Tabletop gaming has always had its share of women-hate and male toxicity.
Sexes were historically separated from playing together for thousands of years in order to avoid licentiousness. This was simply an extension of the general separation between the sexes. By the 19th and early 20th century, at least in Europe and the US, the sexes had found ways to mingle by means of parlor games, many of which we would consider overly racy today (a great many of them involved kissing and/or groping, for example).
The last hundred years of tabletop games saw women relegated to "women's divisions" (in Chess, for example), "girls" games (aka pink and/or about makeup and jewelry), or even the kitchen in the belief that they don't have what it takes to play at a man's level. They often don't, if you exclude them from serious training opportunities, exclude them from playing against top players, diminish their desires, goals, and accomplishments, require them to deal with unchecked harassment, and require from them a fanatical devotion to play for endless hours with unwashed, excruciatingly rude, and sexist jerks. Despite this, there are always a few women who are able and willing to complete with many of the top men in any game.
I had hope that in our little corner of the world, harassment would get no worse than that, and hopefully better. While anyone of any sex might get killed playing Dominoes in a Jamaica coffee shop or throwing dice on the streets of Taiwan, tabletop games remain a relatively safe, family-friendly, and gender-mixing activity. Chess, Go, and Bridge have women's divisions, but the majority of their competitions are mixed and relatively safe. Wargaming is a men's club, but it's not toxic to women as far as I know. CCG and RPG events are/were known to attract mostly young male jerks, which scared off some women (see above) but I hadn't thought that these jerks' behavior rose to level of toxicity associated with Gamergate. Unfortunately, I was wrong.
Women are not only harassed, but sexually assaulted at these conventions; the organizers and police are often unable or unwilling to help them. Apparently the CCG and RPG players who grew up in their little boys' club are now adult enough to feel entitled and powerful enough to join the ranks of the male toxics, white nationalists, and "pickup artists", just like the Gamergate folks. And just as in Gamergate, douches post harassing videos and posts claiming that woman who complain about harassment are lying for the attention, as a result of which teeming hordes of similarly minded jerks harass them more, and more seriously. And when called on it, of course, they post endlessly, harassing everyone with why they are right and everyone else is lying and "missing the point". Ho hum, how familiar.
Seems like this behavior is getting worse, not better, and I can think of a few reasons why. I just wish that they didn't infect my hobby.
Showing posts with label ccgs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ccgs. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 12, 2017
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Board Games, Like CCGs, are Cardboard Crack
Ten years ago, hordes of game geeks left the CCG scene because it was "cardboard crack": it sucked away tons of time and money all to get the latest fix. The hordes turned instead to board games. Nice, simple, replayable, buy-once-and-it's-yours board games.
These same hordes spent the last ten year spending even more time and money to get the latest board games. Every year, they bought dozens of games, played them twice, once, or not at all, and then anticipated the next game and the next purchase.
The amount of time and money they spent over the last ten years on an endless series of newer board games probably equaled or exceeded what they would have spent on CCGs during this same period. The question is: who had more fun? Those that continued to play CCGs all decade, or those that denounced them as cardboard crack and went on to spend their time playing that endless series of board games?
Probably both teams win.
The constant need to buy what is anticipated as later and greater is called "the cult of the new". The best ten games of 2009 are not really better than the best ten games of 2000. For those that bought the best best games every year, the enjoyment came from the anticipation, the acquisition, and the new experience of each game, not from the solidity of the game itself. Familiar games, like familiar songs, electronics, or movies, may be nice, but they're familiar.
Was that really the best use of your money? Unlike songs, many movies, and some books, the best games reward reuse by being different every time you play them. (In fact, one game genre fits that description pretty well: CCGs.)
Of course, someone has to buy, play, and review the games for the rest of us to know which of those games are most likely to be the ones we'll want to replay. When do you - non-journalist - stop looking at what you don't have and enjoy what you have?
If the answer is never, at least stop looking down on others who enjoy the same thing you do.
These same hordes spent the last ten year spending even more time and money to get the latest board games. Every year, they bought dozens of games, played them twice, once, or not at all, and then anticipated the next game and the next purchase.
The amount of time and money they spent over the last ten years on an endless series of newer board games probably equaled or exceeded what they would have spent on CCGs during this same period. The question is: who had more fun? Those that continued to play CCGs all decade, or those that denounced them as cardboard crack and went on to spend their time playing that endless series of board games?
Probably both teams win.
The constant need to buy what is anticipated as later and greater is called "the cult of the new". The best ten games of 2009 are not really better than the best ten games of 2000. For those that bought the best best games every year, the enjoyment came from the anticipation, the acquisition, and the new experience of each game, not from the solidity of the game itself. Familiar games, like familiar songs, electronics, or movies, may be nice, but they're familiar.
Was that really the best use of your money? Unlike songs, many movies, and some books, the best games reward reuse by being different every time you play them. (In fact, one game genre fits that description pretty well: CCGs.)
Of course, someone has to buy, play, and review the games for the rest of us to know which of those games are most likely to be the ones we'll want to replay. When do you - non-journalist - stop looking at what you don't have and enjoy what you have?
If the answer is never, at least stop looking down on others who enjoy the same thing you do.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
A Guide to Board and Card Games Based on Video Games (1971 to 2007)
Why do companies produce or license board and card games to be created from their video games?
Brand recognition. Either they hope the board or card game will make a few bucks based on the popularity of the video game series, or they hope that the board or card game will increase sales to the video game through brand recognition.
Nintendo takes this a step further and celebrates itself, rather than its games, as a brand (Nintendo dominoes, Nintendo UNO, Nintendo Monopoly).
For this reason, the history of board and card games based on video games is not one of great games, with some improvements as of late.
What is the difference between a board or card game based on a video game and a video game based on a board or card game?
Video games based on board or card games, or movies, need inherit only the theme from the game they imitate. For instance, the first Civilization computer game was originally based on a board game of the same name, but aside from the idea of civilization-building, the play and the mechanics of these games had nothing to do with each other. Update: see comments for a correction about this example.
The exception to this is a direct translation of a board or card game into video game format, such as a computer version of Risk or Settlers of Catan on the XBox. These invariably disappoint unless they can be played multi-player, because usually the fun part of older board games was the player interaction, not the game play itself.
On the other hand, a board or card game based on a video game generally tries to mimic not only the theme and story of the video game, but some element of the game play. Therefore, if, in a video game, Mario jumps barrels, moves up levels, and avoids a gorilla, the board or card game is going to try to get all of those elements in the same order. The mechanics may be different: instead of pushing buttons and moving a joystick you'll play cards or roll a die.
As a result, unless the original game was board or card game like to begin with, the resulting game has some heavy constraints to overcome.
The good news is that companies have begun to discard this old notion of how to make licensed board and card game in recent years, instead creating tabletop games that only match in theme, just like the reverse procedure. As a result, the quality of this genre of game has shown some improvement.
The bad news is that many of these games are pretty much now loss leaders to get people to buy into the video game with little originality or creativity. Witness the large number of new and useless CCGs based on recent video games, included in the packaging or given away at conventions.
While video games are challenging to your hand-eye coordination or logic, most board and card game adaptations relied entirely on spinners or dice, making them entirely unchallenging. Some of the designs are cute recreations of their video equivalents, but without the interesting mechanics to back them up.
Another challenge for adaptations is how to take an essentially single-player game and create a game for two to four players. In some cases, the game is something akin to multi-player solitaire, while in others each player takes on the role of adversary for his opponents.
About This List
In the following listings, dates are given as video game/board game. When unknown, I write UNKN; if you can fill these dates in for me, I would be much obliged.
Some video games spawned numerous board or card games, and these are mentioned. A board or card game marked with an asterisk (*) is somewhat more interesting than the usual, either in my opinion or so I have been made to understand.
Early
Whac-a-Mole: 1971/2004
Theme: bop things on the head as fast as they appear.
This card game is a dexterity speed game. It also earns the title of "longest time differential between the original electronic game and the board or card game".
Pong: 1972/1977
Theme: hit the ball back to your opponent.
The game here is actually an electronic game as well, called Blip. It was a rather strange game, but a good game for its time. A mechanically moving LED moved back and forth between the players. You had to push the correct button out of three on your side depending on which one the "ball" was heading towards.
Arcade
Video gaming was outside the home at video arcades. Board games were a natural way to capture the home market. With console gaming just getting off the ground, board games were still comparable in market share. The arcade game vendors sold board games the way they now sell T-shirts, hoping to capitalize on a brand.
Space Invaders: 1978/1982
Theme: shoot slowly descending aliens and avoid getting hit by falling bombs.
This was an unlicensed game named Invaders. If I understand correctly, you roll the dice to determine which column your piece lands in and then collect an invader from that column.
Asteroids: 1979/2003
Theme: shoot the moving asteroids which break into smaller pieces, and avoid getting hit by them.
An unlicensed free print-and-play game which involves moving 3D origami figures around the board and shooting them, using numerous dice.
Berzerk: 1980/1983
Theme: avoid getting touched by rapidly moving robots.
Milton Bradley.
Centipede: 1980/1983
Theme: shoot the centipede which breaks into pieces when hit, and avoid getting hit by the pieces or other critters.
Milton Bradley.
Crazy Climber: 1980/1986
Theme: climb a building using window ledges while weird people throw things onto you.
Appears to have some choices in movement, at least.
Defender: 1980/1983
Theme: seek out and shoot the alien ships as they try to abduct humans. Save the humans from falling after an abduction.
Milton Bradley.
Pac-Man: 1980/1982
Theme: eat all the dots in a maze while avoiding getting eaten by four critters.
Milton Bradley. There was also card game 1982 which played like a fancy version of war.
Bosconian: 1981/UNKN
Theme: shoot things before they shoot you.
An unlicensed free print-and-play game that uses dice, pencil, and paper.
Donkey Kong: 1981/1982
Theme: climb a building and rescue the girl by jumping over or hammering the barrels thrown at you by a big monkey.
Milton Bradley. You are sometimes required to actually roll a barrel across the board. This was also card game 1983, and a board game 1999. The latter involves some sort of card drafting mechanic. There's also a toss and pitch POG game 1995.
Frogger: 1981/1981
Theme: cross a river or road by jumping from one moving object to another without getting eaten, drowned, or squashed.
Milton Bradley. Interesting in that it gives you action points. Not interesting enough to make a good game, however.
Joust: 1982/1983
Theme: fight against realistic gravity effects to stab the things trying to eat you.
Parker Bros.
Ms Pac-Man: 1982/1982
Theme: same as Pac-Man.
Milton Bradley.
Jungle Hunt: 1982/1983
Theme: jump to avoid the dangers.
Milton Bradley.
Pitfall!: 1982/1983
Theme: jump to avoid the dangers.
Milton Bradley.
Pole Position: 1982/1983
Theme: navigate a race course as quickly as possible.
Parker Bros.
Popeye: 1982/1983
Theme: collect items while avoiding the bad guys.
Parker Bros. Also a card game 1983.
Q*Bert: 1982/1983
Theme: jump onto each square while avoiding the bad guys.
Parker Bros. Also a card game 1982.
Turbo: 1982/1983
Theme: navigate a race course quickly.
Milton Bradley.
Zaxxon: 1982/1982
Theme: shoot everything and don't crash.
Milton Bradley
Blue-Max: 1983/1983*
Theme: shoot everything.
The board game is a full-fledged and well-respected GDW war game. I'm not entirely sure how much of the game was based on the video game of the same name.
Dragon's Lair: 1983/1983
Theme: choose the right path through a dragon's lair at every room; hesitation equals death.
Milton Bradley.
Early Console
Game consoles are now eating into Christmas morning presents, but various crashes, missteps, and poor game quality in the early 80s caused some critics to see them as a temporary fad. These board game tie ins are mostly curiosity pieces. The board game market sat on its laurels during this period, producing nothing interesting or new.
Lode Runner: 1983/1986
Theme: climb around picking up the boxes without getting trapped in a pit.
Designed by one of the video game's designers, players try to navigate several mazes while opponents send guards to catch them. I don't know how it plays.
M.U.L.E.: 1983/2004
Theme: an economic game of survival and cooperation to keep your colony alive.
The board game is the free print and play game L.L.A.M.A.; another free print and play game is Q.U.L.E. 2005. These games were only developed recently, so appear to be potentially decent games.
Super Xevious: 1984/1985
Theme: shoot things.
A dice based combat game by the video game publisher (Namco).
Tower of Druaga: 1984/UNKN
Theme: navigate a tower picking up treasures, killing monsters, and rescue the princess.
A dice based dungeon crawl game by the video game publisher (Namco). Probably 1985 or 1986.
Dragon Buster: 1985/1986
Theme: navigate a dungeon picking up treasures, killing monsters, and rescue the princess.
A dice based dungeon crawl game by the video game publisher (Namco).
Commando: 1985/UNKN
Theme: shoot things.
A roll and move game by the video game publisher (Bandai).
Ghosts N' Goblins: 1985/1989
Theme: kill things, pick up treasure, and rescue the princess.
A roll and move game by the video game publisher (Bandai).
Gradius: 1985/UNKN
Theme: shoot things
A roll and move game by the video game publisher (Bandai), but it appears that you may at least have choices over the direction in which you move.
Super Mario Bros.: 1985/1988
Theme: navigate various platforms, avoid getting shot, pick up the treasures, and rescue the girl. This is the best selling video game of all time.
Milton Bradley. Another board game The Great Ladder Race 1989 is a dexterity game where you try to move your Mario or Luigi up a ladder. Another roll and move by Waddingtons 1992, as well as a completely random Waddingtons card game 1992.
There is also a newer dexterity electronic game 2006 and dexterity non-electronic balancing game 2006.
Tetris: 1985/1989
Theme: orient and fit falling blocks to create rows of complete lines.
Build rows with plastic pieces and crowd your opponent to hinder him from doing the same. By Tomy.
Textor 1994 is a print and play two-player game, and Tetris Tower 3D 2004 is a game with a Connect Four like grid and a timer.
The Legend of Zelda: 1986/1988
Theme: explore a world, gain powerups, find secret passages, kill monsters, and rescue the girl.
Milton Bradley. While still a dice rolling random game, the game play involved cooperative movement and multiple winners or losers in each battle, which was somewhat interesting.
Fourth Generation
By now you're probably wondering how I'm dividing my video game ages. Unlike the divisions on Wikipedia which measure the bit capability of the consoles, my divisions are based on theme and game play.
First gen games were simple sports games, second arcade game shooters, and third abstract shooter, maze and adventure games. Fourth generation is when direct hand-to-hand fighting and visceral blood and gore entered the video gaming world, and not coincidentally when I dropped out of playing video games.
Once again, nothing exciting was happening in tabletop gaming at this time. Milton Bradley was having some success with their Gamemaster series, including Axis and Allies and Fortress: America. Chess was growing in popularity, role playing games were pretty much at a standstill, and the last good board games were Boggle and Trivial Pursuit in the 1970s. Despite the success of Super Mario Bros., board games again sat on their laurels and lost the American media spotlight.
This is when the media began referring to board games as last generation's entertainment. (Of course, it's worth remembering that the tabeltop gaming world probably still dominates the video gaming world, even today (in 2008). Most people forget that tabletop gaming includes the billions of people who play Chess, Go, Poker, Xiang-Qi, Bridge, RPGs, CCGs, and so on, i.e. more than just Hasbro and Ravensburger. Then again, is someone who plays Chess online a board gamer or a video gamer?)
Double Dragon: 1987/1989
Theme: punch and kick people, rescue the girl.
By Tiger Electronics.
Final Fantasy: 1987/1999
Theme: an RPG of discovery, spellcasting, combat, resources, and exploration.
FF has gone through a number of versions over the last twenty years. Some of the later versions included card games that a player's character could play within the video game experience. Some of these were turned into actual card games, including Triple Triad and another called Tetra Master 2001.
Mega Man: 1987/2004
Theme: Jump platforms, avoid dangers, stop Dr Wily.
The linked board game is Megaman NT Warrior Battle Net. I'm not sure what the "NT" is for. There's also a CCG 2004, and a licensed Settlers of Catan game 2005 (one of the very few).
Sim City: 1989/1995
Theme: create and sustain a virtual world population
The game is a CCG created by Mayfair games.
Railroad Tycoon: 1990/2005*
Theme: create and sustain a virtual railroad system.
The board game is rather late in coming, but that only means that it was released in a better board game age. The board game is ranked rather highly, although it suffers from a series of distracting physical production problems.
Wing Commander: 1990/1995
Theme: shoot things and rise in the ranks of the Air Force, onwards to victory.
The game is a CCG.
Sid Meier's Civilization: 1991/2002
Theme: build a thriving civilization through several epochs of history using resource management, war, and diplomacy.
The video game is based on the original classic board game Civilization 1981*, one of the few bright spots of the 1980s board game scene. The original board game had an equally lauded sequel, Advanced Civilization 1991*. The new board game, which is based on the video game, is not particularly well regarded, so much so that an open source project was created to replace it.
Sonic the Hedgehog: 1991/1992
Theme: jump platforms, avoid critters, pick up treasures.
Sega's answer to Super Mario Bros. The game is by Milton Bradley. There was also card game 1992. The Sonic franchise includes TV shows and so on, and there is a CCG based on one of the cartoons Sonic X 2005.
Street Fighter II: 1991/1994
Theme: punch and kick people.
The original Street Fighter 1987 didn't spawn any games, as far as I know. The board game is by Milton Bradley. There was also a War-like card game 1994, and an RPG.
Super Ghouls N' Ghosts: 1991/1991
Theme: kill things, pick up treasure, and rescue your fiance.
A dice based move and combat game.
Mortal Kombat: 1992/1995
Theme: punch and kick people.
The game is a CCG called Kard Game.
Fifth Generation
The rise of online gaming and computer-like consoles brought video gaming into movie mode with nice graphics and smooth game play. They also got gorier and more violent.
Board and card games finally began their media comeback. In America, you had Magic: the Gathering, whose effect was felt in the video game world as they began pumping out specialty CCGs to go with their video games. Dungeons and Dragons began working on 3rd edition, Chess matches captivated the world, and Texas hold'em fever began surging.
Nevertheless, with the perception of the decreased value of board game tie ins, many of the games in this period only produced board games a decade or so later.
With American board game manufacturers unable to break out of their strategy of endlessly licensing old games, European board game companies began producing incredible new games with revolutionary game play, such as Settlers of Catan, El Grande, and hundreds of other titles which heralded a new game genre: the Eurogame. These games were partly a reaction to the overly violent video games, which are less popular in European countries such as Germany.
At the end of the century, American manufactures finally brought out Cranium, as well as a number of somewhat languid DVD games.
Doom: 1993/2004*
Theme: shoot the hell out of everything you see, find the keys, and escape
The board game is rather late in coming, but that only means that it was released in a better board game age. The board game is a cooperative game of several players versus one player who controls all the monsters.
Doom is created by Fantasy Flight Games, which is the closest thing to a video game publisher in the board game world; not because it simulates the game play of video games directly, but because it creates highly complex and visually interesting games using themes lifted from video games (other games by them still to come later in this article).
Myst: 1993/2000
Theme: find clues, solve puzzles, and explore many worlds.
The game is a strange competitive game of assembling a puzzle.
Shadowrun: 1993/2003
Theme: make runs in a cyberpunk setting.
There were three earlier video games based on the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun, including the one linked above, another in 1994, and another in 1996. Another came out in 2007.
The game is a Clix mini-game. I don't know which game (if any) would be considered its inspiration.
X-Com Tactical: 1993/2004
Theme: acquire resources and go to war.
A print-and-play game based on the first game in the franchise.
Warcraft: 1994/2003
Theme: harvest resources and wage magical warfare.
The board game is by Fantasy Flight. Following the World of Warcraft MMOG, Fantasy Flight released the highly regarded World of Warcraft 2005*. There is also a well regarded CCG 2006*.
Pokémon: 1996/1999
Theme: an RPG word of trading and battling anime characters
The CCG is one of the most successful of all CCGs published in this era, and was aimed primarily at younger players. Like Nintendo, there are dozens of games based on the franchise itself, including: Monopoly Pokémon 1999, Battle Disk Competition 1998, Battle Dome 2005, Build n' Battle 2005, Battling Coin Game 1998, Champion Island DVD Game 2007, Adventure Game: Pokémon Emergency 2000, Master Trainer 1999, Master Trainer II 2001, Master Trainer III 2005, S.S. Anne Game 2000, Silph Co. 2000, Tower 2000, Trading Figures Game 2006, Pokemon Sorry 2000, and Pokemon Yachtzee Jr UNKN.
SpyCraft: 1996/2004
Theme: make choices and follow intrigue while protecting the U.S. president from assassination.
The game is a CCG.
Tamagotchi: 1996/1997
Theme: keep your virtual pet alive by typing in the correct sequences.
A card-driven board game.
Touhou Project: 1996/2006
Theme: shoot everything, and avoid a massive barrage of shots back at you.
This is a CCG called Rumbling Spell Orchestra.
Atelier of Marie: 1997/2006
Theme: adventure in a Japanese fantasy world.
A self-published card game made by a fan.
Fallout: 1997/2001
Theme: a post-apocalyptic game of karma and combat.
The tabletop game is a small scale war game by Interplay called Fallout: Warfare.
Tom Clancy's Politika: 1997/1997
Theme: conquer the world.
The video and board games both play somewhat like Risk.
Vampire Savior: 1997/UNKN
Theme: punch and kick the monsters.
The game is a CCG.
Starcraft: 1998/2007*
Theme: harvest minerals, build resources, wage interstellar war.
The game is another in the classic line of Fantasy Flight games, which means an excellent (if long) game in its own right.
Age of Empires II: 1999/2000
Theme: collect resources, build your civilization, and wage warfare.
The game is a CCG.
Neopets: 1999/2003
Theme: maintain your pet and live in a simulated world
Milton Bradley. There is also a CCG 2003.
Roller Coaster Tycoon: 1999/2002*
Theme: build an amusement park, manage resources, and attract happy visitors.
A mass market game by Hasbro, it's got a decent reputation for its event driven cards and choices. Recommended as a light gaming experience with non-gamers.
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash: 1999/2000
Theme: an online CCG based on fighting games.
The card game is the paper equivalent of the video game. A similarly themed game is Capcom Crossovers 2004.
Tokimeki Memorial 2: 1999/1998
Theme: develop your physique and personality and get dates.
This is a dull looking dice based game. The interesting thing here is that it seems to have come out before the game on which it is based.
Sixth and Seventh Generation
Game consoles are now as powerful, or more powerful, than computers, and game graphics are DVD quality. Many games are massively complex, yet they have a play life of no more than about a year or so. A notable exception are MMOGs which are adaptable and expandable on the fly.
The most popular video games are new and unique casual games with interesting decisions and choices. The typical online game player is a woman in her thirties, which also influences the types of games that are developed.
New Eurogame mechanics are slowly spreading to both American board games and to the video game world. The commercial board game world is once again growing, but it is also merging with the computer game world. Various companies are testing generic electronic gaming tables, and many board and card gamers now play online.
Fatal Frame: 2001/2005*
Theme: survive in a haunted house by killing the undead and solving the puzzles
An unofficial, unlicensed fan-produced print-and-play game, supposedly quite good.
Crimson Skies: 2000/2003
Theme: aerial combat to save the U.S.
The game is a Clix mini-game. Originally a board game concept, it became a video game, and then a revamped video game. The Clix game is based on the newer video game.
Halo: 2001/2007
Theme: use a lot of different futuristic weapons to killmechs aliens; especially known for online play.
The game is a Clix mini-game.
Age of Mythology: 2002/2003*
Theme: build and manage resources in a mythological world and wage war.
A fairly well regarded expansive game from Eagle games.
Kingdom Hearts: 2002/2006
Theme: a strange RPG combat game with Disney and anime characters.
The game is a CCG.
Anno 1503: 2003/2003*
Theme: build and maintain a medieval city state.
A well regarded board game by Klaus Teuber, the designer of Settlers of Catan.
Eve: 2003/2006
Theme: A MMOG set in a sci-fi universe where training and other real skills matter as much or more than combat.
The game is a CCG.
MapleStory: 2003/2007
Theme: defeat monsters and gain resources in this fantasy MMOG.
The game is a CCG.
Tomb Raider - Angel of Darkness: 2003/2003
Theme: explore a world, collect artifacts, shoot creatures.
The board game is a take-that game of shooting and blocking your opponent.
City of Heroes: 2004/2005
Theme: Be a superhero and beat up villains.
The game is a CCG.
Sid Meier's Pirates!: 2004/2007
Theme: control a ship, collect treasure, and fight.
The video game is a remake of an earlier one from 1987. The board game went through several prototypes but never actually materialized.
Age of Empires III: 2005/2007*
Theme: collect resources, build your civilization, and wage warfare.
Unlike the previous AoE II which was a simple CCG based on the game, this is a full-fledged epic board game which great bits and great game play.
Big Brain Academy: 2005/2007
Theme: solve a whole lot of puzzles of different types.
A light party game.
DragonQuest: 2005/UNKN
Theme: buy things in town to kill random monsters.
The video game series is based on an anime series which dates back to 1989, which explains why there are Dragon Quest board games appearing throughout the 90s, including Dragon Quest Dungeon 1990, which plays something like Battleship.
The above linked board game is a card driven dungeon game of exploration known as Death Palace. Additional games based on the video game series include Dragon Quest 1 and 2 UNKN based on the first two video games, which are card and dice combat games, Dragon Quest: Battle Arena UNKN, which is basically a four way card game of War, and Dragon Quest Dungeon R 2006, which appears to be a reworking of the original 1990 board game with added elements from the video games.
Dynasty Warriors 5: 2005/2005
Theme: slash, kick, and punch people.
The game is a CCG.
Epic Battles: NONE/2005
This game is a collaborative CCG tie in to both Midway's Mortal Kombat and Capcom's Street Fighter III.
Universal Fighting System: NONE/2005
By coincidence, this is another collaborative CCG tie in system of games that references multiple fighting game genres from multiple companies. It also draws on the Penny Arcade comic strip.
Anno 1701: 2006/2007
Theme: build and maintain a Renaissance city state.
A card game by Klaus Teuber, the designer of Settlers of Catan.
Auto Assault: 2006/2006
Theme: kill people with your guns and cars in a post-apocalyptic world.
The game is a CCG.
The Witcher: 2007/2007
Theme: brew potions and explore and fight as a witch.
The game is a CCG.
Can you fill in any missing info or correct my mistakes? Send me an email or post a comment.
Yehuda Berlinger
Updated: additions based on comments: Pokemon, Starcraft, Mega Man, others ...
Update: A number of people mentioned Frag 2001 (plus expansions) from Steve Jackson Games, which is a board game meant to play like a first person shooter video game, although not based on any one specific game.
Brand recognition. Either they hope the board or card game will make a few bucks based on the popularity of the video game series, or they hope that the board or card game will increase sales to the video game through brand recognition.
Nintendo takes this a step further and celebrates itself, rather than its games, as a brand (Nintendo dominoes, Nintendo UNO, Nintendo Monopoly).
For this reason, the history of board and card games based on video games is not one of great games, with some improvements as of late.
What is the difference between a board or card game based on a video game and a video game based on a board or card game?
Video games based on board or card games, or movies, need inherit only the theme from the game they imitate. For instance, the first Civilization computer game was originally based on a board game of the same name, but aside from the idea of civilization-building, the play and the mechanics of these games had nothing to do with each other. Update: see comments for a correction about this example.
The exception to this is a direct translation of a board or card game into video game format, such as a computer version of Risk or Settlers of Catan on the XBox. These invariably disappoint unless they can be played multi-player, because usually the fun part of older board games was the player interaction, not the game play itself.
On the other hand, a board or card game based on a video game generally tries to mimic not only the theme and story of the video game, but some element of the game play. Therefore, if, in a video game, Mario jumps barrels, moves up levels, and avoids a gorilla, the board or card game is going to try to get all of those elements in the same order. The mechanics may be different: instead of pushing buttons and moving a joystick you'll play cards or roll a die.
As a result, unless the original game was board or card game like to begin with, the resulting game has some heavy constraints to overcome.
The good news is that companies have begun to discard this old notion of how to make licensed board and card game in recent years, instead creating tabletop games that only match in theme, just like the reverse procedure. As a result, the quality of this genre of game has shown some improvement.
The bad news is that many of these games are pretty much now loss leaders to get people to buy into the video game with little originality or creativity. Witness the large number of new and useless CCGs based on recent video games, included in the packaging or given away at conventions.
While video games are challenging to your hand-eye coordination or logic, most board and card game adaptations relied entirely on spinners or dice, making them entirely unchallenging. Some of the designs are cute recreations of their video equivalents, but without the interesting mechanics to back them up.
Another challenge for adaptations is how to take an essentially single-player game and create a game for two to four players. In some cases, the game is something akin to multi-player solitaire, while in others each player takes on the role of adversary for his opponents.
About This List
In the following listings, dates are given as video game/board game. When unknown, I write UNKN; if you can fill these dates in for me, I would be much obliged.
Some video games spawned numerous board or card games, and these are mentioned. A board or card game marked with an asterisk (*) is somewhat more interesting than the usual, either in my opinion or so I have been made to understand.
Early
Whac-a-Mole: 1971/2004
Theme: bop things on the head as fast as they appear.
This card game is a dexterity speed game. It also earns the title of "longest time differential between the original electronic game and the board or card game".
Pong: 1972/1977
Theme: hit the ball back to your opponent.
The game here is actually an electronic game as well, called Blip. It was a rather strange game, but a good game for its time. A mechanically moving LED moved back and forth between the players. You had to push the correct button out of three on your side depending on which one the "ball" was heading towards.
Arcade
Video gaming was outside the home at video arcades. Board games were a natural way to capture the home market. With console gaming just getting off the ground, board games were still comparable in market share. The arcade game vendors sold board games the way they now sell T-shirts, hoping to capitalize on a brand.
Space Invaders: 1978/1982
Theme: shoot slowly descending aliens and avoid getting hit by falling bombs.
This was an unlicensed game named Invaders. If I understand correctly, you roll the dice to determine which column your piece lands in and then collect an invader from that column.
Asteroids: 1979/2003
Theme: shoot the moving asteroids which break into smaller pieces, and avoid getting hit by them.
An unlicensed free print-and-play game which involves moving 3D origami figures around the board and shooting them, using numerous dice.
Berzerk: 1980/1983
Theme: avoid getting touched by rapidly moving robots.
Milton Bradley.
Centipede: 1980/1983
Theme: shoot the centipede which breaks into pieces when hit, and avoid getting hit by the pieces or other critters.
Milton Bradley.
Crazy Climber: 1980/1986
Theme: climb a building using window ledges while weird people throw things onto you.
Appears to have some choices in movement, at least.
Defender: 1980/1983
Theme: seek out and shoot the alien ships as they try to abduct humans. Save the humans from falling after an abduction.
Milton Bradley.
Pac-Man: 1980/1982
Theme: eat all the dots in a maze while avoiding getting eaten by four critters.
Milton Bradley. There was also card game 1982 which played like a fancy version of war.
Bosconian: 1981/UNKN
Theme: shoot things before they shoot you.
An unlicensed free print-and-play game that uses dice, pencil, and paper.
Donkey Kong: 1981/1982
Theme: climb a building and rescue the girl by jumping over or hammering the barrels thrown at you by a big monkey.
Milton Bradley. You are sometimes required to actually roll a barrel across the board. This was also card game 1983, and a board game 1999. The latter involves some sort of card drafting mechanic. There's also a toss and pitch POG game 1995.
Frogger: 1981/1981
Theme: cross a river or road by jumping from one moving object to another without getting eaten, drowned, or squashed.
Milton Bradley. Interesting in that it gives you action points. Not interesting enough to make a good game, however.
Joust: 1982/1983
Theme: fight against realistic gravity effects to stab the things trying to eat you.
Parker Bros.
Ms Pac-Man: 1982/1982
Theme: same as Pac-Man.
Milton Bradley.
Jungle Hunt: 1982/1983
Theme: jump to avoid the dangers.
Milton Bradley.
Pitfall!: 1982/1983
Theme: jump to avoid the dangers.
Milton Bradley.
Pole Position: 1982/1983
Theme: navigate a race course as quickly as possible.
Parker Bros.
Popeye: 1982/1983
Theme: collect items while avoiding the bad guys.
Parker Bros. Also a card game 1983.
Q*Bert: 1982/1983
Theme: jump onto each square while avoiding the bad guys.
Parker Bros. Also a card game 1982.
Turbo: 1982/1983
Theme: navigate a race course quickly.
Milton Bradley.
Zaxxon: 1982/1982
Theme: shoot everything and don't crash.
Milton Bradley
Blue-Max: 1983/1983*
Theme: shoot everything.
The board game is a full-fledged and well-respected GDW war game. I'm not entirely sure how much of the game was based on the video game of the same name.
Dragon's Lair: 1983/1983
Theme: choose the right path through a dragon's lair at every room; hesitation equals death.
Milton Bradley.
Early Console
Game consoles are now eating into Christmas morning presents, but various crashes, missteps, and poor game quality in the early 80s caused some critics to see them as a temporary fad. These board game tie ins are mostly curiosity pieces. The board game market sat on its laurels during this period, producing nothing interesting or new.
Lode Runner: 1983/1986
Theme: climb around picking up the boxes without getting trapped in a pit.
Designed by one of the video game's designers, players try to navigate several mazes while opponents send guards to catch them. I don't know how it plays.
M.U.L.E.: 1983/2004
Theme: an economic game of survival and cooperation to keep your colony alive.
The board game is the free print and play game L.L.A.M.A.; another free print and play game is Q.U.L.E. 2005. These games were only developed recently, so appear to be potentially decent games.
Super Xevious: 1984/1985
Theme: shoot things.
A dice based combat game by the video game publisher (Namco).
Tower of Druaga: 1984/UNKN
Theme: navigate a tower picking up treasures, killing monsters, and rescue the princess.
A dice based dungeon crawl game by the video game publisher (Namco). Probably 1985 or 1986.
Dragon Buster: 1985/1986
Theme: navigate a dungeon picking up treasures, killing monsters, and rescue the princess.
A dice based dungeon crawl game by the video game publisher (Namco).
Commando: 1985/UNKN
Theme: shoot things.
A roll and move game by the video game publisher (Bandai).
Ghosts N' Goblins: 1985/1989
Theme: kill things, pick up treasure, and rescue the princess.
A roll and move game by the video game publisher (Bandai).
Gradius: 1985/UNKN
Theme: shoot things
A roll and move game by the video game publisher (Bandai), but it appears that you may at least have choices over the direction in which you move.
Super Mario Bros.: 1985/1988
Theme: navigate various platforms, avoid getting shot, pick up the treasures, and rescue the girl. This is the best selling video game of all time.
Milton Bradley. Another board game The Great Ladder Race 1989 is a dexterity game where you try to move your Mario or Luigi up a ladder. Another roll and move by Waddingtons 1992, as well as a completely random Waddingtons card game 1992.
There is also a newer dexterity electronic game 2006 and dexterity non-electronic balancing game 2006.
Tetris: 1985/1989
Theme: orient and fit falling blocks to create rows of complete lines.
Build rows with plastic pieces and crowd your opponent to hinder him from doing the same. By Tomy.
Textor 1994 is a print and play two-player game, and Tetris Tower 3D 2004 is a game with a Connect Four like grid and a timer.
The Legend of Zelda: 1986/1988
Theme: explore a world, gain powerups, find secret passages, kill monsters, and rescue the girl.
Milton Bradley. While still a dice rolling random game, the game play involved cooperative movement and multiple winners or losers in each battle, which was somewhat interesting.
Fourth Generation
By now you're probably wondering how I'm dividing my video game ages. Unlike the divisions on Wikipedia which measure the bit capability of the consoles, my divisions are based on theme and game play.
First gen games were simple sports games, second arcade game shooters, and third abstract shooter, maze and adventure games. Fourth generation is when direct hand-to-hand fighting and visceral blood and gore entered the video gaming world, and not coincidentally when I dropped out of playing video games.
Once again, nothing exciting was happening in tabletop gaming at this time. Milton Bradley was having some success with their Gamemaster series, including Axis and Allies and Fortress: America. Chess was growing in popularity, role playing games were pretty much at a standstill, and the last good board games were Boggle and Trivial Pursuit in the 1970s. Despite the success of Super Mario Bros., board games again sat on their laurels and lost the American media spotlight.
This is when the media began referring to board games as last generation's entertainment. (Of course, it's worth remembering that the tabeltop gaming world probably still dominates the video gaming world, even today (in 2008). Most people forget that tabletop gaming includes the billions of people who play Chess, Go, Poker, Xiang-Qi, Bridge, RPGs, CCGs, and so on, i.e. more than just Hasbro and Ravensburger. Then again, is someone who plays Chess online a board gamer or a video gamer?)
Double Dragon: 1987/1989
Theme: punch and kick people, rescue the girl.
By Tiger Electronics.
Final Fantasy: 1987/1999
Theme: an RPG of discovery, spellcasting, combat, resources, and exploration.
FF has gone through a number of versions over the last twenty years. Some of the later versions included card games that a player's character could play within the video game experience. Some of these were turned into actual card games, including Triple Triad and another called Tetra Master 2001.
Mega Man: 1987/2004
Theme: Jump platforms, avoid dangers, stop Dr Wily.
The linked board game is Megaman NT Warrior Battle Net. I'm not sure what the "NT" is for. There's also a CCG 2004, and a licensed Settlers of Catan game 2005 (one of the very few).
Sim City: 1989/1995
Theme: create and sustain a virtual world population
The game is a CCG created by Mayfair games.
Railroad Tycoon: 1990/2005*
Theme: create and sustain a virtual railroad system.
The board game is rather late in coming, but that only means that it was released in a better board game age. The board game is ranked rather highly, although it suffers from a series of distracting physical production problems.
Wing Commander: 1990/1995
Theme: shoot things and rise in the ranks of the Air Force, onwards to victory.
The game is a CCG.
Sid Meier's Civilization: 1991/2002
Theme: build a thriving civilization through several epochs of history using resource management, war, and diplomacy.
The video game is based on the original classic board game Civilization 1981*, one of the few bright spots of the 1980s board game scene. The original board game had an equally lauded sequel, Advanced Civilization 1991*. The new board game, which is based on the video game, is not particularly well regarded, so much so that an open source project was created to replace it.
Sonic the Hedgehog: 1991/1992
Theme: jump platforms, avoid critters, pick up treasures.
Sega's answer to Super Mario Bros. The game is by Milton Bradley. There was also card game 1992. The Sonic franchise includes TV shows and so on, and there is a CCG based on one of the cartoons Sonic X 2005.
Street Fighter II: 1991/1994
Theme: punch and kick people.
The original Street Fighter 1987 didn't spawn any games, as far as I know. The board game is by Milton Bradley. There was also a War-like card game 1994, and an RPG.
Super Ghouls N' Ghosts: 1991/1991
Theme: kill things, pick up treasure, and rescue your fiance.
A dice based move and combat game.
Mortal Kombat: 1992/1995
Theme: punch and kick people.
The game is a CCG called Kard Game.
Fifth Generation
The rise of online gaming and computer-like consoles brought video gaming into movie mode with nice graphics and smooth game play. They also got gorier and more violent.
Board and card games finally began their media comeback. In America, you had Magic: the Gathering, whose effect was felt in the video game world as they began pumping out specialty CCGs to go with their video games. Dungeons and Dragons began working on 3rd edition, Chess matches captivated the world, and Texas hold'em fever began surging.
Nevertheless, with the perception of the decreased value of board game tie ins, many of the games in this period only produced board games a decade or so later.
With American board game manufacturers unable to break out of their strategy of endlessly licensing old games, European board game companies began producing incredible new games with revolutionary game play, such as Settlers of Catan, El Grande, and hundreds of other titles which heralded a new game genre: the Eurogame. These games were partly a reaction to the overly violent video games, which are less popular in European countries such as Germany.
At the end of the century, American manufactures finally brought out Cranium, as well as a number of somewhat languid DVD games.
Doom: 1993/2004*
Theme: shoot the hell out of everything you see, find the keys, and escape
The board game is rather late in coming, but that only means that it was released in a better board game age. The board game is a cooperative game of several players versus one player who controls all the monsters.
Doom is created by Fantasy Flight Games, which is the closest thing to a video game publisher in the board game world; not because it simulates the game play of video games directly, but because it creates highly complex and visually interesting games using themes lifted from video games (other games by them still to come later in this article).
Myst: 1993/2000
Theme: find clues, solve puzzles, and explore many worlds.
The game is a strange competitive game of assembling a puzzle.
Shadowrun: 1993/2003
Theme: make runs in a cyberpunk setting.
There were three earlier video games based on the pen and paper RPG Shadowrun, including the one linked above, another in 1994, and another in 1996. Another came out in 2007.
The game is a Clix mini-game. I don't know which game (if any) would be considered its inspiration.
X-Com Tactical: 1993/2004
Theme: acquire resources and go to war.
A print-and-play game based on the first game in the franchise.
Warcraft: 1994/2003
Theme: harvest resources and wage magical warfare.
The board game is by Fantasy Flight. Following the World of Warcraft MMOG, Fantasy Flight released the highly regarded World of Warcraft 2005*. There is also a well regarded CCG 2006*.
Pokémon: 1996/1999
Theme: an RPG word of trading and battling anime characters
The CCG is one of the most successful of all CCGs published in this era, and was aimed primarily at younger players. Like Nintendo, there are dozens of games based on the franchise itself, including: Monopoly Pokémon 1999, Battle Disk Competition 1998, Battle Dome 2005, Build n' Battle 2005, Battling Coin Game 1998, Champion Island DVD Game 2007, Adventure Game: Pokémon Emergency 2000, Master Trainer 1999, Master Trainer II 2001, Master Trainer III 2005, S.S. Anne Game 2000, Silph Co. 2000, Tower 2000, Trading Figures Game 2006, Pokemon Sorry 2000, and Pokemon Yachtzee Jr UNKN.
SpyCraft: 1996/2004
Theme: make choices and follow intrigue while protecting the U.S. president from assassination.
The game is a CCG.
Tamagotchi: 1996/1997
Theme: keep your virtual pet alive by typing in the correct sequences.
A card-driven board game.
Touhou Project: 1996/2006
Theme: shoot everything, and avoid a massive barrage of shots back at you.
This is a CCG called Rumbling Spell Orchestra.
Atelier of Marie: 1997/2006
Theme: adventure in a Japanese fantasy world.
A self-published card game made by a fan.
Fallout: 1997/2001
Theme: a post-apocalyptic game of karma and combat.
The tabletop game is a small scale war game by Interplay called Fallout: Warfare.
Tom Clancy's Politika: 1997/1997
Theme: conquer the world.
The video and board games both play somewhat like Risk.
Vampire Savior: 1997/UNKN
Theme: punch and kick the monsters.
The game is a CCG.
Starcraft: 1998/2007*
Theme: harvest minerals, build resources, wage interstellar war.
The game is another in the classic line of Fantasy Flight games, which means an excellent (if long) game in its own right.
Age of Empires II: 1999/2000
Theme: collect resources, build your civilization, and wage warfare.
The game is a CCG.
Neopets: 1999/2003
Theme: maintain your pet and live in a simulated world
Milton Bradley. There is also a CCG 2003.
Roller Coaster Tycoon: 1999/2002*
Theme: build an amusement park, manage resources, and attract happy visitors.
A mass market game by Hasbro, it's got a decent reputation for its event driven cards and choices. Recommended as a light gaming experience with non-gamers.
SNK vs. Capcom: Card Fighters Clash: 1999/2000
Theme: an online CCG based on fighting games.
The card game is the paper equivalent of the video game. A similarly themed game is Capcom Crossovers 2004.
Tokimeki Memorial 2: 1999/1998
Theme: develop your physique and personality and get dates.
This is a dull looking dice based game. The interesting thing here is that it seems to have come out before the game on which it is based.
Sixth and Seventh Generation
Game consoles are now as powerful, or more powerful, than computers, and game graphics are DVD quality. Many games are massively complex, yet they have a play life of no more than about a year or so. A notable exception are MMOGs which are adaptable and expandable on the fly.
The most popular video games are new and unique casual games with interesting decisions and choices. The typical online game player is a woman in her thirties, which also influences the types of games that are developed.
New Eurogame mechanics are slowly spreading to both American board games and to the video game world. The commercial board game world is once again growing, but it is also merging with the computer game world. Various companies are testing generic electronic gaming tables, and many board and card gamers now play online.
Fatal Frame: 2001/2005*
Theme: survive in a haunted house by killing the undead and solving the puzzles
An unofficial, unlicensed fan-produced print-and-play game, supposedly quite good.
Crimson Skies: 2000/2003
Theme: aerial combat to save the U.S.
The game is a Clix mini-game. Originally a board game concept, it became a video game, and then a revamped video game. The Clix game is based on the newer video game.
Halo: 2001/2007
Theme: use a lot of different futuristic weapons to kill
The game is a Clix mini-game.
Age of Mythology: 2002/2003*
Theme: build and manage resources in a mythological world and wage war.
A fairly well regarded expansive game from Eagle games.
Kingdom Hearts: 2002/2006
Theme: a strange RPG combat game with Disney and anime characters.
The game is a CCG.
Anno 1503: 2003/2003*
Theme: build and maintain a medieval city state.
A well regarded board game by Klaus Teuber, the designer of Settlers of Catan.
Eve: 2003/2006
Theme: A MMOG set in a sci-fi universe where training and other real skills matter as much or more than combat.
The game is a CCG.
MapleStory: 2003/2007
Theme: defeat monsters and gain resources in this fantasy MMOG.
The game is a CCG.
Tomb Raider - Angel of Darkness: 2003/2003
Theme: explore a world, collect artifacts, shoot creatures.
The board game is a take-that game of shooting and blocking your opponent.
City of Heroes: 2004/2005
Theme: Be a superhero and beat up villains.
The game is a CCG.
Sid Meier's Pirates!: 2004/2007
Theme: control a ship, collect treasure, and fight.
The video game is a remake of an earlier one from 1987. The board game went through several prototypes but never actually materialized.
Age of Empires III: 2005/2007*
Theme: collect resources, build your civilization, and wage warfare.
Unlike the previous AoE II which was a simple CCG based on the game, this is a full-fledged epic board game which great bits and great game play.
Big Brain Academy: 2005/2007
Theme: solve a whole lot of puzzles of different types.
A light party game.
DragonQuest: 2005/UNKN
Theme: buy things in town to kill random monsters.
The video game series is based on an anime series which dates back to 1989, which explains why there are Dragon Quest board games appearing throughout the 90s, including Dragon Quest Dungeon 1990, which plays something like Battleship.
The above linked board game is a card driven dungeon game of exploration known as Death Palace. Additional games based on the video game series include Dragon Quest 1 and 2 UNKN based on the first two video games, which are card and dice combat games, Dragon Quest: Battle Arena UNKN, which is basically a four way card game of War, and Dragon Quest Dungeon R 2006, which appears to be a reworking of the original 1990 board game with added elements from the video games.
Dynasty Warriors 5: 2005/2005
Theme: slash, kick, and punch people.
The game is a CCG.
Epic Battles: NONE/2005
This game is a collaborative CCG tie in to both Midway's Mortal Kombat and Capcom's Street Fighter III.
Universal Fighting System: NONE/2005
By coincidence, this is another collaborative CCG tie in system of games that references multiple fighting game genres from multiple companies. It also draws on the Penny Arcade comic strip.
Anno 1701: 2006/2007
Theme: build and maintain a Renaissance city state.
A card game by Klaus Teuber, the designer of Settlers of Catan.
Auto Assault: 2006/2006
Theme: kill people with your guns and cars in a post-apocalyptic world.
The game is a CCG.
The Witcher: 2007/2007
Theme: brew potions and explore and fight as a witch.
The game is a CCG.
Can you fill in any missing info or correct my mistakes? Send me an email or post a comment.
Yehuda Berlinger
Updated: additions based on comments: Pokemon, Starcraft, Mega Man, others ...
Update: A number of people mentioned Frag 2001 (plus expansions) from Steve Jackson Games, which is a board game meant to play like a first person shooter video game, although not based on any one specific game.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Session Report Up, in which wild things happen, as usual, in Cosmic Encounter
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up here. Games played: San Juan, Cosmic Encounter, Power Grid, Tichu, Bridge, Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation.
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Culdcept is a rather strange mixture of video gaming, board gaming, and collectible card gaming. Looks intriguing. Coming to XBox this summer. Maybe I'll have to get an XBox, after all.
Yehuda
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Culdcept is a rather strange mixture of video gaming, board gaming, and collectible card gaming. Looks intriguing. Coming to XBox this summer. Maybe I'll have to get an XBox, after all.
Yehuda
Friday, January 19, 2007
Secret Santa Gift Arrived, and I got ...
Yay! It was sent surface, which explains it's delay, and in fact it arrived within a month and a half, which is impressive. Even surface shipping, the shipping price was high.
The games are Mykerinos and Zertz. Here's hoping they live up to their reputation. Thank you for the gift, my mysterious benefactor (and I'll pretend to ignore the name of the sender that was slipped in the box ;-) ).
We have a lot of kids this week, and guests for Friday night including an entire family and Nadine and son. Might get to a game after dinner, we'll see. In any case, I'll be reading the rules for the new games.
Speaking of reading rules for unplayed games, I have one other unplayed game, Middle Earth CCG. I bought the ten box ofstarter packs challenge decks. The small rulebooks included are fairly inscrutable, so I need to find a better explanation somewhere. Ah well, I'm still going to be working on Netrunner for a while, so it can wait.
And last, Rachel shows signs of weakening regarding playing Go with me, so she may yet give in. I expect that if she does, she will surpass me in very little time.
Shabbat Shalom,
Yehuda
The games are Mykerinos and Zertz. Here's hoping they live up to their reputation. Thank you for the gift, my mysterious benefactor (and I'll pretend to ignore the name of the sender that was slipped in the box ;-) ).
We have a lot of kids this week, and guests for Friday night including an entire family and Nadine and son. Might get to a game after dinner, we'll see. In any case, I'll be reading the rules for the new games.
Speaking of reading rules for unplayed games, I have one other unplayed game, Middle Earth CCG. I bought the ten box of
And last, Rachel shows signs of weakening regarding playing Go with me, so she may yet give in. I expect that if she does, she will surpass me in very little time.
Shabbat Shalom,
Yehuda
Sunday, January 14, 2007
First Mentions on Usenet, 1993 - 2002
First review of Magic: the Gathering
Shawn D. Marier
Mon, Jul 26 1993
First there were card games, then there were collectable trading cards, now we have a collectable trading card game. When I first heard about this game a few months ago I was a bit concerned. I personally do not like trading cards and feel that for the most part they are a waste of money. So my feelings from the start toward this game were a bit negative ...
The game is quick to learn, and the starter deck comes with a small 36 page rule book. I learned the basic rules in about 2 minutes, and only needed to pick up the rule book for a few strange situations ...
The real nice thing about the trading card aspect of the game is that every time you play a new opponent you should get to see cards that you have never seen before. This will keep the game fresh and exciting, if not expensive as you try and find the perfect cards to defeat your opponents.
Over all I give this game a very high rating, the art is wonderful, the game is very enjoyable. Hopefully 'Wizards of the Coast' will come out with a collectors set in the near future so that us collectors of SF/Fantasy art will be able to see all 300 pieces of art.
First review of Settlers of Catan
Dirk Bock
Fri, May 26 1995
... The flaw in its design is, IMHO, that you do not have any control which tiles produce what, when, and for which player(s). This doesn't seem too bad at a glance, but due to the fact, that you may be excluded from the "valuable" parts of the board by not being able to build roads in the beginning, a player may become cut off from the race for victory quite early ... In our games such a situation, a single player losing after about half an hour and just waiting for the rest of the game (up to two hours), occurs in about half of the games.
I would describe the situation something like: you need skill to win "die Siedler", but you've got to have luck in the first stages not to lose it.
But apart from that flaw, which could, again IMHO, tolerated in a game lasting less than one one hour, Die Siedler von Catan *is* fun and satisfying to play.
First Review of El Grande
Jonathan Degann
Fri, Apr 12 1996
... There is considerable fun as you kick your opponents out of regions,
or launch a surprise attack from the "tower" (the 10th region) into
a region of your choice.
I enjoy it every time I play it.
First Mention of Gipf
Daniel Blum
Mon, Aug 18 1997
Mayfair had their usual range, including LOTS of Siedler items - Seafarer,
the card game, everything but the Seafarer 5/6 player expansion (and no,
I don't have any more of those, sorry). They had pretty good prices on
the Siedler stuff, too. They had two new abstract strategy games -
Balanx and Gipf. Balanx had a cute tilting board but struck me as a
gimmicky Chinese checkers variant. Gipf's box had mostly overblown piffle,
so I passed on it as well. Unfortunately there was no way to play either
of these unless one found a partner and rented a copy in the open gaming
area (Mayfair had a table in their booth, but it was occupied all weekend
by a huge 3D Siedler board).
First Comment on Princes of Florence
Greg J. Schloesser
Tues, Apr 25 2000
DIE FURSTEN VON FLORENZ: Without a doubt, the hit of the show.
Fabulous. Played twice and taught a half dozen other groups how to
play. Buy it!
Jay ... are you listening? Is it to late to release this one in
English?
Initial rating: 9
First Comment on Carcassonne
Carl-Gustaf Samuelsson
Fri, Nov 3 2000
We found a table and a German girl joined us for a test of "Carcassonne". An easy, but quite clever tile laying game. You build up a map with the tiles with roads, towns, meadows and monasteries. You try to control them by playing one of your 7 followers on them and when an entity is completed, you score it and take back it (if it hasn't become a farmer, which is scored at the end). We were sure it would be a great filler for the late game evening, so I found a copy for 23 DM.
First Play of Puerto Rico
Stan Hilinski
Tues, Jan 29 2002
I mentioned this on Spielfrieks, but a guy in a group was sick for about a
week, and since he had nothing better to do, he constructed a homemade
prototype of Puerto Rico based entirely on photographs and Mik's
description ...
Normally I'd say nothing here about the experiment. except for
one thing. Our lame wannabe copy of Puerto Rico was received with complete,
total enthusiasm. At our next Friday gathering, the original five showed up
just to do it again. I have not seen anything close to this since Princes
of Florence hit our table last year. It is all they want to play ...
Yehuda
Shawn D. Marier
Mon, Jul 26 1993
First there were card games, then there were collectable trading cards, now we have a collectable trading card game. When I first heard about this game a few months ago I was a bit concerned. I personally do not like trading cards and feel that for the most part they are a waste of money. So my feelings from the start toward this game were a bit negative ...
The game is quick to learn, and the starter deck comes with a small 36 page rule book. I learned the basic rules in about 2 minutes, and only needed to pick up the rule book for a few strange situations ...
The real nice thing about the trading card aspect of the game is that every time you play a new opponent you should get to see cards that you have never seen before. This will keep the game fresh and exciting, if not expensive as you try and find the perfect cards to defeat your opponents.
Over all I give this game a very high rating, the art is wonderful, the game is very enjoyable. Hopefully 'Wizards of the Coast' will come out with a collectors set in the near future so that us collectors of SF/Fantasy art will be able to see all 300 pieces of art.
First review of Settlers of Catan
Dirk Bock
Fri, May 26 1995
... The flaw in its design is, IMHO, that you do not have any control which tiles produce what, when, and for which player(s). This doesn't seem too bad at a glance, but due to the fact, that you may be excluded from the "valuable" parts of the board by not being able to build roads in the beginning, a player may become cut off from the race for victory quite early ... In our games such a situation, a single player losing after about half an hour and just waiting for the rest of the game (up to two hours), occurs in about half of the games.
I would describe the situation something like: you need skill to win "die Siedler", but you've got to have luck in the first stages not to lose it.
But apart from that flaw, which could, again IMHO, tolerated in a game lasting less than one one hour, Die Siedler von Catan *is* fun and satisfying to play.
First Review of El Grande
Jonathan Degann
Fri, Apr 12 1996
... There is considerable fun as you kick your opponents out of regions,
or launch a surprise attack from the "tower" (the 10th region) into
a region of your choice.
I enjoy it every time I play it.
First Mention of Gipf
Daniel Blum
Mon, Aug 18 1997
Mayfair had their usual range, including LOTS of Siedler items - Seafarer,
the card game, everything but the Seafarer 5/6 player expansion (and no,
I don't have any more of those, sorry). They had pretty good prices on
the Siedler stuff, too. They had two new abstract strategy games -
Balanx and Gipf. Balanx had a cute tilting board but struck me as a
gimmicky Chinese checkers variant. Gipf's box had mostly overblown piffle,
so I passed on it as well. Unfortunately there was no way to play either
of these unless one found a partner and rented a copy in the open gaming
area (Mayfair had a table in their booth, but it was occupied all weekend
by a huge 3D Siedler board).
First Comment on Princes of Florence
Greg J. Schloesser
Tues, Apr 25 2000
DIE FURSTEN VON FLORENZ: Without a doubt, the hit of the show.
Fabulous. Played twice and taught a half dozen other groups how to
play. Buy it!
Jay ... are you listening? Is it to late to release this one in
English?
Initial rating: 9
First Comment on Carcassonne
Carl-Gustaf Samuelsson
Fri, Nov 3 2000
We found a table and a German girl joined us for a test of "Carcassonne". An easy, but quite clever tile laying game. You build up a map with the tiles with roads, towns, meadows and monasteries. You try to control them by playing one of your 7 followers on them and when an entity is completed, you score it and take back it (if it hasn't become a farmer, which is scored at the end). We were sure it would be a great filler for the late game evening, so I found a copy for 23 DM.
First Play of Puerto Rico
Stan Hilinski
Tues, Jan 29 2002
I mentioned this on Spielfrieks, but a guy in a group was sick for about a
week, and since he had nothing better to do, he constructed a homemade
prototype of Puerto Rico based entirely on photographs and Mik's
description ...
Normally I'd say nothing here about the experiment. except for
one thing. Our lame wannabe copy of Puerto Rico was received with complete,
total enthusiasm. At our next Friday gathering, the original five showed up
just to do it again. I have not seen anything close to this since Princes
of Florence hit our table last year. It is all they want to play ...
Yehuda
Monday, November 13, 2006
The Mystery of the Magic Cards
Our synagogue held a clothing swap: bring lots of clothes and 20 NIS, take what you want and whatever is left gets donated. The money goes to the synagogue.
We came late. Apparently word hadn't gotten out, and there hadn't been much attendance. People had brought lots of clothes, but very few actually took any. Everyone had enough clothes. Everyone had too many clothes. They just wanted to donate.
We brought a basket full, and we left with most of a basket full (different than what we had brought). My theory is: I don't care what I wear on my T-shirts, but I like some variety. So I brought lots of them and picked up some others. Most of our outgrown clothes had already been given away.
After we were done, it was time to help bag and box the remaining clothes. We also helped return a few folding tables to the basement of one of the members who lived near the synagogue.
So away we went, into the dark recesses of the neighbor's downstairs storage room. We opened the door and turned on the lights. Rachel and Sarah (the organizer) didn't seem to notice anything unusual about the room. There were some shelves, a pool table, a Ping Pong table, a bicycle and some boxes. The usual.
There were also several posters about Magic pre-release tournaments neatly hung on the wall. Several. There were Magic cards on the pool table. There were thousands more on the shelves. There were boxes of card protectors.
I have played Magic for several years, and I have never been to a tournament. The tournaments in Israel, so far as I knew, occurred infrequently and were held at the local mall; or so I had thought. I have never seen a card protector. I had never seen most of these cards.
Gah.
This guy ... or this guy's son, undoubtedly ... lives a block from my house.
Yehuda
We came late. Apparently word hadn't gotten out, and there hadn't been much attendance. People had brought lots of clothes, but very few actually took any. Everyone had enough clothes. Everyone had too many clothes. They just wanted to donate.
We brought a basket full, and we left with most of a basket full (different than what we had brought). My theory is: I don't care what I wear on my T-shirts, but I like some variety. So I brought lots of them and picked up some others. Most of our outgrown clothes had already been given away.
After we were done, it was time to help bag and box the remaining clothes. We also helped return a few folding tables to the basement of one of the members who lived near the synagogue.
So away we went, into the dark recesses of the neighbor's downstairs storage room. We opened the door and turned on the lights. Rachel and Sarah (the organizer) didn't seem to notice anything unusual about the room. There were some shelves, a pool table, a Ping Pong table, a bicycle and some boxes. The usual.
There were also several posters about Magic pre-release tournaments neatly hung on the wall. Several. There were Magic cards on the pool table. There were thousands more on the shelves. There were boxes of card protectors.
I have played Magic for several years, and I have never been to a tournament. The tournaments in Israel, so far as I knew, occurred infrequently and were held at the local mall; or so I had thought. I have never seen a card protector. I had never seen most of these cards.
Gah.
This guy ... or this guy's son, undoubtedly ... lives a block from my house.
Yehuda
Friday, October 13, 2006
Shemini Atzeret, Simchat Torah, Oh My
The last holiday of the season is coming, and I'm glad I got this post out before it came. I hope it inspires meetings between the Eurogamer and non-gamer world. The next time someone asks you to play Sorry! with them because they "heard you were the game-playing guy/gal", just say, "OK, but let me make a few rule changes."
Meanwhile, the mainstream press covers Tom Powers of Boards & Bits.
Meanwhile, Malaysia cracks down on Yu-Gi-Oh and Ottawa cracks down on Poker.
And meanwhile, I broke 10,000 in Technorati, at least briefly. Yay.
Happy holidays. My next step is to figure out what to order for Hanukkah.
Yehuda
Meanwhile, the mainstream press covers Tom Powers of Boards & Bits.
Meanwhile, Malaysia cracks down on Yu-Gi-Oh and Ottawa cracks down on Poker.
And meanwhile, I broke 10,000 in Technorati, at least briefly. Yay.
Happy holidays. My next step is to figure out what to order for Hanukkah.
Yehuda
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Linkety Link
I love you all so much, here's a bunch of links to help you through the week:
The Escapist tackles Games and Mythmaking. One article I particularly like is about a Hindu non-violent shooter game, if that makes any sense to you.
Next Generation has a list of fifty game related books, helpful for students of game design and game theory.
The Looking Glass has a nice article on the benefits of playing games. The article is by Dr Toy, and I found it via Bernie DeKoven. The article has a lot of interesting and useful links to follow.
Apparently there is a new hyped CCG on the scene called "The Spoils". It's not yet released, but you can download the rules and sample cards on their site.
More board games I never knew about:
Yet another sex ed game, this one called Contraception.
And a game called "Go Away, Monster!", which teaches children not to fear the monster under the bed.
Mainstream Press:
Covers OshCon.
The huge Alliance Game Distributors center in Fort Wayne, TX, holding 16,000 games and products, and host to a Retailer Summit next week.
Bridge in Baltimore, and how it used to be as popular as Poker is today.
The Escapist tackles Games and Mythmaking. One article I particularly like is about a Hindu non-violent shooter game, if that makes any sense to you.
Next Generation has a list of fifty game related books, helpful for students of game design and game theory.
The Looking Glass has a nice article on the benefits of playing games. The article is by Dr Toy, and I found it via Bernie DeKoven. The article has a lot of interesting and useful links to follow.
Apparently there is a new hyped CCG on the scene called "The Spoils". It's not yet released, but you can download the rules and sample cards on their site.
More board games I never knew about:
Yet another sex ed game, this one called Contraception.
And a game called "Go Away, Monster!", which teaches children not to fear the monster under the bed.
Mainstream Press:
Covers OshCon.
The huge Alliance Game Distributors center in Fort Wayne, TX, holding 16,000 games and products, and host to a Retailer Summit next week.
Bridge in Baltimore, and how it used to be as popular as Poker is today.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Escapist Magazine does CCGs and Warhammer
The latest Escapist Magazine (65) is devoted to many things tabletop, including CCGs, an interview with Steve Jackson, the elusive concept of fun in games (once again, a review of "Theory of Fun" is coming), Warhammer, and World of Warcraft CCG.
In other news:
An Iranian video game trains you to blow up U.S. ships in the Gulf.
Last week was "Worldwide Day of Play", not to be confused with National Games Week, which is still coming up (November 19-25).
Yehuda
In other news:
An Iranian video game trains you to blow up U.S. ships in the Gulf.
Last week was "Worldwide Day of Play", not to be confused with National Games Week, which is still coming up (November 19-25).
Yehuda
Thursday, August 03, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Beatles Trading Cards, etc.
Tonight is Lag BaOmer, a strange holiday where you take all the wood that isn't tied down or attached to a house, as well as some that is, and you pile it dangerously high and too close to someone's apartment building or something flammable like a forest, and then you burn it up. At least, if you are a kid.
Update: Firefighters had to put out 600 fires this year. One firefighter was attacked trying to put out a fire. 123 people treated for smoke inhalation on Mt Meron. And an 8 year old boy and a 20 year old man were both burned. Has this custom gotten out of hand, yet?
Needless to say, there is a lot of smoke writhing through the air this evening. We went for a small visit to share a teensy little bonfire with neighbors.
I mentioned my Big Monopoly Post News to them, and she brought out an old copy of the Maple Leaf edition (here, in the middle of the page). It comes with a moose token. I think I want to take it and use it in my next game of ASL. "Oh yeah? Well, my moose goes and rams the hell out of your Sherman, and then he craps on your infantry for good measure."
We also listened to some Buddy Holly and Sam Cooke tapes, and she showed us her Beatles collectible card collection. I never knew such a thing existed. There were numerous sets which you could get just like sports cards when you bought chewing gum. Here's a picture of one of them.
The front of each card has a cool picture, and the back has a news interview question and one of their trademark quirky answers.
Colin Crowley points out a sculpture of a nude woman made entirely of Scrabble pieces. I'm trying to 'get' the grand meaning from it, but I haven't gotten it, yet. Ah, yes. The article says something about it being on sale for £50,000.
Yehuda
P.S. I track blogs and sites that talk about board games, and this spam site popped up (don't worry, I put a 'rel="nofollow"' in the link). It looks innocent enough, but look closely and then check out some of the links. It is a cleverly disguised Spam blog, almost indistinguishable from a normal blog (which says a lot about normal blogs).
The fancy things here is that the site itself has no ads, only the multiple sites it links to. This looks like the next generation of spam trying to get around Google's filtering mechanisms.
P.P.S. I'm anticipating another spike in traffic since I used the word "nude" in this post. Oh! I did it again!
Technorati tags: board games, board game, Beatles, Lag BaOmer
Update: Firefighters had to put out 600 fires this year. One firefighter was attacked trying to put out a fire. 123 people treated for smoke inhalation on Mt Meron. And an 8 year old boy and a 20 year old man were both burned. Has this custom gotten out of hand, yet?
Needless to say, there is a lot of smoke writhing through the air this evening. We went for a small visit to share a teensy little bonfire with neighbors.
I mentioned my Big Monopoly Post News to them, and she brought out an old copy of the Maple Leaf edition (here, in the middle of the page). It comes with a moose token. I think I want to take it and use it in my next game of ASL. "Oh yeah? Well, my moose goes and rams the hell out of your Sherman, and then he craps on your infantry for good measure."
We also listened to some Buddy Holly and Sam Cooke tapes, and she showed us her Beatles collectible card collection. I never knew such a thing existed. There were numerous sets which you could get just like sports cards when you bought chewing gum. Here's a picture of one of them.
The front of each card has a cool picture, and the back has a news interview question and one of their trademark quirky answers.
Colin Crowley points out a sculpture of a nude woman made entirely of Scrabble pieces. I'm trying to 'get' the grand meaning from it, but I haven't gotten it, yet. Ah, yes. The article says something about it being on sale for £50,000.
Yehuda
P.S. I track blogs and sites that talk about board games, and this spam site popped up (don't worry, I put a 'rel="nofollow"' in the link). It looks innocent enough, but look closely and then check out some of the links. It is a cleverly disguised Spam blog, almost indistinguishable from a normal blog (which says a lot about normal blogs).
The fancy things here is that the site itself has no ads, only the multiple sites it links to. This looks like the next generation of spam trying to get around Google's filtering mechanisms.
P.P.S. I'm anticipating another spike in traffic since I used the word "nude" in this post. Oh! I did it again!
Technorati tags: board games, board game, Beatles, Lag BaOmer
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Online World of Games
Having started a new RPG session, I found my way back into the online world of discussions about roleplaying. RPGs and CCGs are mainstream at this point. If you want to know what the board game world is going to look like when it becomes mainstream, take a look at what the RPG and CCG worlds are like right now.
The incredible amount of information and sites, as well as the massively low signal to noise ratio, doesn't bother me, but that is because I am an expert information searcher - I consider it one of my professional skills, after all. But I can see how it would bother other people.
On the topic of low SNR, after putting a link on the Monopoly post telling people to go to BGG to learn about other games, I decided to take a look at the new home page of BGG as if I was a new user. Not logged in, of course. I leave it to my esteemed readers to tell me whether they think the new home page to the site is of any value to potential new players.
Anyhoo.
I know that a lot of board gamers have difficulty separating the "environment" of RPGs from the games themselves, the same way that they can't separate the environment of CCGs from the CCG itself. Still, I can't help but feel that my esteemed readers are better than that, and won't mind if I occasionally link to some RPG or CCG material without thinking that I am "luring them into the dark side".
There was a great amount of wonderful stuff that I used to look at back in the nineties. For CCG's, who can forget the information from thedojo.com, mtgnews, the deck vortex, the card lists at Wizards of the Coast, and so on? For RPGs, there was the entire d20 system online (I was excited about that until I actually played it), ENWorld.org, and all those great Netbooks. And the RPG equivalent to the Misadventures in Gaming series: the woeful tales of a sick game group by Ab3 on the RPG.net forums (try "Rants and Reviews" on this site).
Today I found this funny post about violent girl gamers. Very amusing.
It reminds me of the night before my high school graduation. I still have no idea how I managed to accomplish this, but I rounded up four cute girls from my high school, as well as my two older brothers, and we all went for an all-night game of D&D out in SUNY Stony Brook.
I still don't know how I convinced them to come. They were friends, but they had never played D&D and we had graduation the next day. But they had a great time. They also gravitated towards playing the heavily weaponed fighting PCs. As the night became later and later, towards 2 or 3 am, they began to get sillier and sillier, acting drunk, hanging upside down off the couches, laughing at everything, and generally going wild. I wish I remembered more about exactly what happened, but I do remember that it was a great night, and very funny.
There is a wealth of great reading in the world of online games outside of the board game world. In fact, and this is a secret, there's a wealth of great reading material outside the game world altogether. And not just fantasy, sci-fi, and military!
Yehuda
The incredible amount of information and sites, as well as the massively low signal to noise ratio, doesn't bother me, but that is because I am an expert information searcher - I consider it one of my professional skills, after all. But I can see how it would bother other people.
On the topic of low SNR, after putting a link on the Monopoly post telling people to go to BGG to learn about other games, I decided to take a look at the new home page of BGG as if I was a new user. Not logged in, of course. I leave it to my esteemed readers to tell me whether they think the new home page to the site is of any value to potential new players.
Anyhoo.
I know that a lot of board gamers have difficulty separating the "environment" of RPGs from the games themselves, the same way that they can't separate the environment of CCGs from the CCG itself. Still, I can't help but feel that my esteemed readers are better than that, and won't mind if I occasionally link to some RPG or CCG material without thinking that I am "luring them into the dark side".
There was a great amount of wonderful stuff that I used to look at back in the nineties. For CCG's, who can forget the information from thedojo.com, mtgnews, the deck vortex, the card lists at Wizards of the Coast, and so on? For RPGs, there was the entire d20 system online (I was excited about that until I actually played it), ENWorld.org, and all those great Netbooks. And the RPG equivalent to the Misadventures in Gaming series: the woeful tales of a sick game group by Ab3 on the RPG.net forums (try "Rants and Reviews" on this site).
Today I found this funny post about violent girl gamers. Very amusing.
It reminds me of the night before my high school graduation. I still have no idea how I managed to accomplish this, but I rounded up four cute girls from my high school, as well as my two older brothers, and we all went for an all-night game of D&D out in SUNY Stony Brook.
I still don't know how I convinced them to come. They were friends, but they had never played D&D and we had graduation the next day. But they had a great time. They also gravitated towards playing the heavily weaponed fighting PCs. As the night became later and later, towards 2 or 3 am, they began to get sillier and sillier, acting drunk, hanging upside down off the couches, laughing at everything, and generally going wild. I wish I remembered more about exactly what happened, but I do remember that it was a great night, and very funny.
There is a wealth of great reading in the world of online games outside of the board game world. In fact, and this is a secret, there's a wealth of great reading material outside the game world altogether. And not just fantasy, sci-fi, and military!
Yehuda
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Some old postings of mine from Usenet
Computers
An acronym dictionary
Quick code to add callbacks into Net::FTP in perl.
A post of mine in 1994 questioning the sanity of propagating virus alerts via Internet. I was one of the first to catch this problem. It was related to the very first virus alert hoax, Good times.
Games
CE Superpowers
My early attempt at fun Magic comboes: Stormbind/Whiteout
I actually commented on the entire Stronghold expansion
I get persnickety after Hasbro announces it is taking over Wizards of the Coast.
My first attempt at a completely new game posted. Not a good game, since there is a forced stalemate.
3e D&D Elementalists and here. And additional elements, too.
How to succeed using cursed items
Other
RAP UP 1: where I attempt to provide a weekly wrap up on poems I found interesting on rec.arts.poetry. I stopped after four postings due to complaints about copyrights.
My Microwave poem
An acronym dictionary
Quick code to add callbacks into Net::FTP in perl.
A post of mine in 1994 questioning the sanity of propagating virus alerts via Internet. I was one of the first to catch this problem. It was related to the very first virus alert hoax, Good times.
Games
CE Superpowers
My early attempt at fun Magic comboes: Stormbind/Whiteout
I actually commented on the entire Stronghold expansion
I get persnickety after Hasbro announces it is taking over Wizards of the Coast.
My first attempt at a completely new game posted. Not a good game, since there is a forced stalemate.
3e D&D Elementalists and here. And additional elements, too.
How to succeed using cursed items
Other
RAP UP 1: where I attempt to provide a weekly wrap up on poems I found interesting on rec.arts.poetry. I stopped after four postings due to complaints about copyrights.
My Microwave poem
Friday, November 11, 2005
BGG.con: Thursday, Nov 10
Warning: Actual game content today. Woo hoo!
I started off not knowing exactly what I would be doing: hang out with my friend in NYC or try to get to the park again. The weather was better than yesterday, but still pretty cold. And I was feeling the beginnings of a cold. Or something.
Turned out that my friend wasn't really available, so I decided to head for Flat Rock Brooks. It's a beautiful place, although small. Unfortunately, it really was pretty cold. By the time I had walked around for twenty minutes I was starting to feel like I had picked the wrong day. I decided to head back to the info station/greenhouse when I ran into a ranger. He was carrying a vorpal sword of tree felling and lion roaring as well as a handaxe and warhammer. I rushed back to the station - if a ranger needs to be that heavily armed in an area, that's an area I don't want to be in. He seemed pretty calm, however.
At the station I read and slept before making it off to NYC for dinner and then to Neutral Ground for games. Steef, who organizes the board game meetups on meetup.com sent out a call, although, since another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) evening, he wasn't sure how many would come. Steef told me he was also a religious Jew, so I figured I could just look for the kippah.
When I arrived at Neutral Ground, it was packed with CCGers, including some Magic players. These guys were interested in trading, not buying, although CCGers only want current stuff, mostly. I found one who was willing to buy, named Dan. I gave him an Armageddon, two Swords to Plowshares, and a Merchant Scroll in exchange for two booster packs (about $8 with tax). Since I know nothing about nothing when it comes to trading, I can only hope I didn't screw up too badly. Other people around the table seemed to think this was ok.
Since I was waiting for Steef to show up, Dan and I played my game, twice. He enjoyed it, although he listed a few problems, all of which had to do with the substance of the prototype rather than the game itself.
After playing with Dan, I looked around for a kippah and saw one, but it turned out to be someone else involved in a Shadowfist game. Then I spotted Steef. Since I had gone out for a hike, I didn't have any games on me other than my game prototype. Steef had brought only Citadels, which is not my favorite game, but I was willing to play.
Of course, I started him off with my game, which he liked. It works very well two players, but even I can see that it plays even better with three or four. Steef actually won, which is pretty good for a first timer.
We set up to play Citadels when Jan (a guy) showed up. So we played three players. Steef had the expansion set which apparently adds almost nothing to the game except some new purple buildings. As usual, I felt like I had become a magnet for the assassin. I tried picking my roles at random, but that didn't seem to help. To sum up, Jan won with 35 to my 27, and I was happy to know that I needn't regret having traded the game.
Jan had brought Shadows Over Camelot, but we deferred so that I could teach my game with three players. Man, was that a good idea. Jan loved it, and said that the mechanisms were great. His enthusiasm, or the fact of playing three players, also affected Steef. I won this one. When I offered to leave them a copy, Steef gave me $10 to offset the cost. They promised to play the game and send me more comments, and I hope that they do.
Another sale. Yay!
Last up was Shadows Over Camelot, my first play. As usual, I won't describe the mechanics (you can always find game descriptions on Board Game Geek). I played Galahad, Steef played Kay, and Jan played Percival. I insisted that we play with no more than 5 Loyals so that we would have at least a 50% chance of a traitor. This worked out well, as I ended up as the traitor. I played almost entirely straight, since the catapults filled up so quickly that there was little chance that we could survive, anyway.
I took Excaliber quickly, while Steef started on the grail, and then switched over and took the armor. All of us spent time going to and from the grail, but we could never quite make it all the way before despair knocked out half of our grail cards. Since I was new, I missed my first opportunity to simply fill in the last catapult on one of my turns, and by the time it came around to me again they had knocked one out. Still, there were so many quests that weren't being covered that I had little worry of the company succeeding. Eventually the Dragon swept through unopposed and that was the end of them.
A very pretty game, with lovely pieces. Some people like that, but I would be just as happy with simple cardboard pieces and a more affordable game. The cooperative concept is not really my sort of thing, but some enforced rules about what you may not communicate and the fact or possibility of a traitor makes the game interesting enough. Pretty cute. I would pick up a copy someday if I could acquire it at a reasonable cost.
It was still early, but I had to return to New Jersey and we had run out of games (short of buying them retail at the store) so we called it a night. It was a pleasure to meet Steef and Jan, and I wish them much success and happiness with their game group.
Yehuda
I started off not knowing exactly what I would be doing: hang out with my friend in NYC or try to get to the park again. The weather was better than yesterday, but still pretty cold. And I was feeling the beginnings of a cold. Or something.
Turned out that my friend wasn't really available, so I decided to head for Flat Rock Brooks. It's a beautiful place, although small. Unfortunately, it really was pretty cold. By the time I had walked around for twenty minutes I was starting to feel like I had picked the wrong day. I decided to head back to the info station/greenhouse when I ran into a ranger. He was carrying a vorpal sword of tree felling and lion roaring as well as a handaxe and warhammer. I rushed back to the station - if a ranger needs to be that heavily armed in an area, that's an area I don't want to be in. He seemed pretty calm, however.
At the station I read and slept before making it off to NYC for dinner and then to Neutral Ground for games. Steef, who organizes the board game meetups on meetup.com sent out a call, although, since another meeting is scheduled for tomorrow (Friday) evening, he wasn't sure how many would come. Steef told me he was also a religious Jew, so I figured I could just look for the kippah.
When I arrived at Neutral Ground, it was packed with CCGers, including some Magic players. These guys were interested in trading, not buying, although CCGers only want current stuff, mostly. I found one who was willing to buy, named Dan. I gave him an Armageddon, two Swords to Plowshares, and a Merchant Scroll in exchange for two booster packs (about $8 with tax). Since I know nothing about nothing when it comes to trading, I can only hope I didn't screw up too badly. Other people around the table seemed to think this was ok.
Since I was waiting for Steef to show up, Dan and I played my game, twice. He enjoyed it, although he listed a few problems, all of which had to do with the substance of the prototype rather than the game itself.
After playing with Dan, I looked around for a kippah and saw one, but it turned out to be someone else involved in a Shadowfist game. Then I spotted Steef. Since I had gone out for a hike, I didn't have any games on me other than my game prototype. Steef had brought only Citadels, which is not my favorite game, but I was willing to play.
Of course, I started him off with my game, which he liked. It works very well two players, but even I can see that it plays even better with three or four. Steef actually won, which is pretty good for a first timer.
We set up to play Citadels when Jan (a guy) showed up. So we played three players. Steef had the expansion set which apparently adds almost nothing to the game except some new purple buildings. As usual, I felt like I had become a magnet for the assassin. I tried picking my roles at random, but that didn't seem to help. To sum up, Jan won with 35 to my 27, and I was happy to know that I needn't regret having traded the game.
Jan had brought Shadows Over Camelot, but we deferred so that I could teach my game with three players. Man, was that a good idea. Jan loved it, and said that the mechanisms were great. His enthusiasm, or the fact of playing three players, also affected Steef. I won this one. When I offered to leave them a copy, Steef gave me $10 to offset the cost. They promised to play the game and send me more comments, and I hope that they do.
Another sale. Yay!
Last up was Shadows Over Camelot, my first play. As usual, I won't describe the mechanics (you can always find game descriptions on Board Game Geek). I played Galahad, Steef played Kay, and Jan played Percival. I insisted that we play with no more than 5 Loyals so that we would have at least a 50% chance of a traitor. This worked out well, as I ended up as the traitor. I played almost entirely straight, since the catapults filled up so quickly that there was little chance that we could survive, anyway.
I took Excaliber quickly, while Steef started on the grail, and then switched over and took the armor. All of us spent time going to and from the grail, but we could never quite make it all the way before despair knocked out half of our grail cards. Since I was new, I missed my first opportunity to simply fill in the last catapult on one of my turns, and by the time it came around to me again they had knocked one out. Still, there were so many quests that weren't being covered that I had little worry of the company succeeding. Eventually the Dragon swept through unopposed and that was the end of them.
A very pretty game, with lovely pieces. Some people like that, but I would be just as happy with simple cardboard pieces and a more affordable game. The cooperative concept is not really my sort of thing, but some enforced rules about what you may not communicate and the fact or possibility of a traitor makes the game interesting enough. Pretty cute. I would pick up a copy someday if I could acquire it at a reasonable cost.
It was still early, but I had to return to New Jersey and we had run out of games (short of buying them retail at the store) so we called it a night. It was a pleasure to meet Steef and Jan, and I wish them much success and happiness with their game group.
Yehuda
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
BGG.con: Tuesday, Nov 08
Again, another holiday that I barely noticed: Election Day. I made for NYC again. More casual wandering around. Having done that two days in a row, I am happy to say that I am sick of it.
This time I went though the Village and Soho. On my way, I stopped at Neutral Ground on 26th St, toting my Magic rares and hoping to sell some. It seems that I was about two years too late. Everyone is playing YuGiOh or Vs (A Marvel superhero CCG). One person still played Magic occasionally, but he could only say a) "Wow, these are old!" (they are from Revised until about 7th edition), and b) you could get $3 for this, $2 for this, $5 for this, ... (which is nice to say, but I can't get anything for "this" until I find someone who actually wants to buy "this").
Downtown was pretty. I stopped in a few used CD stores, Tibetan crafts, etc... Took me most of the day. I headed back uptown for dinner at Mr Broadway, across the street from Kosher Delight, and a more upscale version, but still not exactly fine dining.
There I met up with the friends I'm staying with and another friend who took off some precious time from her GRE studies. This time, unlike last time, she didn't spill ketchup all over herself (only gravy). I would tell you all about how I sent back an order I received simply because the portion was so small, but I don't want to bore you (any more than I already do).
Once again, I was put into the position of finding something to do, something which the natives can't seem to manage. This time I chose Mirrormask, a movie playing at one location down on E12th (Cinema Village). We had a phone number, but no one answered, so we had no idea if it would actually be playing and if so, when. We found it without much difficulty, and the movie was set to start in about 1.5 hours, so we found a bookstore - turned out to be Strand, the big used bookstore. I didn't buy anything, but my friends did.
The movie theater seemed to be experiencing scheduling difficulties. Eventually we got to see Mirrormask. MM is a movie from Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman series, Neverwhere, and other such lovely urban fantasy material. I had high expectations, but some reservations that it would turn out to be a noisy overproduced movie like "Big Fish" or like a Terry Giliam movie. It turned out to be beautiful, a visually rich and stunning dream world, with little in the way of the random noisy overproduction that I feared. The plot was pretty straightforward and allegorical in the way the Wizard of Oz was. In fact, WoOz is its direct ancestor and it plays pretty much the same, if you drop the music and update it to the graphic novel world. Enjoyed.
Home again, and too tired to write my blog. I haven't been able to find any gaming contacts in New York/New Jersey, except one contact that I lost a month ago. Am I to go a week without playing???
Yehuda
This time I went though the Village and Soho. On my way, I stopped at Neutral Ground on 26th St, toting my Magic rares and hoping to sell some. It seems that I was about two years too late. Everyone is playing YuGiOh or Vs (A Marvel superhero CCG). One person still played Magic occasionally, but he could only say a) "Wow, these are old!" (they are from Revised until about 7th edition), and b) you could get $3 for this, $2 for this, $5 for this, ... (which is nice to say, but I can't get anything for "this" until I find someone who actually wants to buy "this").
Downtown was pretty. I stopped in a few used CD stores, Tibetan crafts, etc... Took me most of the day. I headed back uptown for dinner at Mr Broadway, across the street from Kosher Delight, and a more upscale version, but still not exactly fine dining.
There I met up with the friends I'm staying with and another friend who took off some precious time from her GRE studies. This time, unlike last time, she didn't spill ketchup all over herself (only gravy). I would tell you all about how I sent back an order I received simply because the portion was so small, but I don't want to bore you (any more than I already do).
Once again, I was put into the position of finding something to do, something which the natives can't seem to manage. This time I chose Mirrormask, a movie playing at one location down on E12th (Cinema Village). We had a phone number, but no one answered, so we had no idea if it would actually be playing and if so, when. We found it without much difficulty, and the movie was set to start in about 1.5 hours, so we found a bookstore - turned out to be Strand, the big used bookstore. I didn't buy anything, but my friends did.
The movie theater seemed to be experiencing scheduling difficulties. Eventually we got to see Mirrormask. MM is a movie from Neil Gaiman, author of the Sandman series, Neverwhere, and other such lovely urban fantasy material. I had high expectations, but some reservations that it would turn out to be a noisy overproduced movie like "Big Fish" or like a Terry Giliam movie. It turned out to be beautiful, a visually rich and stunning dream world, with little in the way of the random noisy overproduction that I feared. The plot was pretty straightforward and allegorical in the way the Wizard of Oz was. In fact, WoOz is its direct ancestor and it plays pretty much the same, if you drop the music and update it to the graphic novel world. Enjoyed.
Home again, and too tired to write my blog. I haven't been able to find any gaming contacts in New York/New Jersey, except one contact that I lost a month ago. Am I to go a week without playing???
Yehuda
Friday, March 18, 2005
Magic disappointment
A friend of a father of a friend of my son heard that I was selling my Magic collection and came over to view it.
We spent an hour looking for the rares, then the ones he really wanted. About 5 cards were worth anything special in his opinion - Armageddon, Necropotence, and 3 Scragnoths - which he valued, total, at about $8. Then another 75 "good" rares he values, total, at about $12, total. The rest, about 3500 - 4000 cards, including uncommons, less good rares, and commons, about, total, $60.
I had to tell him that I will think about it, which left him a little disgruntled - he spent time helping me look through the collection, and he came with cash in his pocket. I just don't know if I'm ready to part with my ten year collection for $80. Argh.
I have to finish cataloging them and see if anyone else offers more. Or just keep it.
Yehuda
We spent an hour looking for the rares, then the ones he really wanted. About 5 cards were worth anything special in his opinion - Armageddon, Necropotence, and 3 Scragnoths - which he valued, total, at about $8. Then another 75 "good" rares he values, total, at about $12, total. The rest, about 3500 - 4000 cards, including uncommons, less good rares, and commons, about, total, $60.
I had to tell him that I will think about it, which left him a little disgruntled - he spent time helping me look through the collection, and he came with cash in his pocket. I just don't know if I'm ready to part with my ten year collection for $80. Argh.
I have to finish cataloging them and see if anyone else offers more. Or just keep it.
Yehuda
Monday, March 14, 2005
Magic collection
I have decided to upload my magic card collection, in preparation of trading/selling anything valuable in it.
First step was ordering all the cards by name. Then I downloaded a full list of cards from the internet - I found full lists for each individual set, but no full list of all cards. The closest I found were the complete price lists, which contain most cards, but not all.
So I downloaded that to disk, opened in Excel, and began adding all cards by count. When known, I also added information about the card set, and the condition if not good.
So why not use pre-packaged software for this? All of the ones I tried were either: non-existent, cost money, required Microsoft Access, or simply killed my computer when I tried to run it. Which is a shame, because my list doesn't include standard information next to each card (like rarity and color), just the name, count, and any notes.
I am looking to trade for Netrunner, Middle Earth CCG, or board games. Always willing to take cash or coupons, of course.
I began collecting in 4th edition - I think that was when the big upsurge happened. My first cards were 4th, Homelands, Chronicles, Ice Age, etc... plus lots of Revised given to me my already established players. I never really spent much money on the game, even though I spent a heck of a lot of time on it.
People complain that Magic is an "expensive" game. I think that is just not true. When people talk about Magic being expensive, they seem to think that playing Magic REQUIRES you to compete in Pro tournaments. Does playing football require you to compete in pro tournaments?
Constructing decks is fun, yes. Buying a few cards to make a deck nicer is fun, yes. But that is only one very small way to play the game. For the last nine years, I have played the game, with my friends and brothers, by drafting from the thousands and thousands of commons and uncommons we have collected for almost nothing. The cards are interesting and often powerful. We have so many different cards that we still surprise each other with cards we haven't seen. When I want something new, I spend $5 and get another 100 cards on eBay; or, I just trade a rare card and get a few hundred commons in its place. Then we draft, construct, rinse, repeat.
Most of my collection is probably not of tremendous interest to the great Magic hoarders. My Ancestral Recall, dual lands, Mana Drain, etc... are all gone. Many of my cards were lost or destroyed. Still, between my brothers and me, we still have lots of good rares, both new and old: Necropotence, Nevineral's Disk, Armageddon, etc...
I will add a link once I get it online.
Yehuda
First step was ordering all the cards by name. Then I downloaded a full list of cards from the internet - I found full lists for each individual set, but no full list of all cards. The closest I found were the complete price lists, which contain most cards, but not all.
So I downloaded that to disk, opened in Excel, and began adding all cards by count. When known, I also added information about the card set, and the condition if not good.
So why not use pre-packaged software for this? All of the ones I tried were either: non-existent, cost money, required Microsoft Access, or simply killed my computer when I tried to run it. Which is a shame, because my list doesn't include standard information next to each card (like rarity and color), just the name, count, and any notes.
I am looking to trade for Netrunner, Middle Earth CCG, or board games. Always willing to take cash or coupons, of course.
I began collecting in 4th edition - I think that was when the big upsurge happened. My first cards were 4th, Homelands, Chronicles, Ice Age, etc... plus lots of Revised given to me my already established players. I never really spent much money on the game, even though I spent a heck of a lot of time on it.
People complain that Magic is an "expensive" game. I think that is just not true. When people talk about Magic being expensive, they seem to think that playing Magic REQUIRES you to compete in Pro tournaments. Does playing football require you to compete in pro tournaments?
Constructing decks is fun, yes. Buying a few cards to make a deck nicer is fun, yes. But that is only one very small way to play the game. For the last nine years, I have played the game, with my friends and brothers, by drafting from the thousands and thousands of commons and uncommons we have collected for almost nothing. The cards are interesting and often powerful. We have so many different cards that we still surprise each other with cards we haven't seen. When I want something new, I spend $5 and get another 100 cards on eBay; or, I just trade a rare card and get a few hundred commons in its place. Then we draft, construct, rinse, repeat.
Most of my collection is probably not of tremendous interest to the great Magic hoarders. My Ancestral Recall, dual lands, Mana Drain, etc... are all gone. Many of my cards were lost or destroyed. Still, between my brothers and me, we still have lots of good rares, both new and old: Necropotence, Nevineral's Disk, Armageddon, etc...
I will add a link once I get it online.
Yehuda
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