UK Games Expo 2008 Preview • All publishers Articles & Special Features Mary Dimercurio Prasad: Game Room Accessories and Snackage What should a well-stocked game room include? You may be surprised by the number of items that can enhance your board gaming experience! Read more... - Comments (25) More articles: May 3 - Brad Keen: Convention Report – Saturday at CABS May 1 - From the Editor: Another Convention Preview Apr 29 - Ray Smith: Interview with Jim Sandefur Apr 25 - Larry Levy:  Gathering Memories—The Games (Part 2) Apr 25 - Travis Reynolds: Basic Training – Conflict at the Gathering Game News Gone Cardboard News: Dirge: Carnage in Crimson – Coming Soon John Clowdus will start shipping the fourth title from Small Box Games, Dirge: Carnage in Crimson, the week of May 12, 2008, but there’s still time to preorder the game at a discounted rate. Dirge is a two-player miniatures combat game with a basic action point system; wreck the other player’s army, and you win. You can download the rules from the Dirge webpage on the Small Box Games website. This game has been added to Gone Cardboard. Recent news: May 9 - Gone Cardboard News: Khet 3D: Tower of Kadesh – Shipping Soon May 9 - Gone Cardboard News: Monty Python Fluxx – Coming in Fall 2008 May 8 - Gone Cardboard News: Okko, Era of the Asagiri – Coming in June May 8 - Gone Cardboard News: Money, Gem Dealer – Coming in September; High Society in 2009 May 8 - Media Watch: Game collection fetches $150,000 May 7 - Media Watch: Gathering for game nights May 7 - Gone Cardboard News: Massive Z-Man Games Update May 7 - Media Watch: Wits & Wagers Developer Q & A May 6 - Deutscher Spiele Preis Voting Now Open May 6 - Preview of the XBLA Ticket to Ride on Team Xbox

Columnists Kris Hall: Pirate Impressions By pure coincidence, my family came into possession of two pirate games in the last three weeks.  Some days ago, my eldest daughter was given the game Pirateology as a belated birthday gift, and then my copy of GMT’s Blackbeard arrived this week.  Both games have a fine physical production, but both play very differently. Read more... - Comments (0) Recent columns: May 8 - Aaron Lawn: Trade Show Ramblings May 7 - Dale Yu: The New and Improved Game Room May 7 - JESS: Castellers by Reiner Knizia May 6 - Melissa Rogerson: Why you lost May 5 - Scott Tepper: Sportswomanship May 4 - Valerie Putman: Too Lazy to Game Previews & Reviews First Impression: Wizard’s Gambit By W. Eric Martin May 8, 2008 Publisher: Gryphon Forge Games Designers: Eric Drever & Matthew Stipes Players: 2-5 Ages: 8+ Playing Time: 45-60 minutes Rules Language: English Game Played: Production copy Number of Plays: Thrice, once each with 2, 3 and 5 players Ryan Bretsch must be affecting my mind. In comments on BGN and elsewhere, Bretsch, a mainstream game fan, has cried out for publishers to stop using geeky subject matter. “No more elves or trolls or generic fantasy worlds or obscure foreign cities or Renaissance art fests or all those other things that game publishers do repeatedly,” he demands. While I normally roll my eyes at such requests – since many people dig fantasy worlds and topics shunned by mainstream games – I found myself unexpectedly sighing while reading the ad copy on the back of Wizard’s Gambit: Read more... - Comments (2) More previews & reviews: May 6 - First Impression: 4th Corner Apr 29 - Game Preview: Merlin’s Company / Memoir ‘44 Campaign Bag Apr 25 - Game Review: Mall World Apr 21 - Game Review: Utopia Apr 9 - Game Review: Key Largo Apr 7 - Game Review: Lascaux

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Recent comments from BGN readers:
May 9, 2008 - Gone Cardboard News: Monty Python Fluxx – Coming in Fall 2008 By W. Eric Martin
May 9, 2008 - Gone Cardboard News: Monty Python Fluxx – Coming in Fall 2008 By Larry Levy
May 9, 2008 - Mary Dimercurio Prasad: Game Room Accessories and Snackage By Mary Prasad
May 9, 2008 - Valerie Putman: Too Lazy to Game By Dale Yu
May 9, 2008 - Valerie Putman: Too Lazy to Game By Marc Gilutin
May 9, 2008 - Valerie Putman: Too Lazy to Game By Dale Yu
May 9, 2008 - Valerie Putman: Too Lazy to Game By Geoff Brown
May 9, 2008 - Aaron Lawn: Trade Show Ramblings By Paul Sauberer
May 8, 2008 - First Impression: Wizard's Gambit By W. Eric Martin
May 8, 2008 - First Impression: Wizard's Gambit By Eric Franklin

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Articles

Gone Cardboard News: Dirge: Carnage in Crimson – Coming Soon

John Clowdus will start shipping the fourth title from Small Box Games, Dirge: Carnage in Crimson, the week of May 12, 2008, but there’s still time to preorder the game at a discounted rate. Dirge is a two-player miniatures combat game with a basic action point system; wreck the other player’s army, and you win. You can download the rules from the Dirge webpage on the Small Box Games website.

This game has been added to Gone Cardboard.

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Gone Cardboard News: Khet 3D: Tower of Kadesh – Shipping Soon

Luke Hooper at Innovention Toys says that the Tower of Kadesh expansion for Khet – which was first shown at NY Toy Fair back in February 2007 – has finally arrived at the company’s warehouse. He adds, “After our full inspection they will begin shipping next week!”

This game has been updated on Gone Cardboard.

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Gone Cardboard News: Monty Python Fluxx – Coming in Fall 2008

Looney Labs has announced that it will release a Monty Python-themed version of Fluxx before the end of 2008. According to designer Andy Looney, the card mix “focuses heavily on Holy Grail but pulls in as many other bits and references as I can squeeze in.” The previously announced Martian Fluxx has been moved to the second quarter of 2009 to make room for this title.

These games have been updated on Gone Cardboard.

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Kris Hall: Pirate Impressions

By pure coincidence, my family came into possession of two pirate games in the last three weeks.  Some days ago, my eldest daughter was given the game Pirateology as a belated birthday gift, and then my copy of GMT’s Blackbeard arrived this week.  Both games have a fine physical production, but both play very differently.

Read more...

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Gone Cardboard News: Okko, Era of the Asagiri – Coming in June

Asmodée Editions had initially given a Q3 2008 release date for Okko, Era of the Asagiri, but in a rare display of overachievement on the part of a game publisher, Okko is now due out in June 2008.

Okko, Era of the Asagiri is a two-player miniature-style game with modular game tiles, a ton of characters, and a heaping helping of dice. For more details, head to Asmodée’s Okko webpage or visit the official Okko website, which includes a PDF of the English rules.

This game has been updated on Gone Cardboard.

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Gone Cardboard News: Money, Gem Dealer – Coming in September; High Society in 2009

FRED Distribution has passed on images for the first titles in its Gryphon Games line: Money and Gem Dealer, both due out in September 2008, and High Society, which is now scheduled for early 2009. Gryphon games will be 6"x8" with a bookshelf look and perhaps 8-10 titles in the series once it’s complete. “They’re not all going to be card games,” says FRED’s Keith Blume. “But they will be family-friendly games that you can get into in five minutes and play in 20-40 minutes. That’s the ballpark we’re shooting for.”

Money, as you might expect, is all about the bills. Blume says that the money cards will be Lost Cities-sized to give you more grip on the geld.

Read more...

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First Impression: Wizard’s Gambit

By W. Eric Martin
May 8, 2008

Publisher: Gryphon Forge Games
Designers: Eric Drever & Matthew Stipes
Players: 2-5
Ages: 8+
Playing Time: 45-60 minutes
Rules Language: English

Game Played: Production copy
Number of Plays: Thrice, once each with 2, 3 and 5 players

Ryan Bretsch must be affecting my mind. In comments on BGN and elsewhere, Bretsch, a mainstream game fan, has cried out for publishers to stop using geeky subject matter. “No more elves or trolls or generic fantasy worlds or obscure foreign cities or Renaissance art fests or all those other things that game publishers do repeatedly,” he demands. While I normally roll my eyes at such requests – since many people dig fantasy worlds and topics shunned by mainstream games – I found myself unexpectedly sighing while reading the ad copy on the back of Wizard’s Gambit:

Read more...

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Board 2 Pieces: May 8, 2008

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Aaron Lawn: Trade Show Ramblings

Ah, lateness.  This column was written two weeks ago, just missing my Thursday appearance… Hooray!

I’ve just wound my way back into California after a three day stint at the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas.  As you may or may not know, GTS¹ is the trade show for the Hobby Game Industry².  As far as board games, especially Euro-style board games, it’s an odd show to report on.  Why odd?

Read more...

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Media Watch: Game collection fetches $150,000

From the (Oregon) Mail Tribune:

You might say Ken Fonarow is doing a little spring cleaning. After buying and selling board and role-playing games for 25 years and hawking his wares at shows around the country, the retired policeman is selling his personal collection — for $150,000. Fonarow’s 20,000 games — from one-of-a-kind collector’s items to out-of-print rarities — is being snatched up by board and role-playing game Internet retailer TrollandToad.com, based in Barbourville, Ky. TrollandToad.com spokesman Ryan Severin says the acquisition is the largest in the company’s 17 years of doing business. It has 75 employees and had sales of $5 million last year.

Visit the MailTribune.com for the complete article, which includes a pic of Fonarow and a tiny part of his collection.

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Media Watch: Gathering for game nights

From the Baltimore Sun:

They gathered at Potomac Community Center for game night as they do every Wednesday; never mind that it was the day after Christmas. Initially, they considered playing board and card games unfamiliar to most of the public but popular among the gaming faithful: Qwirkle, Anno 1503 and Loot. But ultimately, the evening would begin with a traditional favorite. “I want to say it’s been a long time since I played Uno, but actually I played about a month ago,” said Wei-Hwa Huang, 32, a software engineer at California-based Google who was visiting his hometown of North Potomac for the holidays.

Head to the BaltimoreSun.com for the entire article, which covers the Games Club of Maryland as well as more traditional family game nights.

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Gone Cardboard News: Massive Z-Man Games Update

Zev Shlasinger has an incredible number of plates in the air right now, and while he’d love to take a rest, most of them will be spinning against his will until June or July. (Hmm, that analogy doesn’t really work, does it?) Here’s an update on many titles forthcoming from Z-Man Games:

• Neuland is arriving at the Z-Man warehouse on May 8th, so expect to see it in stores soon.

• The second edition of Ideology will probably be out sometime in June rather than the previously announced date of April.

• Wasabi! is coming from the same printer as Ideology and also expected in June.

• Chinatown should appear in June as announced. Filosofia has already released the new version of the game in French, and the English one is almost ready.

• Traders of Carthage, from Susumu Kawasaki is expected in June as well.

• Agricola has been delayed until late June or early July as Lookout Games, the original publisher, is coordinating a simultaneous printing in eight different languages and waiting for final approval from everyone involved before going to press. Due to preorders and orders from distributors, Zev says that this print run is already sold out, which means that he won’t have copies available at Origins (assuming the game would be released by then). He has already ordered a reprint, but of course the initial run needs to be printed first!

Read more...

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Media Watch: Wits & Wagers Developer Q & A

North Star Games’ Wits & Wagers graduates from board game to electronic time suck today with its appearance on Xbox LIVE Arcade, courtesy of developer Hidden Path Entertainment. IGN has published an interview with Hidden Path’s CEO, Jeff Pobst, about the game’s development and the players’ funky dances.

Thanks to Ted Alspach for pointing out this interview!

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Dale Yu: The New and Improved Game Room

Well, I was going to write a huge article on the things I love to have in my game room (since I now have a new game room!), but Mary Prasad beat me to it!  (If you haven’t already read it, I highly recommend taking a gander at her article on game room accessories.)

Instead, I’m going to concentrate on a few things about my new recreational space, and it will take the form of a photo essay… Smaller pics will show up on the screen as you read the column, but you can click on the pictures to see the full-size pics!

Read more...

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JESS: Castellers by Reiner Knizia

Devir will publish Castellers, an all brand new game by Reiner Knizia.

Read more...

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Deutscher Spiele Preis Voting Now Open

Voting for the 2008 Deutscher Spiele Preis is now under way, and you – yes, you – can participate by submitting up to five games for consideration. Your first title listed is awarded five points, the next title four points, and so on. You can also submit a single title for the best children’s game released in the latter half of 2007 and early 2008.

To vote, visit DSPvoting.de and complete the form there, including all of the fields at the bottom of the screen: first name, last name, street, ZIP/mailing code, city/state, country, phone number, email address, email address take two. The deadline for entry is July 31, 2008.

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Preview of the XBLA Ticket to Ride on Team Xbox

TeamXbox.com has published a preview of the Xbox LIVE Arcade version of Ticket to Ride, something I ran a news item on back in March 2008, although Days of Wonder’s Mark Kaufmann was coy at the time about an XBLA version of the Spiel des Jahres-winning title.

While the Team Xbox preview doesn’t include a release date beyond “later this year,” it does include a few screen shots, including one which looks more like an embroidery pattern than a U.S. map with potential train routes. Maybe I just need to get used to the new look…

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Dungeon Twister Coming to Xbox 360, PS3, DS

Christophe Boelinger’s Dungeon Twister has launched eight expansions to date – including Fire & Water, due out in English in Q3 2008 from Asmodée Editions – but the biggest expansion might be the one still to come: an electronic version from French development studio Hydravision Entertainment that will be available on the Xbox LIVE Arcade, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo DS.

Asmodée lists a release date of 2009 on its gossip page, while March 2008 SEC filings by Dutch/American game publisher Playlogic Entertainment lists a Q4 2008 release date.

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Gone Cardboard News: Asmodée Cancels Renaissance

Almost a year after it first announced the project, Asmodée Editions has decided not to release Renaissance – a sequel to designer Pascal Bernard’s Joan of Arc – in English after all.  Eric Franklin’s English translation of the rules is available for download from the BoardGameGeek Renaissance page for those who want to pick up the game in French.

This game has been removed from Gone Cardboard.

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Filsofia Pimps the New Chinatown

While English speakers are still waiting for the new edition of Chinatown – currently due out in June 2008 from Z-Man Games – Canadian publisher Filosofia has already released the French edition of the game. Illustrator Mathieu Leysseyne (Animalia, Jamaica) continues his fine work with yet another game that features inviting and squeezably real characters and objects. Check out Filosofia’s Chinatown minisite for multiple pics from the game, along with avatars you can adopt.

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Convention Preview News: Huang Di and Athene Delayed

JKLM Games has delayed the release of Huang Di and Athene – both originally due for release at the upcoming UK Games Expo at the end of May – due to production issues, according to David Norman. The games should instead be available in July, but Norman says, “we will have demo copies at the Expo for people to try.”

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First Impression: 4th Corner

By W. Eric Martin
May 6, 2008

Publisher: Strategic Space
Designer: Mark Salzwedel
Players: 2-8
Playing Time: 10-120 minutes
Price: $14.95
Rules Language: English

Version: Production copy
Times Played: Twice with two players

“Leaves room for improvement” – that was the diplomatic response of my playing partner, quoting a teaching colleague of his that knows how to deliver bad news to inept students. My more unvarnished response?

“Hell to the no.”

Read more...

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Mary Dimercurio Prasad: Game Room Accessories and Snackage

What should a well-stocked game room include? You may be surprised by the number of items that can enhance your board gaming experience!

Read more...

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Melissa Rogerson: Why you lost

Next time you lose when playing a boardgame, here are some excuses that you might want to roll out.

Or maybe not.

Read more...

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Board 2 Pieces: May 6, 2008

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Scott Tepper: Sportswomanship

This past week, at my non-gaming job, I was on the phone with one of our vendors, when in the middle of the call, she stopped our work-related discussion and apologized.  “I’m sorry”, she said excitedly, “but I just received an email from a friend, and it’s affected me so much that I have to share it with you.” She then asked if I had seen the video that was going around about the womens college softball teams.  I replied that I had no idea what she was talking about.  She happily recounted the details, exclaiming that we don’t hear enough stories about sportsmanship and probably wouldn’t have heard this one if it revolved around two men’s sports teams.

Read more...

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Valerie Putman: Too Lazy to Game

Ok, not really.  I got a call this afternoon with a last minute offer to play games and I went.  I had a great time playing Dominion, Agricola, and ItYotD.  But I must admit, I hesitated.  It’s nearly the end of the semester and as burnout sets in, an evening pretending to be a vegetable instead of trying to farm them can be very tempting.  How many of you have had a battle of the couch vs. the game lately?  Who usually wins?

How lazy are you feeling? As the school year nears the end, I do find that I am less likely to squeeze in an extra night of gaming.  Actually, this has been a crazy year with our 10-year University accreditation visit (lots of awful paperwork and meetings), my application for tenure (lots of awful paperwork and stress), and the regular stuff.  Early in the fall I gave up my weekly pub game night and I made far fewer gaming trips this year.  I really can’t wait to get back to a more regular gaming schedule this summer.  But on a school night, an evening of snuggling on the couch with honey bunny and Bones often wins out over that game of 1960 I keep meaning to have hubby teach me. 

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Matt Carlson: A Game About Farming

Have a hankering to play a boardgame themed around trying to scratch a subsistence off the land?  Cultivate crops and harvest them in order to try and provide for your family.  What game am I talking about, none other than The Farming Game.  Wait, were you thinking about some other farming game?

Read more...

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Brad Keen: Convention Report – Saturday at CABS

On March 28th, I returned to my boardgaming roots, if you will pardon the expression, and traveled back to Columbus Ohio to attend a CABS (Columbus Area Board Gaming Society) Saturday gaming session. These special gaming sessions are held on the last Saturday of most months. For more information, you can checkout the CABS 2008 Schedule.

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Kris Hall: Visit the Neighbors

How many organized gaming groups are there in the USA?  I have no idea, and no idea on how to find out.

Not that it matters to most gamers.  A gaming group in the next county might as well be on the other side of the country for all the interaction that goes on between neighboring groups.  Most gamers interact face-to-face with members of other gaming groups at conventions or not at all.

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