Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Either this was unheralded or I’ve been listening to the wrong heralds, but Carcassonne is now available from Gamersgate in a rather spiffy looking PC conversion. There has already been a version for your personal computing device, but it was only distributed in Germany and has since been discontinued so it can carry a relatively hefty price tag. This downloadable version is £7.95, or £23.97 for a four-pack. It certainly looks the part and several expansions are included: rivers, inns and cathedrals, dealers and builders, and king and scout. Multiplayer works over internet and networks, as well as in hotseat mode, which is proper and good.

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JESUS CHRIST! What are you doing? You’ll kill us all! STOP!

Where did you learn to pilot a spacecraft? Asshole College? My God, the cadets they’re sending me these days. Alright, listen up. If you sit right there, don’t touch anything and do precisely what I say then we might just get through this alive.

The board game I want to tell you about today is called Space Alert. It’s designed by Vlaada Chvátil, published Czech Games and it’s both a phenomenal bit of game design and like nothing you’ve ever played. Some of you may have read this article before on my blog. You guys can consider this re-publishing a sort of Director’s Cut.
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This week I’ve been playing a card game called THUNDERSTONE! It has to be written like that, in all caps, and if you’re saying it you have to pronounce it in a voice like somebody who eats trumpets for every meal. THUNDERSTONE!

THUNDERSTONE! is a deck building game. Do you know what that is? Because it’s not like Magic: The Gathering or any of the other collectible card games where you’re expected to build a deck before the game starts. No. Deck building games are much, much friendlier. They’re where you construct a deck as you play, gradually bulking up your intial, runty booster-pack sized deck into a magnificent engine. Do you see? No? Alright, well you will, and you should. These games are a clever bit of design.
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Hello! This is not Cardboard Children and I am not Rab Florence. Our Rab is a man much in demand. As well as being a worthy addition to anybody’s Twitter feed, he works in television, which I gather is a bit like being Frodo in Lord of the Rings except instead of the One Ring that you’re questing to destroy it’s your free time.

This week, I thought it might be a good idea to talk about a board game that I bought on his recommendation. It’s called Cosmic Encounter, and it’s a tiny, tidy, intergalactic catfight in a box that anybody can play. It’s also my favourite game in my collection.
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Hello youse.

I’m often asked to suggest a good family boardgame that can replace the likes of Monopoly and Cluedo in dad’s secret porn closet. When I get asked this question, there is only one possible answer.

Settlers of Catan.
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Hello youse.

Did you miss me? I’m back today to put three little words to you. Well, one little word and two big ones.

True. Lovecraftian. Experience.
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Hello youse.

You might remember that a few months ago, I wrote about Tom Vasel and his wee boy Jack. Jack was born prematurely and had a real fight to endure – sadly, this week, Jack lost that fight. As a father myself, I can’t imagine what Tom Vasel’s going through right now. It’s been great to see the board game community rallying round the big man and trying to do something to help.
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Hello youse.

Sid Meier’s Civilization. Oh yeah. Now I’ve got your attention. Speaking to a PC gaming audience about Sid Meier’s Civilization is like speaking to an audience of teenage boys about Sasha Grey. There’s an instant connection. Recognition. A smile. A remembrance of all-night sessions. Of good times, fun, frustration, disgust, guilt. And of desire.
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