The last few weeks have been a blur in gaming, mostly centered around opening up, bagging, and playing the Kickstarter edition of Near and Far by Red Raven Games. I plan to talk more about the game in another blog post, once I have a few more plays in, but spoiler alert — I really love this game.
Story telling games have always fascinated me, perhaps from my love of choose your own adventure books and RPGs as a young man. Above and Below, Red Raven’s earlier attempt at a world building story telling game, was a big hit with me and my two sons, and in all honesty, winning was in second place to exploring the underground in that game.
I had yet to bring my wife into the fantastical world of Red Raven Games and Ryan Laukat’s whimsical art, so I thought Islebound would be a good place to start. Islebound is a 2016 release where players sail ships around a modular board conquering and/or negotiating treaties with towns and ports, all in an effort to score journey points along the way. I was excited to introduce her to a mechanic that I really like in Red Raven’s last three games.
The thing that I like about this “trilogy” of games (Above and Below, Islebound, and Near and Far) is that each one has story elements built in, albeit in different ways. If the games had been published in order from Islebound to Near and Far, you might even say that there was a bit of an advancement in the way Laukat implements the story mechanic. In Islebound, the story elements are mainly found in the “troubadour” cards (as my wife calls them) and “event” cards. These cards, found on the side board, allow you to increase your renown and influence by meeting certain objectives, and on each one is a little story about why you need to take that action or about the reward you will get.
Laukat took that concept to a higher level in Above and Below, where you are presented choices in the story mode of the game. You have to make decisions in choose-your-own-adventure fashion, and choose between two or three actions. The consequences of your choice can make a difference in terms of your rewards (although there is some valid criticism about the connection between the stories and rewards, and the rather abrupt way most stories end.)
The ultimate is the way Near and Far integrates the stories into the game at every level. The story elements are clearly interconnected to each map and even throughout the campaign.
So, I thought I would read the flavor text each time when we finally brought Islebound to the table, as a good introduction to the world. But each time I read the cards, she waved her hands dismissively and said to move on to the action.
That frankly shocked me a bit. My wife loves stories, movies and music, so the concept of make believe does not bother her. So why didn’t she enjoy the text? I was not expecting her to reject this part of the game.
When I asked her about it after the game ended (victoriously in her case, again), she said that the stories did not really seem connected to what we were doing at the time. To her, it was just a bunch of “fluff.”
That got me thinking about flavor text in games. Why do I enjoy well written flavor text? I grew up playing D&D, and moved to Magic in 1993-94. Magic cards are notorious for having great flavor text. Even in today’s modern board games, I am always on the look out for extra flavor. We’ve been playing a lot of Clank! lately, and if you look at those cards, you will see a lot of humorous text to go with the illustrations on the cards.
To me, you miss out a lot if you don’t at least glance at the text, and see how the theme interacts with the gameplay. But, maybe she is correct? Does Islebound really need the flavor text? Would it be just as good of a game with less emphasis on the story elements (small that they may be)? Does a game need to integrate meaningful decisions if the designer wants players to take the flavor text seriously?
I’d love to hear your thoughts. Send me a reply in the comments below or a tweet @boardgamegumbo.
Until the next time we met up in Arzium, Laissez les bon temps rouler!
Came down with a nasty bug last week, so I was not able to update the blog. I am feeling much better this week. I woke up on Monday to news that The Dice Tower has released its nominations for 2016!
Here are the nominations, along with some of my comments and handicapping. What is your take on the potential winners in each category? Spoiler alert — 2016 was a very strong year in board gaming. Do you agree? I would love to hear from you on Twitter at @boardgamegumbo!
Best Game from a New Designer:
Note: The game has to be the designer’s first or second published game to qualify for this award.
• Kingdom Death: Monster – designed by Adam Poots; published by Kingdom Death
• Vast: The Crystal Caverns – designed by David Somerville; published by Leder Games
• Adrenaline – designed by Filip Neduk; published by CGE
• Terraforming Mars – designed by Jacob Fryxelius; published by Stronghold Games
• The Manhattan Project: Energy Empire – designed by Luke Laurie; published by Minion Games
Still mulling over the potential winner of this one, but Kingdom Death: Monster is impressive in scope, and Adrenaline is the first RTS I have seen work in a board game. People are still clamoring for Terraforming Mars (a fifth printing I hear?) and was one of my best Euro experiences in 2016. But, Vast is the most impressive in design and had a lot of buzz coming out of GenCon and during the Kickstarter for 2.0. I think it is the leader heading into the second turn, but there’s plenty of track left before July.
Best Artwork
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game – illustrated by Christopher Hosch, Ignacio Bazán Lazcano, Henning Ludvigsen, Mercedes Opheim, Zoe Robinson, and Evan Simonet; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Inis – illustrated by Dimitri Bielak & Jim Fitzpatrick; published by Matagot
• Islebound – illustrated by Ryan Laukat; published by Red Raven Games
• Kanagawa – illustrated by Jade Mosch; published by Iello
• Scythe – illustrated by Jakub Rozalski; published by Stonemaier Games
Who doesn’t love Ryan Laukat and his whimsical artwork? Plus Kanagawa is itself all about art! Inis surprised me — I heard complaints about the art, but when you see it in person, it is gorgeous. And Arkhasm as The Rougarou! But let’s face it, Scythe is the front runner here at least in terms of buzz.
Best Theming
• Black Orchestra – designed by Philip duBarry; published by Game Salute
• Captain Sonar – designed by Roberto Fraga & Yohan Lemonnier; published by Matagot
• Roll Player – designed by Keith Matejka; published by Thunderworks Games
• SeaFall – designed by Rob Daviau; published by Plaid Hat Games
• Terraforming Mars – designed by Jacob Fryxelius; published by Stronghold Games & FryxGames
I have not played or seen Black Orchestra yet, but hope to play it soon, especially after Carlos (@taquitopls) from the Krewe de Gumbo North called it an incredibly thematic adventure. Roll Player is a dice fest of fun, and has a theme that has never been done so far to my knowledge, but is it really “thematic”? Looks like its Capt Sonar and Terraforming Mars in the lead so far, with SeaFall making its one and only appearance on the list.
Best Two-Player Game
• 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis – designed by Asger Harding Granerud & Daniel Skjold Pedersen; published by Jolly Roger Games
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game – designed by Nate French & Matthew Newman; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Codex: Card Time Strategy – designed by David Sirlin; published by Sirlin Games
• Star Wars: Destiny – designed by Corey Konieczka & Lukas Litzsinger; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Star Wars: Rebellion – designed by Corey Konieczka; published by Fantasy Flight Games
Unfortunately, I have not played enough — yet — to really form an opinion, but the two Star Wars games are going to be tough to unseat in my opinion. Unless they cancel out each other?
Best Reprint
• 51st State: Master Set – designed by Ignacy Trzewiczek; published by Portal Games
• Escape from Aliens in Outer Space – designed by Mario Porpora, Pietro Righi Riva, Luca Francesco Rossi, & Nicolò Tedeschi; published by Osprey Games
• Mansions of Madness, 2nd Edition – designed by Nikki Valens; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Arkwright – designed by Stefan Risthaus; published by Capstone Games
• Robinson Crusoe – designed by Ignacy Trzewiczek; published by Portal Games
This was is surprisingly the easiest so far. I enjoyed my play of 51st State, but since I started on Imperial Settlers first, I liked that theme and system better. Let’s face it, all of these are great reprints, but Mansions has some serious pedigree, and this is the perfect category for it. Sentimental favorite at least.
Best Expansion
• 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon – designed by Antoine Bauza & Bruno Cathala; published by Repos Production
• Scythe: Invaders from Afar – designed by Jamey Stegmaier; published by Stonemaier Games
• Stockpile: Continuing Corruption – designed by Brett Sobol & Seth Van Orden, published by Nauvoo Games
• TIME Stories: Prophecy of Dragons – designed by Manuel Rozoy; published by Space Cowboys
• TIME Stories: Under the Mask – designed by Guillaume Montiage & Manuel Rozoy; published by Space Cowboys
And this one is surprisingly one of the toughest so far. Need to think on this one more, but I love what Continuing Corruption did to boost the game play of Stockpile. Should part of the reasoning behind voting in this category be the necessity of the expansion?
Best Party Game
• Codenames: Pictures– designed by Vlaada Chvátil; published by Czech Games Edition
• Captain Sonar – designed by Roberto Fraga & Yohan Lemonnier; published by Matagot
• Happy Salmon – designed by Ken Gruhl & Quentin Weir; published by North Star Games
• Junk Art – designed by Jay Cormier & Sen-Foong Lim; published by Pretzel Games
• Secret Hitler – designed by Mike Boxleiter, Tommy Maranges, & Max Temkin; published by Goat Wolf & Cabbage
I need to try Junk Art and Secret Hitler before really handicapping this one, but Happy Salmon is a lot of fun and will be hard to beat. Heck, Alex from the Dukes of Dice played this one ’round the world! Best Cooperative Game
• Arkham Horror: The Card Game – designed by Nate French & Matthew Newman; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – designed by Forrest-Pruzan Creative, Kami Mandell, & Andrew Wolf; published by USAopoly
• Mansions of Madness, 2nd Edtion – designed by Nikki Valens; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Mechs vs. Minions – designed by Chris Cantrell, Rick Ernst, Stone Librande, Prashant Saraswat, & Nathan Tiras; published by Riot Games
• Pandemic: Reign of Cthulhu – designed by Matt Leacock & Chuck D. Yager; published by Z-Man Games
Snarky comment of the week — “Have you even played Pandemic: ROC?” Reply: “Do I really need to?” Snark aside, this might be one of the strongest categories, as each has great merit. My gut feeling here is that Mechs v Minions fans want it to win at least one or two categories, and this one seems to fit here. But man, that Rougarou!
Best Family Game
• Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle – designed by Forrest-Pruzan Creative, Kami Mandell, & Andrew Wolf; published by USAopoly
• Ice Cool – designed by Brian Gomez; published by Brain Games
• Junk Art – designed by Jay Cormier & Sen-Foong Lim; published by Pretzel Games
• Karuba – designed by Rüdiger Dorn; published by HABA
• Sushi Go Party! – designed by Phil Walker-Harding; published by Gamewright
I have not heard much scuttlebutt on this one, so I have some investigation to do before calling a leader. Just based on my own plays, and the 2016 buzz, I would think Karuba has the initial advantage (lots of podcasts have this one highly rated), but Junk Art and Ice Cool have been darlings on Twitter. Hmm, tough to call yet. I’ll try to get some more feedback and update, but let’s call it Karuba by a nose for now.
Best Strategy Game
• A Feast for Odin – designed by Uwe Rosenberg; published by Z-Man Games
• Great Western Trail – designed by Alexander Pfister; published by Stronghold Games & eggertspiele
• Scythe – designed by Jamey Stegmaier; published by Stonemaier Games
• Star Wars: Rebellion – designed by Corey Konieczka; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Terraforming Mars – designed by Jacob Fryxelius; published by Stronghold Games & FryxGames
And the debate rages on–does the Tower mean “Best Euro” by this category? Or just best strategy in a game? I think a list this long should have a category for the Euro players, and this is the one that fits the best. But that knocks out Rebellion, and it may have some of the best strategy of any of these games. Out of all of these, the one game that makes me replay in my head my moves with anticipation for the next game is definitely Scythe. But in the end, it is hard to think that Great Western Trail and Terraforming Mars are not amazingly designed strategic romps, so I’ll handicap them one and two, respectively…for now.
Best Board Game Production
• Conan – designed by Frédéric Henry, Antoine Bauza, Pascal Bernard, Bruno Cathala, Croc, Ludovic Maublanc, & Laurent Pouchain; published by Monolith
• The Others – designed by Eric M. Lang; published by Cool Mini or Not
• Mechs vs. Minions – designed by Chris Cantrell, Rick Ernst, Stone Librande, Prashant Saraswat, & Nathan Tiras; published by Riot Games
• Scythe – designed by Jamey Stegmaier; published by Stonemaier Games
• Star Wars: Rebellion – designed by Corey Konieczka; published by Fantasy Flight Games
Wow, this is another big Bataille here. Every single game can lay claim to being the best Board Game Production. I think Scythe may suffer from some post-BGG awards backlash, where it won every category except Best Podcast (deservedly so, in my opinion.) I’ll go with my gut here and say that the backlash let’s Mechs v. Minions sneak in. But, Scythe and Rebellion are just a nostril behind on the last turn.
Most Innovative Game
• Captain Sonar – designed by Roberto Fraga & Yohan Lemonnier; published by Matagot
• Clank!: A Deck-Building Adventure – designed by Paul Dennen; published by Renegade Game Studios
• Millennium Blades – designed by D. Brad Talton, Jr.; published by Level 99 Games
• Mystic Vale – designed by John D. Clair; published by Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG)
• Vast: The Crystal Caverns – designed by David Somerville; published by Leder Games
This category shows the strength of 2016. These are some dang fine choices. This might be the toughest to handicap of all, but I am going to go with my gut and figure Vast is due for a win here, although Clank! has been a monster on Twitter and Millennium Blades has some REALLY hard core fans.
Best Game from a Small Publisher
(Note: The published must have published five or fewer games at the beginning of 2015)
• Arkwright – designed by Stefan Risthaus; published by Capstone Games
• Cottage Garden– designed by Uwe Rosenberg; published by Edition Spielwiese
• Not Alone – designed by Ghislain Masson; published by Geek Attitude Games
• Roll Player – designed by Keith Matejka; published by Thunderworks Games
• Vast: The Crystal Caverns – designed by David Somerville; published by Leder Games
Of all five of these, Not Alone is the one I want to play right now. Cottage Garden has so many fans in social media, but the furor kind of fell out as the game became hard to find. Hmm, let’s call it even between Vast and Cottage Garden, but the horses are only reaching the first turn. Plenty of time to investigate this category.
Game of the Year
• Adrenaline – designed by Filip Neduk; published by Czech Games Edition
• Captain Sonar – designed by Roberto Fraga & Yohan Lemonnier; published by Matagot
• Cry Havoc– designed by Grant Rodiek, Michał Oracz, & Michał Walczak; published by Portal Games
• A Feast for Odin – designed by Uwe Rosenberg; published by Z-Man Games
• Great Western Trail – designed by Alexander Pfister; published by Stronghold Games & eggertspiele
• Inis – designed by Christian Martinez; published by Matagot
• Mechs vs. Minions – designed by Chris Cantrell, Rick Ernst, Stone Librande, Prashant Saraswat, & Nathan Tiras; published by Riot Games
• Scythe – designed by Jamey Stegmaier; published by Stonemaier Games
• Star Wars: Rebellion – designed by Corey Konieczka; published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Terraforming Mars – designed by Jacob Fryxelius; published by Stronghold Games & FryxGames
How can the professionals handicap such a large field? This feels like The Kentucky Derby of categories. I will bet you could list another ten games this year and make well-supported arguments for any of those games, too. 2016 was a monster year, but the monster of all has been Scythe. While I think Terraforming Mars may get a late break now that Stronghold announced it will be in stock again soon (with a HUGE printing), and Star Wars Rebellion / Mechs / Great Western Trail have lots of devoted fans, I think it is Scythe’s race to lose at this point. But, that final stretch is looming!
So there you have it, the very earliest of handicapping thoughts on the big race for games of the year in each category. The awards will be announced at The Dice Tower Con in July, so there’s plenty of time to scour the ‘nets, feel the drumbeats, and stick a finger in the wind (that should be plenty enough metaphors?)
Who would you vote for in each category? Is Scythe the front runner for Game of the Year, or do you have your own personal favorite? I would love to hear from you on Twitter — hit me up at @boardgamegumbo!
One of my eighth great grandfathers traveled from Italy to Quebec over two hundred years ago. He was born in the Ligurian city of Genoa in the late 1600s, left as a youth and traveled to the New World. After marrying the daughter of the post master in Quebec City in 1714, he never went back to his Italian homeland as far as we know. Italy has always called to me since I first heard that story.
Two years ago, I had the pleasure of traveling to Firenze and Roma with my family. While I was not able to make it to Genoa, I did get the chance to dip my toes in the same Mediterranean waters that he probably touched, albeit two hundred years later.
Walking around Rome, and seeing the expanse of marble on every corner, gave me a sense of awe about the monuments accomplished by these ancient peoples. One of the highlights was a tour of the Colosseum. Any fan of SEC football knows that LSU’s Tiger Stadium’s outdoor facade bears a striking resemblance to that ancient edifice, so standing inside and outside of that structure was all the more impressive.
I am not naive; I realize that there were many great and terrible events that took place in Rome’s stadium. But, standing amidst the remains, I could not help but wonder what non-deadly spectacles were presented in the arena.
Could a game give me that feeling of standing in the midst of a large arena, marshaling my actors, props and animals to put on a giant display of athletic ability? For years, there was such a game, but it was hard to find and expensive when you did. Anyone that listened to the Dice Tower after 2007 heard Tom and Sam extolling its virtues.
Does your game group like auction bidding, trading and collecting? Is your group tired of playing the same old bidding game? Do they have a flair for the dramatic? Well then, spice up your game nights with Colosseum by Tasty Minstrel Games
Colosseum is a 2007 release designed by Wolfgang Kramer and Markus Lübke. It was recently released by Tasty Minstrel Games with all new artwork and a deluxe edition that includes heavy metal coins and upgraded components.
Players act as “Roman impresarios” who collect the various elements to put on ever more spectacular shows. Played with the right group, the theme really shines. The visual 3d elements included in the game plus the numerous different show elements (animals, props, actors) all add to the feeling that each player is putting on an ever more complicated show.
COMPONENTS AND RULE BOOK:
I’ve played the game with the Kickstarter edition from TMG, with metal coins that clink satisfactorily on the table, and upgraded components to really make the pieces pop on your table. I have not seen the retail version, so I cannot comment on how it looks.
The game comes with a large game board (yes, I know it is a little smaller than the original, but since I never played the original…) and an excellent rule book.
The artwork through out the game was done by Jacqui Davis with graphic design by Daniel Solis (who you will remember from his design with Kodama: The Tree Spirits and his handiwork in numerous other games.) I have seen pictures of the original artwork, and it was very classy and well done, but I have no problems at all with the new design. The colors pop, the artwork is interesting without being cartoony, and for the most part, it is easy to read the icons and cards.
INNOVATION:
For a ten year old game, Colosseum still feels fresh. It takes some very simple mechanics (rolling and moving, set collecting, bidding and trading) and overlays them with interesting decisions. While there is nothing here that has never been done before, back ten years ago it was likely a unique combination of mechanisms that still hold up today.
GAMEPLAY:
The game is surprisingly easy to teach, although maybe I shouldn’t be surprised since it was originally a Days of Wonder release. That company is known for games that appeal to both gamers and family first timers alike. The set collection and auction bidding mechanics are a little more advanced than say your basic three rule game of Ticket to Ride, but I would not hesitate to bring this out with a game group that is less than experienced.
Like any good auction game, the game comes down to players spotting trends in the scarcity of show elements and outwitting each other through bids and trades and show purchases. It is definitely a good next step up from your general gateway type games, and should be very easy to teach for families who have a little experience in playing games.
The game plays over five game rounds, each broken up into five phases. Essentially, players take turns INVESTING in their show (upgrading their arena or buying a new show), ACQUIRING new assets (participating in the auction for the available show assets), TRADING the various asset tokens, PRODUCING the event (using the show assets at hand with some special rules to help players who don’t have enough assets with negative points attached to taking advantage of the breaks, and finally CLOSING CEREMONIES (bonuses and clean up time).
There are some delicious decisions throughout the game. Players can score more points if they can somehow roll and move nobles (senators, consuls, and the emperor) into their show, but it takes careful planning to do so. Players need to look at the scarcity of the show elements versus the point totals on the various shows and balance how far they are willing to push their luck that those show elements will come out in the bidding process or be available in the trading phase. There’s even a bit of engine building as players invest in upgrades for their arenas.
DOWNSIDES:
The game is not for everyone. If your game group does not like auctions or bidding, then Colosseum will be a hard sell. A really aggressive player who is good at economic games will definitely have an advantage over players enjoying the ride of building out better shows each round. That can rub some people wrong if they go into this game thinking it is yet another solitaire Euro, because it is not. Controlling the auction and the show pieces can be a big part of the game, and conversely, not being able to buy or trade for the pieces you need can be very frustrating.
A minor downside is the card art for the shows. For some reason, the little icons don’t seamlessly match up with the card art, especially for the bonus star performers. It took a couple of rounds, but eventually people were able to distinguish the different types of actors versus the bonus cards, but I think this could have been done better with more appropriate iconography.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
I have not played Colosseum enough yet for a full review. This was a grail game for me, as I love the theme and mechanics and the style of play. I love Euro games that include a little more interaction then your typical point salad game, and I love how there is bluffing and bidding in what otherwise would just be a rote collection game.
I love the Dukes of Dice six point rating scale, and really admire the simplicity of giving each game a grade. I cannot say I have played Colosseum enough to give it a score yet, but even after just a few plays, I am leaning toward a four (a good game worth playing, just not all the time, but belongs in your collection) or a five (a great game, will rarely turn down a play of it). I have played it at four player counts and at five players too, but would really like to see how it plays at three before deciding.
The real questions when I purchase a game like this are whether I have enjoyed playing and do I want to play it again. The answer to both is a resounding yes — I enjoyed both of my first two plays, and I definitely cannot wait to play it again.
Many gamers in South Louisiana can trace their roots to Canada. Of course, the Acadians are the most well known transplants, as they were forced out of the Acadie area of Eastern Canada during Le Grand Derangement in 1755 and found their way south to Louisiana. But, there were also a lot of soldiers, business people, tradesman, farmers and sailors who left Quebec and other French speaking areas in the 1700s and headed down south.
So we are always excited to hear of the successes of the gaming and design communities of our Francophone friends in Quebec. Recently, we had the pleasure of catching up again with one of those successful designers.
Photo from Board Game Geek’s Designer PageChenier La Salle is the award winning designer of New York 1901, published in 2015 by Blue Orange Games. Chenier is originally from Quebec, but currently lives and works in Japan on assignment from the Canadian government. Of course, he is also working on his latest game there,
He was gracious enough to exchange messages with me for this interview. Merci, Chenier!
…………………
BJ: I read that your family game nights with your own children got started with card games and games like Ticket to Ride, which your family called “The Train Game.” Funny! In our family, we call it the same, as in “Want to try one of my dad’s games? We could play The Train Game.” Was that name organic or something Dad (Chenier) created to make the games more palatable to our video obsessed kids?
CL: It just happened. Thurn and Taxis became the “Germany game” and Finca the “fruit game”. Must be human nature. I’m sure some people also shorten the already short New York 1901. I’ve heard people refer to it as “New York” (a quick game of ‘New York’?) and others as “1901”.
You spent some time in the south (Texas) after jumping back into this hobby with two feet. Any special memories of gaming in Texas?
My most vivid gaming memory, beyond the game that our family created in Texas, is the pleasure of discovering how less expensive board games are in the US compared to Canada. Dad (me) really went nuts buying many more board games than he can ever hope to play. It’s kinda ridiculous – my wall of shame is filled with games from that 4 year buying spree!
Did you attend any of the cons in Houston or Dallas? What was the hobby gaming scene like in Houston when you were there? Any friends to thank for their help on NY 1901?
As for the Houston gaming scene, it’s very active but I didn’t attend any of the cons. I did attend a weekly game designers meetup early in the development of New York 1901. I got a lot of ‘tough love’ just when I needed it most.
As a Quebecois, you are bilingual. When Amazon delivers a game from Canada or Europe that you’ve been waiting for….do you grab the French rules or the English rules first?
Hehe, good question. If the game has both English and French rules, I’ll probably read the first version I stumble upon.
So, you are on a post in Japan, returning to you and your family’s roots somewhat. How has that experience been? We are seeing more and more cross over games from Japan and other parts of Asia.
Yes, this posting in Japan is perfect on all fronts. I’m in a country that I know well so on a professional level, I can really make a difference supporting Canadian industry. On a personal level my wife is extremely happy to be back home – I met her in Japan when I lived here from 1994-2004. My job had forced her to live outside Japan for 12 years and she really missed home. You can also imagine how happy the in-laws are to see their daughter and grandchildren. I think I’ll have a hard time getting her to leave Japan once this posting is over!
What is the Japanese gaming scene like?
It’s still relatively small in Japan. Nagoya, the city I live in is the third city in Japan in terms of population (it’s big) but has only one small shop where you can find “revival” boardgames – which shows you how small the market is here. But the scene is growing. Carcassonne has a somewhat of a following.
My first Gen Con last year was overwhelming and exhilarating at the same time. In 2015, you traveled to Indy for your first GenCon to showcase NY1901? What was the experience like? What did you learn for your next big con?
It felt overwhelming and exhilarating just like it was for you or for any first time goer! When you add the fact that I had a game that was coming out at Gencon that had built up quite a bit of buzz, it was a surreal thrill! The lessons I learned were mostly about the groundwork that goes into preparing for a show like that. All the prep work has to be perfect but that’s mostly in the publisher’s hands – although I was very active on the internet myself before the show. As a designer during a show, your most important job is to make yourself available.
I love Vincent Dutrait‘s work (the artist on New York 1901). He has a style that is very recognizable right away. How did he get attached to your NY 1901 project?
It’s the publisher’s job to hire the artist and they made a great decision by hiring Vincent. Like you said, his style is very recognizable. It has a European comic strip feel to it that suits board games very well and gives them a tasteful yet playful feel. A great privilege to have Vincent bring the world of New York 1901 to life. I love his work.
I read in an interview that he added a little “gift” to the inside of your box at Gen Con 2015. What did he draw or inscribe?
Vincent and I were at the Blue Orange booth for a few hours each day signing the inside of the boxes for the gamers who bought a copy. I would just sign and add a thank you note or something but Vincent would draw a character for everyone who bought the game and stood in line. Before the end of the show, he opened a box for me, signed the inside of the cover and drew a character from the game. He made my drawing a ‘deluxe version’ by making it a bit more elaborate than the ones he drew all day. The box is now truly a family heirloom.
How have you changed or grown as a player since starting your own designs? Do you have a favorite genre?
Sadly, I don’t spend as much time as I’d like “playing” games now that I’m working on my own designs. I still try to play new games a few times a month to keep building on my personal database of experiences. Since I do all of my gaming with my family, we go for family fare. We’ve had fun trying out a lot of the Queen games we bought over the holidays (there were some great deals!).
Any plans for conventions in the states or Europe?
Not really. The next convention I attend will likely be for the release of my next game, which could be 2 or more years away. Unless there’s a opportunity in Japan or Taiwan over the next few years to help promote New York 1901. But nothing planned for now.
Let’s talk about game design. Of all of the designers I have studied, you *really* dive deep into historical research. Obviously, a game about turn of the century New York skyscrapers lends itself to that deep dive, but what is it about you or your background that attracts to you the historical or the antique?
Apart from abstract games, most board games include some kind of role-playing element: you become a real estate mogul, a general, an explorer etc. I enjoy this part of the board game experience and I love it when a theme has been properly developed to establish and build the “immersion” factor. I remember playing war games in my adolescence and I noticed the details. I loved playing with authentic units with their actual name written on them. I loved the leader tiles that featured the actual names of the generals who led their armies into battle. I noticed and enjoyed these little details tremendously and I thought I’d include them in my own designs. I hope people enjoy. I’m also sensitive to the aesthetics of certain historical periods and choose my themes from among the periods that appeal to me and that I feel will appeal to the public in general.
Another reason for the extensive research is the fun factor. Developing a board game can take many years (over three years for New York 1901) so it can’t just feel like work. It has to be a ‘fun’ labour of love or you’ll just give up halfway through. I chose a theme that gave me shivers and still does. Discovering a new pic (one I’ve never seen) on the internet of an old New York skyscraper still gives me a bit of a high.
So to answer your question about my background, all I can say is that I’m bringing my own sensibilities to the forefront, highlighting what brings me pleasure and selecting and keeping what I think others will respond to.
Recently, some of the more ‘famous’ designers in our hobby have experienced backlash from the internet community. By that I mean, a designer like Jamey Stegmaier or Eric M. Lang lands a few designs on the ‘hotness’ on Board Game Geek, and suddenly, there is an almost inevitable undercurrent of gamers ready to trash their next designs. Where do you stand on criticism of designs and designers? Gentle, acerbic, or don’t give a hoot?
I’m not surprised. It’s human nature. Marketing is an important part of a successful board game project and the two designers you mention are very good at marketing themselves and their games. When you’re visible and successful, you make yourself a target for some gratuitous criticism. I think that at the core of the negative reactions is a feeling of “why are we always talking about this game/designer while there are so many others that are deserving”. It’s actually an understandable reaction. New York 1901 was the target of some criticism for similar reasons, it had a solid awareness building effort behind it so it made an easy target for gratuitous criticism. When I read some of the comments posted online, I can often see that some of these people have actually never played the game – which is very disappointing. You need thick skin when you put your soul into a game and then put it out there.
On a personal basis, now that I have creations of my own out there, I refrain from rating or commenting on anybody else’s work unless I have something positive to say. I think most designers do the same.
Antoine Bauza is well known for having his love of Japanese culture influence many of his designs. You have lived all over the world but have focused on New York City. Do you expect to see some of your world journeys leak into future games?
I love big cities. I love the dynamic image they project. Cities give me goosebumps. I love to channel some of that imagery and use it to build immersive backgrounds for games. So the answer is: yes!
How have you enjoyed the ride of success of having your first published game, New York 1901, garner press attention, con attention, good sales and even wins / nominations for big awards.
I’m very lucky. I beat the odds in many, many ways. I was fortunate simply to have my first creation published. But then there’s more. New York 1901 was published by a major publisher and went on to receive a few awards (2016 Mensa Select Winner, Games Magazine, Finnish Game of the Year) and get nominated for a few more (Dice Tower, 2015 Golden Geek (BGG) Best Family Board Game Nominee, Origins). People say you have to work hard to create your luck, and I did work very hard, but I’m the first to admit luck met me halfway – you get that perspective on life as you get older. I’m very fortunate. My biggest reward though is talking to fans of the game and to the many friends I’ve made because of it. Merci Barry!
What would you do different?
Hum… some small things but nothing worth mentioning.
You seem to love prototyping! What is it about making prototypes that attracts you?
I have fun collecting imagery and putting it together in prototype material. I try to seduce myself when I’m making games and hope that others will feel the same way. But beyond the aesthetics, making prototypes is kinda like ‘meditation’ for me. As I’m assembling the prototype or tinkering with the graphics on my computer, I’m exploring new ideas in my head. I’m playtesting in my mind. I guess it’s part of my creative process.
I’m seeing sneak peaks of a very interesting new “La Salle creation.” What can you tell us about this new game? (note, Chenier graciously allowed us to bring you a link to his Facebook page. You can follow the fascinating development of his latest game here.)
I’m still working with my muse, New York City. I got to know her so well during the last creative process so I know she has much more to give 😉
The new game still centers around skyscrapers but covers a much longer period of time historically. It’s less ‘tetris-y’ than the first but there’s still a tile laying element. I’m going new places in terms of mechanics: I’m playing with variable powers, with worker placement and with hand/resource management. Again, it’s meant to be a family ‘gateway’ game that plays quickly and intuitively. It’s also meant to have an immersive fully developed theme. People who take out the game have to feel like they’re living an ‘experience’. If I can accomplish that, I’ve done my job.
What was the inspiration? How long has it been germinating?
It stems from some of the original research I did for New York 1901 so I guess it goes all the way back to 2011. In earnest, I’d say I’m a year into the project at this point.
How far along are you? What are you expecting out of this one?
I think I’m still a good 6 months away (damn that day job!) from having a prototype worth sharing outside my immediate playtesting group which is my family.
Who is the target audience? Any potential publishers interested or looking?
I’m hoping for an immersive gateway game that finds a home with families and medium-light gamers. Haven’t showed it to any publisher yet. If I did learn something from my first experience it’s that you should only pitch your game when it’s truly ready.
Where do you see yourself in this hobby in 10 years?
I’m 48, so that takes me to 58. I see myself with a few more games under my belt and preparing for a retirement (from my day job – government pension) so I can start a new life filled with playing and making games. I hope it happens. I’m chasing my dream and having fun doing it. Merci Barry!
I LOVE area control games; it is a mechanic that has always interested me. My favorite style of area control game is by far the “dudes on a map” genre, or DoaM, for the acronym crowd. Something about mixing area control with elements of war games has always sucked me in. It is probably the competitive nature and tactical thinking, as well as the eye candy of all the plastic miniatures that these games typically have. So when I joined up with the rest of Board Game Gumbo Krewe to head up to Gen Con, I had one game in mind: Cry Havoc.
Love those miniatures and the color on the board.
Now I knew Cry Havoc was going to be a hard one to get my hands on, so I made sure to pre-order before I left, and I am glad that I did. I heard that all of the retail copies were sold out before the doors even opened. Is this game worth the hype? Well let’s take a closer look and find out.
THE SET UP:
Cry Havoc is a card driven, asymmetrical game that brings a few interesting twists to the DoaM genre of games. Set up can take some time because you have a good bit of stuff to place out on the board, but there are helpful images printed on the board of everything you have to set up.
First, place blue exploration tokens representing things you find as you explore the planet, green Trog party tokens which represent the planet’s native species, and finally, little plastic crystals that represent the planets resource that everyone wants for various reasons. Next, the players pick a faction and collect all of that factions’ building tiles, card decks, and skill cards. Finally, each player places their starting HQ tile on the correct spaces(also printed on the board), and adds 4 starting units to their HQ. That’s it, you are ready to play.
Machine’s Eye view of the basic set up.
As a side note, the set up is slightly different if you have less than four players. In a two or three player game the Trog faction isn’t played by a player, but is sort of controlled by everyone as you discover Trog units while exploring.
THE FACTIONS:
This is where the asymmetrical side of the game comes in, as all four factions play completely different. The human faction (yellow) is very good at being aggressive and taking control of regions. The Pilgrims faction (blue) is sort of the euro gamers of this battle, as it specializes in taking crystals from areas and either using those resources for points, or to activate certain skills. The Machines (red) are all about buildings. All of the other factions have three buildings at their disposal, but the Machines have five to choose from. Finally, there are the Trogs (green), who just want to protect their precious planet and its resources, and they are very good at swarming the map and laying traps for the invaders.
Come at me, bro!
SCORING:
This game is definitely a competitive game, but scoring works differently than most games of its kind. The main way to get points is by scoring the areas you control, and scoring for all the crystals you have in those areas. Players also get points for doing different things in battle (more on that later), and can collect points here and there from certain skills and cards. Interestingly, there is no score for area control or crystals typically, unless someone uses one of their actions to enable scoring at the end of the round.
HOW TO PLAY:
I am not going to do a detailed section on all of the rules to the game, just a basic overview, because like most games in this genre, the rules are plenty and detailed.
The game will play out over five rounds, each round beginning with a global event token being resolved. These are usually good, like adding more crystals to the board, but can also have negative effects. After the event phase you will do kind of a cleanup phase where you see if the upcoming initiative track was changed during the last round, unexhaust player skill cards, and draw four cards into your hand.
Then the action phase begins. Each round the players can take three actions each. You will take turns in initiative order taking your actions until everyone has finished. The actions available to everyone are move, recruit, build/activate a structure, draw two cards and keep one, or enable scoring.
One of the most interesting parts about this game are the multi-purpose cards. Four of the five actions are all located on the cards in your hand. You have to decide how many cards you are willing to discard to take a single action taken from the multiple ones listed on each card. Some cards will also have text on them with the keyword “Battle” written on them. These cards can be used in battle as well as playing them for their actions during the round, so you have to choose wisely when to use a card for it’s action, or when to save it for battle. This brings a lot of tension and hard decisions to the game, because the whole time you are thinking, “I really want to take this action, but if I do, I can’t use this card for battle later,” or “I want to enable scoring so I can score points this round, but by doing that I am basically skipping one of my actions this round.”
Battle time.
Now let’s talk about the most interesting thing about this game, the combat.
After everyone takes their three actions, you will resolve any battle tokens you have out on the board that were placed during the actions phase. The battle tokens are in numerical order so you just go through each one resolving starting at number one, and so on.
Action Jackson.
This game comes with a separate little board that has three objectives printed on the top. The first one is for control of the region, the second for taking prisoners, and the third for attrition (murdering fools, yo). On the left of each objective there is a spot for the attacker to place miniatures and one on the right for the defender. The attacker must place his units first, so the defender has the advantage of seeing where the attacker is concentrating his forces. After the defender places his units each player takes turns playing cards. These battle cards can do anything from moving units around from one objective to a different one, add more units to objectives from your reserve or from other regions, or even mess with the order at which the objectives are resolved. The battle objectives usually resolve top to bottom. You see who wins area control first, then prisoners, then attrition. It is very important to keep track, because once you win area control, it doesn’t matter if your opponent kills all of your figures after that, you already won control.
The battle board is very well made, with all the important information written on it, as well as arrows pointing in the order at which you resolve them. You receive two points for winning the control objective, you capture a prisoner from the battle board for winning the prisoner objective which scores you points between rounds, and you immediately kill units and score one point for each unit placed on the attrition objective.
Well done board.
The game will go on until the fifth round, or the fifth event is resolved, whichever comes first, and then final scoring happens. Highest points is the winner.
FINAL THOUGHTS:
Now to answer the burning question, is Cry Havoc worth the hype?
Well, that is a tough question to answer, and the best response I can give is somewhat. I love this game, I gave it a 9.2 on Board Game Geek, right behind my current top two games, Forbidden Stars and Chaos in the Old World. It has a lot of awesome stuff going for it, an original battle system, multipurpose card play, and asymmetrical factions, but there are a few issues I have that keeps it behind, if only slightly, the other two games listed.
First off, I am not totally convinced the factions are balanced. That is a big issue with asymmetrical games, because it is so hard to make everyone so different but yet equally close to victory. In the seven games I have played so far, three were four player games and three were three player games and in the four player games the Trogs are 3-0 and the Humans are 3-0 in the three player games. The only game that I have played that wasn’t won by one of those factions was a two player game, and that was because no one used them. The biggest thing to note here is that in every one of those victories the newest player was either playing the Trogs or the Humans, with one game after the Trog player won he laughed and said, “seriously guys I have no clue what I am doing, how did I win?”
Another thing about the game is the battle system, I love it but it is one of those things where not everyone is going to like it. One guy in the Krewe said it feels like he is playing chess, which he found underwhelming.
Finally, there is the event token mechanic. Over the course of the game you will turn over a total of five event tokens, but these events are placed on the scoring track and if a player scores enough points to pass that unresolved event, it is pushed down to be resolved with the next event. This means the game can be shortened if a player has a big lead, which means a runaway leader will end the game early and pretty much guarantee you won’t have time to catch up. I believe this was done so if a player is stomping everyone they aren’t forced to play a long drawn out game, but this can also be seen as making it that much harder to come back from behind.
Overall, Cry Havoc gets a big recommendation from me, even with the balance issues, because at the end of the day I have a blast playing. The game brings its own flavor to the genre that lets this game stand on its own and earn a spot amongst my favorite DoaM games. With more expansions in the works (I hear), I am excited to see where this game goes.
One of my go to games for introducing hobby games to new players is that classic bidding game, No Thanks!
Staged picture.
Designed by Thorsten Gimmler, it is super easy to teach, has a simple main mechanism — how much is a player willing to bid to avoid high numbered cards if the object of the game is to score the lowest points — and plays quickly. If you listen to the Dice Tower at all, you will definitely have heard Tom Vasel extol its virtues many, many times.
The edition I have is published by Z-Man Games and comes in a small box with good quality cards and nice bingo chips. No Thanks! is a true classic, and should be in everyone’s collection.
But it is a filler game, and after dozens and dozens of games, I am always on the lookout for that next step in bidding/auction games. Is your game group looking for a good auction game? Are your game nights getting bland with lots of filler-type bidding games and your group is ready for the next level?
Then Spice it up! with Stockpile, an insider trading game from Nauvoo Games. Stockpile is a 2015 release designed by Brett Sobol and Seth Van Orden. The game is made for 2-5 players, and plays in about 45 minutes to an hour (the shorter time is for players with experience — your first game will probably last a little over an hour).
I was lucky enough to be taught the game by one of the designers, Seth Van Orden.
Coincidentally, my thumb is pointing at the designer. Somehow, he taught two games at one time!
Stockpile is essentially a buy low, sell high stock market type of game, with unique twists on bidding and stock information. Each player can purchase one of six stocks, whose value fluctuates throughout the game. The key is that each player privately knows the movement of one of the stocks, as well as all players sharing in the knowledge of one other stock.
Good shot of the more advanced, wilder backside of the game board.
Next, the players randomly are given stocks and movement cards that are put into piles for the players to bid on. That’s the best part of the game — each player is given a colored meeple representing his bidder. They take turns putting down a bid for the pile that they want, but can be outbid by other players. Once all piles have one bid on them, the auction ends, and the stocks are divvied up.
One of many games played at The Secret Cabal meet up Gen Con 2016
The auction takes only a minute or so, but has some very spicy and deliciously tense moments as players try to decide if they should go one more bid for their favorite pile. Of course, stocks can split or go bankrupt or give our dividends. And after the set number of rounds, the player with the most amount of money after selling all of the holdings is the winner!
Let’s talk about the components. Wow, what a presentation! The game comes with a two-sided board, with one side being the beginning or basic board and the back side containing the same set up but with a more wilder way for the stocks to move.
Ah, look at all the lonely meeples…
The meeples are all high-quality painted wood bits, and the stocks and action cards are all on good quality stock. The money is a very nice touch. I fully expected your typical Monopoly-and-or-Payday type of paper money, but instead, I found that we had been given tons of colorful, good-quality, laminated money cards. Nice touch!
Trust me, the pieces won’t move if you hold your finger on top of them.
How easy is the game to teach? The game play is best taught in steps, walking your new players or your experienced game group through the first turn, pointing out how the bidding and selling and stock movement works at each step. I promise you, once one turn is complete, even your greenest gamers will have the game down.
Does the theming carry through? As we say in Louisiana, this game “a la poche plein” (has its pockets full) of theme! Games like this can sometimes seem random or just plain math-y, but at no time have we felt like that in the numerous games we have played. Instead, it really does carry the theme of inside traders eyeing each other to see who is bidding what, and trying to guess why. Does the purple player know something about the computer stock? He must know something, because he is bidding everywhere else — and now he is dumping all of his shares! Time to sell! No doubt about it, this game is dripping with the theme of the game.
The dice from the Continuing Corruption expansion (will cover in a later blog post.)
Why is this game spicier than other auction bidding games, like No Thanks! and For Sale?Those are great games, some of my all time fillers, but they are lighter games that set up and play in about 15-20 minutes. Both have great decision making, and the bidding mechanics are fun, but there is not a lot of depth to them (and they are not designed to be deep games).
At our bi-weekly game night, one of the Krewe de Gumbo members, Bradly, turned to me during the last game. He remarked that this is a game he doesn’t mind losing (which mind you, in our game group does not happen often). I am paraphrasing, but in essence, his point was that the experience captured by the auction, the joy in buying low and guessing correctly that your pick is moving up, and the delicious tension in deciding when to sell is all part of a very fun ride. That’s pretty high praise indeed.
At some point, your group is going to be ready for a deeper experience that simulates the fluidity of the stock market. The conceit that everyone is aware of in Stockpile is that the movement is random — but that’s not the point of the game. The real genius in the design is that the game is not focused on the random movement, but instead the game is all about reading your opponents, weighing the movement cards that are public/private knowledge, and knowing when to gamble and when to play it safe. Plus, the auction/bidding mechanic described above is a brilliant touch and is the real standard bearer for the game.
Obviously, we are big fans of Stockpile and can see why it was on many “Best Of…” lists last year. Patrick from Blue Peg, Pink Peg said in episode 80 that it was his pick for family game of the year in 2015, and we can see why. If your game group loves auction / bidding mechanics, but your game nights are getting bland — if your group would love a game with lots of juicy decisions, quick game play, just enough depth and great presentation, then pass by your local game store and get yourself a copy. I give it four out of five cayenne peppers.
It has taken me a week just to recover enough sleep to write the end of our Gen Con saga. But even as the best tasting link of grilled boudin has a finite end, the Best Four Days of Lack of Sleeping had to come to its glorious finish.
After the long night of gaming and dehydrating at The Secret Cabal meet up, the Krewe was slow starting on Sunday. But by exhibit hall opening, we were ready to make one last tour.
I learned that at Gen Con the list of things you don’t get to do — that you really, really wanted to do — is a much, much longer list than the things you do get to experience. Ah, well, c’est la vie.
Sunday morning started bright and early with Mass at the nearby cathedral. Beautiful Mass, and the bonus was that the priest was a huge gamer who came in for the week. He and his brother priests gave the local priest the week off, while they gamed and covered all of his Masses.After an early morning Mass, nothing beats fueling up. Phillip and I jaunted over to the breakfast at the Westin Hotel. While I loved the hotel, I was not that impressed with the breakfast. I give the buffet 2 out of 5 cayenne peppers (for the fruit and oceans of orange juice.)
Check out those awesome pre-painted figures. Great detailing and painting on each color. The well made package comes with enough to replace all of your architects, and even a free little variant so that you can still use your originals as part of the game. Plus, Blue Orange printed up the expansion / variant designed by high school kids in an after school game design club. I haven’t tried it yet, but it looks very challenging and breathes some new life into the game for those that have played it multiple times.
Limited edition! Not shown in actual size.
I just knew that by Friday or Saturday Blue Orange Games would be sold out, and they were! That’s good news for NY 1901 fans craving for a new board, right? Let’s get on the horns (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) and convince them to green light any future enhancements to the game.
Ah, now the doors to the dealer hall finally opened. The gang spread out, in hopes of catching the last of our to-do list. First up for Dustin and Dave was trying out Merchants & Marauders.
“You think Elvis Costello is a genius? Bruh, you crazy.”
Phillip went to the Pokemon booth to pick up something for his daughter, while I checked out The Dice Tower’s corner booth in a back alley. And there, I ran into this guy…
Third letter unfortunate accidents provided by….SeaFall
Eric Summerer was kind enough to visit with me about the Board Game Gumbo segment. He shared with me that his number one hottest game at the con was Harry Potter:Hogwarts Battle. That’s not surprising given the IP, but what was surprising to find out was how much the few people who have gotten their hands on it (it sold out its very limited release early each morning of the Con.) It is such a rich intellectual property that I hope this is the first stage of a long road of good quality Potter games.
Then it was off to Portal’s booth. By this time, Dustin had already gotten his minis problem from Cry Havoc taken care of. Even though the game had long sold out, Ignacy was able to find a damaged copy and traded out all of the good miniature figures for the mad amount of robots in Dustin’s game. Dustin was one happy camper at that point. Again, big props to Ignacy’s team at Portal. They were wonderful people to meet and provided excellent customer service even under trying times.
Anyway, I asked Ignacy to give me a good pitch for Imperial Settlers. I liked it so much, Phillip and I ran back to the board game area to watch a game. I liked that so much that I ran back to Ignacy’s booth and promptly bought the game from him:
And I was standing on a six foot tall box wearing David Bowie platform shoes, too.
Ignacy is much, much taller than he looks on video. He joked that he has to scrunch down when he does photos with Stephen Buonocore so that they don’t look too incongruous together. If you ever get a chance to watch a demo by Ignacy or even just talk board games, you will see (1) his command of English is rapidly improving; (2) he has an enthusiasm for gaming that is unmatched in the industry; (3) his work ethic is legendary and well deserved and (4) he is just a fun guy to be around.
There were a few more stops, all quick hits for us. We looked at the very nice but very expensive Kingdom Death Monster new sculpts. We watched demos of The Networks and Trekking the National Parks (very close to buying the latter, and will buy the former as soon as it hits retail). We even snuck in a great demo from Adam Rehberg who had been pitching a new craft beer game called Brewin’ USA.
Mmm…..craft beer. But no Abita yet.
You can tell that Adam loves the theme because it shines through in his presentation and in the components. If I had not been so tired and a little ready to hit the road, I might have hung around that booth longer and picked up the game. It looks very intriguing.
That ended the tour of the hall. While waiting for the Krewe to assemble for the long trip home (a pirogue can only be paddled so fast), we grabbed a quick few turns of King Chocolate.
Count de Chocolate
Here is a game that I am puzzled by the BGG fan reactions. Yes, the box is a little plan, and the artwork could use a boost. But, the game itself has some interesting mechanics in how you chain the chocolate production. It would seem a reach at two players, but we found there were a lot of strategy calls with three. I am not ready to buy it, but I would certainly play it anytime someone brought it out to the table.
That wraps up our Gen Con tour for 2016. I will have one more post with my final thoughts and Top Ten News Events at Gen Con.
Laukat took that concept to a higher level in Above and Below, where you are presented choices in the story mode of the game. You have to make decisions in choose-your-own-adventure fashion, and choose between two or three actions. The consequences of your choice can make a difference in terms of your rewards (although there is some valid criticism about the connection between the stories and rewards, and the rather abrupt way most stories end.)
Most Innovative Game
How have you enjoyed the ride of success of having your first published game, New York 1901, garner press attention, con attention, good sales and even wins / nominations for big awards.
