Don’t fear the Reaper; join it. Reaper Miniatures is looking for artists, including Concept Designers, Illustrators, Colorists, and Sculptors.

• 0 Comments

The Pegasus Expansion for Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game has been arriving in stores. New resources for the fleet and new opportunities for betrayal.

And, no, I am not a Cylon.

• 0 Comments

The All Game is a spiritual … um … discovery … connectedness … treat yourself … chakra .. path to wholeness … life … joy … instructive … supportive … behavior patterns … holistic … growth … appreciation … security … energy … relationship … mind … experience … thingie.

And don’t you forget it.

• 0 Comments

Innerlinks sells Angel Cards, little slips of laminated blessings for you to pick out of a bowl each morning, or each week. The idea is that the blessing you pick (e.g. Grace, Laughter, Love, …) will accompany you until the next pick.

My downstairs neighbors have these, and every time I drop in, I pick one out of the bowl, gasp in horror, and quickly stuff it back into the bowl. Then I tell them that instead of an angel, I got a Devil Card again (Despair, Greed, Loneliness, …) while they complain that there are no such things as Devil Cards.

Maybe not yet, but I just sent a letter to Innerlinks asking them to print some for me.

They also sell a game called The Transformation Game, originally created at the Findhorn Foundation. “Gain awareness and heal pain as you advance through physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual realms.” The game can be played alone or as part of a workshop.

• 0 Comments

Port Salerno, FL: Two men shot two other men to get back their money losses after an all-night card game. (source)

Manchester, Jamaica: Two men shot and killed while playing Dominoes at a shop. (source)

Washington, DC: Police officer shot in the leg when they interrupt a dice game and one of the players first runs and then charges the police with a handgun. (source)

Cleveland, OH: Some 17 year old boys beat up another one and steal his money ($20) at a dice game. (source)

Wichita, KS: Man rams his car into a garage with people playing cards because none of them knew “Cindy”. (source)

Houston, TX: Shootout at a poker game. Three men try to rob a card game, and one of the victims shoots one of the robbers in a shootout. (source)

Tampa, FL: Man shot three times after an illegal dice game. (source)

Indianapolis, IN: Man shot and wounded at a dice game. (source)

Not criminal, but amusing: A top-rated French Chess grandmaster forfeited a game at the Kolkata Open owing to drunkenness. He kept falling asleep and stumbling. (source)

Not game, but … LA, CA: Mattel security chief accused of bribing the police over the Bratz case against MGA. (source)

SPECIAL: The Salt Lake Tribune takes note of the increasing violence in tabletop games. (source) Personally, I blame video games.

• 0 Comments

According to Nielsen [PDF], over 43 million people played 847 tracked casual PC games in March, 2009. 75% of the total minutes spent playing PC games is spent playing casual games. And 88% of the minutes spent playing casual PC games is spent playing card games.

Additional info: Dominant age bracket is 25-54. 58% are female (vs 37% for rpgs, 25% for shooters).

And heavy gamers tend to play twice as long in one sitting as casual gamers.

(source)

• 1 Comment

Cornhole (aka beanbag toss) is massively popular in middle America. There’s a national association, the American Cornhole Association. And another national association, the American Cornhole Organization. And you can buy supplies from Hillbilly Games.

And there’s a World Championships which starts tomorrow in Evansville, IN. Strangely, I couldn’t find any link between the ACA or the ACO and the World Championships. Or the National Cornhole Championships (video; just wait for the names of the teams).

(hat tip)

• 1 Comment

Rudiger Schenke manufactured parts for automobiles until his business dropped to next to nothing.

Rather than fold the company and let go his employees, he read reports that board games were making a comeback. So he decided to create a board game and use his machines to crank out aluminum cars for pieces. The game is called Abwrack Pramie, or Cash for Clunkers.

It costs 32 EUR plus shipping.

(source)

• 2 Comments

Get ready for more Monopoly news.

Hasbro is finally ready to release Monopoly City Edition, it’s 3D version of Monopoly. It’s planning lots of giveaways and hooplahs.

One of the first is Monopoly City Streets, an online game where you can buy and sell real-world streets using Google Maps. It doesn’t actually appear to have much to do with the rules of Monopoly, but whatever. The site will be up Sep 9. (source)

Another is Hasbro’s designating Sep 23 as National Family Game Night. Sep 23 is, of course, the date of the Concordat of Worms. I’m pretty sure that’s the reason.

• 0 Comments

In Rutherglen, Scotland, Peter Tucknutt has been pimping his card game Scotland, a multiplication math game featuring pictures of Scotland, for ten years. He distributed the game to local schools, and it’s on sale at local museums, the Parliament, and at Le Sorelle at 264 Stonelaw Road in Burnside. (source)

The Miami herald pimps Eric Poses and his game company All Things Equal (Loaded Questions).

The Chicago Tribune would like to pimp some board games for the upcoming holiday season. They’re taking submissions. (source)

• 0 Comments