At Kansas City’s The Pitch, a nice article on local game convention, ShaunCon, reports attendence by an array of gamers including parents and their children. Unfortunately, the one commenter seems to have missed the point and declares the tabletop game hobby dead. As you might imagine, I beg to differ. The popularity of Euro-style games is helping the board game segment to grow, while in RPGs there’s strong interest in both returning classics and the new indie crowd.

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Friday opens round one in the 2009 version of Paizo’s RPG Superstar contest. As was the case last year, the winner will secure a paid commission to design an RPG adventure module, though this time, it’s specifically for Paizo’s Pathfinder system. To enter the first round, interested contestants need to submit an original wondrous item by January 2nd. From those entries, judges will select the best 32 to continue. Further rounds will involve design tasks including a villain, a villain’s lair, and a full adventure proposal, with each being judged by public vote.

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Mongoose has published their annual State of the Mongoose report and amongst a host of tidbits (which are really quite good if you like Traveller and Judge Dredd) was the announcement that Mongoose will not be renewing their license to the Babylon 5 property due to lackluster sales, effectively ending the Babylon 5: A Call to Arms (ACtA) and Babylon 5 RPG games.  Instead, they will be re-releasing the A Call to Arms  system using a different property (presumably developed in-house).  This is a really interesting decision that will play out over the next few years – the ACtA system is generally considered to be an outstanding sci-fi miniatures system, but I have a feeling that the majority of people jumped on board because of the beloved Babylon 5 setting.

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Today, Gen Con LLC announced that it will be making good on its debts to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Gen Con sought and received from the bankruptcy court judge approval to pay the group for funds raised at a charity auction in 2007. This special approval allows Gen Con to send Make-A-Wish the $150,000 owed before settling with other creditors.

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Many shop classes teach you how to make tables and chairs, but instructor Joe Krysl is teaching his Columbus Middle School students by having them make board games. That includes designing the games (the rules, not just the boards). And then marketing them.

So far they’ve created thirty games, including Peg Attack and Hardball in the last quarter.

(source)

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The Village Toymaker in Memphis, TN teaches its staff to play games and relies on word of mouth to sell products.

Owner Pat Monz says that cheaper, faster products are the hot sellers, and 50% of his sales are in December.

“A lot of our business is more parent-driven than kid-driven,” Monz said, “because kids are so focused on products that are heavily advertised on TV. We just don’t carry a lot those products.”

Holly Knowlton, a mother of 4-year-old twins and aunt to nine nieces and nephews, said the products sold by The Village Toymaker match up with her values.

“I don’t like electronic toys,” said Knowlton. “I don’t like toys that don’t require children to do much. The toys that they carry here are less commercial and unique to the area.”

(source)

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I really love Deseret News. They’ve got a bunch of board game supporters on the staff, either the writers or the editors who decide what articles to print, that regularly publish best of breed articles about the modern board gaming world.

This week, Carma Wadley submitted two board game related stories:

In the first, Nothing beats fun of old-fashioned board games, she talks to Greg Jones of Fred Distribution, Matt Molen of SimplyFun, Toni Hansen of Claypoole Corner in Layton, a game boutique, Mike Compton of Game Night Games, and Casey Sartain of The Tutoring Toy Shoppe. Recommendations include Agricola, Pandemic, Jishaku, Discombobulation, Dominion, Worm Up!, and Ice Flow.

In the second, The best way to get ‘board’, she presents a list of 39 games, ranging from the mainstream, such as LDSopoly, to the BGG hot Through the Ages, to oh my goodness, that’s my game, It’s Alive.

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Tailgate Racing is a game. It’s also a place mat (food and water-proof).

The mission statement of the company includes:

• Provide a non violent alternate to the computer games of today.
• Provide a game plan when racing is halted by weather during race day TV parties, etc.
• To continue racing interest well after the regular race season has ended.
• Now everybody can compete for Tailgate racing points in neighborhoods across the country without shelling out the BIG BUCK for a racing stable.
• Play while enjoying your favorite beverage and betting on your favorite drivers car to $$$win!
• Tailgate Racing is intended for fun and recreation only.

You can’t find rules about the game, but the marketing supplies that Tailgate Racing is proudly made in the USA, as well as trademarked, patented, and copyrighted.

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