This post lists blogs / podcasts new to me since my last roundup. Check my sidebar for a comprehensive list of active game bloggers and podcasters. If you've been dropped from the list, it's because you haven't posted anything in the last three months or so.
Board Game Development: Ema, Padova, Italy. From the company Mind the Move.
GamePeople: Ed Stephens reviews board games on a UK site primarily devoted to video games.
Games Overboard: Video reviews and general commentary by Brian, TJ, and others.
Isleworth Boardgamers: Session reports from West London.
I've Been Diced: A podcast by Tom, Scott, and others.
Santa Doesn't Make Toys: Ron Weingartner, Mass. Co-author of The Toy and Game Inventor's Handbook.
Sunblush: Stephen Tudor, Penn.
Table Gamer Weekly: Podcast by Yuri and Brett.
Tea Time Games: Rye and Mike. Mostly about game development.
The Bureau Chiefs: The creators of @FakeAPStylebook and various other online projects. Various games will be covered on Thursdays.
The Game Aisle: Kim Vandenbroucke, aka Brainy Chick. Has designed games for some major companies.
The Game Shepard: Thoughts on games from a GA store.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Purim Evening in Columbus
I forgot how American synagogues, especially the older ones, tend to echo their European counterparts: vaulted ceiling, women's sections on either side, ornate light fixture, wooden pews, raised platform for the Rabbi and President, etc. Take a look at my pictures from the Dohany synagogue in Budapest. The last few synagogues I've been in had an upside down boat for a ceiling (the Dohany one didn't, but only because its ceiling was already so high), pillars and women sections on the side.
Note the six sided light fixtures with the flame motif. The front has a stained glass wall in a flame motif (which couldn't be pictured at nighttime), symbolizing either the burning bush, or the Jewish soul, or the trials of the Jewish people out of which will arise salvation.
Most shuls have some remembrance of the Holocaust. The wall around the corner displays pictures taken by the previous Rabbi of a specific death camp in Europe.
The Rabbi, dressed as the Straw Man for Purim.
The Rebbetzin, dressed as the Tin Man
A minimalist costume.
Obligatory princess 1.
Cookie hoarding 1.
Cookie hoarding 2.
Cookie hoarding 3.
Obligatory princess 2.
Thankfully not a princess.
She lost her wings (her mom had them).
The cleaner shares a l'chaim.
Note the six sided light fixtures with the flame motif. The front has a stained glass wall in a flame motif (which couldn't be pictured at nighttime), symbolizing either the burning bush, or the Jewish soul, or the trials of the Jewish people out of which will arise salvation.
Most shuls have some remembrance of the Holocaust. The wall around the corner displays pictures taken by the previous Rabbi of a specific death camp in Europe.
The Rabbi, dressed as the Straw Man for Purim.
The Rebbetzin, dressed as the Tin Man
A minimalist costume.
Obligatory princess 1.
Cookie hoarding 1.
Cookie hoarding 2.
Cookie hoarding 3.
Obligatory princess 2.
Thankfully not a princess.
She lost her wings (her mom had them).
The cleaner shares a l'chaim.
Shabbat in Columbus
Spent a lovely shabbat with friendly, down-to-earth, and generous families in Columbus. The shul is a work of art, but the population is dwindling (natural attrition, and owing to a stronger, younger shul gaining ground nearby) and the immense size of the hall and building complex dwarfed the number of congregants. Secret kiddush club only served scotch.
Dappled snowfall turned the sidewalks and streams to a winter wonderland and the streets into a series of near-collisions.
I overtalked about gaming at dinner, and so tried to underplay it at lunch.
Off to the megillah.
Dappled snowfall turned the sidewalks and streams to a winter wonderland and the streets into a series of near-collisions.
I overtalked about gaming at dinner, and so tried to underplay it at lunch.
Off to the megillah.
Friday, February 26, 2010
Weekend Coming
I'm off to Columbus, OH for the weekend and Purim. So close to CABS, but probably unable to drop by, unless I drop by late Sat night.
Our backyard window is constantly filled with birds (cardinals and robins?) since Rachel keeps several bird feeders outside.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Purim.
Our backyard window is constantly filled with birds (cardinals and robins?) since Rachel keeps several bird feeders outside.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Purim.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Session Report, in which they play and enjoy Cuba
The latest Jerusalem Strategy Gaming Club session report is up. Games played: David & Goliath, Cuba + expansions.
First of three game sessions that I'm in the US.
Oxford Gaming Club
Tuesday night I played Magic at the Miami University of Oxford strategy gaming club, which is typically 5 to 10 Magic players, an RPG group, and occasional other strays playing heavy fantasy or horror games, such as Starcraft or Fury of Dracula.
My first game was a three-way: you need to deal 10 points of damage against both of your opponents, each of which has a separate life counter against you. Once you do 20 points, the opponent can still attack you, but you can't (and need not) deal any more damage to him. If a player is dealt 20 points each from both opponents, he is out of play. Otherwise, the first player to deal 20 damage to each opponent wins.
The above was my suggestion. I used a deck from another player (Phil Konkle) at another table. It was heavy on the landfall bonuses, but had no extra method of gaining lands into your hand, which seemed odd. Nevertheless, I was lucky with my land pick and so did well enough to toast both opponents before either could deal me any damage. Actually, what helped most was that my RHO with a burn deck was specifically concentrating on my LHO with an elf deck, and rightfully so. Elf decks are ridiculously powerful if they get off the ground.
In the second game, we played EDH, which is 100 card decks, no repeats, and "generals". A general is a card you can cast at any time, and when it is killed or removed from the game, you can cast him again with a +2 casting cost penalty for each time he is removed.
This game was slower. My deck had a cute three card combo. 1) Several creatures or cards gave me multiple token creatures. 2) Then I had an artifact that made all of my creatures +1/+1 and invulnerable, so long as I sacrificed a creature each round. 3) And then I had one creature that came into play with 2 +1/+1 counters for each creature I sacrificed when I brought it into play, and pumped out a 1/1 creature token each round for each +1/+1 counter it had on it. Ouch.
Unfortunately, I got out the first two cards, but LHO destroyed my artifact before I could play the third one on the next round. I still played it, but it got destroyed immediately.
RHO gained dominance for a while, but LHO and I took out some of his stuff, and I regained dominance. In the end, I brought out a creature that pumped out a 1/1 colored creature for each permanent already in play of any one color. Unless I read that wrong, this grows at 2^n speed and quickly dominates(d) the game. It was my game, unless something else happened, but we had to end early when Phil needed to take his decks home.
In addition to Magic, I tried a 3-player game of DD Mau, which was sent to me by the publisher to review. I only played one hand, which is not a complete game, so I don't feel qualified to review it, yet. The first game played like UNO, as I expected that it would, but the scoring options look like they may add some welcome complexity to the game. The rules - both the mechanics and the instructions for these mechanics - for some of the special power cards are somewhat obtuse, and added needless complexity to the game. So we'll see.
First of three game sessions that I'm in the US.
Oxford Gaming Club
Tuesday night I played Magic at the Miami University of Oxford strategy gaming club, which is typically 5 to 10 Magic players, an RPG group, and occasional other strays playing heavy fantasy or horror games, such as Starcraft or Fury of Dracula.
My first game was a three-way: you need to deal 10 points of damage against both of your opponents, each of which has a separate life counter against you. Once you do 20 points, the opponent can still attack you, but you can't (and need not) deal any more damage to him. If a player is dealt 20 points each from both opponents, he is out of play. Otherwise, the first player to deal 20 damage to each opponent wins.
The above was my suggestion. I used a deck from another player (Phil Konkle) at another table. It was heavy on the landfall bonuses, but had no extra method of gaining lands into your hand, which seemed odd. Nevertheless, I was lucky with my land pick and so did well enough to toast both opponents before either could deal me any damage. Actually, what helped most was that my RHO with a burn deck was specifically concentrating on my LHO with an elf deck, and rightfully so. Elf decks are ridiculously powerful if they get off the ground.
In the second game, we played EDH, which is 100 card decks, no repeats, and "generals". A general is a card you can cast at any time, and when it is killed or removed from the game, you can cast him again with a +2 casting cost penalty for each time he is removed.
This game was slower. My deck had a cute three card combo. 1) Several creatures or cards gave me multiple token creatures. 2) Then I had an artifact that made all of my creatures +1/+1 and invulnerable, so long as I sacrificed a creature each round. 3) And then I had one creature that came into play with 2 +1/+1 counters for each creature I sacrificed when I brought it into play, and pumped out a 1/1 creature token each round for each +1/+1 counter it had on it. Ouch.
Unfortunately, I got out the first two cards, but LHO destroyed my artifact before I could play the third one on the next round. I still played it, but it got destroyed immediately.
RHO gained dominance for a while, but LHO and I took out some of his stuff, and I regained dominance. In the end, I brought out a creature that pumped out a 1/1 colored creature for each permanent already in play of any one color. Unless I read that wrong, this grows at 2^n speed and quickly dominates(d) the game. It was my game, unless something else happened, but we had to end early when Phil needed to take his decks home.
In addition to Magic, I tried a 3-player game of DD Mau, which was sent to me by the publisher to review. I only played one hand, which is not a complete game, so I don't feel qualified to review it, yet. The first game played like UNO, as I expected that it would, but the scoring options look like they may add some welcome complexity to the game. The rules - both the mechanics and the instructions for these mechanics - for some of the special power cards are somewhat obtuse, and added needless complexity to the game. So we'll see.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Review: Online Casinos Planet
Site
Online Casinos Planet
Summary
A neat, clean, and useful directory of real casinos worldwide, and not much else.
Overview
Online Casinos Planet is a website with directory information for over 1,600 casinos around the world. The pages are neat and clear, with no advertising or extraneous flashing images. If you're looking for a casino near you, this might be a convenient location to start.
The casino guide contains (as of this review) the addresses and telephone numbers of 1,682 casinos. Of these, nearly half (803) are in the United States, with the other 879 in 24 other countries around the planet (France is second, with 201).
That's the good news. The rest of the site is not bothersome, but not really of much use.
Online Casinos
The site "reviews" a scant five online casinos, and the reviews read more like ad copy than reviews. Though they might well be genuine, they don't contain much information. The links to the reviewed casinos are affiliate links, and thus not impartial. All five reviews are positive.
Casino Articles
Several articles on the site introduce the basic rules about the types of games, from Blackjack to Slots, that you will find in casinos.These articles include short strategy sections (strategy for slots?) which mostly amount to advice not to spend more than you can afford to lose.
Free online games
The site includes six free online Flash games, including Texas Hold'em, which is the only one I actually played all the way through. The game is against 1 to 4 computer opponents, and played smoothly. It was fun enough. I'm sure you could find similar games elsewhere.
Videos
Lastly and most strangely, the site includes a few links to video clips (from YouTube) of people winning slots at a casino or music videos about Vegas (such as a dance remix of Katy Perry's Waking Up In Vegas).
Administrative
The site collects no information and sets no cookies. There is a standard contact form. The site claims to be the brainchild of a passionate casino player, with support from other such persons who work in casinos.
Summary
This site contains useful contact information for many casinos around the world, and not much else. It contains no annoying ads or pop-ups, and collects no private information. Which is not bad, for a small site. Only, what's with the fox?
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Jet Lagged
That's my luggage for a month, except that I bought new shabbat pants at Target in Cincinnati when I arrived. Target had dozens of board games, but all were the usual or editions thereof.
The Orthodox community in Cincinnati is very welcoming and friendly. At least it was in the shul that I went to; I hear that there is only one other Ortho Jewish community, so it's not large.At shul on Saturday morning, I looked up at Haftora time and noticed that a few of the guys around me were missing, at which point I realized that no one had invited me to the secret kiddush club. I managed to find it, anyway.
Mostly I just jet-lagged all shabbat. Reading Spook Country.
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