The Hairy Game Lords get Christmassy
Reviews of the Cracker Games have been pouring in ahead of the Kickstarter launch on Tuesday. And the Hairy Game Lords have outdone themselves by donning their Christmas jumpers in August and waxing lyrical about the cracker.
Watch the review to see what they think – and to admire the jumpers.
We’re Not Wizards talks tradition & nostalgia
Richard Simpson from We’re Not Wizards has also had his hands on the crackers and it’s caused him to take a deeper look at some of our Christmas traditions. Why do we do these things anyway… just because we always have.
When developing the cracker games I wanted to find a way to bring some great mechanisms found in hobby board games to the wider family and Richard has picked up on this in his review.
Here’s a quote:
“The key part of all of the six games on offer is that they all come with a little extra over a basic game that most players will have had some experience over, but Ellie knows how to add that little bit extra complexity that is the most wonderful additional garnish. Not complication for complication sake, but additional mechanics that you’ll often see in some of the bigger games we are so desperate for our friends and family to try.”
Uranus! in the Finals
The results of the semi-finals of the Board Game Workshop’s annual design competition have been announced this week. And… Uranus! made it into the final. Hooray!
Round 1 was judged on innovation. The semi-finals were judged on clarity of the rule book and ‘how to play’ video. The finals will be judged on elegance. They’re looking for games where all the elements hang together perfectly to create an excellent overall experience. So a full prototype of Uranus will be heading over to The Board Game Workshop in the US so that it can be played and compared to other games in the final.
The submission and judging process for the finals will last several months, so it will be a while before I update you again. But the best things come to those who wait.
Versatile Coaster Games
This week we’ve had photos of the Coaster Games being played by English children on holiday and by Scottish children at school.
These games are super-versatile, educational and FUN!
In case you missed it…
- On Monday, we released a new video about How to Avoid Dangerous Games
- On Wednesday, we shared a new time-lapse video of the solo version of the beautiful bird-themed game Wingspan being played.
- On Thursday, game designer and cruciverbalist David Brain shared his Eight Games for eight different occasions.
- On Friday, we published a video about how to play the patience game Midshipman.
Coming this week…
- New video: How to help children who can’t cope with losing
- New blog: Alfie reviews… a new board game
- How to play: Two of the Cracker Games!
