tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-41576732407070770142011-11-27T16:32:31.223-08:00Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comBlogger431100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-3511802413515614242010-04-17T17:56:00.001-07:002010-04-27T21:19:20.275-07:00

Recently I decided I wanted to upgrade my Hex board. Currently I’m using a printed piece of paper attached to stiff felt, with blue and red glass beads of the sort that belong in flower arrangements as the pieces. It took all of 10 minutes to make, it’s tiny, and the glass pieces have a tendency to slide along the paper surface. It’s simply unsatisfactory. Making your own Hex board is something

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-9240828517620955282009-09-07T16:10:00.001-07:002009-09-07T16:10:19.632-07:00

Lines of Action is a weird one, both in play mechanics and victory condition. It’s a modestly popular game these days, as far as abstract strategy games go, but it’s not exactly the biggest game around. Which is a shame, because it really is unique and entertaining -- and odd combination of connection and movement that you won’t want to miss. It’s interesting in that there are so many ways of

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-8668051365346234492009-07-12T16:56:00.001-07:002009-07-12T16:56:45.229-07:00

This is a neat little game that I discovered pretty much entirely by accident, but have grown to like for a novel but intuitively logical movement mechanic. It was designed in 2001 by Michael Shuck, and was one of the finalists of the 2001 8x8 Game Design competition (it lost to Breakthrough). That’s all I really know about it. So... onwards! Equipment The game can be played on a standard

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-32682561982777402442009-07-05T15:17:00.001-07:002009-07-05T15:17:56.204-07:00

What a weird game. That’s all I can really say -- this is just a weird game. It’s incredibly simple and almost instantly familiar, but at the same time the gameplay is almost completely foreign. It’s weird. Why is it so weird? Well, for starters, it was designed by a computer. I don’t know about you, but that throws up a couple weird flags for me. It is the only game I’ve ever heard of to

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-39275741412413637332009-07-02T14:31:00.001-07:002009-07-02T14:49:07.096-07:00

I know it’s a day late, but hey -- those trophies don’t make themselves. The new Game of the Month is Focus, so you can look forward to more stacking games in the near future! Also, blue? Yeah, that color is way out of place, but I have spent too long on this already. I’ll be moving on to more important things now...

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-64451945426235408672009-06-29T16:50:00.001-07:002009-06-29T16:50:20.636-07:00

Let’s be honest -- I was pretty lazy with the Y post. I mean really. I was in a hurry to get it done so I literally just copied the graphics I did for Hex and shoved it out the door. I did not do it justice in the graphics department, and for that I apologize. One of my favorite games, too! I can excuse myself for my fairly lazy artistic work for “lesser” games, but I feel too guilty for Y. So I

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-65250583481322259702009-06-27T13:05:00.001-07:002010-04-27T21:19:42.878-07:00

It’s been a while since I posted a progress update, so here you go. I haven’t been able to do too much work on it lately, but I have made some progress with the work I’ve been able to do. Check out the latest screenshot and read on for more details about the improvements! Click for full size. Annotated game of Hex taken from Hexwiki Major changes this time include a completely redone rendering

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-37971049925471829932009-06-26T15:14:00.001-07:002009-06-26T15:14:22.803-07:00

Unlur is a connection game -- simple enough. If you’re familiar with Hex or Y, you might think you know what to expect. Place some stones. Try to make some lines. Normal, every day connectionist stuff. Wrong. Bam. Here comes Unlur -- one of the very, very few asymmetric  connection games. Asymmetric, you say? I did say. It’s a very novel concept that uses a brilliant and simple new rule to

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-4427389637377396722009-06-21T19:34:00.001-07:002010-04-27T21:19:42.879-07:00

I got a chance to do some work on Semibreve this weekend, and I decided I’d share the results. Major changes include recognition of standard coordinates (of the “e4” variety), support for hex grids, and, perhaps most impressively, actual raster graphics! Other than that things have been tightened up around the edges and are generally more organized to ease future development -- nothing noticeable

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-34658500886836870762009-06-20T17:19:00.001-07:002009-06-20T17:19:30.810-07:00

It’s been a while, but at last I return to you with...Paradux! This is a super simple, interesting game with novel mechanics that was designed by a man with quite possibly the most badass name ever: Cliff Blood. He designed this game in 2003 after winning the World Championship Lumberjack Competition using only his bare hands and an ax he fashioned from the jawbone of one of his opponents, I

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-18556821858502034412009-06-17T17:25:00.001-07:002010-04-27T21:19:42.880-07:00

I wish I could have done this much, much sooner, but unfortunately I just didn’t have time. On Monday I started a full-time internship for the summer and it’s been eating up pretty much all of the time I usually have for Tabletop. So for that I apologize. Hopefully I’ll get a few real updates soon, and if not there’s always the weekend. But anyway, to the point: last weekend I started working

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-50523513965770115312009-06-13T22:12:00.001-07:002009-09-08T18:48:56.082-07:00

  This game is usually just called Y, but writing that by itself can be a little confusing to people who don’t know what I’m talking about it. Thus I have chosen to use its longer name as the title for this post, and I may refer to as such in other places, but herein it will be known only as Y.The game is very similar to Hex. Charles Titus and Craig Schensted designed it in 1953, just a few years

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-20039262028514247332009-06-10T13:34:00.001-07:002009-06-10T13:34:38.239-07:00

This is a simple game you’ve probably never heard of that, interestingly, was not originally conceived as a board game. It started life as a video game and was later adapted to the physical world -- the reverse of the usual process. As you can probably guess from that, it’s a pretty recent game. It was invented in 1988 by Dave Crummack and Craig Gallery, who originally called the game

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-70463666019753942322009-06-09T12:44:00.001-07:002009-06-10T15:16:43.341-07:00

Making good on my promise, I give you Chameleon. This game was invented in 2003 by Randy Cox, and is a variant of Hex in every sense of the word. It’s probably the closest game possible to Hex without actually being Hex, but by virtue of one unique and creative change the strategy and feel of the game is completely different. How is this possible? Read on, friend. (Because it’s so similar

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-59122170226890457052009-06-07T10:13:00.001-07:002009-07-02T14:33:43.743-07:00

As you may have already noticed, something new is afoot: Game of the Month! What is it? In a nutshell, it’s, you know, Game of the Month. Each month Tabletop will be selecting a game that has previously been written about and bestowing upon it this highest of honors. For the duration of that month it will get special attention, not only by being featured on the sidebar, but you also might expect

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-83093624987226456902009-06-05T13:26:00.001-07:002009-06-25T17:45:00.966-07:00

Ladies and gentleman, it’s been a long time coming, but I give you -- Go! In my opinion, this is one of the most interesting games of all time. Everything about it just screams awesome -- the beautiful board, the historical roots, the intensity of the strategy -- it is a marvel both to play and to behold. Go is the oldest single game that is still widely played today, and has remained

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-59303668861117799342009-06-01T23:22:00.001-07:002009-06-01T23:22:18.907-07:00

Now here is a great game: from Sid Sackson’s classic book A Gamut of Games, Cups is a very simple Mancala-style game that can be played with any materials and adapted to any size game. It was designed some time in the sixties by a father-son game creating duo consisting of Arthur and Wald Amberstone, who would go on to found the New York Gamers Association. Yes, the New York Gamers Association

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-27344958205779984112009-05-31T13:38:00.001-07:002009-05-31T13:38:43.899-07:00

This is a great little game with a unique and exciting mode of capturing. Moving into the same space, a la Chess too boring? Custodial capture (see Tablut) got you down? Jumping been done too much (see Alquerque, Konane, Peg Solitaire, Bagha Chal, etc)? How about...exploding? Yes, in this game, which was just recently invented in 2003 by Chris Huntoon (to the best of my knowledge), your

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-49424021400577421872009-05-29T10:02:00.001-07:002009-05-29T10:02:40.698-07:00

Slightly in the vein of Teeko, Dao is a much more modern and (compared to Teeko, anyway) more complicated take on the alignment genre. I’m not going to lie; I don’t love this game. I prefer Teeko for its elegance, but Dao could be said to have slightly deeper strategy. I chose it instead for its remarkable board: so small, yet with such strategy contained within. Just slightly bigger than a

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-41066970679567883082009-05-28T15:54:00.001-07:002009-06-03T01:09:58.570-07:00

This is a fun little game with an interesting mechanic that should provide some unique entertainment. There are many games called “Snail Trail,” and to the best of my knowledge this one was invented in 2001 by Don Green. It is slightly reminiscent of Amazons, although it is a much shorter and more simplistic game with intuitive rules that will have you up and playing in no time. Equipment

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-86892767240917283092009-05-26T19:20:00.001-07:002009-05-26T19:20:25.344-07:00

This is a truly remarkable game. The rules are so incredibly simple that it’s hard to believe the strategy can be as compelling and sophisticated as it is, but there you go. It was designed by Dan Troyka in 2001, and is one of my personal favorites for its incredible simplicity. Equipment Each player needs sixteen pieces -- checkers or coins or pawns or whatever -- that can be differentiated

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-8579712175768187972009-05-25T15:52:00.001-07:002009-05-25T15:52:35.031-07:00

This is a weird game, and a fairly recent one. It was invented in 1988 by Walter Zamkauskas, an Argentinean, and should provide no shortage of strategic fun for those who are looking for a unique challenge. Equipment The game is traditionally played on a 10 x 10 checkered board, although it can be easily adapted to an 8 x 8, which will merely provide a shorter game. Get the standard board

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-51932422478790562122009-05-24T14:34:00.001-07:002009-05-24T16:48:20.286-07:00

I really like this game. It’s very simple, can be easily played with almost any materials, and there is just enough strategy to maintain one’s interest without turning off newcomers. The game is very much like Tic-Tac-Toe, but it sadly cannot be played on pen and paper. It’s the brainchild of John Scarne, who, as far as I can tell, loved this game more than his children. I have read the book

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-52997221106600422902009-05-11T15:13:00.001-07:002009-05-11T15:13:48.445-07:00

This is the original “Solitaire” game, and for centuries it went by that name alone. About twenty years ago, however, that changed, with the advent of Windows 3.0 and a simple computer version of Klondike, a solitaire card game, which went on to become the most played computer game of all time (by many accounts). Since then Solitaire has taken on a completely different meaning, and hardly

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-72674089415723385412009-05-07T11:04:00.000-07:002009-05-10T23:05:26.264-07:00

Abalone is a relatively recent game, invented by Laurent Levi and Michel Lalet in 1987, that has nonetheless become pretty popular as far as abstract strategy games go. It’s a very neat idea -- sort of a team sumo wrestling game -- that is probably unlike any game you’re used to. Although the rules might look a little daunting, they’re really very intuitive, and the game isn’t hard to get into

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-33764298207575370592009-05-06T14:23:00.000-07:002009-07-02T14:23:32.985-07:00

This is a fantastic, creative game developed by Sid Sackson some time in the early sixties (he’s very, very famous in the world of board games). The game was later marketed as Domination, by which name it is frequently known, which is pretty fitting given the gameplay. It’s a stacking game, in case you can’t tell, and has spawned a few variants. None are quite as cool as the original, though.

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-43233565491168862282009-05-05T10:46:00.001-07:002009-05-05T10:46:35.560-07:00

Nim is a very famous mathematical game (bear with me) that can be played just about anywhere with anything. It’s extremely simple, and has spawned a number of variations -- I will be presenting three here -- all based upon the simple principle of removing tokens from stacks. Sounds thrilling, right? The game is perhaps more interesting from a mathematical standpoint than a, you know, playing one,

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-57848429089788393922009-05-04T15:49:00.001-07:002009-06-07T12:14:00.411-07:00

This is a very cool game invented by the mathematician Piet Hein in 1942, and then independently re-invented five or six years later by John Nash (the protagonist of A Beautiful Mind, if you’ve seen it). I’m not entirely sure, but I believe it was even referenced in the movie. Hein originally called the game Con-Tac-Tix, and it was known around Princeton as Nash, but when Parker Brothers

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-58705051603897956352009-04-30T21:28:00.001-07:002009-05-04T10:31:41.577-07:00

Tablut (also known as King’s Table) is just one of a family of games collectively referred to as “Tafl” games. They are all very similar asymmetrical games popularized by -- get this -- the Vikings. If that doesn’t bode awesome for these games then I don’t know what does. The games are all essentially the same, but played with different sized boards and number of pieces. They are not entirely

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-70871443190398148282009-04-30T12:56:00.001-07:002009-05-08T13:19:42.271-07:00

Maharajah (more commonly known as Maharajah and the Sepoys) is just one of many Chess variants. However, of all the variants I’ve seen, this is the most interesting -- it’s an asymmetric game, which is very unusual for Chess, and extremely simple to learn. The game is from India, like Chess itself, so it’s got some cred. Or something. Pieces You’ll need about half a Chess set in order to

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-41451516320346074732009-04-30T12:08:00.001-07:002009-05-08T13:19:17.219-07:00

Dead simple game for you today: Fox Hunt (also known as Box the Fox or Fox and Hounds) is a variation of Halatafl, a more complex and less approachable old Scandinavian game. It’s also asymmetrical, which is always interesting and, like all hunt games, it isn’t entirely abstract. We’ll let that slide for now, though. It’s one of the simpler games I’ve seen that uses a full chessboard, so get

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-85302750679579508062009-04-28T19:53:00.001-07:002009-05-01T16:45:21.553-07:00

This is a fantastic, simple game that’s only about 120 years old. It was invented by George Howard Monks and Thomas Hill, and was a modification of an old English game called Hoppity. However, Hoppity has apparently not survived in any known form, so I’m not sure just how similar it is. The name Halma comes from the Greek word for “jump,” which is pretty fitting given the gameplay. Although

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-91694652163054868272009-04-27T20:16:00.001-07:002009-05-26T04:20:48.817-07:00

Shut the Box (also known as Canogo, Plug the Leaks, Tric-Trac, Batten Down the Hatches, and many others) is an old dice game for any number of players. It’s a common “pub game” and is often played for money, although this of course isn’t necessary to enjoy it. There are many variations on the game, but I will be presenting the most common rules. Pieces The game is typically played with

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-44618929426286395932009-04-27T16:23:00.001-07:002009-05-01T15:37:04.946-07:00

This is cool, bizarre game from Java, of all places. It uses one of the most interesting boards of any game I’ve seen, which looks like a freaky cloverleaf highway system sort of thing. It’s also called Roundabouts by some, although Surakarta is the more “authentic” name. Pieces Each player needs 12 tokens, and the game is played on a freaky board. It’s basically just a 5x5 square grid, but

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-78171821003454073072009-04-24T22:00:00.001-07:002009-05-01T15:37:32.853-07:00

Another incredibly simple game -- this one with a bit less strategy than the last. This is probably the simplest game I’ve ever played. It’s essentially the Scandinavian equivalent to Tic-Tac-Toe: incredibly simple, unwinnable for skilled players, not really that strategic, easy and quick to play. But it’s interesting, I suppose, so here goes. Pieces All you need is a simple board and two

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-6590488063227182062009-04-24T14:05:00.001-07:002009-05-01T15:39:27.872-07:00

This is an incredibly simple game dating back to ancient Rome. The name is a minor anglicization of the Latin tabula lusoria, "tablet for (playing) games," a name by which it is sometimes still known. It’s a great concept, but it suffers from a fatal flaw: like Tic-Tac-Toe, the game is so simple that, once mastered, offers no real challenge. Games can basically continue forever if neither

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-90601558231643021422009-04-23T17:05:00.001-07:002009-05-01T15:39:51.800-07:00

This game has like 200 different names -- Mills, Merelles, Nine Man Morris, Marky Mark -- but I think Nine Men’s Morris is the most popular (even though it’s by far the worst name). It’s a really simple, short game for two players that’s been around since ancient Rome. You should get really good so if you ever travel back in time to 37 AD you can beat Caligula in a match for your life. It has

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-70960895629917137502009-04-22T11:31:00.000-07:002009-05-26T04:20:48.817-07:00

Mia is a neat, simple little dice game. It’s a bluffing game that’s best with a group of people. Although luck is something of a factor, it’s mostly about lying, which is always fun. Pieces All you need are two standard six-sided dice and a dice cup (or something with which to hide the dice). Also, some kind of counter for players to keep track of their lives. Or each player can just use a die,

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-15544709110137471782009-04-21T21:47:00.001-07:002009-05-01T15:41:36.344-07:00

Bagha Chal, also known as Bagh-Chal or Jumping Tigers, is a fairly unique game from Nepal. It’s a descendant of Alquerque, but it’s quite different. First off, it’s an asymmetric game, which is cool in itself. Secondly, the pieces are goats and tigers. Like, the animals. Yes. Like in real life, tigers kill goats by jumping over them, and goats protect themselves by fencing in the tigers so

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-44371388792282530512009-04-21T21:47:00.000-07:002009-05-01T15:42:49.076-07:00

Alquerque is the original "jumping" game, the ancestor of Draughts (Checkers, as we called it), Bagha Chal, and many other "jumping" games. Originally from Egypt, Alquerque is one of the oldest known games for which the rules survive. It's a simple, fun, short game for two players. Pieces To play, you'll need 2 distinct sets of 12 tokens and an Alquerque board, which you don't have. Just, trust

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-27567926071351939252009-04-21T17:20:00.001-07:002009-05-08T13:21:13.321-07:00

Konane is a very simple traditional Hawaiian game. It's sort of like peg solitaire for two people: the goal is to make your opponent run out of moves without running out of moves yourself. It’s a little like Alquerque as well, although the two are not related. Pieces The game can be played on any square board with an even number of tiles. You then need enough tokens to fill the entire board

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-18500923734863509832009-04-21T10:00:00.000-07:002009-05-08T13:18:39.048-07:00

Chess is perhaps the most widely known board game in the English-speaking world. If you’re reading this blog, you’re probably familiar with it, whether you played it as a kid, joined a Chess club, or collect original Nathaniel Cook sets. But I am not going to assume that everyone is familiar with it. You might have lived a sheltered life, or been one of those kids who “played sports” and “had

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4157673240707077014.post-48291896135093230272009-04-20T10:00:00.000-07:002009-04-20T22:36:09.743-07:00

Greetings, citizens of the Earth. My name’s Ian and I like board games, cards, dice, whatever. Stay tuned for good things -- expect to learn the rules to some games you’ve never heard of, explore some game philosophy, and download and print some games for free. Get excited!

Ianhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02340811543672586857noreply@blogger.com