I played Puerto Rico with Rachel and Nadine. I added a bunch of less-used buildings to the mix:
- Forest House (working with 1,3,5, .. forests, instead of 2,4,6)
- Irrigation 4/2: Produce one extra barrel.
- Commodity Exporters 5/2: +1 VP when shipping indigo and/or sugar.
- Beachfront 6/2: You have wharf of size equal to number of forests you possess.
- Large Business 8/3: Both Builder's and Captain's privileges. Actually this is a standard replacement building, but it needs to be mentioned.
Rachel tried the forest strategy, and it did ok, but not spectacularly. Nadine had a Factory, but bought a late Wharf when she would have done better with a large building.
I bought an early Commodity Exporters, and then a Large Business. At that point, when I took Captain to ship, I was earning 4 points for shipping one barrel of Indigo. That was pretty big. I added Irrigation to the mix, but never got it to do much; Irrigation has been pretty good in other games, however.
In the end, we were all pretty close in building, but I was about ten points ahead in shipping.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
Roundup: Three Years of Forty First Week Posts
Learn to Love Board Games Again: 100+ Ways to Rejuvenate the Games You Already Own (A MUST read)Exploring the moral and legal issues of IP protection of games
The language of love
Board game social networking
Thursday, October 09, 2008
Gaming in the Crossroads
Last night Rachel and I walked down to the nearest major traffic intersection to find four teenagers sitting in the middle of the intersection playing cards. There's no traffic island; they were just sitting on the pavement, traffic light hanging overhead.
That's Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. I don't think any other city is quite like it.
On Yom Kippur, the cars disappear from Jerusalem's streets. A few police cars park in the streets or slowly make their way from one neighborhood to another. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children dressed in white file out after evening services to congregate in the middle of the streets. Around them, the less religious kids zoom around the auto-free streets on bicycles and foot scooters.
It's a sight to see.
Owing to the short day, nearly all the next day until nightfall was spent in synagogue. It was an easy fast for me. Afterwards, I began setting up the sukkah, which will host Games Day a week from Sunday.
All you non-gaming Israelis who read this are welcome to come by and try your first game on Games Day.
Yehuda
That's Yom Kippur in Jerusalem. I don't think any other city is quite like it.
On Yom Kippur, the cars disappear from Jerusalem's streets. A few police cars park in the streets or slowly make their way from one neighborhood to another. Tens of thousands of men, women, and children dressed in white file out after evening services to congregate in the middle of the streets. Around them, the less religious kids zoom around the auto-free streets on bicycles and foot scooters.
It's a sight to see.
Owing to the short day, nearly all the next day until nightfall was spent in synagogue. It was an easy fast for me. Afterwards, I began setting up the sukkah, which will host Games Day a week from Sunday.
All you non-gaming Israelis who read this are welcome to come by and try your first game on Games Day.
Yehuda
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Games are the Moral Choice
Every year around this time I start to write a guide for holiday shopping that reads something like: STOP BUYING THINGS FOR THE HOLIDAYS!
Holidays are not excuses to expect presents. Are you celebrating shopping, consumption, and hedonism? Reclaim meaning this holiday season. Reclaim family, and time, and activities. Reclaim holiness, discussions, laughter, togetherness. Stop buying things. Take the stuff you have and give to the less fortunate. Your house, your inner peace, and your family will love you for it.
That's the message I want to write every year. But each year I change my mind.
It's not the concept of buying that's a problem. It's what and why we buy. We buy items celebrating poor character, items that promote solitary enjoyment, and items built with planned obsolescence. We buy because we are supposed to. Because we're nagged to. Because the neighbors do. Because we say that receiving baubles and sugar makes our kids happy, and instant gratification is what counts.
I don't advise that you drop gift giving and replace it with nothing. Hush money gifts or nothing are not the only options. I recommend that you give gifts that build character, foster reconnection, and endure.
Give time. Give attention (but not advice). Give stories. Give hugs. Give walks. Give help. Give items that will endure. Give gifts that foster connectedness.
It won't surprise you that I think that tabletop games - not all, but some - are good candidates for gifts during the holidays.
Games that are more than just licensed toys will endure. Games stimulate and build character. Games are built around the idea of sharing and connection. Not the dice-rolling ones; those foster sore losers and thrown game boards. I'm talking about the ones where you measure your progress against yourself, and your opponents are as happy with your successes as they are with their own. The right people are also key here.
Games are the frugal choice. With high gas prices, not to mention the ecological damage of constantly driving or flying about, games provide an incredible value for your money.
Games are interactive and character-building. They are the choice for mental stimulation. Well, up there with reading books together, anyway.
Games are a moral choice. Choose to foster connectedness, not solitary play.
Of course, games aren't the only option. Hikes or excursions foster togetherness and don't have to be overly expensive or ecologically damaging. Creative projects, group activities, cooking, and community events can also work. I'm sure there are others.
The point is: make the choice. Make your life. It can become a habit.
Holidays are not excuses to expect presents. Are you celebrating shopping, consumption, and hedonism? Reclaim meaning this holiday season. Reclaim family, and time, and activities. Reclaim holiness, discussions, laughter, togetherness. Stop buying things. Take the stuff you have and give to the less fortunate. Your house, your inner peace, and your family will love you for it.
That's the message I want to write every year. But each year I change my mind.
It's not the concept of buying that's a problem. It's what and why we buy. We buy items celebrating poor character, items that promote solitary enjoyment, and items built with planned obsolescence. We buy because we are supposed to. Because we're nagged to. Because the neighbors do. Because we say that receiving baubles and sugar makes our kids happy, and instant gratification is what counts.
I don't advise that you drop gift giving and replace it with nothing. Hush money gifts or nothing are not the only options. I recommend that you give gifts that build character, foster reconnection, and endure.
Give time. Give attention (but not advice). Give stories. Give hugs. Give walks. Give help. Give items that will endure. Give gifts that foster connectedness.
It won't surprise you that I think that tabletop games - not all, but some - are good candidates for gifts during the holidays.
Games that are more than just licensed toys will endure. Games stimulate and build character. Games are built around the idea of sharing and connection. Not the dice-rolling ones; those foster sore losers and thrown game boards. I'm talking about the ones where you measure your progress against yourself, and your opponents are as happy with your successes as they are with their own. The right people are also key here.
Games are the frugal choice. With high gas prices, not to mention the ecological damage of constantly driving or flying about, games provide an incredible value for your money.
Games are interactive and character-building. They are the choice for mental stimulation. Well, up there with reading books together, anyway.
Games are a moral choice. Choose to foster connectedness, not solitary play.
Of course, games aren't the only option. Hikes or excursions foster togetherness and don't have to be overly expensive or ecologically damaging. Creative projects, group activities, cooking, and community events can also work. I'm sure there are others.
The point is: make the choice. Make your life. It can become a habit.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Jewish Scraps
I'm working on a post, but it's failing to congeal.
Kosher Phones?
The BBC has a ridiculous article up about a "kosher" cellphone. Uh huh. Very nice. Do you believe what the BBC writes? Without a single source other than "Avi"? Let's just say that the one testable claim mentioned is that if one Googles "banana" one comes across numerous porn sites. Which is not true. Try it.
Unwashable Stains
Did you know that it's possible to get a stain on your overcoat that is so bad that a dry cleaner can't even get it out? I never knew that. I thought dry cleaners could get out anything if they try hard enough. Apparently not. My stain looks like oven baked oil and dirt, and, after around 5 tries, they hadn't made a dent in it.
I hope this isn't symbolic of upcoming Yom Kippur.
Listening
Rachel and I attended a small seminar by Ayeka (not this), a new organization dedicated to getting people to talk about important things again, such as God, forgiveness, and faith. Which, apparently, people tend not to do.
Their approach is guided workshops with both text study and heart to heart listening. Twas pretty cool.
Mincha Yom Kippur
I'll be leading Yom Kippur Mincha services in our shul, which is nice. Mincha on Yom Kippur has a special place in my heart, because it's the most neglected of the services. Poor service. And it has the entire book of Yona in it, too.
Yehuda
Kosher Phones?
The BBC has a ridiculous article up about a "kosher" cellphone. Uh huh. Very nice. Do you believe what the BBC writes? Without a single source other than "Avi"? Let's just say that the one testable claim mentioned is that if one Googles "banana" one comes across numerous porn sites. Which is not true. Try it.
Unwashable Stains
Did you know that it's possible to get a stain on your overcoat that is so bad that a dry cleaner can't even get it out? I never knew that. I thought dry cleaners could get out anything if they try hard enough. Apparently not. My stain looks like oven baked oil and dirt, and, after around 5 tries, they hadn't made a dent in it.
I hope this isn't symbolic of upcoming Yom Kippur.
Listening
Rachel and I attended a small seminar by Ayeka (not this), a new organization dedicated to getting people to talk about important things again, such as God, forgiveness, and faith. Which, apparently, people tend not to do.
Their approach is guided workshops with both text study and heart to heart listening. Twas pretty cool.
Mincha Yom Kippur
I'll be leading Yom Kippur Mincha services in our shul, which is nice. Mincha on Yom Kippur has a special place in my heart, because it's the most neglected of the services. Poor service. And it has the entire book of Yona in it, too.
Yehuda
Monday, October 06, 2008
Session Report, in which I win almost every game
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: Reels and Deals, Cosmic Encounter, Year of the Dragon, Mr Jack, Geschenkt x 2, Puerto Rico.
We speculate on how to improve Reels and Deals, and I win all the games but one Geschenkt game. Yay me.
We speculate on how to improve Reels and Deals, and I win all the games but one Geschenkt game. Yay me.
Saturday, October 04, 2008
Puerto Rico as an Intro Game
We had Nadine and Yael over for dinner. Nadine is a long time game groupie and Yael is a new student of Rachel's with no particular game experience. Somehow we convinced her to stay for a game after dinner.
I was nervous about using Puerto Rico as the first game for a new player thinking that it's complications would scare her off. Nadine argued otherwise. She said that Puerto Rico's very difference with other games is interesting to new players and she has experience explaining the game to new players in a way they can understand.
As usual I was appalled with the way Nadine explains PR. She start by handing out barrels to the player, taking some herself, laying out the ships, and then walking through shipping. Then she backs up and mentions production buildings and plantations and colonists, and then a little about buildings. Then she points to the roles and privileges and starts the game.
This is nothing like what I do when I explain the game. I explain the goal of the game, and the primary means of acquiring these goals. Then I mention the basic round structure, a little about each role, and the privileges. Then I review explaining how to combine the roles and rounds into the two major paths (to building and to shipping), and where the challenge of the game comes in. Then how and when the game ends. Then we start the game.
Somehow new players still manage to do well with Nadine's method, although she continues explaining parts of the game through the first few rounds. I also continue explaining during the first few rounds, but only to explain implications of what the choices mean, and the idea behind which buildings to consider.
Anyhoo ...
Usually the new player wins the game but this time Nadine won at 52 points. She had Factory and Guild Hall. Rachel and I tied exactly at 48 points + three items. I had an early coffee and Harbor. Rachel had Harbor, too. Yael ended with 42 points. She had Factory and a tobacco monopoly for much of the game.
Yael enjoyed herself. I still think that For Sale, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, etc. probably make better intro games.
Yehuda
I was nervous about using Puerto Rico as the first game for a new player thinking that it's complications would scare her off. Nadine argued otherwise. She said that Puerto Rico's very difference with other games is interesting to new players and she has experience explaining the game to new players in a way they can understand.
As usual I was appalled with the way Nadine explains PR. She start by handing out barrels to the player, taking some herself, laying out the ships, and then walking through shipping. Then she backs up and mentions production buildings and plantations and colonists, and then a little about buildings. Then she points to the roles and privileges and starts the game.
This is nothing like what I do when I explain the game. I explain the goal of the game, and the primary means of acquiring these goals. Then I mention the basic round structure, a little about each role, and the privileges. Then I review explaining how to combine the roles and rounds into the two major paths (to building and to shipping), and where the challenge of the game comes in. Then how and when the game ends. Then we start the game.
Somehow new players still manage to do well with Nadine's method, although she continues explaining parts of the game through the first few rounds. I also continue explaining during the first few rounds, but only to explain implications of what the choices mean, and the idea behind which buildings to consider.
Anyhoo ...
Usually the new player wins the game but this time Nadine won at 52 points. She had Factory and Guild Hall. Rachel and I tied exactly at 48 points + three items. I had an early coffee and Harbor. Rachel had Harbor, too. Yael ended with 42 points. She had Factory and a tobacco monopoly for much of the game.
Yael enjoyed herself. I still think that For Sale, Settlers of Catan, Ticket to Ride, etc. probably make better intro games.
Yehuda
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