An Interesting Podcast

I have mentioned in my previous posts both Mark Rivera of the Boardgames in Blighty blog as well as Neil Mayer the man behind the eZine (the FREE online digital magazine) thru-the-portal. Well both of these guys were recently interviewed following their return from Essen 2010 by Michale Fox of The Little Metal Dog Show. If you have the time I would recomend listening to podcast 11 as they make interesting comment both on Essen 2010 and the state of the UK Games scene.

Saltdean – Pasteboard and Plastic 13

With two young friends (Danny and Joshua) we pitched up at the scout hut in Satldean for Pasteboard and Plastic (PnP) 13. The group run three events a year that start at 10am and run through to as late as you want. We arrived shortly after the start time and there was already one game in progress with another just being set up, lots of second hand games for sale and a wide selection of games available for play.

It may be worth mentioning how this aspect works, essentially everybody brings a long a number of games and puts them together in what amounts to a games library. These are then available for attendees to play. This is a great way of trying out a game you might be thinking of buying.

Dick and Helen stalwarts of the group welcomed us and with Helen’s help we soon had a game of Dominion going. A game neither boy had played before but

Match Report 8th November 2010

This week saw the return of Malcolm, Ian and Daniella but no Crispin! Sadly he was not feeling well and was no doubt concerned about this affecting his performance and the possibility that he might loose again.

Fresco (Age 10+, 2-4 players, 45 min playing time)

With so many games coming back from Essen it is no great surprise that another one found its way onto the gaming table for this week’s fun. The game chosen was Fresco, a game that’s theme (given away in the name) is the restoration of a ceiling in a renaissance cathedral. Unlike a number of the games we have played of late where there is plenty of opportunity for devilment this game is more about

A fun filled family weekend

As our nephew and his family (which includes two 6 year old boys) left us on Sunday night I was surprised to realise that over the course of four days we had played 12 different games, a number several times over. I know I am a keen advocate of modern games but even I would never have dreamt that we would play so many in such a short period of time. Yes, it rained during their stay but we did many other things during their visit, including a mountain bike ride involving lots of muddy puddles, a trip to Brighton and a pre-Halloween party, however the other notable things were:

• the boys arrived wanting to play games - Uncle Kevin’s place equates to games unlimited to them;
• the TV only got turned on three times and in each case to watch a DVD;
• that the little boys didn’t ask to play with technology games;
• they asked for some games that surprised us - Take It Easy being one example;
• they were very good at games we had felt that they would struggle at - Bausack and Take It Easy being examples;
• none of the games played are available from normal high street shops so are largely unknown to most people.

It is safe to say they left with many ideas for Christmas presents.

If you would like to see what games we did play then click here.

Social Afternoon with Games – 26th October 2010

This session saw four new games being introduced to the group, the return of Peter S, one of the earliest members of the games group in Crowborough and the first visit by Mary and Julia.

The first game introduced was Dixit played the previous night at the games evening and described in a little more detail here.

Then we moved onto Bausack a new acquisition in Germany, only days before, and one that I am sure will prove popular with a wide range of people across the age range.

Bausack (Age 6+, 1-10 players, 45 min playing time)

The Bausack box contains a mass of well made wooden object in natural and red of interesting and non uniform size, none of which are designed to aid you building a tower and that is the nature of Bausack. A box containing 4 distinct games where you aim to build towers in a variety of ways which depending on the game provides opportunities to buy good pieces and pass the rubbish to your

Gaming Dates for November

Dates for gaming events in the South East during November

Saltdean - Pasteboard and Plastic

Venue:     Saltdean Scout Hut tinyurl.com/ybq7ng

Dates:      November 13th. 10:00 am  till midnight, if you wish!

Charge:    £4 with profits going to the Scouts

Facilities:  Dedicated gaming room. Free tea and coffee. Bring your own munchies!

Note:       More info can be found here

This is a small group that meets regularly of what was described to me as Social Gamers

Eastbourne

Venue:     East Beach Hotel, Eastbourne http://www.eastbeachhotel.co.uk/

Dates:      November 18th,19th, 20th,21st 2010. Noon Thursday to Afternoon Sunday.

Charge:    No charge.

Facilities:  Dedicated gaming room and bar. Cakes on tap.

This is a small group that meet regularly of where social gamers are welcome but leans more towards medium and heavy weight games.