Cluedo

By roskopp on 3/30/09 9:48pm
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Cluedo board gameCluedo which is also known simply as Clue in the US is a classic game. It is the quintessential murder mystery set in a mansion with a cast of colourful characters. Players must deduce who the murderer was by collecting information in a process of elimination. The game spawned a franchise and there have been various spin offs and computer game versions as well as television shows and even a movie.

The game itself draws on a rich tradition of murder mystery tales from writers like Agatha Christie and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. These stories often start with a dead body being discovered and the detective, whether Miss Marple or Sherlock Holmes, has to interview the suspects and deduce the guilty party. The game takes this simple premise and asks the player to work out who murdered the victim, where they did it and what weapon they used.

Cluedo was devised by a man named Anthony E. Pratt. He was a part time clown and a solicitor’s clerk in his day job and his game was first published by Waddingtons in 1949.

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Risk

By roskopp on 3/24/09 5:33am
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RiskRisk is a great board game, a battle for world domination which challenges you to defeat your opponents and win offensive and defensive campaigns. It is a strategic game and you have to take risks in order to dominate, spread yourself too thin however and the balance of power can quickly swing the other way.

It was actually invented by a French film director called Albert Lamorisse in 1957 and released in France under the name The Conquest of the World. It was later produced by the Parker Brothers and became one of their bestselling titles across the globe. It was the first war-game to meet with tremendous financial success.

I used to play this as a kid against my dad and granddad and to say they schooled me is an under statement. It would not be uncommon for me to be in a hopelessly losing situation within a few turns of the game starting and then consigned to the sidelines as the two of them battled ferociously for bragging rights.

The game is played on a board divided into six continents and forty-two territories in all.

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Monopoly

By roskopp on 3/18/09 2:27am
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Monopoly UK boardMonopoly has been banned from our household after I developed the knack of constantly winning. My wife absolutely hates the game and I’m sure it is not just the fact that I always bankrupt her, I think the general worship of capitalist principles also put her off. In any case Monopoly is a classic party game and when I was growing up we played regularly. As an adult the appeal began to wear off and the endless new versions did nothing for my enjoyment.

Over the years I have been given a multitude of new versions of Monopoly as gifts. The first one was the Edinburgh edition, then it was the Star Wars edition and finally worst of the all the Make Your Own Opoly edition which had blank cards for you to fill in. The horse has been well and truly flogged to oblivion and since each version is merely a crude artistic makeover and the game remains exactly the same there seems little point in playing another version.

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Cranium

By roskopp on 3/4/09 3:22am
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CraniumCranium is a great fun party game provided the participants aren’t too shy because it requires a lot of performance from the players and challenges you to show off various skills. It is a board game which is essentially like a combination of elements from lots of other popular board games. It was billed as a game for your whole brain because it combines challenges in four categories.

Players divide into teams and you need at least four players making two teams of two to play. You roll a dice to move on the board with the aim of reaching the center first and you have to take cards each turn which challenge you to perform an activity. The cards are divided into four packs with different types of tasks. The categories are Creative Cat (artistic), Data Head (knowledge), Word Worm (language) and Star Performer (performance).

The Creative Cat category has three types of challenges, drawing with your eyes closed, sculpting from putty and drawing clues which team mates must guess.

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Diplomacy Board Game

By roskopp on 2/19/09 8:17am
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Diplomacy board gameThere are loads of great board games out there for groups of adults seeking some alternative fun. However in my experience board games all too frequently lead to arguments and sometimes even violence especially if alcohol is involved. You have been warned!

While many board games are all about dice roles with everyone sitting patiently around the table waiting for the slow person to hurry up and take their turn there are games which offer a bit more in the way of dynamism and social interaction. One such title is the board game Diplomacy which was first released in 1954.

Diplomacy is a war game and it is set on a map of Europe which is divided into various empires. Players have armies and fleets and the basic aim is to conquer all the nations. Now before you switch off there are several reasons why this is far more engaging than the majority of war games. For a start the turns are taken simultaneously.

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RPG Night Done Right

By msarko on 1/5/09 9:26pm
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For a lot of people, Pen and Paper Role Playing Games like Dungeons & Dragons and White Wolf's World of Darkness series seem like kid's stuff. Any experienced player, though, will tell you how much fun they can be for an adult crowd. For twenty-somethings who aren't into the bar and club scenes, and that's a lot of us, gaming is a great way to meet new people and have fun, while also exercising our creative sides. Just like any social event, hosting a game night isn't as easy as it sounds. In addition to guiding a piece of complex interactive fiction, hosts face a lot of the same challenges as people who throw dinner parties. Here are three tips to keep your friends and fellow players coming back for another chronicle.

A Hungry Player is a Distracted Player

If done correctly, a single RPG session can last several hours. No one should have to roll dice on an empty stomach. As the host of a game night, feeding your guests is essential. As everyone starts showing up, a simple appetizer is a nice way to create a happy, comfortable environment.

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