Weekend Update

A quiet shabbat, but I got in three games of It's Alive with a guest after lunch.

This was a guest to whom I taught Havoc a year or two back, and he went out and bought it. He hasn't been over since then, but he also claims to occasionally play Settlers with his nephews and nieces.

I taught him my game and he asked to play two more times, despite losing each time. He was getting better by the third play, at least.

Best of Board Game Geek 2007

Aldie posted a fantastic series of posts collecting the highest rated content of BGG over the past year:

Top Images
Top Strategy Articles
Top Session Reports
Top Reviews

There are lots of gems in some two hundred articles and images. Among them is this fantastic story about someone's last game of Chess, and a great article about how the game Zendo is the right way to teach kids about science.

Game News

The Herald has an article that explains why a board game business based around licensed games is a Bad Idea.

Jon Scott Siegel posts another intriguing game design in Escapist. Actually, it doesn't look like much of a game, but it does look like an interesting look at a single game mechanic.

The Financial Times gives a shot at suggesting some alternate games for the holiday season.

BizThoughts runs the idea of a Board Games Cafe as a business past its readers.

Play 2 Relax doggedly continues the Games Carnival.

Bernie (via kottke) links to an event called Scrabble for Cheaters, which looks like it could be turned into an interesting variant for Scrabble.

Ten amusing principles in game design from Chimera.

Yehuda