For those who don’t follow both me and my wife, Mur Lafferty, you may not be aware that she is a prolific podcaster and writer as well. And I’m pleased as punch to announce that her first novel, Playing for Keeps, is now available from Swarm Press and launching today on Amazon.com.
If you like superheros and in particular works that deflate the somewhat overblown tropes of the genre, then I recommend this book. Keepsie Branson is one of a group of people with apparently useless superpowers — hers is the power to prevent anyone from taking things from her. But when she is given a mysterious object by a supervillain, she and her friends become embroiled in a conflict between both “good” and “evil” — and it’s not clear which side is which. The results will change the destiny of Keepsie and her city forever.
But don’t take my (admittedly biased) word for it — go to Amazon and read some of the other reviews there. And buy a copy today, if you can!
At long last, the annual Origins episode of The Vintage Gamer. As this is the third year, this officially makes it a cherished tradition. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately) there was no podcasters panel so instead I went around and did some interviews at some of the small press booths. A big “Thank You” to all who participated — if what you hear interests you, please support them with your dollars.
For a fuller picture of the show, I recommend you check out The Spiel Origins episode for a lot more show floor interviews, and the Dice Tower Origins episode for more info and a nice interview with (Spiel des Jahres winner!) Reiner Knizia.
Featured interviews:
- Matt Duhan of Gozer Games discusses: Collateral Damage
- Rob Balder of many things discusses: The FUnny Music Project, Erfworld, Partially Clips, Get Nifty
- Peter Hansell of Tablestar Games discusses: Wealth of Nations, Martinis and Men, HeroCard Orc Wars
- Fred Hicks of Indy Press Revolution and Evil Hat Productions discusses: Heaven and Earth, Archaia Studios, Avenues and Alleyways, Solipsist, Spirit of the Season, Spirit of the Century, Don’t Rest Your Head, Don’t Lose Your Mind, Monsters and Other Childish Things, GODLIKE, Wild Talents, Dresden Files RPG
- Curt Covert of Smirk and Dagger Games discusses: Cutthroat Caverns, Run For Your Life, Candyman, Hex*Hex, Hex*Hex Next, Cutthroat Caverns: Deeper & Darker
- Greg Lam of Pair Of Dice Games discusses: Chopstick Dexterity Megachallenge 3000, Warp6, Knockabout, Marvin Marvel’s Marvelous Marble Machine
Pictures of my trip to Origins including most of these folks can be found on my flickr feed. You can also see the lovely new sewer line.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
[Found at http://gracievalentine.blogspot.com]
For those of you in the southeast of Australia, there is a major videogame exhibition going on now in Melbourne until Sunday, July 13:
The largest ever exhibition dedicated to the past, present and future of videogames, Game On has toured the world, being presented at major international cities across the globe including Helsinki, Chicago, Tel Aviv, Hong Kong and London.
Unfortunately for those of us in other locations, I couldn’t find any information on future appearances, so you Aussies enjoy it while you can. Perhaps someday it will return to London, its original home.
Link
When the heat goes up, the photographer gets silly…
Those looking forward to Z-Man Games’ new edition of Tales of the Arabian Nights will be interested in this: Universal Head, the proprietor of Headless Hollow, has posted his designs for the upcoming release. He has images of the logo, some cards and the board, all of which look quite nice.
While honestly I’d probably buy it even if they scrawled it with crayon on old paper sacks (well, maybe not), it’s nice to see the level of detail that’s going into this.
[Link]
A rare copy of Zimmer’s Baseball Game was found in a small closet in the Bingham-Wagner estate in Independence, Missouri. The game — only 1 of 10 known to exist — is an early dexterity game and features images of turn of the century ballplayers, including Cy Young and the eponymous Mr. Zimmer. It was published in 1893 by McLoughlin Bros. for the Chicago’s World Fair. While the Baseball Hall of Fame is interested, it appears for now the game will remain in Missouri.
Link (CNN Video)
Oh my stars and garters, it’s another Vintage Gamer! This time I cover the 80s conspiracy game, Illuminati. Lie to your friends, stab them in the back, all to take over the world (sounds like Diplomacy — or a bizarre version of Lifeboats). All this, plus some Vintage Gamer news and feedback!
Read the rest of this entry »
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Those of you who enjoyed the Chess Variants episode might want to look into this. From Purple Pawn:
Ramsons Kala Pratishtana has organized their second exhibition of traditional Indian board games at the Pratima Gallery, Mysuru. The exhibition runs from 16 – 25 May.
They also started a kick-ass blog on traditional Indian board games.
There are some nice entries and pictures in the blog. The most recent one talks about how to play “Goats and Tigers,” which appears to be an alternate version of Fox and Geese.
Link
And so The Vintage Gamer returns to its regular yet irregular schedule. In this show I spend over an hour talking about one of my secret loves: chess variants. I talk about games of the past, games from other countries, and some other unusual variants. (and this barely scratches the surface). In addition, our new sponsor Bob stops by for a visit. All this, plus unrequested editorial commentary from a groundskeeper and a curious dog.
Read the rest of this entry »
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
[From Purple Pawn] Yet Avalon Hill favorite has been republished. This time it’s Blackbeard, Richard Berg’s pirate game. Players take on a role of a pirate from history, and can also act as British naval vessels hunting (presumably) the other pirates. The new version is redesigned by Richard Berg himself, published by GMT, and features simplified movement and combat, as well as more opportunities when playing as the Royal Navy. Pre-release sample art and rulebook are available on the GMT site.
[Link]
