Special Features

Our Features section showcases feature longer articles that give you insight into the world of boardgames. The Features section is made up of the following subsections:

Articles
Variants
Convention Previews
Convention Reports
Two for the Show
Interviews by an Optimist
Musings on...
The Classic Misadventures in Gaming
The New Misadventures in Gaming
Teacher's Corner
German Game Authors Revisited
The Game Table
Postcards from Berlin

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Headlines

May 6, 2008 - Mary Dimercurio Prasad: Game Room Accessories and Snackage
May 3, 2008 - Brad Keen: Convention Report – Saturday at CABS
April 29, 2008 - Ray Smith: Interview with Jim Sandefur
April 25, 2008 - Larry Levy: Gathering Memories—The Games (Part 2)
April 25, 2008 - Travis Reynolds: Basic Training – Conflict at the Gathering
April 21, 2008 - Larry Levy: Gathering Memories—The Games (Part 1)
April 19, 2008 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Covert Action, Metropolys & Big Points
April 17, 2008 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Change Horses & Other Reports
April 14, 2008 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Ghost Stories & Hanging Gardens
April 13, 2008 - Postcards From Berlin #28: The Gaming Coach
April 12, 2008 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Stone Age, Ticket to Ride Card Game & X
April 6, 2008 - Mary Dimercurio Prasad: Boardgaming with Polymer Clay

Articles

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!

Posted by W. Eric Martin on May 6, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (24) - Link

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.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on May 3, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (2) - Link

Ray Smith: Interview with Jim Sandefur

Preface by Ray Smith: Being a fan of Boulder Games by way of its wonderful service, selection, and prices (and the zillions of dollars I’ve bartered his way), I contacted Jim Sandefur for an interview. Beyond him graciously agreeing to provide the usual background on his online game business based in Lizella, Georgia, Jim provides some passionate insight on a hot topic in the gaming industry.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 29, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (15) - Link

Larry Levy: Gathering Memories—The Games (Part 2)

Here are my quick summaries of the rest of the new games I played at the Gathering.

Pandemic - I forgot to mention this one in my list of 7+ rated games I covered in my first report. This was a fun challenge and has good potential, but I’ll probably need to play a few more times before I finalize my rating. We played with our cards face up and advice was given freely; consequently, as a first-time player, it was pretty hard not to get drowned out by the more experienced players. I think some contests with other newbies are called for, but I liked what I saw. Rating: 7.

Posted by Larry Levy on April 25, 2008 at 10:30 PM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (6) - Link

Travis Reynolds: Basic Training – Conflict at the Gathering

Hmm, perhaps I should be more clear – I was lucky enough to attend my very first Gathering of Friends earlier this month AND I caught up with Uwe Eickert to discuss his upcoming game, Conflict of Heroes. I guess it’s all in the wording…

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 25, 2008 at 01:30 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (4) - Link

Larry Levy: Gathering Memories—The Games (Part 1)

Unlike years past, I’d done a pretty good job of getting to play most of the 2007 titles I wanted to prior to the Gathering. And I didn’t think there was a huge number of riveting games coming out of Nuremburg. So I was quite surprised at how many new games I played in Columbus: over 20 new-to-me designs. That, combined with the very large number of prototypes I played over the course of the week, meant I played relatively few older games, which was just fine with me.

Here are my quick impressions on the new games I played. Time permitting, I’ll try to post some more complete reviews in the days to come. None of the new designs blew me away, but most of them were worth playing and I can see a few entering the regular rotation in my game group. Unless otherwise indicated, I only played each of these games once. I’ve also included an initial rating for each game, just to give some idea of how much it appealed to me.

Posted by Larry Levy on April 21, 2008 at 01:20 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (15) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Covert Action, Metropolys & Big Points

By W. Eric Martin
April 19, 2008

One great thing about conventions is that you will often play games that you would never play in other circumstances. Someone will ask you to play a game with their group, and you’ve enjoyed playing with the person in the past, or you don’t own the game, or you own the game but have never unwrapped it, or you have just the right amount of time before dinner (assuming you eat at conventions), or you’re trying to avoid someone else who has asked to play something, or you’re competing in a contest to play with as many different people as possible. Whatever the reason, you decide to play this game at this time.

One awful thing about conventions is that you will often play games that you would never play in other circumstances for all the same reasons listed above. If nothing else, you get a column out of the experience.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 19, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008 - Comments (2) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Change Horses & Other Reports

By W. Eric Martin
April 17, 2008

Naturally I’m not the only one writing about games discovered and played at the Gathering. In addition to columns by a number of fine folks on BGN, you can read additional reports from:

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 17, 2008 at 10:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008 - Comments (0) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Ghost Stories & Hanging Gardens

By W. Eric Martin
April 14, 2008

The tables at the Gathering are awash in prototypes from morning until midnight, with designers looking for feedback and publishers trying to decide what to publish next or how to tweak a game that’s already in the line-up. Mum’s the word on these designs unless the designer or publisher says otherwise, and thankfully I’ve been cleared to talk about one of three prototypes that impressed me. Now I can share the goodness with you, followed by talk of a title that should be hitting the U.S. any day now.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 14, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008 - Comments (12) - Link

Postcards From Berlin #28: The Gaming Coach

By Jeff Allers
April 13, 2008

German Word of the Month: Lernspiel (learning game)

It had been a tough season with very few wins to be excited about, but there we were, down to the wire with one of the better basketball teams in our league, a German version of March Madness. Behind by one point but ready to inbound the ball with enough seconds to get off a good shot, I took our final timeout and hurriedly diagrammed the screens and passes that could give me my “Jimmy V.” moment. As the team took the floor, my mind replayed scenes from “Hoosiers,” and I called out once more in my best Gene Hackman voice. The referee handed over the ball, blew the whistle, and one of my players passed the ball to our best shooter, who launched a shot at the buzzer that seemingly hung in the air for hours until…

…it clanged off the rim and fell to the ground, without the sweet sound of contact with the net. We’d lost the game. Again.

Posted by Jeff Allers on April 13, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Postcards from Berlin - Comments (2) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Stone Age, Ticket to Ride Card Game & X

By W. Eric Martin
April 12, 2008

So, the Gathering. That’s what I’m supposed to be writing about, right? Well, Ted Alspach thinks so anyway.

My plan before attending this largely industry-related event was to play as many prototypes as possible so that I can write about these games in depth as they appear. While I largely stuck to this plan – despite what Scott Tepper might say – this leaves me with little to say now, especially since my three favorite games of the show were all prototypes!

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 12, 2008 at 01:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008 - Comments (19) - Link

Mary Dimercurio Prasad: Boardgaming with Polymer Clay

My husband recently brought to my attention a Geeklist on BoardGameGeek of board games enhanced with polymer clay pieces. For example, one guy made all new pieces for Agricola, including the cutest little sheep, boar, cattle, and vegetables. I also enjoyed the images of Primordial Soup (amoebas and amoeba poop… uh, food!) and Power Grid (check out the garbage cans).

Over the years, I’ve made quite a few things with polymer clay (e.g. jewelry, figurines), but I had not yet used it for game pieces (except to replace missing pieces). At one point I had thought about making a Settlers board but that would be a lot more work than I’m interested in doing for one game. A smaller project would be fine, though, so I decided to make dinosaurs for our Evo game.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 6, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (13) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008: Pre-Gathering Gaming

By W. Eric Martin
April 4, 2008

Alan Moon’s Gathering of Friends, a small convention that attracts dozens of game designers and publishers, takes place early each April in Columbus, Ohio – so what am I doing in Dayton? Did Mapquest give me bum directions? Is Ohio too big for its own good?!

In fact, I’m in Dayton to speak at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop, an annual event meant to educate humor writers, perfect their craft and find markets for their work. I do little humor writing in the traditional sense (essays, personal columns), but the conference organizers invited my wife Linda and me to speak on generating ideas and writing query letters, and that topic is easy-peasy for pros like us. Since the timing meshed with the Gathering, we agreed to do the talk.

Then Linda fell sick, so I’m here on my own. We’ve spoken together previously in Sante Fe, Tucson, Austin, Washington DC, and other locations, and I’m used to playing off Linda and making her the fall guy for my silly remarks. This time, I had to do both sides of the talk, but the crowd of 50-60 aspiring and burgeoning writers seemed to like it. I’m still alive, in any case.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 4, 2008 at 05:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2008 - Comments (1) - Link

Larry Levy: Coming Up for Air, Part 1

Well, hello again. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? When Eric and I agreed that I would go to At Large status, I wasn’t planning for my output to drop to the level of the other ”Comets," but one of the reasons I wanted to be relieved of regular column duties was that I knew that I’d be entering an unusually heavy period at work and wouldn’t be able to devote the amount of time to writing that I usually do.

Well, the prediction was true and then some. It was a very frantic time at work, with late hours, weekends, and lack of sleep. Kind of like your typical gaming con, without any of the benefits. There’s been limited free time and to be honest, the last thing I wanted to do when I got some was more thinking. So no articles from me for the last two months. Thankfully, things are finally easing up and I’m able to devote some time to the work that I actually enjoy. With luck, I’ll be able to contribute some pieces in the weeks ahead, including (I hope), my usual rundown of all the new and old delights I’ll get to sample at the Gathering.

Posted by Larry Levy on March 24, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (13) - Link

Travis Reynolds: Basic Training – Target Arnhem, 1960

This month I was lucky enough to attend a Games Day put on by the Appalachian Gamers‘ own Charlie Davis. The Games Day was held on the campus of WVU Tech in Montgomery WV. Last year’s event was plagued with bad weather – Ted Cheatham almost killed me on an icy bridge traveling home! – and this year’s was similarly stricken with uncharacteristically good weather, a bane for indoor activities in the spring. Nonetheless, the turnout was good and the fun was great.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 21, 2008 at 10:30 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (4) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 18 (Part Three)

By W. Eric Martin
March 19, 2008

The Toy Fair 2008 coverage finally comes to an end with a few oddball designs from newcomers, a few designs that aren’t as oddball as they claim to be, Ravensburger, Winning Moves, and assorted other items.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 19, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (3) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 18 (Part Two)

By W. Eric Martin
March 14, 2008

Okay, with multiple writing projects out of the way, I’m clearing the dust off my 2008 Toy Fair notes and wrapping up the games seen there in this article and one more to appear early next week.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 14, 2008 at 12:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (0) - Link

Postcards from Brazil: Carnaval & Board Games

By Antonio Marcelo and Flavio Jandorno
March 9, 2008

In Brazil every year in the months of February or March (this year at the very beginning of February), we have the greatest popular extravaganza in the world – the Brazilian Carnaval. Brazilian Carnaval, a huge party that lasts for four whole days, has its origins in the Carnaval of Venice, but over time it has morphed and is now an event that attracts tourists from the whole world.

The Carnaval climaxes with the parade of the “Samba Schools” in which thousands of men, women and children in costumes and often on floats participate in a parade while fighting for that year’s title of “Best Samba School”. More information and images of the Carnaval are available in Portugese on Globo.com.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 9, 2008 at 03:00 PM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (0) - Link

Gilad Yarnitzky: Interview with Yonatan Aloni

Yonatan Aloni is the owner of Silverstars Publishing, the official translator of D&D into Hebrew, one of the largest game companies to translate Euro-style games into Hebrew, and probably the largest importer of Euro-style games. With Eran Aviram, he also co-owns the only game shop in Israel dedicated to table-top gaming. I spoke with Mr. Aloni after he returned from the Nuremberg toy fair to find out what’s expected from Silverstars in the upcoming year.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on March 3, 2008 at 11:01 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (0) - Link

Postcards From Berlin #27: Nuremberg 2008, Day Three

By Jeff Allers
February 24, 2008

German Word of the Month: Türsteher (bouncer)

Editor’s note: This article is part three of Jeff’s Nuremberg coverage. Part 1 and Part 2 are also on BGN; Part 2 has had additional images added since its publication.

After resting in the youth hostel all day Thursday, my father felt well enough again to join me for our final day at the fair. My first appointment was with Fritz Gruber from TM-Spiele/Kosmos. The enormous booth had café-style seating filled with activity. I mentioned to Fritz that it seemed like a “convention within a convention.” After a brief chat, he hooked me up with someone to take the tour of new games. Michael Schmitt, owner of the Spielwiese game café in Berlin where my group meets, joined me at the first game, fresh from his five-hour drive on the Autobahn.

Posted by Jeff Allers on February 24, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Postcards from Berlin - Comments (9) - Link

Postcards From Berlin #26: Nuremberg 2008, Day Two

By Jeff Allers
February 22, 2008

German Word of the Month: Neuheiten (new releases)

Editor’s note: This is the second of Jeff’s Nuremberg 2008 columns; the third will run within the next few days.

After a late night, my father was feeling ill and stayed in the room to rest while I went on the convention center alone. My first appointment was with Claudia Wieczorek, designer for Selecta Spielzeug, another game publisher known for beautiful wooden bits and nice children’s game mechanisms.

Posted by Jeff Allers on February 22, 2008 at 01:01 AM in Special Features > Postcards from Berlin - Comments (0) - Link

Postcards From Berlin #25: Nuremberg 2008, Day One

By Jeff Allers
February 20, 2008

German Word of the Month: Messe (convention)

Editor’s note: Jeff’s Nuremberg coverage will be in three parts, with the other two to follow soon.

I’m not one to obsess about statistics and I’ve never been interested in market analysis, but the information provided in the press package for the Nuremberg Toy Fair caught my attention. Production of games in Germany rose to 35 million Euros last year, it said. Furthermore, the country imported 1.1 billion Euros worth of games and exported another 1.2 billion Euros worth. Games and puzzles are the largest product group in the expansive toy industry in Germany, rising to 17.8 per cent of the market last year. This compares to only 10.4 per cent of France’s toy industry – or a mere 7.8 per cent of England’s. This means that, at the Nuremberg Toy Fair, games play a more prominent role than in any other convention of its type around the world.

Posted by Jeff Allers on February 20, 2008 at 01:01 AM in Special Features > Postcards from Berlin - Comments (8) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 18 (News Scoop!)

By W. Eric Martin
February 19, 2008

I’ll continue with the general Toy Fair coverage in a later post or two, but I wanted to call out two announcements of note involving Z-Man Games and ElfinWerks.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 19, 2008 at 02:30 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (8) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 18 (Part One)

By W. Eric Martin
February 18, 2008

The rain has cleared from the skies and streets, creating a nice cool environment for a walk to the Javits Center and a second day at NY Toy Fair. Unfortunately, I’m running late, so I have to take a cab instead, a cab that carries a television screen implanted in the back of the front seat, featuring something called “Taxi TV” – the purpose of which seems to be to keep riders occupied during slow traffic so as not to grow murderous. Mission accomplished!

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 18, 2008 at 10:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (1) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 17 (Part Three)

By W. Eric Martin
February 18, 2008

It’s midnight in Manhattan, and a cool breeze is blowing through the open window in my friend’s apartment. The temperature might be near freezing outside, but funky radiators and the collected heat that comes from living on the top floor keeps her apartment warm no matter what the weather. The sound of traffic on Broadway, half a block away, rises and falls like a pulse. While New York is pictured as an always bustling and noisy metropolis, I haven’t heard a car horn in hours. Life carries on quietly in thousands of nearby apartments.

And I’m awake, writing (as always) about games – the good and the bad, the promising and the compromised. Most important of all, at least for this report, I’m showing off the new Risk from Hasbro, but not yet.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 18, 2008 at 08:30 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (2) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 17 (Part Two)

By W. Eric Martin
February 17, 2008

Playroom filled the morning post, but plenty of other game companies are on hand at Toy Fair, both known and unknown. I’ll start with one of the known, then dance through a few others…

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 17, 2008 at 11:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (3) - Link

Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 – February 17 (Part One)

By W. Eric Martin
February 17, 2008

You know you’re in Manhattan when you can’t walk two blocks without passing a Starbucks. While walking from Grand Central Station to the Jacob Javits Center for Toy Fair 2008, I saw four (or perhaps five) of the green-and-white logo beckoning with the promise of sweet drinks and free wi-fi. I resisted the siren call for now, pleased just to be able to walk the city streets, unlike in my hometown of Concord, NH, where more than 70” of snow has fallen this winter, and ice and slush cover every sidewalk.

Enough weather talk, let’s get to the games…

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 17, 2008 at 08:30 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: New York Toy Fair 2008 - Comments (0) - Link

Travis Reynolds: Basic Training – Athens & Sparta, Battle at the Cross Roads

Editor’s note: Basic Training is a new column that will run monthly on BGN if Travis enjoys it enough to keep writing. As for what the column is about...

For the military, basic training is the course that transforms civilians into soldiers. In this case, it represents the effort to transform gamers into wargamers. Okay, maybe the word “transform” is a little much; more accurately, let’s say the goal is to introduce wargames to gamers who are not familiar with them. An eye opener, so to speak. Certainly, the gap between the average gamer and wargamer is nowhere near as large as that between a raw recruit and the heroic soldier he is to become – although some may argue with that! In any case, this task should be much easier…right?

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 15, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (1) - Link

Eric Flood: The Value of Discount Games

Like many others, I recently fell into the craze of cheap online games and bargains. I’ve been relatively poor for the past few years, with an international relationship and a plan for attending grad school (which I started in August 2007). Due to school, I’ve applied only for jobs which were short-term and consequently lower-paying, which contributed to my desire for cheaper games.

My habit really began in February 2007, with Barnes & Noble’s annual post-holiday sale. I drove to three different B&N stores on the first day of the sale and came away with RoboRally and Carcassonne for about $25.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 13, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (11) - Link

Chris Kovac: 2008 Canadian Toy & Hobby Fair

Over the weekend of January 25th, I put on my “game reporter” hat and headed down to the Toronto Convention Centre for the 68th Canadian Toy & Hobby Fair. Attending this convention is a little like being New Hampshire in the American presidential elections: It’s a small start of far bigger events to come. For me, the Toronto Toy Fair—as it’s generally known—marks the beginning of the game convention and fair season which ends every year with Essen.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on February 7, 2008 at 02:00 AM in Special Features > Articles - Comments (0) - Link

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