Davis and Ma wrote up a long list of one-paragraph game pitches to prototype. They would be small, manageable games that two people could complete on their own. The game they chose to go with would have to be finished within a year, because that was all they had budgeted for. Among the pitches inspired by board games, roguelikes and all the genres that excited them was a 2D, top-down management game called FTL. The Opposite of Fail
- The making of
FTL (
Previously)
posted by Artw
on Mar 17, 2013 -
19 comments
Allan B. Calhamer, creator of the board game
Diplomacy,
passed away on February 25th. Despite the game's success he never made a living off it, and worked for many years as a mail carrier in La Grange Park, Illinois. Chicago Magazine published
a profile of him in 2009.
posted by 23
on Feb 28, 2013 -
39 comments
Take a copy of Monopoly, cover it in lye for a few days, boil from off the bones whatever flesh remains, and give the clean white skeleton a tasteful, minimalist paintjob, and you end up with
ONOPO, an extreme reduction of the original boardgame by Metafilter's own Matthew Hollett, aka
oulipian.
Via mefi projects, hat tip to fastcodesign c/o Rock Paper Shotgun's always-lovely Sunday Papers feature.
posted by cortex
on Jan 20, 2013 -
56 comments
In November 2007, a new board game called Yavalath was invented. The rules of Yavalath are simple: Players take turns adding a piece of their colour to a hexagonal board and win by making four-in-a-row of their colour – but lose by making three-in-a-row beforehand. Yavalath has proven reasonably popular as its simple rules allow interesting and surprising situations to develop due to its innovative win with four but lose with three winning condition. But Yavalath is really set apart from the many other board games invented in 2007 by one remarkable fact: Yavalath was designed by a computer programme. [more inside]
posted by rollick
on Jan 19, 2013 -
20 comments
Photographs of the Prison Chess series were taken in 2008 and 2009 in a maximum security facility of the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton. [more inside]
posted by Trurl
on Jan 27, 2012 -
18 comments
In 1979, gaming company Avalon Hill (since bought by Hasbro) released a board game based on the popular science fiction novel Dune. Regarded by many as a masterpiece of the form, it is an asymmetrical wargame designed by Bill Eberle, Jack Kittredge and Peter Olotka, the people who created
Cosmic Encounter. Six different factions vie for control of the desert planet Arrakis. As WickerNipple notes in
his Everything node on the game, “Instead of giving subtle differences to the various factions like most games, Dune gives huge differences and advantages, that don't over-balance things only because every faction receives them.” The thing is, each player has special rules that give them very different options and abilities compared to the other sides, and yet the game remains balanced (especially when played by a full six players). The game has been long out of print due to the Frank Herbert estate refusing to re-license. Fantasy Flight Games is rumored to be working on a release of the game without the Dune license. Importantly, all the necessary files are available on
the game's BoardGameGeek page to construct a copy of the game. (
Homebrew game board -
Rules, cards, counters and extras -
Windows freeware game client and server)
[more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Feb 23, 2011 -
58 comments
Confused in Catan? Conflicted about Carcassonne? Puzzled in Puerto Rico? You've heard about all these awesome new board games that are out these days, but don't know where to begin? Help is here! Scott Nicholson knows all about 'em, and will explain them in great detail in his video series
Board Games With Scott! [more inside]
posted by JHarris
on Aug 8, 2010 -
56 comments
Geeky? Crafty? Got some time on your hands? Make your own boardgame pieces!
Tutorials for making
custom 3-d Settlers of Catan tiles (and gorgeous custom sets
here, and
here, although with no instructions,alas).
Agricola more your style? Grab some polymer clay and
get making resources,
more resources,
food,
sheep,
more sheep,
boars,
cattle, and (of course)
farmers,
farmers,
farmers,
farmers,
farmers, and
farmers. Don't forget
fences, tiles, and a starting player piece. Lots more in the
image gallery at BoardGameGeek.
posted by arcticwoman
on Mar 2, 2009 -
15 comments
Virus is a very simple, addictive flash game; using the colors available to you at the bottom of the screen, convert all the tiles on the board into a single color. Similar colored connecting tiles become part of the viral mass.
Via.
posted by jonson
on Feb 21, 2007 -
75 comments
Chess has a long, if somewhat
shrouded,
history, with beautiful chess pieces found dating from the
5th century. It has spawned
hundreds of fascinating stories, and
many interesting names for moves. For the last five decades, the history of chess and computers have
been intertwined in many ways. Chess continues to adapt to a new age, with controversies around
computer-assisted cheating, attempts to
sex-up chess books,
thousands of variants, and an
amazing online database that can search through recorded games for the last 200 years.
posted by blahblahblah
on Dec 4, 2006 -
5 comments
Hnefatafl is an anglo-norse boardgame whose many variants are mentioned in the
sagas (wearing a helmet during play is entirely optional) . Chess superseded it during the rennaisance, but
Scholarly work has allowed the rules to be deduced in modern times, mainly on the basis of a 1732 diary account written by Linnaeus (he of the botanical naming system).
And now, thanks to the magic of the internet, you can play
online.
posted by apodo
on Mar 28, 2006 -
17 comments
Japanese Prints and the World of Go. Classic Japanese art meets classic Japanese boardgame.
'The purpose of this catalogue is twofold: to enlarge the understanding of print collectors who may be unaware of the long historical and legendary background of a game that has for centuries engaged the interest of many artists in Japan; and to enrich the experience of go players by presenting works that reveal some of the large body of traditions and associations connected with the game in Japan's cultural life. Although artists were inspired by the game of go to work the theme in several media--wood, ivory, metal, textiles, and clay, and while the motif appears on numerous scroll and screen paintings--it is in woodblock prints (ukiyo-e) that its image is most frequently found.'
'. . . there is a text that likens the world to a go-board. For those who see with their minds, it is the centre of the universe.'
Warning: Each sub-link in the article opens a new window.
posted by plep
on Nov 19, 2003 -
10 comments
Create your own Monopoly Game Surely the perfect customised gift? You can change the name of the game, the theme, the name of the properties/stations, and also the rules.
Apparently it uses a 'What You See Is What You Get Realtime Interface', which allows users to personalise the game completely to their requirements, and then print out and proof the new design. What I find most interesting about this product offering is that the whole process is completely automated. Once you've designed and ordered your customised game, it goes straight to print/production, and is then sent out to you. No human intervention is required. This appears to me to be pretty ground breaking stuff (well in the Toy World anyway), or am I just way behind the times? (via the
Ecademy discussion list)
posted by RobertLoch
on Jun 28, 2002 -
28 comments
Wizards of the Coast was quite a strange place to work for in the early days. A gamer paradise of freebies, fun, and sex. A game or Truth of Swill changes everything. Now WOTC is owned by Hasbro and the February closing of the Seattle Gamecenter is the final nail in the coffin of gamer paradise.
posted by john
on Mar 27, 2001 -
8 comments
