While it might not enjoy a welcoming reception in Columbia, elsewhere the imminent arrival of Ghost Stories is eagerly awaited by gamers who weren’t able to pick up the preview copies at Essen. Good thing, then, that publisher Asmodee Editions reports the game is on its way to distributors. Ghost Stories is a cooperative game with a distinctly Asian style. In it the players work to protect a village from attacking spirits led by Lord of the Nine Hells, Wu-Feng.

By the way, shipped out at the same time was Formula D, revised version of longtime favorite racing game, Formula De. Don’t forget to catch one of these first copies, as they contain a bonus street racing car playing piece.

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So many celebrities are now into dominoes, e.g.

Ashton Kutcher, Bruce Willis, Charlize Theron, David Walliams, Demi Moore, Donna Karan, Erin O’connor, Eva Herzigova, Eva Longoria Parker, Gwen Stefani, James Franco, James Van Der Beek, Javier Bardem, Jemima Khan, Jennifer Aniston, Jeremy Piven, Jessica Alba, Josh Hartnett, Kate Hudson, Katie Holmes, Lucy Liu, Michelle Trachtenberg, Milla Jovovich, Natalie Imbruglia, Olivier Martinez, Penelope Cruz, Ridley Scott, Rumer Willis, Salma Hayek, Sharon Stone, Sienna Miller, Snoop Dogg, Stuart Townsend, Tamara Beckwith, Tom Cruise, Victoria Beckham, and Willie Nelson

to name a few, that two celebrities got together to create their own version of the game: Hollywood Domino.

The game, published by Hasbro, is the product of rules variations proposed after many game sessions at  Salma Hayek’s house. Two of the regulars, Daya Fernandez and Inge Theron, took the rules and created a new game. The game is still essentially dominoes (Mexican Train), but themed around the film industry.

It was launched last February in Beverly Hills, and again this week in NYC. Another event is planned for LA in Feb, 2009. Proceeds from the launch events go to Charlize Theron’s Africa Outreach Project.

(source)

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Weijers Domino Productions has created a business out of toppling dominoes.

Business services include toppling dominoes to form company logos, participation events, commercials, and special events.

They hold the world record for domino toppling (4.079.381) from their Domino Day in 2006. Domino 2008 this coming Friday aims to beat that record with 4.5 million topples. They tried last year, but several hundred thousand dominoes didn’t fall from the first push.

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Shannon Gardner has been working for ten years to convince people to play and invest in his concept of chess on a cylindrical board, which he calls Third Millennium Chess.

The game is round, so opponents can attack each other from two directions. Each player has two sets of pawns and two split-knights. These can move in tandem, split and move alone, then re-form and move together again.

These knights will protect each other, so if a player gets the opportunity to move into the classic queen-check, rook-check position, where there is no way to fend off an attack from a properly backed-up knight, the knight can “split” when moving and defend himself. That way, the king, sitting next to the queen, cannot take the knight without putting himself in check.

“Chess was invented when people thought the world was flat, but the world is round,” he said.

… So why a cylinder, and not a sphere? Hey, I’m just asking.

(source and image)

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