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Showing posts with label chess. Show all posts
Showing posts with label chess. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
To the Best of Our Knowledge on Board Games
Podcast To the Best of Our Knowledge reposts last year's episode about board games, propaganda (Juden Raus, The Grizzled), crushing competition (Chess), and fake history (Mahjong).
Listen here:
Listen here:
Saturday, May 27, 2017
Made in Ferenze would like you to look at their chess sets again (with 10% off)
I listed one of Italfama's chess sets sold by Made in Firenze among my top ten most expensive board games post, which is now ten years old (and woefully out of date).
Good lord, have I been blogging for that long?
Anyway, you can get 10% off from Made in Firenze until the end of 2017 by entering the code JERGAMES2017. The discount is for anything on the site, not just the chess sets. Some of their sets cost less than 42,540.98€, which is what you would pay for the below one (less 10%).
Good lord, have I been blogging for that long?
Anyway, you can get 10% off from Made in Firenze until the end of 2017 by entering the code JERGAMES2017. The discount is for anything on the site, not just the chess sets. Some of their sets cost less than 42,540.98€, which is what you would pay for the below one (less 10%).
Tuesday, November 02, 2010
Guest post: 7 Tips For Improving Your Chess Game
The following is a guest post:
Chess is not your typical board game, as not much is left to chance except maybe when your opponent "chances" to do something stupid. Becoming a skilled player involves an ability to devise a strategy (with adequate back-up plans) and some capacity for anticipating your opponent's next moves. The more you play and study the tactics of skilled players, the better you will become at developing your own unique strategies. A few best practices, however, are well-known and can be applied by any amateur player who wishes to take steps to improve their game.
1.) Don't underestimate the power of your pawns. These little guys are a great protective measure for your king, and work great in chains for organizing an attack. However, they're close to worthless when they're isolated from each other on the board or if a chain of them is blocking powerful players, like your bishops and rooks. It's usually a good practice to build inverted V chains of pawns rather than going for V-shaped chains, which are weaker. Try to maintain the pawns in the middle of the board, while remembering to open up chains for your power players.
2.) Get your knights in the middle when the board is still crowded so they can wreak more havoc against your opponent. Too many novice players leave their knights close to the sidelines where they have a more limited range of motion from which to make their L-shaped attack.
3.) Remember that bishops and rooks are much more useful in an endgame scenario than a knight or a pawn because they can cross vast distances if need be on the open board. If you're forced to sacrifice a knight or a bishop early into a game, sacrifice a knight.
4.) Don't take the queen too far out too soon. She may pack a punch, but she's also your most valuable asset.
5.) Castle your king early. This will help protect you from an early checkmate.
6.) Attack invisibly. In other words, your opponent is more likely to anticipate an attack from the piece you move. Attacking invisibly often means you move a piece merely to free up another of your pieces to attack on the next move. Your opponent is less likely to organize a defense for the invisible attack and you are more likely to capture the piece you're after.
7.) Sometimes offense is the best defense. When you're cornered and a piece of yours is about to be taken, see if you can position yourself to capture a more valuable piece from your opponent. Your opponent will then face the decision of whether to rescue his or her own piece or proceed to take your piece as originally planned.
This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of college courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.
Chess is not your typical board game, as not much is left to chance except maybe when your opponent "chances" to do something stupid. Becoming a skilled player involves an ability to devise a strategy (with adequate back-up plans) and some capacity for anticipating your opponent's next moves. The more you play and study the tactics of skilled players, the better you will become at developing your own unique strategies. A few best practices, however, are well-known and can be applied by any amateur player who wishes to take steps to improve their game.
1.) Don't underestimate the power of your pawns. These little guys are a great protective measure for your king, and work great in chains for organizing an attack. However, they're close to worthless when they're isolated from each other on the board or if a chain of them is blocking powerful players, like your bishops and rooks. It's usually a good practice to build inverted V chains of pawns rather than going for V-shaped chains, which are weaker. Try to maintain the pawns in the middle of the board, while remembering to open up chains for your power players.
2.) Get your knights in the middle when the board is still crowded so they can wreak more havoc against your opponent. Too many novice players leave their knights close to the sidelines where they have a more limited range of motion from which to make their L-shaped attack.
3.) Remember that bishops and rooks are much more useful in an endgame scenario than a knight or a pawn because they can cross vast distances if need be on the open board. If you're forced to sacrifice a knight or a bishop early into a game, sacrifice a knight.
4.) Don't take the queen too far out too soon. She may pack a punch, but she's also your most valuable asset.
5.) Castle your king early. This will help protect you from an early checkmate.
6.) Attack invisibly. In other words, your opponent is more likely to anticipate an attack from the piece you move. Attacking invisibly often means you move a piece merely to free up another of your pieces to attack on the next move. Your opponent is less likely to organize a defense for the invisible attack and you are more likely to capture the piece you're after.
7.) Sometimes offense is the best defense. When you're cornered and a piece of yours is about to be taken, see if you can position yourself to capture a more valuable piece from your opponent. Your opponent will then face the decision of whether to rescue his or her own piece or proceed to take your piece as originally planned.
This guest post is contributed by Angelita Williams, who writes on the topics of college courses. She welcomes your comments at her email Id: angelita.williams7 @gmail.com.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Meeting the Jerusalem Chess Club
I met with Alon, the founder of the Jerusalem Chess Club on Thursday night.
The club is only a few years old, and they're already doing quite well, with some 60 club members. Last summer they held a tournament in Jerusalem and got 300 players, the mayor of Jerusalem, and a lot of nice local press. (more information)
Alon is on the left.
As a multi-game gamer, I am not an expert in chess. I've gotten a little better from playing all of my other strategy games, but I still have a tendency to lose my queen within around 20 moves or so. I played two games Thursday evening, and that's what happened in both games. Which is a shame, because, aside from losing my queen, I was actually doing fairly well (I sneakily grabbed a pawn in one of them).
Alon is naturally doing another convention this summer, but was in talks with the municipality about possibly expanding the convention to other games. Plans are very preliminary, purely in the idea stage. That's where I came in.
I was able to work through with him the types of activities and games that could work and what types of organization we would need. I have information about other games in Israel, as well as several contacts.
I have nothing more to say about it, for now. I'll let you know if anything concrete starts to happen. But it may turn out to be something very exciting, and very big.
The club is only a few years old, and they're already doing quite well, with some 60 club members. Last summer they held a tournament in Jerusalem and got 300 players, the mayor of Jerusalem, and a lot of nice local press. (more information)
Alon is on the left.
As a multi-game gamer, I am not an expert in chess. I've gotten a little better from playing all of my other strategy games, but I still have a tendency to lose my queen within around 20 moves or so. I played two games Thursday evening, and that's what happened in both games. Which is a shame, because, aside from losing my queen, I was actually doing fairly well (I sneakily grabbed a pawn in one of them).
Alon is naturally doing another convention this summer, but was in talks with the municipality about possibly expanding the convention to other games. Plans are very preliminary, purely in the idea stage. That's where I came in.
I was able to work through with him the types of activities and games that could work and what types of organization we would need. I have information about other games in Israel, as well as several contacts.
I have nothing more to say about it, for now. I'll let you know if anything concrete starts to happen. But it may turn out to be something very exciting, and very big.
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Last Game Session of the Year, in which we play Down Under
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: Down Under, Power Grid - Benelux, Taj Mahal, Cosmic Encounter, Bridge, Magic.
We play Down Under and the Power Grid Benelux board for the first time.
Chess News
Art Info has an article about the most expensive chess pieces. A set was sold last May at Christies for $300k, and the article has a lot more info on antique and expensive sets.
Of course, "most expensive" and "art" are not necessarily connected, but the ones they show are kind of pretty. Of course, "pretty" and "art" and not necessarily connected.
Chris Reuber on BGG links to a few articles: Chess played by soldiers in Iraq. Afghan chess boards are a popular item for shipping home by soldiers in Afghanistan.
And Gaping Void links back to one of his earlier articles on the origin of the movement of today's traditional chess pieces.
Other Game News
A slew of people in Beaverton played Warmachine for a good cause, paying their entrance fee in cans of food and the like.
Boston is doing a similarly worthy event for under 5's playing Candyland.
We play Down Under and the Power Grid Benelux board for the first time.
Chess News
Art Info has an article about the most expensive chess pieces. A set was sold last May at Christies for $300k, and the article has a lot more info on antique and expensive sets.
Of course, "most expensive" and "art" are not necessarily connected, but the ones they show are kind of pretty. Of course, "pretty" and "art" and not necessarily connected.
Chris Reuber on BGG links to a few articles: Chess played by soldiers in Iraq. Afghan chess boards are a popular item for shipping home by soldiers in Afghanistan.
And Gaping Void links back to one of his earlier articles on the origin of the movement of today's traditional chess pieces.
Other Game News
A slew of people in Beaverton played Warmachine for a good cause, paying their entrance fee in cans of food and the like.
Boston is doing a similarly worthy event for under 5's playing Candyland.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
I'm published, again
Timothy Wherry, a law professor in IP at Penn State Altoona, just published the book Intellectual Property: Everything the Digital Age Librarian Needs to Know. You can pick up a copy from the ALA here, but it should be on Amazon eventually.
It's basically a summary of IP and how to search for them using online resources. The fun part is that Tim found my three poems summarizing the IP codes (copyright, trademark, and patent) helpful for his IP studies. He wrote that they helped as a reference to the relevant sections in the legal code.
With my permission, the entirety of all three poems were included as Appendix A in his book.
Game News
I understand church groups using board games in their functions, but using Halo 3 during church meetings sounds a little odd. It's basically a first person shoot 'em up gorefest.
Mental Floss has a quiz up on whether you can identify the real board games from the ones they made up.
Chess professionals are up to their misbehaving antics again. Read about the latest series of lawsuits, alleged smear campaigns, and other shenanigans on Boylston's linkpost.
Hasbro's continuing campaign to allow people to vote for which towns end up on their new Here and Now Monopoly board has resulted in the highest place spot on the new French board going to the town of Montcuq, whose unfortunate spoken resemblance to the French "mon cul" means "my bum".
Finally but OT, my dear friend Treppenwitz sticks it to one of those people we've all wanted to stick it to.
Yehuda
It's basically a summary of IP and how to search for them using online resources. The fun part is that Tim found my three poems summarizing the IP codes (copyright, trademark, and patent) helpful for his IP studies. He wrote that they helped as a reference to the relevant sections in the legal code.
With my permission, the entirety of all three poems were included as Appendix A in his book.
Game News
I understand church groups using board games in their functions, but using Halo 3 during church meetings sounds a little odd. It's basically a first person shoot 'em up gorefest.
Mental Floss has a quiz up on whether you can identify the real board games from the ones they made up.
Chess professionals are up to their misbehaving antics again. Read about the latest series of lawsuits, alleged smear campaigns, and other shenanigans on Boylston's linkpost.
Hasbro's continuing campaign to allow people to vote for which towns end up on their new Here and Now Monopoly board has resulted in the highest place spot on the new French board going to the town of Montcuq, whose unfortunate spoken resemblance to the French "mon cul" means "my bum".
Finally but OT, my dear friend Treppenwitz sticks it to one of those people we've all wanted to stick it to.
Yehuda
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The Real Cave of Zork (Colossal Cave Adventure)
Raph and BoingBoing both point us to the real caves that were the map for the original Adventure aka Colossal Cave Adventure aka Zork. They look scarier in real-life than they do in plain text.
In my continuing coverage of chess maniacs, the Russian serial killer was apparently trying to fill in all the spaces of his chess board with his victims.
Here's Games Day at the Salvation Army.
North Star Games' Wits and Wagers seems to be soaking up the spotlight, getting featured in Time Magazine and now carried at Target stores nationwide.
Jurors waiting for selection at the Northampton County Courthouse in New Jersey will now be offered card and board games while they wait.
You can also get board games on the deck of a Greenland coastal cruise, as well as a Sony Playstation with a widescreen monitor. Which may defeat the point, somewhat.
The Post Standard lists the Go books available at the Syracuse public library, as donated by the local Go club.
Technology Review has a long article marking the tenth anniversary of computers beating Kasparov in Chess, and what it really means for a computer to play Chess.
I've also lots more to say about Web 2.0, but further coverage about this topic will be on my new blog.
Yehuda
In my continuing coverage of chess maniacs, the Russian serial killer was apparently trying to fill in all the spaces of his chess board with his victims.
Here's Games Day at the Salvation Army.
North Star Games' Wits and Wagers seems to be soaking up the spotlight, getting featured in Time Magazine and now carried at Target stores nationwide.
Jurors waiting for selection at the Northampton County Courthouse in New Jersey will now be offered card and board games while they wait.
You can also get board games on the deck of a Greenland coastal cruise, as well as a Sony Playstation with a widescreen monitor. Which may defeat the point, somewhat.
The Post Standard lists the Go books available at the Syracuse public library, as donated by the local Go club.
Technology Review has a long article marking the tenth anniversary of computers beating Kasparov in Chess, and what it really means for a computer to play Chess.
I've also lots more to say about Web 2.0, but further coverage about this topic will be on my new blog.
Yehuda
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Linkety Link
First of all, I feel I owe it to you to tell you my favorite feed right now: Flickr Interesting. Just wow, every day.
Legal Dept: I noted this patent as it went by, and now here comes Wizkids trying to get the recent patent about collectible figurine parts by Wizards of the Coast overturned, or to at least establish that they are not violating it. Click here for details.
Free Games Dept: Gnome points us to a number of free downloadable board and dice games from Cheapass games.
Also free are thousands of Flash games around the web, which you don't need me to tell you about. Nevertheless, people ask me to link to them. FreeGeekery posts a list of his favorites.
Hot Women Who Play Chess Dept: Here. Don't ask me why.
Sweaty Board Games Dept: Go will be a new competition in the 2010 Asian Games. Chess already is.
Points on the Compass Dept: The Northern Echo talks up Beyond Monopoly. The Southern talks up HeroClix.
Pay a Fortune to Play Sorry Dept: Omni Hotels is another chain carrying board games (for kids, they say). I've emailed them for the list of games.
Hippy Dippy Dept: "The Abounding River Board Game is an explorational board game that introduces people to an unfamiliar view of BEING ABUNDANCE. It encompasses both training people in a day to day practice as well as discovering a Spiritual foundation that opens up to a whole new way of looking at money and resources.
People experience themselves being at the source of unlimited supply."
Yehuda
Legal Dept: I noted this patent as it went by, and now here comes Wizkids trying to get the recent patent about collectible figurine parts by Wizards of the Coast overturned, or to at least establish that they are not violating it. Click here for details.
Free Games Dept: Gnome points us to a number of free downloadable board and dice games from Cheapass games.
Also free are thousands of Flash games around the web, which you don't need me to tell you about. Nevertheless, people ask me to link to them. FreeGeekery posts a list of his favorites.
Hot Women Who Play Chess Dept: Here. Don't ask me why.
Sweaty Board Games Dept: Go will be a new competition in the 2010 Asian Games. Chess already is.
Points on the Compass Dept: The Northern Echo talks up Beyond Monopoly. The Southern talks up HeroClix.
Pay a Fortune to Play Sorry Dept: Omni Hotels is another chain carrying board games (for kids, they say). I've emailed them for the list of games.
Hippy Dippy Dept: "The Abounding River Board Game is an explorational board game that introduces people to an unfamiliar view of BEING ABUNDANCE. It encompasses both training people in a day to day practice as well as discovering a Spiritual foundation that opens up to a whole new way of looking at money and resources.
People experience themselves being at the source of unlimited supply."
Yehuda
Thursday, May 10, 2007
Session Report, in which, even after hundreds of plays, I discover something new in my game
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up here. Games played: Hearts, Tichu, Puerto Rico, Yinsh, Caylus, The Menorah Game x 2, San Juan.
Attendance was low; not sure why.
I ran into an event in The Menorah Game that I had never encountered before.
It's Alive Playtesting
Speaking of such, Reiver Games hosted a "blind playtest" of It's Alive last night, which means a group of people who never played before trying to learn the game on their own and played with the new graphics. It appears to have been a success.
Five out of seven immediately ordered a copy, and the other two were considering. One of the reviewers left comments on BGG.
Elitism in Gaming
Edward Pollard at Digitally Disillusioned wrote a thoughtful article on elitism in the new board gaming world. Discussion has followed on his post and also on BGG.
JIB Awards, Final Round
My previous Haveil Havalim post made it to the finals in two categories, Best Jewish Religious Post and Best Jewish Humor Post. I'm not entirely sure how the post qualifies as a Jewish Religious Post, and I'm not expecting to win either award, but you can vote for me, if you really want to.
Game News
An online backgammon site is trying to gain some free publicity by sending Paris Hilton a personalized backgammon set for her to play while she's in jail. They'll probably con some foolish bloggers into linking to the press release.
More women move online to play games as more board games move online.
Peru's 15 year-old Chess Champion Emilio Cordova was found living in Brazil with a 29 year old stripper, having run away after winning the South American Chess Championship.
If you think that Chess is wacky and dangerous, this week there were twomurders violent altercations over card games, in Tauranga, New Zealand ("Detective Trevor Brown says alcohol and cards do not mix.") and in Columbia, South Carolina. Now you know why it's illegal to play cards in South Carolina. (corrected - thanks meowsqueak!)
If you live near Augusta, there is a Board Game Mania summer camp for ages 7-11, July 16-20.
There's an article here about the city of Vitoria, Spain, trying to set a world's record for simultaneous card players. 362 pairs. They don't say what game. Anyone have more details? (And don't most Bridge and Poker tournaments beat that?)
Yehuda
Attendance was low; not sure why.
I ran into an event in The Menorah Game that I had never encountered before.
It's Alive Playtesting
Speaking of such, Reiver Games hosted a "blind playtest" of It's Alive last night, which means a group of people who never played before trying to learn the game on their own and played with the new graphics. It appears to have been a success.
Five out of seven immediately ordered a copy, and the other two were considering. One of the reviewers left comments on BGG.
Elitism in Gaming
Edward Pollard at Digitally Disillusioned wrote a thoughtful article on elitism in the new board gaming world. Discussion has followed on his post and also on BGG.
JIB Awards, Final Round
My previous Haveil Havalim post made it to the finals in two categories, Best Jewish Religious Post and Best Jewish Humor Post. I'm not entirely sure how the post qualifies as a Jewish Religious Post, and I'm not expecting to win either award, but you can vote for me, if you really want to.
Game News
An online backgammon site is trying to gain some free publicity by sending Paris Hilton a personalized backgammon set for her to play while she's in jail. They'll probably con some foolish bloggers into linking to the press release.
More women move online to play games as more board games move online.
Peru's 15 year-old Chess Champion Emilio Cordova was found living in Brazil with a 29 year old stripper, having run away after winning the South American Chess Championship.
If you think that Chess is wacky and dangerous, this week there were two
If you live near Augusta, there is a Board Game Mania summer camp for ages 7-11, July 16-20.
There's an article here about the city of Vitoria, Spain, trying to set a world's record for simultaneous card players. 362 pairs. They don't say what game. Anyone have more details? (And don't most Bridge and Poker tournaments beat that?)
Yehuda
Tuesday, May 08, 2007
Flak Magazine on Board Games
Flak MagazineFlak Magazine has just posted a series of introductory articles on board gaming, including one about Puerto Rico from yours truly. Other articles by JonMichael Rasmus, James Norton, J. Daniel Janzen, and Matthew Baldwin.
Hebrew Apples to Apples
Last night I was visited by the folks of Kinder Shpiel, makers of Jewish and Yiddish board games including Apples to Apples Yiddish Edition. We talked about what is needed for a Hebrew edition (actually, several editions), and I'm going to be trying to make the cards for the first one. Along with the help of my teenage children and all of their friends.
I also played The Menorah Game with them, and they loved it. I hope it will inspire them to create more games for adults; most of their product line is kid's games.
Links
My last post (5 games you need to play) is part of Problogger's latest group writing project. A prize of $1001 will be handed out to one random participant.
One of the first entries was from Classic Kids Games, who is running their own group writing project for a post on how to play your favorite game. They're also handing out $250 worth of prizes.
Bernie DeKoven has a new Junkyard Sports community, where readers can contribute new ways to play outdoor games.
The Hamilton Spectator covers the Great Canadian Baycon Convention.
And in our continuing coverage of the world's most dangerous game and its twisted players, here's a guy sitting on death row for murdering his Chess opponent. (source)
Yehuda
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Session Report Up, in which we play Blue Moon City
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up here. Games played: Geschenkt, Blue Moon City, Dvonn, Tigris and Euphrates, Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation, Tichu, Chess, Zendo, Bridge, The Menorah Game, Go, Checkers.
We play Blue Moon City for the first time and say goodbye to David Barren.
Game News
Gameology reviews a video game with explicitly defined ethical goals.
Raph points us to a video game with explicitly defined artistic goals.
Table Top Land points to "collectible trading cards" in tea packets.
Network Performance Daily equates boundaries with creativity, using Dungeons and Dragons as an example. This is kind of a triple-play for me, because it reminds me of the way people describe the great amount of religious rules in Judaism as liberating, too.
An article from a TV segment about how playing games may make your brain stronger (as opposed to TV segments).
In Toronto, play Scrabble with the Stars, to benefit the Performing Arts Lodge.
First Arab Women's Chess Championship is happening in Tunisia, while Malaysia is going for the national record with its largest Chess tournament.
Yehuda
We play Blue Moon City for the first time and say goodbye to David Barren.
Game News
Gameology reviews a video game with explicitly defined ethical goals.
Raph points us to a video game with explicitly defined artistic goals.
Table Top Land points to "collectible trading cards" in tea packets.
Network Performance Daily equates boundaries with creativity, using Dungeons and Dragons as an example. This is kind of a triple-play for me, because it reminds me of the way people describe the great amount of religious rules in Judaism as liberating, too.
An article from a TV segment about how playing games may make your brain stronger (as opposed to TV segments).
In Toronto, play Scrabble with the Stars, to benefit the Performing Arts Lodge.
First Arab Women's Chess Championship is happening in Tunisia, while Malaysia is going for the national record with its largest Chess tournament.
Yehuda
Thursday, March 15, 2007
The Top Ten Most Expensive Board Games in the World
We're not talking paying retail for games at your local hobby store.
The following pretty bling board games will set you back a little more than you may be used to paying for a simple game.
Of course, when talking about board games and prices, we have to do a little selecting.
10. Jaques 4.4 inch 1850 Chess set
Jaques is a family game business with an illustrious past.
A copy of a design produced between 1850 and 1851. The chess pieces are crafted from fine boxwood and jet black ebony. Also made from leather and brass. Limited edition of 250.
Cost: $5,549 (available at $4,000 in some stores)
9. Made in Firenze Chess Table
Rather ornate Onyx table, stools, and chess pieces.
Cost: 4980 EUR
8. Outrage Deluxe
A game about stealing the crown jewels. The board represents the tower of London.
A solid mahogany cabinet. The Crown Jewels are set in 18ct solid gold studded with rubies, sapphires, diamonds and emeralds. Includes two packs of cards edged with gold leaf. Holder of the Guinness World Record as "The Most Expensive Board Game in the World".
Cost: £7,995.00
7. Antiquarian Traders
Has game tables, including this chess table with hand sculpted solid Bronze chess pieces.
Cost: $20,000
6. Baltic Amber Chess set
Each figurine is carved from a massive clear amber gemstone. Also gold and "expensive wood". The pieces represent Christians versus Moslems.
Cost: $25,000
5. Go Sets
Go is the ancient game of Japan, China, and Korea, and considered one of the four arts of the Chinese gentleman.
Boards, bowls, and stones range in prices from a few bucks for mass produced stuff to thousands of dollars for hand-carved items. Of course, if an antique board from an ancient dynasty, the price is probably millions of dollars ... or priceless.
Kiseido offers a Go board - just the board - for $19,000. Stones are upwards of $4,500, and bowls upwards of $1,000. Their worth is in the grain orientation, which can't really be conveyed in pictures.
The most beautiful board I know is from Yellow Mountain Imports, which has an exquisite board that costs a paltry $1,170.00, and which can be bought on eBay or Amazon for half that.
4. Zontik Games: Silver and Leather Chess Set
Zontik makes luxury board games out of classic and modern games. Zontik licenses the games from an outfit called Geoffrey Parker, which also has its own line of luxury games.
Cost: Up to $62,450
They also have Backgammon, Dominoes, Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, Trivial Pursuit at prices up to $7,570, and game tables, compendiums, and cubes in the $30,000 range.
3. The Charles Hollander Royal Diamond Chess set.
14k white gold and 9900 black and white diamonds. It took more than 4,500 hours to make by 30 artisans.
Cost: $500,000
2. The Charles Hollander Backgammon set.
61,082 black, white, and yellow diamonds. 6.77 kg of gold. 150 grams of silver. The playing pieces are also ringed with diamonds. It took more than 10,000 hours to make.
Cost: somewhere between $1.5 and $2 million. (source)
1. The Jewel Royale Chess Set
Currently being made by Boodles from gold and platinum, and set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls. Details are still forthcoming.
Cost: over £5 million (it's still being created). More production pictures here.
Yehuda Berlinger
The following pretty bling board games will set you back a little more than you may be used to paying for a simple game.
Of course, when talking about board games and prices, we have to do a little selecting.
- An ancient Chinese chess board from a thousand years ago dug up and placed into a museum will be more expensive than anything on the market today, simply because of its antiquity. So I am ignoring antiques.
- If you know of a game I missed, please email or comment and I'll add it. Thanks!
10. Jaques 4.4 inch 1850 Chess set
Jaques is a family game business with an illustrious past.
A copy of a design produced between 1850 and 1851. The chess pieces are crafted from fine boxwood and jet black ebony. Also made from leather and brass. Limited edition of 250.
Cost: $5,549 (available at $4,000 in some stores)
9. Made in Firenze Chess Table
Rather ornate Onyx table, stools, and chess pieces.
Cost: 4980 EUR
8. Outrage Deluxe
A game about stealing the crown jewels. The board represents the tower of London.
A solid mahogany cabinet. The Crown Jewels are set in 18ct solid gold studded with rubies, sapphires, diamonds and emeralds. Includes two packs of cards edged with gold leaf. Holder of the Guinness World Record as "The Most Expensive Board Game in the World".
Cost: £7,995.00
7. Antiquarian Traders
Has game tables, including this chess table with hand sculpted solid Bronze chess pieces.
Cost: $20,000
6. Baltic Amber Chess set
Each figurine is carved from a massive clear amber gemstone. Also gold and "expensive wood". The pieces represent Christians versus Moslems.
Cost: $25,000
5. Go Sets
Go is the ancient game of Japan, China, and Korea, and considered one of the four arts of the Chinese gentleman.
Boards, bowls, and stones range in prices from a few bucks for mass produced stuff to thousands of dollars for hand-carved items. Of course, if an antique board from an ancient dynasty, the price is probably millions of dollars ... or priceless.
Kiseido offers a Go board - just the board - for $19,000. Stones are upwards of $4,500, and bowls upwards of $1,000. Their worth is in the grain orientation, which can't really be conveyed in pictures.
The most beautiful board I know is from Yellow Mountain Imports, which has an exquisite board that costs a paltry $1,170.00, and which can be bought on eBay or Amazon for half that.
4. Zontik Games: Silver and Leather Chess Set
Zontik makes luxury board games out of classic and modern games. Zontik licenses the games from an outfit called Geoffrey Parker, which also has its own line of luxury games.
Cost: Up to $62,450
They also have Backgammon, Dominoes, Monopoly, Scrabble, Clue, Trivial Pursuit at prices up to $7,570, and game tables, compendiums, and cubes in the $30,000 range.
3. The Charles Hollander Royal Diamond Chess set.
14k white gold and 9900 black and white diamonds. It took more than 4,500 hours to make by 30 artisans.
Cost: $500,000
2. The Charles Hollander Backgammon set.
61,082 black, white, and yellow diamonds. 6.77 kg of gold. 150 grams of silver. The playing pieces are also ringed with diamonds. It took more than 10,000 hours to make.
Cost: somewhere between $1.5 and $2 million. (source)
1. The Jewel Royale Chess Set
Currently being made by Boodles from gold and platinum, and set with diamonds, emeralds, rubies, sapphires and pearls. Details are still forthcoming.
Cost: over £5 million (it's still being created). More production pictures here.
Yehuda Berlinger
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Words Derived From Games
The importance of games in our lives and culture is reflected by the numerous words and phrases in our language that originally come from games. I wrote earlier about how people misappropriate the word "game", but it's only fair that they do so if games have had such an influence on the way that we think.
In some cases, these terms probably pre-date a particular game, but they have become popularized because of games.
Chess
The term chess has come to represent political, economic, or military maneuvers. People organizing their forces in an attempt to win are sometimes said to be engaged in a game of chess. If the location involves discrete spaces, it may be called a chessboard.
If you outwit someone in a minor way, or you stop his progress, you are said to have checked that person. If your maneuvering was a major victory, it's checkmate, or check and mate. If neither side can achieve victory, it is a stalemate.
The people you manipulate to achieve your goals are pawns or men.
When you enter the last stages of a battle, you have reached the endgame. If you have locked someone in position, they are pinned. A risky strategy may be called a gambit.
Poker
An even riskier move will be called a gamble. When you gamble, you have to be aware of any wild cards that may mess up your strategy.
You don't want to play dice with your life. But sometimes, you just have to roll the die and see what happens.
You might hit the jackpot, which originally derived from a progressive ante when no one in the previous game revealed a pair of jacks or better.
Your most valuable assets are blue chip assets. When life deals you a dead hand, you may have to bluff. Raise the ante and see if your opponent folds.
In the end, it may come to a show-down. It all depends on the turn of the cards. Pick a card, and let the chips fall where they may.
If you've got a good hand, you may have a full house. If you're the top, you're the ace. If you're the bottom, you're the deuce. If you're versatile, you may be the joker or a jack of all trades. If you're the femme fatale, you may be the queen of hearts.
You may achieve the full monty or you may go bust.
Other Card Games
If a whole bunch of people do something, you may just have to follow suit. You don't want to renege on any your promises. On the other hand, your ideas might trump theirs.
Just don't get too crazy, and shoot [for] the moon, or you might find yourself acting the dummy, or alone playing solitaire. You have to call a spade a spade and play the cards your dealt.
Monopoly
If your career is ended, do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you were convicted of a crime, go directly to jail. If you're safe, you've landed on free parking.
If you have the best location, you've got Boardwalk and Park Place. If you're in the worst location, it's Marvin's Gardens for you.
Regardless, when your time is up, it's all so much monopoly money.
Other Games
Some people are known for their wild hi-jinks, which was originally a drinking dice game. Some people are unstable, and one setback will fell them like so many dominoes.
If you know whom I'm talking about, you might say "Bingo. That's him."
Generic Game Terms
We all follow the rules, play the game, play by the rules, and play by the same rules. But only some of us play with a full deck.
Yehuda
In some cases, these terms probably pre-date a particular game, but they have become popularized because of games.
Chess
The term chess has come to represent political, economic, or military maneuvers. People organizing their forces in an attempt to win are sometimes said to be engaged in a game of chess. If the location involves discrete spaces, it may be called a chessboard.
If you outwit someone in a minor way, or you stop his progress, you are said to have checked that person. If your maneuvering was a major victory, it's checkmate, or check and mate. If neither side can achieve victory, it is a stalemate.
The people you manipulate to achieve your goals are pawns or men.
When you enter the last stages of a battle, you have reached the endgame. If you have locked someone in position, they are pinned. A risky strategy may be called a gambit.
Poker
An even riskier move will be called a gamble. When you gamble, you have to be aware of any wild cards that may mess up your strategy.
You don't want to play dice with your life. But sometimes, you just have to roll the die and see what happens.
You might hit the jackpot, which originally derived from a progressive ante when no one in the previous game revealed a pair of jacks or better.
Your most valuable assets are blue chip assets. When life deals you a dead hand, you may have to bluff. Raise the ante and see if your opponent folds.
In the end, it may come to a show-down. It all depends on the turn of the cards. Pick a card, and let the chips fall where they may.
If you've got a good hand, you may have a full house. If you're the top, you're the ace. If you're the bottom, you're the deuce. If you're versatile, you may be the joker or a jack of all trades. If you're the femme fatale, you may be the queen of hearts.
You may achieve the full monty or you may go bust.
Other Card Games
If a whole bunch of people do something, you may just have to follow suit. You don't want to renege on any your promises. On the other hand, your ideas might trump theirs.
Just don't get too crazy, and shoot [for] the moon, or you might find yourself acting the dummy, or alone playing solitaire. You have to call a spade a spade and play the cards your dealt.
Monopoly
If your career is ended, do not pass go, do not collect $200. If you were convicted of a crime, go directly to jail. If you're safe, you've landed on free parking.
If you have the best location, you've got Boardwalk and Park Place. If you're in the worst location, it's Marvin's Gardens for you.
Regardless, when your time is up, it's all so much monopoly money.
Other Games
Some people are known for their wild hi-jinks, which was originally a drinking dice game. Some people are unstable, and one setback will fell them like so many dominoes.
If you know whom I'm talking about, you might say "Bingo. That's him."
Generic Game Terms
We all follow the rules, play the game, play by the rules, and play by the same rules. But only some of us play with a full deck.
Yehuda
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
The Myth of Multiple Paths to Victory
Gamers value board games that provide multiple paths to victory. A game with multiple paths to victory is one where more than one strategy may be successfully used during a game.
A game with a single path to victory is one in which a single strategy dominates. For instance, ....
Well, like ....
Um ....
Hmmm.
I just went through the 265 games that I have rated on the Geek and couldn't find a single example. All I could find were games where there were no choices at all, such as Candyland.
In even the simplest games, such as Chinese Checkers, Sorry, or Connect Four, players generally have a choice between aggressive and defensive play styles, or some combination of both. You can play safely, trying to minimize the possibility of being hit by your opponent, or aggressively try to hit your opponent. Or, you can ignore your opponent altogether.
Whether victory is decided by the most points, most money, first player to reach the end, or last player remaining, the types of tactics in which you engage are determined by the strategic options you employ: slow, cautious, and steady, fast and risky, or aggressive and interfering.
In contrast, the games touted as having multiple paths to victory actually give less strategic options.
Why? Because no one can interfere with your gaining points. Someone can expend resources to block you off from one avenue, but you have a dozen other avenues still open. Interaction becomes far less important, except for limited short term annoyances that you are able to do while maximizing your gain, anyway.
The game becomes, perforce, more tactical, and less strategic, which I admit is highly counter-intuitive. The game becomes less interactive and more like mutual solitaire.
For example, when the winner of the game is the one with the most points, and the only way to get points is to gain doohickeys, your options are to gain the doohickeys recklessly, gain them cautiously, work to prevent your opponent from doing so, or some combination.
In contrast, when you can gain points either by a) gaining doohickeys, b) gaining sets, c) retaining money, d) scoring interim positions, or e) being first to do hoozitz in any of seven territories, your strategic options decline.
You can either maximize your points each round by hill climbing, or plan to maximize your points over several rounds by investing and then reaping. And that's it, really.
If you extol games with "multiple paths to victory", you are really extolling games with more tactics and less strategy. More calculation and less interaction. More planning and less instinct.
Which is great, if that's what you like.
Game News
First of all, lay off Britney Spears already, please. It was funny when she was a dope, and titillating when she showed her privates, but making fun of someone suffering from a mental breakdown is inexcusable. I mention this because of another jab at her in the form of a fake board game Britopoly, which is simply mean, not funny.
Lost level pleads with game designers to make their in-game penalties something that creates more of a challenge, and not something that simply makes the game less fun to play.
Gilad Yarnitzky, a fellow Israeli board gamer, is doing a series on board gaming in Israel on Board Game News. Speaking of Board Game News, Eric Martin, the new editor of Board Game News, has just opened up free guest membership to those who want to comment on the site. BGN is the second best stop for board games on the Internet, after Board Game Geek.
The Wall Street Journal talks about Hasbro's openness to new board games, but I don't have registration access to the site. If anyone can send me the complete article, I'd be much obliged. Update: here it is in full. (via Eric)
d21 talks about the down side of Settlers becoming a huge success if it moves to XBox, since the lure of monetary gain might take over the fledgling board game design world.
The Human Side of Computer Games Dept
Jeff Orkin is hosting an open game development process, to see what happens if games are designed from the bottom up according to what players actually wish to do, in The Restaurant Game.
David Sirlin describes how to design games that are both fun to play and also accomplish useful things as a side effect.
Your Assistance is Required Dept
Nigeria is trying to up its chess performance at the next Africa Games, and is getting a boost from a partnership with grandmaster of England, Nigel Short. Nigel Short is rumored to have responded to an email from one of their players asking him to assist in winning Ten Milion Chess Games (10,000,000) if he deposits a mere Seven Hundred and Fifty chess games into the Nigerian chess player's track record.
Yehuda
A game with a single path to victory is one in which a single strategy dominates. For instance, ....
Well, like ....
Um ....
Hmmm.
I just went through the 265 games that I have rated on the Geek and couldn't find a single example. All I could find were games where there were no choices at all, such as Candyland.
In even the simplest games, such as Chinese Checkers, Sorry, or Connect Four, players generally have a choice between aggressive and defensive play styles, or some combination of both. You can play safely, trying to minimize the possibility of being hit by your opponent, or aggressively try to hit your opponent. Or, you can ignore your opponent altogether.
Whether victory is decided by the most points, most money, first player to reach the end, or last player remaining, the types of tactics in which you engage are determined by the strategic options you employ: slow, cautious, and steady, fast and risky, or aggressive and interfering.
In contrast, the games touted as having multiple paths to victory actually give less strategic options.
Why? Because no one can interfere with your gaining points. Someone can expend resources to block you off from one avenue, but you have a dozen other avenues still open. Interaction becomes far less important, except for limited short term annoyances that you are able to do while maximizing your gain, anyway.
The game becomes, perforce, more tactical, and less strategic, which I admit is highly counter-intuitive. The game becomes less interactive and more like mutual solitaire.
For example, when the winner of the game is the one with the most points, and the only way to get points is to gain doohickeys, your options are to gain the doohickeys recklessly, gain them cautiously, work to prevent your opponent from doing so, or some combination.
In contrast, when you can gain points either by a) gaining doohickeys, b) gaining sets, c) retaining money, d) scoring interim positions, or e) being first to do hoozitz in any of seven territories, your strategic options decline.
You can either maximize your points each round by hill climbing, or plan to maximize your points over several rounds by investing and then reaping. And that's it, really.
If you extol games with "multiple paths to victory", you are really extolling games with more tactics and less strategy. More calculation and less interaction. More planning and less instinct.
Which is great, if that's what you like.
Game News
First of all, lay off Britney Spears already, please. It was funny when she was a dope, and titillating when she showed her privates, but making fun of someone suffering from a mental breakdown is inexcusable. I mention this because of another jab at her in the form of a fake board game Britopoly, which is simply mean, not funny.
Lost level pleads with game designers to make their in-game penalties something that creates more of a challenge, and not something that simply makes the game less fun to play.
Gilad Yarnitzky, a fellow Israeli board gamer, is doing a series on board gaming in Israel on Board Game News. Speaking of Board Game News, Eric Martin, the new editor of Board Game News, has just opened up free guest membership to those who want to comment on the site. BGN is the second best stop for board games on the Internet, after Board Game Geek.
The Wall Street Journal talks about Hasbro's openness to new board games, but I don't have registration access to the site. If anyone can send me the complete article, I'd be much obliged. Update: here it is in full. (via Eric)
d21 talks about the down side of Settlers becoming a huge success if it moves to XBox, since the lure of monetary gain might take over the fledgling board game design world.
The Human Side of Computer Games Dept
Jeff Orkin is hosting an open game development process, to see what happens if games are designed from the bottom up according to what players actually wish to do, in The Restaurant Game.
David Sirlin describes how to design games that are both fun to play and also accomplish useful things as a side effect.
Your Assistance is Required Dept
Nigeria is trying to up its chess performance at the next Africa Games, and is getting a boost from a partnership with grandmaster of England, Nigel Short. Nigel Short is rumored to have responded to an email from one of their players asking him to assist in winning Ten Milion Chess Games (10,000,000) if he deposits a mere Seven Hundred and Fifty chess games into the Nigerian chess player's track record.
Yehuda
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Linkety Link
No games this weekend. Oh well.
For dinner, we had some guests: three people from England here on an interfaith something or other, including one Jew and two Christians. The Jewish woman turned out to know Rachel from working at Limmud, UK, where Rachel taught for two winters.
The two Christians were not like the other Christian "on pilgrimage to the holy land" types that we usually get, but were younger and still exploring their faith. They were very pleasant and bright. It was a nice dinner.
Vacation
It looks like I will be in England/Scotland June 13 to 27, and possibly in New York area June 27 to July 11. I hope to meet my fellow gamers and/or bloggers when I get there.
Game News
A rather interesting article finds Hasbro claiming that its famous licensed products are not as profitable as developing new toys and brands. This may come as a shock (or reversal) to those of us who follow the game industry.
The Boylston Chess Club Weblog is covering the latest in Chess player news, this time alleged sexual assault by a rather well-known Chess player and teacher in Nashua.
Raph Koster finds art in an interestingly themed video game, High Delivery.
And a report from the Board Game Speed Dating night in the UK.
Yehuda
For dinner, we had some guests: three people from England here on an interfaith something or other, including one Jew and two Christians. The Jewish woman turned out to know Rachel from working at Limmud, UK, where Rachel taught for two winters.
The two Christians were not like the other Christian "on pilgrimage to the holy land" types that we usually get, but were younger and still exploring their faith. They were very pleasant and bright. It was a nice dinner.
Vacation
It looks like I will be in England/Scotland June 13 to 27, and possibly in New York area June 27 to July 11. I hope to meet my fellow gamers and/or bloggers when I get there.
Game News
A rather interesting article finds Hasbro claiming that its famous licensed products are not as profitable as developing new toys and brands. This may come as a shock (or reversal) to those of us who follow the game industry.
"Any company would rather own its own intellectual property," said Bob Goldsborough, who helps manage $16.3 billion in assets at Ariel Capital Management in Chicago. "It’s not dependent on a particular movie series. You also capture all of the profits yourself." His firm owns 7.1 million Mattel shares and used to own Hasbro.Bangor Daily News talks about the renaissance of board games. Good games are mentioned.
The Boylston Chess Club Weblog is covering the latest in Chess player news, this time alleged sexual assault by a rather well-known Chess player and teacher in Nashua.
Raph Koster finds art in an interestingly themed video game, High Delivery.
And a report from the Board Game Speed Dating night in the UK.
Yehuda
Saturday, January 27, 2007
Chess as a Euro-game
Hive
Friday evening we went to Nadine's house. Nadine had made a homemade version of the game Hive, because she doesn't like the bugs on the game's pieces.
So instead of beetles and crickets, etc, she had dogs, cats, horses, sheep, and a barn (the queen bee).
We played two games, switching sides, and I won both times. Nadine isn't actually a big fan of abstract games, so I'm not sure why she made it.
Chess
I haven't played chess in a number of years. Our non-playing guest after lunch said that he was willing to play a game.
Now, when you come back to chess after playing hundreds of Euro-games, you approach the game quite differently. Instead of seeing the game of chess as "chess", which has its own rules, patterns, and history, you approach the game like you approach any other tactical, area-control game.
Actually, not area-control. I approached the game as a resource game. Each turn I had one action resource, and I had sixteen meeples to play with, each with its own movement actions. The game ends when someone is about to lose their king meeple.
So my approach to the game was from an action point point-of-view. I figured that whenever I had more meeples, and more available actions from which to choose, then I was probably winning. And that meant that I could exchange pieces so long as I kept the upper-hand. Furthermore, when my opponent had less actions available, they were more likely to make bad ones.
That's how I played, and given that my opponent wasn't very strong, it worked quite well. After gaining a few pawns advantage, I swapped at every opportunity. When I couldn't swap, I worked to limit the number of possible moves that my opponent could make, regardless of whether the position was more or less helpful to me.
In the end, I could see his moves to a reasonable depth because he had few available options, so I was easily able to set up more piece swaps.
Once we got to the end game, I was ahead about five pawns and a rook, and then it was simply a matter of forcing his king into a corner while ensuring he couldn't snatch any of my pieces by mistake. A simple checkmate ensued.
(Speaking of chess as a Euro-game, Trabsact continues to put out interesting abstract game variations, by the way, including this one on Alternating Weapon Chess.)
Puerto Rico
At the end of the day, Nadine stuck around after Rachel's shiur on Job and we played a game of Puerto Rico. This time I was first, Rachel second, and Nadine third. Nadine and I discussed alternative starting plantations for three player, such as indigo-sugar-indigo, corn-sugar-indigo, and so on, without coming to any definitive conclusions. The truth is, taking out the Small Market is already a big step toward a solution, but third player still wins often.
Not this time, as between Rachel and I both taking Harbor, the VP supply drained very quickly. Nadine had the only big building, but she wasn't even able to man it.
Nadine was pumping out huge amounts of corn and tobacco, but we kept denying her boat space. I had a coffee monopoly, but the trading house emptied only once during the entire game. So I locked a boat, instead. Rachel still managed to trump me, once again with good Hospice play, taking a few corns and quarries when necessary, and then ending the game tied for me in shipping points (31 each), and 1 point ahead in building points. She won 44 to 43, while Nadine had 32 or so.
Monopoly Madness is an event to benefit the British Columbia Paraplegic Association and Boys & Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria. Saturday, February 24, 2007 at the Victoria Conference Centre, Canada.
Hasbro finally announced that it would be releasing various board games to play online on RealNetworks, including Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Game of Life, and Yahtzee.
Board Game News points us to the world record for Carcassonne playing - 42 hours and 48 minutes - with pictures.
And Slashdot informs us that eBay is delisting all virtual goods from Second Life, due to ownership clarification issues. Which may have an economic impact. On Second Life. Or eBay. Not sure which.
Yehuda
Friday evening we went to Nadine's house. Nadine had made a homemade version of the game Hive, because she doesn't like the bugs on the game's pieces.
So instead of beetles and crickets, etc, she had dogs, cats, horses, sheep, and a barn (the queen bee).
We played two games, switching sides, and I won both times. Nadine isn't actually a big fan of abstract games, so I'm not sure why she made it.
Chess
I haven't played chess in a number of years. Our non-playing guest after lunch said that he was willing to play a game.
Now, when you come back to chess after playing hundreds of Euro-games, you approach the game quite differently. Instead of seeing the game of chess as "chess", which has its own rules, patterns, and history, you approach the game like you approach any other tactical, area-control game.
Actually, not area-control. I approached the game as a resource game. Each turn I had one action resource, and I had sixteen meeples to play with, each with its own movement actions. The game ends when someone is about to lose their king meeple.
So my approach to the game was from an action point point-of-view. I figured that whenever I had more meeples, and more available actions from which to choose, then I was probably winning. And that meant that I could exchange pieces so long as I kept the upper-hand. Furthermore, when my opponent had less actions available, they were more likely to make bad ones.
That's how I played, and given that my opponent wasn't very strong, it worked quite well. After gaining a few pawns advantage, I swapped at every opportunity. When I couldn't swap, I worked to limit the number of possible moves that my opponent could make, regardless of whether the position was more or less helpful to me.
In the end, I could see his moves to a reasonable depth because he had few available options, so I was easily able to set up more piece swaps.
Once we got to the end game, I was ahead about five pawns and a rook, and then it was simply a matter of forcing his king into a corner while ensuring he couldn't snatch any of my pieces by mistake. A simple checkmate ensued.
(Speaking of chess as a Euro-game, Trabsact continues to put out interesting abstract game variations, by the way, including this one on Alternating Weapon Chess.)
Puerto Rico
At the end of the day, Nadine stuck around after Rachel's shiur on Job and we played a game of Puerto Rico. This time I was first, Rachel second, and Nadine third. Nadine and I discussed alternative starting plantations for three player, such as indigo-sugar-indigo, corn-sugar-indigo, and so on, without coming to any definitive conclusions. The truth is, taking out the Small Market is already a big step toward a solution, but third player still wins often.
Not this time, as between Rachel and I both taking Harbor, the VP supply drained very quickly. Nadine had the only big building, but she wasn't even able to man it.
Nadine was pumping out huge amounts of corn and tobacco, but we kept denying her boat space. I had a coffee monopoly, but the trading house emptied only once during the entire game. So I locked a boat, instead. Rachel still managed to trump me, once again with good Hospice play, taking a few corns and quarries when necessary, and then ending the game tied for me in shipping points (31 each), and 1 point ahead in building points. She won 44 to 43, while Nadine had 32 or so.
Monopoly Madness is an event to benefit the British Columbia Paraplegic Association and Boys & Girls Club Services of Greater Victoria. Saturday, February 24, 2007 at the Victoria Conference Centre, Canada.
Hasbro finally announced that it would be releasing various board games to play online on RealNetworks, including Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Game of Life, and Yahtzee.
Board Game News points us to the world record for Carcassonne playing - 42 hours and 48 minutes - with pictures.
And Slashdot informs us that eBay is delisting all virtual goods from Second Life, due to ownership clarification issues. Which may have an economic impact. On Second Life. Or eBay. Not sure which.
Yehuda
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Puerto Rico with Rachel
Rachel and I played two games of Puerto Rico last night, with my usual set of custom rules and my usual set of custom buildings. Rachel won the first, and I won the second; the winner had Factory both times.
In the first game, I thought I played ok, but I made a mistake taking Settler at one point when Rachel had Hospice, resulting in her immediately being able to produce coffee. If I would have crafted first, I could have maintained parity with her and ended much closer. Neither of the usual 8 point buildings were bought, but she did buy Discretionary Hold (in both games). She won 54 to 45.
In the second game, coffee never made an appearance. This time I started off slowly, as Rachel was determined not to let me get a Tobacco plantation after I bought an early Tobacco Storage. On the fourth Settler I was able to go first and take one anyway, but only after she already was producing Tobacco, herself.
Since she detoured for Tobacco, I was able to get Factory and Large Business, two very helpful buildings. I also acquired two large buildings to her one, but both of them had poor bonuses - 4 and 3, respectively. I won, but just barely, 52 to 51.
The truth is that I had a hankering to play Go last night, but couldn't get out to the Jerusalem Go club, nor convince Rachel to play. She will only play Puerto Rico, Scrabble, and Bridge, basically, or a very occasional light game such as Apples to Apples or For Sale on rare occurrences outside the house.
Tonight is game night and I plan on trying a slight variation on The Menorah Game suggested to me by someone. I am also hankering to make it through an entire game of Netrunner, sometime.
Wired points to an article by HealthDay on some of the reasons people play video games.
Digg points to the Japanese page of Nintendo to prove that the makers of Wii are still producing and selling good old board and card games.
Games Workshop says that Talisman will be reprinted this October. (source)
Ice Chess, with giant pieces made out of ice. Pretty.
Hatchling Games has a blog about it's new online-only trading card game Encephalon. The idea is rather interesting. Read their first blog entry from December for an idea of what they're doing.
Yehuda
In the first game, I thought I played ok, but I made a mistake taking Settler at one point when Rachel had Hospice, resulting in her immediately being able to produce coffee. If I would have crafted first, I could have maintained parity with her and ended much closer. Neither of the usual 8 point buildings were bought, but she did buy Discretionary Hold (in both games). She won 54 to 45.
In the second game, coffee never made an appearance. This time I started off slowly, as Rachel was determined not to let me get a Tobacco plantation after I bought an early Tobacco Storage. On the fourth Settler I was able to go first and take one anyway, but only after she already was producing Tobacco, herself.
Since she detoured for Tobacco, I was able to get Factory and Large Business, two very helpful buildings. I also acquired two large buildings to her one, but both of them had poor bonuses - 4 and 3, respectively. I won, but just barely, 52 to 51.
The truth is that I had a hankering to play Go last night, but couldn't get out to the Jerusalem Go club, nor convince Rachel to play. She will only play Puerto Rico, Scrabble, and Bridge, basically, or a very occasional light game such as Apples to Apples or For Sale on rare occurrences outside the house.
Tonight is game night and I plan on trying a slight variation on The Menorah Game suggested to me by someone. I am also hankering to make it through an entire game of Netrunner, sometime.
Wired points to an article by HealthDay on some of the reasons people play video games.
Digg points to the Japanese page of Nintendo to prove that the makers of Wii are still producing and selling good old board and card games.
Games Workshop says that Talisman will be reprinted this October. (source)
Ice Chess, with giant pieces made out of ice. Pretty.
Hatchling Games has a blog about it's new online-only trading card game Encephalon. The idea is rather interesting. Read their first blog entry from December for an idea of what they're doing.
Yehuda
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Session Report, in which we play and review Wildlife
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up here. Games played: Prototype, Lord of the Rings: the Confrontation, Wildlife, Puerto Rico.
I give our first impressions on Wildlife, and hope that the one exceedingly bad game mechanic in it will be cleared up when I look on the Geek in a few minutes.
To end the year, one more in the annals of Chess lunacy: A Chess player was banned for cheating. He was receiving advice from his friends running a chess computer during the match via a bluetooth earpiece. I don't know why so much commentary seems focus on the bluetooth aspect of it, rather than the simple cheating aspect. Unless they are going to come up with some scare stories about how bluetooth makes it easier/encourages people to cheat.
On the positive side of gaming, here's a nice article about Child's Play, who donates video games to hospital and so on.
In my continuing efforts to keep my readers aware of what's going on in the world of board gaming, I present to you the Intelligent Design vs. Evolution Board Game, produced by The Way of the Master. This organization is apparently an effort by Ray Comfort of Living Waters, an evangelical ministry, and Kirk Cameron, former child-star of the sitcom Growing Pains.
From the game description:
Yehuda
I give our first impressions on Wildlife, and hope that the one exceedingly bad game mechanic in it will be cleared up when I look on the Geek in a few minutes.
To end the year, one more in the annals of Chess lunacy: A Chess player was banned for cheating. He was receiving advice from his friends running a chess computer during the match via a bluetooth earpiece. I don't know why so much commentary seems focus on the bluetooth aspect of it, rather than the simple cheating aspect. Unless they are going to come up with some scare stories about how bluetooth makes it easier/encourages people to cheat.
On the positive side of gaming, here's a nice article about Child's Play, who donates video games to hospital and so on.
In my continuing efforts to keep my readers aware of what's going on in the world of board gaming, I present to you the Intelligent Design vs. Evolution Board Game, produced by The Way of the Master. This organization is apparently an effort by Ray Comfort of Living Waters, an evangelical ministry, and Kirk Cameron, former child-star of the sitcom Growing Pains.
From the game description:
At last, a board game that reveals the insanity of perhaps the greatest hoax of our times -- the unscientific "theory of evolution."Meanwhile, the next "next Monopoly" is a game called Portrayal, which is kind of a Pictionary, except that all players have to replicate an image based on another player's 90 second description. It includes a 10-sided die; that's really why I mention it.
"Intelligent Design vs Evolution" is unique in that the playing pieces are small rubber brains and each team plays for "brain" cards. Each player uses his or her brains to get more brains, and the team with the most brains wins.
Yehuda
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Analysis of The Menorah Game
I wrote an Analysis of The Menorah Game for Gone Gaming. Check it out if you are one of the lucky few who has a copy of my game.
As we come to the end of the year, I am considering new directions for my blogging. The laser-like focus I intend for this blog hits the beam-splitter of my head before I post. Where I was once mostly board games and a little tech and Israel, I am now half board games and half philosophy, ethics, Israel, and other stuff.
I know that this is annoying to some people. The obvious solution was just to wait to move to the new Blogger, when I will be able to tag my posts. However, I think I will be going a bit more radical.
As of February, I plan to split the game stuff off to a new blog; I also plan to stop writing for Gone Gaming and move all of my game related posts to the new blog. This blog will continue to be about everything else.
Questions: Do I repost or move some of my game posts to the new blog? Or just let them stay here? What about links on other sites to my past posts?
Some lazy links ...
A whole lot of free downloadable board and card games on Super Duper Games.
In January, the Westview Iowa church will be holding a silent auction of games to raise funds for the Waukee Area Christian Food Pantry. Consider checking out the organization and donating all those games you got for Christmas but didn't really want. Game donations are tax deductible.
Regarding my quip about crazy Chess players, David sent me links corroborating or contesting this craziness, such as this article in Time magazine from April, 2005 about Bobby Fischer, Did Chess Make Him Crazy?
In the middle of this article by the Corvallis Gazette-Times about Christmas shopping in general, comes the following quote from Errol Noel at The Toy Factory:
And here's a "board game" called Spintastik. It's just a spinner that assigns chores around the house, as well as the rewards for doing them.
Yehuda
As we come to the end of the year, I am considering new directions for my blogging. The laser-like focus I intend for this blog hits the beam-splitter of my head before I post. Where I was once mostly board games and a little tech and Israel, I am now half board games and half philosophy, ethics, Israel, and other stuff.
I know that this is annoying to some people. The obvious solution was just to wait to move to the new Blogger, when I will be able to tag my posts. However, I think I will be going a bit more radical.
As of February, I plan to split the game stuff off to a new blog; I also plan to stop writing for Gone Gaming and move all of my game related posts to the new blog. This blog will continue to be about everything else.
Questions: Do I repost or move some of my game posts to the new blog? Or just let them stay here? What about links on other sites to my past posts?
Some lazy links ...
A whole lot of free downloadable board and card games on Super Duper Games.
In January, the Westview Iowa church will be holding a silent auction of games to raise funds for the Waukee Area Christian Food Pantry. Consider checking out the organization and donating all those games you got for Christmas but didn't really want. Game donations are tax deductible.
Regarding my quip about crazy Chess players, David sent me links corroborating or contesting this craziness, such as this article in Time magazine from April, 2005 about Bobby Fischer, Did Chess Make Him Crazy?
In the middle of this article by the Corvallis Gazette-Times about Christmas shopping in general, comes the following quote from Errol Noel at The Toy Factory:
In some cases, it’s been tough to keep up with demand. Lego construction kits and a board game called Settlers of Catan, for instance, have been difficult to keep in stock.The Detroit Free Press managed to sneak Apples to Apples and Blokus into an article on recommended games for young and old.
And here's a "board game" called Spintastik. It's just a spinner that assigns chores around the house, as well as the rewards for doing them.
Yehuda
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Top Ten Board Game News 2006
Top events in the world of mainstream board and card games, as I see it:1. Monopoly
's new standard and Here and Now editionsHasbro continues to beat this game into the world's collective brains through a combination of savvy marketing, licensing, PR, and national pride.
They released a new "standard" edition, preceded by months of voting for landmarks to be included, and followed by months of complaints from citizens of the least expensive properties to the municipality of Atlantic City.
They also put out their no-cash credit card edition, so that another generation can learn to trust the infallible computer.
(See my list of 1000+ Monopoly versions.)
2. Dominoes
on ESPN?After the success of Texas Hold'em, the next big discussion this year was how sedentary can we make the activity and still broadcast it on a sports network? The discussion centered around Dominoes which requires even less from a player than Poker, astoundingly enough.
3. Games That Made the News
War on Terror: The right game at the right time to cause controversy. The genral public was aghast at the idea of actually playing suicide bombers (but Nazis are ok?), while opponents of the governments handling the so-called war on terror were thrilled. For my part, I objected not to the theme, but to the attitude of moral equivalency on behalf of the designers on their web site.
Apparently, the game is not half bad.
Da Vinci Code
(several games): Following the publicity of the book and the movie, several board games attempted to cash in on their success.Sudoku
(several games): This is a carryover from last year, but 2006 saw several new games for this popular craze.Deal or No Deal
: Yet another series of games based on a popular culture phenomenon, none of which are any good.Your Best Life Now
: A self-actualization game based on a popular book. Apparently, the game does not reflect the values of the book too closely.GiftTRAP
: A meta party game about giving and getting the right gifts.Wits and Wagers
: A trivia game where the object is not to know the most, but to bet on the answers given by all the players.4. Headz Games in Nova Scotia
Headz Games, creator of numerous sports related board games, announced a new manufacturing plant in Parrsboro, Nova Scotia, which was to provide 1500 new jobs. The plans sent the tiny town into a tizzy, but by the end of the year, the CEO had quit and the plans went on hold.
5. Chess
shenanigansIn the wild and wacky world of Chess, grand master players fell to their death, committed suicide over their abusive fathers, punched opponents on the dance floor over a woman (who left with a third party), and leveled accusations of consulting chess computers in the facilities while on bathroom break.
Way to keep the sport noble, guys and gals.
6. Crowdsourcing board gaming
Around the world, and especially the U.S., thousands of people took to the streets to take the part of live pawns, playing board games using GPS systems and mobile devices.
7. World's largest Uno
gameMattel organized 330 players in West Virginia to simultaneously play UNO, in the world's largest gathering of UNO players. I'm not sure why that's important, but it got news coverage.
8. World's highest Scrabble
scoreAs did two guys in a basement who played the world's highest single score (830) in a game of Scrabble, as well as the world's highest combined scoring game (1320), and most points for a single play (365, for QUIXOTRY).
9. Trivial Pursuit
lawsuitThe old "some guy ripped off my game" controvery reared it's ugly head when the makers of Trivial Pursuit were served a lawsuit by some guy who said that they stole the idea from him after sharing a cab ride in the late 70's. This conveniently comes after the developers took all the risk, time, playtesting, and marketing required to actually produce and sell the game, as well as another 25 years.
10. Pink Scrabble Tiles
I don't know about you, but this makes my heart go boom. A completely pink game of Scrabble was developed, the proceeds of which are aimed at fighting breast cancer.
Surely that's more newsworthy than the various accounts of people killed as a result of Scrabble games over the last year.
11. Microsoft porting Eurogames to XBox
This may not mean much to mainstream gamers right now, but Microsoft announced plans to port three groundbreaking Eurogames to the XBox, including Settlers of Catan. The day will come when mainstream gamers are assimilated onto the true path. Resistance is futile.
WHAT DID NOT HAPPEN
Despite some great press reviews and lots of eager anticipation, Phillip's Entertaible, which is supposed to marry a touch sensitive electronic gaming table to physical components such as glass cubes, got some press, but hasn't made it to the public yet. We're still waiting and hoping.
Yehuda
P.S. Check out my 2006 Holiday Gift Guide!
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