Category Archives: News

Boardgames in the News: The Guardian

A lot of people familiar with the world of “Designer Boardgames” will tell you how it’s becoming more mainstream.  The opening of more and more and more boardgame cafés and features on the BBC are often cited as example of modern boardgames making it into the public conciousness.  The latest example is the “Board Games” section in the “Life & Style” magazine of The Guardian.

Wil Wheaton

So far they have published articles discussing Ticket to Ride and its effect on boardgaming; commenting on boardgames in society; debating the relationship between computer games and the growth of boardgames, and most recently, an interview with Wil Wheaton, actor, producer and presenter of TableTop, the online boardgame show, now in its third series.  Its not so much the content of the articles (though it is clear that these have been written by someone with an interest or who has done their research), it is the fact that that playing games is no longer something to be shy about:  being “a bit geeky” is no longer something to be ashamed of.

And that has to be a good thing.

Boardgames on The Apprentice

In the next episode of The Apprentice, Lord Sugar will be telling the candidates that they must design a brand new board game, then sell it to shops across London.  According to the press release, one team designs a globetrotting game for the whole family while the others come up with a dating game for adults.  It will be interesting to see if any of the candidates know anything at all about modern, Euro-style games and what their “industry experts” have to say on the subject.

The Apprentice

The episode will be broadcast on Wednesday 12th November on BBC 1 at 9pm.

Essen 2014

It is that time of year once again, when a boardgamer’s thoughts turn to Germany, specifically, Essen.  Essen is a German city in the industrial heartland on the River Ruhr.  In German, “Essen” means “food”, but to gamers it means “Spiel” – the largest games fair in Europe and, arguably, the world, The Internationale Spieltage (which is held in Essen of course).  The fair runs for four days every year and everyone who is anyone goes.   As in most years, a lot of new and exciting games are released at the Fair.  This year, amongst other things, there are expansions for some of our favourite games including Keyflower and Snowdonia.  There are (of course) lots of exciting new games as well, including Click & Crack, Castles of Mad King Ludwig, Evolution, Five Tribes, Cat Tower, Subdivision etc.  There are a few of us going this year and it is certain that they will bring back some exciting new toys to play with.

Essen

Our Second Birthday!

So we made it to our second birthday!  It has been tough at times, we’ve had the pub fire to contend with, and with such a small group we’ve been down to as few as two players and even had to cancel occasionally when circumstances have conspired against us.  But things have been looking more positive recently:  the pub has reopened, we’ve moved back and we’ve had a few new people – we’ve even had to play more than one game at a time recently!

So here’s to our third year, let’s see what it will bring!

Second Birthday

Boardgames in the News: The Trenches of WWI

It is widely believed that there is a bit of a boardgame revolution under-way, but perhaps it actually started one hundred years ago in the trenches of WWI.  As reported by by Steve Evans in “From Our Own Correnspondent”, although it is not widely known in the UK, the game “Mensch Ärgere Dich Nicht” was devised a century ago and became popular among German troops in the trenches.  Families at home would order games from the manufacturer, who would send them straight to the frontline.

Mensch Ärgere Dich nicht

The game play is simple:  players roll dice to move their four pieces round the board with the aim of being the first to get them home again.  The name translates as “Man, Don’t Get Annoyed With Me”, which comes from the fact that players who land on another piece send it back to the start and it has to start all over again.  In the UK it’s closest relation is Ludo, but there were also a range of variants which were popular in the 1980s, like “Frustration” or “Pop-o-matic Trouble”.  The game is actually much older, however, dating back to sixteenth century India, where it is known as Pachisi, and there were similar games played by the Aztecs centuries before.

Trouble

 

Spiel des Jahres Winners – 2014

Camel Up (confusingly also known as Camel Cup) has just been announced as the winner of the German Game of the Year, or Spiel des Jahres.  This is a game of betting on camel racing, trying to suss out one which will place first and second in a quick race around a pyramid. The earlier you place your bet, the more you can win — should you guess correctly, of course…!

Camel Up

At the same time the Kennerspiel des Jahres, was awarded.  This honours more challenging games and was introduced in 2011 to replace the jury’s habit of intermittent special awards for games too complex for the Spiel des Jahres, but were still deserving of recognition.  This award went to Istanbul, in which players have navigate a merchant and his assistants through the bazaar collecting jewels.  The challenge is planning ahead to avoid being left with no assistants and thus unable to do anything.

Istanbul

We’ve not played either game in the group yet, but I’m sure we’ll give them a try as soon as we get the chance.

Games Sommeliers – in Oxford!

Boardgames have made it onto the radio again, this time with an eight-minute article on the BBC Radio 4 magazine programme, You & Yours.  The recording was done at Thirsty Meeples, the Boardgames Café in Oxford and broadcast on 4th July.  They interview a few customers as well as Simon one of the “Game Gurus”, or a “Games Sommelier” as they describe them, and John Morgan, the Manager.  Amongst other things, they play King of Tokyo, which is a dice rolling game that uses a Yahtzee mechanic and discuss what they do with lost pieces.

You & Yours

Spiel des Jahres Nominations – 2014

Every year the a jury of German-speaking board game critics (from Germany, Austria, Switzerland), review games released in Germany in the preceding twelve months and award the best the German Game of the Year, or Spiel des Jahres.  The criteria used include:

  • game concept (originality, playability, game value),
  • design (functionality, workmanship),
  • layout (box, board, rules),
  • rule structure (composition, clearness, comprehensibility).

Last year, the winner was Hanabi, and previous winners include, favourites like Ticket to Ride: Europe, Niagara, Zooloretto, Alhambra, and Carcassonne.  The nominees for this year have just been announced and include (amongst others) Splendor, which we played last time we met.

Spiel des Jahres

Museums at Night – Games in Oxford!

Tonight is “Museums at Night” night in Oxford.  Each free event will offer a late night experience showcasing a vast array of objects, animals, instruments, sounds and specimens from across the globe.  All the museums in Oxford are participating, but the part that most interests us is the Games Night in the History of Science Museum.  This event is in association with the games cafe, “Thirsty Meeples” and includes talks as well as activities.  Fun for all the family – some of the GOATS will definitely be there!