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Ricochet Robot solver
Remember when I wrote about my Ricochet Robot solver back in 2002? Maybe not, but today I did get a message from Matthias Krings, telling me he has a working Ricochet Robot that’s fast. He doesn’t have Windows binaries, so I can’t check right now, but if you’re running Linux, go check Yet Another Ricochet…
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Board game club: Edel, Stein & Reich, Bunte Runde
Yesterday was board game club day, despite nice weather, sunshine and all. We won’t let that stop us! The turnout was good, three tables going on all the time. I got a nice bunch of people playing with me the whole afternoon with few changes. I suppose I can trust the club goes well without…
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Small game session: Mexica, Bunte Runde
I met the guys at the University cafe for a small session yesterday. Interesting enough, the entry exams for information studies were at the same time as our games! I was there too, six years ago, and now I’m just about graduated. I’m glad I’m done with that, really. We started with For Sale, which…
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Math trades and Spiel des Jahres
I’ve been rather excited with the concept of math trades. There’s loads of math trade activity in the Geek, just check the trade forum (the math trade guide is good if you don’t know what this is all about). I haven’t been involved in those, as it doesn’t make sense from Finland and I’ve yet…
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Touché
Since I got it, I might as well try it, right — so we cracked open my brand-new copy of Touché. The game is simple enough: play card to place a token on a matching square on board. The goal is to create three formations of your pieces. First player to do that wins. We…
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Ghost Olympics
I finally got around and played Schloss Schlotterstein with Johanna. We dove straight in for the Ghost Olympics, a spooky five-event competition. First up was Haunting Balls, where you must collect mysterious metal balls. I won that event, with a six-second margin. It’s a tricky event, as the balls react to the ghost very strongly.…
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Objective vs subjective
Yehuda asks: Is there a solid line between objective and subjective evaluation? Most people don’t agree with my particular assessment of Saint Petersburg, and not only due to my subjective criticisms. It’s possible that my objective criticisms are more subjective than I am willing to believe. Is it tautological that when people disagree about a…
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Eurovision Song Contest: Lordi rules!
39 years of being a loser, now it’s over! Lordi came, saw and conquered! A crushing defeat for everybody else! Lordi wins the song contest with the highest score ever! Finland goes crazy — I don’t think there’s ever been a single moment when this many Finnish blogs have been updated, for example. To understand…
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Alastair Reynolds and Puerto Rico
This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links are marked with a €.If you’re into science fiction (with a hard emphasis on science, not just any speculative fiction), you should be aware of Alastair Reynolds’ work. Particularly the trilogy of Revolution Space, Redemption Ark and…
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Through the Desert
New review up on the Finnish site: Through the Desert. Through the Desert is in Reiner Knizia’s top ten by any measure. The pastel camel game must be one of his best-recognised games and according to the BoardGameGeek ranking, the game is the seventh best Knizia title. That’s a well-deserved ranking, if you ask me.…