Yeah, that's right--I moved this blog. Again. I think this is actually fourth location. First it was manually edited, part of my website (such as it is). Then it went to TextAmerica. Then here thanks to Mikko's hospitality. But the podcast requires storage and bandwidth, and another combination of hosting solutions. I think that's best, anyway.

Eventually I'd like to migrate all of the old blog entries here over to the new site. (Just like I wanted to bring all of the TextAmerica postings over here . . . but never finished!)

To check out the new home for the Boardgames To Go podcast, click on over to BoardgamesToGo.blogspot.com

Thanks!

-Mark

P.S. If anyone is still using AvantGo to read this blog, I'll soon try to arrange the same on the new blog. However, only a small fraction of the content will be online in text form--most of it is in the audio files. Time marches on, buggy whips, and all that. :)

By the way, it's game night tonight in Santa Clarita. Our recent order from Boards & Bits arrived, though we've already got lots of existing games to play. El Grande is out Game of the Month, and another sucker said he'd try Pitstop with me. :) I'll tell you all about it in the 4th podcast, to be recorded this weekend, uploaded ???.

A couple times now I've mentioned that I'm interested in trying a boardgame podcast. Well, I've done it. Sort of. I mean, I've recorded three "shows," with more on the way. You can't listen to them yet simply because I haven't figured out a solution for hosting the files. My 20-30 minute shows aren't large by Geek Speak standards (mine are under 10 MB, theirs are as much as 80 MB), but that's still more than I can host here on Mikko's site. Just like every previous emerging Internet technology, a bunch of new hosting businesses are starting up, charging five bucks a month, $35 for the year, or what-have-you for low-end needs (storage and download bandwidth). That's nicely affordable, but the whole situation is in such flux right now I don't want to go with one and have to switch elsewhere in a few months. The Internet Archive, a non-profit organization, is actually offering free hosting for podcasts using Creative Commons licensing (sort of like a copyright, as I understand it). That sounds like a great solution for me--free and stable--but I've been getting upload errors for the past week. *sigh*

In the meantime I'll keep recording shows. It makes sense to have a few available when my podcast is "launched," anyway, so people can listen to a few and decide if it's worthwhile or not.

So what is this podcast? It's nothing more than an audio version of this weblog, right down to the name, "Boardgames To Go." My idea behind the original weblog was to offer boardgaming commentary away from your computer. A few years ago I was thinking of PDAs, hence the AvantGo channel. I'd also been wondering about making the weblog viewable to web-capable mobile phones. Never got that far, though. But no matter, it's now looking like podcasting is rocketing its way to being the mobile, offline way to get material from the net. It just so happens to be in audio format rather than on a screen. Not only is that a cool, new medium for most of us (the way page formatting for the web was an alien landscape in 1996), it also makes the best use of my offline time, my commute. Listening to some boardgame content on a podcast I've burned to CD while I drive to/from work is a great use of my time. I really love it, and look forward to having more great podcasting content (boardgames and otherwise) in the future. Heck, I'm going to have two 45-minute commutes every day for the next, oh, 25+ years--I'd like to make the most of them.

While Geek Speak is a two-host-plus-guest interview show, mine is just me rambling on by myself. I try to split the time between some general discussion (generally opinion, hopefully analysis someday) and sort of an audio session report. To be honest, I'm still feeling around with this. I hope it continues to improve, and I really hope I'm merely one of the early adopters of the format--that more boardgaming podcasts will be coming along.

That said, my parents aren't against playing games. They just don't gravitate to them. Or get too enthusiastic at their suggestion, especially my father. More than anything else, I think they just know how much I enjoy them, and during family weekends it is a way to spend time together.

This weekend my mom watched my daughter and I play a couple Pretty Wooden Abstracts, Gigamic's Pylos and Zenix. She agreed to play a game with my son and I . . . and to my pleasant surprise this turned out to be St. Petersburg! Sam had never played this, either, but they both caught on well enough. I warned them about the danger of running out of money, and didn't crank up all of the tactical plays possible with your reserve, card slots, and turn order. It was probably at the upper limit for them in terms of rules complexity and game length, but still fun. And definitely unique for them. Sam had been curious about this game since he watched me win it as a door prize at SoCal Games Day last month. I already knew I liked it (but only for 2-3 players). Sam and I also played Da Vinci Code beforehand.

Then this evening we even got my dad to play. It was Smarty Party that did it, combined with the Jr. Expansion set that made the game more playable with kids. After one successful game with him, he sat out a second when my wife came home and tried it. Success!

More good news: our latest order from Playme.de arrived. Total time from when we placed the order was just over a month. Again the games arrived in good condition, again we got copies of both Oltremare and Reef Encounter for good prices ($20 and $60, respectively--including shipping). I know some folks on spielfrieks and BGG have reported trouble with Playme.de, but we've not had any. This latest order had one missing game, but I expect to clear that up quickly. (And honestly, Adam Spielt used to do this once in a while.)

The latest Geek Speak (lackluster, but I know they're busy prepping for the con) got me interested again in recording my own thoughts. I suspect Mikko couldn't host the large files easily (even ~15 minute shows like I'm considering add up), but it appears an affordable option exists with Audioblog.com. I'm not a technophile, so need to figure out a simple way to do this. I'm reading some instructive web pages now.

What else? I haven't mentioned anything about our regular Santa Clarita Boardgamer sessions lately. I've actually been writing some session reports, just haven't pasted them in here. Goa is our Game of the Month, but after three weeks in a row we're mostly done with it. Those that like it still like it--those that find it just ok haven't changed their mind. I'm somewhere e in between, leaning toward the latter. I do enjoy it, but the game doesn't justify its own length. Sure, I've got a bias against almost anything approaching 2 hours, but can enjoy myself when the game is good. Or at least when it's good fun. That was true of Viking Fury, not true of Princes of the Renaissance, and pretty marginal for Goa.

Lastly, I've been playing some more play-by-web games again. It's one of my favorite formats. Good ol' Vinci is about to be taken down (though it's still working at Ludagora), so I've got one last game in there. Still really enjoying Droles des Zebres (Funny Zebras) at Boite a Jeux, including three games against its designer, Bruno Cathala! Then there's Rosenkoenig, which is now available through Yucata.de. (Also Chinagold, but I think Rosenkeonig is much better.)

However, now that the show is proving to be more than a flash-in-the-pan (16 episodes and counting, over 30 hours of audio material), I'm wanting it to make some improvements. No one on Boardgamegeek appear to have anything but glowing praise and mock criticism of the shows. I'd like to offer some constructive criticism. Some tough love. Maybe even some real criticism.

Rather than do so here on my blog, I might as well do it on BGG itself. The reaction should be interesting. I'm only trying to make the show better, sparking some discussion in the process. The absence of any real criticism concerns me a bit. That made sense with Geek Speak was brand new, a labor of love, and free. It's still free to listen, of course, but as Aldie & Derk begin to make BGG as much of a professional operation as the print game mags they should be able to handle the criticism.

Just an ego trip, I suppose. We're playing lots of games, we've got collective (and individual) opinions, and I guess I feel like they'd count for more if we shared them more readily. Kind of silly, perhaps, but I can't deny the attraction.

Anyway, these two initial Geeklists showcase our favorite "newish" and "older" games played together in 2004.

Oh, I also changed my avatar. My friends tell me that the original--my smiling face pasted onto a scan of an Entdecker tile--was too . . . uh . . . friendly. Then they regretted saying anything, and didn't want me to change it. Too late! The embarrassment has already occurred! Now replaced with a cool little Mars rover icon, relevant to my job.

Also, the whopper entry for my 2004 report is showing display problems when I view it in Internet Explorer. Anyone else have that problem? It looks fine in Netscape. Darn computers.

Introduction
I've been tracking the family strategy games I play each year since 1997. This is primarily for my own interest, though I've also been archiving past at my own website in case anyone else wants to read them. Every year I like to point out that it was the "Year in Games" articles posted to rec.games.board in the early days (92-94) by Nick Sauer and others that sparked my interest in boardgaming.

Hits - New games I already know I like

Axis & Allies: D-Day - Despite the name, this isn't like Axis & Allies. (So I hear--somehow I've never played A&A!) This hits the sweet spot for a fun, light wargame that still feels like it's got some historical relevance. I particularly like the non-abstracted (yet still simple) use of Allied air power. I even got my dad to play this once! That's more than I could say for Battle Cry, and I didn't even try M44. This is a much better scale for interesting battles.

Dos Rios - Actually, I'm not yet sure I really like this one, but after two plays I think I might. "Hit" is too strong a word, but it's not a miss, either. Not recommended with four, yeah, but three's pretty good and two-player may be even better. Hacienda strategy is the key, I'm sure.

Droles de Zebres - This snuck up on me through the Belgian play-by-web site Boite a Jeux, but I expect it'll be available in published boardgame form soon. Great little 2-player tile placement game that replaces Auf Heller's math with fun, a good trade.

Hansa - I can naturally see the dryness in this game, as well as the negligible ability to plan ahead. Nonetheless, the remaining gameplay is fun, and the theme and production work hand-in-hand to make it a great game. Not for everyone, I'll grant, but super for me.

Oceania - With Entdecker as my favorite game, this could either ride coattails or be dismissed as a cheap imposter. Happily, it's the former. I don't care for the solitaire puzzle version, but the real 2-player game is timed just right. The use of scouts & face-up tiles even makes it its own game.

Oltremare - I've heard the card balance may be off, but that has yet to spoil my enjoyment of this little gem. The Essen early reports were absolutely right. Fun stuff, and even a 2-player game worked well enough. I hope it gets picked up by a larger publisher with a full sized board later.

Power Grid - It took me forever to try Funkenschlag, and though I liked it we never played again. Power Grid hasn't made it to the table much more, but it *could*, and so I remain hopeful. Shows us what good game development can do, moving the focus to the resource market system, away from the route-planning.

Reef Encounter - Overpriced, but glad I own it (esp. at overseas prices). I'm a sucker for games modeling nature's systems, and this one aims squarely for that. I even bought the Blue Planet DVD set to see the coral reef episode that inspired designer Breese. Some design-for-effect mechanics, but amazingly true to theme, too.

San Juan - Puerto Rico never caught on with me. I like it, but that's it. San Juan is generating a similar reaction. It's good, but strangely uncompelling.

St. Petersburg - Yes, it's "just" about optimizing your money-to-points generating engine. But if you like optimization games like I do (as opposed to those with killer strategies and game-swinging plays), this is one of the best. (I'm still bugged by the paper money, though. The same complaint could be leveled at others on this list.)

Tahuantinsuyu - To be honest, I was skeptical of this one. The praise just had the feel of hype, to me. I'm glad I finally tried it, though, because it's as good as they say. Well, I think its crayon-map systems could use some good game development (a la Power Grid, perhaps?), but the rest is quite good. Especially the share-with-your-neighbor special effect cards. A great mechanic that should find its way into other games.

Ticket to Ride - You could almost get tired of hearing how great a gateway game this is. But it wouldn't make it any less true. I'm just glad Days of Wonder published it, because the production makes this game as much as the breezy mechanics.

Victory & Honor - I "met" Ty Douds via email back in 96, twice in-person since then. He's not well-known outside of the Gulf Games circle, I guess, but what an avid gamer and wonderful person. I'm so pleased his game was published, and I honestly enjoy it greatly. Jolly Roger is getting better, doing find on the game cards this time. But the rules are a mess, making it hard to learn this unusual game. For once, even I say you need to discard the theme when explaining the rules.

Wings of War - Just goes to show there are great ideas still out there in boardgame design, ideas that make you wonder why nobody thought of it before. A little pricey for what you get, especially since you *almost* need another set to play good match-ups. But it's just so natural and fun to play, the pricing is easy to overlook. Looking forward to the second set (with rear gunners!).

Misses - New games I'm deciding against

Im Auftrag des Konigs - I try hard to find the one good Adlung game every year, and most times I find it: Verrater, Meuterer, and Die Fugger are all favorites, while Canal Grande and Von Kap bis Kairo are enjoyable. I own about four more I play once in a while, which is enough to earn their keep (after all, they're small & cheap). This one collapsed under its own modest weight, however. It has the feel of a decent boardgame that was uncomfortably shoehorned into Adlung's card game format. Too bad, because the theme is good.

La Strada - I didn't really care for Magna Grecia, and this watered down version doesn't do it for me, either. It almost does--definitely simplifying the game is a step in the right direction for me. But ultimately it just only good *considering* how short & compact it is. It's not very good in its own right.

Marco Polo Expedition - Usually Reiner's simple ideas come off as elegant, but sometimes they're just sparse. That's the case here. Ravensburger originally used those cool caravan pieces for Karawane, a game that might play better by being lighter. I'm anxious to try.

Oh Pharaoh - After starting like gangbusters, Uberplay seems to have made some considerable missteps in 2004. Having pyramids of cards represent ancient Egyptian pyramids is a good idea, but the game is both too long for casual play and too chaotic for competitive play.

Piranha Pedro - This game exists so I can confirm there is such a thing as "too light my tastes." I'm even a guy that almost likes Ab die Post, so that's saying something. The animated presentation on BSW is fun to play with my son as copilot, but that's about it. Too bad, because this is a designer I watch closely. (Then again, neither Attribut nor Attika wowed me.)

Pirates of the Spanish Main - This one almost isn't really fair, because I haven't played with the real rules. A sailing ship game without consideration for *wind* just galled me, so we tried some home-brew rules. Those were ok, but even stripped of the WS&IM roots they were a bit much for me. The pieces are great, and the special crew abilities should also be fun. I just need a little effect for wind to honestly enjoy this.

SiegeStones - Major letdown. I got into Pretty Wooden Abstracts this year, and this looked fantastic in the pics. Then Games Magazine (when will I learn?) said it was great, and I ordered it. Having to mentally add up numeric factors is a big turnoff for me, especially in a physically clean game like a PWA. I'm an aerospace engineer, I can handle arithmetic, but that's not the point. A PWA is supposed to be clean & elegant. This ain't. But I'm still hanging onto it because the publisher has sponsored a design contest using the same board & pieces. Hopefully something good will come of it.

Tongiaki - I'm all for light games, as well as exploration games. But this is just a weird, underdeveloped game. Another Uberplay misstep, it's not light enough for that audience or strategic enough for the other. Yes, that's basically the same complaint I leveled at their other game on this list. Game development matters.

Pretty Wooden Abstracts (PWAs)
Also called coffee table games, this category is dominated by the beautiful offerings from Gigamic. There are others, though, and they all look great when on display in my office at work. Actually getting someone to play them is another matter, but I'm working on it. They still get played with gamers on weekends and game nights (at least a little).

Gathering of Friends
Hey, I finally made it! Got to meet a lot of people I'd only "known" via email before, which was my goal. I'm not making it back in 2005, but never say never.

Not online much
I used to be a total mailing list addict when it came to boardgames. This dates way back to '96 when I had a different job, one that wasn't satisfying. Very unlike my good job situation today, and with that came a dramatic (and overdue) dropoff in my online participation. Yes, I know I'm writing this in a weblog, but at least I'm not a slave to the mailing lists anymore. (Nothing wrong with them, just not for me anymore.)

Settlers of Catan - Got my German set to go with Das Buch, still unplayed. I'm as happy to play vanilla Settlers, though.
Bohnanza - Just recently a big hit with my son, so this should go up next year. (Picked up High Bohn, too, the only expansion I like.)
En Garde - Played Duell, too, and though I appreciate the sturdier board I think the shape of the figures is funny. Fencers wear capes? Special effect cards are ok, take 'em or leave 'em.
Medici - Somehow, I NEVER get tired of this. Sure wish they'd have it on BSW.
Entdecker - Only one play, not nearly enough for my favorite game. My old/new rules hybrid didn't impress Huber or Jackson, though.
Euphrat & Tigris - Reef Encounter may supplant this a bit. They feel pretty similar to me.
For Sale - Only Coloretto holds a candle to this king of the fillers.
Mu - The one on this list that probably wouldn't make my Top Ten. I like it, but it can be a bit too much sometimes. Still looking for the perfect "Mu-lite."

Other titles like Vinci, Web of Power, and Carcassonne have been played have been played every year since they were released, they just don't reach back as far.

Frank's Zoo - Was a lunch group staple, but I no longer game at lunch.
Get The Goods - Might try this with kids, esp. as an intro to TtR.
Apples to Apples - Still play a lot of the Jr. version with kids.
Lost Cities - I never was a huge fan of this. Knizia math again.
Princes of Florence - Rats. Should've made time for this one.
Tohuwabohu - I think my daughter forgot about it.
Tutanchamun - Too kingmaker-y and dry for many, but I like it.
Die Malwurf Co. - Another forgotten staple with my daughter.
Gettysburg - My favorite wargame made way for A&A:D-Day this year.
High Society - Always loses to For Sale when I reach for a filler.
Wildlife - I just like it more than other folks, I guess.

Tens
St. Petersburg
Through the Desert - Rediscovered through play-by-web, it also turns out to be a good game with kids!
San Juan
Ticket to Ride

Fives
Big City - Map-building, "tile"-laying, cool pieces, simple rules...no wonder I like it! Only for 2-3 players, though.
For Sale
Piranha Pedro
Pogo - A PWA I discovered through Bruno Faidutti's website. It's a much lighter "version" of Sackson's Domination
Fluster - Portable, quick crosswords game. It's our form of travel Scrabble.
Pylos - Another PWA, one that my kids especially like.
Streetsoccer - Still waiting for the cell phone version. Or basketball.
Alhambra - Already enjoyable, and now available as PBW.
Euphrat & Tigris
Oceania

1. Get better at explaining rules
Around here I have a well-earned reputation for leaving out a rule out when explaining a game. The "Mark Johnson rule." Kind of fun as a running joke, but that's only an excuse. I really should explain rules better, particularly if I'm going to make progress getting my nongamer family members to enjoy more games. The most recent episode of Geek Speak was inspiring with its discussion of successful teaching techniques by Matthew Baldwin and Derk Solko.

2. Contribute some material to Boardgamegeek
I've been on BGG since it first started, but never contributed all that much. The site has been growing all along, but the past year it must've really taken off. Sometimes it's TOO much, but among the Geeklist/Journal chatter is great material. I should do my part to help. Besides, a lot of what I would write gives more presence for the Santa Clarita Boardgamers.

3. Start a game design file
Like a lot of boardgamers, I can't help but have ideas about designing games myself. I'm a long ways off from even submitting a design, never mind anything more impressive. Interviews with famous designers usually reveal they've got a lot of ideas in various stages of work, all filed away. Getting organized seems like a good next step for me.

4. Write an article for The Games Journal
I had always intended to write more material for The Games Journal, the web magazine that maintains high aspirations under the editorship of Greg Aleknevicus. Another point/counterpoint review, a long-promised interview . . . Greg deserves SOMETHING. I need to do this.

5. Sell more, buy less
Pretty self-explanatory. Last year, especially toward the end, I went on a little buying spree. I unloaded a fair bit on ebay, too, but it was still pretty skewed. Selling more and buying less would help the game budget, the storage situation, and the ability to get older games to the table more often.

Last year's goals?
Part of making goals is checking up on them, right? I didn't remember making goals a year ago, but a re-read of my 2003 year-end report finds a few after all. How'd I do? Hmm, not so well, actually! I'd wanted to fix up my own website (bzzt!), more wargaming (not really), and perhaps focusing more on old favorites (sort of).

Year Different Games  New-to-me Games  Total Plays  Avg Plays per Game
---- ---------------  ---------------  -----------  ------------------
2004      192               98             414           2.2
2003      179               93             393           2.2
2002      177               88             417           2.4
2001      169               96             435           2.6
2000      103               59             216           2.1
1999      121               78             199           1.7
1998       99               68             249           2.0
1997       83               67             126           3.0

Most of my gaming comes from playing with the Santa Clarita Boardgamers. I'll have a separate year-end posting for them, too. I still go to SoCal Games Days, but don't help run them anymore. Unfortunately I missed a few in 2004. Weekend gaming opportunities are infrequent, but great. A big plus is the fact that my kids are getting more interested in games. I also went to my first Gathering of Friends in 2004, but it didn't bump up my numbers much since it displaced lots of local gaming.

Games Unknown

Still with me? Seriously?! Your reward is a list of games published in 2004 that I haven't played...yet still have something to say about. Worth what you paid for it.

Betrayal at House on the Hill - Systems sound interesting, but neither the horror theme or dungeon crawl sort of mechanics are faves of mine.

Blue Moon - I played Magic for years, so I really need to try Reiner's version of a similar idea. Just wish it didn't have the fantasy babes (I'm too old for that, and so is this hobby).

Carcassonne: The City - I was already a Carc fan. Through in a PWA element, and this was a must-purchase. The wooden box wasn't as necessary, but still kind of nice.

Coloretto Extrakarten - An unnecessary, perhaps unwanted expansion, but I'm such a Coloretto fan I need to try. Very much looking forward to Amazonas, however, which modifies the game more substantially.

Der Untergang von Pompeji - Early word was bad, but this is starting to sound like a light game I'd like more than others. (Remembering Africa, Tonga Bonga, and even Entdecker.)

Doom: The Boardgame - Never got into the computer game, but Space Hulk was pretty cool. Worth a try at a Games Day or something.

Election USA - Given my track record with Martin Wallace, combined with a strongly negative reaction from Joe Huber, I'll pass. Besides, I really enjoy good ol' Mr. President.

Gettysburg: Badges of Courage - My "favorite" battle, combined with those great wargame blocks. What's not to like? It's price, for one, and maybe the game length, too.

Goldbrau - By the time I had a chance to try it, people I trust had already given up on it. No big loss, I figure.

HeroScape - It's just not my thing. Maybe twenty years ago. Maybe.

Lost Valley - The early bad word spooked me off, but now that's turning around. Should have a chance to try it soon (and I do like exploration games).

Memoir '44 - Unbelievable, huh? I'm not a big fan of this smaller scale, and Battle Cry didn't completely satisfy me. But I'll still try it, will probably like it, and will almost definitely buy it.

Pitchcar Mini - I'm intrigued by the thought of selling off my Audi Carabande set (+ Action Set), replacing it with this smaller, just-as-fun version. Hmm...

Razzia! - It took me too long to warm up to Ra, and now they change it?! I see no need for this one if Ra's around. (Not that I own it!)

Star Wars Miniatures - Minis aren't my thing, and I'm not quite the Star Wars geek I once was (not compared to those today!). Still, a friend has lots of these, and he says the rules are fun, so I should try.

Viking Fury - Hard to justify the price, but now I can try someone else's.

This year I'm starting from the 2003 format, but rearranging some sections (putting the best stuff near the top, mainly). The good news is that I'm writing it, and on a roll. The bad news is that it's turning out to be fairly long. On my own weblog, of course there's no harm. I'm even holding out hope that it'll be worthwhile reading nonetheless! Should be ready in a few days, I'd say.

The other topical aspect of this blog entry relates to comments. I just made the setting adjustment to shut off comments entirely. It's not that I don't want them--it's just to keep the spammers at bay (I get a numerous attempts every day). Frankly, I never intended this weblog to be a dialog-type affair. Not publicly, at least. I'm always happy to receive private emails about my entries, though, and try to respond to them.

Oops! I see that I don't have an easy-to-find email link on these entries. Hmm, let's see if I can't fix that. The bottom of these entries will now have that link.

The hobby has expanded quite a bit since then, however. No longer do you need to scan those year-end reports to simply learn the names of games worth playing. Just like early session reports, those old reports were as much for spreading news and comparing opinions (few & far between back then) as anything else. So what's right for 2005? I'm not sure. Come to think of it, I think I made a blog post pondering this same question last year. There's nothing wrong with the reports being personal or even self-indulgent, but as long as they're being posted publicly I think it's worth some consideration about the audience.

Hmm. I'm sure a long list of just the titles & numbers of games I played doesn't do anyone much good. Snippet reviews? Better to archive those game comments with ratings on BGG. Funny anecdotes? OK if they're not just in-jokes. I'm just not sure. What do I like to read in others' reports? I think I like to take note of games that were popular with a particular game group more than the hobby as a whole, and why that might be. Put another way, I don't care much if someone played a lot of Puerto Rico last year or thinks Ticket to Ride makes a great gateway game. Yeah, fine, we all know that. But if someone played, say, ten games of Mare Nostrum, that might be worth a look. Even at that, I'm more inclined to look into stories of MY underdog games getting more attention. So maybe that doesn't help much.

Multi-year data should be interesting, but I don't think anyone's found the best way to present that yet. Games that get played every year are somewhat interesting. Games that were played every year --but somehow weren't last year--those are interesting, too. I guess game dropoffs and resurgences might be interesting, as long as you strip out the raw numbers and start describing/analyzing what the numbers mean. (That's true of all aspects of year-end reports. Numbers and statistics are too lifeless to be interesting reading.) As far as I can tell, almost all games experience a lot of dropoff. A game that goes from 10 plays last year to just 2 this year isn't very notable. Maybe the anti-dropoff cases are more interesting (along with those rediscoveries). I wonder if I have any.

Of course, this thinking just sets me up for failure with my own forthcoming report. :-)

None of this technological crystal ball-gazing could have anything to do with the fact that I can't get MY computer to talk to MY Palm device using AvantGo, right? Right. Sheesh, it's been this way for a while, but recently I rolled up my sleeves, determined to straighten that out. I'll spare you the blow-by-blow involving help desks, emails to company reps, missing DLL files, and such. In the end I had to admit defeat, happy to just have a mostly-functional connection between the computers. I still can't get AvantGo to work (except on my home machine), but at least everything else does.

I tried looking into Plucker, a free license bit of software used for viewing web pages on PDAs. Its interface is smoother than when I first checked a few years ago, yet it's still kind of "techy" for someone who abandoned the leading edge a long time ago. In my first engineering job I used to go down to the company library over lunch hours to read PC Magazine, but now I need my 10yo son to explain which remote buttons to push to view a DVD. So Plucker ain't gonna work. (And maybe that sheds some light on my AvantGo troubles...)

Working backward through some recent SCB sessions...

Last week we made a little more progress through our Essen order from Playme.de. Well, not really. We played Geschenkt and Oltremare, true, but those had been tried last week. Despite our group ordering three copies of Reef Encounter, we still haven't tried that. But we will. We wrapped up with an oldie but goodie, Razzia (the original, not the Ra revision).

Geschenkt
Waiting for a couple other SCBers to show up, we needed a quick opener. This fit the bill nicely. We had four players, two of us having played the week before. This time the bidding was better, tighter. There are times a card is painless or even beneficial to you . . . but you shouldn't take it at the first opportunity. As long as it's poison for the other players to take, you should try to push your luck, making them spend passing chips a round or two (or more) before scooping up your "gift." But pushing your luck too far can backfire, or at least spoil an opportunity. We play 3 rounds to give the luck a chance to even out a bit--seems like the sort of game that needs it. It's definitely short enough. I like it, just like I knew I would.

Oltremare
Hey, cool! After all the hype, I half-expected to be a little let down by this one. I wasn't! Ok, the box is as flimsy as the Abacus/Rio Grande card game boxes, the harbor tokens are too small, and I don't like the prestige point tracking with cards. Hell, I'll even mention that I wish the ship tokens looked like ships instead of cubes. But those are all nits for a game that works very well, both in the rules and the very well-designed cards. If they'd messed up the cards' graphic design (as many companies have done), we wouldn't be talking about this one. As it is, I hope it'll get more than just reprinted--I'd like to see a new production by a larger publisher. Our game was a full 5-player affair that lasted a little while. It'll play faster next time, no doubt. I'm very curious to see how it plays with just 2.

Razzia
I've owned and traded this game away. Twice. This most recent outing (with Ryan's copy) didn't make me want to go out and get it a third time, but I'm glad a copy exists in our group. It's a nice closer for when you've got a lot of folks. I think it plays up to 8 or something. And though I think they made some subtle but distinct improvements in the game with the closely-related Hick Hack in Gackelwack, the theming and production of this original is top-notch.

OK, I've got more games to mention, but this blog entry has waited three days already so I'm posting it now. More later, hopefully.

The silver lining, though, is that I played a few games with my kids. Not only were they not bad, the games were generally well received. Even better, my son said he really liked a couple, and made some game requests. Wow! I still wish I could've gone to that game party today, but that helps take the sting away. (And has a lot of potential!)

First was Mission Command:Sea. I'd purchased all three of the Mission Command series during a KB Toys sale, but they'd remained in shrinkwrap for months. Now I needed to decide which to open & keep, and which to donate during a holiday toy drive. He expressed some interest in the air-to-air game first, but I steered him elsewhere. We've owned Screaming Eagles for a while, so I already know that one. (Though if he's interested, we'll definitely keep it and send Screaming Eagles back to ebay.) MC:Sea turned out to be pretty decent. Not great, but certainly entertaining. The production is nice, particularly for the price, and I like the missile rules.

That was yesterday. This morning I got both my kids to try King's Breakfast with me. I prefer Coloretto to this one, but I like it well enough. Recently I figured out that the theme and presentation may appeal to kids, so I thought it was time to buy one. Sam warmed up to it pretty quick, but Molly's interested faded about as fast. I think stripping some of the cards out when playing with two kids might've been a good idea. Now I'm just hoping they'd be willing to try again in a little while, especially Molly. Sometimes I think these games may be more fun after they've had a while to sink in. I know Cartagena didn't go over well with them when I borrowed a friend's copy, then some months later Sam requested it.

Before King's Breakfast I played two quick games of another new arrival, Rumis, with Sam. This we both liked straight away. Blokus is good, but a bit longer and more challenging. Rumis may not really be any lighter or shorter, although it felt that way to us. I'm looking forward to trying it with 3 or 4 players--this looks like a winner.

I'm just as excited about a couple games we didn't play. Both kids picked out a game to play with grandma & grandpa, in case we did that. Well, we didn't, and Molly's pick was our old staple, Apples to Apples Jr. Sam, however, picked Drunter & Druber. I'd tried it with the kids earlier in the week. Here again, I didn't think it really succeeded, but now here was Sam asking to play it. Wow! And if that weren't enough, he said he wanted to learn how to play "the bean game." That's Bohnanza, of course, which he heard the adults playing during Thanksgiving.Could family game sessions be in my future? I'd almost given up on that.