Game Nite magazine issue 5 by Game Nite Magazine

Game Nite

Issue # 5

the magazine of tabletop gaming

ee r F

y Pla d n e! t a nsid n i Pr me I Ga

GAME REVIEWS BETH SOBEL

BRUNO FAIDUTTI “HOBBY GAMES THE 100 BEST”

BOARD GAME HISTORY PT. 4

AND MORE!

IN THIS ISSUE:

STATS 13

REVIEWS 14

Animal Upon Animal

Sushi Draft

Stones of Fate

WWII: Stalingrad

Stockpile

The Magnates

Sentinel Tactics

Flip City

Space Movers 2201

Dark Tales

Game Nite Readership Top 30 Countries by Readership.

INTERVIEWS

Stacking Fun.

Tasty Filler?

Bruno Faidutti

Beth Sobel

Renowned Designer.

Game Artist.

BOOK REVIEW

Memory Game.

Russian War Game.

Hobby Games The 100 Best.

EDUCATION

Stock Market Winner.

Polish History.

Games in Education

How To...

Game Teaching.

Framed Game Art.

COMICS

Superhero Game.

Micro Deckbuilder.

Comic Strip Game Night comic strip.

CONTRIBUTORS

Space Co-op.

Game Nite Contributors

PRINT AND PLAY

Dark Fairy Tales.

HISTORY 04

Boardgame History

Part IV The Middle Ages.

Vintage Boardgames

Vintage Games From the Past.

Micro Rome

Hnefatafl

PnP by Michael Bevilacqua.

Historical PnP.

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FROM THE GAMING TABLE

Game Nite ISSUE # 5

e sure to check out the “Game Nite Stats” page! It includes a map featuring the top 30 countries, rated by readership. We are humbled and stunned at the global reach that the magazine has had. The latest country… Nigeria! John Anthony Gulla continues his series on “The History of Tabletop Games”, this time he looks at the board games of The Middle Ages. As a bonus, one of this issue’s Print and Play games is Hnefatafl, which is mentioned in the article! Bill Braun has written two reviews. One is Sentinel Tactics, and the other is Space Movers 2201. Bill has some interesting thoughts on each of them . We would like to welcome two new contributors: Jeff Rhind who contributed an excellent “how to” article on Framing Game Art and Kevin Cox who will be contributing a Vintage Games series. Disclosure: Bill Braun reviews Kevin’s game Space Movers 2201 in this issue, but he was unaware that Kevin would be joining us, as Kevin and I kept that a secret, so as not to influence the review. We would like to thank Bruno Faidutti and Beth Sobel for taking time from their busy schedules to share their thoughts. Congratulations to Seth Van Orden and Nauvoo Games for winning an “Editor’s Choice Award” for their excellent Stockpile. This is a great stock market game that is both fun and easy to play! Special thanks to Michael Bevilacqua and Damian Walker for providing our readers with the Print and Play games for this issue! If you are a writer, photographer, etc. and feel you have something unique to contribute to the magazine, feel free to contact me to discuss it. We’d love to have you on board!

Serge Pierro

Cover Photograph by Serge Pierro. Stones of Fate © Cosmic Wombat Games

Editor in Chief/Publisher: Serge Pierro Editor: Eric Devlin Contributing Writers: Bill Braun David Niecikowski Kevin Lauryssen John Anthony Gulla Kevin Cox Jeff Rhind Photographers: Serge Pierro Bill Braun Kevin Cox Jeff Rhind Follow us on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/GameNiteMagazine Visit us at:

www.gamenitemagazine.com

Editor in Chief

editor@gamenitemagazine.com

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History

The History of Tabletop Games By John Anthony Gulla

Part IV - The Middle Ages 500 - 1500 A.D.

orthern Europe, c. 850 A.D.: In this entry, we pick up the trail of gaming history by fast forwarding a few hundred years and moving well north yet again, this time to the lands and people of the Northern European territories. After Gothic invasions precipitated the fall of Roman society in South and Western Europe during the 5th century, the Vikings eventually became the dominant force in the North, spreading their influence and way of life to many heavily populated areas there. While all of these cultures (including Norse, Celtic, and Germanic tribes, et al.) differed greatly and in many ways from the peoples in Greece and Rome in Antiquity, they did seem to inherit some of their traditions and inventions. Not least among these were some rather popular board games, for which the Vikings and others would make famous in their time. In the previous article, we covered the ubiquitous Roman game Latrunculi, which itself was likely based in part on the older Greek game Petteia, and we briefly mentioned some evidence that it may have begun evolving in complexity during the later Roman period. While it is tough to ascertain exactly when and where such changes were standardized (or by whom), we can nevertheless trace the origins of the most prevalent Norse games back to this time by recognizing the similarities in how they play.

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Hnefatafl, perhaps the most well-recognized and popular Norse period game, bears striking resemblances in both overall design and play mechanics to the aforementioned Roman game Latrunculi. A 2-playeronly game (with each side’s pieces assigned a different color), Henfatafl takes place on a square grid likened to the ones used in earlier Greco-Roman games and gameplay is generally assumed to have functioned according to a similar set of movement and capture rules. Many examples of grids from the Tafl family of games—for which there existed more than a few variants split by region and time period— are found carved into stone buildings and flat surfaces in numerous places throughout Northern Europe, with the board’s sizes differing slightly between examples. The most popular

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size grids found are either 11 x 11 or 12 x 12, remaining similar, again, to the much older games it likely stems from. This, however, is where the similarities between Hnefetafl and its predecessors stop, and where the Norse influence begins.

Hnefatafl is particularly remarkable for its truly innovative, asymmetrical gameplay and setup, as well as for its use of a special “king” piece. Additionally, it delivers a more thematic connection to its gameplay and overall objective. Beginning our investigation of these traits by gaining evidence through etymology, the term “tafl” translates fairly straightforwardly into English as “table,” (i.e. a tabletop); the meaning of the “Hnefa,” prefix, though, is somewhat less certain. Most scholars believe it must refer to the game’s most important and distinguishing feature, the sole “king” piece found in the very center of the board at setup. Continued on next page>

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History (Cont.) Many older sources do indeed refer to the same game as “King’s table.” Even more intriguing is how this king piece functions. The king is found in the exact center of the board at the start of the game, surrounded on all sides by his “guards” (i.e. regular game pieces of the same color), which that player can move in any one direction orthogonally during his turn. The other player controls the “invaders,” which consists only of regular pieces (no king), and which are distributed evenly along the edge of all four sides of the board during setup. Various setups have been documented among the Tafl family of games, though all of them seem to share the same goal: the invading player must capture the king by using his pieces to surround the king on all sides, thus making it impossible for the king piece to move. The win condition for the player who controls the king and his cohort, however, is simply to have the king successfully move either to the edge of the board, or, in some cases (through variant setups and differing rules sets) to one of the four specially-marked corners or spaces. Regular pieces are also able to be captured in much the same fashion as Hnefatafl’s predecessors, allowing for strategic gameplay decisions to be made on either side throughout. In order to capture any regular piece, a player must maneuver his pieces to be on either side of an opponent’s piece (essentially “sandwiching” the other player’s piece), and they may then remove that piece from the board. Doing so may provide a player with a numbers advantage over time, thus, furthering the ease by which they may be able to achieve their main objective. So, while play mechanics do not vary for either side, the overall objective is quite different.

women of this time period) of an actual invading Viking force storming the great hall of an opposing tribe’s king. In such a situation, it would have been imperative for a king to escape such an assault, or for an invading force to capture and/or kill the king in order to be successful. One cannot help but see this as the direct inspiration for the theme and win conditions found in Hnefatafl. While the great literary work Beowulf does not involve such an exact scenario in it, those familiar with that story may certainly feel a connection to the theme of the invasion of the great hall by a powerful enemy, and the importance of battle/direct confrontation to the Norse peoples overall. With these thoughts in mind, it is easy to see why Hnefatafl, a game with such an appropriate aesthetic in terms of both its gameplay and theming, ruled as the most popular tabletop game of the period. Eventually, Hnefatafl’s popularity gave way to Chess around the 12th century, though, that is a topic better left for a later entry.

England, c. 1350 A.D.: Another game that shows This asymmetric objective and beginning setup (i.e. a evidence of heavy play during the Middle Ages is Merels. king in the center of his hall surrounded by his guard and Better known today as Nine Men’s Morris due perhaps the invaders lined up on all sides) conjures forth what to its reference in Shakespeare’s A Mid-summer Night’s may well have been a very real scenario (for the men and Dream, Merels is yet another game whose roots stretch

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Interview back well into the Roman period, but that endured and even flourished in the later Middle Ages – especially so in England during the 14th century. Like that of the Tafl games, many Merels boards have been found carved into stone and even inside cathedrals which date back to the period. Some references even speak of large Merels boards having been carved into the grasses of open areas and used for giant-sized games during this time. Whereas Hnefatafl enjoyed much of its success due to having been thematically linked to its people, Merels seems to have persisted more in part to its easyto-understand, abstract concept, quick setup, and many strategic options available during gameplay. The board consisted of three concentric (but also conjoined) squares marked with a series of points at each corner and mid-point of each side of the three squares. The main idea of the game was to have your pieces form a straight line on the board, either horizontally or vertically in most variants, using the pre-set points and creating what was referred to in the game as a “mill.” Only one piece could be situated at a point at any given time, meaning blocking and strategic movement was important to the overall strategy of play. When a player successfully created a mill, that player then removed an opposing player’s piece from the board. Interestingly, Merels was one of the first games in existence to use the setup as part of the actual game’s course of play and overall strategy, since the game began with an empty board. Players then took turns placing their piece on a point, essentially drafting spots on the board in order to begin. It is possible to form a mill even during this initial placement phase of the game, so players must consider where they place each piece carefully. Once both players have placed nine pieces each, the next phase began. In this phase, player’s move their existing pieces one “leg” (i.e. from one point to an adjacent point) and continue to try and form a mill. In some variants, the game went on in this way until one player’s pieces were captured down to two (thereby giving them

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“...Merels was one of the first games in existance to use the setup as part of the actual game’s course of play...” no chance to form a mill). According to some sources, however, other Merels games included a final phase which began when one player had only three of his or her pieces remaining. During this phase— which may well be the world’s first “catch-up mechanic”— the player with only three remaining pieces was allowed to move any of their pieces to any open spot on the board, thus ignoring the adjacent movement rule. In any case, Nine Men’s Morris seems to have enjoyed many years of popularity in Northern Europe and is still played today. These two excellent examples of wildly-popular games from the Middle Ages, both of which much older in origin, exemplify the era and how the ancient traditions of tabletop gaming continued to thrive across thousands of years and even in wholly different civilizations. They were not, however, the only games that were being played at this time. I hope you will join me again next issue as we delve into some of the more obscure and fascinating games of the late Middle Ages and continue along on our journey into The Renaissance and Reformation period of history. In the meantime, I suggest you make good use of the print-and-play, modern version of Hnefatafl found later in this issue and enjoy playing!

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Book Review

Hobby Games The 100 Best

By Serge Pierro

100 Hobby Game Essays

other games from the recent “Golden Age” of gaming. When looking back at 2007 the lines were still clearly defined by Eurogames, war-games and RPG’s and the book reflects this. However, these genres are essential when one considers that a benefit of reading this book is noting how many of these games influenced both game designers and the industry as a whole.

RPG enthusiasts will be happy to see that there are a large number of them represented. I thought that there were too many, but the ones that were included did were interesting. I would have preferred to have seen some other card or board games included in their place.

There’s a nice foreward by Reiner Knizia as well as a table of contents for those who wish to cherry pick their favorite games and/or designers. I admit this was the first thing I did, but then started at the beginning and read it from cover to cover. The games are listed alphabetically, but it would have been really nice if it was laid out chronologically for those interested in reading about how the industry and the games themselves evolved .

There are quite a few war-games mentioned throughout the book. All of the classics are here: Squad Leader, Panzer Blitz, Gettysburg and more. An abundance of Avalon Hill games are featured.

ne of the gaming trends over the last several years, is for people to compile their personal “top ten” lists, as well as larger lists. Editor James Lowder has assembled a fine collection of one hundred hobby games and industry insiders.

There is a plethora of top notch designers sharing their thoughts throughout. This list includes: Gary Gygax, Richard Garfield, Alan Moon, Bruno Faiduti, Steve Jackson, James Ernest, Mike Fitzgerald amongst others. Of course the main feature is what the gaming personalities had to say about the games. Some examples: Martin Wallace on Power Grid, Mike Fitzgerald on Ticket to Ride, Richard Garfield on Dungeons and Dragons and Jordan Weisman on Magic the Gathering, plus many more. One of the benefits of reading the book is that you will discover new games, as well as the personalities behind the essays. I came away with wanting to play several wargames that I was not very familiar with, and also wanting to discover more games by some of the writers who struck me as having interesting insights.

The afterword by James F. Dunnigan is quite interesting. He tracks the development of games by cross-referencing them with the emergence of the “geek” culture. Although it is a short it packs a lot of information and history on how this phenomena impacted the gaming industry. If you are looking for some inspiration on your next game purchase, then this is a book for you. If you are a game designer and want to know what the top designers believe are commendable games, then this book is for you. If you are interested in the history of the hobby game industry, then this book is for you, too. This is an excellent collection of essays that will provide readers with great insights into many of the top games and designers.

Editor: James Lowder Publisher: Green Ronin Publishing

It is important to realize that this book was first published in 2007, so there are none of the newer gameplay innovations like Dominion or for that matter, any of the

Highly Recommended www.greenronin.com

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Issue #5

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Education

Belief,Practice and Theory in Game Teaching

By David Niecikowski, ABD, MAED/CI

relate to a formal theory in an effort to inspire personal reflection among game teachers reading this article.

any gamers who teach games come to realize that not all game types or themes will appeal to a player. Game teachers also consider which games to introduce to a new player based on the perceived background, cognitive ability, and attention span of the player. Over time a game teacher fine tunes his/her understanding of which games are accessible based on player attributes and past gaming experiences with the same or similar players. More experienced game teachers, sometimes referred to as ‘Alpha Gamers’, can be heard at gaming events, seen on video, or read on forums debating their beliefs of which games are ‘light’, ‘medium’, ‘heavy’, or ‘gateway’ games. Although this phenomena exists in other discourse communities (e.g., which books are best at what ages), what I find interesting as a researcher is how do these beliefs evolve and how often are they based on academic theory? Discussing these questions is an attempt to further explore the focus of these articles that I introduced last issue which is primarily on new players and families becoming game literate and long term members of the gaming community.

As a child I can remember my older brothers, who were six to ten years older than me, saying that I was too young to play certain games with them. However, by age eight I was introduced to Dungeon and Dragons and then eventually Squad Leader by age 12. Throughout middle school, high school, and as an undergraduate in 1980’s and early 1990’s I was the game teacher for the games I purchased and my friends and brothers taught the games they purchased. I was not cognitive (nor members of my gaming groups) of whether a game was too difficult to play but theme was likely the only factor in our decision whether or not to learn a new game. When faced with a difficult game we slogged through it as best we could and because most of us were alpha/veteran gamers, we seldom encountered situations where a player was totally new to the hobby. Overall, my experience with introducing the hobby to new players was limited as veteran gamers sought out other veteran gamers through networking and meet-ups at game stores and local conventions.

In academia, theories can be accepted, championed, challenged, or rejected as well as beliefs in a particular community. The major difference is that theories are more often formally based on evidence and/or a corpus of literature that can be tested or observed under certain conditions. Beliefs can be synonymous to theory but advocates of a belief may not be formally trained to justify his/her belief based on evidence and understanding of available literature. I will explain how my game teaching beliefs and practices evolved and

This all changed during the time span of when our girlfriends became wives and we had children, at least for me. Maybe for the first time while I was an undergraduate I started to consider whether my future wife, a non-gamer at the time, could handle the complexity of some games and game length. Game nights with family and friends involved selecting lighter, quicker games to be played with certain members and then, while they went off to do something non-game related, the veteran gamers played the heavier, more time consuming games. As a result, categorizing

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games to be played extended beyond theme to games to be played based on complexity and length. This was further elaborated in consideration of the cognitive development of targeted players when my two boys became toddlers/pre-school aged in the early 2000â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s. As my boys progressed through their elementary years I also progressed as a classroom teacher and pursued my Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. It was the combination of my graduate pursuits and having young children that became the catalyst for me to consider using games to increase social and academic achievement. My focus at this time was almost entirely on the practice (belief ) of using games as educational tools; i.e., which games were more appropriate based on student background (cognitive development) and

which games were better suited for certain academic subjects and standards (theme). Until most recently, I was unable to articulate the theoretical principals behind these practices/beliefs. Today I believe, based on my observations of social cultural situations, that certain games are more accessible or appropriate than others when considering the background and experience of a targeted player. Despite being introduced to the theory as an undergraduate, I did not connect my belief and associated practices to the theory of Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1978) until taking a doctoral course on Vygotsky and Education three years ago. Referencing Vygotsky (1978), Moll (2012) defines Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) as â&#x20AC;&#x153;the contrast between what a child can do Continued on next page>

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Education (Cont.) independently, representing his or her actual level of development, and what a child can do with the assistance of others, which represents the proximal level of development” (p. 29). By example, a child who can accurately learn the rules to a game and play it to it to a satisfying conclusion without adult assistance is operating in his/her developmental level. In the case when a child cannot perform a task independently, Moll (2012) recommends “instruction… should be aimed not at what the child can already do without help, but proximally, at those abilities that are developing, that can only be manifested with the assistance of others”; i.e., within the child’s ZPD (p. 29).

more choices or games that require long term planningstrategizing (such as Stone Age, Splendor, Carcassonne, Catan, Alien Frontiers, Flash Point, Ticket to Ride, Colt Express, King of Tokyo, Lords of Waterdeep, Revolution, Bang the Card Game, and Battleline) but will need help recalling rules or making calculations accurately as these games are within this player’s ZPD. When playing these more challenging games, this player will often lose many games at first, while often expressing frustration, before figuring out an effective strategy. As a result, this player has not expressed interest in playing 7 Wonders and Roll for the Galaxy again after several frustrating plays. As a game teacher who understands this player’s ZPD, I will not introduce, unless this player asks, Legendary The term ‘child’ is referenced in the quotes above but or X-Wing as it would lead to frequent correcting the word ‘player’ can be substituted. I realize that game and advising of the decisions this player would make. teachers facilitate how to play a new game to players In other words, the assistance needed to compensate who are capable of learning the game on their own and for playing a game at the limits of this player’s ZPD that it is a matter of social practice that someone in the would make for a frustrating and unenjoyable gaming group must read and learn the game rules. However, experience for this player. Most classic Avalon Hill and there are situations where a veteran game teacher has SPI war games are outside this player’s ZPD. to mediate the learning of the game based on a player’s background and experience or otherwise the game will Hopefully I have demonstrated through the sharing not be played or attempts to play the game without of my brief self-ethnography how social and cultural assistance will result in a negative experience due to the interactions mediate beliefs and historical experiences difficulty of learning how to play the game. and how formal education can shape the formal identification of a theoretical framework of principles With knowledge of this theory (and associated to explain a particular practice (in this case the teaching components and literature) my metacognition of games). I encourage you to self-reflect on your own (thinking about one’s thinking) of teaching games has practice of game teaching. My own practice will continue led to a conscious articulation that will continue to to evolve over time informed by academic theories as I evolve overtime. For example, there is an adult member look forward to continuing the journey of self-discovery of my gaming community who has cognitive/memory while collaborating and interacting with others. difficulties due to illness. I am very much aware that this player will be more successful and enjoy games that Reference are shorter in length and that have turns with a limited Moll, L. C. (2012). L.S. Vygotsky and education. number of choices. Thus, dice, card, tile-laying, and Unpublished manuscript, Department of Language, dexterity games tend to fit this category, such as Zombie Reading, and Culture, University of Arizona, Tucson, Dice, Bang the Dice Game, Qwirkle Cubes, Lost Cities, AZ. Love Letter, For Sale, Tsuro, Blokus, Ingenious, Cash ‘N Guns, and Tumblin’ Dice, which are at this player’s Vygotsky, L. S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, developmental level. This person can handle games with MA: Harvard University Press.

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Game Nite Stats

Top Readership by Country 1. USA 2. UK 3. Canada 4. France 5. Germany 6. Spain 7. Brazil 8. Australia 9. Netherlands 10. Belgium

11. China 12. Italy 13. Ireland 14. Japan 15. Russia 16. India 17. Sweden 18. South Korea 19. Portugal 20. Thailand

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21. Malaysia 22. Singapore 23. South Africa 24. Finland 25. Greece 26. Taiwan 27. Mexico 28. Switzerland 29. Phillipines 30. Serbia

Game Review Animal Upon Animal By Serge Pierro

Stacking Fun!

here are some dexterity and stacking games that can be a little too difficult for younger children, so it is nice to see a game that is viable for youngsters and yet still engaging for parents and older players. Children’s game publisher, HABA, is well known for the quality of their game components and “Animal Upon Animal” is no exception. The game comes with 29 wooden animals that are painted various colors. One of the niceties about the paint job is that on several of the animals, the sheep in particular, the grain pattern of the wood comes through, adding to the aesthetic quality of the pieces. The game also includes a large, custom wooden die. The multi-language rulebook is twenty-four pages long, however only four pages are relevant to any one language.

The hand symbol means that you give one of your animals to another player and they have to then place it on the stack. The last effect is the question mark and it allows the other players to conspire and tell you which animal you have to place this turn. In the case of a player causing the stack to collapse, the following rules are implemented: If one or two animals fall, that player takes them and places them in front of them, along with any of their other animals. If more than two fall, the player chooses two of them to join their other animals and return the extras to the box. The game ends when a player has no animals left in front of them and they are declared the winner.

Once again a HABA game proved to be entertaining to players of all ages. Children enjoyed the game, while also developing their motor skills and hand/eye coordination. It was fun to watch them cautiously placed the animals onto the back of the crocodile and their expression of sheer surprise/terror when the stack fell. In a twisted manner, the To start the game, players will place the Crocodile adults who played the game made it more about taunting in the middle of the table. Each player will then take the player whose turn it was, and it found its way to the seven different animals and place them in front of table as a late night filler after an evening of heavier gaming. them, placing any remaining animals back into the box. This is a game that will last a family a long time, due to both Players will then take turns rolling the die and resolving the quality of the components as well as the game play for the effect of the roll. The die has five different faces, the various age groups. “Animals Upon Animals” further with the one pip being repeated twice. The effects are: solidifies HABA’s ranking amongst the premier children’s When a player rolls one pip, they take one of their game manufacturers and is recommended to anyone animals and place it with one hand onto the back of the looking for a quality children’s game. crocodile or any of the other animals already stacked. If the two pip face is rolled, that player places two animals, and by doing so increases their chance to win, yet also presents another opportunity to make the stack fall. When the crocodile face is rolled, a player may take any of their animals and place it next to the mouth or tail of the crocodile. This will now extend the base in which players may stack their remaining animals.

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Designer: Klaus Miltenberger Publisher: HABA Number of players: 2-4 Mechanic: Stacking Ages: 4 - 99

Recommended www.habausa.com

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Game Review

Sushi Draft

By Serge Pierro

Tasty Draft/Fishy Scoring

have long been interested in the culinary arts and one of my favorite dishes is sushi. It should then come as no surprise that I would be interested in playing a game about one of my favorite entreĂŠs. Sushi Draft is part of Blue Orangeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Europe Collection of games and comes in a stackable embossed tin. The inside has a sectioned, velvet lined plastic insert that holds 32 round sushi cards and 18 Scoring Chips. The cards are of decent stock, however, due to the nature of their shape you might want to take some extra care when shuffling. The Scoring Chips are of a very solid cardboard stock with one side featuring the pertinent sushi dish and the other side having a scoring value. At the start of the game the Scoring Chips are shuffled and stacked in the center of the table, with each sushi type receiving its own stack. The cards are then shuffled and six of them are dealt to each player. Since this game uses a card drafting mechanic, each player will choose one card and place it face down in front of them, as well as setting aside an additional card that they will keep for the next round of the draft. After all players have chosen their card and having set aside the additional card, they pass the remaining cards to the next player and reveal their chosen card. This continues until each player has played five cards, then all players will discard the sixth card without effect. Each player is trying to have the most of a type of sushi. Scoring is resolved by who has the most of each category of sushi. Example: if a player has 4 Salmon and everyone has less than that, that player takes the top chip from the stack of Salmon Scoring Chips. If another player should have 4 Salmon, then they cancel each other out and the player with the next highest amount wins the Scoring Chip. This is done for each pile of sushi and then there is a bonus at the end of the round for the player who played the most varieties, and they get to

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take a Chip from the Dessert Scoring Chips. This is repeated for a total of three rounds and the player with the highest total wins. We enjoyed the drafting mechanic and trying to outwit our opponents, however the scoring method left a lot to be desired. Since you were blindly drawing Scoring Chips, you could wind up with a low scoring Chip. Our group denounced this mechanic, as they

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felt that they werenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t being properly rewarded for their game play. There is a variant in the rules that state that you can score each chip as a point, but even this system has its own set of problems, as each sushi type has varying stages of difficulty to have a majority in. Perhaps a better system would have been to allow a player to pick from the stack. If you are okay with the scoring system, then you will certainly enjoy this game, as the draft and reveal mechanic was fun, however, serious gamers will probably want to avoid it or use an alternate scoring method.

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Designer: Takahiro Publisher: Blue Orange Number of players: 3-5 Mechanic: Drafting/Set Collection Ages: 8+

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Worth Trying

www.blueorangegamesa.com

Game Review

Stones of Fate By Serge Pierro

Memory = Victory

y first exposure to Stones of Fate was when Luke Laurie submitted the card designs for critique within the Facebook game design groups. The artwork immediately pulled me in. Since that time I have kept an eye on the project to see how the final product turned out. Now that it is available, letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s see how this memory game plays. The game comes with a standard sized deck of 82 cards and 20 Fate Stones (glass beads). There was a stretch goal on the Kickstarter campaign that was sadly missed, that would have allowed the game to be printed in tarot card format. The cards and beads are stored in a three section cardboard insert. The rulebook is the same size as the box and does a decent job of explaining the game. The back of the rulebook includes four pieces of the un-cropped artwork for the tarot sized versions of the cards. Perhaps one day it will be reissued in all its glory by having the cards in the tarot size and with all of the artwork displayed. Some of the cards may be considered a bit risque for playing with children and the designer has addressed this by stating that those seven cards can be removed from the game with no effect on the gameplay. To start the game, shuffle the deck of cards and place nine cards face up in the middle of the table in a three by three grid, leaving a small gap between the cards in order to have room for players to place their Stones. Then count out eight cards per player and combine these cards to make a draw deck. The leftover cards are not used and are put aside. Give the players a minute or so to look at the face up cards and then flip them face down while maintaining the correct orientation. Players have two actions they can take on their turn from the following list:

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Peek at a card: A player may look at one of the hidden cards and then return it to the same position in the grid and in the same orientation. Move a Stone: A player may place a Stone next to a card or cards or they may move one of their already placed stones to another location. Flip a card: A player may Flip a card over and resolve any effects printed on it and then see if any

player meets the requirements printed on the card. The winner places the card in front of them and replaces the card with one from the draw deck. If there is no winner, the card is removed from the game and is replaced with a card from the draw deck. Stones of Fate uses a Zone system to determine who wins the card.

The “Power Zone” uses an infinity icon and resolves by who has the most Stones adjacent to the “Power Zones” on the card. A card could have from 1-4 “Power Zones” on it and multiple stones may be in each zone. If there is a tie, there is no winner and the card is discarded and replaced from the draw deck. The “Keystone Zone” uses a pearl-like icon and must Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) be matched exactly. The player looking to win a card with this zone must have the exact number of stones as indicated by the icon(s). The “Forbidden Zone” uses the universal “No” symbol (a circle with a slash through it). A player may not have any of his stones in this zone or all of their stones surrounding this card are ignored. The “Opportunity Zone” is a triangle icon which means that any player that has at least one stone in this zone when the card is revealed, may draw a card for free and place it in front of them. The final zone is a “blank”. If there is none of the aforementioned icons on the card, the player automatically wins it. Some of the cards have “Special Effects”. One of these is the “Flip Effect”. When you Flip a card and there is a card with a Flip Effect, the effect is carried out immediately and then the winner of the card is determined. The other effect is the “Win Effect”. When you win a card with the “Win Effect”, you immediately carry out the instructions printed on the card. The game ends when the draw deck is exhausted and the current player ends their turn. Then all of the cards are flipped over, ignoring effects, and players determine who wins or doesn’t win any of the face up cards. The player with the most points win. The gameplay proved to be interesting and engaging. The game demands a certain level of concentration in order to be played well, as it is easy to get sidetracked with banter at the table and forget which card is which. One of the key points it that you need to remember the correct orientation of the card when it is flipped. New players will inevitably mix this up when playing their first couple of games, but eventually they will adjust. We all enjoyed the

“The game demands a certain level of concentration in order to be played well...” memorization aspects of the game and could easily see why this game was submitted to Mensa for their award series. Another thing to note is that players will often times concentrate on the Zones and forget to look at the points, and on more than one occasion players wound up with a -1 victory point card. For the most part the card effects seemed to be evenly balanced, however I was not a fan of the “Ace” cards. These cards are 1 point cards with a single “Keystone Zone” that when won allowed a player to trade that card for any card in another player’s collection. I’m not a fan of this type of effect as it diminishes the play of the player who invested the actions and strategy to win a higher point card, only to lose it to an easier to obtain lower scoring card. Other than that, I found the game to be quite enjoyable and everyone that played it agreed that it was a good game. Gamers who are looking for a fun filler should definitely give this a look, as should families looking for a good memory game.

Designer: Luke Laurie Publisher: Cosmic Wombat Games Number of players: 2-4 Mechanic: Memory Ages: 13+

Recommended

www.cosmicwombatgames.com

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Interview

Bruno Faidutti

“Bruno Faidutti is a noted game designer, as well as a masterful collabarator”

By Serge Pierro

Designer & Collabarator As an avid reader of Thomas Pynchon and Umberto Eco, which of their books are amongst your favorites?

Well, there’s Queen’s Necklace, but Alexandre Dumas’ novels are hardly great literature, though they’re fun to read. Dumas was the XIXth century George R.R. Martin.

There’s no doubt for Umberto Eco, it’s Foucault’s Pendulum, but, the reason might be that twenty years ago I had an affair, which felt a bit like a live action rendition of this novel. I’ll be less original with Pynchon, my favorites being Gravity’s Rainbow and The Crying of Lot 49. I think that my fascination for this kind of literature – at the moment I’m more into Roberto Bolano and David Foster Wallace, who belong to the same genre – is somewhat related with my passion for gaming. These are writers whose books have a very sophisticated structure, which must be taken more seriously than their content. And games also feel like this.

Your game “Murder in the Abbey” appears to be loosely based on Umberto Eco’s “The Name of the Rose”, have any of your other games been influenced by literature?

Other than that, I don’t think I’ve had games directly inspired by literature. I sometimes play at hiding a literary reference in a game, but this usually goes unnoticed and, anyway, I soon forget about it. There’s one I remember: the town of San Narciso in Boomtown was a wink at The Crying of Lot 49.

Bruno Faidutti Designer Citadels Knightmare Chess

Mission Red Planet Warehouse 51 http://faidutti.com/blog

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Raptor, which I designed with Bruno Cathala, was originally inspired by an episode of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, but as you can guess, it evolved a lot from there. You can read the whole story about raptors and spiders on my website : http://faidutti.com/ blog/?p=4070

When I finished reading David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” and his most recent work “The Bone Clocks”, I couldn’t help but think that there was a game waiting to be made from these books and started to think of several design ideas. This happens to me quite often upon

I must admit that I have not read Eco’s most recent

completing a book. Do you have similar thoughts while books, and I’m not as big a fan as I used to be. But, there reading or when completing a novel? might be something to do from Foucault’s Pendulum

(but may it’s more for LARP scenario). If you start from I’ve not read Cloud Atlas, but you’re not the first person the novel’s storyline, the obvious answers would be Eco’s to tell me that I should, so I add this to the already long Island of the Day Before and Pynchon’s Mason & Dixon, list of books I should read one of these days. but both would lose. As for Pynchon, the obvious answer is Mason & Dixon, but while a game could I sometimes do fantasize about designing a game from keep the theme, it would certainly lose all the books a book, but a novel and a game are very different things. reflections on truth and history. It’s always possible to Whodunit stories are easy to make into a game, since design a game based on the same topic as a novel, it the goal of the game is to find who did it, like in Mystery doesn’t make it a game based on the novel, and I’m not of the Abbey. War stories, especially fantasy ones, can also sure the latter is even possible. make for good war games, as can be seen with the Game of Thrones series. But, intricate novels like the ones I like When interviewing Reiner Knizia, we discussed the most, are probably too complex and intellectual to be influence of his PhD in Mathematics. Does your PhD in made into a game.

History have any influence on your game designs, and if Well, I had a project for a In search of Lost Time so, how?

boardgame, but I never finalized it, and it’s too late now – I would have to reread the whole thing to have all the I must say that I’m surprised that Reiner Knizia details of the characters back in mind, and I’ve other considers his PhD to be influential on his game design. I was quite good at math in high school, but I’ve never things to do and other books to read. studied it since, and I never felt when designing games At some times, I really wanted to design a game from a need for any mathematical tool over high school level. Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books, and specifically a As for my PhD in history, I don’t think it ever game about the witches books, which I like a lot. I was a bit disappointed when I learned that Martin Wallace influenced my game design – but the reverse might be had gotten the rights for it. It was at the time when I more true. My master dissertation (about the history of was working with Bruno Cathala on our Tolkien game, what European players though was the origin of Chess) and I felt, and still feel, that I would have been better at and my PhD (about the discussion on the reality of the Pratchett and Martin Wallace would have been better at unicorn from late middle ages to the XIXth century) Tolkien. Anyway, Martin’s The Witches is indeed not a both deal with the history of knowledge through the way something was discovered to be “false”, and both great game, but his Discworld – Ankh-Morpork is. topics might come from my gaming experiences – with The literature of Thomas Pynchon and Umberto Eco are Chess, and the design of Knightmare Chess, for my both very inspiring, from a creative viewpoint. Have you master dissertation, and with role playing games and LARPS for my PhD. But I never designed a game about ever considered designing a game that is based exclusively unicorns, though I still might if the idea arises.

on the intellectual properties of one of their books? If so, what book would you be interested in adapting into a How has teaching economics and sociology affected your game? approach to game design? Continued on next page>

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Interview (Cont.) I’m afraid my answer will be more or less the same. My real interest is actually more in teaching, than in economics and sociology, and I could probably teach lots of other stuff. My historical and sociological academic background probably affects more what I write about games, as it inspired my recent article about Postcolonial Catan, which has been widely discussed, than what I put into games. If something inspires the game I design, it’s probably the games I play. As for economics, it’s probably telling that I haven’t designed a single, real economics game so far.

With an educational background that includes studying Law, Economics, Sociology and History, what led you to becoming a game designer? I actually started designing games when I was still a student, and my first published game, Baston, appeared in 1984, before I studied anything in sociology or history. Once more, it’s probably more of my passion for games that brought me into economics – whose abstract system work a bit like perverted game rules, or in history, where I choose to devote much thought and energy in subjects that might appear totally unimportant, which is exactly what we do during a game.

Both Knightmare Chess and Attila use chess as a launching point for their design, do you feel that abstract games are being slighted in the current “Golden Age” of board gaming, in lieu of more theme oriented designs? No, I don’t. I try to design all of the type of games I enjoy playing, and this includes light abstract games like Attila, bluffing games or party games. At the moment,

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Photo courtesy of Bruno Faidutti

maybe because I’m getting more and more lazy, I try to focus on very simple and light designs. It’s a problem, because I also like strong themes, and it’s hard to make a simple game, with one or two core mechanisms, that is really thematic. We did it quite successfully with Sergio Halaban and André Zatz in Warehouse 51, but most times I fail, and my games while being more and more simple, also feel more and more abstract. I regret it.

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When you created the mechanic of “role selection” for Citadels, was there anything specific that inspired the idea, or did it come to you fully realized?

an idea and asked me to help him. I like it both ways.

It was actually inspired by a great little card game by Marcel-André Casasola-Merkle, Verräter (the Traitor), which uses the same role selection system, in a completely different game system. I repeat this every time I’m asked this question, hoping that it would give some publisher the idea of looking into Verräter (which is only about 60 cards) and maybe reprint it, since it’s a really great game, much better in my opinion than Meuterer, Marcel-André’s later spinoff, which is surprisingly better known.

Cosmic Encounter, Ave Caesar, and dealer’s choice Poker.

You’ve worked with many designers over the years, who is your favorite to work with, and why? Of course, I can’t answer this question – what would the other ones think ?

Is there a designer that you haven’t had an opportunity to work with, but would welcome the opportunity in doing so? Richard Garfield, or maybe James Ernest. I really like what they do and the light spirit in which they do it.

How is working with a co-designer different that working by yourself? It’s very different. When a design goes really smoothly, it’s easier to do it just by myself, because I feel more free, can change everything on a whim, try a new theme, a new core system, or get rid of everything. But, sometimes I get blocked and I need some input by another designer to move forward, or to move around the problem. For me, there are two types of collaborative designs. In about half of them, I had an idea but could not finalize it and asked another designer to help me. In the other half, it’s the reverse – another designer could not finalize

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What are your favorite games?

You have used a variety of design mechanics over the years. Which ones are your favorites, and are there any that you would consider to be your “style”? My specialty is probably “character” cards chosen by a player. Of course, they are just a nicer name for action cards, but they make the game play more personal, and give opportunities for a bit of role playing, which is always a nice addition to a boardgame. I’ve written an article about this idea on my website : http://faidutti. com/blog/?p=206 I like like partial information, because it means players can try to make the best of what they know, which means the game is challenging, but can never be sure of the issue, which means it’s not predicable. Partial information can be achieved in many ways, but one I like a lot is face down cards which are known only by one or a few players, like the counterfeit cards in Warehouse 51, or the Discovery cards in Mission Red Planet. A pure example of this is card games in which some cards are face up and other ones face down and known only by one player, like in stud poker. This was the core of my first published game, Corruption, and I’m using it again in the card game on which I’m working just now – working title El Dorado.

What advice would you give to aspiring game designers? Don’t try to design games that sell, design games which you would like to play. You’ll have more fun playing them, and if there are a few other people who like the same games as you, and there certainly is, they will sell.

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Game Review

World War II:

Stalingrad 1942-1943 By Serge Pierro

Historical Miniature War Game

he Russian company Zvezda is well known in the model community for their extensive line of plastic military models. However, many readers may be unfamiliar with the fact that they also produce a line of war games. Let’s take a look at their latest offering, World War II: Stalingrad 1942-1943, a starter set for their popular World War II series that features their proprietary Art of Tactic system. The game can be divided into two areas of interest: the models and the game play. Let’s first take a look at Zvezda’s area of expertise, the models. Simply put, the models are nothing short of outstanding! The highly detailed figures come in four separate bags and need to be removed from the plastic sprues and assembled. As a bonus, the vast majority of models can be snapped together without the need for glue and that was what we did to see how they would hold up in gameplay. The tolerances varied amongst the models, some of them were near seamless in their attachment, while others had a more visible gap. I believe that may have had more to do with me, than the models themselves, as some of the pieces need to be inserted at specific angles in order to have a proper fit. Which brings us to the size of the pieces. There are some incredibly small pieces included and they proved to be quite challenging to grip and put together. Experienced modelers will no doubt have an easier time assembling these, but I needed to glue some small detailed pieces just because I wouldn’t be able to assemble them otherwise. There is an assembly

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booklet included for the models, however, care must be taken in reading the instructions, as there are a couple of errors in the placement and mounting of pieces, which proved to be a bit frustrating until this was discovered. The assembled models look great, though if you are going to paint them, you will want to putty any of the visible gaps. Although I didn’t have the time to paint the models, I would look

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forward to attempting it, as they are quite detailed and sections for Aircraft, which are also not included, as well look quite impressive. as a long list of excellent features, however, once again many of them are not relevant to the game at hand. For some reason the game comes with the Third Why would you include the main rulebook for a system Edition rules for the World War II series. Although when this is supposed to be a starter set to introduce interesting, the included examples picture units not players to the game? Seeing as there was a great deal of included in this game. Not only that, but there are information inside the rulebook it made it much harder Continued on next page>

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Interview (Cont.) than necessary to get up and playing the game ASAP. This problem seemed to echo throughout the package, excellent ideas, yet poor documentation. Maybe it is because of the Russian to English translation, but I find it hard to believe that someone would think that it was a good idea to include this rulebook instead of one geared towards instructing new players on how to play the game using the models that were included. That said, the overall system does look to be one that a dedicated wargamer would be interested in and would have certainly welcomed its inclusion, had there also been a separate guide for the relevant game itself.

unit card the orders that the player wants the unit to take, right down to what square to move to. Players then reveal all the orders on the cards and they are resolved simultaneously. There is no adjusting your strategy when you see where an opponent moved, like in other games. This is a great system and reminds me of my youth when I would draw out bombing missions for the Avalon Hill game Luftwaffe, where planes would have to follow the bombing routes, regardless of the situation. Zvezda uses the Art of Tactic system for other games that they publish, such as The Ships, Battle for Oil and Samurai Battles.

As with most wargames, it includes a Campaign book. This was nicely laid out, as each scenario was shown as a two page spread and displayed the boards and photographs of the figures that were to be used and where they were to be placed on the map. Also included were the Objectives, set up rules and Scenario Special rules. One of the nice features is that the scenarios can be played in order and at the end of each scenario, the surviving units “gain experience”, and may have their Accuracy or Defense increased by one for the following scenario.

Even with the shaky documentation, this is a game that wargamers should take a look at. If you are looking for something more substantial than Memoir ‘44, than this would be a good choice, as the models are excellent, as well as is the Art of Tactic game system. Zvezda should seriously consider a separate rulebook for future editions that are relevant to the game purchased. The Third Edition rulebook was nice to have as an overview of the system, but beginners are going to want something more along the lines of a Quick Start guide. The game play is what you would normally expect from a game of this nature, the main difference being the use of the At the heart of the game is the brilliant Art of Tactic Art of Tactic system. There is a great deal of depth for system. Essentially, each player has a dry-wipe card those who are looking to explore and dig deeper into for each of their units and will use one of the included the system, as the rulebook gives many examples of markers to keep track of stats and such, but more the possible options available to the players. This is an importantly, to give orders. This is where the game interesting system that deserves more exposure within really shines. The writing down of the orders for each the marketplace. I would have loved to have had this individual unit is what separates this game from others game when I was a kid! and makes it into a more realistic representation of an actual battle. Games such as Heroes of Normandie use a set Designer: Konstantin Krivenko of blocks with different numbers on them for initiative Publisher: Zvezda and resolve them in the designated order. While this is a somewhat adequate system, it doesn’t deliver a realistic Number of players: 2+ approach to combat, since each revealed block carries Mechanic: Miniature war game out its turn and the following blocks can now base their Ages: 10+ turn on the current situation on the board. However, with the Art of Tactic, each player writes down on the

Recommended art-of-tactic.com

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Game Review

Stockpile

By Serge Pierro

Insider Information: Excellent Game!

ears ago, like many high school students, I was assigned a lesson in which we had to buy X dollars of shares in the stock market and see how they did throughout the year. And while I never lost any money doing it, I did have somewhat of an advantage, as I had already been doing this for several years as an intellectual exercise. So when I saw Stock Pile, I wondered if it could satisfy both my gaming and stock tracking interests. Let’s find out. The box includes an excellent, molded plastic insert that has room for all of the components, as well as some additional areas, perhaps for an expansion. The rule book is well written and amply illustrated, and has a convenient rules summary on the back cover. The game’s double sided board folds in half and is of a good quality cardboard. The Stock Cards, Investor Cards, and Currency are all gloss coated, and several players commented positively on their quality. The individual Player Mats are made of a sturdy cardboard stock. There are seven custom meeples enclosed, in five different colors. There is a first player marker, as well as cardboard tokens to track the stocks and the turn. Although the red “X” turn marker is thematic for the game board, it is a bit flimsy and we would have preferred something more substantial. However, you can always replace it with something else. It is suggested that you use the regular side of the main game board for the first game, to help players get a feel for how the game plays, before turning the board over and using the advanced side. After setting up the board, each player will get a personal player board and a meeple of the associated color. One of each stock type is removed from the deck and then randomly dealt, one to each player. They will place this face down on their player board and this will be their initial stock within their portfolio.

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A round of the game contains the following phases: Information Phase: Players are each dealt two cards for the information phase, a Company card and a Forecast card, these are kept hidden and will provide the player with the insider information that they will use to strategize on their turn. Then a Company card and Forecast card are placed face up on the main board. This provides open information for all of the players. The remaining cards are placed

to the side of the board and will be revealed during the Demand Phase: Players will bid on the Stockpiles Movement phase and will be used to move the markers that are available. The opening bid can start at zero or on the stocks. higher. It is possible for all of the players to get each of the Stockpiles for zero, but that happens quite rarely as Supply Phase: Deal a face up card to each of the calculator usually there is a pile that stands out as being prime, or a sections on the game board from the Market deck. Each player knows of some detrimental cards and bids on other of these cards will be the start of a Stockpile. Players are stacks instead. Players place their meeple on the bidding then dealt two cards, and in turn-order they will place a track of the calculator and bidding proceeds clockwise. card face up on a Stockpile and the other card, face down Players who are outbid may on their turn, either rebid on the same or another Stockpile. Once all players have on the Stockpile the were initially interested in or bid on done this, play moves onto the Demand phase. Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) another one. It is not unusual to see players attempt to make another player spend more than necessary on a Stockpile by feigning interest! Once everyone has bid, each player pays to the bank the amount of their bid, plus any trading fees they might have acquired with their pile of cards.

currently displayed on the board. The player with the most money wins!

Although the base game is quite enjoyable, things really intensify when using the Advanced board and the Investor expansion. Whereas the stocks on the basic board are symmetrical, the stocks on the advanced Action Phase: In turn order, players play any action cards board are asymmetrical and makes the game even that were in the Stockpile they won. These cards allow more interesting. The Investor expansion is also a nice a player to influence the market, by raising or lowering addition. Each player is dealt two Investor cards and the value of a stock. gets to choose one of them to use during the game. Each investor has a different ability, as well as the Selling Phase: Players now have the opportunity to sell amount of money they begin the game with. shares. They can use their hidden insider information to sell if they know a stock is going to go down, or they This is an excellent game and players in our group can see the open information and also sell accordingly. repeatedly asked for it to hit the table and it is easy Players may also sell a stock and try to bluff other players to see why. Stockpile takes a complicated genre and into selling their shares thinking that you are selling off breaks it down into an enjoyable experience, while because of inside information. This added a bit of a still maintaining the uncertainty of the stock market. bluffing/deduction element to the game as players tried The face up/face down card mechanic was interesting to figure out if your selling off is legit or if you’re trying and kept everyone guessing as to what the face down to bluff them out of important shares. cards were, while adding the elements of bluffing and deduction, that kept players enthralled, while further Movement Phase: During the Movement phase, each accentuating the chaotic nature of the stock market. player reveals their Company and Forecast cards and The inside information mechanic is admirable and move the stock price indicator appropriately on the adds a great deal of fun to the strategy of the game. board. Then starting with the face up open information As previously stated, the advanced side of the board is cards, each of the remaining stocks are adjusted according the most dynamic experience and should be considered to the relevant Company and Forecast pairing. There as the standard board for those looking for the most is a possibility that a stock will Split or wind up in fun and the Investors expansion adds a nice twist, while Bankruptcy. If the stock indicator ever goes above ten, also contributing to the replayability factor. Between the stock splits and all players who own that stock show the high quality components and excellent game play, it it to the other players and then place the stocks into is easy to give this an “Editor’s Choice Award”. the Split section on their player board. This stock is now worth double. If a stock falls below one, the stock is Bankrupt and all players remove the relevant stocks Designer: Seth Van Orden from their player boards, including any Split stocks of the same type. Publisher: Nauvoo Games Once the round ends, the marker is moved onto the next round and play continues as previously indicated. The game ends with the final movement of the last round indicated on the main board. Players will then see who has the majority for each stock and receive a $10,000 bonus , then all players sell their stocks for the going rate

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Number of players: 2-5 Mechanic: Auction/Bidding Ages: 13+

Highly Recommended www.nauvoogames.com

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Game Review

The Magnates

By Serge Pierro

Historical Area Control

he international contribution to the board game hobby continues, as we take a look at The Magnates by the Polish company, Phalanx. Players who enjoy historically themed board games should find this game to be to their liking, as it explores the history of Poland and its surrounding areas in the sixteenth to eighteenth centuries. However, the gameplay itself is accommodating to those who aren’t necessarily interested in the theme of the game.

is a high quality board, we couldn’t help but feel that it could have been made a bit smaller, as all of the real estate is not used during game play. This is a minor concern though, it did look great on the table and there were no concerns about components becoming cramped within areas of the board.

Inside the box there is a printed cardboard insert that features historic artwork printed The production quality of the game is excellent. in white on a black background, which Everything from the box to the components is top looks great and adds to the ambiance, notch. Keep in mind that in countries like Poland, while providing ample storage area for the games like this represent a serious investment of the components. consumer’s money and Phalanx has cut no corners in presenting a high quality product that people in Included are 192 wooden game pieces, Poland or anywhere else would be proud to own. 119 cards and various cardboard tokens. It should also be pointed out that several resealable The box itself is quite impressive, as it features a linen plastic bags are also included. We are happy to see textured top and bottom, as well as a powerful painting international publishers starting to include these by Jaroslaw Nocon. An interesting feature of the box as standard items. is that the sides of the box bottom are numbered 1-4 and contain historical background on Poland, as well Each player will receive a deck of 13 Family as the history of the period. This is a nice touch, as cards, with values ranging from 2-14. Although many people outside of the country will probably not the decks are symmetrical, the artwork and flavor be familiar with the historical backdrop of the game. text are all different, as they reflect real people throughout the history of the time period. The The large rulebook is the size of the box and is “10” card in the deck is different from the others. aptly illustrated with many examples of gameplay, as It has a value of both “1” or “10”, depending on well as having the back page devoted to all the rules when you use it. For bidding it is a “10”, however summaries. for military conflicts it counts as a “1”. Players will use these cards each round in order to bid for The linen coated board is a huge 22 x 33” and features other cards and resolve conflicts. Due to the fact gorgeous, period influenced artwork. Although this that the artwork was in the public domain, there

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are some beautiful portraits done by master painters from eras past. It would have been nice to attribute the artwork to the relevant artist, as I would have liked to have known who some of them were.

The second phase starts the main bidding mechanic of the game. There are four Senate cards up for bid and on their turn each player will place three cards, only one card per Senate card, beneath a card of interest. After all players have placed their cards, they are revealed and The game is made up of four rounds, each containing the highest number wins. Each of the Senate cards have five phases. Though the bulk of the game is contained strong abilities that may be used during the rest of the in three phases. round. At the end of the round players will return the cards to the Senate and bid again on them for the next To start the game players will separate the King tiles round. using the colors on the back of the tiles. Then one King will be drawn randomly from each of the four stacks The third phase is the bidding of the Sejm cards. This and placed on the appropriate space on the board. At time players will place/bid one card under each of the the start of each round a King will be revealed and its five Sejm cards being offered this turn. The Senate cards related symbol will influence other cards bid on in the from the previous round can affect the bidding in this round. round. Several of the cards have multiple estates on them and other important in game effects. Unlike the Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) Senate cards, the players can keep these cards for the rest of the game. These may be used once and are then discarded. The fourth phase is for the resolution of Conflict. Like the previous phase, players will place one of their remaining five cards face down next to each unresolved Conflict. Players then add up the cards for each Conflict and resolve the results according to the card. The last phase is the Interregnum and it is somewhat of a cleanup phase where some players may have effects that go off at this time. Once completed players will start a new round in similar fashion to the aforementioned phases. While the bidding is one of the two key elements in the game, the other is the area control aspect that is brought into play by placing estates on the board. Each of the cards that were bid on in each of the bidding phases has an icon indicating the amount of estates they receive for winning it. The estates earned from successful bids on the Senate and Sejm cards may be placed on any of the main territories that the player may choose. However, estates won during the Conflict phase have specific territories in which the winning estates are placed, including the special fiefs which may only be occupied via a specific Conflict card. The endgame scoring will use the amount of estates and whether or not they have either Dominance in a territory (more total estates than all other players combined) or just an Advantage (more estates than the next highest amount), and will be given Wealth in accordance to their numbers. The person with the most Wealth wins. Although the game play is simple, the strategies and hand management can offer unexpected depth. One of the interesting dynamics of the game is that when you are bidding for cards you are competing against your opponents to get the best cards, yet when it comes to the Conflict stage, you switch gears and play a semi co-op game, because you can’t afford to have three Partitioned areas (areas lost in Conflict) on the board, or the game ends and everyone loses. So trying to figure out what cards to bid with during each of the three bidding phases

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becomes the essential strategy of the game. We felt that the bidding for the Senate and Sejm cards were more important than the co-op Conflict resolution phase, as it was easier to get estates via winning the card auctions, and at times the conflict stage seemed like a necessary afterthought. By winning Conflicts, players were able to gain additional estates and possibly occupy Fiefs. When a Conflict was lost, some or all of the players lost estates. We never lost a game by having three partitioned areas, though we did wind up with two, but on the next turn we easily removed them and went back to the bidding wars. We would have liked to have seen more of an incentive for the Conflict phase, as it is a good idea, but the rewards don’t seem to justify the investment of decent cards, especially compared to the amount of estates that could be won by winning the Senate cards. Some of the cards seemed overpowered and had too much of an impact on some of the bidding, as players knew that had little chance to win a bid when their opponent held a card that gave them a +10 bidding bonus! If you like simple area control, hand management, and bidding games with a strong historical theme, then this game would be right up your alley. Seeing as I am unfamiliar with the history behind the theme, I wasn’t as drawn into it as much as I would have been if it was something that I had a working knowledge of. That stated, the theme is interesting, but a familiarity with Polish history is not necessary to enjoy the game. The high quality production value adds to the overall gaming experience and the game will certainly be enjoyable for players who have an interest in the historical background.

Designers: Publisher: Number of Mechanic: Ages: 14+

Jaro Andruszkiewicz & Waldek Gumienny

Phalanx players: 2-5

Auction/Area Control/Hand Managment

Worth Trying

www.phalanxgames.pl/english

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How to...

Framed Game Art

By Jeff Rhind

hen we acquire a new game, we rip into the shrink, smell the cardboard, marvel at the components and ogle over the art. That last part is my favorite. Some of the art and illustrations in games have amazed me over the years and have been a draw for many who see them on my shelf and wonder, “What’s that game all about?” In an effort to decorate my modest apartment, I thought it would be interesting to frame some of the box art and hang them up on my rather generic, beige walls. Now, before y’all freak out, no, I did not cut up a box and stick the torn cardboard into a frame – that would be blasphemy. What follows is a simple do-it-yourself art project to hang some of your favorite game box art up on your walls.

STEP 2 Time to print. Either print out on your own, go to Staples, or some other copy center to print the color art. Yes, laser will look the best. Ask them to print the jpeg image “to fit” on an 8.5” x 11” piece of paper. Whether you use fancy paper or plain white is up to you. My suggestion would be to buy 96 brightness white paper or higher, or ask for it, as most copy center paper is only 92 or even less. Usually, there is an unprintable zone that is about ¼” all the way around the paper. So, when they print “to fit,” it should leave a ¼” border on two sides and a little more on the opposite sides. That’s okay, you will trim this off in the next step. Printing may vary from printer to printer so my suggestion is to have the printer print a test image in b/w. Then you can measure it in the store, make sure it is right before you go hog-wild in full-color. Then, print two – just in case you make a mistake in Step 3.

STEP 1 Go to BoardGameGeek and search through the image gallery for the game you are interested in. You are essentially looking for a square image of the box cover. Luckily most games are in square boxes but many are not, in which case you could bring them into Photoshop and crop them square. Sometimes that works and sometimes it just doesn’t look right. You’ll have to decide. You’ll want the highest resolution image you can get. 1200 pixels square or higher is best. You can also look on the publisher’s web site since they often post high-rez images of the art and game itself for reviewers and distributors.

STEP 3 Once printed, trim off the white edges of the paper. It helps to have a steel ruler and a sharp X-acto knife or box cutter. Of course, you can always use a hobbyist paper cutter or guillotine cutter. This should leave a finished color “print” of 8”x 8.”

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Photo: Jeff Rhind

STEP 4 Insert the trimmed color prints into the frames. In this case, 8” x 8” frames (they come in black and white) can be acquired cheaply from Michael’s for about $10-$12 for four when using those handy 40% or 50% off coupons! Once on your wall, you and your friends can ogle at the art by such amazing talent as Vincent Dutrait, Fernanda Suarez or Mihajlo Dimitrievski. If you don’t know who these people are, do yourself a favor and go look them up. The nice thing about making these is that I can cheaply change out the art to keep it fresh! Photo: Jeff Rhind

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Game Review

Sentinel Tactics

By Bill Braun

Superhero fun!

s it just me or have superheroes oversaturated the movie industry? Marvel has cornered the market and continues to release annual titles, and the DC Universe, while playing catch-up, is destined to surge forward in the coming years. Both franchises are taking in millions of dollars with each subsequent release, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s unlikely weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll see a shortage of caped crusaders anytime soon. I find it interesting, then, that regardless of this popculture phenomenon, the tabletop industry has what I consider to be very few offerings that take advantage of this rich and dynamic theme. Although both Upper Deck and Cryptozoic have tapped into the superhero consciousness with their Legendary Marvel and DC Deck-Building games, there seems to be little else offered. Enter, Greater Than Games Sentinels of the Multiverse, a cooperative card game that offers all-new original heroes and villains, each with their own unique backstory and powers. Both a critical success and fan favorite, Greater Than Games has now transformed their successful card game into a more tactical experience that delivers a variety of game modes. But is this transformation an evolutionary step forward, or has it lost all its power? Gameplay Sentinel Tactics: The Flame of Freedom, designed by Luther Hendricks, Kevin Nunn, and Christopher Badell, takes the look and feel of Sentinels of the Multiverse and delivers an experience aimed to satisfy fans of comic book style storytelling and fast-paced skirmishes. With

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a single set of rules that nicely accommodates for both styles of gameplay, each mode feels completely unique from one another. Scenario books set the stage for an epic minicampaign that details the objectives for both the heroes and villains. Depending on the success or failure of each chapter determines how subsequent chapters are

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Photo: Bill Braun

played, with each story ending in an epic battle across the skyline of Megalopolis or the jungle island of Insula Primalis â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the fictional locations of the Sentinel Comics universe. Skirmishes, on the other hand, are significantly more lenient with the set-up. Players choose their characters

and teams (hero or villain) and face off against one another in a team-based royal rumble. Generally played to three incapacitations (a character that loses all its health and is temporarily knocked out), skirmish mode makes for a tournament-style experience where players are free to create objectives or write their own scenarios.

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Game Review (Cont.) But how does Sentinel Tactics play? How is it different from Sentinels of the Multiverse? Where Sentinels of the Multiverse focuses on light deckbuilding mechanics, Sentinel Tactics utilizes doublesided hex map tiles, six-sided dice, and character panels. Each character, whether hero or villain, has its own unique deck of power cards that provide a nice variety of character-specific actions and abilities. These power cards are always available to the player, with each character having no more than two power cards in play at a time (unless otherwise noted), and vary between defense, attack, and buff abilities. In skirmish mode, each character takes one turn per round, whereas the scenario books detail the number of turns the villain player is allowed each round based on the number of heroes that are attempting to thwart his devious plans. In either mode, character turns are decided ahead of time and provide for a more balanced experience. Each player’s turn consists of four phases: Power Up allows the player to place a power card from their hand or replace an active power card; Surge is an innate action listed on specific power cards or the character’s panel; Go Time is when players take their actions (move, sprint, aim, dodge, and other card abilities), and; To Be Continued is the clean up phase when players roll for their next turn’s movement and activate hazard spaces. As is the case with many combat-based tabletop games, the mechanics of range, line-of-sight, and movement come into play. But where many other games present this in a confusing manner that often bogs down game play, Sentinel Tactics streamlines the process to make it more intuitive and significantly less intimidating. Each individual hex of a map tile is a top-down view of either the city (Megalopolis) or jungle island (Insula Primalis) and includes a number of white dots that represent the elevation of that space. A single dot is considered ground level, while four dots indicate the tallest building or highest mountain. This variety in terrain generally affects a character’s line of sight and

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Photo: Bill Braun

range to their opponent during combat, as well as slows them down while moving (climbing up the side of a building takes significantly longer when you’re unable to fly). Having played other skirmish and combat games over the years, this simple dot mechanic is one that I feel is long overdue. Although the developers at Greater Than Games have simplified the movement, line of sight, and range mechanics, Sentinel Tactics as a whole provides a great deal of depth. Each character feels unique from one another. While some focus on in-your-face combat, others are more agile and easily fly across the map. Still others are designed to buff the powers and abilities of their teammates. Finding the right combination and working to the strengths of each character’s abilities is a wonderful form of discovery and promotes high replay value. Theme and Components Without theme, a game like Sentinel Tactics amounts to little more than moving characters and rolling dice. Thankfully, the theme is strong throughout. I was particularly impressed with the graphic design and their use of icons and images, all of which have a comic book feel that adds to the overall immersion and enjoyment of the game. And while some reviewers have argued that the artwork of both Sentinels of the Multiverse and (now)

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Sentinel Tactics is amateurish, my opinion is somewhat different. I believe the art style, while more cartoonish that Legendary Marvel and the DC Comics Deck-Building Game, nicely fits the mold that Greater Than Games has developed and further contributes to the game’s originality. The tokens and hex boards are made from a thick cardboard, and the individual power cards are of a good quality, providing ample room for both images and text. Everything is consistently laid out for ease of use and readability. Similar to the game design of Sentinels of the Multiverse many of the tokens are double-sided, providing different text and rules while reducing the total number of tokens needed to play the game. Final Thoughts Sentinel Tactics: The Flame of Freedom is a wonderful game, and one that I feel has been severely overlooked. The gameplay is intuitive and easy to learn, the characters are creative and unique, and the theme is imaginative and immersive. Greater Than Games already has a robust catalogue of heroes and villains for their Sentinels of the Multiverse card game, and I’m eager to see them pull from this catalogue when developing future expansions for Sentinel Tactics. Even if you’re happy with your current rotation of superhero-themed games, I highly suggest you take the time to try out Sentinel Tactics.

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Photo: Bill Braun

Designer: Christopher Badell, Luther Bell Hendricks V & Kevin G. Nunn Publisher: Greater Than Games Number of players: 2-8 Mechanic: Grid Movement & Dice Rolling Ages: 13+

Recommended

https://greaterthangames.com

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Game Review

Flip City By Serge Pierro

A Microdeckbuilder to flip for?

here seems to be a growing trend within the industry for games to become smaller. This is probably due in part to the success of Love Letter and some of the other microgames which pack a lot of gameplay within a small package. Flip City by Tasty Minstrel Games continues this design philosophy by presenting a deckbuilding game of only 86 cards, yet provides a filler game that has some depth. The game is designed by Chen, Chih Fan and was originally released in Korea as Design Town. Tasty Minstrel Games is currently publishing it as Flip City. The game comes with 86 double sided cards, along with a full color, foldable sheet of instructions. The instructions are decent and include a small FAQ. There is also a scannable QR code that takes you to a video of Rodney Smith, from Watch it Played, that instructs players on how to play the game. This is a great feature and we hope to see other publishers include this within the instructions of their games. The game allows for 1 to 4 players. We will look at the setup for a multiplayer game. Although the instructions state that the Office card is an expansion, I feel that you should include this right from the start, especially since it is one of the better cards in the game. Five stacks of cards are placed in the middle of the table. These will be the buildings that players will have the opportunity to buy on their turn. Then each player is given 4 Residential Areas, 1 Apartment (which is the flip side of the Residential Area), 1 Convenience Store, 1 Factory, 1 Hospital and 1 Central Park. When players shuffle these cards into a draw deck, it is important for them to

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maintain the proper orientation and not flip the cards over. After shuffling the deck, I hold the cards in my left hand and draw from the top. This keeps the cards in a stable position, thus not revealing the card underneath by accident. This is a â&#x20AC;&#x153;push your luckâ&#x20AC;? deckbuilder. On each turn you will play the top card from your deck and decide whether to continue or stop. You are able to see what the next card is on the top of your deck,

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however, the Residential Area forces you to keep going! On cards other than Central Park, there is either Cash and/or Unhappiness. Cash will be used to buy cards, while Unhappiness is something that you want to avoid. If you should wind up with 3 Unhappiness cards in play, your turn is over and all the cards you played this turn go into your discard pile, and play then continues with the next player.

Each turn a player will play a card and immediately resolve the effect listed in the text box. Then they will decide to either keep going or stop and use the Cash that the card provides. When they have several cards in play they have another option available to them, and that is to stop and â&#x20AC;&#x153;Developâ&#x20AC;? a card in the middle of the table. This means that you pay the cost of the card in addition to the flip cost, and place the flipped version Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) into your discard pile. As the game progresses this becomes quite a powerful option. Seeing as how it is called Flip City, we should take a look at the flip mechanism which is an integral part of the game. Each card in the lower right hand corner has a purple arrow and a cost. When a card is in your discard pile, you have the opportunity to use the cash from your current turn to flip a card in your discard pile, paying its cost. The card remains in the discard pile, yet now features the second side of the card which has new abilities. This is a great mechanic and has lots of possibilities for further exploration with expansions. Another interesting feature is “Recycle”. When you flip a card there is now a new symbol on the lower right, replacing the purple flip arrow with a green “Recycle” arrow. You may recycle a card in the discard pile by flipping it back over to the previous side and thus gaining the ability that is stated on the recycle side. It is usually a strong bonus, however, now you have the card back on its weaker side. It is more of a situational effect, but is can be very powerful when used at the proper moment. The game seemed to be a race to one of the two victory conditions and we are hoping that future expansions will introduce other means to win, so as to not be limited to the two current ones of either 8 or more victory points or 18 cards in play with a Convenience Store. I’ve played several games with the solitaire rules and found them all to be enjoyable. It is highly recommended for someone who has just received the game to try the solo play, as it allows you to get a feel for the overall game play, thus making it easier to teach others. As an avid gamer I’m always looking for games that can be played solo, and it is nice to see designers adding solitaire variants to their games when feasible.

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Although the game is easy to play, players will begin to see layers of strategy emerge on multiple plays. We found that there was an actual opening theory to the game of trying to get Residential Areas into your discard pile as quickly as possible and then play only one card with one Cash and use it to flip the Residential Area into an Apartment. This proved to be a strong opening and one that would be highly recommended. However, since this strategy lowers the risk of “busting” via multiple Residential Areas, it also meant that the first few turns players didn’t really have “free will” in their decision making, unless they were willing to play a riskier strategy and leave the Residential Areas in their deck and risk “busting”. Flip City is a game screaming for expansions. While the core set is enjoyable, I’d like to see what happens when there are additional cards added to the card pool. As of this writing it appears that Tasty Minstrel Games is developing an expansion called Reuse and we anxiously await seeing what that brings to the game. This is a nice filler and looks like it has the potential for growth with the addition of expansions. Players enjoyed playing it and also commented positively about the quality of the games that Tasty Minstrel Games have been putting out. This is a game, as well as a company, to keep your eyes on!

Designer: Chen, Chih Fan Publisher: Tasty Minstrel Games Number of players: 1-4 Mechanic: Push Your Luck, Deck Builder Ages: 8+

Recommended www.playtmg.com

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Interview

Beth Sobel Artist

Beth Sobel is a talented artist whose illustrations have appeared in several popular games.

By Serge Pierro

Do you come from an artistic family?

Who are your favorite board game artists?

Not at all. I’m adopted, and my family is very science and math oriented. Fortunately, they value education in all fields, and they are extremely supportive of my creative interests.

Michael Menzel, David Polumbo, Atha Kanaani, and many more.

What is your favorite medium to work in? I work digitally right now. The primary reason for that is ease of revision; if an Art Director requests that something be 20% smaller, it’s far easier to do digitally than if you’re working in oils. My favorite traditional medium is oil paint or charcoal.

What are your earliest recollections of doing art? Just the basic crayons-on-computerpaper as a very young child, I think. I don’t have a specific early memory of doing art. I do remember not liking toys as much as crayons and books, though.

Who are your main artistic influences? I find inspiration in a variety of art styles and artists. Anything from Marlene Dumas, Jenny Saville, Jeremy Geddes, Greg Manchess, Kathe Kollwitz, and on and on.

Beth Sobel Artist Viticulture Tuscany Lanterns

Snow Tails World’s Fair 1893 www.facebook.com/beth.sobel

How did you get involved in creating artwork for the game industry? My background is in traditional art. I decided to switch to illustration as I’m pretty shy in person and struggle with trying to discuss or sell my work, and I particularly liked having assignments. As such, illustration was a great fit. Once I switched, I lucked into a few jobs and got referrals to other people, and after a while I got my first specifically board game job, which was Viticulture.

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Interview (Cont.) Seeing as you are an avid gamer, what are some of your favorite games? Oh dear. How to choose? Excluding any I’ve worked on, I am currently really enjoying: Tzolk’in, Stone Age, Pillars of the Earth, Dead of Winter, and Traders of Osaka. My current filler game choices are Qwixx, Hanabi, Deep Sea Adventure, and Timeline. I play nearly every Sunday and Friday nights, so favorites, and which games see regular table time, change regularly. We’re really fortunate to have a great board game community in Bellingham.

Since “Snow Tails” was an already popular game, with an established look, what was your thought process about doing the new artwork? I wasn’t familiar with Snow Tails prior to accepting the job (which clearly proves I need to play more board games), so I approached it like any job, and worked to the art direction provided. I’m looking forward to playing it now that it’s being reprinted!

I’ve seen some of the artwork for the upcoming game “World’s Fair 1893” and it looks quite nice. I’ve also seen the artwork for the game you are working on with your husband, and it is quite different. Which style do you consider to be more “you”? As with any job, art direction and theme will largely dictate the look of the art. For my husband’s and my game, since we’re directing the theme and look of the art, I’d say it’s more ‘me’. However, one of the things I love about board game art, and more generally illustration, is getting to apply appropriate styles to various IPs.

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If you had an opportunity to work with any game designer, who would it be, and what would you like the theme to be? I like too many designers to pick just one! As for the theme… National Parks, anything character driven, arctic exploring, or pattern based things like batik would be fantastic.

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How do you approach working on the cover of a box, as compared to painting cards or a game board? Boxes and boards are similar in that they require much more time and planning. Typically those pieces will begin as sketches, usually two or more compositions, and the client will select one or request edits to one. Once a sketch is finalized and agreed upon, the full art gets made according to the selected sketch. Card art needs to be fast, as there tend to be a large quantity of cards with very small art footprints, so those pieces don’t have sketches. I’ll usually get a list of card descriptions, and just paint them.

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Interview (Cont.)

What is the piece of artwork that you are most proud of? Tricky question! I’m extremely critical of my own work. However, I suppose I’d say the current work I’m doing for my project with my husband.

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Interview (Cont.)

What projects are you currently working on and do you have any news on upcoming projects?

How can readers keep up to date on what projects you are working on?

I’m currently working on World’s Fair 1893 with Foxtrot Games, and my personal project with my husband, a card game tentativlely titled Deep Green. A good portion of illustration work is under NDA as it’s a year or more between completion and release.

Right now, the best way is to add or follow me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/beth. sobel Thank you for this opportunity!

Do you accept private commissions? Unfortunately, I don’t usually have time for private commissions.

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Game Review

Space Movers 2201 By Bill Braun

A Pick-up & Deliver Space Co-op

ccording to post show release notes, Gen Con 2015 set an all-new attendance record with a unique attendance of 61,423 and a turnstile attendance of 197,695, creating a six-year span of record growth. Since 2010, Gen Con has more than doubled in attendance. This is great news for both gamers and publishers. The tabletop industry is booming, and it’s a safe bet that the hobby will continue to surge during the coming years. These record-breaking attendance numbers should also prove promising for first-time game developers, as well as those considered tenured within the industry. However, this increased demand for content may also result in increased pressure on these same developers to work harder, create games faster, and push their level of creativity to consistently deliver not only new games, but new game innovations. Benefiting from a successful Kickstarter campaign, KnA Games recently delivered Space Movers 2201, a cooperative tabletop game that offers theme and story, with heavy focus on a new dice rolling mechanism. But does this new mechanic result in tabletop gimmicks and mediocrity, or a truly unique experience? Gameplay At first glance, Space Movers 2201 is a pick-up-and-delivery game in the style of Gale Force Nine’s Firefly: The Game, with a stronger focus on storytelling and thematic immersion. While avoiding direct contact with the Universal Oversight (UO) – a government elected to police the solar system – players need to complete five objective cards from either a specific Adventure Objective Card Set, or from the Random Objective Deck. With up to seven characters to choose from, each with their own unique in-game abilities, 1-7 players will need to work together to deliver cargo, complete skill checks, outmaneuver the UO ship, and finish the mission before time and resources run out. Each of the seven characters come with their own uniquely colored ten-sided dice that is used during skill checks. As a result, all seven of the characters need to be included to play a game of Space Movers 2201 - whether played solo or with a group. While that may sound like a daunting task, the developers at KnA games adjusted

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Photo: Bill Braun

the experience so that only the individual skill dice of the characters not chosen would be needed; unused character cards and tokens are set off to the side. A playerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s turn begins by drawing a card from the top of the Game Deck. These cards represent a mixture of UO threats; Events that reveal barriers or obstacles; Cargo cards that identify pick-up and delivery locations to help keep the Liberty from running out of resources; or Reaction cards that provide bonuses (re-rolls, extra resources, etc.) generally playable on another players turn.

After drawing a card, the player may then optionally move their character to another location on board the Liberty in order to use that locationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s action, as well as move (aka, Jump) the Liberty from one planet board space to an adjacent planet board space. Following movement, players take a single action identified from the cards currently in play (Event, Cargo, Objective, and UO Pursuit), or as indicated by the location currently occupied on the Liberty. And because the majority of the actions involve passing skill tests, this is where the developers at KnA are hoping to make their mark and Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.) promote Space Movers 2201 as innovative, challenging and, above all else, fun. Skill checks are color coordinated to match the individual character dice, and typically require three or more for each test. The player whose turn it is may reassign the skill dice of the characters not being used, as well as determine the order the dice are rolled from the other players participating in the skill check. The game box lid is flipped upside down and a Roll Mat (a durable cardboard cutout with an image of the game printed on it) is inserted into the bottom. One at a time the dice are rolled into the box lid, with every result of five or higher representing a success. Regardless of the number of dice rolled, each will require a success in order to pass the skill check. Therefore, players are encouraged to strike (with more of a flick than a roll) dice already rolled in an attempt to change the result as needed. It is a dice rolling mechanic that adds a bit of dexterity to an already luck-based experience . . . but I absolutely loved it! Player interaction during these skill checks is generally high, with everyone groaning in defeat or eager to give out high-fives in response to a much needed success. Those involved during this dice-chucking bonanza are quick to stand up, looking the best angle to throw their dice, hoping for the best results, and praying not to make matters any worse. What started out as a presumed gimmick quickly transformed into the highlight of the game. Thematically, it makes very little sense, but the level of excitement and fun that is derived from the simple action of throwing dice into a box lid could not get any higher. Kudos to KnA for taking a chance on something new and running with it. Theme and Components Space Movers 2201 includes the short comic book, Finding Liberty, an imaginative visual narrative that quickly immerses the players into the gameâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s futuristic

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Photo: Bill Braun

world, acquaint them with the various characters, and highlight the perils associated with the Universal Oversight. The initial Adventure Objectives further promote an already strong theme, and the game picks up immediately where the comic story leaves off. The artwork wonderfully resembles some of the better Saturday morning cartoons from the 70sand 80s and solidifies Space Movers 2201 as an engaging, yet lighthearted experience that can be enjoyed by a large variety of gamers. While the artwork, theme, and story of Space Movers 2201 are all very strong, there is little to get excited about with the components. Characters, ships, and tokens are functional but uninspiring. However, I make this statement with the assumption that cardboard standees were intelligently considered over high quality miniatures as a means to keep production costs low and the game affordable. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll be the first to admit that a deeply detailed miniature appeals to me more than a cardboard cutout, but I also realize that plastic miniatures typically do nothing to enhance game mechanics or the overall experience. Thankfully, Space Movers 2201 gets by well enough with the components that are included in the game.

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My only legitimate complaint about the components of Space Movers 2201 is with the Roll Mat – the cardboard tile that is intended to fit into the bottom of the box lid. Unfortunately, the double-sided Roll Mat that was included with my copy of the game is slightly smaller (by about half an inch) than the interior dimensions of the box lid. As a result, there was a significant gap around the edges of the Roll Mat and dice would often become cocked when landing in that general area. As a rule, the game states that players cannot move the dice after they have been rolled. So, what to do in that situation? As with any cocked-dice situation we would simply make a reroll. Still, it would have been nice had the Roll Mat fit more snuggly into the box lid as I expect it was intended.

Photo: Bill Braun

Final Thoughts Space Movers 2201 is a pleasant surprise and not at all what I was expecting. When I first heard that KnA were sending a copy of their game to review, I knew nothing about it. A few YouTube videos later and I was skeptical at best. Sure, the theme was right up my alley, and I love games that tell a good story, but the idea of throwing dice to adjust the results of other dice previously rolled seemed gimmicky and a weak concept. Thankfully, I was proven wrong – and in a big way. Space Movers 2201 is a solid cooperative gaming experience that consistently engages all players to work together from start to finish. While I stand my by earlier comment that this new dicerolling mechanic has very little thematic relevance when considering the rest of the game, I’m more than willing to overlook this break in theme based on the sheer amount of fun I had knocking around dice. It’s not often that my gaming group yells and claps in excitement, but Space Movers 2201 certainly had that effect on us.

Photo: Bill Braun

Designer: Kevin Cox and April Cox Publisher: KnA Games Number of players: 2-7 Mechanic: Pick-up and Deliver/Co-op Ages: 13+

Worth Trying www.knagames.com

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Game Review

Dark Tales

By Serge Pierro

Dark Themed Fairy Tales

aving enjoyed dV Giochi’s Samurai Sword, I was looking forward to seeing what their new Dark Tales line of games had to offer. This is the base set and there are already two expansions available. It didn’t hurt that the polished fantasy artwork immediately caught my eye. Italian artist Dany Orizio did all of the art and set the overall mood for the game. More than one person in our play group commented on the quality of the artwork. The game comes with 54 tarot sized cards. Of these 54 cards, 6 of them are Setting cards which are evenly divided into three “A” cards and three “B” cards. Also included are cardboard tokens, these include 8 gold coins, 4 swords, 4 armors, 4 magic wands, and 66 victory points of various denominations. The cardboard insert has two sections and features illustrations and the logo of the game, both of which are a nice touch. The six page rule booklet is both concise and well illustrated, and also includes some notes on specific cards. To begin the game, players will chose one “A” card and one “B” card from amongst the six Setting cards. This is one of the more interesting aspects of the game, as these cards can be combined into nine different combinations and each one leads to a different gaming experience. The “A” card defines what happens when using the various tokens throughout the game and the “B” card is used for end game scoring. While having the six cards is nice,

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we couldn’t help but think what future expansions will bring to the table with this excellent pre-game concept. After choosing the “A” and “B” cards, a “Night” card is removed from the deck and placed next to the draw deck. Players have the ability to play cards to change

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the setting from “Night” to “Day” and vice versa which is important as there are cards in the game that have abilities triggered depending on which one is in play.

On each player’s turn they do the following in order: 1. Draw a card, 2. Play an item (optional) 3. Play one card.

Continued on next page>

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Game Review (Cont.)

Players draw a card from the top of the deck and add it to their hand. If they have an item already in play, they may use it and resolve it according to the current abilities listed on the “A” card. The main phase of the game is the actual playing of a card. Each turn a player must play one card and resolve the effects printed on it. These effects include: how many Victory Points you get for playing the card, whether the card stays in play in front of you or in the common area of the table or the discard pile, and the resolution of the main effect in the text box. The cards also contain additional icons that are referenced throughout the game, these include, male, female, villain, place and events. The end of the game is signaled when there are no longer any cards available to be drawn, then play will continue until one player no longer has any cards in hand at the start of their turn. The game is then over and Victory Points are tallied, taking into effect any of the end game situations stated on the “B” card. This is a good, solid game and I’m looking forward to seeing how it grows over time. The concept of the “A” and “B” cards is excellent and makes for decent replayability in the base game, however, I’m really interested in seeing how this aspect of the game develops. It should be noted that the game scales differently depending on the number of players. Case in point: On the “Dragon’s Treasure” “B” card, the endgame bonus is if you have a Magic Wand and three Gold Coins you get 12 Victory Points, in a three player game it was feasible, but in a four player game it was more difficult due to the fact that there are only 8 coins in the game.

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The tarot sized cards were a welcome treat as they displayed the artwork nicely and it never felt like the text and icons were squeezed onto the cards. As stated previously, the artwork is appealing to the eye and looked great displayed on the table. Not surprisingly, there were comments about some of the artwork possibly risque, but I felt that they were all done in good taste and were nicely rendered by the artist. The gameplay itself was very dynamic, as the ability to change from “Night” to “Day” and vice versa kept players on their toes and had them devising two sets of strategies depending on the “time of day”. I thought that this was a solid collection of cards for a base set. They all seemed to be playable and balanced and at no time did anyone think that a card was overpowered. Even my least favorite card, “Witch”, was usable under the right circumstances. Depending on the future expansions, this game could develop into something quite interesting. It’s a game worth keeping an eye on.

Designer: Pierluca Zizzi Publisher: dV GIOCHI Number of players: 2-4 Mechanic: Hand Management Ages: 14+

Recommended www.dvgiochi.com

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History

Vintage Games By Kevin Cox

â&#x20AC;&#x153;I love the nostalgic myself. I hope we never lose some of the things of the past.â&#x20AC;? - Walt Disney

o you remember what sparked your passion for board games? Most can point to a time in their lives that it started; maybe not the very day or the very game that did it, but you have a sense of where it all began for you. For me it was in my younger teen years, a fun time called the 1980s. I remember heading to the mall with my sister and walking down the toy store aisle looking at all the new board games available. Sure, the standard titles like Monopoly, Scrabble, and Life were always there, but those never grabbed my attention. I wanted something more, something that would spark my imagination and provide more adventure! Games like Star Wars Escape the Death Star, and E.T. gave me a chance to step inside worlds that until then I could only see in the theater. I even got to take part in the adventure from the movies which was and still is great. Other titles like Risk, Civilization, Dark Tower and countless others offered something completely different; a chance to make my own adventures. And I loved it! Years passed and life moved on. My interests changed and the spark I once had for those games seemed to fade. Video games and music took their place, and much like Woody when Buzz came along, those games were old and a bit forgotten. One by one they were lost.

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Fast forward about 10 years when life started to slow down a bit for me. During that time I began to play board games again with my wife and friends. My collection began to grow again but was made up of only the latest and greatest titles. Games like Magic the Gathering pulled me back to the table and showed me that the spark may indeed still be there. As my love for gaming grew again I was struck by something

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Photo: Kevin Cox

interesting....nostalgia. I began to think of those first board games that started it all for me and I quickly realized I wanted them back. I wanted them all back. And so the thrill of the hunt began. Through many visits to antique stores, thrift shops and of course, eBay, my collection started to become much more diverse. I found great games I never owned

or even knew existed. Suddenly games like Dogfight were proudly sitting on the shelf alongside Battlestar Galactica. And of course there sat Woody in the form of games like Civilization, Stop Thief and Lost Treasure. They were home. Now I get to introduce to others those games that started it all for me. When you sit down to play these Continued on next page>

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History (Cont.)

Photo: Kevin Cox

older titles you quickly realize that they never should have been forgotten. Beautiful artwork, simple yet brilliant game mechanics, and deep strategy provide lots of epic moments; just as many if not more great moments than the new titles do. Now with a huge diverse collection like this, the biggest difficulty is finding time to get old classics and the new titles to the table. Over the years I have found a few interesting ways to do this. Game nights sometimes start with one of the older vintage games which tend to be a little shorter then move on to a new longer game experience. It is great fun to find games with similar themes that span many years and play them together back to back. Stop Thief and Letters from Whitechapel are a good example of this. My gaming group also very much enjoys “Random Game Night” where we basically pull random titles out of a hat and play whatever comes up. In our case

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that happens to be a bingo hopper from the 1940s, so for us the act of choosing what game to play has become a game in itself. Regardless of how you choose to mix in vintage titles to your game nights, doing so will be fun and rewarding. In the coming issues of Game Nite I will describe and review some vintage games that bring memorable moments to my game table. I hope that through this you will discover some titles you didn’t know were out there that you can enjoy as much as anything in your collection. Along the way hopefully you will realize the spark that started your passion for tabletop gaming never left you, and much like a vintage board game, it’s there waiting to be rediscovered.

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Interview Comics

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Contributors Serge Pierro

Serge

has playtested numerous games for several companies, including Wizards of the Coast and AEG. He has also written for Duelist, Inquest and Gamer print magazines. His award winning photography has appeared in both newspapers and magazines. He has self published a game, and has several other designs scheduled for a 2015 release.

Eric Devlin

Eric has been the North East Regional Representative for Wizards of the Coast, the brand manager of Legends of the Five Rings, as well as working with Sabretooth and Third World Games. He has an extensive background in playtesting for top companies. He has also written for Games Quarterly, Duelist, Inquest and others.

Bill Braun Bill has been a contributing writer for PSNation and High-

Def Digest, an Editor and Publisher Relations Director for 30PlusGamer, and the co-creator and podcast host of A Band of Gamers.

John Anthony Gulla John graduated with an M.A. in Humanities, wherein he focused his study on games, the history of gaming, and game design as it relates to the Humanities. He is an avid board gamer and game collector, with over 200 games in his current collection. You can reach him on BGG.com under the username JohnAG68

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Jeff Rhind Jeff is a single father raising a 17 year-old son and a 6 year-old daughter,

and slowly coaxing them into the world of tabletop gaming. He has been gaming for many years and shares his love and appreciation for the hobby by reviewing and talking about games on his web site: completelyboard. com as well as his You Tube channel at youtube.com/completelyboard. You can also follow him on twitter @jeffrhind

David Niecikowski David is a published game designer and recognized expert on using traditional

games with families and students. Since 2000, over two dozen of his board games, role-playing supplements, books, and articles have been published. He has also worked as a freelance marketing and event consultant with scores of industry companies such as Alliance Game Distributors, Gen Con, Wizards of the Coast, Upper Deck, Mayfair, Rio Grande, AEG, and Out of the Box.

Kevin Lauryssen Kevin has a Master in Audiovisual Arts and majored in

Animation. He works as a Freelance Draftsman for multiple companies in Belgium. Heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an avid gamer who has created a web-comic about boardgaming. His work can be found at www.game-night.be

Kevin Cox Kevin is a published game designer, graphic designer and co-owner of KnA Games. His first tabletop release is a sci-fi co-op called Space Movers, which he created with his wife, April. Kevin has been gaming for over 30 years and has an extensive collection, which features many vintage games.Â In addition to gaming, Kevin enjoys being a husband and all around geek.

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Micro Rome

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Instructions: 1.) Print out all four pages. 2.) Glue the pages together so that “Micro Rome” is on the other side of the “Fountain with 4 purple Banners” and the “Micro Rome Scoring” cards are back to back. 3.) Cut the cards out and play.

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York Hnefatafl Print-and-play Assembly Instructions

The year is A.D. 954. King Eric Bloodaxe has for the past two years been the Viking ruler of the kingdom of York. Having taken it from King Olaf, he has been occupying the City of York with the help of twelve kinsmen and their stout followers. But Eric’s reign has not been an easy one. It took two attempts to take and hold the kingdom, and Olaf’s kinsmen and the Northumbrians are not comfortable with his rule. So they have massed an army to try to drive him out. As the army approaches the city, king Eric’s men get ready for their defence. The Northumbrians outnumber Eric’s men two to one. It is clear that the city cannot be defended. Eric’s only chance is to escape from the area, in the hope of recruiting reinforcements to secure his return. If the Northumbrians manage to capture him, then his dreams of further rule are gone. This is a setting for the game of hnefatafl, designed by the Vikings. The print-and-play game you have here is a modern variant. It was devised in 1980 and marketed by the York Archaeological Trust, who now run the Jorvik Viking Centre. It is a well balanced and fast-moving variant. This print-and-play file is designed to be printed by a colour printer on A4 sheets of card and paper. A black and white printer can be used, but some extra step will be needed to ensure the pieces can be distinguished from one another. The game can also be printed on U.S. Letter paper.

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Page 1, this page, is the story and instructions. You may print it or not as you please. Pages 2 and 3 contain the countryside York, the Northumbrian’s positions being sandy soil. Page 4 is the city itself, with Eric’s hall in the middle and built-up areas marking his men’s positions. It also contains two reminder cards, one for each player, illustrating movement and capture. Page 5 contains the pieces, in the form of shields: a large red one for King Eric, twelve small red ones for his kinsmen, and 24 blue ones for his attackers. Pages 6 and 7 contain the rules leaflet for the game of York Hnefatafl. 1. If printing the front page, paper is sufficient and a black and white printer will do. 2a. If you wish to laminate the board, print pages 2, 3 and 4 on paper or card. Laminate the sheets with good quality laminating pouches: poor quality pouches may stick only at the edges. Then cut out the board parts and the reminder cards with scissors or a craft knife. 2b. If gluing the board to backing card, then print pages 2, 3 and 4 on paper, glue the paper to thick card, and when dry, cut out the board sections and reminder cards with a craft knife. 2c. Alternatively, you can print pages 2, 3 and 4 on card as thick as your printer can handle, and cut out the board sections and reminder cards using a craft knife. 3. You can print out page 5 for the pieces and finish and cut it in the same ways as the board and reminder cards; gluing onto thick backing card is recommended. Alternatively, you can print onto transparency or an A4 sticker sheet, cut the pieces out and fix onto wooden discs of 1 inch (25mm) for King Harald, and 34 inches (19mm) for the other pieces. A colour printer really is needed for these, unless (i) you want to stick transparencies onto coloured wooden discs, or (ii) you want to print page 5 twice, on to two different coloured sheets of card or paper, in order to supply armies of the relevant colours. 4. Print pages 6 and 7 onto the two sides of a single sheet of A4 paper. Fold this in half to create a 4-page A5 rules leaflet. Be careful when printing the second side; ensure the inside of the booklet isn’t upside down after printing!

The Web Site Much information about the game of hnefatafl is available on our web site, Hnefatafl: the Game of the Vikings. The site is arranged in sections about the game’s history, its rules, and strategic hints and tips. You can also play the game on-line, and there is The Hnefatafl Shop, from which you can buy games and other merchandise. The address of the site is http://tafl.cyningstan.com/.

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http://www.cyningstan.com/

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http://www.cyningstan.com/

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Reminder Card

See the rules booklet for full details.

Movement: the attackers move first. All pieces move the same way. Only the king can land on the central square.

Capture: defenders and attackers are captured by surrounding on opposite sides. The king may not take part in capturing attackers.

King: the king is captured by surrounding him on four sides by attackers, when he loses. He wins by reaching the board edge.

Hall: when the king is beside the central square, he is captured instead by three attackers on his unprotected sides.

http://taďŹ&#x201A;.cyningstan.com/

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77Copyright (C) Damian Walker 2015

http://www.cyningstan.com/

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gal. If the board position is repeated three times, the player in control of the situation must find another move.

11. Perpetual repetition is ille-

10. Either player will lose the game if unable to move on his or her own turn.

Figure 3: The white pieces may be captured by any of the moves shown. The three white pieces at the bottom right can be captured at once, as per rule 6.

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Hnefatafl is a game invented by the Norse, often referred to as the Vikings. A king at the centre of the board, with his band of faithful defenders, faces a horde of attackers twice their number, who are lined up at the edges ready to attack from all sides. The king must escape from the board, while the attackers must capture him. It was first played in the first millennium; boards and pieces from that era have been found in all parts of Scandinavia. As the Norse raiders, adventurers and settlers spread further afield, the game was introduced to other cultures: the Sami in the north, and the English, Scots, Welsh and Irish in the west. Norse traders took the game east with them to Russia and Ukraine.

From the east, however, hnefatafl would have come face to face with another game, one that would eclipse it and drive it from fashionable tables in all the lands it had invaded. By the twelfth century, chess had replaced hnefatafl in Scandinavia itself. Only in remote lands did the game survive, in Wales till the sixteenth century, and in Lapland till the eighteenth century. This version of hnefatafl is for the popular 11x11 board. It was designed by David Brown for a game marketed by the York Archaeological Trust. York hnefatafl features a king who is difficult to capture but who cannot take part in captures himself; he must reach the edge of the board to win the game.

Introduction & History

YORK HNEFATAFL

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5. A defender is captured when it is surrounded on two opposite sides along a row or column by attackers. An attacker is captured when it is likewise

4. The marked square in the centre of the board is his castle, and only the king may land on it. Other pieces may pass over it to land on squares beyond.

3. In his turn a player can move a single piece any number of spaces along a row or column; this piece may not jump over nor land on another of either colour. Some examples are shown in figure 2.

2. The pieces are set out as shown in figure 1. The attackers take the first move.

1. The game is played by two players on a board of 11Ă&#x2014;11 squares, one player taking control of the king and twelve defenders, the other taking control of twenty-four attackers.

9. The king wins the game if he reaches the edge of the board. The attackers win if they capture the king.

8. A special situation occurs if the king is in the castle and surrounded by three attackers and one defender. The defender may be captured by sandwiching it between an attacker and the beleaguered king.

7. The king is captured by surrounding him on all four sides by attackers, or by surrounding him on three sides, if the fourth side is the castle.

6. It is sometimes possible to capture two or three enemies separately (i.e. not two or three enemies in a row) against other pieces of your own in a single move; in this case all captured pieces are removed at once.

surrounded by defenders. The king cannot take part in capturing attackers.

How to Play

Figure 2: Examples of movmement for the king and defenders.

Figure 1: The initial layout of the pieces.

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