In this issue:

- Welcome
- Risk: One Game's Journey
- What is a Euro Game?
 

- RAGE is coming
- Subscribe
- That's a Wrap

Welcome

Ah, the weather is starting to get warmer, colour is returning to our gardens and Spring is officially here. One of our subscribers is getting a pleasant Spring surprise – courtesy of our monthly prize draw. Yes, our prize winner this month is Lorraine S. from Rivonia who wins a copy of the awesome game Carcassonne. Congratulations, to you, and thank you again for subscribing to our newsletter.

With the change of season comes some good news – our new stock has arrived and braved the strikes at the airport. New stock include games not seen before on the site such as:

· Star Wars Risk, A Risk alternative with very interesting game mechanics
· Shadows over Camelot, the cooperative game previously covered
· Ticket to Ride – Europe, sure to have an impact, just like it’s original sibling
· Arkham Horror, the cooperative game based on the Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft
· Carcassonne – Princess and Dragon expansion.

More good news is that Runebound (the second edition) is back in print and we should have it in store in October – depending on our friendly SAA workers not striking again! The crew is also investigating whether we can come to some agreement with Fantasy Flight Games with regards to allowing those boardgamers with the first edition of Runebound to upgrade to the second edition.

Unfortunately we are still out of stock on Balderdash and awaiting the next print.

The awesome site that describes the ins-and-outs of creating a board game seems to have moved to Amazon. The updated link points to Amazon's site. Also check out DiscoverGames.com and the Board Game Designers Forum.
 

Risk: One Game’s Journey

With Risk: Star Wars being added to the board games fold the crew thought it an ideal time to take a look at a game that introduced many people to board gaming in general and the concept of war gaming specifically.

Risk was introduced to the world in 1959 as a result of an affiliation between Parker Brothers and a French company called Miro. It remained pretty much the base game until 2001, with different flavours of the base game introduced during this period such as a limited edition that focused on Europe and the Napoleon wars.

In 2001 the alternative Risk games that we currently take for granted in the market was introduced, with the first one being Risk 2210 AD; where players can take to the stars in their battle for world domination. This was followed by the fantasy setting of Middle Earth in 2002, with the Lord of the Rings Risk game, followed in 2003 with the LotR Trilogy edition.

More fantastical settings followed in 2004 with Risk Godstorm and finally this year – 2005 - return to a science fiction setting with Risk: Star Wars where it focuses on the Clone Wars conflict.

There are numerous discussions about which specialization of Risk is the best, people have their own favourites. Some prefer the chaotic action of Risk GodStorm, others the timeline of LotR Risk and others the feeling of impending doom within the Star Wars edition. What the crew finds remarkable is how a fourty-odd year old game has reinvented itself in a short period of time to appeal to a whole new generation of gamers.

Which one is your favourite, and why? Let the crew know!
 

What is a Euro Game?

The crew often talk about ‘Euro Games’ (predominantly) or ‘German Games’, but what are the characteristics of a so-called Euro game? It is not necessarily a game only manufactured in Europe… ;)

Euro games share the following characteristics:

• The rules are concise, quick to explain and also quick to learn.

• Gameplay is more skill-based, rather than luck.

• Victory may be achieved through more than one approach.

• Gameplay itself tend to be short – anything up to two hours.

• All players are involved in the game until the end, thus players tend not to be eliminated. Direct player conflict tends to be minimized in a Euro game as well.

• Most Euro games also look good – there is a lot of eye candy.

Non Euro games tend to be luck driven, so it has a random focus in outcome determination, can take much longer than a couple of hours and have very complex rules. There is sometimes a single ‘recipe’ to winning.

A classic example is a game such as Monopoly – players roll, move around the board in a fixed direction (however the length of the move is totally luck based) and are eliminated one by one. Contrast this to a game such as Settlers of Catan or Carcassonne where all players are involved in the game.
 

RAGE is Coming

We will once again exhibit at RAGE, the premier gaming event on the South African Calendar. Whilst it focuses on electronic gaming, we will be there to champion the board gaming aspects. Come and say hello and have a chat to the crew about board gaming.

Venue: The Dome, Northgate, Johannesburg
Dates: 30 September to 02 October
Cost: R30 per person

For more information on RAGE, go to http://www.rageexpo.co.za/
 

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That's a Wrap!

That’s all for now. We will be sending out another update in 2 weeks time. Until then, happy gaming! Hope to see you soon at RAGE, at the Dome, Northgate. 30 September - 2 October. Please also give us any feedback that you may have.

Happy Gaming,

The Crazy Boardgames.co.za Crew

info@boardgames.co.za