This one will stick around until I decide I'm happier with the new one
than I am with this one. The new one is both
stuff and other stuff. It even has an RSS feed.
Thursday, November 13, 2003
New log system?
I don't like this blog system anymore. I'm trying out a new one.
This one will stick around until I decide I'm happier with the new one
than I am with this one. The new one is both
stuff and other stuff. It even has an RSS feed.
This one will stick around until I decide I'm happier with the new one
than I am with this one. The new one is both
stuff and other stuff. It even has an RSS feed.
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
Spam Filtering
I get a fair amount of spam. On some of my email addresses, over 100 spam messages per day. I use PopFile for my filtering and have been extremely pleased with its performance, and highly recommend it to anyone with a spam problem. It's straightforward to use and very accurate in my experience.
Additionally, at work, I have installed SpamAssassin on our servers, which does a very good job as well, though not quite as reliable as ~PopFile. They work well together though and the result is an entirely manageable level of spam getting through.
Additionally, at work, I have installed SpamAssassin on our servers, which does a very good job as well, though not quite as reliable as ~PopFile. They work well together though and the result is an entirely manageable level of spam getting through.
Cuchi Cuchi
Yesterday, we ate at "Cuchi Cuchi", an oddly named restaurant in Cambridge with a interesting approach towards their dishes. Basically, they are a Tapas restaurant, but not exclusively (or even primarily) Spanish food. They have a variety of dishes ranging from $8 to $11. We had 6 dishes for the two of us, but 5 would have been plenty.
Overall, the food was very good. The ambiance was nice as well, with a rather funky decorating style. For food, we had Hot Crab Timbale, Brie en Crout, Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff, a fried tomato dish and a delicious Eggplant with roasted peppers and goat cheese. I especially enjoyed the Eggplant and the Brie en Crout. I very much like the idea of having a number of "appetizers" rather than a single main course, and I hope it's an idea some other restaurants take up.
The quality and environment match the price, but it is a little pricy. On a weekday, they were busy, but we did not have to wait without a reservation.
Cuchi Cuchi
95 Main St.
Cambridge, MA
617-864-2929
Overall, the food was very good. The ambiance was nice as well, with a rather funky decorating style. For food, we had Hot Crab Timbale, Brie en Crout, Chicken Kiev, Beef Stroganoff, a fried tomato dish and a delicious Eggplant with roasted peppers and goat cheese. I especially enjoyed the Eggplant and the Brie en Crout. I very much like the idea of having a number of "appetizers" rather than a single main course, and I hope it's an idea some other restaurants take up.
The quality and environment match the price, but it is a little pricy. On a weekday, they were busy, but we did not have to wait without a reservation.
Cuchi Cuchi
95 Main St.
Cambridge, MA
617-864-2929
Thursday, October 30, 2003
Attika, Finstere Flure and Schwarzarbeit
Last night I played these three. I had played Attika once, two
player, at Essen, with the wrong rules. With the correct rules it is
substantially better. It occured to us that given that Hans im Gluck
also published Attila, they'll next need to publish "Attija". Maybe
an oil related game (Abdullah Hamad al-Attija appears to have been an
OPEC president at one point). In any case, Attika is enjoyable and I
look forward to playing it more.
Schwarzarbeit seemed to have one of the common deduction game
problems: everyone figures everything out at the same time. We played
with allowing note-taking, which wasn't clear whether or not if it was
intended, but like most deduction games, eliminating note taking would
probably make it unreasonably hard. Maybe that's how it's supposed to
be played though. Unfortunately, as a result, it was a lot of luck at
the end when everyone had figured things out. I'll still give it
another try.
Finstere Flure continues to be very enjoyable. In addition to being a
very fun game, the components are beautiful and the rules are easy to
explain.
I also updated my 10s and 20s list.
player, at Essen, with the wrong rules. With the correct rules it is
substantially better. It occured to us that given that Hans im Gluck
also published Attila, they'll next need to publish "Attija". Maybe
an oil related game (Abdullah Hamad al-Attija appears to have been an
OPEC president at one point). In any case, Attika is enjoyable and I
look forward to playing it more.
Schwarzarbeit seemed to have one of the common deduction game
problems: everyone figures everything out at the same time. We played
with allowing note-taking, which wasn't clear whether or not if it was
intended, but like most deduction games, eliminating note taking would
probably make it unreasonably hard. Maybe that's how it's supposed to
be played though. Unfortunately, as a result, it was a lot of luck at
the end when everyone had figured things out. I'll still give it
another try.
Finstere Flure continues to be very enjoyable. In addition to being a
very fun game, the components are beautiful and the rules are easy to
explain.
I also updated my 10s and 20s list.
Monday, October 27, 2003
Finstere Flure, Google AdSense, this weblog, etc.
I got back yesterday from Spiel in Essen yesterday. It was very
good. This evening, I played Finstere Flure, the new one from
Friedemann Friese and was very impressed. It's a nice balance of
theme and mechanics and was a lot of fun.
I've added some Google AdSense ads to the bottoms of a few of my
pages. I'll see how it goes for a few days and decide if I'm keeping
them there. (eg, boardgamestuff
and game store database)
I'm going to see what I can do to update this page a bit more often,
as it's been almost abandoned.
good. This evening, I played Finstere Flure, the new one from
Friedemann Friese and was very impressed. It's a nice balance of
theme and mechanics and was a lot of fun.
I've added some Google AdSense ads to the bottoms of a few of my
pages. I'll see how it goes for a few days and decide if I'm keeping
them there. (eg, boardgamestuff
and game store database)
I'm going to see what I can do to update this page a bit more often,
as it's been almost abandoned.
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Top 10 games for April
#10: Puerto Rico (1 play)
I played what may have been my closest game of this ever. Five
players, only 3 or 4 point spread between first and last, very high
scores (all around 50), and the game ended by running out of victory
points and colonists. I continue to worry about factory strategy
dominance, but not too much.
#9: Zirkus Flohcati (3 plays)
Rapidly ascending as one of my favorite fillers. To me, this is a bit
of a surprise because I don't usually like Rummy games and this
certainly has some Rummy flavor.
#8: Princes of Florence (1 play)
Luke, Alison and I played an AMAZING game of Princes at the Gathering.
Luke had the "G8 game timer" and we played with it all agreeing to
play as fast as we could. We didn't time the auctions, but we did
time player turns. The whole game, setup and play included came in
under 30 minutes. Wow. What a rush. We all made mistakes, but the
game was very close in the end. It was a very different experience
from "normal" princes, but I highly recommend trying it some time.
#7: Gulo Gulo (3 plays)
This is a new dexterity game from Zoch. It probably won't appear on
the top 10 again, but it's cute, clever, and deserves mention for
having adorable plastic wolverines.
#6: King Lui (4 plays)
A great new filler. I think this may prove to have more depth after
people have played it a few times than people are realizing. The
reluctance to take large piles for fear of going over is justified,
but often by not taking them you grant someone else a huge windfall.
Some interesting possibilities.
#5: Europa Tour (4 plays)
I'm looking forward to the African and US version of this as well. It
works well with 2 too. A nice "heavy" filler, or "light" main course.
#4: Coloretto (6 plays)
If "It's Mine" is "speed Ra", then this must be Ra, but it's not. I
find this very much like "It's Mine" with some interesting tactical
choices, especially when played with fewer players.
#3: Paris Paris (4 plays)
On my first play, I wasn't that impressed, but during my second game
something "clicked" and I really like this. The "untwisted" map on
BGG is a useful tool and counting tile usage is critical, but the
player impact on what is scored and what isn't is clearly where this
game shines.
#2: Balloon Cup (6 plays)
Clearly, I'm a sucker for card games where players compete on several
"flags" (Battle Line, Lost Cities, Tabula Rasa, etc.). I'm beginning
to speculate the luck factor here may be higher than I thought at
first, but it's a lot of fun all the same. I've found a strategy of
hording gray cards to be very effective at forcing opponents into
sub-optimal play.
#1: Amun-Re (4 plays)
I am really not sure why I like this game so much. Usually, I can
identify a particular new/clever mechanism, a thematic element, a
particular decision tension, nice bits, or *something* that makes me
like a game. Here, I can't put my finger on it, but I really enjoy
it. The mechanisms are good ones, but nothing especially new. I
suppose they simply fit together in a pleasing way. Plus, the gloss
of using a pyramid pricing scheme in a game about building pyramids is
just great.
I played what may have been my closest game of this ever. Five
players, only 3 or 4 point spread between first and last, very high
scores (all around 50), and the game ended by running out of victory
points and colonists. I continue to worry about factory strategy
dominance, but not too much.
#9: Zirkus Flohcati (3 plays)
Rapidly ascending as one of my favorite fillers. To me, this is a bit
of a surprise because I don't usually like Rummy games and this
certainly has some Rummy flavor.
#8: Princes of Florence (1 play)
Luke, Alison and I played an AMAZING game of Princes at the Gathering.
Luke had the "G8 game timer" and we played with it all agreeing to
play as fast as we could. We didn't time the auctions, but we did
time player turns. The whole game, setup and play included came in
under 30 minutes. Wow. What a rush. We all made mistakes, but the
game was very close in the end. It was a very different experience
from "normal" princes, but I highly recommend trying it some time.
#7: Gulo Gulo (3 plays)
This is a new dexterity game from Zoch. It probably won't appear on
the top 10 again, but it's cute, clever, and deserves mention for
having adorable plastic wolverines.
#6: King Lui (4 plays)
A great new filler. I think this may prove to have more depth after
people have played it a few times than people are realizing. The
reluctance to take large piles for fear of going over is justified,
but often by not taking them you grant someone else a huge windfall.
Some interesting possibilities.
#5: Europa Tour (4 plays)
I'm looking forward to the African and US version of this as well. It
works well with 2 too. A nice "heavy" filler, or "light" main course.
#4: Coloretto (6 plays)
If "It's Mine" is "speed Ra", then this must be Ra, but it's not. I
find this very much like "It's Mine" with some interesting tactical
choices, especially when played with fewer players.
#3: Paris Paris (4 plays)
On my first play, I wasn't that impressed, but during my second game
something "clicked" and I really like this. The "untwisted" map on
BGG is a useful tool and counting tile usage is critical, but the
player impact on what is scored and what isn't is clearly where this
game shines.
#2: Balloon Cup (6 plays)
Clearly, I'm a sucker for card games where players compete on several
"flags" (Battle Line, Lost Cities, Tabula Rasa, etc.). I'm beginning
to speculate the luck factor here may be higher than I thought at
first, but it's a lot of fun all the same. I've found a strategy of
hording gray cards to be very effective at forcing opponents into
sub-optimal play.
#1: Amun-Re (4 plays)
I am really not sure why I like this game so much. Usually, I can
identify a particular new/clever mechanism, a thematic element, a
particular decision tension, nice bits, or *something* that makes me
like a game. Here, I can't put my finger on it, but I really enjoy
it. The mechanisms are good ones, but nothing especially new. I
suppose they simply fit together in a pleasing way. Plus, the gloss
of using a pyramid pricing scheme in a game about building pyramids is
just great.
Monday, March 10, 2003
Crosswords
A crossword puzzle all about board games I wrote has been published in
this month's edition of The
Games Journal:
This is actually my second effort at crossword writing. My first
version was probably too hard to do without extensive Internet
searching, but feel free to try it out.
this month's edition of The
Games Journal:
This is actually my second effort at crossword writing. My first
version was probably too hard to do without extensive Internet
searching, but feel free to try it out.
Thursday, February 20, 2003
Cathedral "Polystone" edition
I recently got Cathedral from Gamescape in Palo Alto while visiting
there. I picked up the "polystone" version which means the pieces are
made of a hard resin material and the picture on the box made them
look very nice. Unfortunately, upon opening it I found that the two
different colors of pieces were very hard to distinguish in low light
and even in good light were quite similar. Fortunately, the folks at
Gamescape were very nice and allowed me to exchange it for the wooden
version, but I thought it was worth warning others that the Polystone
version has some serious issues.
there. I picked up the "polystone" version which means the pieces are
made of a hard resin material and the picture on the box made them
look very nice. Unfortunately, upon opening it I found that the two
different colors of pieces were very hard to distinguish in low light
and even in good light were quite similar. Fortunately, the folks at
Gamescape were very nice and allowed me to exchange it for the wooden
version, but I thought it was worth warning others that the Polystone
version has some serious issues.
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
Boardgame Quality Metrics
People try to measure how good a boardgame is in many ways, such as
ratings and counting number of times played. Total number of plays is
probably one of the most common. As a measure of how "good" a game
is, it's not bad, but it doesn't take into account length of the game
or replayability over time. That is, a 15 minute game that's played 6
times is probably not "better" than a 3 hour game that's played 3
times. On the other hand, using total time playing has problems on
the low end: A 15 minute game played 10 times is probably "better"
than a two hour game played twice. Further, a game played every other
week for a year is probably "better" than one played every day for a
month and then never again.
Various other metrics have been suggested, including Joe Huber's
"happiness" metric which works well, but requires a lot of
bookkeeping. So, I've been trying to identify a metric of game
"quality" that meets the following criteria:
So, after careful consideration and analysis, I've come up with a
metric that I like and thought I would share it and suggest it to all
:-) I've actually suggested this metric before, off-handedly but I
like it even more now that I've looked at the actual statistics for my
own games.
The metric is the "month metric", in which a game receives 1 point for
every unique month in which it is played. For example, I played
Medici in both February and March of this year, so for the year it
scores a "2", but it also was played in 5 different months over
2000-2001, so it's total score is a "7".
For my own games, only a dozen games have an all-time score above 10
and there's a nice distribution below that. For the year, naturally a
"12" is the highest possible score, though I had no game above 7, but
a solid group (9 games) at 6 or above. The other nice thing about
this metric is that I find it is (probably unsurprisingly) heavily
correlated with all of the other metrics discussed (# plays, total
time playing, "happiness").
ratings and counting number of times played. Total number of plays is
probably one of the most common. As a measure of how "good" a game
is, it's not bad, but it doesn't take into account length of the game
or replayability over time. That is, a 15 minute game that's played 6
times is probably not "better" than a 3 hour game that's played 3
times. On the other hand, using total time playing has problems on
the low end: A 15 minute game played 10 times is probably "better"
than a two hour game played twice. Further, a game played every other
week for a year is probably "better" than one played every day for a
month and then never again.
Various other metrics have been suggested, including Joe Huber's
"happiness" metric which works well, but requires a lot of
bookkeeping. So, I've been trying to identify a metric of game
"quality" that meets the following criteria:
- Doesn't bias unduly for or against long or short games
- Doesn't require ratings
- Doesn't require overly detailed records
- Doesn't overly credit "fad" games that get played a lot for a
little while
and then never again
- Does bias towards "classics", though not overwhelmingly
- Measures "replayability" in some form
- Is easily understood and doesn't require deep understanding of
statistics
- Is easily calculated
- Can be readily used on a per year basis or on a "all-time" basis
So, after careful consideration and analysis, I've come up with a
metric that I like and thought I would share it and suggest it to all
:-) I've actually suggested this metric before, off-handedly but I
like it even more now that I've looked at the actual statistics for my
own games.
The metric is the "month metric", in which a game receives 1 point for
every unique month in which it is played. For example, I played
Medici in both February and March of this year, so for the year it
scores a "2", but it also was played in 5 different months over
2000-2001, so it's total score is a "7".
For my own games, only a dozen games have an all-time score above 10
and there's a nice distribution below that. For the year, naturally a
"12" is the highest possible score, though I had no game above 7, but
a solid group (9 games) at 6 or above. The other nice thing about
this metric is that I find it is (probably unsurprisingly) heavily
correlated with all of the other metrics discussed (# plays, total
time playing, "happiness").
Monday, December 2, 2002
Advocacy of Board Games
Over the past few years, I've seen several discussions about board
game advocacy. In the past, I've had the opinion that board game
advocacy wasn't actually a good thing. I've relatively recently (the
past 6 months) changed my mind.
My original thinking was as follows: "advocacy", or trying to spread
the word about board games is motivated by several desires, one of
which was to increase the number of board gamers out there.
Unfortunately, more people isn't always a good thing. More people
means a bigger market, and means more money is involved, and money can
be a bad influence as well as a good influence. Take the Internet,
for example. Back in the "old days", the net had a nice small
"community" feel. People shared information, were self-policing, and
were usually fairly "neighborly". In contrast, the net today involves
a lot of outside policing, discouraging of sharing information, and is
often an unfriendly place. However, in return we've gotten a great
deal. There are a great many exciting communities, a wealth of
content, and long term commercial viability, even if many .com's blow
up along the way. I didn't see the same benefits for growth of the
board game community. As it is, I have more than enough games to
play, more than enough people to play them with, and noone complains
if people share rules, post them online, or otherwise do things that
a "big business" involvment might prevent. However, I've come to the
conclusion that the benefits of growth outweigh the costs, especially
if as a community, we're careful.
Specifically, the reasons I see for advocating board games are many
fold:
Given this thinking I've been pleased to see these two recent
"mainstream press" articles
on these games of ours, one in
News and another in
game advocacy. In the past, I've had the opinion that board game
advocacy wasn't actually a good thing. I've relatively recently (the
past 6 months) changed my mind.
My original thinking was as follows: "advocacy", or trying to spread
the word about board games is motivated by several desires, one of
which was to increase the number of board gamers out there.
Unfortunately, more people isn't always a good thing. More people
means a bigger market, and means more money is involved, and money can
be a bad influence as well as a good influence. Take the Internet,
for example. Back in the "old days", the net had a nice small
"community" feel. People shared information, were self-policing, and
were usually fairly "neighborly". In contrast, the net today involves
a lot of outside policing, discouraging of sharing information, and is
often an unfriendly place. However, in return we've gotten a great
deal. There are a great many exciting communities, a wealth of
content, and long term commercial viability, even if many .com's blow
up along the way. I didn't see the same benefits for growth of the
board game community. As it is, I have more than enough games to
play, more than enough people to play them with, and noone complains
if people share rules, post them online, or otherwise do things that
a "big business" involvment might prevent. However, I've come to the
conclusion that the benefits of growth outweigh the costs, especially
if as a community, we're careful.
Specifically, the reasons I see for advocating board games are many
fold:
- "Lost Spielfrieks"
- There's a lot of people out there who don't know these games of
ours exist, and when they discover them, they are thrilled and excited
and it brings a great deal of happiness to them. Advocacy helps make
people aware of these games who may be very interested but aren't
otherwise aware of them. - Casual Gamers
- I used to be more skeptical on this point, but I now believe there
are a lot of people out there who may never become heavy gamers but
genuinely enjoy these games of ours occasionally. This may be as
often as monthly or as infrequently as a couple of times a year, but
they're out there. I'm often reluctant to push my hobby on my friends
or family, but often find that I don't need to push; they pull. After
a surprising interest last year, I brought several games to
Thanksgiving this year, my cousins, uncles, aunts and parents all
enjoyed the games (Zirkus Flohcati, Puerto Rico, TransAmerica were all
big hits). Sharing games with casual gamers is a good thing. - Social Good
- This is the arrogant reason where I say "my hobby makes the
world a better place", and maybe I'm just deluded, but seeing articles
that show that
games helps prevent Alzheimers or Frank Hamrick's
about playing games at the Ronald McDonald House really make me
believe that games are a good thing. This is in no way to imply that
any other particular hobbies aren't good for society, it's just
that I think board games are a good one. - Market Size
- While I have some concern that a too large market has the
potential to make the board gaming industry too much about money,
having it be large enough to support the game designers and companies
is obviously important too. Many many games are produced out of love
of games rather than love of money, but if "board games" as a product
are a complete failure, the quality (at least of production) and
availability will drop. I don't want to see the board game industry
ever become as big business focuesed as certain other entertainment
industries (music, movies, or even mass market toys), but I don't
think there's much risk of that. A moderate increase (say, a factor
of 2-5 in the US) would do a lot to improve the success of companies
like Alea (part of Ravensburger) and Rio Grande.
Given this thinking I've been pleased to see these two recent
"mainstream press" articles
on these games of ours, one in
News and another in
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