Bibliotheke

The Bibliotheke (libraries) game has developed into a full prototype over the summer for playtesting. 25 libraries were finally chosen, five from each of five regions, all historically accurate in different time periods set in the ancient world. The different roles of pawns were abandoned for two pawns per player (head and assistant librarians) that do multiple things. Each turn a player has four action points to spend on a variety of actions for his pawns. Each library has a stack of books that can be aquired, and placed in collections that are established at different libraries. Here's the mapboard:

A collection consists of five books that must match by either subject (literature/science/history, etc), by region (Aegean/Egypt/Mesopotamia, etc.) or by period of time. They must also be placed in a collection in "order" on the shelf, either chronologically or alphabetically. This provides endless combinations and ways to shift strategies if you cannot acquire the books you want. For playtesting I do not have finalized the 125 ancient books I need, so I made mock ones to just test the mechanics:

This book has the fake title of "Wade" written in 1740 BC. The subject is Government/Politics/Law, it comes from the Egypt/Levant region, was written in the Early-Middle period, and has a value of 2 (on a 1-5 scale) that pertains to end of game scoring.

Event cards can also be purchased with action points that bring into play such things as Thieves, Disasters, Research, Transportation, Forgeries, Guards and the Black Market. There is not as much interaction as I would like aside from the event cards and competing for the same books. Maybe have another pawn who does "bad" things to other players. There is also a tendency to "camp" at board locations in playtesting and not traveling to other libraries. How long can they "mine" a single library? Who of the two pawns carries what books of a player?There is also a question of correct point cost assignments to the actions, and the balance of the victory points.
It has been fun to play as strategies change, and there is the constant challenge of figuring out what collection will be made and how it will be ordered on the shelf. The fun and puzzle factor is there.

GAMING SESSION: Game ideas for group to develop

At our last couple of game development sessions in March, four game ideas in various stages were presented for review and prototypes played. Here is the review of that session:

City-States - A resource development game that mirrors many computer "empire-building" games, but in a simpler format. The main mechanic is the allocation of resources simultaneously by chips on 4 of 8 possible actions. Gains/losses are based upon how many players selected the same actions. Raw in structure, but great player interaction. GEC- 3.1

Diamond Dynasty - A franchise baseball card game that covers most aspects of running a baseball team: economics, players, facilities and the season itself. Great concept with many player choices, but needs reworking of math formulas and flow. GEC - 1.8

Bibliotheke - A game about ancient libraries and famous writings collected. Lots of variety and ways to assemble collections in a race, with good mechanics for collecting. Structure of game is solid with some details to be worked out. GEC - 4.2

Road Trip - Simple card/tile laying game of sight seeing and souvenir collecting. Has great potential for a wide audience once the idea has more clarity. GEC - 3.0

Bibliotheke is clearly ahead in design and overall concept and will be the top game for the group to help develop. Looking forward to more designs and playtest opportunities.

Evaluation Criteria

In order to evaluate developing games, we have adopted the Game Evaluatio Criteria (GEC) created by Mike Compton. It is a simple system of rating games from 1-7 in the following categories: Clarity, Flow, Balance, Length, Integration and Fun. He has provided a great chart with written examples to place the game experience along the 1-7 scale. You can find his charts in a pdf from this link:
 http://bgdg.awardspace.com/main/Game_Evaluation_Criteria.pdf

The individual feedback is the most valuable, but we will also add all  6 scores together and find the average for each evaluator and the total from all evaluators to give a final GEC score to rate and rank the prototypes we review and play.

GAMING SESSION

A couple of smaller games that we enjoyed playing at the last session:

Gheos - it got some press but then it wasn't heard from much. I enjoy this game where you play gods in setting and changing the land, and thus the fate of the civilizations below. As a player you are not tied to one civilization, but all of them if you choose. You score points from those that have the most power, and that you can manipulate into scoring possibilities that are half random, and half initiated by you. Your strategy can change on a dime as the fates of civilizations rise and fall with land changes, wars and famines. Unique mechanics make it very interactive.

Traders of Carthage - a small board game with great mechanics that make every move effect gameplay and strategy. Players bid for four different goods that are being shipped from Alexandria to Carthage. Every player scores who has the goods that make it first there. Other ships of products can be raided by pirates or sent back on their journey. The cards serve multiple purposes in the game: goods type, amount of goods, currency for purchasing, storage from pirates and coin values for scoring. Must plan for turns ahead to find success.

Top Ten Card Games

Here are the top ten card games as voted on by the LaMont Group:

1. Dominion - new card game that is fun to play and is never the same game twice. Out of 25 sets of cards you only use 10 each game, so the combinations are always changing.

2. The Great Dalmuti - fun game of moving up in society for up to 8 players. A riot when you play with different chairs and hats according to ones role.

3. SET - a brain puzzle game that should not be played too late at night or your head hurts.

4. Danish 21 - This game is from Denmark using any set of cards. Fun for all as there are only winners and one loser. It is a variant of the game Agurk, which is "cucumber" in danish.

5. Coloretto - a simple card game that has a card collection mechanic that became the basis for the 2008 spiel de jahres winner Zooloretto.

6. Wackee Six - A fast paced card laying game that edges out PIT as one of the most chaos enduced and frantic fun games.

7. Lost Cities - the only strict 2 player game on the list, but challenging and fun with many decisions to make.

8. Illuminati - A game we played a long time ago, and has many variations, but it is a free for all conspiracy game of alliances.

9. Citadels - fun game for 7 players where you choose a role each turn. Because you don't know each other's identity, you don't know who you effect with your moves.

10. G.I. Joe - the only collectible card game on the list (most are loathed since Magic:TG went corporate and was watered down), it actually went out of print quick preserving its original state before greedy expansions ruined it. Good mechanics and fun to play with the kids.

Honorable mention: Guillotine, Saboteur, Milles Bourne, PIT

Top Ten Board Game Websites

by Brett Holbrook

It is difficult to find your way around the world of board games. What is a meeple? (game pieces made popular from the game Carcasonne). What is AP that afflicts many game players? (Analysis Paralysis). What is the difference between Monopoly and Designer Board Games? (miles and miles). Where do I go for news, reviews & prices on board games? Here is where I frequent on the net:


1. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/ . Simply the best place to find reviews, commentary and playtesting on any board game you want. The all-time ranking system and bajillion entries make this the mecca. The well-organized user reviews with pros and cons make this spot absolutely necessary to visit before you buy any game. Even has a collection of variant rules or game helps for each game. No games sold from here, but there are links.
2. http://www.timewellspent.org/ . A great place to review, window shop and buy games. The layout is easy to navigate, with rankings of popular games by month and all-time. Also links to the Spiel des Jahres winner (the Oscar of the hobby) and Deutscher Spiele Preis (for heavier/brainier games). Great customer service for purchasing.
3. http://www.cardhaus.com/ . I know this site deals more with Collectible Card Games, but they have a good list of board games with great prices, and I was able to sell them cards and trade for games painlessly. Great customer service.
4. http://www.criticalgamers.com/ . I can spend hours here reading articles. Goes more in depth in the gaming world with strong reviews and even helps one to understand game development. Not a huge variety of what you find, but it doesn't get meatier. It will even include tips for game strategy.
5. http://www.boardgamenews.com/ . Another portal into the board game world, they also have good in-depth articles, I especially enjoy the interviews with game designers. They don't pull any punches in their observations, but give you a great feel for what is out there. They even have a cartoon strip of game pieces for some comic relief.
6. http://www.funagain.com/ . Excellent overall site that is easy to navigate with top sellers, reviews and favorites. The reviews are substantial to allow you to assess the game. Their beginners guide is great, with "building bridges" to help you make the transition from kid games like monopoly to strategy games, tailoring a game to your personality, and even video blogs that show, explain and review games.
7. http://www.boardsandbits.com/ . A nice site to order from with a great layout and a rotating front page that highlights many games at once. Good prices and a constant list of new arrivals every day.
8. http://www.boardgamerevolution.com/ . Bundles, bundles, bundles. The best place to buy games in groups, or basic games along with all of their expansions. Discount prices for the game bundles makes this a must for bigger orders.
9. http://www.gateplay.com/ . Great place for basic designer game understanding. Simple reviews, but the complexity rating groups for games will help a novice navigate. Free shipping over $100 attractive, and their gateway bundles to introduce you to gaming well-thought out.
10. http://www.tabletopwars.com/ . This is a colorful site, but hard to find your way around. The best part are the forums and user reviews of games.

Pandemic: the new drug

by Brett Holbrook

When the outbreak in Mexico City triggered an outbreak in Los Angeles, the yellow virus had taken over. And we were just one move from curing all four diseases! Such was the drama last night as I played Pandemic with my two boys. Pandemic is one of my favorite new designer board games that I got at the end of last year. It is part of a fairly new genre of cooperative-style games where either all players win or all players lose, it's you against the game. It's an intriguing concept, and very likable for some people who hold disdain for overly aggressive competition pitting players against each other (which I don't mind!). Basically each player plays a role as a scientist, researcher, medic, etc. on a team trying to find cures (and even eradicate) 4 different diseases all over the world, while at the same time trying to halt their spreading and preventing outbreaks.

Every game I have played has been intense and nail-biting. Last night we were sure we had the game won as we had cured three diseases, and on the next move my son was going to a research station to cure the last one and win the game. That is the only way to win, but one of the many ways to lose snuck up on us as a single infection caused multiple outbreaks on the last turn that put victory out of reach. Ugh!

Pandemic is great for family play as it builds communication and it requires everyone to work together. Moves cannot be made haphazardly without effecting everyone else. The game is unique in its approach, and I am geek enough to have watched this video of a speech by the designer to explain game design and some of the mathematical models behind it. Its 50 minutes and not for the faint of heart, but there is one part in it that really struck a chord with me as I identified with what he was saying and seemed to reveal part of me. At 21:30 of the video he quoted Raph Koster in his book A Theory of Fun who said: "Fun from games arises out of mastery. It arises out of comprehension. It is the act of solving puzzles that makes games fun." When we solve a problem, the brain kicks off endorphins. In other words, Learning=Fun. I get that kind of kick in solving things, figuring things out. In fact, when there is no longer a need to solve, I can get bored quite quickly. Not only in games, but with projects and tasks. Add a challenge and I can't put it down.

We were recently moving rooms around over the holidays, and I found a complex puzzle, a "Triazzle", that I had completed over a decade ago. It depicted deep seas creatures on triangle pieces that could be put together in a variety of ways, but only one correctly. When I had solved it I wrote a code on the back of the pieces that told me how to put it together. But of course when we found it I could not remember how the code worked. I sat on the floor for an hour and struggled with it. When I couldn't figure the code, I just set about to solve the puzzle again. I mean, I couldn't just let it sit there! So I picked it apart in a soduku-like fashion and got it done. WooHoo! The endorphins kicked in and I was stoked. Games are my drug of choice.
Saturday night Update:
VICTORY!!! We couldn't just let the diseases take over. We played again and this is just before Caleb on the left cures the last disease in Europe.