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Helcon 2005 — Saturday
Saturday was games, games, games. About 50 people participated, playing lots of games. Few bigger ones were scheduled and the Memoir ’44 tournament kept on going. Here’s my games: Indonesia. Splotter was the theme of the day, and I started with Indonesia. The game’s about development of Indonesian economy. When the game begins, there are…
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Helcon 2005 — Friday
Helcon 2005 was already the fourth time the event was organised. This time we had a new location, a meeting hall of The Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Mission. It was a good location for many reasons: it was clean, had enough room, there were lots of tables, good kitchen facilities and a possibility to rent a…
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Antike and Heckmeck
I tried Antike with Johanna. It’s certainly not the best two-player game, but it was fun and I got some practise with the mechanics so it’ll be easier for me to teach in Helcon this weekend. So, yeah, it was fun. We played on the Middle-East side, Johanna played Arabs and the Greeks against my…
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Two-player Caylus
Last night Johanna, in celebration of her birthday, wanted to play something. Something new, that wasn’t too quick or too long — now that’s a task! I chose Caylus, as I thought she could like it. It should also be pretty quick with just two and I was keen to play it. Well, off we…
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Essen pictures
Last night I went and uploaded my pictures, which can be found in my Essen 2005 photo gallery. It’s a small set of 80 or so pictures, but at least it’ll give you some picture of what was going on. Have fun!
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Saturday, day three: Crowds and games
Last day of the fair! Sunday would be a definite no, since we have to leave for the airport before the fair actually opens. At the breakfast, there were a lot more people than before — the first sign of the weekend action. Lots of guys I had seen at the Gigantoskop stand were there,…
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Friday, day three: Games, games, games
Here’s what happened yesterday: Today was the day! I went downstairs to use the hotel laptop to send my reports, which I did, and then headed back to the room. I glanced towards the dining room, and who did I see? Reiner Knizia, of course, and he was just leaving. As he wasn’t eating, I…
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Thursday, day two: Shopping for games
The morning started off quite well. We were having breakfast, when I suddenly noticed a familiar-looking gentleman in a salmon-coloured shirt: herr Knizia! I wasn’t quite brave enough to go talk to him, but maybe I’ll ask for his signature tomorrow, as I now have a game to ask it to. It would be neat…
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Wednesday, day one: arrival
Good news! The hotel has a computer I can use, it has a DSL connection and it accepts my USB memory card reader. So, I bring you: live reports from Essen, Germany! (I apologize if I mix my Y’s and Z’s, as the German keyboards are funny that way.) My travelling companions Ismo and Raija…
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Catan the Card Game
I played a game of Settlers of Catan Card Game yesterday with Johanna. I had to try it, since it was my translation. Believe me, the game plays much better with Finnish cards than with German cards. However, I was a bit bothered with some of the cards… Few of them could use better translations.…