Month: May 2011

Just a last minute reminder that this weekend sees the annual UK Games Expo take place in Birmingham. The full details are on the website here but, in summary, the event runs from 3rd-5th June with the main public opening hours being from 9.30am till 5pm Sarurday and 9.30am till 4pm Sunday. The venue is:

The Clarendon Suites
Stirling Road (off Hagley Road)
Edgbaston
Birmingham
B16 9SB

The nominees for this year’s SdJ and KdJ were announced this morning and unexpectedly, only three games appeared in each category rather than the five that have appeared for the SdJ in recent years. So without further ado, here they are:

Spiel des Jahres nominees

• Asara, by Wolfgang Kramer and Michael Kiesling (Ravensburger)
• Forbidden Island, by Matt Leacock (Gamewright, Schmidt Spiele)
• Qwirkle, by Susan McKinley Ross (Mindware, Schmidt Spiele)

Kennerspiel des Jahres nominees

• 7 Wonders, by Antoine Bauza (Repos Production)
• Lancaster, by Matthias Cramer (Queen Games)
• Strasbourg, by Stefan Feld (Pegasus Spiele)

Well my predictions didn’t turn out too badly with all three SdJ nominees on my list and two of the three for the Kennerspiel award. I ignored Lancaster as it has only been out in Germany a couple of weeks.

In addition, the list of recommended titles from the SdJ jury, which includes both simple and more involved games:

• Blockers!
• Freeze
• Die Burgen von Burgund
• Geistesblitz
• Luna
• Mondo
• Safranito
• Skull & Roses
• Sun, Sea & Sand
• Uluru

Spectral Rails
Boardgame for 3-4 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 75 minutes.
Published by Z-Man Games, designed by Morgan Dontanville

Ascending Empires
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 75 minutes.
Published by Z-Man Games, designed by Ian Cooper

Elemental Clash Starter
Card game for 2 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by T.O.G Entertainment, designed by Andreas Propst

Elemental Clash Fat Pack
Card game for 2 players, ages 10+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by T.O.G Entertainment, designed by Andreas Propst

On Monday, the nominees for the top German game award, the Spiel des Jahres, are announced. But, in addition, there is going to be a new award, the Kennerspiel des Jahres or Enthusiasts’ Game of the Year, launched.

The Opinionated Gamers blog has been trying to predict which five games will be nominated in each category and their combined opinion is that the SdJ nominees will include 7 Wonders, Asara, Mondo, Mord im Arosa and Airlines Europe. The KdJ predictions are: Die Burgen von Burgund, Merkator, Navegador, Pantheon and Tikal II.

It’s quite difficult trying to work out where the threshold will lie between the two awards (assuming a game will not appear on both lists) but I think 7 Wonders might be thought of as falling into the second category, although it’s by no means a complicated game. So I came up with my own lists as follows.

SdJ: Mord im Arosa, Mondo, Qwirkle, Forbidden Island and Asara.

KdJ: 7 Wonders, Airlines Europe, Black Friday, Navegador and Strasbourg

Of course, the jury is well known for picking games out of left field so it’s anybody’s guess what will actually be chosen. I’ll post a follow-up after the nominees are announced.

Khet 2.0
Boardgame for 2 players, ages 9+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Innovention Toys, designed by Luke Hooper, Michael Larson & Del Segura

Offboard
Boardgame for 2 players, ages 7+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Asmodee, designed by Michel Lalet & Laurent Levi

The Path to Y’ha-nthlei Asylum Pack
Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game expansion for 2 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight, designed by Nate French & Eric M Lang

Queen of Dragons
A Game of Thrones Living Card Game expansion for 2-4 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight, designed by Nate French, Eric M Lang & Christian T Petersen

Target Earth
Boardgame for 1-4 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 90 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Jacobo Cagigal

Mecanisburgo
Boardgame for 2-6 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 120 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Servando Carballar

Mecanisburgo Expansion 1 Moon & Ceres
Boardgame for 2-6 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 120 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Servando Carballar

Mecanisburgo Expansion 2 Mutants on Mars
Boardgame for 2-7 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 120 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Servando Carballar

Full Moon
Boardgame for 2-7 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 90 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Servando Carballar

Full Moon Expansion: Deathmoon
Boardgame for 2-7 players, ages 14+
Playing time approximately 90 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Servando Carballar

Total Rumble
Card game for 2-4 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Gen-X Games, designed by Óscar Arévalo

ScrumBrawl
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 50 minutes.
Published by VicTim Games, designed by Tim Bugher & Victor Moyer

Nobody But Us Chickens (reprint)
Card game for 3-6 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 20 minutes.
Published by Z-Man Games, designed by Kevin G. Nunn

 

The bad news is Shire Games’ shop on Hope Street, Hanley is closing next week. The good news is they’re opening on Saturday 21st May a new shop at:

 

41a Parliament Row,
Hanley,
Stoke-on-Trent,
ST1 1PW

And to encourage you all to go along, Nick is going to do 10% off EVERYTHING in-store only on Saturday 21st May. 

The link to the online store, so you can see what you might want to pick up if you do drop in, is here

Felinia
Boardgame for 2-4 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Asmodee, designed by Michael Schacht

Dice Town Expansion
Boardgame expansion for 2-6 players, ages 8+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Asmodee, designed by Bruno Cathala & Ludovic Maublanc

Aspirations of Ascension Asylum Pack
Call of Cthulhu Living Card Game expansion for 2 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 30 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by Nate French, James Hata & Eric M Lang

Gates of the Citadel Chapter Pack
Game of Thrones Living Card Game expansion for 2 players, ages 13+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by Nate French, Eric M Lang & Christian T Peterson

The Twin Tailed Comet Battlepack
Warhammer Invasion Living Card Game expansion for 2 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 60 minutes.
Published by Fantasy Flight Games, designed by James Hata & Eric M Lang

Awful Green Things from Outer Space 8th Edition
Boardgame for 2 players, ages 12+
Playing time approximately 60-90 minutes.
Published by Steve Jackson Games, designed by Tom Wham

The auctions on my current batch of games on Ebay are due to end on Thursday. Included this time are Doris & Frank’s Ark plus the Ark Expansion, Alan Moon’s Pony Express and Im Schatten des Sonnenkonigs, Sid Sackson’s BuyWord and, as mentioned in my last post, a complete run of Counter Magazine issues 1-52.

All the details are here.

With my latest batch of games for sale on Ebay, I’ve also added a very special item:

For those who’ve read any issues of Counter, you’ll know what a fantastic publication it is. However, I’ve decided to put my entire run from the first issue (May 1998) to the latest issue 52 (March 2011) up for sale. I’m not sure of the exact page count but, assuming at least 80 pages an issue, that gives over 4,000 pages of quality reading.

Does anyone remember what Alan How said about Katzenjammer Blues or what Mike Clifford thought of Ursuppe (both from the first issue), or even how much Just Games were asking for El Grande and its expansions by mail order? If not, you might want to bid on over 6kg weight of reading pleasure. The item is listed here to end on Thursday 12th May.

Advert complete!

The 22nd Beer & Pretzels Games Weekend 2011 is 14th and 15th May at the Town Hall, Burton on Trent.

Open 10.00 – 10.00 on Saturday, 10.00 – 7.00 on Sunday. Tickets £5 per day or £9 for both, available on the door or in advance from Spirit Games.

More details are available here.