We are a good way into summer now. The days are long, the children are starting to say “I’m BORED!” and everyone is in need of some fun filled cognitive activities. Enter Ubongo, a game of quick puzzle solving.

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The results are in and Germans have spoken. The annual Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) was announced on June 28th and it goes to Dixit. Who knew they’d still like party games?

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It’s summertime!! This means a lot of things. For one, it means school is out and I can write more articles here BUT it also means it’s time for the most prestigious annual Board and Card Game Award! Hooray!

I’m not a Board Game Geek like you, why should I care? Good question! It’s obviously not even an American award, how could it possibly even matter, right? (more…)

Some of you may know that while I may blog at night, by day I am a teacher. Not that great of one but I try every once in a while. Being an avid board gamer, I naturally am always looking for ways to incorporate game play into the educating of my students. Lately, I have had some success.

No, it’s not Plinko. I’m not nearly that cool! Last week I wrote up my first session report for Boardgamegeek as a means to share my experience with other gamers, specifically other gamer teachers, who may want to use and hopefully improve on my use of games as a teaching tool. (we have a guild on the site specifically designed to share ideas as well). This one is using a game called Twilight Struggle (which happens to be the #1 Wargame and #3 boardgame overall right now) for my Current Events class for my Cold War Unit.

There I delineate my strategy, how it went and my thoughts and reactions. I’d really love to hear from anyone over here your ideas/thoughts on the subject (over here, you need an account to comment there, though that’s free:), especially regarding games as a teaching tool in general. What games have you used and how? How should games be used in the classroom or should they be used at all? What methods of using them are better than others?

I’ve been wasting my spare time developing an iPhone game rather blogging. I’ve been reticent to post about it here since I don’t want to use KB to sell my game. However, today it is free, so I feel relatively unrestrained. So go grab Battle for Vesta while the price is right.

A board game convention is a little different than most geek events. Usually there is a great focus on a lot of celebrity and spectacle. Although the larger venues have plenty of this (such as GenCon, Origins or the mother of them all in Essen, Germany) we at SaltCon are mostly just here to play games all day with old friends and total strangers who then become old friends.

Steve Poelzing, one of the main organizers (and a totally awesome guy) told me the goals they have for this event: (more…)

This weekend is SaltCon and I’m gaming all day Saturday. There is an exclusive designers competition Friday that I can try to get some info on and tournaments Sunday, but the bulk of the convention is in the open gaming.

Door prizes will be handed out periodically throughout the day (I won one last year, hoping for more this year!),

Designers and publishers will be there demoing their latest games.

Local game stores will be there promoting and selling their wares.

A gaming library will be available full of games to check out for anyone to use.

Oh, and a LOT of impromptu gaming and friendship making will occur!

Last year at A Gathering of Strangers (the Con in the Summer) I had a fabulous time and even helped out at the registrar’s desk. But mostly I would walk up to old friends and total strangers alike and play a game with them. It’s a very friendly place. Everyone and anyone is invited to sit down and play whatever anybody brings as long as there is a space available. I encourage anyone in the Salt Lake area to attend if they can and see for themselves!

I’ll try to write a report sometime next week, but what I want to know here is what do YOU want to know about?

The art of family entertainment is one of the most difficult to succeed at. To make a product that gives enjoyment and satisfaction to children and adults alike is something usually only the Muppets can achieve.

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Party games are an interesting breed. Their primary goal is not necessarily to make for a good competition, have an immersive thematic experience or even to provide an interesting game play. No, party games really just want you to have fun!

The problem is if these other elements are too scarce most people find the experience stale and lack motivation to make it enjoyable for themselves or anyone else. A good party game maintains balance, keeping frivolity as its primary goal while still providing an enjoyable competitive experience. Say Anything is just such a game. (more…)

There is a great dichotomy in the world these days; people who watch Jeopardy! and those who don’t. Oh wait, I mean trivia! People who like trivia and those who don’t. Personally, I don’t understand this. I love trivia. I mean, who doesn’t want to know that India’s highest military award is the Param Vir Chakra?

Wits and Wagers is the trivia game that makes trivia fun for everyone no matter how much you know or even how much you care about the trivia itself. (more…)

I need to apologize to all those who make a point read my game reviews (both of you) for my prolonged absence. I’ve been wanting to do a poll but am having technical difficulties and got lazy because of those difficulties. So to make it up, I’m providing a 12 Days of Christmas (all in one day! How’s that for thrifty?) Board Game Recommendations for all your holiday shopping needs! (more…)

They are coming.

We all know it. Eventually, zombies will invade and we must prepare now for the coming apocalypse. This is just another reason why boardgames like The Last Night On Earth are of such value. What better way to simulate the dire circumstances to come than by roleplaying the situation in Anytown, USA?

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By the power of RA!

There are few celebrities in the board game industry and even less that can actually earn a living as a designer. Reiner Knizia tops both these categories with hundreds of published games (8 just this year!) spanning the gauntlet of mechanics and themes. Though highly regarded in general, he often also has the reputation (mostly undeserved, IMO) of making abstract number games with pasted on thematic elements. In any case, RA is one of my absolutely favorite board games!

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Famous for it’s well preserved, unique Roman and Medieval fortifications, the southern French city of Carcassonne is the setting for one of the best introduction to euro games in all of geekdom!

There are perhaps two euro games generally known to the public, Settlers of Catan (and all its expansions) and Ticket to Ride (and all its variations). Carcassonne seems to be third in this area (and itself has multiple expansions and variants, but I’ve never played any of them yet). It’s the game of city, cloister, farm and road building and most people’s first acquaintance to this funny little wooden character: the meeple. (more…)

One of the fascinating features of boardgames I continue to marvel at is the ability of designers like Uwe Rosenburg to turn the most mundane topics into interesting, entertaining play. Such is Bohnanza, the bean counting game. How boring is that?! As it turns out, not at all.

The goal is to make as much money as possible by planting, trading and selling fields of beans.  Each bean is illustrated as a goofy cartoon on standard euro cards (slightly smaller than American standard) and also gives information on the bean’s rarity and cash exchange rate. (more…)

Yes.

And they’re more popular than ever.

That’s right, we’re talking about BOARD games here. Leave your fancy shmansy HD screens, hi-res graphics cards, anonymous teenage angst and ego, arbitrary ratings systems and all other techmology behind. Here we are into cardboard pieces of varying size and thickness, wooden bits, plastic baggies, plastic miniatures and these weird little objects called meeples.

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Comic shops all over the country are celebrating Free Comic Book Day, and many of the publishers are releasing free issues of their comics. (Click through the link to find a comic book in your area.) Store policy varies by shop. Many shops allow for one free comic per customer, but some shops are reportedly more generous.

This year there are 40 free comics being offered. Here’s are some recommendations of what’s worth picking up:

Pop Candy
MTV’s Splash Page
Bureau 42
Comics Worth Reading

Anyone have recommendations of their own?

Match the first line of a song to its title and band.

1. “Lovin’ you isn’t the right thing to do”
2. “Looking down on empty streets, all she can see”
3. “Dig if you will a picture of you and I engaged in a kiss”
4. “We’ll be fighting in the streets with our children at our feet”
5. “It’s been a mystery and still they try to see”
6. “Come up to meet you, tell you I’m sorry”
7. “I was happy in the haze of a drunken hour”
8. “Shot like an arrow going through my heart”
9. “I’ve been roaming around, always looking down at all I see”
10. “I got up feeling so down”
11. “Hello, I’ve waited here for you”
12. “There’s a destination a little up the road”

If you want to guess without the band and song titles, go ahead, but they’re listed after the jump.
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No new news to report this time.  Although, if you think you can handle the truth, go here.

Spoilers below the fold.

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I wanted to make this a Link of the Day, but I can’t figure out how to do that.

Instead – feast your eyes and ears upon:

Stan Lee reads “The Raven.”

Two great tastes that go great together.

Dr. Horrible has a PhD in horribleness and an evil plan to rule the world.  He has vowed to join the evil league of evil and combine forces with “the thoroughbred of sin,” Bad Horse.  Fortunately, he’s got a sing-a-long blog so we can have a front row seat to all of this awsomeness.

This whole thing presents several pertinent questions….but I can’t for the life of me think what they are.  Your thoughts?

I’m horribly unqualified to do a tech review, but I have to tell you I love this thing. (more…)

After following the coverage of the stevenote this morning I’m impressed, but not by what I thought I’d be impressed by.

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OK. So I’ve been reading all the reviews at various places like AICN. I’m scared. I really, really want the new Indiana Jones movie to be good. I don’t want it to be like the Star Wars prequels. It’s a fantastic summer for movies. (Iron Man, Batman, etc.) But Indiana Jones just holds a special place in my heart. Last Crusade was a bit of a disappointment to me. Not bad, but just lacking something… It just didn’t place it straight somehow. The way the first one did.
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