Review: The Next Great American Game (Movie Documentary)

Posted on January 20, 2015 by Dale Yu

Editor’s Note: The Opinionated Gamers was asked to preview “The Next Great American Game”.  In true OG style, a few of us got together for a virtual screening, and we have written a review roundtable style.  The main website for the film is http://www.tabletopmovie.com. The YouTube trailer is available at http://youtu.be/DJeO3s6YtdA

 

Contributors to the discussion include:

NB- Nate Beeler

DY – Dale Yu

MJ – Mark Jackson

JF – Jonathan Franklin

JG – Jennifer Geske


ngag

DIGGING IN

 

NB: “The Next Great American Game” is an uncomfortable documentary about an awkward human being.  The title comes from a phrase we hear repeatedly from the mouth of the film’s subject, would-be game designer Randall Hoyt.  He believes his game, Turnpike, will be an instant classic along the lines of Monopoly, Trivial Pursuit, or Pictionary.  Yes, this man has more than a dollop of self importance.  We get a clue to its possible origins right from the very beginning, when we see Hoyt wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with the word “Bipolar”, as he’s assembling parts for his board game prototype in a hotel at Gen Con.  This will be just the first of many times that he assures us that Turnpike is the next great American game that everyone will love it if they just give it a chance.  The evidence for this heartfelt belief is that his friends always have a good time when they play it together.  Throughout the bulk of the film, Hoyt stands by this belief, despite a wave of contrary evidence that the game is too long, badly themed, poorly designed, not developed, too random, too expensive to produce, outdated, and not fun.  You probably know the type of game and person I’m describing.


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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Versailles

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Dale Yu

 

Versailles

  • Designer: Andrei Novac
  • Publisher : NSKN Games, EN distribution by Passport
  • Players: 2-5
  • Ages: 12+
  • Time: 45-75 minutes
  • Times played: 2, with review copy provided by NSKN/Passport

versailles

In Versailles, players take on the role of competing designers of the great French palace – the player who can best design and decorate the rooms in the palace will win the game.  The large board shows the area around Versailles.  The palace (yet to be built) is in the center of the board, and surrounding the building site are 7 different areas important in the construction of said palace.

Players start the game with a number of workers (5 meeples in a 4-player game) that are strewn across the board according to a chart in the rules.  On your turn, you must move one (or more) of your meeples to a new location.  In general, you are able to move one meeple one space – though you do have a supply of two “double move” tokens which allow you to either more one meeple twice OR two meeples one space each along an identical path.  If you choose to do a Double Move, you flip over one of your tokens to the exhausted side.   Whenever you move, you place your “Activation Marker” on the newly-arrived-at location. Continue reading →

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Dale Yu: First Impressions of Choice Words

Posted on January 17, 2015 by Dale Yu

 

 

Choice Words

  • Designer: Robert Kamp
  • Publisher: Mindware
  • Players: 2-8
  • Time: 30 minutes
  • Ages: 10+
  •  Times played: 2, with review copy provided by Mindware

choice words

I was approached by the designer of this game, Robert Kamp, to take a look at his new release over the holiday season.  As I knew that I would have plenty of non-gamers around the house, this seemed like a good opportunity to try out a game that is geared more for the causal gamer.

 

Choice Words is a game where players try to come up with phrases that use words that appear on drawn cards.  Each player is given a sheet to write down their answers – and someone is designated the starting player.  There are two different decks of cards in the game, a “Match Play” and a “Scratch Play”.  The starting player chooses either one of the decks and draws a card out of the box for that deck.   Continue reading →

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Patchwork

Posted on January 13, 2015 by gschloesser

Design by Uwe Rosenberg
Published by Mayfair Games / Lookout Games
2 Players, 20 – 30 minutes
Review by Greg J. Schloesser

Patchwork

Early in his career, Uwe Rosenberg developed a reputation for designing highly creative and sometimes quirky games.  These included games such as Bohnana, Klunker and Mama Mia.  Over the past decade or so he has moved on to designing deeper and more strategic designs and, indeed, has a loyal following of gamers that eagerly await his next creation.  Many have become game club staples, including his juggernaut Agricola.

One of his more recent offerings is Patchwork, which is neither quirky nor terribly strategic.  Rather, it is a lighter 2-player game that challenges players to place oddly-shaped quilting patches into a growing pattern.  The game has a decidedly Tetris-like feel, but players must accumulate buttons in order to purchase the patches they covet.  Care must be taken, however, as in addition to serving as currency, buttons are also victory points.

Each player receives five buttons and a blank board upon which their quilt will be formed.  Each board depicts a 9×9 grid, onto which the Tetris-like pieces will be placed.  The central board depicts a quilt, but serves solely as a timing track.  The 33 patches are randomly placed surrounding this board and the “neutral” pawn is placed immediately following the small, 2-space patch.  Each tile depicts its cost in buttons, the amount of time spent to attach that patch, as well as the number of buttons—if any—the patch will provide at certain points during the game.

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Dale Yu: Review of El Gaucho

Posted on January 12, 2015 by Dale Yu

 

El Gaucho

  • Designer: Arve D. Fühler
  • Publisher: Argentum / Passport to distribute in US
  • Players: 2-4
  • Ages: 10+
  • Time: 60 minutes
  • Time played: 3 with review copy provided by Argentum

elgaucho

I have always been a supporter of Argentum.  In my many years to Essen, Argentum has always had interesting games at the show, many of which I have greatly enjoyed.  Most folks know them for Hansa Teutonica, but I have also liked Coney Island and Yunnan recently.

El Gaucho is the third design of Fuehler’s that I’ve played this year (which also happens to be all three of his games in the BGG database) – the others being Pagoda and Scharfe Schoten.  El Gaucho is a lighthearted game about going to the dice rodeo and then collecting high scoring cattle. Yeah, I know that doesn’t make much sense, but that’s what it says on the back of the box! The subtitle of the game is a bit more revealing: “A set collection and take-that game”. Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2014, Reviews | 2 Comments

New game-based comic available in English – Giocomics

Posted on January 11, 2015 by Dale Yu
Giocomics, the comic strips of the Italian web-magazine Gioconomicon, by Stefano Castelli and Alan D’Amico, becomes international as it is now translated in English!
With their obsessions and funny habits, Klaus (the German), Bob (the American) and Marco (the Italian) embody the typical gamers profiles. They live their gaming passion, and comment about what’s new and what’s going on in the gaming world. Giocomics is hosted on Gioconomicon.net, the Italian gaming magazine born in 2004.

Stefano Castelli, a devoted gamer and author of boardgames such as Turandot and C.O.A.L.: Combat-Oriented Armored League, writes the lines of the strips; Alan D’Amico, sculptor, illustrator and artist for several boardgames (such as Kingsport Festival, Blue Max, and Everzone) is the author of the drawings.

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Posted in Humor / Satire | 2 Comments