Georgios

Game Night Verdict #118 – Ghostbumpers / Seven Prophecies / The Slasher Ghostbumpers Ghostbumpers is a simple trick-taking game. It is particularly simple, as it does away with suits giving the trick to whomever plays the highest card. That is why 9 times out of 10 Ghostbumpers is played as a trick-avoidance game. For each trick you score, you have to discard the top card of your point cards stack. The height of which, i.e.

What's better than reviewing a trick-taking game?

Obviously, reviewing three trick-taking games!

Wacky Ghostbumpers, hilariously silly Seven Prophecies and the very tense The Slasher.

#boardgames

It would appear that I am heading to my first ever game of Blood on the Clocktower tonight.

There will also be pizza.

So no matter how things play out, I'll have pizza.

Which sounds like a sufficiently easy-going Saturday evening to me.

I'm a firm believer in "be honest".

Which is to say don't dress what you're trying to say in an effort to charm or entertain your reader. Say what you mean in exactly the way the situation demands. Be it nuanced, blunt, allegorical or prosaic, etc.

Use the right tool for the job.

What I'm getting at is that agency is the prerequisite to play.

Which makes it the designer's job to get players to believe in their own agency.

Either by removing/hiding obstacles ("look! few, simple rules") or by signposting how players have an impact on the game.

Player agency is a matter of both attitude and mechanisms.

It doesn't matter how many choices, actions or rules combos players are given.

If they don't believe in their ability to make an intentional difference, they will not feel like they have agency.

More often than not, belief beats reality.

Part of it may be that many players see skill as a pathway to control, which they also equate with agency.

So luck seems like the antithesis of what a game is supposed to provide them with.

Die Leute, die KI begrüßen, vorantreiben und fördern, sehen sich selbst auf einer Gewinnerseite, der sehr sehr viele Verlierer gegenüberstehen werden. Das wird aber nichts sein, was einfach wie so ein Naturgesetz die Verlierer überkommt, sondern etwas, das von den Gewinnern aktiv herbeigeführt wurde

I, too, have felt that old editions of Concordia have always lacked a certain je-ne-sais-AI.

There are no gallows high enough for these monsters.

So hat man ja auch die AfD in den Umfragewerten halbiert.

Working my way through this video in segments.

Because I regularly need to get up from my desk, walk around and calm down. The description of continuous attacks on the autonomy, self-determination and (mental) health of trans, queer and intersex people makes my blood boil.

Whatever the sound of game "clicking" with you is, I feel like I am right at the cusp of it with Arcs Blighted Reach. It might just about start to make sense for me. :)

One of my absolute favourites. The first trilogy is really just top notch entertainment. Make sure to pick up the next two games, too.

I'm playing through the prequel games now (Attorney Chronicles) and they're charming but not quite as fun.

Capitalism has warped our brains #2308:

"How could Euclid finance himself doing mathematics? Did he have rich parents or somebody making a profit off of his teachings?"

How did an ad show up in my post?

I find it slightly amusing that both 'pile of shame' and 'pile of opportunity' get abbreviated into scatological terms.

Verpackungskehrtwendebestürzung.

I'd prefer to steer clear as much as possible, to be honest. But I am always intrigued by designs that inspire either strong engagement or discussion.

Though preferrably not about the designer.

Is there a good companion piece/counterbalance game to Pax Pamir? Something that works well to highlight differences and/or similarities?

What's the hook of Pax games? And which one should I look into, if I only know Pamir so far?

Which I'm sure is fine for those who are already part of the select few. But cultural practices atrophy unless new people come in and are willing to participate.

New people that are significantly more difficult to find, when (fresh, unique) games are only available in niche shops.

The more AI gets to dilute games' main appeal, the less viable it becomes as product. The worse they sell, the less they're put in front of people. Which eventually results in specialized games for a specialized market at boutique prices.

Turning games into a cultural practice for the select few.

At their best, games are a popular medium not an elitist one. They're available to a wide range of people, not just those who have the means, skills and specialized knowledge to enjoy them.

Their uniqueness is why people seek them out, and it's by definition the one thing AI can't provide.

The more morons push AI into the production of games, the more the industry will recede from the mainstream and become a purely boutique level endeavor.

That games were also viable as commercial products was never a bad thing. It's how they became wide-spread enough to have cultural impact.

Look who got up and decided to be "that guy". Again.

If I were AEG I'd be embarrassed to have him on my payroll. Or desperately cling to the idea that my online reputation will never impact my bottom line.

Which is true, if you're willing to adjust your bottom line accordingly.

Wunderschöne Stadt. Großartige Bilder.

Ich finde das ist etwas tiefgestapelt. Als handlungs-fördernde Medien haben Spiele durchaus das Potential mehr zu sein als nur ein Werkzeug. Aber ich stimme dahingehend zu, dass sie innerhalb eines Lehrkontexts (mit Auf- und Nachbereitung) eher als Werkzeuge zu nutzen sind.

Das Thema Spiel und Demokratieförderung hat mich in letzten Wochen auch sehr beschäftigt. Ich bin mittlerweile zum Schluss gekommen, dass sich das nicht mit kompetitiven Spielen vereinbaren lässt.

Bestenfalls reproduziert man demokratische Strukturen, aber nicht die Werte auf denen sie basieren.

I'm Switch2 only, so I very much hope it will get ported eventually.

Because it looks fantastic.