Ahoy Matey!

Oh Ye Pirates! Hoist Ye Sailes! Strike ye fear into ye hearts!

Ho ho ho! One Gamer (turned Pirate) has been using his Lego armada to enhance the experience of Days of Wonder's Pirate's Cove. In his blog post he logs the details to his game adaption (apparently the game has become a favorite), and Lego's have allowed him to all but eliminate chance from pirate ship skirmishes.

Har har! What ingenuity!

Still, Legos and games have not been strange shipmates.

Aye, when I was a lad we used to make games out of our Lego stash. Legos make great game components! They are naturally delimited and come in all shapes, sizes, colors and styles. Perfect.

Lego the company has picked-up on this as well. Refer to an earlier post at Pinebars about Lego's advances into the gaming sphere.

Oh, and don't forget the popular Lego Star Wars series for video game systems.

See below an excellent rendition of Settlers of Catan in Lego.

I eagerly await the day when an astutely crafted Eurogame design by Friedmann Friese or Klaus Teuber is released exclusively by Lego.

And as you design your own games, consider using Lego's to help you solve your component problems.

In the meantime, answer me this, what Euro game would you like to see designed in Lego?

Publishing Progress

There is no quick path to publication! I hammered out the the rules and initial prototype in about 1 month, but that was only the beginning. Below I have listed a time-line from that time until now.

June 20: I mail my card game "Drop Site" to Italy for the Premio Archimede contest.

July 2: I receive word that my game has arrived and been entered into the competition.

August 20: I receive word that my game has made it from the field of 141 to the field of 60.

Oct. 2: My card game, "Drop Site" wins the Carta Mundi special prize at the Premio Archimede and 7th place overall.

Oct. 4: I hear from the spokesman about the award, and interested companies.

Oct. 5-17: I work on 5 more prototypes. 4 to send to Italy and 1 for myself.

Oct. 18: I send the prototypes in the mail.

Oct. 29: I hear from Premio Archimede spokesperson that my prototypes have not yet arrived.

Nov. 2: I hear that my prototypes have arrived.

Nov. 11: ScriBabs begins work on the 1000 copies that are part of the reward for winning.

Nov. 12-Dec 18: I communicate back and forth with ScriBabs to make sure all the artwork for the game is in order.

Dec 20: I continue to wait. It has been six months since I first mailed the game to Italy for the contest. Even though it has been a long process, it has been a rewarding one too. I have gotten to see firsthand some of the issues that can develop with game publishing, as well as to speak with several people in the industry to solve those problems. In addition, I continue to feel blessed that I even get to be a part of this process and to see my game become a reality.

Be on the look out in the next year for a sneak peak of the new artwork and a chance to get your hands on a copy! I will be giving a away some free copies as part the release promotion!

"Fun Theory" Speed Camera

Are you ready for another great example of how games can solve problems? Check out the video posted above. (Thanks to Owen for sharing this with me!)

I love how this "game" gives the appearance of choice.

Notice the change in the rules:
Rule-set A (Traditional speed limit laws): Obey the speed limit or else...
Rule-set B: Disobey the speed limit and be fined OR Obey the speed limit and be entered to win.

Rule-set B does a significantly better job quantifying the possible outcomes, which makes a sense of choice more apparent. And choice is at the center of a good game.

For more examples of Fun Theory games that were developed to change behavior check out http://www.thefuntheory.com/

FYI, this is the 101 post at Pinebars! Thanks for reading! Send us a greeting!

Agricola Makes You Want to be a Farmer (I Should Know)

According to his weekly newsletter, Erik Arneson reports that the Estonian Government recently purchased 500 copies of Agricola (Lookout Games, 2007) to make farming seem cooler to its youth.

No joke.

"One of our biggest tasks is to promote country life and farming," said Hindrek Riikoja, a representative of Estonia's press ministry, "Especially among youth."

I often get the hankering to get out of the city, purchase 500 acres of farmland, and try my hand at farming, especially immediately after I finish a game of Agricola.

Joke.

In all seriousness though, I applaud the Estonians for utilizing board games for marketing like this. Agricola, after all, is a critically acclaimed design, and it is highly unlikely Estonia could find a higher-quality piece of artwork that glorifes agriculture this side of the 1950s.

If Puerto Rico can make you more interested in the history and economy of the island by the same name, then maybe just maybe Agricola can make youths more interested in farming.

In either case, its an interesting news item highlighting the growing use of board games to solve problems. Cheers to Estonia.

Check out Arneson's review here, or the original news item here.