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King Arthur first appeared in 2003, and at the time the game board incorporated bits of electronics that would read the color of the pieces at various locations and provide feedback based on what the players did, although to accomplish this the players had to place their finger on a device that would read who they were, and while a neat idea, it didn't always work for all players. (Plus, if you had a pacemaker, you were warned not to play the game since the device sent a touch of current through you!)
Fast-forward to 2014, and King Arthur has been upgraded to now work with a smartphone that is placed in a device that towers above the board, with the camera seeing everything that players do from movement to die rolls and responding to it with commands in German.
If nothing else, you should watch the video to see what a ham Knizia is, including his promise that this game will be released in English within the next century.
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Dale Yu from Opinionated Gamers had swung by the BGG booth early in the show, perhaps even on the Wednesday set-up day, and said that he really liked the design, but I hadn't looked at it closely enough to decide one way or another. I hemmed and hawed enough that the game sold out before I made a real decision. That's one way to save money!
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Guess some folks like the idea of being able to tie up bits in a cloth and carry a game in a backpack or purse. Perhaps someone needs to start licensing the rights to produce one-off cloth game boards of all sorts of designs. (I'll take a finder's fee for this idea.)
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