Tag: gaming
A Day of Gaming
Today was So Cal Games Day 34 at the Tujunga Elks Lodge. I got there just as it started, and after some confusion regarding a double booking (they had to move a funeral), the gaming commenced. Here’s what I played (* indicates I won):
- Ten Days in Europe*. A great warmup game.
- Darjeeling*. First play. Interesting strategy.
- Aces of Aces: Handy Rotary Edition. Good two player game, but I went down in flames.
- Dragon Delta. Played this twice. The first ended really quick. The second game was hard fought.
- Streetcar/Linie 1*.
- Category 5.
- On The Underground*.
- Ten Days in Africa.
- Attika. First play. Good game.
Some other observations. Ticket To Ride (and its variants), one of the most popular games for years, seems to be over the hill. There was barely one game played of it all day, and I couldn’t talk anyone into it. Train games seem to be passing out of the fancy, right now. So what was popular. I saw at least five games of Pandemic being played. Haven’t tried it yet. I saw one game of Agricola, but it seemed to go on forever. I saw one game of Zooloretto, which I’ve heard is a good game, but haven’t yet tried.
Best of all: I made it through a games day with no headache!
Games into Movies
The New York Times “Lede” blog has an article today on a report from Variety that:
Universal Pictures has announced a six-year partnership with Hasbro to produce at least four feature films based on branded properties.
The properties include “Monopoly,” “Candy Land,” “Clue,” “Ouija,” “Battleship,” “Magic, The Gathering” and “Stretch Armstrong.”
The deal comes after the successful screen transformation of the Hasbro property “Transformers,” which DreamWorks and Paramount turned into a Michael Bay-directed global hit, and which has a sequel scheduled to begin production this year.
This got me thinking. We all know that, for the most part (I’ve never played Magic), these are crappy games and likely will make crappy movies. But we all know there are good games out there: Ticket to Ride, Traumfabrik, Vegas Showdown, Power Grid, Carcassone, Bohnanza, etc. Of what fall in the category of good games, which might make good movies (even if only for the title alone). For example, I could see a good insider movie in “Traumfabrik”, a good crime story in Vegas Showdown, and a classic action adventure in “Power Grid”.
So, given your druthers, what games would you make into a movie, and what would be the rough plot or structure?
Never Let Them Tell You Gaming Isn’t Useful
CNN has a fascinating article about the role the board game Monopoly played in WWII. In particular, Monopoly helped POWs escape from German camps by providing them with maps (printed on silk so they would silently unfold), tools (hidden as the player pawns in the game), and money (hidden beneath the real Monopoly money). The German authorities happily provided the POWs with the games because they were hard-pressed to get provisions to their own troops, much less to the Allied soldiers they’d captured. So, when the International Red Cross offered to provide the games as part of care packages, they accepted in order to keep the POWs occupied while imprisoned. Monopoly was already a well-known game throughout Europe.
Working in conjunction with John Waddington Ltd (the UK licensee of Monopoly), the British Secret Service arranged for skilled craftsmen to painstakingly carve small niches and openings into the games’ cardboard boxes. Along with the standard thimble, car, and Scotty dog, the POW version included additional “playing” pieces, such as a metal file, a magnetic compass, and of course, a regional silk escape map, complete with marked safe-houses along the way — all neatly concealed in the game’s box. Actual German, Italian, and French currency was placed underneath the play money for escapees to use for bribes. Pilots and soldiers were told to look for marks identifying the modified games: A red dot in the corner of the Free Parking space. After the war, all remaining sets were destroyed, and everyone involved in the plan, including the escaped prisoners, were told to keep quiet. In the event of another large-scale war, Allied officials also wanted to make sure the seemingly innocent board game could go back into action.
One wonders if they could do the same thing these days with Ticket to Ride, which has just issued a Nordic Countries edition.
Games Day 29
Today was Southern California Games Day 29 in Tujunga. So what games did I play?
- Ur. Interesting game. It took a while to figure out the mechanics, as well as the end-game. I lost.
- On The Underground. I like this game quite a bit; I haven’t figured out the best strategy yet. The strategy appears to be distinctly different in the 3 vs 5 player games.
- 10 Days in Europe. Good game, didn’t win. I really needed Switzerland.
- Carcassonne: The Castle. Good two player game. Alas, I came in last.
- Royal Turf. Interesting horse racing game. I played the original (dice) version. I don’t think I won, having made bad bets in the first race.
I was pleased that neo_tanuki made it out, at least for a little bit. Hopefully, he can make it to more events. The next gaming event is MY PC Gamesday (i.e., Stephanie’s Gamesday) at the Little White Chapel in Burbank on April 14. I might make it out to that… I have to check the calendar.