| Jon Power of the Beyond Monopoly games group in York did a radio interview for BBC Radio York a few weeks back and he has now put an audio of the interview on his website. You can listen to it here. I think he did really well to explain in simple terms why the general public ought to give these games of ours a go. It did help that the interviewer sounded genuinely interested and, hopefully, it will have generated some interest in the club. Well done, Jon. |
Category: News
Cash Trap
| I was contacted yesterday by a new UK game company, New Century Games, who originate from just up the road in Cheshire. They have just released a new game: Cash Trap, and will be at Essen next week to promote it. The game looks like a simple “get all your pieces from one side of the board to the other” type game but your efforts are complicated by the fact that movement is dictated by cards you play and there are plenty of opportunities to block an opponent’s pieces. Details of the game can be found on the game’s website. The game has also been tested by the Halesowen Boardgames Club and they seemed to have fun with it. The game’s not going to challenge the heavy abstracts in the Gipf series but it looks like it will be a nice family game. I look forward to trying it soon. |
Games International #22
| The new issue of GI has arrived today, although this was probably scheduled to appear around July time, I guess. This means that the news section isn’t really news: for instance one of the articles covers the <strong>nominations</strong> for the Spiel des Jahres and there is a <strong>preview</strong> of Arkham Horror. It would be nice to think the time lag will disappear in the next issue or two. However, there are some interesting reviews and, for those that didn’t get one through Spielbox, there is the additional Sir Bedivere figure for Shadows Over Camelot. Game of the Month, Friedrich, looks interesting while it’s confusing to find that this year’s Deutsche Spiel Preis winner (Louis XIV) only ranks 5 stars out of 10 according to Brian Walker. Of the other reviews, the San Ta Si one convinces me not to pick this up (even though I’m a sucker for Zoch games) while Ars Mysteriorum looks like I should try it to see if I like it. As I mentioned last time, you can get a copy via Boardgamegeek, although I notice this issue isn’t yet advertised on the site. |
Deutscher Spiel Preis 2005
| The second major game award for this year has been announced today. Louis XIV turns out to be the winner, with Niagara second and Manila third. I still haven’t managed to play Louis yet but it looks a worthy winner to me. Niagara and Manila are both good games, although there are others in the top ten I prefer (Shadows Over Camelot and 80 Days). The full list is:
1. LOUIS XIV (alea/Ravensburger) 2. NIAGARA (Zoch Verlag) 3. MANILA (Zoch Verlag) 4. UBONGO (Kosmos) 5. HIMALAYA (Tilsit Éditions) 6. IN 80 TAGEN UM DIE WELT (Kosmos) 7. SCHATTEN ÜBER CAMELOT (Days of Wonder) 8. JAMBO (Kosmos) 9. DAS ZEPTER VON ZAVANDOR (Lookout Games) 10. VERFLIXXT! (Ravensburger) |
New UK Game Shop: Shire Games
| I got an e-mail yesterday from Nick Fisk who has just opened a new games shop in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent. It looks like he’s going to stock most of the board game new releases that are generally available in the UK and he has an online store for those that don’t fancy a trip to the Potteries. As Hanley is less than 40 miles away, I will have to make the effort to try and get over there before too long. Full details are on the Shire Games website: here. |
Shear Panic
| One of the newer UK game companies, Fragor Games, who produced the fun frog game, Leapfrog, last year, has announced a new game they’ll be promoting at the Essen Fair. Rick Thornquist’s Gamewire website has the low-down on Shear Panic, which is about the exploits of a flock of sheep. |
Games International #21
| The latest issue of Games International has turned up at last. Despite the lateness, it is full of interesting stuff. Martin Wallace provides a teaser on his latest game, Tempus, which is due out this month apparently. This one looks very tempting and, if the production is as lavish as he suggests, this will be a certain purchase. Plunder also looks interesting but I’m not sure if I’ve not got enough pirate games for the time-being. Himalaya gets a thumbs up and I’m keen to have another look at this. I would have bought it at Essen last year had Tilsit not already sold out of their stock by the Saturday morning. The other article that struck me was Greg Schloesser’s review of Die Weinhandler. Now this I did get at Essen but I’ve still not managed to play it. It has been on the menu for an end of evening filler for several weeks but somehow we’ve managed to pick something else every time. After reading Greg’s review, we must try it soon. Likewise Saboteur, although I have played with the family and enjoyed it. I posted an initial impression on BGG here but I’m amazed this was as long ago as 18 months. How time flies. Anyway, a pretty good issue. You can subscribe via BGG if you’re interested. |
Trickylight site in transition
| Anyone trying to access my Trickylight website from today will find it has disappeared. Well not exactly. I am in the process of moving it to a new hosting server and will be working on setting up the new pages soon. You should, however, still be able to get to the previous pages through the following link: no longer available |
Boardgames-To-Go Podcast
| Mark Johnson has just published a series of recordings, giving his thoughts on various aspects of gaming and games he has played recently. There is an interesting outline of various play-by-web sites as well as his views on a few older games I’ve not played in a while, particularly Evergreen and Karawane. I hope he keeps recording these because I really enjoyed listening to them. Check it out at: Boardgames to Go. |
Nimrods Blog spotted by The Guardian
| National newspaper, The Guardian, has spotted one of our well-established blogs about boardgames, Nimrods . The article here doesn’t provide us with any useful information other than the link but at least it’s highlighted as a boardgames site so it could help the cause of publicising boardgames in the UK. Well done Pete Haslehurst for getting himself well and truly in the spotlight. |