Sometimes you just have too many thoughts in one day

And, it would appear, that today is just one such. Hurrah!

The Germans announced one of their most important things today, nothing to do with their World Cup Squad either, oh no. They announced the 'biggest' board game prize nominees for the year. This is the time when everyone suddenly has an opinion on what they left out, what they included, and well, that obviously covers it!

So, the German nation are backing one German game - unusually low - one French - quite brave for the Germans - and one Belgium game, bloody hell! I back the French entry, Splendor. You may remember it comes in a huge box... but it plays wonderfully, is colourful, quick and Mrs Hora just got thrashed in quick succession twice this evening.

The, there are the 'Gamers' Games' award. With people seeming to dare the committee to nominate Russian Railroads, one of the few games I've played that has left me completely underwhelmed, they gave it a nod only. The three games to have are apparently Istanbul, Concordia and Rococo. And it just so happens that I have them. Playing them is a different matter. Only Concordia has been played and after it's brilliant reception at Essen last year I didn't rush to buy it. But playing it was great, I enjoyed it a lot. I cannot really say then that one deserves it above another. At least most of the reaction has been funny!

Could be yours for a small fortune.

The other gaming related news is my latest escapades on ebay. If you're after a rare Subbuteo Zombie Team then now's the time to pick one up... Rochdale, Dumbarton, you're out to make me my fortune this week. We shall see. The initial reaction has been promising and with a load more to go on next week, more European, plus American - North and South - and National teams then who knows. The overdraft could be cleared once again.

Thalatta!

It's Ancient Greek for sea they tell me, or more to the point the Spanish designer of a board game - called Thalatta - tells me. Somehow, he struck gold in choosing me to help with the English rules translation of his latest design! I know, unbelievable.

Anyway, in the week he sent through the files and I printed off a very pretty map, a bunch of cards and dug out some spare tokens. Friday was my first run through; how can I write the rules up if I haven't played the game? I played the maximum four players and it took me quite some time as I got to grips with the rules and tried to play as fairly as possible for each colour. Thankfully, the game is good, it is interesting, very interesting and the more I got into the game the deeper it became.

At first, it's a set collection exercise to get enough ships to build routes around the Med. There are 'demand cards' which will provide income and thus victory points. The strategic bits are around the time element of the game. It takes ships some time to travel and so they need to 'collect' this as well. And you can't possibly build complete routes that often so you have to interact with the other players to claim trades. It's been well thought through. Yesterday, I played it again as a three player game and once more it worked really well. Today was the two player run through and whilst I preferred it with three or four it certainly handles two fine.

The emails that Jose and I have been trading have been very open and that's made the whole process so easy. I will read up some rule sets I think are well written this evening and then start my work in earnest tomorrow. Great to be involved in this.

Boxes, Part One

There's been a discussion on BoardGameGeek about a new game called Splendor. Unusually, everyone seems to love the game. It's been well manufactured with great components, it's easy to learn and play, it has a good rule book and I picked up my copy for around £22, so very affordable I would say. The discussion however, has been about the size of the box. The photos illustrate the point. So, why is the box so huge?

 

The main responses centre upon having a box of 8.5"x11"x2.8" (21.5x27.6x6.7cm) that will sit prominently next to other games of equal stature. All very subjective I'd say but once I started thinking about it it's true. Any game coming in a smallish box, say the size of two packs of cards, can't possibly be anything other than a light filler, once of those games without much brain-power needed for the start or end of an evening. It'll last about half an hour tops and normally cater for up to six players. Anything that comes in a small, compact box simply cannot be greater than that.

Splendor with its insert, all very neat and tidy

Looking at my collection there are some gems to be had in small boxes. And yet they don't get the love they surely deserve. Is it to do with box size? Well, yes, perhaps it is. I'll list the following; The Great Heartland Haulage Co., Glen More, Lungarno, Aton. All punch well above their weight but I've struggled to get them played at the club.

There are then those that come in boxes way bigger than necessary, that confirm that the opposite is also true, i.e. the box is at least medium size and therefore the game must be a good strategic one inside. These would include Battle Line, Carcassonne, Race for the Galaxy, all highly regarded.

Interestingly, a lot of two-player games come in a standard, square box of around 8"x8"x1.25" (20x20x3.2cm). Your expectation of it being a two-player game is set up by the box size. You'd be surprised if it could play more. Balloon Cup is one such game, part of the publisher, Kosmos's 2-player series. Yet even the French guy who's picture I've stolen has made himself a very smart tin one to hold everything in.

On the other side of the argument are those games collectors who try to conceal the fact that they own too many games by decanting as much as possible into smaller boxes. You should see the expansions I have in my Carcassonne box, or Agricola, even allowing for my luxurious cotton baggies from www.thecleverbaggers.co.uk.

I guess that box size will also come into the equation of pricing a game. The smaller the box the cheaper it must be right? Yet, make it a medium size and charge low and the suspicions about it will escalate. There's no way they could have turned out a good game for that price in that size box, unless the components are sub-standard perhaps?

Anyway, I've got Henry of Grublin thinking about this issue now as part of the Waggle Dance manufacturing process. I'm sure he'll make the right call for the game!

Hesitant Rain

So, the weather forecaster tonight told me that potential rain tomorrow was being hesitant. Forgive my seriousity but that ain't going to happen is it? Really? I think I have it in for weather forecasters in general. I struggle with the, literally, phenomenal, technological advancements I have witnessed during my lifetime and yet we still can't tell what the weather will do in a couple of hours time. Apart from in the Formula 1 pit lanes of course, they know, and change their tyres accordingly.

Yes, the only time we know what the weather's doing is actually as it happens. How many 'forecasts' begin telling us what the weather has done? Why would I want to know that? From a forecaster? Anyway, at least I know that the rain tomorrow will be hesitant. I can let my brolly to be similarly cautious, prepare my wellies too.

As it happens today was different from the normal Saturday. We had Mrs Hora's mum coming to stay with her other daughter, husband and youngest. I was told to make my roasted tomato soup for lunch and it was delicious yet again. Most of the soups I've tried to make have been either too watery, or too thick and lacking in flavour. This however, is both simple and tasty. One kilo of tomatoes get chopped and chucked in a roasting tin with a chopped red onion, red pepper, four carrots, two garlic cloves, a big glug of olive oil and seasoning. In the oven at gas mark six for 40-50 mins and then blitz with a pint of vegetable stock. The consistency is fine and the flavours are wonderful. Luckily, I made double today so there are two portions going into the freezer for the future. Perhaps for a day of less hesitant rain.

I made dinner too. Turkey gnocchi. I marinaded the turkey strips in lemon, garlic, mustard and olive oil. Cooked the gnocchi and the fried it with some onions before cooking the turkey and marinade, adding some cream and mixing the lot together. Side salad with mustard dressing and off we went. All very good. Ate too much apfel strudel with ice cream and cream - mmmm - for afters but sometimes... you know. Plenty of wine and John Newman, Soul Family Sensation and Tricky to accompany the food and all is well tonight.

Only thing missing was a couple of games but you can't have everything. I did manage to watch a couple of playthroughs earlier thanks to the wonderful Rahdo and Markus Wiehrauch. I will be investing in 'It Happens', but not 'Norderwind'. Also, may I make a smaller box for Splendor. There was an interesting forum discussion on the size of the box compared to its contents which included a link to UK game designer Jake Staines who I came across yesterday coincidentally. He's designed a print and play game that looks great, Maquis. Will give that a go when we get some more colour ink. In fact, the other two he's produced are also of interest, good man!