• Jeremy D. Salinas, aka Drakkenstrike, has posted his 100th "components breakdown" video, highlighting War of Honor, due out June 2011 from Alderac Entertainment. In honor of this milestone, Salinas is hoilding a contest on BGG for War of Honor and other Legend of the Five Rings material. Amazing attention to detail in this video!
• Designer Reiner Knizia has added a mobile gaming page to his website, which lists 20+ apps (!) currently available for the iOS, along with other digital versions of his designs.
• In other Knizia news, an April 7, 2011 tweet mentions that a lawsuit against one Michael Powers is headed to court, with the subject under dispute being an unauthorized iOS version of Knizia's Schotten-Totten called 3-Card Brigade Poker.
• On Go Forth and Game, Tom Gurganus interviews designer Seth Jaffee on what's coming from Tasty Minstrel Games (aside from Jaffee's own Eminent Domain), the ins-and-outs of game design, and more.
• Cranio Creations has a downloadable map pack with a half-dozen new maps for Escape from the Aliens in Outer Space.
• Stratus Games has released instructional videos for its two releases to date: Gold Mine (YouTube link) and Launch Pad (YouTube link). Very nice productions, and a good model for future releases from Stratus and other small publishers.
• Issue 2011/2 of Spielbox will include a new game from Martin Wallace created exclusively for the magazine, with three more Wallace designs coming in the future.
• Issue #28 of the Z-Man Games newsletter (PDF) is available, with short write-ups on Dark Minions, Grimoire and Wok Star.
• On State of Play, Thomas L. MacDonald discusses who might best qualify as the patron saint of gaming.
• A roundtable discussion on Opinionated Gamers asks "Is This the Golden Age of Boardgaming?" I find the discussion puzzling as most of the participants debate the merits of releases in one calendar year or another and try to weigh them or rate them in some manner.
When I think about that question, I can relate to it only in personal terms and therefore find it meaningless. I think back fondly to the games that I played non-stop in my youth, mostly with my brother, games like Pay Day, Bermuda Triangle and Bonkers. I loved those years! So much fun and good memories. I think about being immersed in Magic: The Gathering for most of a decade and how enjoyable those years were in terms of endlessly cogitating on the game, with the actual playing of games being only one small aspect of Magic itself. I think about the games that my wife and I get hooked on, games like Familienbande and Qwirkle, and I'm delighted that something has grabbed the two of us and given us a pastime to share. I think about the games I'm obsessing over in present times – Innovation, 7 Wonders and Lords of Vegas – and how I can't wait to get them to the table once again.
Trying to compare the experiences I've had with these disparate titles over the decades seems meaningless. The experiences created via the various games is more valuable than the games themselves.
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