From Boston.com, the online version of The Boston Globe:

“With cellphones and computers these days, it’s hard to reconnect with people,” said Bryan Johnson, 36, of Salem, who runs a weekly North Shore gaming group and owns roughly 360 games. “Nowadays, if you say you’re into games, people automatically think video games,” he said with a shrug as he played strategy games during Unity Games XIII, an event held at the Wakefield Sheraton in August. “It’s become almost like a lost art.” He and three friends were in the midst of Taj Mahal, set in 18th-century northwest India. The goal of the game, which incorporates auctions, card play, and visits by the Grand Mogul, is to gain incredible power.

For the complete article, visit Boston.com, and if you’re in the New England area in late January 2008, come to Unity Games XIV!

Eight titles from Rio Grande Games were released into the distribution stream in mid-November after most of them debuted at the Spiel game convention in Essen, Germany this past October. Does that satisfy a hungry gamer’s appetitie? No, they want more, more, more! Thus these questions:

Q: Hi Jay, what sort of ways is Rio Grande looking at celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2008?

A: Still looking at options, but I will have a party of some sort at Origins.

Q: Did you see the Kosmos Perry Rhodan two-player game at Essen? If so, are you reconsidering your decision not to publish this game?

A: What decisison not to publish? I am planning to publish an English version. [Editor’s note: Jay’s previous answers might have given the impression that he wasn’t doing this game, but he specifically said “I have no plans” and “I plan to discuss these at Essen."]

Q: Will Rio Grande release international versions of the Queen titles Giganten der Lufte and Eketorp? If so, when?

A: Still no word from Queen on this, sorry. [Editor’s note: Rio Grande does have the games listed on its website, but the release date is unknown.]

By Jeff Allers
December 1, 2007

German word of the month: Krankgeschrieben (doctor’s excuse for being sick)

I apologize if this article sounds a bit nasal, but I’m home sick and, frankly, lucky to get in a complete sentence between sneezes. “Gesundheit!” you may say, as the Germans do without ever skipping a beat. The word actually means “health,” a subject my Berlin friends take quite seriously. In fact, most seem to have studied medicine, as they are never afraid to disagree with my doctor’s diagnosis and offer their own alternative treatment program.

I think that I’ve now received about all the health advice they can give me, as my 15-month-old twin sons have been sick for most of the past two months. My wife and I are averaging three trips to the doctor each week, in about every conceivable combination: Mom with Ben, Dad with Sam, Mom alone, Mom and Dad with Ben and Sam, etc. Our doctor is a wonderful person and all, but we wouldn’t mind seeing less of her.

The time has come for me to look back over the expansive Essen preview list and see just what I’ve gotten to play so far.  Here is a list, from favorite to least favorite, of the Essen games that I’ve played so far!

Agricola My favorite game from Essen so far.  I’ve played about 20 games, trying every deck, the family game, and with 2 – 5 players.  I still have to try the solo game.
Wabash Cannonball This is a fantastic train game that plays in about 30 – 45 minutes.
Glik I love puzzle games and this is a great one for 2 – 4 players with a Ricochet Robot movement mechanism.

In my last blog, I wrote a little about story arcs and endgames, and this week I’d like to continue the discussion.  If my list of endgame mechanisms is incomplete, I’m sure readers can fill in the gaps.

Ted Alspach, owner of Bézier Games, says that his latest three Age of Steam expansions—America/Europe, Barbados/St. Lucia, and Jamaica/Puerto Rico—are now being shipped to those who preordered the game. (Links above are to game previews published on BGN.) Additional orders can be placed through Bézier Games.

On another note, Bézier Games has sold out of Start Player.

These games have been updated on Gone Cardboard.

Source: Bézier Games

By Greg J. Schloesser
November 30, 2007

Publisher: Eggertspiele / Rio Grande Games
Designers: Michael Rieneck & Stefan Stadler
Players: 2-5
Playing Time: 120 minutes
Rules Language: German and English

The first game I had the opportunity to play during my Essen 2007 excursion was Cuba, the new Eggertspiele release designed by Michael Rieneck and Stefan Stadler, the team that brought us Pillars of the Earth. Being a fan of Pillars, I was anxious to see what the design team had created this time.

Cuba is set in the pre-revolution days, when making money was paramount, and rum and cigars were the commodities of choice. Players gather resources and products, convert them to goods, and sell or ship them to earn handsome profits and gain influence. All of this must be accomplished in spite of a frequently aggressive yet indecisive government, which continues to change the tax and duty requirements and enact often troublesome policies.

Each player receives a plantation mat with twelve fields, each depicting a particular resource or product. One field is occupied by a warehouse, in which players can store goods and products. Each turn, players will have the opportunity to activate their laborer, who will generate resources and products in the row and column where he is located.

After the death of Ingmar Bergman, Woody Allen said (paraphrased): Bergman was a director of high art who didn’t care about the commercial aspects of his films.

The statement hit me like a thunderbolt.

When I advocate that game designers make games with more substantial tactics and strategy—and that gamers choose to play games that add to their life and are not simply gambling or passing time—someone always fires back: “Games are supposed to be fun.”

I’ve always said, yeah, games are supposed to be fun, but it’s better to use that time to build character in addition to having fun. But I get tired of saying it because that isn’t the “primary” point of games, right? Games are, after all, first and foremost supposed to be fun. If they’re not, they don’t get played.

Well here’s a spoke in your sacred cow: Games are NOT supposed to be fun.

Things have been rough for Valley Games these past few months: Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage was delayed several times; Container barely made it to Essen, yet arrived before preordered copies; the Martin Wallace titles Mordred and Brass have filtered into retail stores, yet again before preordered copies; and the first showings of the new version of Titan have drawn scalding criticism. What’s a small publisher to do?

Well, if you’re Kevin Nesbitt, you take a long list of questions and answer them. Here goes:

Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage
Q: What’s the current status of deliveries of Hannibal? Which countries have received games, and which are still waiting? Why did some gamestores have copies for sale before all the preorder customers received theirs?

A: Hannibal is officially in print in most countries. Shipments were and still are radiating out from two areas—Germany and the United States—so some more distant countries have yet to receive their supply. Australia is one of those that comes to mind. [Editor’s note: Hannibal arrived in Canada on Nov. 28, so Canadian customers should receive their copies within a couple of days.]

Sigh, I got stuck working a bit late two evenings this week and was otherwise distracted.

---

Agricola: Aside from my merry trashing of the phenomenon last week, I think I really like this game. It will take a few more plays, but I think it might suit me more than Caylus. I particularly like how the interaction is all focused around choosing actions instead of fighting over turning in sets, and how scoring seems more like you are actually building things instead of just turning in sets of cubes.

Crazy Diamond: I've played only the title game with three. This is, most certainly, not a game for three. It felt almost like playing a pretty form of air traffic control backgammon with multiple paths. You are always trying to find a reasonably optimal move that gives you maximum distance and allows you to advance well on any future roll. This part is remarkably compelling in a kind of good 60s roll-and-move family game kind of way.

The odd part is that the second part of the game where you close down routes doesn't work with three. With three, it is not worth buying routes, and the game seems to need four or five players before that becomes a viable option.

By Ted Alspach

Click on the picture to see the full-sized version

Sigh, I got stuck working a bit late two evenings this week, and was otherwise distracted this week.

Well, maybe not you in particular, but he is giving away more than $300 worth of games and other prizes, including Z-Man’s Pick & Pack, Sunriver’s 24/7, Northstar’s Wits & Wagers, and his very own It’s Alive, published by Riever Games. To have a chance to win, you need to visit Yehuda’s blog, sign up for a Google Group, and play a few games. That’s doesn’t sound too tough, does it?

As Liga noted in an item published today, Boardgame News is celebrating its second birthday. Thanks to Rick Thornquist for starting this site, and thanks to me for continuing to run it. Oh, I kid!

Today is also the final day to contribute to the 2nd Annual Games for Soldiers drive. More than $400 has been raised so far, and any donations made today will drive that total higher. Register for or renew BGN Membership, and I’ll add $10 of the annual $25 fee to the drive.

After completing a bunch of non-game-related writing assignments (snooze), I’m finally catching up on all things BGN. I’ve notified the winners of the October game giveaway, and once I hear from all of them, I’ll announce their names. The games to be given away in December will be posted soon. Once I get through a couple of other items (*cough* Caylus contest *cough*), I’ll be able to get cracking on super secret projects that will rock the BGN world from box to board. Hmm, maybe I’m promising too much. Let me instead just say that I’m doing stuff and will present said stuff when it’s finished. Sound good? Good!

Jeffrey Allers, BGN’s own Postcards from Berlin columnist, has signed a deal with Winning Moves Germany for a title to be released no later than Essen 2008. The name of the game is American Pie, and I’ll publish a game preview—along with comments from my prototype playing—in the near future. Congrats, Jeff, and congrats to everyone else because this is one sweet game!

Q:Are there any plans to offer more scenarios or expansions for the Doom board game?

A: Not at this time.

Q: It’s nice to see hear of the expansions being announced for your various games, especially the ones with miniatures, but we have yet to hear anything about an expansion for Marvel Heroes—and that game would be perfect for more heroes and more villains! Any plans for an expansion?

A: Not as of yet.  The fine folks at Nexus (our Italian partners who designed the game) haven’t brought anything to our attention yet, but there does seem to be a lot of folks who are interested in an expansion.

Q: Are there any other Silver Line games that will get a makeover in the coming months? So far you have done a great job with updating some of these older titles.

A: Well, we’ve got “Colossal Arena” coming up next month, and I am aware of a few more on the horizon, but nothing in the first few months of 2008.

Q: “Runebound: Fourth Big Box Expansion” has been listed on BGN’s Gone Cardboard for quite a while with a generic 2007 date on it. Is there anything happening on this front?

A: Runebound: The Frozen Wastes will be released near the end of the first quarter of 2008. —Jeremy Stomberg

Mastermoves.eu, home to Floriado, Gipsy King and other Corné van Moorsel creations, has been flickering in and out of service lately due to excessive traffic. Van Moorsel says the site is moving to a new server and should be back up to speed soon. Success does have its drawbacks…

Remo Rehder of the Norwegian site BrettSpillGuiden has published a long interview with Andy Daniel, who runs Enginuity Games. While the interview does talk about a few Enginuity titles, Daniel spends most of his time giving advice to game designers, such as how to pitch your game to a publisher and why you should keep the hyperbole to a minimum.