiple actions, for example, build rail, deliver cargo, or purchase improvements.

Kevin Nunn, will he listen to the devil duck?

Mattel

Bezzerwizzer (2007, Jesper Bülow, 2-4 players or teams, 16+, 30-45 min., MSRP $30) is a trivia game with strategy. Here is a basic outline of the game. Players each receive a set of four tiles depicting categories and a set of three tokens that they may use to help them in the game. There are 20 categories/tiles in the game. The players sort their categories in order of best to worst. If a player answers a question that is listed as her best, she gets 4 points; on the other hand, if a player answers a question that is listed as her worst, she gets 1 point. One of the tokens is labeled with a "Z," the others are labeled with a "B." The "Z" token allows a player, once per round, to swap either one of her category tiles with another player, two tiles of her own, or two tiles of another player. The "B" (Bezzerwizzer) token allows a player to jump-in on another player's turn. In either case the active player gets a chance to answer the question first. If she answers correctly, the "B" tile has no effect. If she answers incorrectly, the "B" player gets a chance to answer. If the "B" player answers incorrectly, she loses 1 point. If she answers correctly and the "B" token was played before the question was read, the player gets 3 additional points, otherwise she gets 1 additional point. The game may be played with teams for a more party-game feel.

I received this game at BGG.Con as one of the give-aways. I had not even opened it thinking it was "just another trivia game" but seeing the demonstration at Origins has made me curious. I like the idea of the added strategy allowed by the categories and tokens. I will definitely try this game out.

Fun Fact: Bezzerwizzer gets its name from the German "besserwisser" meaning "know-it-all."

Slugfest Games

Slugfest plans to have some copies of its new Red Dragon Inn: Gambling? I'm In! (September 2010, Cliff Bohm and Jeff Morrow, 2-8 players, 13+, variable playing time, MSRP $19.95) for sale at Gen Con. It is a box of nine games that the characters of the Red Dragon Inn series might play when they aren't out fighting monsters or each other. It is a card and dice game that can be played as a stand-alone or be combined with the Red Dragon Inn games as a side-game when the "Gambing? I'm In!" card comes up. Five of the games were created by the designers; the other four games came from contest winners: Thomas Root, Ian Schreiber, JD Walsh, and Charles Ofria.

Red Dragon Inn 3 (October 2010, Cliff Bohm, 2-4 players, 12+, 30 min., MSRP $37.95) introduces four new characters, each with a new special mechanic. It may be played as a stand-alone game or combined with the other Red Dragon Inn games.

Gabob

Wok Star (2010, Tim Flowers, 1-4 players, 10+, 60 min., MSRP $40) is a self-published cooperate game played in real time. Players are tasked with running a Chinese restaurant with the goal of making some pre-specified amount of money in the last round. During the game, players try to expand the restaurant through advertising, adding menu items, and upgrading their tools. It is unique among cooperative games in that it uses two timers to keep the game moving. This gives it a feel not unlike running a real restaurant at rush hour. I was actually out of breath after one round. It is both fun and challenging. The original print run was small, only 100 copies; it may be difficult to obtain a copy until it can be reprinted.

Tom Lehmann, Guest of Honor, just (a little too) happy to sign your game

Arcane Tinmen

The Spoils (2006, Dylan Mayo and Josh Lytle, 2-4 players, 13+, 40 min.) is a collectable card game (CCG) that plays a bit like Magic: The Gathering but rather elegantly solves the problem of "mana shortage," i.e. a player may place a card from their hand face down as a resource. The game seems to be well balanced, with lots of choices during play. The Spoils was originally released in 2006 by Tenacious Games; in January 2009, Arcane Tinmen purchased the rights. A new edition, Seed II: Gloamspike's Revenge will be released at Gen Con. Among other things, the new edition will introduce characters that provide threshold (i.e. they will have symbols on them that can be used towards the threshold cost on a card). Arcane Tinmen are also the makers of Dragon Shield sleeve protectors.

Fun Q Games

Triplica (February 2010, 1-6 players, 7+, 15 min., MSRP $15) is a card game where players try to line up symbols in a row that match their secret goal card. They do this by taking turns placing one card from their hand onto one of several piles, lined up in a row (variants dictate the number of piles). The first player to score 5 goals is the winner.

Jolly Roger Games

Founding Fathers (July 2010, Christian Leonhard and Jason Matthews, 3-5 players, 13+, 90 min., MSRP $65) is the newest release by the designers of 1960: The Making of the President. There were a few copies available at Origins, about 20 a day. Of course they sold out quickly. The goal is to be the founding father with the most "renown" at the end of the game. Players have a hand of delegates representing a state. They must defend issues, making the best use of special abilities. The rules include a history of the constitutional convention, state flags, and all of the delegates.

Jim Dietz, Jolly Roger Games

Brand New Games

Nay-Jay! (February 2010, Jennifer Swanson and Naomi Tripi, 1-4 players, 8+, 20 min., MSRP $20) is most similar to Ligretto in play but with a few twists. It is a speed/simultaneous play card game. Each player begins a hand with their own deck from which they create a stack of face down cards, with the top one flipped up, and four face up cards. The rest of the cards form their own draw pile from which they will flip cards one at a time when they cannot play from their other cards. Players simultaneously play cards to the common area on piles that must start with a "1." Only a "1" can and must be played to the table; other cards are placed on top in order. Card piles may be built in ascending or descending order, but they must match in color. The only exception is playing wild cards. A round ends when one player runs out of cards in his face down stack.

Bones of Ascension (Summer 2011, 2 players, 10+, 40 min., MSRP about $40) is a strategy based dice game with a fantasy theme and RPG elements. There is a skill track for the advancement of characters. Fundamentally, players build an army represented by dice. Powers are granted according to the player character's level. Here is description from their website: "In this game, fantasy characters clash in an epic war with each player racing to master their characters skill set first. Whether you choose the role of Warrior, Rogue or Wizard, you'll use the luck you have and the skills you've gained to match forces against your enemy on a battlefield. In this exciting new game every skirmish counts, and choosing which dice to use is often more important than rolling the right numbers."

Geek Chic

New at Origins, the Hoplite coffee table, "The command center for your couch," and the Vanguard table. The Vanguard has a more streamlined look of Mission-style furniture. It doesn't come with any drawers but has a lower price-point than their other major tables. Made out of hardwood, not only does it make a nice gaming table, but also a beautiful dining table.

The new coffee table. Ladies not included

Gorilla Games

Battlestations: Bot Wars (2010, Jeff Siadek, 2-8 players, 12+, 120-240 min., MSRP $14.95) is a new expansion for Battlestations, a hybrid board game/RPG. The publisher recommends playing with 6 (4-5 crew) running this "heroic starship adventure." Bot Wars is a scenario book that may be used as a mini campaign. If a character is killed, they can be cloned in the next mission.

Who Would Win? (2009, Jeff Siadek, 3-6 players, 13+, 10-20 min., MSRP $19.95) is a card driven party game where two players at a time each draw a random character and turn up an event card. One player argues for up to 20 seconds as to why his character would win the event. Following that, the second player does the same. The first player then gets a 5 second rebuttal, after which the other players vote on who had the better argument. The first player to win five rounds is the winner of the game. An example: Darth Vader (character) in a singing competition (event) with Barbie (character). If you like creative silliness and especially if you like to argue, you will probably like this game.

AEG (Alderac Entertainment Group)

Thunderstone: Wrath of the Elements (Origins release, Mike Elliott, 2-5 players, 12+, 45 min., MSRP $30) is an expansion to Thunderstone. This is not a stand-alone game. The expansion includes traps, a special Guardian monster, 7 new heroes, a box made to hold the full set (even with sleeves), new color-coded dividers for the old set as well as the new, and an updated version of the rules.

Plaid Hat Games

Summoner Wars (2009, Colby Dauch, 2-4 players, 9+, 30 min.) is a card game that comes with cards for two players (two factions). A premium board was released in July.

Baska Games

In Good Help (Origins release, Sean Scott Garrity, 3-6 players, 12+, 90 min., MSRP $49.95), players take on the roll of mad scientists who just finished their evil doctorate and want to build their first monster. Fresh body parts are found in the morgue and hospital, with the not-so-fresh parts in graveyards. Graveyard parts are free, you just have to dig them up, but the fresh parts require bribes, a job for your assistants (players bid on assistants at the beginning of the game). But be aware, assistants are very unreliable, for example, you may hire an alcoholic assistant who never passes up a bar. Once a monster has been made, you unleash it on the town. The winner is first player to have your monster destroy five buildings. If five are no longer available, the monsters will have to fight for the win.

Cepia Games

BiSikle (October 2009, Emmanuel Arnould, 1-4 players, 5+, 20 min., MSRP $39.90) is a flicking game where players race to complete a circuit on a configurable track. The unique ball, named the ZBall, has iron micro-beads inside. Players, in turn, flick the ZBall as far as they can while staying on the track. This is not as easy as it may sound due to the wobbly nature of the ball. They mark its resting place with their miniature bicycles, of which each player has a unique color. The winner is the first player to cross the finish line. The price is excellent considering the quality and amount of "stuff" included in the box: 57 pieces and over 13 feet of track.

Fun Facts: BiSikle was inspired by a traditional French game that children and parents play on the beaches around France. They create elaborate racetracks in the sand. Each player chooses a figurine. Players take turns flicking a glass marble, using their respective figurines to mark where the marble stopped. The winner is the first player to complete the track. The ZBall was created to mimic a marble rolling on sand.

RoadZters (October 2010, Emmanuel Arnould, 1-4 players, 5+, 20 min., MSRP $44.90) is similar to BiSikle but with racecars instead of bicycles. One of the new features of this game is that the backs of the cars themselves form jumping ramps.

Some kids trying out the RoadZters game

Special thanks to Nathan Morse and Bud Sauer of CABS; John Ward, Executive Director of GAMA; and Eric Summerer of The Dice Tower.

Categories: Game News

Dixit, Finca Win Finnish Game of the Year Awards

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 8:02pm

The winners of the 2010 Vuoden Peli – the Finnish game of the year award – have been announced by the Finnish Toy Association. The 2010 Spiel des Jahres winner, Jean-Louis Roubira's Dixit, took home the award for best family game, beating out Friedeman Friese's Fauna and Hoksotin, which is apparently a find-the-objects type of game.

In the "games for adults" category, the winner was Ralf zur Linde and Wolfgang Sentker's Mallorca – which was published in Germany as Finca, where it nabbed a Spiel des Jahres nomination. The runner's up were Genoa (the new edition of Rüdiger Dorn's The Traders of Genoa) and Odin's Table, credited to Finnish publisher Mindwarrior Games Ltd. and apparently unknown outside Finland.

The winner of the best children's game award was Muumien purnukkajahti, about which I know nothing. Runners-up in the category were Minotaurus from LEGO and Dirk Baumann's The Magic Labyrinth, the 2009 Kinderspiel des Jahres.

Congrats to all the winners!

(HT: Mikko Saari at Lautepeliopas and Toni Niittymäki at Lautapelit.fi, which publishes the localized versions of Dixit and Finca)

Categories: Game News

Winners of the 2010 Deutscher Lernspielpreis

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 1:57pm

The nominees for the 2010 Deutscher Lernspielpreis were announced in May 2010, as covered on the BGN at the time, and now the winners have been announced. They are:

• Creationary (LEGO) in the category of games for 9-year-olds
• Wo war's?, by Roberto Fraga (Ravensburger) for 6-year-olds
• Schollenhüpfen, by Meike Maßholder and Marco Gutmayer (Oberschwäbische Magnetspiele) for 3-year-olds
• Donnerwetter, by Kirsten Hiese in the category of unpublished games

Congrats to all the winners!

Categories: Game News

Shapes and Colors Go Racing

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 1:46pm

Game name:  Kunterbunde Autorelli Publisher: Selecta Spielzeug — August 2010

Every child needs to learn about racing some time, right? Kunterbunde Autorelli is a racing game of sorts from German publisher Selecta Spielzeug in which variously colored shapes move about the game board based on the roll of the dice. All of the shapes are in play no matter how many players are in the game, and three different games are included for kids of varying ages. Vroom!

Categories: Game News

Reiner Knizia Talks About (What Else?) Games

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 1:23pm

Episode 40 of the podcast Shift Run Stop, which focuses on "games, comedy and culture" according to co-host Roo Reynolds, features a long interview with game designer Reiner Knizia. An excerpt:

I've learned more and more that if you follow your heart, then you don't experience things as work. You do what you want to do, and it drives you out of bed each morning... You do what you love to do, and the money just follows.

Categories: Game News

Atlantis Wins Spiel der Spiele 2010

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 1:10pm

Leo Colovini's Atlantis, published in 2009 by Amigo Spiele and Mayfair Games, has won the Spiel der Spiele 2010, Austria's game of the year award.

In Atlantis, players flee their sinking homeland while trying to pick up treasures along the way. The path that players travel on is composed of colored tiles. To move one of his tokens, a figure plays a card and moves one figure of his choice to the next tile of that color. If the tile is already occupied, the player must play another card and move again; otherwise the player claims the tile behind that figure, possibly opening a hole in the path that will cost everyone points to cross. The game ends once one player gets all three of his figures to the mainland, and the player with the most points wins the game. Says Dagmar de Cassan, chairwoman of the Vienna Games Academy that selected the winner, "Atlantis has won our hearts, and for us it is the top hit of the current vintage. Atlantis prevailed against many other excellent games."

The academy also named 13 other titles as "Spiele Hits" with the games grouped into various categories: for expert gamers, Hansa Teutonica and Dungeon Lords; for gaming with friends, World Without End, PsychoPet and Schlag den Raab; for gaming with family members, A La Carte, Dixit, Don Quixote, Manimals and Samarkand; and for gaming with children, Artistico, Tipi and Diego Drachenzahn (Germany's game of the year for children).

Categories: Game News

One Last Wok Star Could Be Yours

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 12:46pm

August 20, 2010 is the final day for pre-ordering a copy of Tim Fowers' Wok Star, which will be released in a new edition later in 2010. (For more on this quick-playing co-operative game of cooking, you can watch Ted Cheatham's video review of Wok Star here on BGN.)

If you like the sound of the game but aren't ready to put in an order for this dishy design, you can throw your name into the hat for a chance to win the final copy of the original 100-copy edition. Details on the contest on the Wok Star website.

Categories: Game News

Norenberc – Buy, Sell, Buy, Buy, Buy, Recruit!

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 3:00am

Previewed game:  Norenberc, Coming from Steding and White Goblin

Designer Andreas Steding has a history of designing games that focus on traders and trading, from Kogge to Schwarzmarkt to one of the darlings of Spiel 2009, Hansa Teutonica. His 2010 release Norenberc from White Goblin Games continues this exploration of trade with a game that's mostly pared down to the basics of buying and selling. The title "Norenberc" comes from an earlier name for the German city of Nürnberg (or Nuremberg, as we call it in English), and as explained in the rules:

Norenberc was a thriving center of commerce and craftsmanship. Anyone seeking control of the city would first have to gain control of the guilds, because being in command of the guilds is controlling the city. To do this, one would first have to win over the craftsmen; how better to accomplish this, than by buying their goods?

So there's the game in a nutshell: Buy and sell goods to gain the support of craftsmen to gain control of the guilds and subsequently control of the city itself. Let's look at the details of the game to see how it all comes together...

Town Layout

Players need to gain control of the town's guilds to win the game, and to keep competition sharp, the game set-up for Norenberc scales based on the number of players, with three active guilds for two players, four guilds for three players, and so on. Each guild has 11 guildsmen, valued 2-7, and five of these guildsmen are randomly placed on the bottom four spaces of a guild board, with two guildsmen stacked in the leftmost space. The guildsman in the lower right is the guild's current guildmaster, and his value shows what it costs to buy goods from this guild and also what you can earn if you sell goods back to the guild. (Seems like a terrible way to run a business, but I'm not a guildmaster, so maybe they know something I don't.) The upper level of each guild is stocked with three guests, those guests being a random assortment of the guildsmen not working in their own guilds and townsmen.

Each player starts with 25 Talers, one good of each type in play, four agents and an action card for each guild in play. Four more agents in their color are placed aside in a reserve.

Get Out Your Purses

Norenberc lasts four rounds, with each round being some number of turns. At the start of each turn, players decide which action cards they want to play; opponents see how many cards you play, but not which ones they are. You can only play as many cards as the number of agents you have available, although you can play fewer. (You can also pass, but then you're through for the remainder of the round, no matter how many turns it lasts.)

Once everyone has laid down their cards, you call out the guilds in order and anyone who has played an action card for that guild reveals it, with players taking their actions in turn order. The possible actions at a guild are:

• Sell goods. You can sell as many goods as you like to a guild, as long as the guild makes those goods. You receive 2-7 Talers for each good based on the current guildmaster.
• Recruit a guest. Each guild starts with three guests lodged within, and the guest supply is replenished each round, with all four spots being filled until the guest deck runs out. To recruit a guest, you must pay the guild the listed recruitment price, with the leftmost guest costing only one of the guild's good and the rightmost one costing three of the guild's goods or two of the guild's goods and any two other goods. If the guest is a guildsman, you place the tile in front of you. If the guest is a townsman, he might have an immediate effect (such as giving you another agent or letting you steal goods), an effect at the end of one or more rounds (such as giving you more than the usual 3 Talers), or an endgame effect (such as a VP bonus based on Talers on hand). The goods you pay are placed in the guild's storehouse, and you earn 1 Taler for each agent who's previously taken an action at this guild in this round. In addition, you can alter the turn order chart by placing yourself in the #1 spot.
• Buy goods. You can buy up to three goods from a guild, including any goods placed there by those recruiting guests, with the cost of goods being equal to the guildmaster's value.
• Do nothing. Whoops, someone else probably did first what you wanted to do. Better luck next time.

After each action at a guild, you place one of your agents on the roof of that guild, putting it out of play for the remainder of the round. Once players have completed actions at all of the guilds, you see whether any player (1) still has agents available and (2) didn't pass in a previous turn. If someone meets these conditions, then you pick up all the action cards you played and start another round. Thus, players can hit a guild several times during the same round, possibly being able to pick up goods on the cheap that someone paid to recruit a guest in the previous turn.

Once all players have run out of agents or passed, the round ends. Whichever player holds the most goods for each guild wins the guildmaster from the guild; in case of a tie, the tied player with the most money wins. (Money is normally kept secret, but is revealed in these circumstances.) In addition to winning the guildmaster (and the tile underneath in round four), the player takes a crest from that guild and returns a good of the appropriate type to that guild's storehouse. The most prestigious guild also awards its best customer an additional prestige crest. Players then take back their played agents, refill the lodges with new guests, then start another round.

The six guild crests and the prestige crest (lower right)

From Guild Favorite to City Manager

Once the fourth round ends, players score points based on their standing within each guild (the player with the largest sum of values for a guild earns 5 VP, with second and third place earning 3 and 1 VP), how well they dominated a guild or diversified among the guilds, and how many different types of crests they collected (with each prestige crest counting as a unique type). The richest player earns 5 VP, and each player earns VP according to the townsmen they recruited during the game, if any; some care about the value of craftsmen you collected, others about the money you've earned, and still others about you placing second or third in a guild. (Apparently the Avis "we try harder" award.)

Whoever earns the most VP wins the game, with ties broken in favor of the player who collected more craftsmen.

 
Beer and cupcakes? Must be game night!

Categories: Game News

Kris Hall: Impressions of World Without End

Fri, 08/20/2010 - 1:02am

Impressions of World Without End

There are relatively few games that I can play with my wife and my in-laws, but one game that I have played with them (along with favorites Ticket to Ride and Manhattan) is Pillars of the Earth, by Michael Rienick and Stefan Stadler, which is based on the novel by Ken Follett. Now these designers have created a sequel to Pillars of the Earth based on Ken Follett's sequel to his novel. World Without End doesn't actually use many mechanisms from the earlier game, but both games feature artwork by Michael Menzel, and this goes a long way toward establishing a similar vibe.

I'm not exactly sure who players are supposed to be in the game, but they spend their turns constructing buildings and taking care of the sick in a medieval English town, so I guess players are supposed to be local businessmen or political bosses. The game is divided into four chapters; each chapter is divided into six turns. Each player has a deck of twelve action cards, and each turn the players will play one card as their action and discard one card which cannot be used again during that chapter. Players earn victory points primarily by donating stone and wood to various building projects, and (in the second half of the game) by healing plague victims using medical knowledge tokens.

At the end of the chapter, each player will have to pay two piety tokens, two grain tokens, and a number of gold pieces in taxes (the amount determined by a die roll) or face reductions in victory points and other penalties. At the end of the game, the player with the most victory points wins.

There is nothing in this description of game mechanics that makes World Without End a particularly innovative game. To me, what gave the game its special flavor were the penalties that waited for players without sufficient resources at the end of each chapter, as well as some random nastiness dropped into the game by event cards. World Without End is not a game that ends with players thinking, "What an empire I've built!" or "Look how rich I am!" World Without End is more likely to inspire thoughts like, "I didn't get hurt too badly that chapter," or "Maybe next game I'll make sure I have enough money to pay my taxes."

The game seemed to be filled with tough choices. Every time players choose a card to play, they will also have to choose a card to forfeit, sometimes without knowing whether the card they are surrendering will become highly desirable because of some random event. For example, there is one action card that lets a player reuse the action he used in the last turn. If I am counting on this card to let me collect grain twice in a row, it can be a disaster if a random event makes the reuse card inoperable.

Unlike many resource-churning games, players cannot easily create a victory point engine in World Without End. Players can each build four houses which let them generate resources by using the rent action card, but there is no equivalent to the many buildings that can be constructed in games like Puerto Rico, Caylus, or Cuba. The choice of which buildings to create is one that I enjoy in these kinds of games, and I miss those choices in World Without End.

In the end, I have to confess that I don't have a strong opinion about World Without End. I neither strongly like nor dislike the game. When I find myself with feelings like that there is usually one way to make up my mind: Play the game again.

Categories: Game News

One Against All, All Against One in Mousquetaires du Roy

Thu, 08/19/2010 - 2:02pm

Game name:  Mousquetaires du Roy Designer:  François Combe Designer:  Gilles Lehmann Publisher: Ystari Games — October 2010
Featured at: Spiel 2010 Publisher: Rio Grande Games — 2010

Ystari Games will release a new semi-cooperative game in October 2010, a game from François Combe and Gilles Lehmann that's based on Alexandre Dumas' novel Les Trois Mousquetaires, known in English as The Three Musketeers.

In Mousquetaires du Roy (which translates as "The King's Musketeers"), most of the players take the role of one of the famed Musketeers: Athos, Aramis, Porthos or the hero d'Artagnan. As in the novel, they're trying to recover the jewels that the Queen gave to her lover, Duke Buckingham, so that she can wear them at an event brought about by Cardinal Richelieu. The jewels were originally given to the Queen by her husband, King Louis XIII, and should she show up without the jewels her infidelity will be revealed. The Cardinal knows this and wants to bring about the Queen's downfall, so he brings in a special agent of sorts, someone who will obstruct the Musketeers and send them on other missions that the Musketeers must counter. This agent is Milady de Winter, ex-wife to Athos, and she's played by one player who works against all the others. If Milady can keep the Musketeers from returning the jewels in time – or if she completes one of her other missions – then she wins the game.

One of the Musketeer character cards

The Musketeers have their work cut out for them as they must prevent the death of d'Artagnan's beloved, Constance, and prevent the King's troops from completing their siege of the city seaport of La Rochelle – all while working to bring the jewels back from England so they can once again find a place around the Queen's neck. Should they fail, she'll find a noose around her neck instead. Can the Musketeers work all for one and save the Queen?

Rio Grande Games will publish Mousquetaires du Roy in English, most likely keeping the French title to preserve conspiracy theories about Ystari Games and the letters "y" and "s". Okay, the title might be kept for other reasons, but I thought I'd throw that out there. I plan to publish a detailed game preview in the near future. (Disclosure: Ystari Games hired me to edit the English rules for Mousquetaires du Roy.)

Categories: Game News

Board 2 Pieces, August 19, 2010

Thu, 08/19/2010 - 4:01am

Categories: Game News

Shannon Appelcline: The Games of Stefan Feld, Part 1

Thu, 08/19/2010 - 1:00am

The Games of Stefan Feld, Part 1

Over the last several years, designer Stefan Feld has made a rather impressive emergence onto the Eurogame scene. However, unlike many designers he doesn't seem to have any specific patterns of design that make his games readily recognizable. Instead, I'd say the common feature that all of Feld's games share is their uncommonness. Each one tends to have unique elements that really stand out from the crowd.

Thus, in appreciation of his games, I've decided to write about his several most popular games and what makes them unique. This week I'm going to cover his four games that were published from 2005 to 2007.

Feld Classic: 2005-2007

Roma (2005). Feld's premiere game is a two-player die-rolling duel. Players array cards in slots numbered 1-6, then roll dice which are used to activate those cards (or, alternatively, to take cards or money). These cards are in turn used to generate VPs and hose your opponent.

Unique Elements. The central idea of using die rolls to active certain powers was more unique in 2005 than it is today--primarily due to the flood of dice games a few years ago, of which To Court the King (2006) and Kingsburg (2007) are the most similar in this aspect. (See my articles on dice games for more: part 1, part 2, part 3.) Nonetheless, I find it an appealing mechanism that generates real excitement, which is precisely what's required to make dice games work.

Beyond that, I really enjoy Roma's least unique element: the face-to-face gameboard that's used to similarly good effect by Lost Cities and many others.

Rum & Pirates (2006). If you're primarily a multi-player gamer, your introduction to Feld was likely Rum & Pirates, and I certainly don't think it stands up as his best game--but it does have some pretty innovative features. In the game, you and your opponents direct a wandering band of pirates about a city, each grabbing resources of a variety of sorts depending on where the band ends up.

Unique Elements. I find many of Feld's games pretty hard to categorize, and that starts being true with Rum & Pirates. I think it comes closest to a worker-placement game of the sort introduced by Caylus (2005), but if so it's a pretty weird one. Most notably, these worker-actions have a strong geographical basis: you can only take actions if the wandering pirates are close enough to what you want to do. In addition, there are two other unusual elements: the number of workers you have to spend varies rather than always being "1" and multiple players can take the same action (by looping back to the intersection where the action is).

If I had to guess I'd say that this game was likely designed before Caylus' publication, which would explain why it's so different from what's since become a design norm. In any case, I think it points toward some of the very exciting and different directions that worker placement can go--even if I find this particular game to have a offputting balance of length and chaos.

(See my alea article on Rum & Pirates for more of my thoughts on this game.)

Notre Dame (2007). In many ways, Notre Dame feels like the most normal of Feld's games. It has some pretty normative elements, but blended together in some unique ways. Three times over the course of the game, you card draft through a complete set of nine action-selection cards. Each of those cards lets you gather different resources. Besides trying to balance a wide variety of resources, you also have to keep the rats in your portion of the city under control, lest everything else be in vain.

Unique Elements. Though the idea of an action/selection system is pretty normative, how it works isn't. First, you have the card drafting that lets you select which precise actions you'll be using each round. Fairy Tale (2005) and Midgard (2006) were two other games that came out around the same time featuring card drafting, but outside of CCGs it remains a vastly under-utilized mechanism. Second, you gain increasing power as you use the same cards multiple times, giving an important weight to specialization in action/selection. So, all told, while Notre Dame might be "just" action-selection, it adds so many unique adjuncts to that mechanism that it comes out feeling pretty innovative. The scarcity element of the rats was also pretty innovative in Notre Dame, but In the Year of the Dragon does the same and much more.

(See my alea article on Notre Dame for more of my thoughts on the game.)

In The Year of the Dragon (2007). One of the things that impresses me about Feld's designs is that many of them reflect the trends of their publication year, but do so in a very innovative way. Thus Roma came out when dice games where heating up, Rum & Pirates just as worker-placement games appeared, Notre Dame as part of a small group of card-drafting games, and both Notre Dame and In the Year of the Dragon as scarcity games appeared on the scene. In this game, you hire 13 specialists over the course of a year and try to manage their care, feeding, and usage while preparing for 10 disasters that strike.

Unique Elements. I think that In the Year of the Dragon may be Feld's most unique game, because it practically defines a genre: the scarcity game. Augsburg 1540 (2006), which immediately preceded In the Year of the Dragon, was similarly tight in some elements (mainly, getting past the two roadblocks in the game), but In the Year of the Dragon expanded on that, making everything in the whole game feel tight and casting a negative light on (almost) every goal--offering up a new feeling of scarcity that you don't see in games with more positive goals. I think Agricola (2007) knocked a similar category of game out of the park in the same year, with the constant need to harvest and feed your family, but even that's not quite as tight as the king of the field, In the Year of the Dragon.

(See my alea article on In the Year of the Dragon for more of my thoughts on the game.)

Around the Corner

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these early Feld games, and why you think they're unique (or not). In my next article I'm going to cover some of his more recent releases, from 2008-2010.

If you keep an eye on my reviews, you should read my take on Age of Industry, which appeared at RPGnet last week.

Categories: Game News

Zooloretto Finally Gets a Boss

Wed, 08/18/2010 - 9:11pm

Game name:  Zooloretto Boss Designer:  Michael Schacht Publisher: Abacusspiele — October 2010
Featured at: Spiel 2010 Publisher: Rio Grande Games — ?

Apparently the animals in Michael Schacht's Zooloretto were roaming around willy-nilly as only now is the zoo getting a boss, specifically Zooloretto Boss, a new expansion for Schacht's 2007 Spiel des Jahres winner that he describes as "challenging." Here's an edited description of the game from Schacht:

Good coworkers and charitable donations make life easier for the zoo director. If he uses these donations skillfully, he will acquire additional animals and vending stalls. If done right, he can make the zoo even more attractive and fresh for those who visit. In this way, he will attract more visitors and earn more income.

With correct management of these new resources, a player can become the Zooloretto Boss.

Categories: Game News

Small World Expansions Available for iPad

Wed, 08/18/2010 - 3:26pm

Days of Wonder has added the Small World expansions Cursed! and Grand Dames to its Small World iPad app, with each expansion being available for $2/€1.59 as an in-game purchase.

Cursed! includes two new races and five special powers, while Grand Dames features three new races and two powers. For screenshots of the expansions on the iPad, head to the Small World app page on iTunes.

Categories: Game News

Terrible Games Bring Terribly Big Payoff

Wed, 08/18/2010 - 3:16pm

Australian-based Imagine Entertainment has sold the rights to two of its best-selling games – Battle of the Sexes and Fact or Crap – for AU$24 million to the Canadian toy company Spinmaster, reports Smart Company. That figure is astounding for two reasons: First, the games have nothing to offer in terms of a fun play experience. Simply reading the cards in Battle of the Sexes, a game I encountered at an extended family member's house, was excrutiating due to their stereotyping and stupidity. The games consist of an appealing, gift-appropriate marketing shell wrapped around a rancid thoughtless nouget of cynical opportunism.

Second, according to News.com.au, Imagine Entertainment initially tried to sell the games for $180 million and failed to do so only because of the global financial crisis and a drop-off of sales in the U.S. As Smart Company reports:

Over 80% of the company's $57 million in revenue came from the U.S. in the 2006-07 year, with many of its products in major retailers including Target and Wal-Mart. There were plans for $80 million in turnover during 2007-08, but the financial crisis meant that target was scaled back.

Which means AU$24 million is a surprising reduction in what the company was previously worth. Astonishing...

Categories: Game News

Arkham Horror Miniatures Coming Once Again from FFG

Wed, 08/18/2010 - 2:54pm

In October 2009 Fantasy Flight Games announced a line of painted miniatures for its highly successful Arkham Horror board game, as reported on BGN at the time, but in response to complaints about the price of the line – $13 for two figures – FFG decided to scrap the idea and find another way to bring the miniatures to market.

The new take on Arkham Horror miniatures debuted at Gen Con 2010 in August, with 48 painted miniatures in the complete line, each available individually for $4. While the price is lower than announced in 2009, one potential drawback for gamers is that the figures will not be available through normal distribution and retail chains due to the cost of manufacturing, according to FFG. (Retailers can contact FFG to work out terms in order to carry the line, but they won't receive their standard discounts.) Instead, gamers will need to order the miniatures through the Fantasy flight website once they're available. To see tiny images of all the figures, head to FFG's Arkham Horror miniatures product page.

Categories: Game News