Thursday, July 12, 2012

Board Game Madness 7/12

Fun:

New Games:

iOS:
  • Haggis released (solo only for now)
  • Summoner Wars released (free with four factions – extra factions can be bought in total for $7.99 or individually for less)
  • Thunderstone nearing release
  • Café International (1989 Spiel des Jahres winner) to be released later in July
  • There’s a new iOS app for BGG

News:
  • The Spiel des Jahres, Germany’s game of the year, has been announced. This is the Academy Award for Best Picture in board gaming. Kingdom Builder, from Dominion’s Donald X. Vaccarino, beat out Eselsbrucke and Vegas. Note that this award tends to move towards the family games. So it’s the equivalent of Disney/Pixar taking best picture every year.
  • The Kennerspiel des Jahres is the strategy gamer’s version of the Spiel des Jahres and this year’s winner is Village, by Inka and Markus Brand who also designed A Castle for All Seasons. It beat out K2 and Targi.
  • Interesting to note, according to Purple Pawn: Tom Felber, chairman of the SdJ jury, complained that “many of the games reviewed this year were ‘not fully developed in all areas’”. Some have wondered if the increase in releases and boom of game designers and introduction of Kickstarter as a funding source is diluting the market.
  • Chicago has turned their streets into a giant Monopoly game
  • According to Gizmodo, a computer is now capable of watching you play a game for only two minutes, learn from your strategies and beat you senselessly. It’s only done it with abstract games, so I’d like to see how it does with Agricola.
  • Learning from Risk can help you run your small business

Recently played
  • Some gaming on my vacation included a few games of 7 Wonders and Blokus (with the parents!)

Happy Gaming!

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