Written by Erik Arneson and published by Tiller Press
ISBN 978-1-9821-5047-1 (ebook ISBN 978-1-9821-5048-8)
Review based upon a review copy provided by the publisher
Erik is, of course, one of the Opinionated Gamers writers (if possibly one even less prolific here than I am), however unlike most of us, Erik is also a published author. And he has a new book out, available today, focused on how to create a successful game event.
Continue readingToday seemed quieter than the previous days with less games to find and play. But it was an opportunity to oook at games that I didn’t have on my list and I was pleased I did so.
Flotter Otter – this is a typical fun Zoch speed game where you vie to be the first to set a stack of 5 different coloured Lego cubes up in an order given by a card flipped over. Each card shows 5 pictures of something, eg a cat with a ball of wool, in which are hidden two aspects that go from small to large such as the cat’s eyes, ears, whiskers or the wool. Your challenge is to identify the order in which this something grows and represent it in your stack. Surrounding the picture is a coloured frame. If the option you choose begins or ends with the Lego cube matching the frame colour you get two points if you are fastest; if not you get 1 point. It’s fun and great for kids – I like it Continue reading
The International Gamers Awards (IGA) announced their Game of the Year selection during SPIEL.digital and the winner is Barrage! Barrage was designed by Simone Luciani and Tommaso Battista and published by Cranio Creations. The game received strong support from the IGA committee, with 6 first place votes from the 14 voters. It beat out The Crew for the win in a close contest.
Barrage is the second IGA award for Luciani, as he previously won for The Voyages of Marco Polo back in 2015. It’s Battista’s first IGA and the first win for Cranio as well.
In addition to Barrage and The Crew, the other short-listed games for the award were Azul: Summer Pavilion, Imperial Struggle, and Maracaibo. Seven other games received nominations.
The IGA is the last of the 2020 major gaming awards to be announced. The other winners were Pictures (SdJ) and The Crew (Kennerspiel and DSP awards).
Congratulations to Luciani, Battista, and Cranio Creations for their victory!
This article is part of our “10 Great” series that features 10 great games in a given subcategory. We pick a mechanic, theme, publisher, etc. — in this case, games designed by Sid Sackson. The Opinionated Gamers then vote behind the scenes to create a list of 10 great games.
About Sid Sackson
Sid Sackson, by any measure, is one of the most significant and well-respected game designers of the 20th century. His games have influenced several generations of players and designers alike — and continue to do so today.
Born in 1920, Sackson was most active as a game designer in the 1960s through the 1980s. (According to BoardGameGeek, Sackson’s earliest published game is the card game Poke from 1946.) He focused primarily on designing strategy board games for adults at a time when others seemed to be more interested in other areas of tabletop gaming such as children’s games, roleplaying games, and party games.
One of his greatest contributions to the world of gaming is the 1969 book A Gamut of Games, which continues to be widely available.
