Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls is another celebrity that spends her free time enjoying board and card games.

Among other board and card games, her favorites include Cranium and Spades.

(source, image)

• 0 Comments

Brighton, UK: Eight men at illegal card game get robbed by two men with guns, and then call the police. (source)

Ho Che Min City, Vietnam: 50 police officers and two police dogs track down and arrest 19 people gambling in a forest. (source)

Iowa City, IO: Man shot and killed at a dice game. (source)

Bridgeport, PA: One man kills another over a beer pong game. Dead man’s last words: “Shoot me, shoot me, you guys ain’t got the (expletive)!” (source)

Dunn, NC: Robbers hit a private card game, kidnap a boy, and try to rob the boy’s grandparent’s house. (source)

Meihekou, China: Man burns down house because his wife wouldn’t give him money to play mahjong. (source)

Not criminal, but worth mentioning, both in China: A 40 year old woman foamed at the mouth, fainted, and fell off her chair from excitement at winning a game of mahjong. (source) And a 68 year old man slapped the table, fell off his chair, and broke his leg from excitement at winning a game of mahjong. (source)

• 0 Comments

Wichita, KS has shut down a game of Kandu played for money at a local card-room, on the grounds that it is luck based gambling, which is illegal in KS. The owner of the room, and the inventor of the game, is petitioning for a reversal.

In Kandu, before dealing out cards, the entire deck is spread open before all players, and each can then decide whether or not to participate in that hand. The inventors argue that this turns the game into a game of skill; the county calls it a sham, since no one can memorize the deck in a few seconds perusal.

I think county is quite missing the point. You don’t have to memorize the entire deck of cards. If other states have ruled Texas Hold’em a game of skill, Kandu is surely at least, or more, skillful.

(source)

• 0 Comments

There’s a Moose in the House is a quick and fun card game that I’ve played many times with my children. Musician Jim Briggs captures its silly spirit with Moose in the House Blues. Check his web site for the video from Hillside Elementary School.

• 0 Comments

Let’s begin with two Microsoft patents, neither of which are specifically board or card game related, but both of which are worth mentioning due to their abusive generality and obviousness:

Microsoft patent 1: Instant messaging embedded games – They claim the idea of embedded a game in an IM application. E.g. your IM application let’s you play Chess with your buddies.

Microsoft patent 2: Personalizing access of game web site based on user configuration – Presenting access on a web page to only those games you already have licensed on your computer. Using XML.

Thanks Microsoft. What would we do without you?

On to the more relevant patents:

Poker-type card game and method therefor – After two cards, the highest hand places a wager. As each of the next three community cards is revealed, the losing hand places a wager at least equal to the first wager. Highest hand in the end takes the pot. Played against a dealer, for some reason; I’m not sure how house keeps the advantage.

Modified chess set and method of playing a modified game of chess – 9×9 chess board with two “princes” instead of a queen (same movement rules). Way to exclude the only powerful female character in the history of abstract games.

Game player selection device and method – An electronic gizmo that can randomize turn order in a board or card game, as well as keep track of whose turn it is. Cute. I like it.

Methods of playing card games comprising saying the alphabet with words, saying words with words, and saying the alphabet with words while saying words with words – Enunciation games.

Multi-player audio game and game console – A very strange game for Ipod owners. Plug your mp3 players into the game board and begin a game with various questions. When you think you have a matching song, be the first to find it on your device and press play. If your song is correct (?) you win the round. If you’re voted incorrect, the other players still have a shot.

Rectangular optimization grid and associated mathematical games – A grid apparatus upon which to play mathematical problems. For more information, see this paper by the author. (PDF)

Playing card system – This guy would like to reinvent card shuffling, since it is a) time consuming, and b) prone to mistakes and cheating. His solution: stick every card into a metallic case (like a business card holder), and throw them all into a lotto ball like cage with a crank that can be spun around.

Method and device for conducting a blackjack-type card game – The casino game Double Attack Blackjack from Nu Games.

Method and device for playing a game using a grid – Poker where the cards are arranged in a pattern on the table (triangle, square, etc) and you get to choose a subset of cards from the pattern (line, diamond). Gee. I remember playing this type of poker back in the 70s with my brother.

Board game – Pachisi, where the player’s starting positions are country names (USA, Canada, England, Jamaica) and the center space is called Paradise. The rules are exactly like Pachisi. Whoever approved this patent is an imbecile.

Varieties of human experiences board game – From the abstract: “Provides the player with real life experiences such as confrontations against other players as well with the inevitable elements of nature. The game creates a greater awareness about the complexities of modern living, and how interdependent we are with our environment.”

Poker games with varying position advantage – Any standard Texas Hold’em or Omaha game, where some of the wagering goes in the opposite direction, thus eliminating the advantage held by the last player to bet on a hand. Assigned to Prime Table Games.

Systems and methods for card games that simulate non-card casino table games – Poker and Roulette variants with a side bet. Assigned to The Pala Band of Mission Indians.

• 0 Comments

Dart Flip Cards creates trading cards in dozens of licenses for card-flipping purposes (I used to call that “card scaling”). Licenses include Pepsi and Coke, Battlestar Galactica, Crocodile Hunter, Gilligan’s Island, The Munsters, Sailor Moon, and many more.

The cards are not simple squares but aerodynamically designed for flipping. They also sell the Flipzz screen (above), and a series of trading cards that come with actual gemstones.

• 0 Comments

Rand McNally, the map company, gives us Boredom Breakers, a series of portable games to be played in the car while the parents fight over who gets to look at the map.

Games include Story Starters with (interactive CD), Car Karaoke, Travel Card Games (3 games: 30 Second Interview, an ice breaker game; I Saw It First (spot the object and collect points); Tough Choice (sounds like Would You Rather?)), and Magnet Message Makers (not really a game; create a license plate with magnetic pictures and words). Car Game Countdown is coming soon.

• 0 Comments

Saturday saw crowds on the show floor and in the gaming rooms. I find the shopping better early and late, so it was extended time in the Board Room for me. Some of the hotest games were Dominion: Intrigue, Finca, and Smallworld. Of course, besides the latest games, there are still some traditions maintained at Origins. Outside the Board Room all day long could be found teams of people negotiating the fate of the Western world in the game of Diplomacy. And late at night, when it’s really time to finally get some sleep, it’s hard to back out of a couple of games of Werewolf.

Another tradition at the con is the Origins Awards, and this year I think the dedicated board gamers will be a lot happier. In the category of Card Games, Dominion actually came out ahead of Monty Python Flux. Pandemic won the Board Games category. Other highlights included Mouseguard winning in the RPG category and Say Anything in Children’s, Family, and Party Games. For the rest of the details, check out the full report at Critical-Hits.

Sunday was slow—just enough time for a few more games of Dominion: Intrigue and a quick check for discounts on the show floor before people had to run off and catch their flights for home.

• 0 Comments

Manila, Phillipines:  1 killed, 32 injured when grenade hurled at card players and karaoke bar in town plaza. (source)

Cincinnati, OH: 2 life terms for men who killed and robbed people a card game in a home over three years ago. (source)

Not criminal – International Falls, MN: Somebody wants the person who bought two old board games at their rummage sale to kindly return the vast sums of cash that were hidden inside. Please. (source)

Brighton, UK: Banker steals £411,000 to fund her gambling addiction. (source)

Trelawny, Jamaica: Three men arrested for enticing vicitms to play cards and then robbing them right afterwards. (source)

Benton Harbor, IN: Two men shot in argument over a dice game. One lost an eye. (source)

• 0 Comments

If you live near Amherst, MA, you might consider joining the Pioneer Valley Gamer Collective.

The Collective is a non-profit that operates a game store called Worlds Apart Games. WAG is like any other game store, with games, dice, etc, as well as place to play games, but it’s worker managed and worker owned. They also make themselves available to do game outreach, non-profit fund raising, education, and so on.

Anyone can join to get discounts and a say in what goes on.

• 0 Comments