Dealing groups of cards
January 18th, 2005David Parlett, designer of Hare and Tortoise and writer of many books about games, explains why if a card game tells you to deal cards in groups, rather than singly, you should obey.
A minimalist blog, with a pretentious title, about strategy board games.
David Parlett, designer of Hare and Tortoise and writer of many books about games, explains why if a card game tells you to deal cards in groups, rather than singly, you should obey.
January 19th, 2005 at 18:30
I’ve read Parlett before, and found him to be a pompous ass. These comments simply reinforce this impression.
His book on the history of boardgames is an alright book, but he never missed a chance to talk at length about his own game.
January 19th, 2005 at 19:29
I’ve had a few nice email conversations with him in the past and he always seemed very nice to me.
I have only read his Oxford History of Board Games. You’re right that he talks about Hare and Tortoise, but you can hardly blame him. It was a ground-breaking game and one of the forerunners of the German games revolution we are enjoying.
Have you checked out his website? The original card games are very good, particularly 99.
January 24th, 2005 at 14:48
Pompous ass was a rather strong choice of words on my part. I apologize for that comment.
I remember being in a bad mood when I wrote it. That is no excuse.
Parlett’s assertation that he can routinely tell what game was being played by looking at a poorly shuffled deck is rather typical of his comments. “Pompous” or “braggart” by itself would have been a much more appropriate description on my part.
Take anything Parlett states with a grain of salt. He does not hesitate to make rather wild claims.