News Bits: 12/23/2013

Greetings on this holiday week. Here is the NEWS:

The secret history of The Cones of Dunshire on Parks and Recreation [Link] I don't watch it often, but I think Parks and Recreation is one of the best shows on TV, and their recent "Cones of Dunshire" bit helps cement that perception in my mind. The show's producers and some people from Mayfair Games (Settlers of Catan) talk about what went into creating this beast that may make an appearance at Gen Con 2014 (?).

Spinning Out of Control (a review of Gravwell)

This game, in case you couldn't tell, takes place in SPACE

Trapped in the 9th Dimension, engines down. This is your predicament; the only working device on your ship is your tractor beam, so the only way to move is to push or pull off of the nearest heavy object. But what happens if that object moves the other way?

This is the premise of Gravwell, and you'd better be on your toes, because only one of you can make it out of this dimension. Try not to spin out of control.

Giving Thanks for Games (a holiday session report)

My family celebrated Christmas over Thanksgiving this year (long story), so all of us descended on my aunts' house for four days of food, togetherness, and... gaming.

My family has always enjoyed playing games together--first trick-taking games like Pinochle and Rook, then party games like Scattergories and Rapid Recall, and now hobby games, beginning with Acquire. There were fifteen of us at the gathering, and we played a lot of games over the four days. I usually list what I've been playing in the weekly news, but I thought I'd write a separate post since several of these are new, and I'd prefer to treat them in more depth. So here's what we played.

Top Ten Lunch Games

I've written on the subject of lunch games many, many times, but probably most completely here. The category of lunch games--games that can be played and in most cases taught in an hour--is near to my heart for several reasons, not least of which is lunch when I am most likely to have time free to play a game. The pressures and responsibilities of home prevent me from attending more than one game night a month. But over lunch? Then I am free.

In my earlier post, I listed several criteria for ideal lunch games. They are:

• Goldilocks playtime (neither too short nor too long)
• Simple rules
• Simultaneous (or near simultaneous) play (in other words, there's always something to do)
• Chaos factor (players have an opportunity to break gameplay conventions)

So which games am I most excited to play over lunch? Here's my list.

Swimming with the Sharks (a review of Get Bit!)

Jaws was a terrifying movie when I was younger. Terrifying. I didn't want to go near the ocean (not that I had much opportunity), and I was even suspicious of our landlocked Midwestern lakes.

But you know what is significantly less terrifying than a giant shark destroying boats and eating humans? A giant shark tearing unsuspecting swimming robots apart. See, that? That's not terrifying. That's just plain fun. That's also the premise behind Get Bit!, the game where you don't have to swim fast, just faster than your mechanical friends.

News Bits: 10/28/2013

News! This week was the big game fair in Essen, Germany. I'm sure we'll be getting more news this week. And I'll pass along what I find out to you.

Essen, Essen, Essen! [Opinionated Gamers, MetaGames] This week was the world's largest board game fair in Essen, Germany. As much as I would have loved to go, alas! I was stuck at home. However, several writers for the Opinionated Gamers blog were able to be there, and they have detailed their experiences (some are more about the games than others). Also, James from the MetaGames blog has been posting periodic tweets about games from Essen and usually posts fuller reviews on his blog a little later. And I will be watching for more news as it's revealed this week. (And be sure to check out the GeekBuzz list on BGG.)

Penchant for Plunder (a review of Libertalia)

When I was in college, each year there was one movie that got watched over and over again in the dorms, to the point that I never wanted to see it again. My freshman year, that movie was Shrek. My sophomore year, that movie was Pirates of the Caribbean.

Now, some ten years later, I can look back fondly on those times in the dorm together with friends (even if I'm not keen to watch those movies again). And despite not wanting to watch Pirates again, piratey games are definitely not off limits. Does Libertalia deliver the goods (and then plunder them)? Find out below!

News Bits: 10/21/2013

The NEWS:

Ticket to Ride joins Android 7 humble bundle [Link] I paid the recommended contribution just for the Android app. This seems like a great deal, if you like this sort of thing.

News Bits: 9/30/2013

This week's NEWS:

SeaFall, new "Legacy" game, coming in 2014 from Plaid Hat Games and Rob Daviau [Link] I thought the idea behind Risk: Legacy was awesome (if cringe-inducing to this collector), but I don't like the underlying game enough to give it a go. This new game looks fantastic: a 4x game set in an alternate age of discovery that remembers grudges and evolves as you play. This one I would love to try.

News Bits: 9/16/2013

Lots of good stuff in this week's NEWS.

Chris Handy interviews Alan Moon [Link] This is a fantastic interview. Seriously. I planned to watch a few minutes and watched the whole thing. (A brief note: this was supposed to be a Kickstarter reward for the Adventures on the Tabletop documentary. If you feel so inclined, you can still support the project here.) When I wrote the guide on Carl Chudyk a few weeks ago, I mentioned that he was the only designer with two games in my top ten. That, however, was not true (whoops!). Alan Moon shares that title with him (for Ticket to Ride: Europe and Airlines Europe). Check this out.

What I Played at Gen Con: FarmerLenny Edition

Gen Con is billed as "the best four days in gaming," and it must be true, or they couldn't put it on the sign. Okay, I'm not sure how to empirically verify the statement, but my experience at least comes close to validating the claim.

I promised in today's news post that I would discuss the new games I played at Gen Con this year. I don't plan to discuss the people I met (who were great) or tell the story of how these games came to be; I'm just going to give you the skinny on the games and how I thought about them after my play(s). (I'll note whether my play was a full game or a demo game.) The first paragraph is a game overview if you want a (very quick) rules summary; the second paragraph is my impressions. These are in alphabetical order. If you want to skip to the games I liked best, you might want to check the entries for Gravwell, Impulse, Spyrium, and Rialto. Also, sorry; I was too busy playing to take pictures. I realize this is text heavy; I trust interested readers will persevere.

[Note: Futurewolfie posted his Gen Con wrap-up here. It's more about the events at Gen Con and less about the games and fills in the details I left out.]