The News Bulletin that Highlights www.SaskGames.com Content

March/April 2015

Welcome to the SaskGames News Bulletin. We at SaskGames are working to strengthen the gaming community in Saskatchewan by sending out a periodic bulletin to inform the gaming community of events and other game related news. Play On, Saskatchewan!

Looking For Group The Marketplace What’s Hitting the Table

Member bio info and people looking for The marketplace: Post items to buy, sell, Members share insights about games game groups: HERE or trade HERE that are hitting their table HERE

2015 Gaming Goals Locally Developed Games Game Store Directory

Some members are sharing their 2015 There is a section for showcasing You can find a directory of Saskatchewan gaming goals and progress HERE Saskatchewan made games & products game stores HERE HERE

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 1 Table of Contents Venues Here is a listing of venues. Simply put, venues are physical locations where Coming Events...... 3 games are played.

Upcoming Conventions & Expos...... 3 ComicReaders (Downtown Regina) Community Musings...... 4 Dragon’s Den Games (Saskatoon) Play With Your Food...... 5 The Woods Alehouse (Saskatoon) Tramps (Regina) Teaching is not a Game...... 6 ChewsDay Challenge (Regina) The Dynamic Duo in Regina’s Board Gaming World...... 8 Strategy Saturday (Regina) FRAG Game Days (Regina) Scotch and Games...... 9 Prairie Game eXpo (Regina) Cafe Picks of 2014...... 10 Wokbox (South Regina) Kickstarter Corner...... 11 Glorified Gaming (Regina) Miscellaneous Events The Yardmaster’s Report...... 13 Through the Lens...... 15 Welcome To New Members The SaskGames Word Search...... 16 Call For Volunteers...... 17 We would like to extend a welcome to the new SaskGames members. About SaskGames...... 17 This is a list of members who signed up during the previous month. Welcome, and happy gaming!!

Nightwing3 Nikkic localhost Ayamari Whiskeyjack tombos21 TroyM Alazar Leoculus ppreston00 epengr MerissaS cassrithaler silvertec5 weirdlife Prichardsph Looksun corypaetsch McPigg BellaJoy swoop_ds Shevalier camcarr Hellagood mcoghill 0v3rj0y3d erdrikwolf CosBillby phallen yusuf Cover Photo Credit Cover photo by Matt Robertson of the Boardgame Cthulhu Wars.

If you have a photo you have taken and would like to showcase it, send to [email protected]

If you want to discuss this issue, feel free to join the discussion or post your thoughts HERE

Next Issue will come out on June 15th, 2015 Submission Deadline is June 1st, 2015.

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 2 Coming Events

Here is what is coming up in the next 45 days. This is copied directly from the SaskGames site. Click on any of the following events to learn more. If you know of additional events, please make sure they get set up on SaskGames so they will automatically appear here. If you want, SaskGames has a full Calendar of events that you can view online.

• Tramp’s: D&D Encounters - 15 Apr • FRAG - Games Day - 25 Apr • Tramp’s: Pokemon League - 15 Apr • Tramp’s: Pokemon League - 25 Apr • Tramp’s: L5R CCG - 15 Apr • Tramp’s: X-Wing League - 25 Apr • Chess Club - 16 Apr • Fan Expo Regina - 25 Apr • Tramp’s: Weiss Schwarz - 16 Apr • Games Night - Wok Box Regina South - 27 Apr • Tramp’s: Board Game Night - 16 Apr • ChewsDay Challenge - 28 Apr • Glorified Gaming - Harvest City Church - 17 Apr • Tramp’s: D&D Encounters - 29 Apr • Tramp’s: FNM - 17 Apr • Tramp’s: Pokemon League - 29 Apr • Tramp’s: Flames of War: EW Tournament - Aces - 18 Apr • Tramp’s: L5R CCG - 29 Apr • Tramp’s: Pokemon League - 18 Apr • Chess Club - 30 Apr • Tramp’s: X-Wing League - 18 Apr • Tramp’s: Weiss Schwarz - 30 Apr • Games Night - Wok Box Regina South - 20 Apr • Tramp’s: Board Game Night - 30 Apr • ChewsDay Challenge - 21 Apr • ComicReaders Downtown: Heroclix (Yu-Gi-Oh) - 03 May • Tramp’s: D&D Encounters - 22 Apr • Games Night - Wok Box Regina South - 04 May • Tramp’s: Pokemon League - 22 Apr • Carcassonne League Night - 05 May • Tramp’s: L5R CCG - 22 Apr • ChewsDay Challenge - 05 May • Chess Club - 23 Apr • Tramp’s: Flames of War Mid War Demo - 06 May • Tramp’s: Weiss Schwarz - 23 Apr • Strategy Saturday - 09 May • Tramp’s: Board Game Night - 23 Apr • Games Night - Wok Box Regina South - 11 May • Tramp’s: FNM - 24 Apr • ChewsDay Challenge - 12 May Upcoming Conventions & Expos

Here is a list of Gaming Conventions and Fan Expos. This list contains events that are both local and abroad. As events get set up on the SaskGames website, these events will link to the event listing and provide more details. There are many fantastic events on the horizon for you to get your gaming fix.These events provide a great opportunity to play some of the longer epic games.

April 2015 - Fan Expo Regina May 2015 - Prarie Game eXpo - Regina, Sask May 2015 - Frag Con October 2015 – 24 Hours to Play with Your Food – Regina, Saskatchewan September - Toon Con V November 2015 - BGGCON – Dallas, Texas

Sask MegaGames March 2015

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 3 Community Musings

by Matt Robertson

A series of SaskGames News Bulletin articles that explore the creation and growth of a healthy & vibrant board game community.

I have been asked a number of times to share my thoughts WHY? on what it takes to build a regular weekly public game We felt that there was an opportunity to grow the hobby night. I have also been asked to share thoughts on what and help people connect to not only board games, but other people interested in board games. There are many established is needed to run a successful mini convention such as groups all over Saskatchewan, but most of those groups were BixCON. The answers to these questions are not simple and either insular or not really performing an outreach like we are certainly not brief, hence, I decided to write a series envisioned. Not that the existing groups were doing anything of articles for the SaskGames News Bulletin that explores wrong, just that we felt an entire demographic of people were aspects of running successful events. The title for this being overlooked. series is no accident. I believe very strongly that successful WHO? events are built on top of a strong foundation, and that Anyone interested in the hobby. Long standing veterans of foundation is a healthy community. My articles will mostly the hobby along with people who may only have a curiosity be me spewing a stream of consciousness as I explore what about board games. The more the merrier. I think at this point makes a healthy and strong community. If this sounds like it is worth noting that we decided we wanted to target the your cup o’ tea then settle in and join me in the journey. non-competitive social board game hobbyists as we felt that the event should develop an air of camaraderie and social As I stated above, I feel strongly that community is at the bonding. When we started, we honestly felt that we would heart of the success of SaskGames and all of the events and start out with 10-12 people and maybe grow attendance to initiatives that have been spawned through the website. 20-25. Little did we know… SaskGames will be having its fifth birthday this summer and it has grown a lot during that time. In the early days, it was just a WHERE? website, nothing special, just one in a large number of websites Ideally in an environment that is family friendly, has devoted to the hobby of gaming. Over time, the number of comfortable seating, decent table sizes, sufficient lighting, members grew and it was time to harness the membership conducive hours of operation, and is reasonably ease to get growth and start hosting public events. You could say that to. In our case, the Boston Pizza Restaurant on North Albert the seeds of a cohesive gaming community were starting to Street in Regina was an ideal location. Not only did it meet sprout, but they needed some watering. During the summer our above needs, the venue has a dedicated space our group of 2012, the idea of having a weekly public gaming event at could use. Additionally, they were very happy and eager to Boston Pizza was discussed and we decided to move forward partner with us. with the event. We took three months to plan and scope out this event prior to even hosting the first one which occurred WHEN? in October of 2012. Why three months? Well, we had to ask Considering Boston Pizza was providing the venue free of ourselves a number of questions first. You cannot have a charge, we asked them what nights would be good for a successful event without going through some soul searching weekly public event. Tuesday was suggested and thus the discussion of what you want the event to be first. I will kick off name ChewsDay Challenge was born. Our group has use of this series with a few of the questions we pondered before the dedicated area EVERY Tuesday of the year from about the launch of ChewsDay Challenge. I find it very helpful when 5:00pm to 2:00am. We have committed to the venue, and defining a vision to go through the exercise of asking WHO, they have committed to us. That consistency is very important WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, WHY, and HOW. for building trust with attendees, as they know the event will reliably run each week. WHAT? We wanted to create a weekly public board game event that HOW? was welcoming to people new to the hobby and would put a This is where we really got down to business and had many very friendly approachable face on our hobby. Our thought discussions. To address the vision of What, Why, Who, Where, was to create an event that would help grow the hobby and and When, we had to make sure we created a solid “How”. I will the community. explore this topic in the next article. Stay tuned and game on!

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 4 Play With Your Food by Murray Bennett So now I have to raise money! I don’t want to fundraise!!!!

Doing these kind of events is always a Carcassonne league, a Twilight Struggle it was hard work but the payoff in challenge. There is so much to organize, board game league and this is just enjoyment and the money raised were so much planning, meetings and the March! well worth it. part everyone hates - raising money! As the new chair of Play With Your Food, But the heart of PWYF is the teams and If you have been a parent or work in an I along with my co-chair Ameya, have the amazing fundraising you do. I know office you have sold or bought cookies, decided we will try some fundraising we have new teams this year and they chocolate, perogys, meat, gift cards - that isn’t team oriented but benefits may be intimidated by having to raise the list goes on and on - then you have the charity directly. In March we ran money but don’t think about fundraising participated in fundraising and to be Canada’s first MegaGame and it was an from your past. Think outside the box, or honest I personally dislike those types outstanding day as you can see in the inside the box lol, try running a board of raising money. They work for sure and pictures. I had so much fun as one of the game night and having people make people get guilted into buying stuff they organizers and controllers of the game donations. Have a BBQ and get people would rather not have but no one enjoys and the best part? We raised $1000 for to donate. Go to your local watering being on either side of the transaction. PWYF! It never felt like raising money, hole and see if they would let you run a game night there; you will be surprised One of the really cool things that I have how open they are to new ideas to get witnessed since joining SaskGames and butts in the seats. Don’t go begging to now chairing Play With Your Food, are them - go in with a plan and tell them the amazing and creative ways people what you can do for them. you will be raise money! surprised what they will offer! If you want prizes from them offer to match Just a sample of the things that were what they offer out of the funds raised done last year: lobster feast on Canada so they feel you are a partner and not a Day, a board game football tournament mooch. at Beer Bros, a board gaming convention at someone’s house, a gaming night at Souls Harbour is a great organization a local bar, sale of a donated BBQ, sales and we can really make a difference in of handmade dice rolling trays, sales of people’s lives. $20,000 is our goal but I paintings, a pie auction, beer tasting, am confident we can smash this and BBQ’s and the list goes on. the feeling you will have when we do is worth the fun you will have raising This year some of the things that are the money! I look forward to seeing the happening include a horse racing crazy ideas that everyone comes up board game day at Rebellion Brewing, a with this year!

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 5 Teaching is not a Game by Matthew Marquand

We’ve all been there, excitedly sitting at a table, vigorously phase. You need to be ready to field specific questions from rubbing our hands together, anxiously waiting to play that your students but more importantly, internalizing all of the new game. But fifteen minutes into the rules explanation rules provides a strong foundation for the next phase. you’re totally lost, and its not going to be getting better anytime soon. You ask questions and you recognize the II. Organize individual words in the response as English but taken as a whole, they’re meaningless. Other players appear confused Devise a plan of attack for transferring to your students all too and try to help but it’s just getting worse. You have no idea of the rules and information you’ve learned. Do *NOT* just what purpose half the components serve and every question read the rules to them; organize your thoughts and release drives the teacher deeper into the weeds. Another 10 minutes the information in controlled layers of increasing complexity later, you’re ready to bail out. Few things spoil a new game while maintaining eye contact and closely monitoring body- experience more than a poor or unprepared teacher. language. An organized plan is crucial and is, in my opinion, the most ignored phase of the process. Don’t be afraid to I find satisfaction and take great pride in teaching new games deviate from the organization of the rule book. and I’ve honed some techniques and approaches that I’ll share. I hope they can help you escort your table of willing players through the rules and transform that excitement and anxiousness into an enjoyable interactive, gaming experience. Being a good teacher takes time, effort, focus, and practice but your friends and co-players will thank you for it later even if they don’t immediately notice it.

The word “ROPE” provides a simple mnemonic for remembering the high-level tasks at hand. The word is purposefully short, because as you’d expect, the more rope you give yourself, the easier it is to hang. Let’s take a closer look at that mnemonic:

Read Organize Practice In general, I approach teaching a game with the following Evaluate steps. I first set up the game, give everybody their starting components and then begin talking. Early in the explanation, I. Read refrain from showing specific examples of situations that might arise during the game. Without context, those explanations Your first task is to study the rules for the game that you’re are just a waste of time and effort. Remember, “POINT AT going to teach or at a minimum, refresh your memories of STUFF” while you’re talking to cement those relationships the rules with a quick read-through. This may seem silly and you’re helping to form with the words you’re speaking and the obvious but it’s fundamental that the teacher know the rules tangible items of the game: backwards and forwards. When you think you’re ready, read the rules again...and then one more time for good measure. When In your own words and at a very high level, describe the you’re ready, go to BGG and test your knowledge against most theme and what each player’s goal is (no rules!) (if not all) of the rules forum posts. If you can answer or at least be familiar with all of the questions, answers, rules lawyering It’s okay and even desirable to be less than comprehensive. scenarios, house-rules, official clarifications, and Frequently You just want to set the stage for more detail later. Stay out Asked Questions, then and only then, proceed to the next of the minutia. Your students don’t have enough information

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 6 to process them yet. Just point at components as you walk is ready to go, you’re off and running. through the theme with a very brief statement as to why they exist (these cards let you break the rules!). During teaching, other players won’t necessarily trust your unstated plan and they may start trying to help because Describe the high-level structure of the game (rounds/ they’ll think you’re skipping information. Acknowledge the turns/game end) help but don’t let that continue. With calm language, help table the information for later until your plan calls for it to be Describe how many rounds there are, how many turns exist in introduced. a round, how you earn victory points throughout the game, where you track them, what triggers the game end, etc. Hit the high spots. Do a lot of pointing at game components. It’s okay to not use the thematic names of things if in your preparation you found it confusing (sometimes an orange cube is just an orange cube).

Describe what a round and/or turn feels like mechanically and what the goal of each turn might be.

Let them know if scoring happens in between rounds and what earns points or value. At this point you should start getting into actual rules, how to earn points, what certain sections of III. Practice the board do for you, what individual actions mean, etc. When I approach a new game, I practice teaching by walking Describe Individual Decisions through my organizational plan and validate a vague script and my physical gestures. Now I’m not talking about getting all If necessary you can go into more detail about individual OCD here. I don’t write anything down, or nail down an actual decisions the players might need to make and how those script. I’m looking for a gut-check and general validation of my decision affect their ability to earn points or money throughout plan and how I’ll layer in the complexity. Be patient, it takes the game. Warn them if some resources are difficult to acquire repetition to get comfortable with the process and to see the or limited in number especially if the game is particularly flaws in your plan. unforgiving. If you stumble during the description of something, or you It’s also at this point where you can bring up any particularly can’t remember what something does, or you find yourself difficult situational rules and behavior that isn’t necessarily talking about some aspect of the game in detail too early in thematic or is tough to describe without context. For example, the explanation, then immediately stop, take note of what many auction games require the ability to determine the caused your plan to pop off the rails, and start over. Be critical. value of items right from the get-go and that’s really tough for new players to determine without context. But, be careful With practice, this phase won’t be tedious but will represent not to dive into highly specific situational examples. I’ve found the culmination of your efforts. The more prepared you are that in the absence of a question, it’s a poor way to transmit earlier, the easier and more natural this phase will be. information. From your example, your students have to shift context and extrapolate to understand the rules and there’s IV. Evaluate too much room for error and miscommunication. During the game, monitor what kinds of questions come Summarize up, what players struggle understanding, and what kind of comments they make after the game. There’s always room Once you’ve gone through everything, pull-up out of the for improvement when you teach a particular game but details and summarize the theme again with more pointing you can learn a lot of information about your teaching style at components. This step brings your students full circle and that you can apply to teaching in general just by listening to closes the loop (hopefully) on comprehending how all of the your students’ chatter. Be critical of your approach and don’t components integrate into the game, how turns work, how hesitate to make adjustments. they can advance in the game, etc. I hope this helps a little, but even if it doesn’t, it gives you a Since you’ve been monitoring body language, etc. you can peek at what works for me. At a minimum, I hope you’ve always answer questions but don’t hesitate to stick to your enjoyed getting a glimpse at some of my eccentricities. In my plan. It’s even okay to ask questions of your students too. group, I tend to be the teacher and I have casual gamers that Some players will want to know specific details very early but praise my style because I make it so easy to learn new titles. if you can, table questions that come out of order and stay out Maybe I was a teacher in a previous life or maybe I’ll be one in of the details until your plan calls for it. When the time is right, the future. But in the meantime, if you brought any gum, just answer the questions that you’ve tabled and once everybody make sure you brought enough for everybody.

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 7 biggest things Yobb appreciates about Szarkowicz. “I value his opinion, and we respect it to the point where he’s like ‘Dyson, that’s a dumb idea’ and I’ll be like yeah, maybe he’s right,” Yobb said as he looked back at a smiling Szarkowicz. “That is a dumb idea and maybe we should move on kind of thing.”

For Szarkowicz, Yobb’s creativity is what keeps him going. “He’s always got new ideas and even ways to improve what’s already The Dynamic Duo in Regina’s been done and build on that...I find that one of his biggest Board Gaming World assets.”

Article by Kailey Guillemin They’ve play tested out Nation to friends and those who hang out The dice rolls seven. You move the robber to the wood square your buddy with the most at Chewsday Challenge, a board points sits on. You steal his brick card, exactly what you needed. Time to lay down that last game night every Tuesday at road you need to steal the longest road card as you throw your hands in the air in victory. the North Albert Boston Pizza in Regina. “What we found during Board games like this one, Settlers of Catan, take time and effort to play, and even longer the play testing is people actually to create. And the brains behind these exciting games aren’t your typical tech geeks. not only liked the game, but they want to play again,” Yobb said. Dyson Yobb and Jason Szarkowicz share one major similarity. They like to design board “So that was a big feather in the games. Both living in Regina, in their separate lives Yobb is not only a fulltime IT guy for hat.” Information Services Management (ISM), but a fulltime father as well. Szarkowicz studies at the University of Regina in industrial systems engineering. “It’s one of our main goals I guess [to have] something that people But put the creativity of Yobb and the drive of Szarkowicz together, and Nation: a Mighty are interested in,” Szarkowicz Spark is the result. Six years ago the duo decided to finally put one of their board game said. “Enjoy playing to the point ideas into production. Through long nights of little sleep, hours of the day dedicated to that they want to play it again.” their game and a couple almost “breakups”, they released their first board game along with an expansion pack, Nation: Magic vs. Technology. “Not just us,” Yobb chuckles.

“Right now we’re actually in the process of sending out information to actual board game “Yeah, not just us forcing it down companies like Z-Man Games, Atlas Games, that kind of thing,” Szarkowicz proudly said. people’s throat,” Szarkowicz “Right now, we do have it for sale at various locations in Regina and Edmonton.” responds.

The two produced 80 copies of Nation. With the price tag at $35, only 13 copies remain. Yobb and Szarkowicz chirped back and forth at each other The pair has always had a love for board games, the ones that really get you thinking. playfully throughout the “There’s a lot of really great board games out there and we just sort of wanted to try our interview. The entertainment hand at making one,” Yobb said. “There are so many that we liked but we felt that we could was a glimpse into what their lend our own voice to one.” friendship and partnership is – professional, respectful, helpful These two guys are like the peanut butter and jelly of a sandwich – they just make sense and fun. and go hand in hand. They’ve had a good friendship for quite some time now, since early 2000s, but their work relationship started six years ago. They’ve had their ups and downs over the years, but in the end, “[Yobb] always kind of balanced ideas off of me,” Szarkowicz said as they tried to narrow Nation speaks for itself as to how down their years of friendship. “So we’ve always kind of, not worked together at this level, well they work together. They still but he’s always come to me and bounced ideas and respected my feedback on that.” are pushing to get their game on more shelves and produce more The key to their success has been their mutual respect for each other. That was one of the games in the future.

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 8 Scotch and Games By Bart ‘The Chief’ Brunscheen Confession Dice Tower & Scotch Test Dummies

Whiskey and serious hobby board games were introduced to And finally do a play through working out the rough spots. I me at about the same time. I still remember a surprise fortieth remember dad asking what I was reading. Handing over the birthday party for dad. Gag gifts galore, the support pantyhose rule book, he said “this is a game?”. Yep says I, he shrugs and designed for the male appendage stand out to this day. The hands it back. Colorado mountain house was packed and I saw mom make a spiked punch with some Wild Turkey whiskey. At eleven I did After pulling out the Turkey bottle and dusting off three years, not partake in the punch. no real drinkers in the family, the golden brown liquid was three fingers below the neck and I spotted a black sharpie In 1983 at the ripe old age of thirteen I was window shopping watermark. This had to be a deterrent for the seventeen year at the mall and came across a board game store. A big fan of old sister. No line was stopping a couple young John Wayne World War Two literature and a player of Sorry, Battleship and Cowboys. Stratego drew me inside and eventually to a little light blue Avalon Hill box called B-17: Queen of the Skies. My first grown And no 5.42.10 rulebook was stopping me from learning how up game. to fly my bomber into German air space. By the way: I now like the Avalon Hill rule book style when learning complicated That same summer my buddy Nathan was hanging out at the games (easy to index). house, we watched John Wayne belly up to the bar, order a whiskey and kick it back like a man. We wondered out loud Nathan and I each poured a shot, smelled it, swirled it and what it tasted like. This led me to the pantry and a dusty bottle knocked it back. Ok, for those that have never met me, I’m on the bottom shelf where a Wild Turkey sat. Germanic and a little hairy. Right there, right then the chest hair grew, I swear. My throat was on fire and I couldn’t breath. When I got that thin blue box home I unboxed and thumbed “What the Hell did I just do” crossed my mind. Nathan too, through the contents. I knew the Queen well and recognized minus the chest hair. I dropped some tap water into the bottle each of the three German fighter types within. Definitely my filling her back to the watermark and recorked that baby. kind of game, but the Avalon Hill style rule book was a little intimidating. I loved the B-17 so much I dedicated myself right 1983 began my board game life, the scotch life was about 25 then to grok the rules. A three read system formulated. Read years away...but stay tuned some day I may tell the tale of the cover to cover no worry about what I didn’t understand. Read it bottle’s reemergence my senior year of High School. again and highlight (yes I know) the areas I didn’t understand.

The Dice Tower Scotch Test Dummies

Click HERE to go to Click HERE to go to the Youtube Channel the Youtube Channel

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 9 Cafe Picks of 2014

In the world of board games, we often have our eyes set finish first and last. What?! Wacky. It may not be the best pure on the new games that are on their way to our shelves and game that came out in 2014, but it’s definitely a new favourite! tables. However, we also feel it’s important to look back GRAEME (twitter.com/GraemeLH) - Speaking of award at the year that was, and celebrate the most wonderful winners, Istanbul is a great game that defines the Kennerspiel titles to enter our lives. As we’re on the verge of celebrating des Jahres category. The game may appear to have a steep the turning of the calendar to 2015, we’ve asked our learning curve, yet it is still an approachable game for anyone Board Game Bosses are looking back at 2014 to pick their willing to play. The game leaves a sense of satisfaction for favourite games! those that don’t often play board games and for those that are considered board game connoisseurs. Wheeling and dealing DAVE (Blog: http://yetanotherfriggingamingblog. in the streets of Istanbul has never been so fun! blogspot.ca) - “Star Realms” has me seriously tempted to sell my copy of “Dominion” to the highest bidder. This one DAVE - Let’s not forget about “Splendor”, which was nominated takes the deck-building mechanic introduced in Donald for the Spiel des Jahres. As a fantastic opener to your game X. Vaccarino’s hallowed classic and actually turns it into a night or something you can use to show your non-gamer thematic and tense experience. friends and relatives how great they can be, “Splendor” makes for a fantastic light strategic addition to any library. JP (twitter.com/jpdecosse) - Star Realms is great, without question, but do you know what it’s missing? SPELLING! GRAEME - I agree with Dave! Splendor should be considered Deck building is not a mechanic that often shows up in my THE new family board game, and I think it should have won favourites, but Paperback breaks the mold by tossing in the Spiel des Jahres. With its approachability and quick elements of Scrabble, and the result makes me smile on the playing time, Splendor proves to be a game that will often hit inside! people’s tables regardless of the occasion.

KAT (twitter.com/CatAtoms) - Speaking of surprising game KAT - Okay, enough with the serious game talk. Colt Express is elements, Marrying Mr. Darcy hit me like a tonne of bricks the most fun you can have punching your friends in the face when I first played it! So much delightful fun to be had and getting away with it. In this great programming (Schemin’) enjoying the classic Pride and Prejudice story in a completely game, players are bandits running up and down a (real 3D!) different (and surprisingly cutthroat!) new way. Can’t wait for train trying to steal loot and shoot as many other bandits as the Emma follow up. possible. Careful not to get shot by the angry Marshal in the process! JP - Anyone who’s had me as their game boss knows that I love goofy games, and I continue to be thrilled by this year’s Spiel These are some of our cafe picks from last year. 2015 is already des Jahres (German game of the year) winner, Camel Up! Just shaping up to be a great year for games and the folks from The imagine it - camels giving each other piggyback rides while Board Room Game Cafe are always on the lookout for our new racing around a track, with wealthy fools betting on who will favourites. Stay tuned for next issue and we’ll bring you our best new cafe games for 2015!

Click HERE to go to their Website

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 10 Kickstarter Corner by Nicole Persram

The Kickstarter Corner is a thread under the SaskGames Forum dedicated to current, upcoming and past Kickstarter crowdsourcing projects. Kickstarter is a platform where users can pledge money towards a project, and if that project meets its minimum funding goal, the product will be made. There has been a big board game boom on the platform, and it’s a good opportunity to either get games before they hit retail or to get a lot of extra goodies or promos, while helping fund the games you are interested in. Show your support to new ideas, new opportunities, and aspiring game creators and go back something on Kickstarter Corner.

Cuisine a la Card is a competitive deck building card game for 2-4 players. Play as chefs, crafting the finest meals out of the ingredients available to you, and submitting those meals to discerning and capricious judges for Medals. In this intense world of culinary competition, Tasting Spoons are your currency, your Warming Tray may be your greatest asset or your worst nightmare, and a simple dash of Salt may just be what you need to tip the balance in your favor and win the game.

Cuisine a la Card is a deeply strategic game, wrapped in a simple, easy to understand shell. It offers quick playing time with deep mechanics and an accessibility that appeals to both heavy and casual gamers alike.

Players play by taking their starting decks, and using that to purchase Ingredients from the Marketplace, located between them. As the game continues, Players may choose to place some Ingredients into their Warming Tray. Once this occurs, Players may be able to use some of their cards’ abilities to Steal, Swap, or Discard those Ingredients in the Warming Tray. When a Player is able to submit a Meal to a Judge, they may use any or all of the Ingredients placed in their Warming Tray to boost their Meal Points and earn Medals from the Judge.

Once scored, Judges are then removed and replaced, and their requirements may change, so Players have to constantly adjust their deck-building strategies to ensure they have the best meals to submit to the Judges.

Play continues until one of the Players has reached at least 15 Medals, but tables can quickly turn, and Players may find themselves in close competition all the way to the end.

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 11 Nicole’s Notes: A lot of deckbuilders are the same, so when I see another deckbuilder, I’m usually skeptical. This one really caught my eye for a number of reasons. First off, the ‘warming tray’ is a really neat idea. You get to keep up to 3 cards in front of you for future rounds. This mitigates drawing a bad hand with one great card. Secondly, the buy pile cycles. This is a big deal to me as I’ve played a lot of games where the only thing left in the middle are cards no one wants. The last card in the row goes to the ‘fridge’ where players can buy the ingredients really cheap, making you wonder if you should buy it now or when it’s on sale. Third: in regards to the judges, each one has specific tastes. One may want bitter tasting foods, or a dish that has more protein. That will sway the cards that you are choosing, but when you complete an order for a judge you lose all of the cards that went into making the dish! Makes sense... the judges are eating them. But that adds a whole new element to the deckbuilding world. It balances the draw stack so even if you get a great card, you’ll only be able to use it in a meal once. And lastly, look at these cards! My mouth is watering already!

The Ingredients are divided into Cuisines - Italian, French, Western, and Pan Asian. Some Seasonings also belong to certain Cuisines.

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 12 THE Yardmaster’s Report

by Tyler McLaughlin

Train games are a very interesting niche of our hobby. There are a significant number of games in the genre of varying styles and complexity. There are also a number of passionate hobbyists that specialize in this genre. This column will feature the stylistic musings of Tyler McLaughlin from Medicine Hat. He will keep you “on track” with any information you need on train games.

My Dinner With Lonny

Oh boy kiddies, look who decided to I worked in the marketing section of a several games. come by! It’s Leonard “Lonny” Orgler! little computer company, but then I had Lonny has taken time away from a flashing experience when I watched a TJM - Why 18xx? What made you want group of handicapped children crossing to make an 18xx game? What were his busy game design schedule and the street, and so I changed my job. I live some of the challenges you faced day job to answer a few questions a little bit south of Vienna in a house. designing your first game? for his adoring public. Lonny has One year ago I married my wife Gabi. recently become a household name No children, no pets so far. I like to be LON - I immediately fell in love with 1835, alongside his design partner, Helmut creative. For some years I wrote utopian my first 18xx. I loved the combination of Ohley, due to the overwhelming short stories for a computer magazine. railway building and becoming richer For over 20 years I am a member of an and richer... I just wanted to make a larger success of Russian Railroads. (It won amateur theatre club and took part in 18xx by myself, so I made 1837. Most of the 2014 Deutscher Spiele Preis Best several plays. I even wrote two plays the time I developed it on a computer Family/Adult Game and the 2014 which we performed (but they were with a black and white monitor where International Gamers Award for never published). I like movies and TV I had to guess the colours, and every General Strategy: Multi-player to series and read a lot of books (especially time I changed something it took name a couple of the accolades the thrillers). My range of music style is very the computer 20 seconds to build up wide, I like Reggae, Hip Hop and Hard the map. The Austrian game patron game has earned.) With a new 18xx Rock. Ferdinand deCassan told me to produce game in the works, he gets back to 20 copies and sell them at the game fair his roots, but We’ll let Lonny tell us all TJM - What is you earliest memory in in Essen, which I did. And I got orders for about that, won’t we Lonny? board gaming? What did you play as a 40 more copies, Skip! child and do you see any correlations LON – Sure thing Skip! between those games and your tastes TJM – (Winces visibly) When and Why in adulthood? did you start to work with Helmut? TJM – Sweet God don’t call me Originally, you both designed games that. So, Lonny, tell us a little about LON - The first game I remember was independently, but now you work yourself. What sorts of things do you called “Verkehrsspiel” (Traffic Game) very closely together. Why the change do when you aren’t designing award where you drove a car around a city. If and how has the collaboration served winning Euro games? What are your one made a mistake he got a ticket. When you both? other interests besides games? I got a ticket the game was immediately over, and I was crying. From age 6 to 10 I LON - Helmut and I both developed LON – I was born in 1969. I work now played a lot of monopoly with my elder 18xx titles by ourselves. I got to know as a teacher for very handicapped brother. After that the main game was Helmut when I attended a game con children. This is what I love to do. First “risk” which I learned just by watching in Munich. He asked me to develop

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 13 together a better 1837. The result was LON - Russian Railroads started as an 1824. And the partnership worked so 18xx. I like worker placement games well we made 1848, 1880, Poseidon very much, so we thought of doing an and Russian Railroads. The good thing 18xx game with worker placement. working together is you always interact, The result was a very complex game, and you always have a little pressure to and we reduced it step by step until we work on :-). We live in a distance of 450 withdrew the map completely. What is kilometres to each other (Vienna and now track building in black, grey, brown, Munich), so most of our conversation natural and white was originally station was via email. Twice or three times a building in yellow, green, brown, grey year we met face to face. and red (You recognize the 18xx tiles TJM - Can you tell us anything about colours Skip?) TJM - Please outline your design your upcoming design, 18CZ? process. When you choose a location/ (Release date, scale, # of players) TJM – We talked about the Skip thing subject for an 18xx game, is that Lonny. When did you design the the first consideration? What is the LON - Yes, I am working on 18CZ. I hope expansion for Russian Rail Roads? percentage breakdown of historical it will be ready within a year. The map Do you have any other plans for accuracy/theme/gameplay? Have you shows the Czech Republic in its borders supplementary material for the made any design concessions you today. There will be 15 companies, 5 game? regret? small, 5 medium and 5 large ones. There will be small, medium and large private LON - The small RRR expansion kit was LON - For my 18xx games I try to have a companies and trains. Best number of developed in spring and summer 2014 lot of historical back ground. For 1837 I players will be 4 and 5. I tried it with to be ready for the Essen game fair 2014. spent many hours in the National library three players which is very heavy with We now work on a large Expansion set. (there was no internet in these days). For that large number of companies, but it 1880 I spent several hours in Wikipedia worked. I don’t know yet if it is good for TJM - What lessons have you learned to have the right Chinese lines´names 6 players. venturing out into the Large Print Run (and the right Chinese characters on the publishing style? Is it likely to happen shares). TJM - Russian Railroads was a bit again? What horror stories did you When we have some historical facts outside your normal design choices. take away from the experience and we try to put them into the game. For What inspired you to make a worker also what victories? 1880 for instance we had the fact that placement game? Was there an the beginning of Railroad building was ulterior motive behind creating the forced by foreign investors. game, like a “We can do this really I am a visual type of guy. One of the first well, but we don’t wanna” kind of things in developing progress is the vibe in the decision making process? I map. I like to look at the map and start hope you do realize you made a game to imagine how it could work out... that was much better than industry standard. TJM - Of course it varies with each design, but roughly how much play test goes into your designs? Do you have a dedicated group or do you mix it up/travel? LON - It is a dream for a game developer to be published by a major publisher. LON - Mostly we test via email just the Helmut’s and my first game to be two of us. And then with friends. Russian published was “Poseidon”, and then Railroads went through many many test came the big success with RRR. But it’s rounds. hard work. Helmut and I worked for two and a half years on RRR before we TJM - Who do you think is doing the offered it to Hans Im Glück company, most interesting things in the 18xx and then there was still a lot of work till Hobby right now and why? Do you the final result. have a design Hero? TJM - Now that you’re both made LON - There are a lot of good people millions of dollars from the designing 18xx. I like the variation. I am publication of a successful Euro game, an 18xx collector, too, I have a lot of titles do you plan to make any changes to your regular publishing output? (ie. - changes to production quality, size of

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 14 print runs.) LON - The main advice is: Test, test BoardGameGeek or SaskGames under LON - Millions? God, no. If we have and test. And let other test it. And if the user name “e.e.goings” and I’m another good idea which a publisher something doesn’t work don’t hesitate always looking for new geek-buddies. might be interested we would be very to change it. Even if you put a lot of work I will always make myself available for happy. But its the publisher’s policy how into a beautifully designed game board questions and help to get you started in many games the first edition will have. - throw it away if it doesn’t work well. this end of the hobby. I even have some To have your game being published you files I can share for some of the harder to TJM - You have 2 games being need a lot of luck (sorry to say that). And find PnP stuff. Until next time. reprinted and published in the same connections. It was no disadvantage box, 1844 and 1854. How long ago that with our self-made 18xx games we were you contacted to go to print already had contacts to several game with Lookout and how are they as a groups. company to work with? Have you had a look at the art style Hans has been TJM – Well, that’s all I have for you posting to BGG and how do you feel right now Lonny, Thanks a ton for about it? I have to say, I am a big fan coming by and calling me names I of his ‘plain’ track tiles. hate. It’s been emotional.

LON - We offered Lookout the combined LON – Sure thing Skip. 1844/54 two years ago. We are very happy about Klemens Franz graphic Sigh. He’s lucky he designs some of style. my favorite games.....

TJM - Do you have any advice for our -- readers interested in designing their own games? Did you make any ‘classic That’s all for today but Remember mistakes’ you would like to help other gang, You can contact me personally people avoid? at [email protected] or on either Through the Lens

Some boardgames are very pleasing to the eye when set up, it is great to capture some of those moments in pictures. Do you have some game related photos you would like to share with the group? Send them to [email protected]

This edition’s Through the Lens is a little bit different, highlighting some more of the photos from the Watch the Skies megagame that was held in Regina in March.

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 15 The SaskGames Word Search

You need something more to do than just read a newsletter. How about we put you to work with a Word Search? Find the game related words below. Can you find them all? We will not give you the words to find, only the following clues:

The theme for this month is games with and/or based on Food. You may need a snack after playing these games. In addition to finding our website and three slogans, find 14 food themed games.

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A number of you commented that you really liked the word search. We’re glad you like it and we will try to make sure to add one each issue. A couple of people wished we would print a list of the words. Part of the challenge is using the theme for the words to both identify then find them. To help you out, we will publish a list of words on the website for those looking for a hand. The list will be published in the New Bulletin Thread HERE

By Matt Robertson

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 16 Call For Volunteers Connect to Us! Would you like to get involved? There are plenty of ways you can help or be a part of the team. We invite people to be involved with our events, our newsletter, and the website. Perhaps you like to write, maybe you are great with people and want to ambassador an event, it could be you like to teach games, or just want to be in the Email us: background supporting what we do. In any case, we would love to hear from you!!! [email protected] Send us an email with some information about what you would like to do: [email protected] Join us: www.SaskGames.com

Want Future Issues? About SaskGames Subscribe Here Past Issues Available The SaskGames site is primarily in place to promote board games and help Here members locate others with similar interests in the Province of Saskatchewan. The site has a calendar where events can be posted for Public or Private gaming venues. The public venues can be viewed and accessed by anyone; the private venues are open to only those members as dictated by the owner of the venue. Each member will only see the events and postings for venues they have been given access to. The result is a consolidated calendar which will show a variety of gaming events occurring in the Province. This will serve to make it easier for people to get involved in various board game activities that interest them. The site has a section devoted to various styles of games where players can indicate their interests in particular games or genres for the purpose of connecting with others who share that interest. We hope this helps members get some of their favourite games to the table more often. “Life is Short; Play Games!”

* OUR MISSION *

(1) Organize board gaming in the province of Saskatchewan by having a consolidated calendar of gaming events. (2) Assist people to connect with other people with similar game interests. Newsletter Team (3) Make it easier for people who visit Saskatchewan to find game stores and/or board Chief Meeple / Designer game events. Nicole Persram (4) Continue to grow and promote the hobby with fun, family-friendly events. Editor Marc Bendig SaskGames by the Numbers: 839 Members / 26,385 Posts / 4,301 Topics / 175,147 Page Views Last Month

March/April 2015 - Sask Games Newsletter Page 17