tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39212746132490121172024-03-13T17:16:23.900-04:00Between the RooksA blog about table top gaming for the family.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04221869778853631944noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3921274613249012117.post-11290584118655189062013-02-27T21:23:00.000-05:002013-02-27T21:23:13.446-05:00#TableTopDayI am struggling to get some traction around this to get some help. I run into lots of people who think it is a great idea, but like me, they don't know what to do. I have learned that I need a producer to fall out of a tree and help me get this going.<br />
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I had one conversation that didn't produce any actionable results. I did, however, put together an actual, formatted <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iaLrrhAqdUtsMrNPRgh7jrK22z94Ec5Y8yIRtujbaew/edit?usp=sharing">script</a> for the first episode. Still, I am absolutely no closer to making this happen.<br />
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To add to my desire to hurry up and get this thing launched, Felicia Day has announced <a href="http://youtu.be/x3m0PIWqkfQ">#TableTopDay</a>. I would so love to have a pilot up before that hits, so I can promote it on that day, and hopefully get some people to help me make it better. Let's face it, whatever I put together is going to be rough: very, very, very horribly bad and rough.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04221869778853631944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3921274613249012117.post-52771871596153551392013-01-20T22:36:00.000-05:002013-01-20T22:36:14.212-05:00Look Ma', No Board!When people ask about my hobby, I tend to respond with, "table top gaming." If I simply tell others that I'm a gamer, they usually think of console video games. I could tell people that I play board games, but that invites homophonous jibes and ignores huge segments of the games that I play.<br />
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This week, I wanted to explore three fun, family games that don't have boards.<br />
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Piece o' Cake</h2>
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<a href="http://www.riograndegames.com/games.html?id=351">Piece o' Cake</a> was created by Jeffrey D. Allers and is published by <a href="http://www.riograndegames.com/index.html">Rio Grande Games</a>. It is a simple, fun, quick game that my six-year old raves about. What six-year old doesn't enjoy the idea of baking and eating cake?</div>
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In Piece o' Cake, there are different types of cake represented by numbered slices. The slices are arranged together to make five complete, round cakes. The first player will cut the first cake, separating it into pieces. Since each cake is made up of 11 slices, a prime number, there is never a way to make the pieces the same size. The player doing the cutting has to balance the size of a piece with the value of the piece.</div>
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After the first player cuts the cake, the next player gets first choice. This mechanic makes players think ahead. Which slices will each player want, and how much are they worth to each player? Which piece will I be left with, after everyone else gets theirs?</div>
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Each player is trying to score as many points as possible, and they do this by collecting or consuming the slices they get in their piece. Each slice is numbered, from 3 to 11. This not only represents the points the player can get for collecting the most of that type by the end of the game, but it indicates how many of that type are actually in the game. There are three 3's and eleven 11's. Collect more of the 3's than any one else, and score three points. Collect more of the 11's, and score 11 points.</div>
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Each slice can be immediately eaten, instead of collected. Each slice has one or more dollops of whipped cream. Those indicate how many points the slice is worth if eaten. The 3's each have one. If a player collects all three 3's, they score three points. If that same player were to have eaten all three 3's, they would've scored 3 points. The 11's, however, have three dollops of whipped cream, meaning a player that eats as few as four will score more points than the player that collected the most.</div>
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These pressures, should I collect, should I eat, create the mathematical dynamics that players have to balance in order to win. They need to be aware of who else is collecting, how many are already collected, how many they need to collect, and how many they can risk eating.</div>
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Look at the heaping pile of math infused critical thinking in this game! Context is everything, however. The math in this game could be boring, if it weren't being applied to the sweetness of cakes. That application in this game answers that age old question, "when am I ever going to use algebra?"</div>
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The game does have some drawbacks. While it does have, "2 - 5 players" on the box, the game really isn't the same with just two players. It lacks a bit of dynamism.</div>
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Once one really gets the hang of the game's chief mechanic, it can be a bit repetitive. I enjoy playing this with my children, but it is not a game that I'd play with my friends from college.</div>
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Forbidden Island</h2>
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I also don't tend to like playing co-operative games with my friends from college. It usually becomes a play-by-committee affair that suffers from analysis paralysis. The game would go much better if we just left one person to play while the rest of us watched TV.</div>
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With my children, though, the idea is fantastic. My wife and I don't make any decisions. We offer suggestions and alternatives, and give the pros and cons for each plan. We make the children decide. We put them in charge and appoint them as leader of the team of fortune seekers looking to liberate the four sacred treasures from the Forbidden Island.</div>
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The catch, and there is always a catch, is that the island is sinking.</div>
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<a href="http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games&page=game&show=245">Forbidden Island</a> was designed by <a href="http://www.leacock.com/">Matt Leacock</a> and is published by <a href="http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games">Gamewright</a>. The game, like all the games in this article, doesn't use a traditional board. Instead, the island is made up of twenty four tiles. There is a corresponding deck of twenty four cards. After each player's turn, a number of cards are revealed indicating which tiles are flooding. As play goes along, more and more of the island washes away!</div>
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The adventurers must collect the four treasures and make it to the dust-off point before the island sinks. If any of the treasures are lost, if any of the party is unable to reach the helicopter, or it is unable to land, the entire game is lost. Everyone wins or loses together!</div>
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The game does a fantastic job of building tension. It really is enjoyable to play, and I love the chance to encourage the children to learn and grow as leaders. The ability to think through and solve a problem, to manage the resources and stay focused on the goal is what prompts the 10+ age recommendation on the tin. The rules themselves and the mechanics of the game, are very simple.</div>
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This is a game that I highly recommend for family gaming. Unlike most games where there is competition, where there are winners and losers, this game is a collaborative effort. The whole family must work together. I don't think children should be completely isolated from competing. I think the bruises to their egos from defeat will help them mature and grow, but I do recognize that there is a need to give children a space to explore and grow where they don't feel like they are alone versus the world.</div>
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While this game does top my list of recommendations, there are some disclaimers I must give. This game is for two to four players. It doesn't scale beyond four.</div>
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The game also has a few moving parts, and does feel a bit fiddly at times. No single set of rules are complex, but there are two decks of cards to be managed, the island of tiles, and each player gets a special ability that lets them break one of the core rules of the game.</div>
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Still, for any family just starting gaming, I recommend Forbidden Island.<br />
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Settlers of Catan</h2>
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<a href="http://www.catan.com/">Settlers of Catan</a> was created by <a href="https://twitter.com/RealKlausTeuber">Klaus Teuber</a> and is published, in the US, by <a href="http://mayfairgames.com/game.php?id=55&stock=MFG3061&name=The+Settlers+of+Catan">Mayfair Games</a>. It, again, doesn't use a board. Instead, the game uses hexagonal tiles, arranged randomly for each game, to create the board. Once the board is created, it is static.</div>
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Settlers of Catan is a resource game. Players vie for position and collect a number of raw materials. They can trade these materials to build and expand. Once the game ends, their expansion, their assets, are counted and the player with the most wins. It is very simple.</div>
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In that regard, it is like Monopoly. Unlike Monopoly, Settlers of Catan is actually good. Players are engaged the entire time. They make decisions from the beginning. Their moves are not scripted. And unlike Monopoly, the competition stays close the entire time. The game does often come down to the very end. One more turn, and someone else would've won.</div>
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Settlers builds on all those skills that one expects in a game like Monopoly: resource management, trade and negotiation, planning and building, and like the real estate mantra, location, location, location.</div>
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In Settlers, most tiles produce a resource. They are all assigned a number from 2 to 12, excluding 7. On each turn, two six sided dice are rolled. The tiles with a number that matches the result on the dice produces their resource that turn. Every player that has a settlement adjacent to that tile receives the production for that turn. There is an open trading period, then building, and repeat.</div>
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There are a few different things that resources can be spent on, meaning there are a few different paths in which players can score points. This keeps the game dynamic and close. This gives players chances to be flexible and competitive.</div>
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The game also has some expansions, and there are rules for playing on a larger island, using two sets, allowing for more players. Meaning this game is well suited for larger family gatherings.</div>
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In the interest of fairness, I have to admit, I don't like Settlers of Catan. There is something about the game that just doesn't connect with me.</div>
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I would also warn, as far as family ages go, I would put this one a little on the older side. The 10+ on the box is more reasonable. Since there are a few different ways score points, younger family members aren't as likely pick the right one, and may not be as competitive. Without really understanding all the ways to score points, they won't really understand the value of all the resources, which will put them at a further disadvantage when making trades.</div>
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All that aside, this is still the game that should replace Monopoly at the family gaming table.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04221869778853631944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3921274613249012117.post-59427003421153791182013-01-13T12:23:00.000-05:002013-01-13T12:29:32.509-05:00The 8x8 Board<h2>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.6860122429206967"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chess</span></b></h2>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chess has been with us, in one form or another, for centuries. Scholars still debate from where we got chess, and even why it is called 'chess'. It is a very established game, and even those who don't know how to play, know what it is. Because it is ubiquitous, chess is a good family game. There is a global community of chess players, and an <a href="http://www.fide.com/">international body</a> to rank players. One can find dozens of good, simple websites to explain the rules, and hundreds of books to explain the theory.</span></b></h2>
<a name='more'></a><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chess sets are also very easy to find. They come in many, many different themes, in wood or pewter or resin or plastic. Everything from Nintendo or Star Wars characters to historical battle participants. If you are very industrious, you could make your own, perhaps out of clay, Legos, wood, or whatever. That might be a fun family project.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The chess board is setup the same way every time. And while it may look daunting at first to learn, there are plenty of mnemonics to help. "White on right." "Queen on her own color." And these pieces go alphabetically from center to sides: Bishop, Knight, Rook.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chess teaches sportsmanship and patience. The game itself also exercises not just short term memory but working memory. A player has to not only remember what the plan was from turn to turn, but while formulating that plan, the player plays out the game in their head.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“If I move here, then my opponent would likely move here or here. If they move here, then I will move</span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> here. And then they will move...”</span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">...on a board, three turns from now, that I’m imagining in my head.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">One also has to not only solve the problem in front of themselves, “How do I accomplish this objective?”, but one has to deduce what an opponent’s response will be. What objective are they trying to accomplish, and at what point will they break from that to prevent me from reaching mine.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is also the risk taking aspect to the game. One shouldn't become too attached to any individual piece. It may be worthwhile to sacrifice a piece in order to win the game. The question is, how much risk, and when?</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game is, no doubt, brilliant, not just in its </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">game play</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">, but in the positive aspects it can have on children. But the game has equally monumental drawbacks.</span></span></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj561UTmU573VqtEgd-t8NeexmK0kZOhDpnJN2CdNaDJk4UoODGCzhqwtP2a6lofonievih3Yyi2FyHdB2irRXQeKv_0peZhQD6Jm_zScfvONY7DG5TQriPq0-6l-sR3PzZ8J90qPk9K05q/s1600/Spanish+Opening+Berlin+Defence.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj561UTmU573VqtEgd-t8NeexmK0kZOhDpnJN2CdNaDJk4UoODGCzhqwtP2a6lofonievih3Yyi2FyHdB2irRXQeKv_0peZhQD6Jm_zScfvONY7DG5TQriPq0-6l-sR3PzZ8J90qPk9K05q/s1600/Spanish+Opening+Berlin+Defence.png" /></a></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Astute readers will notice that white is using the Spanish opening. Black is using the Berlin defense. And that underscores the problem with the game. Chess has such a rigid structure, that there is a finite number of ways the game can end. That is what has given computers the chance to beat humans, through simple brute force. The computer can evaluate every possible move, and then pick the one that leads to the highest number of favorable outcomes. It can then make that calculation over again after each turn, and, through simple brute force, beat a human.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Coupling that rigid structure with the age of the game, and, for humans, the game becomes more about study and memorization than it does about creativity and problem solving. This opening, the Spanish opening, gets its name from the Spaniard, Ruy Lopez, that quite literally wrote the book on it in 1561.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was this sort of brute-force solution that prompted Omar Syed to publish the rules to an alternative to chess in 2002. He wanted a game that relied on creativity to such a degree that it would confound a computer, but was simple enough that his then four-year-old son, Aamir, could play.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The result is <a href="http://arimaa.com/arimaa/">Arimaa</a>.</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: large; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arimaa</span></span></b></h2>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arimaa can be played with a standard chess set, or with a set you make yourself. <a href="http://www.zmangames.com/">Z-Man Games</a> publishes an <a href="http://zmangames.com/boardgames/arimaa.htm">Arimaa set</a>, too.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Instead of pawns, Arimaa has rabbits. Each piece is a type of animal, and each animal is meant to be bigger than the one that follows. Sort of like the old lady that swallowed a dog. She swallowed the dog to catch the cat, she swallowed the cat to catch the bird, she swallowed the bird to catch the spider, and so on.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Arimaa has the elephant, which is bigger than the camel, which is bigger than the horses, which are bigger than the dogs, which are bigger than the cats, which are bigger than the rabbits. And that size relationship is important. During a game, a larger animal can trap, push, or pull a smaller animal.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The objective of the game is simple, get a rabbit to the other side. And since each player has eight, it sounds easy enough.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike chess, pieces don’t have complicated and archaic movements to memorize. On each turn, a player gets four spaces of movement. That’s it. Those four spaces can be used by a single piece, or divided among any number of pieces (obviously up to four).</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There is something to keep in mind. When you decide to use one of your animals to push or pull one of your opponent's smaller animals, you spend one of your movement allowance on your opponent's piece.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike chess, pieces are not captured. There are four pits on the board. If any animal finds himself alone over one of these pits, they fall in, and are removed from the board. As long as there is a friend in an adjacent space, to hold a hand, as it were, the space is completely safe and just like any other space.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So far, the game is simple, and these rules alone offer enough variety to make a computer work harder. But wait... there’s more.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Unlike chess, there is no prescribed starting position. Each player may set up their pieces in any order along the first two rows on their side.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline;"> </span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Baffling. Computers seem to think so.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And the possibilities for creativity are staggering. The rules are simple, the concept is simple, yet there is so much potential in this little game. I simply love it. If I personally never get around to playing another game of chess, I won’t complain.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like chess, this game makes a good correspondence game. Your child could play against a penpal. Though, I don’t guess people have penpals anymore. It would be more likely against granddad via email.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This game could also be set up in a corner of the house and left alone. You and your child taking a turn when you have a free moment and happen to pass by.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But the game isn’t perfect.</span><br /><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like chess, it is only two players. For a family of four, it can be a little anti-social.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">And while my son does enjoy this game, he has never beaten me at it. That isn't a complaint. Even though he hasn't won, he keeps trying. And he should. I don't think children should be allowed to get discouraged and give up. They should be coaxed into trying again. Trust me, one day my son will beat me. And one day, he’ll find that I can't beat him.</span></b><br />
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The reason, however, for this imbalance is, this game has no random chance at all. It all comes down how much thought one puts into it. Get distracted, lose focus, and your opponent gains a huge advantage. There are other games where one can be more relaxed and more social. So, when gathered around the table on a Friday night, having laughs and fun while playing games, you won’t find yourself playing this.</span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chess and Arimaa are a couple of very good games, but they may not appeal to everyone. So, what, you</span></b><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> may ask, if we added lasers?</span></b><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: large; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Khet</span></b></h2>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://www.khet.com/">Khet</a> is just such a game. It is a two-player game where pieces move on a board and in a way that is familiar to chess and Arimaa players. The difference, for this game, is the laser.</span></b><br />
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In opposite corners are small laser diodes on permanent pieces. The players take turns moving their pieces around the board, and firing their lasers. Some of the pieces have mirrored sides, to deflect the laser. Some of the pieces can be stacked. When a laser strikes the non-mirrored side of a piece and causes the translucent plastic to glow, the piece is removed. The object is to eliminate the opponent's king, or Pharaoh.</span></b><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game can feel a bit like a gimmick with the laser, but the theme of the game will appeal to a different audience. The </span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">frivolous</span></span><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"> fun the laser adds isn't to be underestimated, either. The concert of pieces reflecting or deflecting the laser expands the attention of the player and adds a new dimension to any strategies that may carry over from chess and Arimaa.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like chess, Khet does have prescribed starting positions, but the game does have different configurations. The pieces could start in one of the different prescribed set-ups.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Like Arimaa, the game has very simple rules for movement. The different pieces on the board just have different properties in regards to mirrored edges and stack-ability. On a players turn, they simply move a single piece one space, or turn a single piece one face.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Chess has a defined beginning, middle, and end game. In chess, the opening few moves help set a tone, marking the center of the board. Once that tone is established, there is a defined middle game where the players try to control the center and develop pieces. As an advantage is realized for one player, the game moves into a defined end game. Since the Khet pieces start distributed through-out the board and not just on each players' side, the game has an <i>in media res</i> sort of feel. The players aren't starting at the beginning, they are jumping into the action, and feel like they are in the middle game of chess.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game does have a few drawbacks. Like chess and Arimaa, the game is two-player. The game is also solely based on focus and skill.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The biggest drawback, however, is acquiring the game. Unlike Arimaa and chess, which can be played with anything made or found, Khet relies on the lasers and mirrors.</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The game also doesn't have the age and volume of literature of chess and doesn't have the community of chess or Arimaa. In some regards, however, this is a good thing. Since no one has written a book on every gambit in Khet, it still feels fresh and original.</span></span></span><br />
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With either of these three games, players can develop concentration and memory skills while they build multi-steps plans to win.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04221869778853631944noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3921274613249012117.post-75164883036883756922013-01-13T11:35:00.001-05:002013-01-13T11:45:53.678-05:00The IdeaLast year, my son's elementary school had a chess club. I had the chance to help out with that, and I thought it was brilliant. The kids, mostly third through fifth graders, with nearly as many girls as boys, took to it quickly. By the end of the year, some of them even started to go beyond merely understanding the rules, to really understanding the mechanics behind the game.<br />
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The strategies behind chess, the analysis, the evaluations, the situational awareness, the planning, and the risk taking, are all things these students can use outside of gaming to solve problems in the classroom, in social situations, at future careers, and at life. I felt that seventy-five minutes a week, just playing chess, wasn't enough. This was something these kids really needed to take home. They needed to be able to get their parents involved, and to continue playing, growing, and learning. I also felt that chess alone was not teaching enough.<br />
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I had an idea for a YouTube video series; a sort of <a href="http://www.foodnetwork.com/good-eats/index.html">Good Eats</a> meets tabletop gaming. The idea was for a series that would be targeted not just at the kids, but at the parents of kids. The series would expose parents to the different games that are available, and help them pick games that they and their family would enjoy.<br />
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I can very easily get a young, eager mind like my son to learn to play chess. I don't know that my wife is as interested, and I know there is no way I'm going to be able to teach my mother. Yet, my son plays a variety of games with his mother and his grandmother, and they all enjoy it immensely.<br />
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The reality of the video series is this: it is beyond me. I know what I want to put it in, but I don't have the experience doing that. I could try to put up something crude, and beg for patience as it gets better. I could, but there are plenty of horrible, low quality, unfocused, and generally less-than-helpful videos out there on the subject that are hard to sit through and in the long run, aren't going to capture and engage the audience that I want to reach.<br />
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I feel that I must continue to pursue the video series as I envision it. To do that, I need help. To anyone that reads this, if there is something you can contribute, an idea, experience, expertise, equipment, know-how, please<a href="mailto:betweentherooks@gmail.com"> let me know</a>. If you want to get involved in this project, if you want to help, please let me know. Eventually, we will be able to put this together and get it out there, and help parents bringing gaming into their families.<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04221869778853631944noreply@blogger.com2Durham, NC, USA35.9940329 -78.89861935.5829624 -79.544066 36.4051034 -78.253171999999992