Buried in the sands of time....

Will we still be playing board games in a few millenia?  Check out this article about game designer Jason Rohrer, who won a design contest after burying his board game in the Nevada desert. Seriously.

Rattling off a list of board game materials that would be unlikely to last the intended passage of time (wood, cardboard, aluminum, glass), Rohrer ultimately decided to make the game from a resilient metal. He machined the 18-inch by 18-inch game board and the pieces future players will use out of 30 pounds of titanium.

Rohrer laid out the game's rules diagrammatically on three pages of archival, acid-free paper, hermetically sealed them inside a Pyrex glass tube — which were then housed inside a titanium baton — and set about burying them in the earth.

Although some 900 clues were handed out at the conference, Rohrer suggests it could take 2700 years to finally unearth the game.  (I imagine the desert will have expanded greatly by then.)

Sadly, no one but a computer has actually played the game or seen in it in its entirety which seems like a waste.  It definitely makes it impossible to predict whether it'll be a candidate for the 2736th annual Spiel des Jahres award or even whether the Kickstarter campaign will get funded.  Sigh.

(Thanks for the tip, Sibs...)

Wanna be (sorta) famous?

North Star Games is looking for user-submitted questions for Wits & Wagers and user-submitted horrendous gift ideas for Crappy Birthday.  If you enjoy these games as much as I do, you might want to get your name on a card.

Contest details here.

Crappy birthday to you! Crappy birthday to you! Crappy birthday dear......

....Robert Cannon!!!  Looks like he's receiving a new copy of Crappy Birthday!  (Sorry all that the draw took so long - my life has been on fast-forward for the last month.)

The worst gift Robert received was what he states to be a truly awful trivia board game, The Worst-Case Scenario Survival Game.  Sounds thrilling.  Some of the other crappy birthday gifts sent in included Reese's Peanut Butter Cups to someone who is deathly allergic, Dallas Cowboys Monopoly (oh my god, kill me), and a particularly obscene homemade statue whose picture I won't post here combining an elf and the baby Jesus (thanks, Maurizio, for that little gem).

Thanks to the ever-useful random.org for choosing a winner once again.

Short thoughts on 'In The Year of The Dragon'...

If the brutally cutthroat Age of Steam hooked up with Princes of Florence and its very limited actions and then had a really Euro baby that was delivered by the balls-against-the-wall Agricola, you'd probably get something like ITYOTD.  It's painful, viciously strategic, and pared down to its brutal agonizing essence.  I like it.  A LOT. 
In my second game I was nice and didn't starve two other players of rice which would have killed the majority of their people.  For that I lost to both of them.  Lesson learned.


TOTALLY UNRELATED SIDE NOTE:  Stephen Finn of Dr. Finn's Games is trying to get some honest feedback on the design of his upcoming game Merchant of Death.  And he's giving away a bunch of free copies of his great card game Biblios in a contest for anyone who responds.  Check it out here and help out a great indy game developer.

Ticket To Ride contest...

In anticipation of my first game of TTR with the Monster expansion this weekend, I must mention the new contest being put on by Days of Wonder (contest details here).  They are giving away 10,000 bucks to the person who designs the best TTR board for the upcoming expansions due out the end of this year.  To be honest, I probably won't bother designing a board for the contest, I'm just excited about NEW TICKET TO RIDE BOARDS IN OCTOBER!!!!!!   WOOHOO!!!!

Game giveaway finished...

Sending out emails to the winners right now.  Not sure if people want their names posted so I'll them out.  Thanks to everyone who responded and I'm sorry if you missed out on this round.  I imagine the way I seem to be purchasing games lately that this'll probably end up being a bi-annual event.

21 emails, 9 winners who have Random.org to thank for their games.  Cheers...

Some random tidbits...

Age of Industry - I've waited a couple years to play Martin Wallace's Brass but I never picked it up because it seemed too complicated for my group.  I now have this streamlined version in my hot little hands...  Yippee!

Haggis - No, not the food.  Check out Brian Bankler's description of this 2-3 player version of Tichu.  Sounds a little gentler but still quite strategic.  Now I'll have to play Tichu all the time.

Game giveaway! - In case you missed the post last week, check it out here.  I'll draw names on Friday!

UPDATED:  Age of Industry just won the International Gamers Award for 2010!  The IGA is like the serious strategy gamers' version of the Spiel des Jahres.  Even more excited to play it now. 

Cleaning out the closet... GAME GIVEAWAY!!!!!

I have been told... er, I mean, "asked" to trim down the game collection a bit.  We live in a small condo and we are starting to run out of shelf space so I'm ditching some games.  I suppose I could sell 'em but I thought, hey, why not just give them away to the readers of this humble little blog here who have stuck around even though I've posted minimally for the last couple months.  So I'm more than happy to send these babies off to a new home where they'll be taken care of.  All I ask is that if you want one of the big games, just send like 10 bucks my way via PayPal or something to cover some of the shipping. 

If you're interested, shoot me an email at domcontests@hotmail.com with a list of the games you'd want in order of your preference.  I'll draw winners in a week or so.  And if as many people as last time enter, you're likely to get something...

The 9 games up for grabs are:

Top Dogs - A cute, little card game that was WAY too lightweight for our group.  Might be great for a family, though, as it has some decisions and basic multiplication skills are required.

Vikings - Played this a couple times and tried to get into it.  Just seemed like a few too many rules to get through before the game emerged.  Oh well, it's a hit on BGG so you might love it.

Dos Rios - Played once.  Fun but rather long.  Had that take-down-the-leader aspect that makes me despise Settlers of Catan.  It's all yours...

Shadows Over Camelot - Some people SWEAR by this game.  I'll stick with Lord of The Rings and Pandemic.

Once Upon A Time - A game about telling stories where you actually have to tell stories.  Only played it once and it was so long ago, I've forgotten how it went.  But it's not my thing anyways.

Incan Gold - Please take it.  This game brings so many groups of people so much joy and I find it to be just tedious.  But then, I'm kinda fussy.... 

Union Pacific - An old Alan Moon game that isn't half bad despite being a bit too long.  Kinda plays like Ticket To Ride meets Acquire.  I think I'll stick with Ticket To Ride and Acquire.  Note: A card is missing but the game is still totally playable.  I've had to mark some stock cards to indicate this.  Take it or leave it.  The game is OOP so it's impossible to get a replacement card, sadly.

Carolus Magnus - I actually think this Leo Colovini game is quite clever and original.  But the last couple of games have ended in a roll-off much like every game I seem to play of Settlers of Catan.  Happy to pass it on to someone who'll appreciate the extremely clever design.  This is the hardest to part with but we just haven't played it in over a year so why keep it.

Cranium: Super-expensive turbo power edition (or something) - This was a gift.  Trust me.  And it was played twice.  With the person who gave it to me.  'Nuff said.  If you like Cranium, I'm told this is the ultimate version.  And it's even got a loud, flashing lighted timer.  I have Wits and Wagers and Dixit to keep me happy.

(As you can tell, I'd probably give away our copy of Settlers, too, if I didn't think my partner would kill me.  And it is a good memory...  the first of many Euros...)

And the winners are....

Stephany Lopers and Chad Weaver!!!  Congrats on the draw for a copy of the new Wits & Wager Family.  Expect an email from me in the next day or so.  And thanks to everyone who submitted their guesses...

Wits & Wagers Family review... and contest giveaway!!!

A couple disclaimers before I approach this review.  First, I am a big fan of the original Wits & Wagers, it being one of the only party games I enjoy playing and one I will happily play at any time.  And second, I have only played Wits & Wagers Family with adults, not necessarily the intended target audience, as my extended family lives pretty far away.  Having said all that, the adults I played with were happy to try this version of W&W and in the end, we enjoyed it greatly.  Here's why...

Components and Rules

The components and artwork of the original W&W were quite nice and completely usable.  However, there just wasn't much actual art which makes sense given that it really is a trivia game. One of the delights of the family version are the new pictures on the score and answer boards and the cute little meeple pieces a la Carcassonne.  It actual makes the game quite appealing, even for us adults, and adds to the experience (I had the soccer-playing meeple!)  The trivia questions themselves are of the usual high-quality seen in other versions of the game.

The new rules are short and simpler than the original, which is not a bad thing at all given the target demographic.  This game took about 30 seconds to explain to adults and wouldn't take much longer for kids.  And as usual, there is added info about the designers and company in the rules leaflet - it is always nice to see credit where credit is due.  Verdict:  Excellent.  Very cute artwork and pieces, great colours, and crystal-clear super-simple rules.

Gameplay

The gameplay itself is basically the same as the original Wits & Wagers with a few changes.  For those who haven't tried the original, it's pretty simple.  A trivia question with a numerical answer is asked and everyone secretly writes down what they think the answer is.  Once everyone has a number written down, the answers are flipped over and ordered from smallest to largest.  Now here's the good part.  Everyone places their markers, a large meeple and a small meeple, on the answer they think is closest without going over.  So you don't need to know the right answer.  You don't even have to be close.  But you can guess who does have the right answer and bet according to them or even play it safe by going low.

The answer is revealed and the one which is closest without going over gets that player a point (think Price is Right...)  And then every small and large meeple on the winning answer scores its owner one or two points, respectively.  This is one of the key differences between the family version and the original.  In the original, the players can gamble as much money as they want to risk.  In this game, they only have two pieces to place simplifying the process greatly and minimizing the decisions.   And this isn't necessarily a bad thing.  I prefer the gambling aspect of the original myself but this removes some of the nastiness without completely removing the strategy.

This leads to the other major difference.  Players play to a set number of points which means our games went on for about 10-15 rounds.  This felt fine but definitely was longer than the set 7 rounds of the original.  Combine this with the lack of a timer for players and you have a longer game, perfect for a family but maybe not for gamers looking for a quick fix.  As well, the questions themselves are definitely made for a younger demographic (think lots of Disney questions) but we still found them surprisingly tough as adults...  maybe because we weren't the target audience.  Verdict:  Great.  The same fun of the original minus a bit of the tension.  Simpler but still quite enjoyable.

Conclusion

What can I say?  I enjoy the original W&W and this one ain't much different.  The scoring is simpler, as are the questions, so it will definitely be more appropriate for a family.  The game is also a little longer than the original which might be a negative for some but it still plays in about 30 minutes.  So it really depends who you are playing with.  For my group of friends, the original Wits & Wagers is perfect but in a family setting, the family version is ideal.  I'll be keeping both on hand so I can be playing this great game at any time.

And now for the GIVEAWAY!!!!!!

The great people at NorthStar Games who published this game are giving away two copies of it to some lucky readers of this little blog.  Here's what you have to do...

Send your name and the answers of the following two questions to domcontests@hotmail.com:

1)  Name two other games besides Wits & Wagers that are published by NorthStar Games.

2)  Which magazine named Wits & Wagers "Party Game of the Year"?

One entry for emailing plus one more for each correct answer for up to three entries!  (Hint:  the answers are on the company website http://www.northstargames.com/.)  You have until the end of Friday, April 30th to enter the contest and winners will be announced on Saturday, May 1st.  Good luck!