agregador de notícias
Meeples' Choice 2008
W. Eric Martin: Reality Check
I’ve reviewed a number of games in the first half of 2009 that are, shall we say, less than inspiring in terms of their game play, graphics and replayability. CrossWise, Senet, Tenka, Roman Taxi, Bill of Rights, Path and other such titles might find fans elsewhere, but I’m not going to be signing up on their Facebook pages, if you know what I mean.
Former BGN columnist Frank Branham, taking pity on the designers and publishers of such games, suggested that I offer a reality check for this group, a for-hire service in which I’d review a game prior to a company going to print. I’d offer private feedback on the game, identify confusing aspects of the design or rules, point to similar titles already in print, and provide a general warning about the risks of publishing. For a 2005 article in Knucklebones, for example, I spoke with Jim Albea about his game Plateau. As Albea said at the time, “Printing 10,000 [copies] provided all sorts of price breaks. On that run I was able to get the production cost below $2.00 per set.” While that cost sounds low, Albea had sold fewer than a thousand copies a year after the game’s publication, despite (or perhaps because of) Plateau being a well-designed but plain-looking abstract strategy game.
I can appreciate Frank’s good intentions. At a local game store in June 2009, I spotted five copies of one of the games listed above and worried that either they will never sell, dinging the retailer for their cost, or (even worse) they will sell, souring five groups of people on the idea of impulsively buying games in the future. With “A Sanity Check for Small Publishers,” a company could hire me as a consultant, paying me for my expertise, and I’d offer advice so that ideally the publisher would then either publish better games, leading to more happiness for gamers and more sales, or shelve designs that don’t cut the mustard, saving the publisher thousands of dollars.
The “sanity check” sounds good in theory, but I have doubts about how it would play out in practice:
- Publishers rarely pay to advertise the games they’ve already produced, so how many of them would shell out for a design consultant? And how much would I charge for such a service?
- Most publishers believe that they’re publishing good games, so why would they feel the need to have those beliefs verified independently? They like the game, their friends do, and their playtest groups do, so what’s to be gained?
- I’d be placing myself in the position of having someone pay me to deliver information they don’t want to hear, while also opening myself up to accusations of bias and prejudice given that BGN runs advertisements from publishers and I’ve been hired to edit rules by some competitors.
- Worst of all, I’d possibly be subjected to an endless stream of bad games, challenged to push them on gamers in my local groups and spend time on designs that pale versus games that I know I want to play.
2008 Meeples Choice Award Results
The Spielfrieks user group wound up its voting for the 2008 Meeples Choice Awards today and the following three great games finished on top:
Dominion
Pandemic
Le Havre
Congratulations to designers Donald Vaccarino, Matt Leacock, and Uwe Rosenberg and to publishers Rio Grande, Hans im Gluck, Z-Man, and Lookout Games.
The results of the voting are given below. The votes in the final round are listed first, with the number of votes received during the nominations stage given after that in parentheses.
1. Dominion – 58 (66)
2. Pandemic – 49 (59)
3. Le Havre – 44 (54)
4. Stone Age – 27 (46)
5. Chicago Express – 20 (38)
6. Battlestar Galactica – 18 (31)
6. Snow Tails – 18 (25)
8. Ghost Stories – 15 (30)
9. Tinners’ Trail – 14 (35)
10. Diamonds Club – 12 (22)
10. Manoeuvre – 12 (12)
12. Space Alert – 9 (20)
13. After the Flood – 8 (13)
13. Metropolys – 8 (11)
13. Powerboats – 8 (20)
13. Say Anything – 8 (11)
17. Cosmic Encounter – 7 (12)
17. Steel Driver – 7 (21)
19. Conflict of Heroes: Awakening the Bear! – 6 (12)
20. Aquaretto – 5 (13)
20. Wealth of Nations – 5 (15)
22. Lost Cities: The Board Game – 4 (13)
22. Municipium – 4 (11)
22. Planet Steam – 4 (13)
22. Royal Palace – 4 (11)
Todays Blatherings
In gilroy
Gone Cardboard: Beer amp; Pretzels, Coming from Bézier Games
Ted Alspach has announced one of the Spiel 09 releases from his Bézier Games: Beer & Pretzels. Here’s what Alspach has to say about the origins of this game:
What is the definitive “beer and pretzels” game? Until now, you might have said Munchkin 17: The Scenario Where We’ve Finally Run the Series Directly Into the Ground or Candyland: The Drinking Game Variant (whenever anyone turns over a card that has colored squares on it, everyone drinks) or maybe Die Macher if you have no idea what I’m talking about. Because of this unbridled confusion, I went on a spiritual quest to determine the essence of beer and pretzels games, and received the ultimate epiphany in game form. Because I used up what little creativity I had by coming up with lots of clever text used to promote the game (like this paragraph), I simply named this game Beer & Pretzels.
So how do you play? You throw coasters on a table, earn money, throw more coasters, earn more money, and so forth until you stand coasterless with fistfuls of cash, counting the loot to see who has the most. Each coaster has either beer or pretzels depicted on it, with the pretzels being worth different values and the beer doubling your money. You score only for coasters that are completely visible. Napkins – oh, yes, there are napkins, too – merely cover up the mess, costing you money, too, if your aim stinks. Says Alspach, “There tends to be name-calling, bragging, self-high-fiving and the occasional brawl during the game, all of which add to the rich atmosphere and theme.”
The game includes string for a playing boundary, precious string
Beer & Pretzels is for 2-5 players, ages 6 and up, with a playing time of 10-15 minutes and a retail price of $30. Alspach is taking preoders on the Bézier Games website, with free shipping with the U.S. and coasters for a sixth player. Beer & Pretzels is scheduled for an October 2009 release. This game has been added to Gone Cardboard.
Pocket Rockets - Hazgaard
Review of PX Poker Night
Kris Hall: Dan Holte and The Supreme Commander
Some wargame topics never grow old. I am always on the lookout for new grand strategic wargames about World War II in Europe, and there is a new one on the horizon: The Supreme Commander. This game is designed by Dan Holte and will be published by GMT games. Mr. Holte recently answered some of my questions about the game.
Kris: There have been a lot of grand-strategic European theater World War II games over the years, and some of them--like Europe Engulfed and Advanced European Theater of Operations (AETO)-- are still available. Why design The Supreme Commander? What will your game offer that these other games do not?
Dan: Actually, the design of “The Supreme Commander” is the result of playing almost all of those other ETO games, as well as many of the various computer games that have addressed the topic over the years. However, it’s more a culmination of what I liked in them, rather than what I thought some of them might have lacked. Players might be reminded of mechanics from many of these games at times.
However, one thing that I am adamant about is the open-endedness of the game - The historical timeline is not set in stone. There is a historical basis for everything, but a number of diplomatic and military what-ifs are going to confront players almost every time they play the game. No, the Soviet Union is not going to war with the United Kingdom, however many strategic options are open to the players through both direct conflict and diplomacy.
Kris: What is the relative complexity of The Supreme Commander? What aspects of the conflict will be explored in most detail? Will there be one set of rules, or optional or advanced rules?
Dan: There are no basic/intermediate/advanced rules; the rules are laid-out generally following the sequence of play. I’ll back-up for a moment regarding complexity - Do you remember a scene in the movie “A River Runs Through It”, where one of the young boys was working on a writing assignment for his teacher/father? Each time he handed it in, his father would give it back to him, saying something like “Do it again; half as long.” This really struck me as a game designer. Whenever I’m working on a historical wargame, I think of the key elements about the conflict that made it unique. Then, I try to come up with mechanics that reflect those elements in the game, in a fun way of course - these are games first and foremost - and inevitably begin the “Do it again; half as long” process. I try to carve away all unnecessary complexity.
When you remove the introductory and the scenario setup sections, there are really only about 14-15 pages of rules [currently] in the game. But all of the major elements of World War II in Europe are included: Murmansk convoy, Lend-Lease, diplomacy, the strategic U-Boat campaign, technological advancement, strategic bombing, naval invasions, the economy and production, partisans and more.
Kris: How will strategic warfare (U-boats and bombing) be handled? How will surface naval combat and tactical air forces be dealt with?
Dan: On strategic naval and air: naval units may be placed in sea zones to contest control at the beginning of every turn. Subs remaining after will affect Murmansk convoy attempts, or can directly affect US or UK production. Sub and Surface fleets in a naval zone will also hinder any enemy fleets attempting to transport units during the movement phase. If this seems time consuming it really isn’t, as there are only a few of these units available to each nation.
Air units (bomber and fighter) are used in ground combat and strategic bombing. Fighters can protect bombers and affect combat; bombers can affect combat or can affect production if used for strategic bombing.
Kris: How will you deal with the diplomatic aspects of the conflict?
Dan: Diplomacy attempts may be made each turn by both sides. The diplomacy system is represented by markers placed on a track. At the center is a Neutral box, with boxes in each direction stepping towards either Allied or Axis. Players pay, with production points, for an attempt to shift it one towards their side. Each minor nation has a historical starting position, and there are a few restrictions and limitations but the system allows players to simply and quickly expend efforts to shift minor countries to their way of thinking.
Kris: How long will The Supreme Commander take to play? How many scenarios will it have?
Dan: Play time: TSC is usually a weekend type of game. There are 9 turns per year, as in “Totaler Krieg”. As far as scenarios, there are currently three. There is a campaign game, an Russian Front only scenario, and a June, 1941 start campaign game.
Kris: Thanks for the interview.
Todays Blatherings
Second VTES European Draft Championship
Ancient Sublime
Schweig Releases Free Pulp Adventures
Role-playing in the Land of the Lost
Lore: Forgotten Mythos released!
