News Bits: 11/5/2012

We're going to try a new format this week, with simpler links and less text. If you have any opinions on this either way (or if you just want to say hi), please leave a comment. Now to this week's news link fest:

The Jack Vasel Memorial Auction kicked off last week and runs through November 18. [Link]



Bruno Faidutti addresses common myths about board games. [Link]

Shut Up & Sit Down discusses the Golden Age of Board Games. [Link]

Meeple Town's Derek Thompson interviews board game artist Piero (Mr. Jack, Dixit Odyssey, River Dragons). [Link]

Bellwether Games's monthly featured designer interview is up, this month featuring Angie Hickman Newnham and Julian Leiberan-Titus (Story Realms). [Link]

A slide show of nine ridiculous games you'd totally want to play. [Link]

Z-man Games will publish Terra Mystica. [Link]

An infographic for how to choose the perfect board game. [Link]

Sandy's unexpected (and board-game-related) consequences. [Link]

Kickstarters of Note

It looks like we're back in the swing of a tabletop Kickstarter boom. Check out these projects:

• Eight-Minute Empire: This appears to be a super short civilization building game from the designer of Empires of the Void and City of Iron. This game looks interesting, it's already fully funded, and it has a cheap buy-in at $20.
• Small Box Games Trio: Small Box Games has three games sharing a Kickstarter campaign: Shadow of the Sun, Stone & Relic, and The Valkyrie Incident. The games look beautiful, the campaign is already funded, and Small Box is definitely a game company to support. $5 for a PDF, $23 for individual games.
• Twin Tin Bots: The designer of Small World and Olympos (two games beloved of the Dragon) has a new game up on Kickstarter. I'm not sure it's my cup of tea, but it might be yours. $55 (or $45, if you're fast enough).
• The Official Settlers of Catan Gaming Board: This is an officially licensed Settlers of Catan tile-locking board. It seems great if you play Catan a lot. (I do not, so my tiles will just have to slip around.) $25.
• Nothing Personal: Tom Vasel (of The Dice Tower fame) along with Stephen Avery have designed a mobster-themed negotiation game. It looks fantastic and has already passed several stretch-goal upgrades. $45.
• Sentinels of the Multiverse: Shattered Timelines: Greater Than Games is perhaps the hardest-working indie publisher out there, and this is the newest Sentinels-related item they've cooked up. It funded in 4.5 hours, and is already on its way to a lot of awesome stuff. (Also, their quote about international shipping is awesome...and unfortunately accurate.) $30.
• Moongha Invaders: This was once a grail game by Martin Wallace; now it's on Kickstarter. I suppose $60 is cheaper than the grail prices, but it's too rich for my blood. Yes, that's $60.
• City Hall: This game looks interesting to me, and I've heard good things through Unpub and other sources. It's a game of running for the office of mayor and all the backstabbery that that entails. $50.

Completely Unrelated Awesomeness of the Week
I had approximately zero interest in Queen Games's Escape from the Temple Curse!--even after the Essen buzz. Until I saw this video play-through, that is. Now it has rocketed near the top of my wish list.