Dust/Smoke in the Wind

The First "Dime" of 2010

February is "work on the Five & Dime Report" Month... there are more folks this (over 300) which should yield some great results but also mean I've got a lot of data compiling to do.

In my own gaming life, I've managed to reach my first "dime" (game played 10+ times) in 2010 by the end of January: Gelini Nightlife.

Don't be ashamed if you haven't heard of it - it was simply a BGG conversation about Essen games that brought it to my attention when Joe "Burger Joint" Huber & Dale "Dominion evangelist" Yu both strongly recommended that I pick up a copy. I arrived in mid-January and promptly became the most played game in my collection for the year.

I'll do a full review in the next week or so, but it's a Knizia-designed game, adapted from one of his earlier published designs (Tutankhamen) and made less math-y and more fun.

Other games that have been played extensively in the first 37 days of 2010:

• Das Magische Labyrinth 6
• Alea Iacta Est 5
• Dungeonquest 5
• Keltis: Der Weg der Steine (Mitbringspiel) 5
• The Adventurers 4
• Click Clack 4
• Enuk the Eskimo 4
• Heroscape Master Set: Battle for the Underdark 4
• Marrakech 4
• StreetSoccer 4

Late Night + Too Much Sugar + Haba = FUN

Forbidden Island

How cool is this? A cooperative family game by Matt Leacock - the designer who created Pandemic and Roll Through the Ages - produced by Gamewright, a company with a much longer reach into the mass market than Z-Man or FRED.

And you've got to admit, the preview is pretty neat.

More information to come following NY Toy Fair...

Spielbox in English?!

Just passing this important information along...

We are considering producing an English version of spielbox magazine. We would like to know your opinion: if you d be potentially interested in an English edition of spielbox, please send an e-mail with the subject yes to vote@nostheide.de. (Your mail address will*not* be used for any other purpose than this survey.) Of course you can answer directly to me too.

Best regards

Barbara Nostheide

Permission To Speak Freely

Anne Jackson is not related to me... as far as I know. (There are a LOT of Jacksons wandering around the good ol' US of A.) But she's a writer/speaker of amazing wisdom & grace... and her latest project is worth checking out. Click on the graphic to find out more.

Content of My Character?

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Which raises the question... what is the content of my character? What is it like today?

You can find the text of the speech here.