Gameblog

Category: More about games

  • Interested in new games

    I’ve been living in a gaming void… Excluding the play-by-web games, the Bezique match is the only game I’ve played since Anni was born. It’s still a bit hectic to go out and play, but it doesn’t stop me from thinking about games. I’ve found Günter Cornett’s Greentown and I’m seriously thinking about buying it.…

  • Dominion and Gathering Storm

    I went to the Helsinki Book Fair yesterday. I was interviewed about my card game book, we did a quick 20-30 minute session, which went really well. I’m becoming a professional author, obviously, I can actually do public performances. I knew that Lautapelit.fi had a booth at the fair, so I arranged to pick up…

  • Finnish Players’ Picks 2008

    Oops, looks like I forgot to publish the Finnish Players’ Picks results for 2008. Well, better late than never! To see the top 28, see Finnish Players’ Picks 2008 GeekList. For complete list (in Finnish, but the data speaks math), see the official results page. You might also be interested in the collected results for…

  • It’s Essen time again

    The Christmas is coming, by which I mean Essen. There’s a pile of new games getting published, but I’m really not very interested in most of them. I mean, there’s plenty of nice stuff coming, but in the end, I don’t really care. I must say we’ve had excellent service on the Board Game Society…

  • 4 Winds Mah Jong again

    Yesterday I re-installed 4 Winds Mah Jong, now that I have a Windows laptop in addition to my Mac. It’s still as good as it was in 2002 when I bought it. The game shines when practising new rule sets, particularly those with minimum scores — always pesky for new players. Having a computer opponent…

  • Finnish Players’ Picks 2008 voting starts

    I’ve opened the voting for the Finnish Players’ Picks 2008 awards. If you’re a Finnish board gamer or a foreign board gamer living in Finland, go and vote for your favourite games.

  • Chinese Official Mahjong links

    Chinese Official International Mahjong rules is an interesting rule set to Mahjong, sanctioned by Chinese authorities. Seems like a well-rounded set of rules, with a minimum winning score and some rather interesting scoring hands (shifted chows and knitted sets, particularly). Few relevant links: Chinese Official Mahjong rules, a rulebook in PDF World-Class Mahjong with World…

  • Sense of achievement

    I was writing about Cuba on the Finnish Board Game Society forums after my latest experience with the game and I think my friend Tommy hit the nail on the head on what I don’t like about the game. It’s the lack of snowballing. Valerie Putnam wrote about Snowballs and Princess Brides on Boardgame News…

  • Steam over Holland

    Steam over Holland arrived today. Actually, yesterday I went to the Netherland’s post web site to check when the package should actually arrive, and it turned out it was supposed to arrive yesterday or today. Well, here it is now, right on time. I’m kind of used to 18xx games being drab and kind of…

  • Trains, trains, trains

    I went and bought 1825 from BGG marketplace. It’s a full set, too, all three units (but none of the extra kits). Why? I don’t know, I suppose because it was there? Well, it does seem like an interesting game. I’ve read nice things about it from Geek and I think I might like the…