Spiel: Boardgaming in the UK

So I’m halfway through my mission to get my unplayed games down below 20 by the end of June 2010. Well timewise I am but I’m definitely off the pace with the number crossed off, not helped by Christmas having few gaming opportunities and those generally being filled with old favourites. I also acquired half a dozen new games, which doesn’t help the goal:

6 new games acquired (Aber Bitte Mit Sahne, Cardcassonne, Court of the Medici, Fzzzt!, Hansa Teutonica and Ilium);

6 games no longer unplayed (Aber Bitte Mit Sahne, Dice Town, Dungeon Lords, Medici v Strozzi, Mosaix and Priests of Ra);

1 game sold (Sicilianos).

This month’s target is to get at least below 75 this time next month.

I had thought November would see a reasonable fall in my unplayed list as I didn’t expect to buy anything new and a trip to Midcon gave an extra opportunity to eat into those Essen releases. Although I didn’t add anything to the collection, Midcon only helped reduce the number by one. So a reduction of only 8 games this month:

0 new games acquired;

8 games no longer unplayed (Tobago, Alice in Wonderland: Parade, Samurai: The Card Game, Opera, Nur Die Ziege Zahlt, The Boardgamegeek Game, Havana and Time’s Up);

0 games sold.

Let’s hope that the Christmas festivities give an opportunity to eat not only into the turkey but also the unplayed list and I’m at least below 80 this time next month.

After this year’s Essen haul, I needed some space in the games cupboards to put the new arrivals. Hence, I pulled quite a few out for Ebay and yesterday Jan listed them all for me. There are quite a few really good games in there that I just felt were unlikely to get played again anytime soon including stuff like Schoko & Co, Brass, Ghost Stories and Amazonas.

The complete list is here.

Well, October saw the biggest setback to my aim to get down to fewer than 20 unplayed games by the end of Jun 2010. However, I was fairly restrained in my buying at Essen, bringing back fewer new games than usual and I stuck to my edict of not buying any expansions this year (as they rarely add lots more to a game other than complexity). So no Dominion: Seaside, Chicago Express expansion or Ystari expansion box for me. However, I didn’t play very many games at the show and, other than Atlantis, those that I did play I didn’t buy. So a net gain of 9 games to the unplayed list this month:

19 new games acquired (Power Grid: Factory Manager, Havana, Tobago, Samurai: The Card Game, Savannah Tails, Dungeon Lords, Priests of Ra, The Boardgamegeek Game, Aladdin’s Dragons Card Game, Basket Boss, Gipsy King, Alcazar, Nur Die Ziege Zahlt,Alice in Wonderland Parade, Colonia, Dice Town, Mosaix, Opera and Atlantis);

10 games no longer unplayed (Jambo, Antler Island, Gardens of Alhambra, St. Petersburg expansion, Change Horses, Ta Yu, Times Square, LotR: The Search, Atlantis and Colonia);

0 games sold.

This month, I’m hoping to make a big dent in the remaining games. I may even try to get a day at Midcon this year so I need to be at least below 85 this time next month.

Just back from two days at Essen. Fabulous time as always but seemed to spend more time talking than playing games. Rather restrained on the buying front – only 19 additions to the collection which are shown in glorious technicolour below.

 

 

 

The third game being released by Martin Wallace, this time through Warfrog rather than Treefrog, is Steam Barons which is the first expansion for Mayfair’s Steam.

Two maps are included in the game, one covering eastern USA, along with parts of Canada, and the other covering northern England. The maps are suitable for five and six players if you use the base or standard rules from Steam. The Steam Barons rules also introduce a stock-market system to the game. Now you can buy and sell shares in the railway companies. However, the biggest advantage of these rules is that the maps become playable by between two and six players.

More information, including a link to the rules and pictures of the new maps, can be found on the Steam Barons page of the Warfrog website.

Richard Breese’s second game to be released at SPIEL ’09 is The Boardgamegeek Game. Here is a description from the game’s entry on BGG:

The BoardGameGeek Game (TBGGG) is being published by R&D Games to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the BoardGameGeek website, the gaming community’s most indispensible database!

Ernie (the famous BoardGameGeek mascot) has gone on holiday to meet his English cousins and fellow geeks in the quaint Cotswold town of Boardway. In TBGGG players take on two roles:

Firstly, players represent one of the six game publishers: Eggertspiele, Hans im Glück, Queen, R&D, Treefrog or Ystari, supplying their company’s games to the games shops of Boardway. Geek Gold (GG) is earned for each game they sell. Secondly, each player has a team of three ‘dicey’ geeks who are trying to collect sets of games to meet their gaming group’s requirements. At the end of the game GG is awarded to record the player’s success in acquiring these games. The player accumulating the most GG is the winner.

TBGGG is a fast paced, tactical, fun game for 3 to 6 players (with ‘geeky English start player’ option), which takes around 60 to 75 minutes to play.

The second Martin Wallace game being released at Essen is Last Train to Wensleydale, published in his Treefrog line.

The game is set in the Yorkshire Dales and the aim is to move stone, cheese, and various passengers, from the hills of the Dales to the major trunk routes run by the North Eastern Railway and the Midland Steam. The game is for three to four players and plays in 60 to 90 minutes. The level of complexity is similar to Tinners’ Trail.

More details including ordering information and a link to the rules can be found on the game’s page on the Warfrog website.

Richard Breese is this year following in the footsteps of many-a-designer and converting one of his more popular board games to a card game. Here’s a description from Boardgamegeek:

In ancient and long forgotten times heroes were lured to Eastern lands by tales of bountiful treasure and powerful magic. The treasure was found, not lying about, but in dangerous caves guarded by fierce dragons. Those strong enough to gather the dragon’s treasures had to compete among themselves for privileges that would smooth the way to the Caliph’s palace. On reaching the palace, the heroes found their way blocked by powerful guards. Here they could pass the guards only with the right influence or, failing that, generous bribes. Within the palace walls, the heroes bartered their hard won treasures for magical artifacts in a contest to see who could acquire the most artifacts and gain the praise of the Caliph.

The Aladdin’s Dragons card game (Morgenland Kartenspiel) is based on the award winning board game of the same name published by Rio Grande and Hans im Glück. The game consists of a double pack of cards and is played over a number of rounds, usually four or five in total. Each round has three phases. In phase one, new artifact and treasure cards are laid out. In phase two, players play their hero cards into the various locations. In phase three the locations are resolved.

The game will cost 8 Euros and will be available from the R&D Games stand in Hall 4 booth 4-112.

The Ragnar Brothers will be back at Essen this year with a streamlined version of their classic, History of the World. As the new version was designed to play in a shorter timeframe, the choice of title for this version is hardly imaginative but 100% accurate. So welcome to A Brief History of the World.

The game has been co-produced with Spiral Galaxy Games and will be available at the show for 35 Euros. More information, including details of how to pre-order should you wish to do so, are on the Ragnar Brothers site.