nichole's auxiliary storage

It Was I Who Flipped Over the Risk Board Last Night

From Short Imagined Monologues:

If you insist on ignoring decades of advancements in the gaming industry, that's your decision—but don't drag me into this Hasbro time warp with you.

Games on my brain. Con season is here!

World Play Day

Via cliquenabend.de: today, May 28, is World Play Day, sponsored by the International Toy Library Association. Wonder if I can finesse my way into their conference under the auspices of work...

Brettspielhumor

In Germany, a standup can tell jokes about how much he hates Settlers of Catan and still get big laughs. Especially with his own expansion: "Tsunami."

Thanks, Cliquenabend! Auch Herrn Alles und Gunn, und allen meinen Deustchlehrern.

Craft project: jail break with Monopoly and dominoes

Ingenious: Dominoes, Toothpaste Used In Attempted Jail Break.

The two [inmates] then made a replica of the vent using paper towels stuck to a piece of sheet attached to the lid of Monopoly board game box.  Deputies believe the two used toothpaste as the 'glue' to stick them all together.  To simulate the holes in the grate, the inmates apparently melted down dominoes and used the black liquid as ink.

Nice try, guys! Too bad about the sally ports and four steel doors left between you and the outside. Thanks to Sean who pointed out the story.

In related news, the Pew Center on the States just released a report called 1 in 100: Behind Bars in America 2008. I haven't read it yet, but wonder if it will hold any solutions in addition to the bad-news data.

Games played in 2007

459 games played last year - that makes me happy. I could have done with less Coloretto and more Power Grid, Alhambra, Shadows over Camelot (3 plays), Cities and Knights (2), and Starfarers of Catan (3). But all in all, a fine year for games.

Game	Times played
Coloretto	21
Settlers of Catan, The	18
Citadels	14
Diamant	14
Category 5	13
Bohnanza	12
Princes of Florence, The	11
Puerto Rico	11
Modern Art	10
Ticket to Ride	10
No Thanks!	9
Scream Machine	9
Ticket to Ride: Europe	9
Ticket to Ride: USA 1910	9
Notre Dame	8
Power Grid	8
Thurn and Taxis	8
Alhambra	7
Carcassonne	7
Lost Cities	7
Caylus	6
Hey! That's My Fish!	6
Samurai	6
TransAmerica	6
TransEuropa	6
Wits & Wagers	6
10 Days in Africa	5
Formula Dé	5
Settlers of Catan, The - Travel Edition	5

HOWTO Win at Monopoly - Boing Boing

When Cory wrote of a winning strategy:

a great way to suck all the fun out of the game

I wanted to reply that that assumes there is any fun in the endless, mechanistic game. But somebody in the comments already beat me to the punch with a plug for Puerto Rico. Represent!

Crocheted Settlers of Catan blanket

Finally finished this, a Christmas (2006) present for a big Settlers fan:

2007 Origins International Game Expo and Fair

It's taken a week to recover from the Origins game convention in Columbus, where I played a lot of (but not enough) games, ate some great food, and had a fine time with friends & family. More photos are here.

Like last year, librarians get in free with the "Teacher's Hall Pass." The seminars and discounts this year were unfortunately not as good this time. That, or I was more discriminating in where I spent my time & money.

Unlike last year, where, in ignorance, we ended up at bd's mongolian bbq for one horrendous dinner, I did my foodie homework. Here's a map of the downtown and Short North restaurants that Chowhounds and local experts recommended. North Market was a given, but sadly it took me until the second-to-last day to get some ice cream at Jeni's.

We made it to Flatiron (excellent muffuletta) and Northstar Cafe. Northstar was just the kind of granola place I love - good coffee, great organic bakery with local eggs, and a quote from Omnivore's Dilemma on our table tent.

Bonus: Here's an amazingly accurate portrayal of every game of Thurn und Taxis I've ever played. (I'm always the one on the left).

Double bonus: We thought up a name for the vegetarian cafe/board game library that we'll open when JM's a rich and famous game designer: the Kettlers of Seitan.

Flak Magazine's new gaming section

Flak is starting "an ongoing games section that will cover all manner of games, regardless of whether they require an AC adapter" with this promising lineup on tabletop games (OK, so I'm biased):

JonMichael Rasmus asks whether The Settlers of Catan could be the new Monopoly. (Answer: Yes.) Yehuda Berlinger looks at the pleasures of Puerto Rico, the reigning champion in the heavyweight boardgaming circuit. James Norton joneses for the sweet satisfaction of the two-player card game Lost Cities. J. Daniel Janzen compares Celebrity to traditional charades and illustrates the difference between lightning and a lightning bug. And Matthew Baldwin clues us in on how to conduct the kind of game night that your friends actually want to put on their calendar.

In other gaming news, I recently discovered the joys of Guitar Hero II. My violin teachers would be so proud. JM's worried console gaming might turn my head, but I doubt it. There's always room for more games.

Cineplexity is out! As in, out!

A couple weeks ago, Boomer at BoardGameGeek posted a photo of Cineplexity from the New York Toy Fair. Then JM brought home a copy from the fair, and it started to feel real, but not really more real than a year ago at the Wisconsin Film Festival.

But today, it's really, really real! On the Out of the Box web site! Squee hardly cuts it!

Origins International Game Expo and Fair

So I was at Origins last weekend in Columbus, OH. It was my first game convention ever, and also the first year they opened their "Teacher's Hall Pass" program to public librarians. With that I got free admission, great swag, discounts, and tickets to seminars, where companies like Mayfair and experts like Reiner Knizia shared classroom game ideas with teachers.   

Some other highlights of the con:

1. The CABS game lending library in the Board Room, complete with Demco card pockets.



2. The podcasting panel, where gaming podcasting geeks (as opposed to other kinds of podcasters, who are universally "suave," according to Mur of Geek Fu Action Grip) gave some tips on getting started in podcasting.
3. There was never, ever a line for the women's restroom.

4. The Looney for Learning seminar, where folks from Looney Labs demonstrated classroom uses of Nanofictionary and Chrononauts.
5. The Teacher's Hall Pass got me into the expo hall early (at least on the first day, before the volunteer security people got debriefed). Note the teeming hordes, successfully avoided:



6. I got to play a game of Settlers on the fancy-schmancy three-dimensional board and on a giant board (not shown, mostly because I take bad pictures).



7. Spouseless? Make your own.



8. Pretty:
   

I'd definitely go again - and since "JM et al" will probably go next year to visit with game publishers, it's likely. A downside is that it happens at the peak of raspberry picking time, when all the tiger lilies are in bloom and there's nothing I'd rather be than on our back porch watching them wave in the breeze.

Cineplexity report

The Cineplexity premier at the Wisconsin Film Festival (lo two weeks ago already) was a success. The room was pretty full and at least two games were going on at all times - and no one wanted to leave!

Summer game convention season is coming, and we'll be doing more of this stuff. It feels odd to be planning to go to my first con now, something I never did in my formative years.

Cineplexity World Premiere

Woot! From Dork Tidings:

The Official World Premier Rollout of Cineplexity will be an official event at the Wisconsin Film Festival!

And if that's not official enough, there's the Festival Event Program blurb, including:

Meet the creators and play the first movie game that's more than trivial!

Meet the creators? Guess I know where I'll be April 1. Mostly because we only have 1 car. Psych! I'm so excited!

Cap Times: "Big game time"

Madison-based Out of the Box recently landed a big distribution deal with Rio Grande Games, importer of European-style board games. The Capital Times explains why this is big news, and quotes some local gamer who sounds kind of familiar:

"You don't know who the winner will be until the last couple of turns," said Madison gamer Pete Hamon. "What makes them fun to me is you can do anything but you can't do everything."

Chairmen of the boards

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reviews some board games. They like Power Grid (who wouldn't?) but also, inexplicably, Liebrary. (BGG is not impressed, describing it as Balderdash with books.)

Dork Tower on Ticket to Ride

Today's comic by John Kovalic reveals that Ticket to Ride hooks everyone who plays it, at least in some way. I am immensely proud to say I played John and the lovely and talented Judith in their first-ever game a few weeks ago (unless, of course, they just said that to make us feel cool).

Pegasus Games anniversary

Our favorite game store's co-owner is interviewed briefly in the Wisconsin State Journal, in anticipation of their 25th anniversary bash. Listen to this:

"I don't think I could count all the parents that have come in and said how much the math skills and reading skills of their kids went up when they started playing these games," she said. "They have to do a lot of reading and deal with statistics." She said board games also help young people exercise and broaden their imaginations.

Popular table games in prison

This great Geeklist was posted at boardgamegeek.com by a Wisconsin corrections officer. After #8 it gets silly - people just piled on with crime- and prison-themed games - but up to that point is fascinating. His top 8 are:

1. Dominoes
2. Spades
3. Cribbage
4. Chess
5. Schafkopf (probably a WI anomaly, and just among jail staff)
6. Risk
7. Backgammon
8. Jenga

Chess seems like the most popular game in the Dane Co. jail I go to. The list author writes, and I concur:

Chess is definitely present, generally by a small avid group of inmates. Perhaps because of that, it seems that chess is the game that the players most often may be of different racial groups.

I've seen some beautifully ornate homemade cribbage boards fashioned from boxes, and I'm sure some of our book covers go to this cause. The score sheets are so numerous I don't even bother to post them as jail finds.

Scrabble is big; some of the "better" pods also have Life and Monopoly. Inmates' preferences for games are also reflected in the kinds of books they request. Chess strategy, Scrabble dictionaries, and Hoyle rules for card games are always in demand.

There was a scuffle in jail last May over a card game that resulted in a deputy's sprained ankle. The players involved allegedly weren't all inmates, iykwim.

Last weekend

I can only hope. Actually, it was pretty great. Four days off, visiting and spending time with many wonderful people, eating good food, playing games and watching the fireflies from the back porch.

JM worked up a prototype for Ticket to Ride Madison:

And, of course, I spent a lot of time in the raspberries and saw some fabulous bugs.

As well as some real bastards.

Dineplexity

So there's this card in a draft of JM's game that reads "Movie A meets movie B." To the film geeks who wrote it, it's easy, but regular folks are stumped whenever it comes up.

On the other hand, if there were a Dineplexity card game about food, "Restaurant A meets restaurant B" would be fun. Guess it's all in what you know.

Have mercy

Ticket to Ride Europe is now online. Pardon me while I OD.

"Jail overcrowding leads to disturbance"

The local NBC affiliate ran this story of a "pushing match" over a card game at the PSB that resulted in a deputy's sprained ankle. County Executive Falk and jail administrator Captain Plumer seem to disagree about whether jail staffing levels have increased over the last 10 years.

New addiction

I've got it bad. Some mornings my brain won't let me get out of bed until I draw the right cards in a dream-game of Ticket to Ride. Whoo whoo...

To make matters worse, Ticket to Ride Europe is here.

JM and I did a preliminary route analysis to find the routes most crucial to the greatest number of tickets. In our picture, blue trains signify the most important routes; then green, yellow, red, black, and finally no trains at all.

So far, each game has been unique as we try out the stations and risk the tunnel routes. I'm already tired of going from Stockholm to Cadiz, though that's just the luck of the draw. Whoo whoo...

Cineplexity on BGG

We just noticed that Cineplexity was added to Board Game Geek yesterday. Sweet!

Klugscheisser

I've been playing an absolutely criminal amount of online Ticket to Ride. The other day some kid in Oberammergau called me a Klugscheisser. I love it.

During one game, the table talk reached a different level. Another player commented that he (?) hoped his internet connection wouldn't fail, and it turned out he was an American engineer in Nigeria (if he's to be believed).

It turned out he'd recently been working in Baghdad, so I told him I had a relative who was to be deployed in a couple weeks. He told me what it was like - safer than it was a year ago, that Iraqis are friendly in person and very proud, that he wasn't there for the elections but guessed they were "controlled chaos." Finally, that he thought the US would be doing more to help by leaving. Sigh.

He totally stomped me in the game, too.

Ticket to Ride

I've been playing Ticket to Ride online. Dangerous.

Now it can be told

Cineplexity, the movie non-trivia trivia game JM and longtime friends Sean and John designed, is finally out. Well, up on Out of the Box's web site, anyway. I know you were all dying from the suspense.

This is the coolest thing to happen at my house, ever. Congratulations, guys.

Gaming in the library

I recently talked with a colleague about games in the library, and she told me that there are the tentative beginnings of a plan afoot to bring computer gaming programs to ours. This NOLA program naturally grabbed my attention.

Games in the library

Laura at Creative Librarian writes about the possible benefits of a computer game demo night at the library. Though I'm more of a board game gal, I still say, hear hear. Play literacy works for the littlest ones; why stop there?

Jesscoalesce is no longer with us, but she once asked why more libraries don't stock board games. I'm still not sure. Fuzziness of vision? Too hard to circulate? Chess and checkers, those venerable canon games, are a common exception.

Then again, before investing too much in a program, a library might want to check into what established gaming groups exist. Maybe a bring-your-own-board-game night would work. Or game swap night. Hmm.

update: my husband, the game designer, has spurred a little discussion of this over at boardgamegeek.com...sneaky monkey.

Fluxx

So my latest, favoritest card game is Fluxx, which has been available for some time, but it still rocks. The concept is elegant: the rules and the object of the game change as you play, since they're printed right on the cards. It's so dang meta, I love it.

Some reviewers over at FunAgain Games dislike the randomness of play, but others wax poetic with metaphors of capital-L Life.

There is a Stoner version, but I want to make a Cataloger version. If anyone's used to integrating sets of seemingly arcane rules in a changing environment, it is should be librarians.

10 days; and, Spine and stuff

Currently madly infatuated with the "10 days in..." games from Out of the Box. "10 Days in the USA" is cool, but "10 Days in Africa" is cooler beacuse JM doesn't have an unfair advantage as one of those kids who knew the state capitals at age 4 and can name all the Wisconsin counties.

Also, TMBG's Spine is too, too short but I love it. "Thunderbird" and "Damn Good Times" take turns on mental repeat.

In other news, we're now homeowners. So, less loafing around blogging for a while as we make calls, hang blinds, move stuff and take frequent breaks to pick raspberries.

The A to Z reviews are backed up pretty far too, but expect reports for Babe's, Badger Bowl, Badgerland Bar & Grill, Bagels Forever, and Bahn Thai very soon. (One hint: avoid anything with Badger in the name.)

Dining rooms repurposed

So there's been some good discussion over at Apt. 11D and elsewhere of how today's modern, swinging families should use the formal dining rooms so common in houses of a certain age. Palabreria weighs in (mostly baby talk), and Mental Multivitamin has some gorgeous pictures of their dining room library.

I wouldn't have given this thread a second glance until now, but we've been house hunting and it's likely we'll end up with a formal dining room, though not by intent. We've considered making a dining room into an office, but the idea of more purpose- and community-driven uses, like a games room, is appealing. But

so much depends
upon

how many
people

are in a
family

and the house's
floor plan.

ugh - sorry.

jesscoalesce on board games in libraries

Hear hear! Something tells me I should know something about this, but I can't remember what it is.

Maybe it's just that circ staff balk at counting myriad tiny game pieces and that's what keeps more libraries from doing it.