inconsequential ruminations

On a whim, I gave BrettspielWelt another shot and I am delighted to say that it is actually usable now. Rather than starting in a shoddily drawn 1980’s video-game world, you go straight to a simple page where you see open games waiting for players and there is a nice selector for starting new games on the right.

Performance seems to be faster too, but that may just be that I have upgraded my computer and ISP since I last tried BSW. The Java client still has that weird height/width problem with the game window, but at least I remembered it from last time.

The game design is also better. I tried Caylus and Saint Petersburg. Caylus is very impressive and could even be better online. St Petersburg is just serviceable – the user interface of the Westpark Gamers installable version is much better.

Please Skype me if you want to play.

Tycoon



Four of us played Wolfgang Kramer’s Tycoon last night. I had to persuade the boys a bit as the horrendous box cover is almost on a par with my Schmidt version of Acquire.



I have played Tycoon twice now and it is not too bad. It was one of the first area majorities games. By modern standards it feels a bit mechanical and slow at times, but that might partly be my bias against the ugly components.

There are at least two unclear rules:

1. For scheduled flights you cannot move less than the alloted number of spaces.
2. When you take out a loan, you cannot do anything else, including buying tickets.

Apart from the ugly plastic 80’s components and these rough edges in the rules, Tycoon is a winner. Money is tight and you have to think ahead. I thought about writing an exhaustive review, but just read Mike Siggins instead.

The new El Capitan reworking just released at Essen is definitely worth a look. Apparently the rules have been updated and the new components from Mike Doyle are gorgeous – no plastic in sight.




For Sale

We also gave For Sale another quick spin. This one is so reliable. I have upgraded it to 8/10.

I recently found a fanzine about the UK board games convention scene – The Queen’s Lane Advertiser.

I enjoyed Essen last year very much, but I’d like to try something closer to home and less hectic, so I’ll keep an eye on this.

I put together a quick RSS feed for the fanzine using PonyFish.

I have been playing at the play-by-web site Yucata.de recently. I played there about a year ago, but it has moved on significantly.

The list of games has grown and it seems more refined. It is still an amateur site, with a couple of strange user interface quirks, but it is very fast and easy to use.

The game selection work really well for PBW too. Short and sharp games like Pente and Saint Petersburg are typical. I have gone off playing heavy games like wargames online. Getting back into the game situation every turn takes so long I find it stressful. The games at Yucata are pitched perfectly for my current tastes. Super Duper Games is another site that has games at this level, but last time I played the site was very slow.

So far I have tried:

• Capt’n W. Kidd – a game of fighting pirates maneuvering for position on a ship’s deck. You are trying to surround and crowd your opponents pawns, while moving along ropes. It has capture rules similar to Go. Not bad.
• Just 4 Fun – Go-Moku/Renju but you can only play stones when you have the right total of number cards. Too luck-dependent.
• Chinagold – Weird area control game. I did not really get to grips with it. I like abstracts with a little excitement and this has none.
• Hey! That’s My Fish! – This is the best of the bunch so far. It reminds me of Amazons, but played on hexes and capturing variable points for each move. This would be a nice Christmas gift for an eight year old.

It is a very nice site. I have donated a few Euros. Please challenge me to a game. My user name is icheyne.

To my surprise I have become slightly addicted to Warbook, a basic, but fun, Facebook-based massively multiplayer fantasy spreadsheet game (MMFSSG).

Like all these games, there is no real goal, but it is fun bashing others and being bashed. My Warbook name is inicehyena. If you want to play, please comment here and I’ll send you an invitation, getting me a referral bonus…