Board / Card Games: Gateway in L.A. Opens Friday

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Gateway in L.A. Opens Friday Aug 29th 2011, 12:21 The 2011 Gateway game convention in Los Angeles begins this Friday, September 2. Featuring board games, card games, roleplaying games, LARPs, miniatures, and more -- including some videogames -- Gateway has a bit of something for just about everyone. Gateway is part of the Strategicon family of game events.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: How to Win at Backgammon

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How to Win at Backgammon Aug 29th 2011, 10:01 Backgammon relies on dice rolling, so if your opponent rolls sixes while you roll ones, you're probably going to lose no matter what you do. But because so many dice are rolled during a game of Backgammon, the luck usually evens out, and whoever plays the better strategy is likely to win. Here are the five basic Backgammon strategies. 1. The Running Game The running game is the simplest Backgammon strategy and simply involves running your checkers towards your home board as swiftly as possible. As you might expect, if both players play a running game, whoever rolls better will win the game. For this reason, you should commit to a running game only if you open with strong rolls. Beginners who believe that higher rolls always win a game of backgammon are generally only familiar with the running game strategy. 2. The Blitz The blitz is an all-out attack on your opponent's vulnerable checkers. Rather than simply running for home, or trying to build points along the board, the blitz strategy involves landing on your opponent's checkers whenever possible to send them to the bar. The advantage of this is not only setting your opponent back some number of pips, but you may also be able to trap some checkers on the bar if your opponent does not roll the right numbers to come back onto the board. Keep in mind that attacking close to your home row doesn't lose your opponent very many pips, and if your attacking checker remains vulnerable, you are at risk to lose many pips yourself. 3. Priming Priming is a strategy that involves making a "prime," or connected series of made points along the board. Many experts consider this the essential strategy when trying to learn how to win at Backgammon. By creating four made points in a row, you form a wall which your opponent cannot get past without rolling a five or six. This wall not only delays your opponents, but also provides an easy target for your other advancing checkers to find safe points. Priming is most effective when combined with the blitz, which is referred to as the "two-way forward" attack. The blitz puts your opponent's checkers on the bar, and the prime makes sure that coming off of the bar is very difficult, resulting in many wasted dice rolls for your opponent. 4. The Holding Game Moving away from your home board, the holding game relies on maintaining an anchor point in your opponent's home board. Although it is often wise to advance your furthest checkers early in the game to avoid being trapped, leaving an anchor point in the opponent's home board gives you two advantages. Defensively, it gives you a safe place to land in case one of your checkers gets sent to the bar. This prevents an opponent from completely priming you into automated defeat. Offensively, the holding game lets your anchor provide a reasonable threat to your opponent's advancing checkers. If you capture a checker in your opponent's home board, and then your opponent captures your checker in response, you still come out far ahead in pips. 5. The Back Game The back game takes the holding game a step further, and relies on maintaining multiple made points in your opponent's home board. Obviously, since you only start with two checkers on your opponent's home board, you will only play the back game if your checkers are knocked onto the bar repeatedly. The back game is not an intentional strategy, so much as a way to salvage a game where you are being beaten up. In addition to increasing the offensive threat of the holding game, the back game also inconveniences your opponent by taking up valuable home board real estate.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Top 5 Car Racing Games

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Top 5 Car Racing Games Aug 29th 2011, 10:01 I love race games, and car racing is among the most popular game themes. These are my picks for the best car racing-themed board games and card games. (Here are my picks for the best horse racing games and other race games What are your favorite race games? Share your thoughts here. 1. Formula D Image courtesy of Asmodée Editions For 2 to 10 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Laurent Lavaur and Eric Randall. Published by Asmodée Editions. Perhaps the most popular auto racing game available today, Formula D (formerly known as Formula De) uses a creative method of gear changing -- what gear you're in determines how big the die you roll is. Navigating turns can be tricky, and you need to watch your tires. With numerous tracks available (including some city courses and others based on actual tracks around the world), this is a must-have for fans of Formula One racing. 2. Rallyman Image courtesy of Rallyman For 1 to 4 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Jean-Christophe Bouvier. Published by Rallyman. This is a very clever race game which simulates rally racing, so every player is racing against the clock rather than head-to-head against each other. The unique dice, the modular game boards, and the forced decisions about risk-taking make Rallyman one of my favorites. 3. Detroit-Cleveland Grand Prix Image courtesy of Mayfair Games For 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Wolfgang Kramer. Published by Mayfair Games. There are no dice in this Formula One-themed race game, as players use cards (each picturing one to six of the car colors) to move cars around the track. The game begins with players being dealt a hand of cards, then bidding to own the cars. (After the race, winnings are distributed and the player with the most cast wins.) To move cars, a card is played and each of the pictured cars are moved (if possible -- there are some very narrow passages). The double-sided board features two race courses (Detroit and Cleveland, naturally). Detroit-Cleveland Grand Prix is in the same family as Kramer's Daytona 500, Top Race, and Formel 1. 4. PitchCar Image courtesy of Ferti For 2 to 8 players, ages 6 and up. Designed by Jean du Poel, published by Ferti. PitchCar is packed with finger-flicking fun. After assembling the wooden track (which can be put together in many different ways), players take turns flicking wooden discs around the track. If your disc flies off the track, you essentially lose your turn. The winner is the first to cross the finish line after a set number of laps. It's rare that I've played a game of PitchCar without a great deal of laughter. 5. Formula Motor Racing Image courtesy of GMT Games For 3 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Reiner Knizia. Published by GMT Games. Formula Motor Racing is the most abstracted race game on this list. Each player receives two cars of the same color; their starting positions are randomly determined. (All 12 cars are used in every race, and it is possible that a "neutral" car can win.) Players receive five cards, and each turn consists of playing one and drawing one. The cards adjust the positions of the cars in various ways, sometimes using a 12-sided die to determine the precise effect. At the end of the race, the top six cars receive points. The player with the most points wins. (Often, multiple races are held with the scores combined.)

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Gin Rummy for Three Players

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Gin Rummy for Three Players Aug 29th 2011, 10:01 This is a variation of Gin Rummy for three players. Other popular variations include Oklahoma Gin and Hollywood Gin. Players 3 players Deck Use a standard 52-card deck. King is high; Ace is low. NOTE: An Ace is always low card in Gin Rummy; it cannot be used as high card. Also, face cards are worth 10 points each; number cards are worth their face value; an Ace is worth one point. Goal Collect sets (three or four of a kind, or three or more consecutive cards of the same suit) to earn points. The game is played over several rounds. Setup and Player Roles Players each choose a card at random to determine their roles for the first hand. The player drawing the highest card is "in the box" and will face the other two, who work together. The player drawing the middle card is captain of the two-player team. He may get advice from the third player (who is said to be sitting out), but the captain has the final say on all decisions. If the player in the box wins the hand, he retains his position and the other two switch. If the player in the box loses, he sits out the next hand, the captain goes into the box, and the player who was sitting out becomes the captain. Deal The player in the box deals each hand. Shuffle the deck and deal 10 cards to each player. Players should look at and sort their cards. The next card is turned face up in the middle of the table to start the discard pile. The remaining cards are placed face down next to the discard pile to form a draw pile. Gameplay Each normal turn consists of two parts. First, you must take a card -- either the top card from the draw pile or the top card from the discard pile. Second, you must discard a card (face up) onto the top of the discard pile. NOTE: On the very first turn of each round, the non-dealer decides whether or not to take the first face up card. If that player declines, the dealer may take the card. If one of the players takes the card, that player completes his turn by discarding and then the other player takes a turn. If both players decline to take the card, the non-dealer starts the game by drawing the top card from the draw pile. Knocking The round ends when a player "knocks." This may be done on any turn (including the first turn) after drawing but before discarding. A player may knock when he has the ability to form sets, discard one card, and have 10 points or fewer remaining in his hand. NOTE: A single card cannot belong to two sets. After knocking and discarding, the player who knocked organizes and spreads all of his cards face up on the table. The player who did not knock does the same. If the knocker did not go gin (see "Going Gin" below), the opponent is also allowed to lay off any unmatched cards by adding to the knocker's sets (e.g. adding a fourth card to a group of three of a kind, or adding further consecutive cards of the same suit to a sequence). NOTE: You're never required to knock. You may continue playing in an effort to develop a better hand. Scoring Each player calculates the value of their unmatched cards. If the knocker's count is lower, he scores the difference between the two counts. If the knocker did not go gin, and the values are equal -- or the knocker's value is greater than his opponent's -- then the knocker has been undercut. The knocker's opponent scores 10 points plus the difference between the values. NOTE: The player who is sitting out does not score points under any circumstances. Going Gin If the knocker has no unmatched cards, it's known as "going gin" and he scores 25 bonus points (some sources say the bonus should be 20 points). Additionally, his opponent cannot score any points, even if his opponent also had no unmatched cards. Draws If only two cards remain in the draw pile after a player discards and neither player has knocked, the round ends in a draw. The same player deals again. Winning Additional rounds are played until one player's cumulative score reaches 100 points or more. That player is the winner.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Horse Racing Board Games

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Horse Racing Board Games Aug 26th 2011, 10:01 Horse racing has been a popular theme for game designers since at least the 1890s. Here's a sampling of the games horse racing fans have been able to enjoy through the years. Grand National: A Sweepstakes Game of Chance Featuring a copyright date of 1937, the box proclaims the game to be "complete with game * board * money * dice * horses * counters" and inside it indeed comes with all those parts. There are four horses -- red, blue, green and yellow -- in this game, which was released by Whitman Publishing Co. Kentucky Derby Racing Game This board game, which was published for decades with a copyright of 1938 (so not every game with this title was manufactured in 1938), featured five horses and a spinning wheel, all built into the box itself. The horses -- in one edition, Whirlaway, Citation, Twenty Grand, Seabiscuit and Gallant Fox (the names changed through the years) -- slide in a straight line from the start to the finish. Earlier games had metal horses; they were replaced by plastic in later versions. Also made by Whitman Publishing Co. and Rex Manufacturing Co. Horse Racing Game In 1940, Milton Bradley released this game, which also was played inside the box. (The inside of the bottom piece of the box was the game board.) Included with the game were a spinner and four chips. Also in 1940, Milton Bradley turned out a game called Hialeah Horse Racing Game. (Hialeah is a race track in Florida which hosted races from 1925 to 2001.) Kentucky Derby Racing Game Whitman Publishing Co. from Racine, Wisconsin, turned out a new version of the 1938 game in 1961 -- this one has seven horses. The game is still played on the inside of the box, with a spinner controlling the outcome. Instead of racing horizontally across the box, the horses move diagonally -- the race can be just a little bit longer that way. Win Place & Show 3M published this board game in 1966 with the imprint "A 3M Sports Game." It's played on a board that's about three feet long, depicting an oval race track. The Derby This battery-powered game features six horses racing down a straightaway. The track is green (presumably for grass, although horses in the Kentucky Derby run on dirt) with bright orange lane dividers. The color scheme probably is plenty of proof that this game came from the 1970s. Homestretch A rather odd-looking game from Milton Bradley (circa 1974), as the horses involved all have long, stringy legs (Home*stretch* -- get it?). There's a spinner with the game, and the board is made up of squares that match the colors of the horses, so (without ever having played the game), my best guess is that it's a race game that has some similarities to an equine version of Twister. Across the Board From the game box (mismatched capitalization and all): "Buy a Thoroughbred at an Auction Then play him to Win, Place or Show at the Track." This board game came with about 300 different parts, published by MPH in 1975. The parts included play bills, handicap sheets, ownership cards, a "totalizer" and grease pencils. It appears that the game was played inside the game box. Win Place & Show This is a 1977 update of the 1966 3M game, now manufactured by Avalon Hill. Other than some cosmetic differences, the game looks very much the same as, if not identical to, the 3M version. Sport of Kings Challenge - The Horse Racing Quiz Game This game includes 4,400 trivia questions "to entertain followers of the world's #1 spectator sport." It was released in 1986 by Kuriakos. Let's Go to the Races This 1987 Parker Brothers game includes a 90-minute VCR tape with 40 different horse races. Eight horses are available, with an 8-sided die controlling at least some of the action. The back of the box looks as though it contains a great deal of information about the game.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Top 10 Board Games of 2010

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Top 10 Board Games of 2010 Aug 26th 2011, 10:01 2010's crop of new board games included themes for just about everyone: We were treated to games about painting a cathedral ceiling, exploring monster-filled dungeons, running a busy Chinese restaurant, drafting the U.S. constitution, solving a murder, and much more. It was another great year for gamers. Here are my picks for the 10 best board games published in 2010. What do you think were the best new board games of 2010? Please share your thoughts here! You might also be interested in my picks for the best card games of 2010 and the best easy-to-find games of 2010. 1. Fresco Image courtesy of Queen Games For 2 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Wolfgang Panning, Marco Ruskowski and Marcel Süsselbeck, published by Queen Games. In this excellent family strategy game, players are artisans who work to restore the fresco in a Renaissance church. With the help of five workers, players plan each day by choosing from such tasks as buying paints in the market, mixing paints to create additional colors, restoring part of the fresco, and painting portraits. The first decision you make each day is when to start work -- an earlier time has benefits but also causes workers to be less productive due to lack of sleep. Fresco is a beautiful, engaging board game. 2. Catacombs Image courtesy of Sands of Time Games For 2 to 5 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Ryan Amos, Marc Kelsey, and Aron West, published by Sands of Time Games. This is a brilliant mix of dexterity, strategy, and a great dungeon theme. One of the players is the Overseer, controlling a group of monsters that protect the catacombs. The other players control heroes, each with one or more special powers, who try to kill the monsters. Most of the action takes place by flicking wooden discs across the game board. As the heroes kill monsters and clear the board, they earn money, which can be used to buy better weapons and equipment. If they progress deep enough into the catacombs, they will meet the powerful Catacomb Lord and must defeat it to win the game. 3. Hansa Teutonica Image courtesy of Z-Man Games For 2 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Andreas Steding, published by Z-Man Games and 999 Games. Players develop networks of offices in cities across the country and use them in order to trade goods. When an opponent accesses a route you have developed, you earn bonus points. It's also key to control cities, because doing so provides an opportunity to improve skills, which in turn allows you to, for example, earn more victory points from offices, accumulate more action points, or obtain more pawns. This superb middleweight strategy game, and it deservedly won two 2010 Golden Geek Awards, for overall Game of the Year and Best Strategy Game. (Although it was released in late 2009, I didn't get to play Hansa Teutonica until 2010.) 4. Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Image courtesy of Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro For 1 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Rob Heinsoo, Peter Lee, Mike Mearls and Bill Slavicsek, published by Wizards of the Coast / Hasbro. Castle Ravenloft is a fully cooperative game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe. (The full name of the game is Dungeons & Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Board Game.) Players each take on the role of a character and enter a dungeon in search of riches and glory -- trying to win one of the game's numerous scenarios. Everyone is working together against the monsters in the dungeon; the adventure party wins or loses as a group. 5. Founding Fathers Image courtesy of Jolly Roger Games For 3 to 5 players, ages 13 and up. Designed by Christian Leonhard and Jason Matthews, published by Jolly Roger Games. I'll admit my bias up front: I'm a big fan of good political games, having worked for the Pennsylvania state Senate since 1996. But this is another excellent strategy game from this design team. Here, players choose one of five Founding Fathers of the United States (Madison, Paterson, Sherman, Pinckney and Hamilton) and compete to win the most renown while creating the U.S. constitution. This is a card-driven game, and it features everything you would expect in a constitutional convention: committee meetings, debates, close votes, and more. If you like the theme at all, I highly recommend playing Founding Fathers. 6. Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game Image courtesy of Fantasy Flight Games For 2 to 4 players (best with 4), ages 12 and up. Designed by Kevin Wilson, published by Fantasy Flight Games and Edge Entertainment. Players each try to guide a civilization through the ages, developing the technology, economy, culture, and military of their people. There are four possible types of victory: tech (reaching level five technology: space flight), economic (accumulating 15 coins), culture (devoting cities to the arts), and military (conquering another player's capital city). As players develop their civilizations, they will face minor civilizations (some peaceful, some warlike) and may absorb them. The more difficult challenges come when you confront your opponents' civilizations. 7. Settlers of America: Trails to Rails Image courtesy of Mayfair Games For 3 to 4 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Klaus Teuber, published by Mayfair Games. The hex-based map familiar to fans of The Settlers of Catan is now in America with Settlers of America (full title: Catan Histories - Settlers of America: Trails to Rails). Players begin on the East Coast, constructing depots and railroad tracks as they move westward. As players build, they create goods that then must be delivered to depots owned by other players. Catan fans will recognize many of the elements -- resources used to build rail, trains, etc., and an outlaw who steals resources -- but there is plenty new here to recommend Settlers of America on its own merits. This is an excellent family strategy game. 8. Travel Blog Image courtesy of Z-Man Games / Czech Games Edition For 2 to 6 players, ages 8 and up. Designed by Vlaada Chvátil, published by Z-Man Games and Czech Games Edition. I love this fast-paced game centered on cards representing the U.S. and Europe. Players try to save money by making a trip as short as possible... well, almost. In each round, seven state (or country, for Europe) cards are revealed, followed by an eighth card which is the starting state. Players then race to put their token on the state card that can be reached from the starting state by crossing the fewest borders -- but not a state that actually borders the starting state (that mistake results in a penalty). There's no limit to the number of players who can choose a state, but there is a cost for not being first. 9. Mystery Express Image courtesy of Days of Wonder For 3 to 5 players, ages 12 and up. Designed by Antoine Bauza and Serge Laget, published by Days of Wonder. There's a murder aboard the famous Orient Express trainm and players spend the rest of the journey uncovering the killer's identity, motive and modus operandi, along with the location and time of death, in this delightful deduction game. Each train car provides an opportunity to gather information. There are two copies of each of the four types of cards (time is handled differently). Before the last round, players may guess some or all of the solution; this serves as a tiebreaker. When the game ends, final accusations are made. The player with the most correct final accusations (out of five) is the winner. 10. Wok Star Image courtesy of Gabob For 1 to 4 players, ages 10 and up. Designed by Tim Fowers, published by Gabob. Players are cooks working together to make their Chinese restaurant a smashing success. Cash is earned by filling orders; orders that are not completed cause customers to get upset and generate bad publicity for the restaurant. The customers each want one dish, and each cook is in charge of making sure certain ingredients are available. At the start of a round, all players roll some dice that they allocate to ingredient cards, essentially buying more supplies. Customers come into the restaurant one at a time and must be fed within 30 seconds (literally -- there's a timer) or else they will leave angry.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Boardwalk

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Boardwalk Aug 26th 2011, 10:01 Location on Monopoly Board: Space #39, between Luxury Tax and Go Cost of Boardwalk: $400 Cost of Houses and Hotel: $200 per House $200 plus four houses for Hotel Rent on Boardwalk: Unimproved: $50 One House: $200 Two Houses: $600 Three Houses: $1,400 Four Houses: $1,700 Hotel: $2,000 Likelihood Among Property Squares: 16 of 28 Mortgage Value: $200 Equivalent Property in U.K. Edition: Mayfair Equivalent Property in U.S. Here & Now Edition: Times Square in New York City

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Determining a Board Game's Value

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Determining a Board Game's Value Aug 26th 2011, 10:01 Determining the value of a particular board game can be a tricky proposition. It's certainly more of an art than a science. Many factors need to be taken into consideration, including the age of the game, how rare it is, what condition the box and playing pieces are in, and what market it's being sold in. (What I mean by what market it's being sold in is best illustrated by this example: Fireball Island can sell for less than $5 at a thrift store, but it can go for $50 or more at an online auction.) How rare a game is generally determines the value of a game more so that its age. Monopoly sets from the 1950s generally are not worth much at all, because there are so many of them available. Meanwhile, a seller on eBay turned down $700 (in December 1999) for a copy of the 1963 Hasbro Creature from the Black Lagoon game, one that's much less common. (The seller also claimed another copy of the game had sold elsewhere for $1500.) Other interesting prices on eBay: Roy Rogers Rodeo Board Game (1949), $280; Blade Runner Board Game (1982), $305; Hasbro's Merry Milkman (1955), $127. The rare 3M game Jati always fetches top dollar at eBay. So how do you go about figuring out how much your game is worth? Price guides are a good place to start, and the best one I've found is Bruce Whitehill's American Boxed Games and Their Makers, 1822-1992. It's an encyclopedic work required for any serious collector. In addition to pricing information, it includes many related topics, including tips on how to store your games and a chapter about the game industry during the 1900s. Another good choice is Board Games: With Price Guide by Desi Scarpone. Another good way to develop an estimate of your game's value is to search eBay's completed auctions. Doing so will give you listings of prices that were offered for board games at previous auctions, but keep in mind that not every transaction ended in an actual purchase.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Canfield Solitaire - Rules

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Canfield Solitaire - Rules Aug 25th 2011, 10:01 The most popular solitaire card game, Klondike, is sometimes mistakenly referred to as Canfield. The real Canfield Solitaire, according to Hoyle's Rules of Games, was named after the proprietor of a Florida gambling establishment in the 1890s. Players could buy a deck of cards for $50 and win back $5 for every card they played into the foundations, or $500 if they were able to play all 52 cards into the foundations. Players 1 player. Deck A standard 52-card deck. Goal To move all the cards onto the four foundations. Setup Shuffle the deck. Deal 13 cards off the top and set them to your left, face up. Be careful only to reveal the top card. This pile is known as the reserve. Take the next card from the deck and set it on the table face up. This is the first foundation (and worth $5 back from Mr. Canfield). The other three cards of the same rank will be the other three foundations. If they become available, move them to the foundation row. Take the next four cards from the deck and set them on the table in a row below the foundation, face up. This is the start of your tableau. Set the remaining cards on the table, face down. This is the draw pile. (Some players prefer to hold the draw pile in their hand.) Building the Foundations Available cards are added to the foundations in ascending order. For example, if the foundations are the 8s, cards would be added in this order: 9, 10, J, Q, K, A, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. Cards added to a foundation must be the same suit as all previous cards on that foundation. Building the Tableau Piles Cards may be added to the tableau in descending order, alternating colors. For example, if a card in the tableau is the 9 of clubs, the next card could be either the 8 of hearts or the 8 of diamonds. Gameplay The top card from the reserve is always available for play onto a foundation or a pile in the tableau. The top card from each tableau pile is always available to be played onto a foundation. Cards from the draw pile are turned face up three at a time as you decide to do so, forming a discard pile. The top card of the discard pile is always available for play. Cards below it may not be played until the top card is played. To move cards from one tableau pile to another, you may only move the entire pile. When a space is available in the tableau, immediately use the top card from the reserve to fill that space. If the reserve is exhausted, a space in the tableau may be filled from the top of the discard pile. In this situation, you may leave the space open for as long as you wish. When the draw pile is exhausted, pick up the discard pile and turn it face down, without shuffling it. This becomes a new draw pile. You may do this as many times as you wish, until you win or until the game reaches a standstill. Winning You win by building up all four foundations to 13 cards. This happens about 3 percent of the time.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Top 10 Card Games of 2005

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Top 10 Card Games of 2005 Aug 25th 2011, 10:01 This is the first year I've separated card games into their own year-end list, and there's a good reason: 2005 was a fantastic year for card games. These are my picks for the best card games published in 2005. 1. Control Nut For 2 to 4 players, designed by James Miller, published by James Miller. This independent game is not widely available, but if you enjoy trick-taking games do yourself a favor and find a copy. The game begins with an auction: four "control" cards are sold to the highest bidder (bidding is done with the regular cards). Then, trick-taking begins. But only some of the cards (those marked with stars) have scoring value -- so it's important to use your hand wisely. Best as a partnership game. 2. Harry's Grand Slam Baseball For 2 players, designed by Harry Obst, published by Out of the Box Publishing. Back in 1962, Obst designed this fun, fast-playing game. Thankfully, Out of the Box is introducing it to a new generation. Players each draw a hand of three cards, and then play them one at a time to their best advantage. At some point, you'll have to play an out on yourself -- and give your opponent a hit. Managing your team, using pinch hitters and relief pitchers effectively... it does feel like a baseball game. Read Review 3. Saboteur For 3 to 10 players, designed by Frederic Moyersoen, published by Amigo Spiel and Z-Man Games. The dwarves are looking for gold, but one -- or more -- of them might be a saboteur and uninterested in sharing with the team. Players dig through underground tunnels trying to find the gold, but they can also break each others' tools, peek at hidden cards, or dig a tunnel that leads the wrong way. Players are dealt a hand of six cards to start; at the end, the dwarf with the most gold wins. 4. Forbidden For 2 to 4 players, designed by Philip Orbanes, published by Winning Moves. Mah Jongg meets Gin Rummy in this game from Orbanes, who also designed the Clue and Monopoly card games. Players work to score 200 points by forming sets and using the powerful but dangerous "forbidden" cards cleverly. The royal cards (emperor, empress, rooster and monkey) also must be handled wisely, and the three wild cards can be used to help complete sets. Forbidden is a welcome challenge. 5. Poison For 3 to 6 players, designed by Reiner Knizia, published by Playroom Entertainment. The components are simple: 42 potion cards, 8 poison cards and 3 cauldron boards. The cards are all dealt to the players, who take turns playing one card per turn. When the value of the cards in a cauldron exceeds 13, the player who caused this to happen takes those cards. The goal is to have the lowest score, which means taking fewer cards is better. But no Knizia game is really that simple: there are twists. 6. Trump, Tricks, Game! For 3 to 4 players, designed by Gunter Burkhardt, published by Phalanx Games. This game starts with the standard: 52 cards divided into 4 suits of 13 cards each. But the way the cards are customized and how they're scored make Trump, Tricks, Game! unusual. In the first three rounds, each player can only win three tricks and earns points for cards with footprints on them. In the fourth round, players try to win as many tricks as possible, especially aiming for the high-scoring red cards. 7. Drive For 2 players, designed by Michael Schacht, published by SimplyFun. Believe it or not, in 2003 this game was known as Crazy Chicken. But SimplyFun has, for me at least, given it a much improved theme (classic cars). Tough decisions await players on almost every turn, as they try to play the largest sets of each kind of car -- because only the largest sets score points. 8. Street Illegal For 1 to 7 players, designed by Heinrich Glumpler, published by Z-Man Games. Racing across a variety of terrain, players try to be in the lead after the eighth track card is played. (The game comes with 20 track cards; since only eight are used each time, there's a nice variety of racing possibilities.) Players are given eight tempo cards, used to determine speed and handling. Street Illegal's artwork -- including time-lapse photography -- is striking, and the gameplay is no less impressive. 9. Ice Cream For 3 to 5 players, designed by Joseph Huber, published by Face 2 Face Games. Mmm... ice cream. Building ice cream cones to fill orders won't help me stick to my diet, but it does make for an entertaining card game. Players use their gallon cards to match the scoop cards, scoring points for making customers happy. There's just enough strategy mixed in with the luck to make the game Ice Cream just as tasty as its junk food namesake. 10. Havoc: The Hundred Years War For 2 to 6 players, designed by K.C. Humphrey, published by Sunriver Games. Players recruit soldiers to form sets which are used to win victory points in battle. Cards are played up to six at a time, in Poker-like groups, to win the battles. The Dogs of War are used to retrieve cards; they can also help in other ways. Even when you can, the best choice is not always to win a battle, because doing so can leave you to weak to compete in future skirmishes. Havoc presents interesting challenges.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Locate Hard-to-Find Games

Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now These articles that had the largest increase in popularity over the last week // via fulltextrssfeed.com

Locate Hard-to-Find Games Aug 25th 2011, 10:01 Games can be hard to locate for any number of reasons: they're out of print, just not widely available, or they're so popular that even used copies sell quickly. These tips should help you get what you want. Difficulty: Average Time Required: Varies Here's How: Be prepared to dig in for the long haul. Some games can take a long time to find... ... But don't be surprised if your search is over in less than a day! Other games are very easy to find. Start your search at eBay and other online auction sites; they are among the most likely sources to locate hard-to-find games. But it's not always smart to buy right away. Monitor the auctions and educate yourself. Be sure to search completed auctions to compare prices. If you see your game up for auction regularly, note the different prices it sells for and look for the elements (e.g. edition of the game, box condition, random luck) that affect the price. When you're ready to buy, set a firm maximum price and stick to it. Don't let yourself be bid up to $50 on a game you think is worth only $25. There's almost always another copy available somewhere else. Post your request on the Net. This site's Forum and the newsgroup rec.games.board.marketplace are two good places to start. Check the auctions and message boards daily, or at least weekly. Set up automatic email alerts when possible. This task definitely rewards the stubborn. Don't neglect your family, but expect to spend some quality time with your computer if the game you want really is hard to find. Look in thrift stores. This is less efficient, but can be much more economical. Some areas have thrift stores that seem to attract rare board games -- and sell them for $5 or less, well below their selling price online. Browse used game retailers' Web sites. Many such retailers exist, and most have an excellent selection of games. Often, you'll pay a premium at these sites. At the same time, you know you're dealing with a professional seller. If you don't see what you're looking for, ask. Many online used game retailers don't have the resources to maintain a completely up-to-date list of their inventory. Check in local antique stores. If you find a dealer who has some games, but not what you want, ask if they might be able to get your game for you. Call around to area game stores. Some stores carry both new and used games. And a local retailer might have contacts you don't, and could be able to secure a copy of the game for you. Spend your Saturday mornings at garage sales. This may be the least efficient method, but you never know what other people are selling! Tips: Know exactly what it is you're looking for. The game name, publisher, and copyright year are the basics. Some games have been published several times (sometimes by different publishers), so make sure you're getting the game you think you're getting before you commit to a purchase. Be persistent. Someone, somewhere has the game you want and is willing to sell it. Don't always buy the first copy of a game you find. Consider it, but do so as objectively as possible. Otherwise, you might overpay. What You Need Patience Persistence Money Luck

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: How to Win at Ticket to Ride

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How to Win at Ticket to Ride Aug 18th 2011, 10:01 In spite of not having any dice, and players being allowed to choose what cards to take on their turn, Ticket to Ride has a significant amount of luck. This means that no strategy is guaranteed to win all of the time, or even most of the time. But if you want some basic Ticket to Ride strategy, here are some tips on how to win at Ticket to Ride. DRAWING TRAIN CARDS The most basic action in Ticket to Ride is drawing train cards. Your other two options are drawing additional tickets and placing trains, but you will be doing that slightly less often. On your turn, the most frequent thing you should be doing is drawing cards. This is especially true towards the beginning of the game, when you're trying to figure out what options you have. With only a few cards in your hand, it's not easy to determine which color tracks you'll want to lay down, even if you know what tickets you are trying to fill. Until you have more cards, you don't know which color you'll need your wild card locomotives for. That's why drawing cards early on is an important strategy. And unless you have a good reason not to (such as later in the game when you need one specific color), you should always draw facedown cards from the deck. The reason for this is simple: You might get a wild card. Drawing a face-up wild card takes your whole turn, so if you can draw two cards from the deck on your turn and one of them is wild, you've gotten a free extra card you wouldn't have gotten from taking face-up cards. Once your hand is more filled up, it will be easier to see what colors you have a lot of, what colors to use your wild cards on, and what colors you need so badly that it's worth picking them up from the face-up cards. Until then, keep drawing from the deck! DRAWING ADDITIONAL TICKETS Contrary to what you might think, you don't always need a lot of tickets to win the game. Yes, completing more tickets gives you more points, but failing to complete your tickets will lose you points, making it more difficult to win. One common strategy is to take a turn to draw tickets near the beginning of the game, to see if you can match any new routes to the ones in your hand, ideally finding some overlap. Usually a better strategy is to take a few turns to draw train cards first, and then if you want to take a turn to draw tickets, you'll have more information about what color tracks you might be able to play on before choosing what tickets to keep. The goal of the game is completing tickets, which means once you have completed all the tickets in your hand, you should be doing one of two things: Either trying to end the game as fast as possible, or drawing more tickets to complete. If the game continues but you complete no additional tickets, you lose ground against the other players. PLACE TRAINS Placing trains on the board is a balance between not wanting to move too soon, and not wanting to move too late. If you play on the board too early, other players can easily see where you are trying to make connections, and place trains to block you. On the other hand, if you wait too long to play your trains and just draw cards for a dozen turns, some of the key small connecting routes (like Atlanta to Nashville) will disappear before you get a chance to take them. As a good rule of thumb, take a few turns to draw cards at the beginning of the game before playing any trains. What you want to avoid is playing one early connection on the board, and then having to draw more cards for three turns while other players block that connection. You should instead draw sufficient cards that you can take a few turns in a row to play trains, so other players don't have as much time to block you. If a short grey connection is part of your route, build that first. Other players won't necessarily be able to save up enough cards for a 6-length colored connection you need, but every player can easily play on a short grey connection, so those are the most urgent ones to grab. Finally, try to build outwards from your original connection to form an unbroken line of connections stretching from east to west (or west to east). This cross-country line will not only give you more points (especially if you can get longest train), but will also make picking up and filling additional tickets much easier, because any two cities you need to connect probably aren't far away from somewhere on your line.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Word Squares – Rules

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Word Squares – Rules Aug 18th 2011, 10:01 With just paper and pens or pencils, any number of players can enjoy Word Squares. Players 2 or more players. Equipment Each player needs a piece of paper and a pen or pencil. Goal To score the most points by forming words horizontally and vertically in a 5x5 grid. Setup On each piece of paper, draw a 5x5 grid of squares. Choose a player to go first. Gameplay The first player calls out a letter. Each player writes that letter into one of the 25 available squares. Moving clockwise, the next player then calls out a letter (which may be the same as or different than any letter previously called out). Each player then writes that letter into one of the remaining squares. Repeat this until 25 letters have been called. All 25 squares will be filled on every player's grid. Scoring Words in each column and each row are scored. No points are awarded for diagonals. Proper names do not score points. Five-letter word, 10 Four-letter word, 5 Three-letter word, 1 Only a single word is scored in each column and row. Alternative Scoring With this scoring method, multiple words may be scored in each column and row. For example, BENDS would score 21 points: 10 for BENDS, 5 for BEND, 5 for ENDS, and 1 for END. Winning The player with the highest total score wins.

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Board / Card Games: What's Hot Now: Risk 2210 AD - Review

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Risk 2210 AD - Review Aug 18th 2011, 10:01 When I was a teen-ager, I played tons of Risk. Many weekends a group of my buddies would descend upon my house and we'd battle away the weekend. I loved the game. It truly was my springboard to better, more sophisticated games. Once I discovered these more 'advanced' games, however, I really had no desire to revisit Risk. So, when Avalon Hill announced they would be releasing Risk 2210 AD, an advanced version of the classic, I really had no interest and, truth-be-told, was a bit disappointed. I wished they would put their efforts into something more fresh. Still, I just knew I would have to at least try the game. I'm glad that I did. First, let me comment on the outstanding production quality. I've said it before... no matter what you may think of the actual games themselves, Hasbro/AH has done an incredible job with the production of this new line of games. Risk 2210 AD is no exception. The game is filled with gobs of detailed miniatures. The commander pieces even have a silver "dry brush" effect which is quite nice. Now, if they'd just take a bit of this cauldron of money and promote these games, they just might have a big hit on their hands. The game uses the same basic mechanics as Risk, but adds just enough additional features and design twists to make it feel fresh and interesting. Here is an outline of the changes: Map: The actual layout of the main board is pretty much the same. However, since the game is set in the future, the names of the territories have been changed. Gone are such memorable names as Kamchatka, Yakutsk and Irkutsk. In their place we now have Pevek, Sakha and Alden (perhaps named after Boardgame Geek guru Scott Alden!). I understand the reason for changing the names (future world) and I'm sure I'll eventually get used to them, but I'm sure gonna miss those old, familiar territorial titles. I also found a bit of subtle humor in the renaming of the Western United States as Continental Biospheres. Hey, with some doomsayers predicting that the West Coast will slide into the ocean in the future, at least they didn't do away with the territory all together! The board for Risk 2210 AD renames some of the territories, including the Northwestern Oil Emirate (Alaska) and the Continental Biospheres (Western United States). The other main change to the main map is the addition of sea territories. Now, it is possible to wage war at sea and to conquer sea areas. These sea areas are grouped into "colonies" (identical in practical terms to their land based "continents") and earn bonuses for the player who controls all of the territories in that colony. Further, they do provide additional paths or connections between territories which were isolated from one another in the classic Risk. For instance, it is now possible to attack from Australia (renamed Aboriginal League) to Madagascar via two connected sea areas. This does open up the board a bit, but it is still very difficult to assault Australia or South America. Humanity just has to be disturbed that, according to the Hill, war will spread from the Earth to the Moon in the not too distant future. A separate, round board has been added to the game to represent the moon. Like the earth, the moon is divided into 'colonies' and territories. Grabbing complete control of colonies also earns bonus troops and energy for the controlling player. Getting to the moon is a bit difficult, however, and requires the presence of a Space Commander. More on this later. Getting back from the moon, however, is apparently a bit trickier proposition for our 23rd century scientists. The ultimate location of attacks from the moon back to the earth are determined by randomly drawing a card from the territory deck. I'm not sure what the rationale is behind this bit of randomness since, as far as I can tell, there is no control over this whatsoever. Components: Gone are the little blocks, triangles, stars and every other type of weird plastic or wood pieces which were used to represent troops. In their place are very, very nice plastic miniatures... gobs of 'em. We may have big political issues with China, but we apparently love their miniatures! In the future, battles will be fought by machines (robots) called, disturbingly, "Machines of Destruction", or "MODs" for short. These MODs are represented by three different types of really nice and detailed miniatures. The only difference is the number of basic troops these represent: 1, 3 or 5. There are more miniatures representing the five commanders (land, naval, diplomat, space and nuclear) and space stations.

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