Gameblog

Category: More about games

  • 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…

  • Finnish Game of the Year awards 2002

    Finnish Game of the Year awards have been given out. The winners this year are: Best Children’s Game: Ali Baba (Ravensburger) Best Family Game: Bakari (Tactic) Best Adult Game: Fits (Ravensburger) Spiel des Jahres winner Villa Paletti was in the family game final three, but didn’t make it.

  • Die Macher preview

    Finally I have it. I left work earlier Friday so I could run to the post office and get it. I couldn’t wait and opened the game already at the railway station. I couldn’t believe my eyes, I finally had it… I haven’t played it yet, but I think I’ll say a word or two…

  • Weekend gaming plan

    I’m going to visit my parents who live in another city for the weekend and of course, I’m taking games with me. The main attractions I’ll be taking are Africa and Puerto Rico. Africa for the kids, Puerto Rico for the adults. Of course, I’m planning to enjoy mightily the games of Africa I’ll play.…

  • Ziploc bag overusers anonymous

    I confess — I just love ziploc bags. Today I re-bagged my Puerto Rico, inspired by a post to rec.games.board I saw. Now I have 55 colonists in one bag and a 4-player bag and a 5-player bag. Both have 20 colonists, one Prospector, a ship (7 and 8) and victory points (20 and 22).…

  • Computer games & Mah Jong

    You won’t see me writing about computer games often; I don’t play them much and when I play, it’s usually just to kill time. Of course, there’s no better way to kill time than to play Civilization (or Alpha Centauri) — oops, there goes another six hours… During the last few years, I’ve only bought…

  • Zèrtz

    For Finnish users, there’s a new review at my web site: Zèrtz. I’ve played about 50 games of Zèrtz during this summer, both PBeM and with a real set. I love it! It’s quick to play so you can play lots of it. The rules are easy to learn but there’s just right amount of…

  • Summer of abstract gaming

    If I had to define the theme of this summer, it’s been abstract gaming. I was looking for something to do with my e-mail as I was constantly connected at work. Well, I found PBEM games. I’ve played many games now on Richard’s PBeM Server. The interface is quite nice and the games have been…

  • Die Macher — finally

    I don’t remember when I first got interested about Die Macher. It’s appreciated a lot in some circles, at least. For example, its ID number in the Boardgamegeek database is 1, it was the first game ever to be entered there. Don’t know if that’s a token of appreciation, I’d like to think it is.…