Mar
27
Nordic Serious Games conference was held few weeks back in Jyväskylä. Tuonela Productions had a presentation where the CEO of the company first told some facts on the board game field overall and then continued to the educational games Tuonela Productions has in it’s portfolio. The general information given for the audience is a bit simplified from the game enthusiastic’s perspective but otherwise there’s great discussion and information in the presentation.
There’s also guite a few other presentations available and I must say that production quality of the presentations in the website is great. There should be more occations like this which are also published for the wider audience. And definitely this is a good example that there’s things happening in the Finnish gaming field.
Mar
22
LATAA - TÄSTÄ- LAUTAPELISUOMEN UUSIN JAKSO (.mp3)
LATAA - TÄSTÄ- LAUTAPELISUOMEN UUSIN JAKSO KUVITUKSEN KERA (.m4a)
Tässä jaksossa seuraavaa:
JOHDANTO
Johdannossa mainitaan Wits and Wagersin Xbox versio, joka julkaistaan lähiviikkojen aikana. Lisätietoa aiheesta täältä.
WITS AND WAGERSIN ARVOSTELU
Käyn läpi millaisesta pelistä on kysymys, miten peliä pelataan ja kenelle peli mielestäni soveltuu. Lisätietoa pelistä löydät esimerkiksi Boardgamegeekistä. Lisäsin myös kuvagallerioihini muutaman jaksossa käytetyn kuvan täydessä koossaan eli jos haluat tutustua komponentteihin lähemmin niin käy ihmeessä kurkkaamassa kuvia.
LAUTAPELISUOMI KILPAILUN VOITTAJA
Lautapelisuomen kolmannen kilpailun voitti Markku “JoeLamer” Jaatinen. Markun ehdotus Wits and Wagers -pelin suomennokseksi oli Tiedolla tai tuurilla! ja tällä kertaa Comperon väki katsoi, että nimi sisälsi enemmän tietoa kuin tuuria. Onnea voittajalle ja kiitokset kaikille kilpailuun osallistuneille vastaajille!
Hienoa myös on se, että Markun ehdotus valittiin Wits and Wagers -pelin suomenkieliseksi nimeksi.
HAASTATTELU LAUTAPELIT.FI / TONI NIITTYMÄKI
Lautapelisuomi kävi tutustumassa Lautapelit.fi:n toimintaan Simonkadun myymälässä. Käymme Tonin kanssa läpi Lautapelit.fi:n historiaa, toimintaa ja tulevia pelejä vuodelle 2008. Lisäksi puhumme lautapelialan näkymistä vähän laajemminkin kaiken muun tarinan ohessa. Lopuksi Toni kertoo vielä mistä peleistä hän pitää ja miksi.
Haastattelussa mainitaan ainakin seuraavat pelit: Oregon, Toledo, Modern Art, Gang of Four, Menolippu, Caylus, El Grande ja Gift Trap.
LAUTAPELISUOMI KILPAILU 4 – KUINKA MONTA LAUTAPELIÄ LAUTAPELIT.FI MYYMÄLÄSSÄ?
Lautapelisuomen neljäs kilpailu alkaa tämän jakson julkaisun yhteydessä. Kilpailun palkintona on Oregon -lautapeli kolmelle lähimmäksi arvanneelle ja voittaaksesi kilpailun sinun tulee siis arvata kuinka monta peliä Lautapelit.fi:n myymälässä oli myynnissä 14.3.2008, kun haastattelu tehtiin? Lähetä vastauksesi sunnuntaihin 6.4.2008 mennessä osoitteeseen cane <ät> boardgamingfinland.com ja osallistut kilpailuun. Tarkemmat ohjeet kilpailuun osallistumisesta voit kuunnella jaksosta.
Mukavaa pääsiäistä kaikille!
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Palaute on tervetullutta ja pyrin ottamaan sen huomioon tulevia jaksoja suunnitellessani. Lähetä ihmeessä myös toivomuksia tulevia jaksoja silmällä pitäen. Kiitokset myös Eminorille ja Mikko Putkoselle jakson musiikista.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Mar
22
Sneak peek on the Finnish Modern Art cards
Filed Under Modern Art, News | Leave a Comment
I saw the drafts of the cards and other components of the Modern Art in Finnish and man they look gorgeous. Here’s some teasers which I got from Lautapelit.fi. All paintings represent real contemporary art which I thing is just awsome.
Mar
22
Gathering of my friends
Filed Under Galaxy Trucker, Session, Wits and Wagers | 2 Comments
It was not the kind of gathering which takes place in the US; there were two of my oldest friends and in between of vivid discussion on various topics we played some games. We have played games together as long as we’ve known each other; computer games (I have especially fond memories from the Warlords 1 & 2 marathons that usually ended up in tears) and RPG:s. Board games have not been on our schedule that much but maybe it’s the age that makes the difference in games.
Galaxy Trycker was an obvious choise as the first game. Both of my friends are more or less scifi addicts and knew that GT would work well in this group. Only one of us had not played the game and after a relatively short explanation of rules we bagan playing. This time I only explained the building part before we started and after we had build the ships I continued to the exploration part of the game. This was a good way of introducing game concept to a new gamer; there were not too many rules to grasp and the event cards are not that important when you play the game first time.
We got lots of laughs and it was like back in the old days. Everyone seemed to like the game altough some of us had some problems to build the ship correctly thus making it far more challenging for them to keep the ship in one piece during the ride in space. I have to find the time and energy to put together the GT expancion cards which can be downloaded from the publishers official site. The more cards the merrier the game.
The other sure-to-find-its-target game for the night was
Wits and Wagers. Even the overly American questions did not hinder the game experience of me and my friends; on the contrary we had a couple of cheerful laughs because of the misunderstod questions and totally over the top answers to those questions. Wits and Wagers is not at its best with three but it worked well. We tweaked the rules so that one player at the time read the question and the first player to bet was the player sitting next to that player. This added a bit larger element of strategy and feel of gambling almost like in a tence game of poker. I’m pretty sure that Wits and Wagers could also work as a real gambling game when played as a tournament game like, lets say, Texas Holdem. Maybe there would be just a bit too much of luck for this to work but it might be a worth to try atleast in a group where most of the gamers are fond of poker.
Needless to say we enjoyed the game and played it three times. I’m really waiting for the Finnish version of the game to arrive – firstly, i’m waiting to get the Finnish questions in play and secondly Wits and Wagers is a game which is an excellent game to give out as a gift.
Mar
18
A bit dry game session at N-BGC
Filed Under Amyitis, Bluff, Session | 3 Comments
It began with two quick plays of
Bluff which is one of the better dice game available. Bluffing is usually a great fun when used as a mechanic in a game and bluffing fits well together with dice. The luck element which goes hand in hand with dice is definitely there but when you can (and you have to) keep the poker face and push your luck by bluffing luck does not feel so bad. Bluff is also fast and easy to understand and teach thus making it a pretty good game to introduce to non-gamers.
The meat of the night was
Amyitis, a game designed by
Cyril Demaegd and published by
Ystari Games which is a game where players recreate one of the seven wonders of the ancient world: the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Well, this is the official theme of the game written in the rule book but as we quickly found out the theme feels somewhat superficial and pasted-on. Amyitis is a typical Euro-game where design is well thought and mechanics are carefully designed and numerous but there are also negative aspects in the game like low interaction amid the players and maybe a tad too long pauses between the turns for my taste. There’s obviously lots of cubes and tokens and you try to maximize the amount of points from the scarce actions you can make and as we are talking about Ystari game there’s also camels involved.
I have to admit that Amyitis is not a game I enjoy the most but I can see why some gamers really like the game. For me playing a game is a social event where the game supports the social interaction in a delicate way or at least I felt so strongly when waiting others players to finish their turns in your game.
Mar
10
Lautapelisuomi – Competo
Filed Under Lautapelisuomi, Podcast | Leave a Comment
LATAA -
TÄSTÄ- LAUTAPELISUOMEN UUSIN JAKSO
Tässä jaksossa seuraavaa:
JOHDANTO
HAASTATTELU MAREKTOY/COMPETO / KRISTIAN & TOMAS AHJOPALO
Competo on helsinkiläinen leluihin ja lautapeleihin erikoistunut yritys, jolla on tuotevalikoimassaan useita erittäin hyviä pelejä. Haastattelu pitää sisällään yleistä jutustelua Marektoysta sekä Competosta sekä hieman tarkempaa syventymistä vuoden 2008 Competo -julkaisuihin.
Käsitellyt pelit ovat:
Bausack (suomennetulla nimellä), Chinatown, Gulo Gulo, Heli Hopper, Monopoly Tampere, Qwirkle, Ubongo Extrem and Wits & Wagers (suomennetulla nimellä).
LAUTAPELISUOMI KILPAILU 2 VOITTAJA
Lautapelisuomen toisen kilpailun voitti Sampo Sikiö. Onnea voittajalle ja kiitokset kaikille kilpailuun osallistuneille vastaajille!
LAUTAPELISUOMI KILPAILU 3 – KEKSI NIMI WITS AND WAGERS PELILLE
Lautapelisuomen kolmas kilpailu alkaa tämän jakson julkaisun yhteydessä. Kilpailun palkintona on kolme vapaavalintaista peliä Competon verkkokaupasta ja voittaaksesi kilpailun sinun tulee keksiä paras ehdotus Wits and Wagers pelin suomennokseksi sunnuntaihin 16.3.2008 mennessä. Jokainen osanottaja osallistuu kilpailuun yhdellä ehdotuksella eli valitse omista ehdotuksistasi paras ja lähetä se. Tarkemmat ohjeet kilpailuun osallistumisesta voit kuunnella jaksosta.
Lähetä vastauksesi osoitteeseen cane <ät> boardgamingfinland.com ja osallistut kilpailuun. Kilpailun voittaja selviää ensi viikolla, kun Marektoyn väki saa valittua ehdotuksista parhaan.
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Palaute on tervetullutta ja pyrin ottamaan sen huomioon tulevia jaksoja suunnitellessani. Lähetä ihmeessä myös toivomuksia tulevia jaksoja silmällä pitäen. Kiitokset myös Eminorille ja Mikko Putkoselle musiikista.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Mar
8
Competo’s games for 2008
Filed Under Bausack, Chinatown, Gulo Gulo, Heli Hopper, Monopoly Tampere, News, Qwirkle, Ubongo Extrem, Wits and Wagers | 1 Comment
I had the privilege to interview Kristian and Tomas Ahjopalo from Competo for my Finnish podcast yesterday and I had a blast. Maybe the most interesting information was the list of game swhich Competo will release in the year 2008.
Bausack (with a bit different name), Chinatown, Gulo Gulo, Heli Hopper, Monopoly Tampere, Qwirkle, Ubongo Extrem and Wits & Wagers (with different name).
I have to say that the line Cometo is bringing out is impressive. I’ve played Bausack, Qwirkle and Wits & Wagers and they all are solid games. Actually Qwirkle is one of the most interesting games from the 2007 and Wits & Wagers is maybe the best trivia game I know (at the moment at least).
Ubongo Extrem is a supplement for Ubongo which won the family game of the year prize in Finland 2007 and what I’ve heard extrem really means extrem; the game is tough. Chinatown is also very interesting release while it has been out of print for a while. Game’s graphics will change but components should remain more or less the same and I presume that gamers are waiting for Chinatown because of it’s reputation and for sure it’s one of the games I anticipate a lot.
I also got a short demonstration how Heli Hoppers works and was impressed; cool and well designed components and game that demands dexterity and a little bit of practise. I’m sure that Heli Hopper is going to compete for the best game of the year in the children’s category and that playing the game is fun with the kids.
Mar
4
Game Night at Sibelius Academy
Filed Under Can't Stop, Hey That's My Fish, Session, Zooloretto | Leave a Comment
I’ve been running game nights every Monday at my school for couple of weeks now. We have had few interested people spending time with games and I hope that more will come after the word begins to spread about the event.
Yesterday we had me plus five players during the night. Before I go deeper in the games we played I must say that the attendees of the night are non-gamers and we play games which are easy to digest even if one doesn’t have experience in playing games. The other interesting characteristic of the group of the players is that it’s very female oriented; there’s me and usually the others are nice young ladies studying music.
The first game of the night was
Zooloretto which has been a huge hit in the group. Cute design and easy gameplay make Zooloretto a winner in my group and we have had a blast playing the game. I must also admit that I really like the game and like to play it once in a while. There’s not that many choises to be made but there’s definitely enough options to either try to get the tiles you want or then just play against the others and try to feed them tiles which they don’t want. Timing is crusial because once someone takes a cart everyone else follows and you might end up with really crappy tiles.
The second game of the night is not one of my favorites but as I host the nights I have to supply games that meet the demand. The game I’m talking about is
Can’t Stop which is basically very simple dice rolling game with lot’s of luck involved. We played with four players and there was relatively much downtime between the turns for each player and in a mindless game like Can’t Stop it is not a good thing (actually it’s hard to name a game where downtime would make the game any better). But nevertheless others seemed to like the game and we had a few really funny moments with the dice throwing.
The last game of the evening was
Hey! That’s My Fish! or Pingwin as it’s called here in Finland. I’ve always liked Pingwin because it’s fast and easy to explain and still there’s lots of tactical desisions in it. The game looks like a kids game and is easily playable with kids I’m sure but it plays very well also with adults. we had three players which probably is not the optimal amount of players; the situation is commonly such that two players block each others pingwins and the third players collects the fishes. I managed to win our game although the race for the top podium was really tight and ended up me winning with a margin of one fish. If you have never tried Pingwin (Hey! That’s My Fish!) I warmly recommend that you should give it a chance – it’s much more fun that it looks like.