Author Archives: Dan Thurot
Femkort in the Woodland
A solitaire trick-taking game sounds like a contradiction in terms. Then again, I used to say the same about two-player trick-taking, until a few superb examples showed me the error of my thinking.
It’s still too early to tell whether For Northwood!, the solitaire trick-taker by Wil Su, is an outlier or an originator, but it makes for a dang good time either way. More than that, it functions as a primer for a handful of trick-taking concepts that can prove intimidating to tackle in a multiplayer environment.
A Very Civil Schnapsen
Nobody is doing historical board games quite like Fred Serval. That’s a tall claim, considering that only one of his designs, Red Flag Over Paris, has even been released. However, between that and a few secret projects — seeecreeet — Serval has demonstrated a talent for cutting to the heart of a historical topic with straightforward mechanisms.
A Very Civil Whist is currently the best example. Originally designed as a convention gift consisting of only two sheets and a deck of cards, this two-player trick-taker was recently picked up by PHALANX, where it currently sits in the preorder queue.
To the Waters and the Wild
It’s a rare game that saturates itself with a sense of loss. Defenders of the Wild is one such title. Both a lament for the natural wonders we so readily pave over and a defiant yawp in the face of automation and progress, there’s an optimistic romanticism to the whole thing.
Perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising. T.L. Simons previously designed Bloc by Bloc, another supernal game about staring down systemic oppression. Now he’s joined by Henry Audubon to take the fight to the fields. It’s not as great a jump as one might assume. Put them together and the combination produces a rallying cry: Bloc by Bloc for the urban populace, Defenders of the Wild for those who see their way of life being swallowed up by enclosures. The whole thing has the tone of a fable. A fable about slagging robots.
Join in the Restivities
Let’s see if I can do this correctly: Real men are always thinking about smashing the state. Have I gone viral?
The 35 cards in Brendan Hansen’s Unrest edge it out from being considered a microgame, but it’s about as short and tidy a game as I’ve seen. With one player controlling a dystopian empire and the other seeking to overthrow it, a full session last maybe ten minutes. The rules are similarly light, taking all of a minute to explain. Even so, it feels like it’s wasting the time of one of its players.
The Shoggoth and the Shotgun
Cthulhu is in the news again. According to CMON, a third edition of Martin Wallace’s beloved A Study in Emerald is soon to appear. Details are few, but the forthcoming game, dubbed Cthulhu: Dark Providence, appears to take a diverse cast of characters to Washington D.C., where they will presumably assassinate the president. Before you ring J. Edgar Hoover’s ghost, keep in mind that in the previous two editions, the world had been taken over by eldritch Old Ones from outer space, so this universe’s president probably sports emerald skin and feasts on the psychic energies of infants.
As I’ve written before, board games — and Martin Wallace — have an uneven history of tackling cosmic horror and the legacy of H.P. Lovecraft. So today I’d like to offer another perspective. Apart from the royalties-free nature of Lovecraft’s work, is there anything to be gained from using his creations? Be forewarned, this is a sensitive topic.
Space-Cast! #32. The Mirroring of Jenna Felli
Jenna Felli is the well-known designer of some truly unique board games, among them Shadows of Malice, Zimby Mojo, Bemused, Dûhr: The Lesser Houses, Cosmic Frog, and The Mirroring of Mary King. Despite having designed some recognizable games, however, Jenna is appearing for the first time on today’s episode. Join us as we discuss chaos, identity, and authenticity in board games and in life.
Listen here or download here. Timestamps can be found after the jump.
Roadside Picnicking
There’s always been a bit of an identity crisis rattling around the copper-bottomed hull of Scythe. Jamey Stegmaier and Jakub Rozalski’s alt-history speak to one thing, those continental hamlets shaking at the approach of smoke-belching combat mechs. Then you play it and it’s about moving logs. And I say this as somebody with an above-average appreciation for the thing.
After multiple expansions and a spin-off for kids, Stegmaier and Rozalski are back at it with a proper sequel. It’s called Expeditions, and it swaps the battle-torn countryside for the barren tundras of Siberia, where a recent meteor fall has kicked off a series of otherworldly events. It’s a tantalizing excuse to groom your animal companion, check the bolt of your rifle, and hop into the old mech for one last adventure. It’s too bad the winter air doesn’t work any miracles on the series’ neuroses.
Roll-and-Aright
The roll-and-write craze kinda fizzled, huh? Apart from one or two exceptions, the genre never developed much past the bijou phase. Maybe it’s for the best. Even though it hasn’t been all that long since we were playing dozens of the things, Nao Shimamura’s Mind Space carries itself with the air of a throwback. It’s crisp and elegant and even, dare I say it, thematic.
Fashion Is Danger
I had a revelation yesterday. After publishing my review of fashion game Couture, one reader asked if I had mentioned my ignorance of the topic as a form of hedging, perhaps to distance myself from something that might be considered “girly.” After all, one recalls how Prêt-à-Porter, the fashion industry game by Ignacy Trzewiczek and Piotr Haraszczak, was derided by some as unworthy of attention because it wasn’t “serious.” Serious, of course, meaning manly. Like war, trains, stock trading, and painstakingly accessorizing a paper doll cutout for a dungeon dive.
But when I think back, I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of fashion as dominated by women. To me, dressing women in outfits and having them glide down the runway for a crowd’s viewing pleasure always seemed rather male-oriented. Still, the question made me realize something. While fashion has never struck me as inherently feminine, I have always thought of it as frivolous. Much like Anne Hathaway’s character in The Devil Wears Prada scoffing over the false choice of two near-identical belts, fashion inhabited my mind as an expensive pursuit for people with more money than sense.
Until I played The Battle of Versailles.
Larger than Life with Just a Hint of Lace
Everything I know about fashion came from either Zoolander or my friend Geoff, so it’s a safe bet to say I don’t know the first thing about fashion. Yasuke Sato’s Couture portrays fashion models as globe-trotting influencers, assembling a portfolio of dresses, poses, and glam squads. As auction games go, it shows glimmers of brilliance behind its workmanlike façade.
SPACE-BIFF! 