Gameblog

Tag: abstracts

  • Kahuna

    Review of Kahuna in Finnish. Kahuna is a game that has bugged and frustrated me. I’ve found it hard to form my opinion of it, but now it’s clear: I want to like it, but I can’t. The game is about building magic bridges between the islands in an archipelago. Whenever a player has the…

  • Byte

    Iain challenged me to play Alien City on Super Duper Games. It’s a neat game, which I’ll write about when I finish the game. However, I also got a challenge to play Byte from the game’s designer. I was surprised to know I had played one of his earlier designs as well (Tanbo). Byte is…

  • Pünct

    A review of Pünct in Finnish. After trying Pünct in Essen and knowing I probably won’t play again, I thought I’d write a review since my opinion is already well-formed. Pünct is a great addition to the Project GIPF line. It extends the set to connection games, a fairly important subgenre of abstract two-player games.…

  • 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…

  • Dvonn

    After a big silence on the game review front, I wrote two reviews yesterday. The second one was Dvonn. Dvonn is neat, like most of the GIPF series. Well, at least Zèrtz and Yinsh. The games are close to perfection, when it comes to modern abstract board games: the rules are simple, yet the games…

  • Einfach Genial

    Another review I wrote: Einfach Genial aka Ingenious aka Mensa Connections. Einfach Genial is a clever game by master Knizia. It’s an abstract game, a rare thing from Knizia whose games are often fairly thinly themed, but still have at least some theme. Some have questioned if Einfach Genial would’ve won the Spiel des Jahres…

  • Book on connection games

    This post contains affiliate links to Amazon. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Affiliate links are marked with a €.An interesting book was advertised on Little Golem boards. Connection Games : Variations on a Theme is written by Cameron Browne. Here’s a summary from the publisher’s website: A comprehensive study of the…

  • Games and artificial intelligence

    Yesterday I watched a bit of a documentary about Garry Kasparov and how he lost a match to IBM’s Deep Blue. As the story goes, Deep Blue pulled an untypical move in the second game, causing Kasparov to lose. After that, he lost his concentration and failed to win the match. Kasparov, naturally, accused IBM…

  • Little Golem news

    Iain got me playing Dvonn — I’ve been meaning to, but I have lacked motivation. Now I started and hey, it’s a good game. Right now it ranks second in the Project GIPF games, right after Zèrtz. I’m still to finish a game, so my opinion is still slightly vague. Meanwhile, I’ve figured out I…

  • Ta Yü

    I wrote a review of Ta Yü. It’s in Finnish, as usual. Ta Yü is one of the most beautiful games in my collection. I just love the plastic tiles, which remind me of Mahjong. It’s the same kind of heavy plastic. The game, which is an abstract game with German origins, does a pretty…