Japan Boardgame Prize for 2007 is out:

Zooloreto won Best Game For Begginers with Jenseits von Theben (or Thebes for close friends) on a close second with a difference of merely 2 votes!

Pillars of The Earth beat Notre Dame on Best Advanced game for the same margin.

Bursa won Best Japanese game by miles from the runner-up Goita.

For Best Childgame the elected was Hüpf Hüpf Hurra!.

Japan Boardgame Prize has run from 2002 with Zooloretto’s big brother Coloretto winning Best Game for Beginners in 2003.

Mayfar Games is creating a pre-2007 adapter kit for Settlers of Catan which includes an outer frame that encloses the island of Catan and harbor pieces.

This kit also allows compatibility between Seafarers of Catan and pre-2007 Settlers Editions.

Out on mid-March.

I wonder if this great game will ever be republished:

It’s all fun and games until someone busts your ball.

No, the comic isn’t going to be anime related from now on.

I kind of skewed the focus of the comic a time ago to card and board games in general instead of Magic the Gathering only but don’t expect this comic to change its direction every other month. The subject is fine, now I just need a bit more time to dedicate to this site.

This reflected a change in my hobbies. I didn’t ditch Magic. I still love it! But without a balanced group to play Magic I’ve played more board games.

Magic players are so enthralled with the prospect of competition that they won’t play the game for itself. I have some friends to whom I taught the game about a year ago. I was hoping that they’d like it, that we had some games going and perhaps a draft or two.

Of course once they started ebaying for cards in massive quantities it created an unfair advantage for them which in turn practically terminated the group we were playing in. I’m not one of those who cries when all the cool kids get better cards, it’s possible to construct decks made out of commons/uncommons that beat the crap out of the “holy” decks, but it takes a lot of time to research and unfortunately time is precious to me nowadays, I can hardly find time to fulfill my obligations, which leaves very little time for fun, which I don’t want to be 95% researching a deck.

So that left us with drafts, I mean drafts are an equal standing for everybody, everybody spends the same gets about the same cards and has fun right? Wrong. Many people won’t draft because they think the format is skewed, and check this in favor of the best player. So a format being won by who has more cash is ok, a format where the most skilled person wins is not. I won’t even try to rationalize that logic, really…  That coupled with the time factor hasn’t really helped in favor of having some drafts played (I always had to organize drafts by myself, it seems unreal but it was hard to get any players at all to draft).

So that brings us to where I am now along with this comic. Boardgames may be a little more expensive at first glance, but they’ll be ready to play, let everyone be in equal standing, just open the game and start playing. Perfect for those with limited time/resources.

Though, I’ve been itching for a draft for a long time now, too bad no one around me likes to draft…

Lots of games are coming out june for you to have a more game filled holidays (Yeah I’m already thinking about holidays).

First up is Toledo. Out on June 5th, this game is designed by Martin Wallace, if you ever thought about being a swordsmith for the Emperor of the Spanish empire here’s your chance. You’ll gather materials for your swords or even engage in soe dueling to prove your sword’s are the finest swords ever made!

Seems like an interesting concept. For 2-4 players, ages 10+.

Another interesting game is Senji from Asmodée. Originally Rising Sun, this game set in medieval Japan where you play a daymio trying to become a shogun. To follow this path you must deal with your enemies wisely, forge and break alliances and sometimes recur to war.

For 3-6 players. Ages 12+.

On a lighter note AEG is re-releasing Straw. Straw is a light family game where you get points by loading up the camel, if you overload it you break the camel’s back. 2-6 players, ages 6+.