Gameblog

Category: More about games

  • Ricochet Robot solver

    As long as I’ve had Ricochet Robot, I’ve thought about how neat it would be to have a computer program that would solve those puzzles that seem a bit too hard for the humans to solve. Well, now I have one. I’ve been studying Data Structures and Algorithmics lately in the University and I’ve learned…

  • Stephenson’s Rocket

    So, as requested by Iain, here’s my thoughts about Stephenson’s Rocket. Tommy has been carrying this Reiner Knizia game around to many events, but hasn’t ever been able to play it with more than 2 players. To help out the poor guy, I suggested we play it. We soon had two other players and a…

  • Villa Paletti preview

    I bought Villa Paletti, the 2002 Spiel des Jahres winner for few reasons. Biggest one is probably that I happened to see it at a department store when I was looking for a birthday gift for my girlfriend. I didn’t buy it right away, but went back the next day… Also, as it won the…

  • Tantrix preview

    I didn’t expect to play any games during the weekend (I was visiting my parents, as it’s my birthday next week), but my mother had a new Tantrix set which I had to try. It’s a game of connections. The hexagonal tiles feature coloured lines, three colours each. There’s a total of four colours in…

  • More about inappropriate themes

    I wrote about inappropriate game themes few days ago. I’ve been thinking about it a bit, and have something more to say. I drew comparisons to books, but I think it’s not a good comparison at all. There’s a huge difference between games and books. In books, no matter how evil and disgusting the main…

  • En Garde

    A new game review on my Finnish site: En Garde. What I think of it? Well, for a such an abstract game (it is indeed very simple), it captivates the feel of fencing quite well. Herr Knizia has done wonderful job, it’s perhaps his most successful theme ever. The game is basically an exercise of…

  • Inappropriate game themes

    Here’s something I wrote on Spielfrieks list in response to a discussion about inappropriate game themes. (See the start of the thread.) Daniel Karp wrote: The question is, are their subjects which are inappropriate for games under all circumstances? What does it mean if someone likes such a game, and does it matter for what…

  • Africa

    A new game review on my website: Africa — again in Finnish, sorry. Here’s what I think about the game: Recently Africa has received some praise from notable members of the Spielfrieks community and I think it deserves it. I think many were disappointed when it turned out that dr. Knizia had designed a light,…

  • Web of Power

    For Finnish users, there’s a new review at my web site: Web of Power. I’ve played lots of this lately and as you might notice from my Top 10 list, I value the game very highly. It works nicely from any number of players from three to five (I like it best with four, then…

  • Website update: Tough decisions in games

    Second part in the series "what makes a good game" the tough decisions can be found at my web site. Unfortunately, it’s in Finnish, but here’s an English summary: The article is about what makes good games stand out. The issue I’m pointing at is the tough decisions you have to make. Average roll-and-move game…