Fort Mill, SC: Group attempting to scam travelers with card games and cash. (source)

Columbia, MO: Armed men thwarted from busting in on a private card game. (source)

St George, UT: Woman corners three boys in a tent late at night, claims to be sent to babysit them, interrupts their UNO game, and tries to ask them questions about their sexual history. (source)

New Orleans, LA: Man arrested for second-degree murder at a dice game. (source)

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In 1984, young Kasparov faced veteran Karpov for the World Chess Championship. Karpov started off with a 4-0 lead in a race to 6 wins, but after 48 games and 5 months, the score was 5 to 3, the rest being draws. Karpov was looking exhausted, and the entire Championship was called off by the FIDE president, despite objections from both players. The two met again in 1985 and Kasparov won the title. (source)

In September 2009, Kasparov and Karpov will meet in Valencia for a symbolic 3 day rematch. (source)

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Quickit is a dice rolling cricket game from sggc Parodice Games, available as a board game and also as a free downloadable electronic game. At least I think it’s available as a board game; there doesn’t appear to be any way to acquire it as a board game on the web site.

The game is subtitled “a parody with dice”. There are three dice, and you roll to see how far and in what direction you hit the ball. If there is a rules conflict (I wasn’t sure how this could arise), roll all three dice until the umpire (the white die) agrees with either the batsmen (red die) or fieldsmen (green die).

Like cricket, I suspect that this is impossible for Americans to understand.

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Blacksburg Tactical Research Center has released soft landing v1.0, a global crisis management game available as a PDF download for $10.

While the winner of the game is the player with the most victory points, the maximum number of victory points any player can have is 30, and the game can be played purely competitively or more cooperatively. Each nation starts with different conditions that might lead them to play more one way or another.

The game requires you to manage resources, catastrophes, environment, lifestyle, markets, industry, and other such things, and can end in a number of ways.

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Miguel Jagessar and Fiona Harry-Jagessar (husband and wife) won the University of Trinidad and Tobago’s first Business Plan competition with their board game Heaven’s Gate, Journey to God board game.

A spectacular name for a game. I’m wondering if the name is a coincidence, and what the win conditions are.

Second place in the competition was a breeding plan for goats.

(source)

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Dominion: Intrigue hits the streets Friday amid much anticipation by fans of the original Dominion. Fortunately, I’ve had a chance to play it a number of times already, having purchased a copy at Origins. Actually, Dominion was a game that I didn’t expect to like, but that opinion changed quickly after my first game! The basic mechanics are simple and easy to learn, the action is fast, yet intelligent play is clearly rewarded.

Intrigue is an expansion that adds just a touch more complexity. For example, in this box are two cards that are both Action and Victory, and one card that is both Treasure and Victory (those are—if you haven’t played the original—unusual dual-purpose cards). Also, several of the cards give you options to choose from, such as the Steward card: “Choose one: +2 Cards; or +2 Coin; or trash 2 cards from your hand.” Still, I found myself picking up the benefits and challenges of each quickly. Try out the “Best Wishes” recommended set. Even when it works against you, it’s hard not to appreciate the player who responds to a Torturer by voluntarily taking a Curse card, only to play a Masquerade and immediately pass it to their left. Or there’s the Scout and Wishing Well combination, where you get to reorder the top four cards on your draw deck, then guess the top card to put it in to your hand. Baron is a card whose value may not be apparent at first, but I love how well it fits the theme, as it encourages you to accumulate Estates.

Overall, a really great game that works well on its own or in combination with the original. The only question left—to sleeve the cards or not.

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