Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007

By W. Eric Martin

Here are the BGN reports from The Gathering of Friends 2007 which took place from March 30 - April 8, 2007 in Columbus, Ohio, U.S.A.

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Headlines

April 13, 2007 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 4, 2007
April 11, 2007 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 3, 2007
April 9, 2007 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: Reports from Elsewhere
April 9, 2007 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 2, 2007
April 4, 2007 - Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 1, 2007

Articles

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 4, 2007

By W. Eric Martin
April 13, 2007

I’ve discovered the secret to writing efficient reports of games played at the Gathering: Play lots of prototypes. Typically you can’t write about the particulars of the prototypes you play, which leads to write-ups like the following:

“My Wednesday at the Gathering started in the afternoon by playing two games from one designer, who was showing them to a publisher’s representative. One game was an involved, heavy strategy game with a kind of set-collection/bidding mechanism and a unique end-of-the-round determining-first-and-second mechanism, and the other game was a multiplayer, luck-free abstract with a customizable gameboard and interesting hand-management aspects. Both games had areas that would need to be adjusted or fixed—the first game, its special action tiles; the second game, grossly imbalanced starting positions—but were solid designs overall. The four players spent roughly four hours playing the two games and discussing them.”

Wow, that was easy.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 13, 2007 at 03:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007 - Comments (0) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 3, 2007

By W. Eric Martin
April 11, 2007

Another day, another immersive soaking in games both old and new, starting with a fresh take on one of 2005’s certified hits: Caylus.

Caylus Magna Carta
William Attia’s initial game design took the Eurogaming world by storm, bowling over players at Essen, then winning the 2006 International Gamers Award and 2006 Deutscher Spiele Preis among other accolades. Attia, along with publishing partners Ystari Games and Rio Grande, now presents Caylus Magna Carta, a card game version of Caylus.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 11, 2007 at 10:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007 - Comments (6) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: Reports from Elsewhere

Plenty of Gathering attendees are taking time away from the gaming tables to talk about what they’re playing. Check out the following links for more reports on titles new and old:

Aldie and Derk share their Gathering experiences—on a Geekpost of all things.
David Fair has multiple Gathering entries on the Games Club of MD blog. You can start with days 10 and 11, then scroll backwards from there.
Ravindra Prasad (aka Snoozefest) has a mighty big Geeklist for his Gathering happenings.
Brian Leet is posting about his experiences at Pinhole Optics
Lucas Hedgren has a blog solely torecord the Gathering experience—Luke’s Gathering of Friends 2007 Blog
Lorna Wong is posting multiple reports from the Gathering: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.
Brain Bankler is covering the Gathering is his regular blog, The Tao of Gaming
Matthew Gray does the same in his eponymous blog
The finals of the Loopin Louie tournament, featuring winner Brian Stallings, second-place finisher Dave Chalker, Caylus designer William Attia, and (maybe?) Terry Egan.

I’ll update this list as I run across more reports.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 9, 2007 at 09:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007 - Comments (1) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 2, 2007

By W. Eric Martin
April 9, 2007

Don’t take the date listed at the top of this report too seriously. Time flows in an odd way in the meeting rooms where the Gathering takes place because the rooms are on the lower level of the hotel, which shuts them off from natural light. As a result, you suffer the casino effect where you lose track of time and suddenly discover that it’s five in the morning and you forgot to eat dinner, yet you’re still completely wired for the next game. Luckily the sensation doesn’t happen only to me or else I wouldn’t have opponents for the next game waiting to be discovered.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 9, 2007 at 12:00 PM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007 - Comments (5) - Link

Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007: April 1, 2007

By W. Eric Martin
April 1, 2007

Alan Moon’s Gathering of Friends, a small convention that attracts doznes of game designers and publishers—not to mention gamers—takes place early each April and although a few tournaments and special events take place each year, most of the time is devoted to open gaming. New titles have arrived from the Nuremberg fair, designers and showing off prototypes, and publishers are previewing early release copies. Whether you want to play games that are obscure, brand new or designated classics, the Gathering is the place to find them.

What’s the hit of the show for 2007? To find out, all you have to do is keep watching the tables. Read the report below and see whether you can figure out my take on this week’s hot game.

Posted by W. Eric Martin on April 4, 2007 at 11:00 AM in Special Features > Convention Reports > Convention Report: The Gathering of Friends 2007 - Comments (16) - Link

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