Five & Dime 2009: Dimes (10+ Played Games)

Game	2009	2008	2007	2006
Dominion	59.47%	45.96%	new	new
Race for the Galaxy	36.39%	49.69%	10.98%	new
Pandemic	23.67%	30.43%	0.00%	new
Agricola	16.27%	38.51%	3.35%	new
Roll Through the Ages	12.43%	new	new	new
Small World	10.06%	new	new	new
Ticket To Ride	7.99%	10.56%	13.41%	14.66%
Sorry! Sliders	7.40%	4.35%	new	new
Le Havre	7.10%	3.73%	new	new
Tichu	7.10%	14.91%	10.98%	12.93%
Lost Cities	6.80%	8.07%	10.37%	9.48%
Finito!	6.80%	1.24%	new	new
Magic: the Gathering CCG	6.21%	3.73%	???	???
FITS	5.92%	new	new	new
Hive	5.92%	6.83%	6.40%	1.72%
Crokinole	5.92%	5.59%	7.93%	8.62%
Stone Age	5.62%	11.80%	new	new
Ingenious	5.62%	6.21%	11.59%	11.21%
Carcassonne	5.33%	5.59%	11.59%	6.03%
Space Alert	5.03%	1.24%	new	new
No Thanks/Geschenkt	4.44%	4.97%	10.67%	12.07%
Settlers of Catan	4.44%	6.83%	7.01%	12.07%
San Juan	4.44%	3.73%	8.84%	12.07%
Galaxy Trucker	4.14%	3.11%	???	???
Bananagrams	4.14%	1.24%	new	new

Just out of the running (at 3.85%): Diamant/Incan Gold, Bohnanza, 10 Days/Europa Tour, Loopin' Louie, Mr Jack, Fairy Tale, Power Grid, Can't Stop.

Droppped off the table from last year:

• Through the Ages (now 3.55%)
• For Sale (now 2.66%)
• Kingsburg (now 2.07%)
• Hanging Gardens (now 0.89%)
• Ticket to Ride: The Card Game (now 0.30%)

Last year I predicted that this will be No Thanks! last year on the Dime list... I'm a little iffy about that now, but I still think we're seeing the long-time perennial games slide more & more. It would not surprise me to see Settlers, San Juan or No Thanks! fall off the table next year.

My "two more years before Crokinole fades into obscurity" looks particularly silly in light of Mayday Games plan to release a high-quality affordable board - if that happens, Crokinole will climb back up the charts.

Over the years, I've started calling a certain class of games "one year dimes" - games that get a brief flare-up of intense play but don't hold up to long-time commitment. Last year, I went two for three, calling the departure of Hanging Gardens & Ticket to Ride: Card Game. However, I missed the call on Stone Age... again, I wonder if the easy online access to the game has any effect on this. (It's also a game that has grown in respect over the past year or so - well, at least it has for me.)

Next year, the "one year dimes" will be Space Alert & FITS (though I'm not completely confident about FITS.) Galaxy Trucker is probably gonna drop off as well.

Out of the top 4, I called three out of the four correctly - Dominon, Race for the Galaxy & Pandemic. Both Dominion & Race for the Galaxy will be back on this list, btw, and I'll be stunned if they both aren't the top 3. Pandemic was another correct call of mine. But I blew the call on Agricola - wow. Who knew that so many of you would find this much table time for an admittedly great but very long game?!

The other real surprises for me this year was Le Havre & Magic: the Gathering. Le Havre- really? On the dime list? And where in thee heck did Magic come from? Aren't CCGs supposed to be dead (he sez with his tongue firmly planted in his cheek)?

The big question for next year is whether the proposed "big box" expansion for Small World will keep it here on the Dime list.

Five & Dime 2009: Most Played Games

Game	Score	2009	2008	2007	2006
Dominion	2185	69.82%	59.63%	new	new
Race for the Galaxy	1405	46.75%	59.63%	18.60%	new
Pandemic	1130	43.20%	50.31%	0.61%	new
Agricola	840	33.43%	60.87%	6.71%	new
Roll Through the Ages	615	23.96%	0.62%	new	new
Small World	610	26.04%	new	new	new
Ticket To Ride	495	21.30%	23.60%	25.61%	28.45%
Le Havre	425	18.05%	9.32%	new	new
FITS	415	18.64%	new	new	new
Stone Age	390	17.46%	24.22%	new	new
Sorry! Sliders	380	15.09%	11.80%	new	new
Carcassonne	345	15.09%	13.66%	25.00%	21.55%
Lost Cities	345	13.61%	18.01%	23.48%	18.10%
Tichu	340	13.02%	24.84%	16.77%	23.28%
No Thanks/Geschenkt	320	14.50%	13.04%	22.56%	25.86%
Settlers of Catan	315	14.20%	17.39%	17.99%	25.00%
Space Alert	305	13.02%	4.97%	new	new
Ingenious	305	12.43%	12.42%	20.12%	28.45%
Hive	295	11.54%	9.32%	11.59%	6.03%
Diamant/Incan Gold	280	12.72%	16.77%	21.95%	27.59%
Power Grid	280	7.10%	21.74%	16.77%	24.14%
Crokinole	275	10.36%	15.53%	10.98%	13.79%
Finito!	275	9.47%	new	new	new
Ra	270	13.61%	12.42%	22.87%	29.31%
Battlestar Galactica	270	11.83%	0.62%	new	new
Galaxy Trucker	270	11.83%	10.60%	13.04%	2.44%

28th place with a score of 250: Magic: The Gathering CCG - 8.58%

"score" is computed by giving a game 5 points for each person playing it 5-9 times and 10 points for each person playing 10+ times

the percentage numbers for each year are the percent of respondents who reported playing the game 5+ or 10+ times

Kinda hard to believe I've been doing this for 12 years now... on what basically started as a whim back in the good ol' rgb days. (That's "rec.games.board" from the long-forgotten land of Usenet, for you folks who can't remember a time BtG - Before the Geek.) This is the largest pool of entries yet (338) which is ten more folks than we had in 2007. Well done, obsessive-compulsive stat mongers... your brother in arms/spreadsheets salutes you!

Games that dropped out of the top 25 this year:

• 10 Days/Europa Tour (now at #37)
• Fairy Tale (now at #38)
• Loopin' Louie (now at #38)
• Mr. Jack (now at #38)
• 6 Nimmt/Category 5 (now at #50)
• Kingsburg (now at #63)
• Notre Dame (now at #71)
• Hanging Gardens (now at #98)
• In the Year of the Dragon (now at #118)
• Ticket to Ride: The Card Game (now at #232)

Square dance moment: Dominion & Race for the Galaxy flipped places. (Note: I counted the Dominion expansions, even the ones that are "stand-alone" games, as part of the Dominion total.) As did Pandemic & Agricola. Dose do, pardners...

While I was right about Dominion (though I didn't think it would do THIS well), Race for the Galaxy & Pandemic, I blew the call on Agricola (I thought support for the game would soften). Well, I certainly played it less this year, but that wasn't true of everyone.

Last year, I called "jump the shark" on Carcassonne - and yet, it seems to have settled in. (I actually played it more this year, which was nice. I think part of the appeal is the vast number of expansions allows players to "tune" the game to get the experience they want.)

I also wrote last year about the various Command & Colors games (though none of them appeared in the top 25 this year). While Memoir '44 got a decent bump from the excellent Campaign Book expansion, Fantasy Flight has had a hard time figuring out how to build support & continue releasing product for Battlelore. I think both of them will hold in position this year, with Memoir '44 likely to be the longer lasting of the two games. (I didn't really comment on C&C: Ancients, which is doing quite well for a game marketed more at wargamers rather than generic "gamers".

My yearly attempt to predict what WON'T return went had me batting .750 - I got Hanging Gardens, Ticket to Ride Card Game & Kingsburg (even with the expansion, which is supposed to be very, very good) right. But I missed on Stone Age... sigh. I do wonder, however, if being easily available for online play had some effect on that.

And with that, it's time for my predictions for 2010... I'm pretty sure Power Grid will finally drop off the top 25, as will Finito, Galaxy Trucker & Space Alert. I think Battlestar Galactica is "on the bubble" - but if there's a new heavily-themed well-made sci-fi game, it's a goner

I also listed a set of "big questions for 2009"... here they are again with the "answers" (such as they are):

• Q: Will Dominion & Race for the Galaxy find any real challengers? My guess: probably not.
• A: I was right. Pandemic was in the neighborhood, but Dominion looked pretty much untouchable.
• Q: Will Power Grid continue to grow in popularity? My prediction: I think it's reached the zenith of popularlity (for a heavy 2+ hour game) but I don't think it will lose much ground.
• A: I was wrong... Power Grid dropped from 21% to 7%. That's a major shift.
• Q: Where will Small World end up? My prediction: it will be on this list... at least in the top ten and probably in the top five. (Ah, the advantages of waiting until the Gathering is finished to make my predictions.)
• A: I was close! Small World made it to 6th place.

The big questions for 2010:

• What's with this wave thing going on with Tichu, Hive & Crokinole? (Their playing percentages don't really degrade as much as undulate.) Will this continue?
• Again, will Dominion & Race for the Galaxy be able to hold onto the top spots? I think the answer is "yes," esp. since they both have expansions on the way & their closest challenger (Pandemic) doesn't.
• Who's got 2010 in the Dead Pool for Settlers? Will it finally drop off the Top 25? My guess: no - but we may finally be closing in on that in 2011 or 2012. (That makes me sad, btw.)

In fact, what do you think about any of this? Use the comments area (and keep it clean & friendly!)

Post #1000: Evolution of a Gamer

Thanks to some wonky wonderful silliness from Google & YouTube, I proudly present my Search Story... the 1000th post here on the blog! (And a big tip o' the virtual hat to Monkey See & Linda Holmes for pointing out the app.)

Believing in logic

From the magical typing fingers of Jon Acuff, a really thoughtful blog post about Believing in logic.

Here is the gist of what was said:

“If Christian men knew what porn does to the women in their life there would be no more Christian men addicted.”

On the surface, that’s not a big deal, but what it really says can be pretty dangerous. Here is the core of that thought:

“If men knew how they hurt people with porn, they logically would choose not to look at porn.”

Or stripped down even further:

“Logic can beat sin.”

I wish that were true.

Use the link above & read the whole thing.

Posted using ShareThis

Pamiętam. Katyń 1940

Pamiętam. Katyń 1940 Originally uploaded by georgiana1815

Pamiętam means "I remember" in Polish...

Do not let arguments of expediency persuade you. That is the slow road to oblivion. That is the tortured path to undoing step by step, bit by bit, as the river creates a canyon, the way of life that we love. (Charles Schumer)

67 years ago today, the mass graves at Katyń Forest were discovered. In this location (and others), the U.S.S.R. perpetrated the mass murder of not only the Polish Army Officer Corps but also the cream of Polish life - doctors, priests, thinkers & professors.

When virtue is lost, benevolence appears, when benevolence is lost right conduct appears, when right conduct is lost, expedience appears. Expediency is the mere shadow of right and truth; it is the beginning of disorder. (Lao Tzu)

The horror of the crash this weekend of the Polish plane carrying the leadership of Poland is simply multiplied by the fact that these people were going to Katyń to honor those who were murdered.

Katyn became a painful wound in Polish history, and has for many decades poisoned the relations between Poles and Russians. May this wound fully and finally heal. We are already on this path. We Poles acknowledge and value the actions of Russians of recent years. This path, which is bringing our nations together, we should continue to travel, not halting on the way or retreating back. (from a transcript of the speech President Kaczynski planned to give at the Katyń Memorial)

I choose to remember the massacre rather than to turn away... though it would be so much easier to forget. At the same time, I choose justice over vengeance.

Eye for eye, tooth for tooth; a fair, satisfying and rapid way to a sightless, toothless world. (Calvin Miller, The Singer)

Blogging From the Dark

Anne is blogging about important stuff... things that are far too easy for us in the USA to ignore. Read it.

Board Games w/Pastor Mark

Gamer Group copy Originally uploaded by kellarcreative

Aaron Kellar (http://kellarcreative.com/) made this for our church's PowerPoint presentation a couple of years back... just thought it would be fun to share it with y'all.

Does anyone know what game that is? I certainly don't.

Through the Years: A Gaming History

What follows is a list of my most played games by their year of release. (This was inspired by an email conversation about "favorite games by year" and I just expanded it out a little bit.) There's some really good stuff in here.

• 2009: Roll Through the Ages (18) - A civilization-building dice game w/a cribbage-like scoreboard that is fun to play with 2-4 players... or as a solitaire game.
• 2008: Kaseklau (26) - A press-your-luck dice game for kids where the cat chases the mouse around as he collects cheese.
• 2007: Race for the Galaxy (314) - Colonize planets, develop technology & race the other players to victory in this intriguing card game. (This also has an excellent solitaire version included in the first expansion.)
• 2006: Giro Galoppo (24) - The least friendly kid game ever... it's a horse race with lots & lots of hosage.
• 2005: Pickomino (42) - Math-y dice game about chickens eating at a worm diner that manages to be a lot more fun than the description sounds.
• 2004: Memoir '44 (91) - IMHO, the best version of Richard Borg's light wargame Command & Colors system - of course, the theme (WWII) helps, as does the incredible Campaign Book expansion and the excellent support by the publisher, Days of Wonder.
• 2003: Smarty Party (53) - There are probably better party games (in gamer terms) but none that I've enjoyed as much as this one... and I have the rare honor of having played the original prototype. This is a classic example of development taking an interesting idea & turning it into a great game.
• 2002: Maskenball der Kafer (64) - A sweet cooperative family game that's tough enough to stay interesting but random enough to engage younger players.
• 2001: Transamerica (77) - Great game for4-6 players of connecting railroads... I think I'm played out on it for a while, though.
• 2000: Carcassonne (100) - With too many spin-off games & expansions, it's easy to overlook how enjoyable this tile-laying game can be.
• 1999: Lost Cities (116) - The game itself is a stunningly simple 2 player card game... the tension comes from how difficult it is to keep from helping your opponent.
• 1998: Zirkus Flohcati (42) - Now pretty much supplanted by the more enjoyable Duck, Duck Bruce, for a time this was the go-to "filler" card game for me.
• 1997: Arriba (44) - Now called Jungle Speed, this is a one-stick variant of Spoons crossed with the pattern recognition game Set... and it's possibly the game that's done the most damage to the players while playing.
• 1996: Showmanager (31) - Though it was reprinted as a cruise ship game, I still think the original theme is better... and while I'm tired of playing it right now (my group is in love with it), it's still an amazing game.
• 1995: Settlers of Catan (102+) - I never get to play this enough. It's one of the best games out there, still. If you haven't tried it, stop reading this blog & go find someone to play with... preferably me.
• 1994: 6 Nimmt (31) - Probably better known now as Category 5 or Slide 5, this is a very abstract card game that scales well up to 10 players, which probably explains why I've played it so much.
• 1993: Attacke (40) - Thankfully, this great little filler game has finally been re-released as Gem Dealer... instead of the horribly over-chromed monstrosity that was Ivanhoe.
• 1992: Loopin Louie (70) - Still probably the most enjoyable "mechanical" game out there... I dare you to play just one round!
• 1991: The Secret Door (30) - Though the components (as per most Family Pastimes games) are pretty low quality, this cooperative memory game is delightful.
• 1990: Sindbad (18+) - Weird French game that's an oddball combination of stock market investment game & exploration game... I love it.
• 1989: Cafe International (83) - While I worry that the art in this game has some pointed stereotypes, the fact that every culture is poked fun at (even the Germans) leads me to believe that the humor is good-natured. The game itself is one that seems chaotic & luck-driven at first, but reveals some surprising depth over time.
• 1988: Yahtzee Jr (22) - Surprisingly enjoyable mass market "junior" dice game.
• 1987: Dungeonquest (49+) - I have owned, sold, and then reacquired this game & the expansions... it is, IMHO, the best high-speed dungeon crawl game on the market. (There are rumors about it being reprinted, but nothing official yet.)
• 1986: Liar's Dice (69) - Richard Borg's rendering of the classic "dollar poker" bar game... for years, a favorite closer for game nights.
• 1985: Snail's Pace Race (22) - It remains a recommendation of mine for introducing 2-3 year olds to gaming. It's a cooperative game (with a small gambling element) with big, chunky pieces & very simple rules.
• 1984: Bounce It In (26) - Tupperware's only game... and it's a great dexterity game with 4 different ways to play.
• 1983: Luck Plus (35) A Uno-ish card/dice game that Shari, my lovely wife, really likes.
• 1982: Sequence (32) Another Uno-ish card game (this time with a board) that Shari enjoys.
• 1981: Fill or Bust (66) The classic dice game "500" with an added set of action cards... yet another Shari favorite.
• 1980: Can't Stop (90) - Sid Sackson's masterpiece... probably the best pure push-your-luck game ever published.
• 1979: Um Reifenbreite (15?) - Um Reifenbreite is my favorite racing game... it does a splendid job of imitating the tactics of team cycling.

Five Years of Vintage Posts

On April 1st, this blog flipped over the virtual odometer to "five years & 989 posts." And, as has become my tradition, I now present to you a "best of aka pastor guy" post.

Those of you who follow this blog realize that I did a post very much like this for the last three years... which, frankly, I copied & pasted to provide the meat of this post. However, I've added the last year (2009-2010) of "highlight" posts down at the bottom of the list.

In honor of this momentous occasion, I've picked a post (or two or three) from each month that I think is a "highlight" (you are welcome to disagree - but you'll be wrong with a capital "Wr").

• April 2005 - 12:13 pm - Collin is born!
• May 2005 - How In The Heck Did I End Up Here? - the stories of my ministry life (yes, I still need to write a couple more posts in this series)
• June 2005 - Dig Hay Zoose - this story still blows me away...
• July 2005 - Interview #2 - wherein Tom Vasel does an e-mail interview with me & I manage (I think!) to get my thoughts straight about the crossroads between being a Christ-follower & being a gamer
• August 2005 - Welcome to Pat's World - which explains why the catchphrase "Be Like Pat" is never going to gain traction
• September 2005 - Enter Pastor Man - the history of my musical tastes & a pretty decent summary of how I deal with art from a Christian perspective
• October 2005 - The Tale of the Pig (And How His Influence Still Touches My Life) - ah, the Pig... I wonder where he is now?
• November 2005 - Small Soldiers Big Battle - I'm finally figuring out how to write a review that sounds like me
• December 2005 - Blasts From The Past - gaming & autobiography... a theme I'd return to with a vengance during the summer of 2006 for my series about D&D
• January 2006 - Unpacking the Baggage - one of my most painfully honest posts
• February 2006 - Five & Dime 2005 - where I finally find a good way to showcase all the data I've been collecting over the years
• March 2006 - Come Back To The One Hundred, Blog Reader, Blog Reader - which is a signpost pointing to another blog I created with Stephen Glenn & 65 of our closest friends about the best games ever...
• April 2006 - Pastoral Advice For Engaged Meeples, Minefield, Minefield Spawns a Question, & 9 Years Ago - April was one of those months where I was writing lots of good stuff... so, I picked four.
• May 2006 - Minefield, Part Deux & The "M" Word - Cuz you really shouldn't read all that stuff I wrote in April without reading the follow-up stuff in May
• June 2006 - Stay Out Of Range Of The Giant: Descent - Journeys in the Dark, The Day I Quit Playing D&D, & Say It With Me: "Non-Binding Resolution" - D&D and alcohol... June was evidently a dark month or my attempt to write a rebuttal to Chez Geek
• July 2006 - DW, Bill Cosby & Evercrack - the "Return of the King/Return of the Jedi" of my D&D trilogy
• August 2006 - Three Geeks... er, Caballeros - a surprise reunion of high school friends
• September 2006 - Underwear & the Four Gods - one of the weirder analogies I've made... in print and/or while preaching
• October 2006 - I Don't Want To Be Some Kind of Nutjob - in which I talk about spiritual warfare & how I'm scared of being a holy roller
• November 2006 - Crackpipe Remote OR Yes, As a Matter of Fact, I Do Watch Too Much Network Television - the title says it all
• December 2006 - Asleep on the... Hershey Bar? - I'm still weirded out by this one...
• January 2007 - This is News? - Obviously, Chris Herndon & his flying monkeys did not live near this lady...
• February 2007 - The Mouse Gave Me The Bum's Rush - how I got thrown out of Disneyland
• March 2007 - Peanut Butter & Karo Syrup - I had some of this just the other night... it's still very yummy.
• April 2007 - Soundtrack of My Life: Steve Taylor - the first (and so far - sigh - only) post in a planned series on the music that has dug deep into my soul.
• May 2007 - I wrote a set of posts about my trip to SoCal for The Origins Experience: Yelo, More Yelo, Origins Experience: Tuesday & If Everyone Jumped Off A Cliff. Not a big blogging month, but a pretty profound one in my pilgrimage as a leader.
• June 2007 - We played games at Braeden's birthday party... and he got games... and somehow the post Birthday Gaming has become one of the more commented upon posts in the history of this blog.
• July 2007 - After four years here in Fresno, I ended up meditating on the nature of my profession & how easy it is to live the Christian life like a magic trick in a post entitled Shattering the Illusion.
• August 2007 - In response to questions I got as part of an Open Mic series at my church, I began answering some of them with the blog, starting with Open Mic: Sex, Lies & Videotape.
• September 2007 - For some reason, I got inspired in September & pumped out some more really good stuff in the Open Mic series (Knock Knock Knockin', All Day Singin' & Dinner on the Grounds, and The New World Slang) as well as a post on the game, The Settlers of Catan, that I feel real good about (The Unofficial Guide to Catan, Part I).
• October 2007 - I answered a question no one asked (Open Mic: The Question Nobody Asked) about why we homeschool and also wrote a really good game review entitled 1492/Ocean Blue (about Mayer's game, Columbus).
• November 2007 - As we close in our Disneyland vacation, I launch into an extended theological musing about DLR I called The Hypnotic Power of a Bug Zapper & the Happiest Place on Earth... and I also managed to finish my guide to all things Catan (The Unofficial Guide to Catan, Part II).
• December 2007 - Two posts stick out in December: my plea for sanity in the face of a potentially anti-church film (Three Requests) and my plea for sanity in the face of sub-standard Monopoly play (Giving Away Your Own (Monopoly) Money).
• January 2008 - Less pleading this month... instead, I wrote a lot about religion & politics. The best of the bunch was Religion & Politics: Oil & Water.
• February 2008 - Of course, there was a chunk of Five & Dime posts... but the highlight of the non-statistical/gaming stuff was Evangelical Does NOT Equal "Right Wing Nut Job".
• March 2008 - Take Me Out To The (Ball) Game... where I ruminate about baseball & board games
• April 2008 - Klutz & Konsulting... the story of how I ended up as a consultant for a board game book for kids
• May 2008 - I wrote a series of posts on the emerging church: Emerging?: 13th Gen to Pomo, Emerging?: Pomo to Emergent, and Emerging: Celebrity Death Match.
• June 2008 - The Kid Games 100 began... but the individual post I'm proudest of was Swingtown, White Guilt & Splitsville.
• July 2008 - I wrote a number of different posts last year about marriage... Framing the Conversation: It's Got A Good Beat & I Can Dance To It - I'll Give It An 85 is one of the best of them in that it managed to offend both sides.
• August 2008 - It was a good month for writing long semi-autobiographical posts that turned into theological/ethical musings: Against All Odds We're Living Separate Lives and Mental Pinball & the Hamster Wheel.
• September 2008 - Camping At Limekiln is how pictures recaps should be done... and not how I end up doing them most of the time.
• October 2008 - A great political post (Religion & Politics: When Atheists Attack) as well as two posts chronicling the biggest Heroscape battle we've had to date (Battle Royale & Battle Royale: National Heroscape Day.)
• November 2008 - The end of the election prompted a couple of posts: Framing the Conversation: How To Get Tossed Out of a Game Group & The Wrong Glass.
• December 2008 - This reminds me... I need to write the last post of this trio about Disneyland: DLR in a Day: Morning & DLR in a Day: Afternoon.
• January 2009 - Both Moral/Ethical/Legal and Memory Is A Funny Thing are great examples of what I call "trigger" posts... where something happens that sparks deep thoughts about something completely different.
• February 2009 - Graceland ruminates on music & memories while Warning Signs is my plea for people to avoid close-minded liberals & conservatives, regardless of their religious persuasion.
• March 2009 - If you want something serious: Brother, Can You Spare A Definition?; something silly: Keep Your Godless Commie Pinko Hands Off My Candy!....
• April 2009 - I'm proud of my boys for many reasons - but this was a real highlight: My Son, the Game Designer.
• May 2009 - The title says it all: Mom is Cool.
• June 2009 - The deep post of the month was It's A Goth World After All... but you need to check out How Well Do You Know Mark Jackson? if you want to, well, get to know me better.
• July 2009 - I finally finished the Kid Games 100 in July... and started adding to it with a series of MIA posts. I also wrote the oddly titled When a Parable Bites Me in the Rear End.
• August 2009 - I consider Rapture Ready: A Review to be one of my best written book reviews... ever.
• September 2009 - I noted at the top of Fred, Lionel & Erwin: The "Royal Wedding" Syndrome that was a Faulkneresque post.
• October 2009 - Less Faulkner-lite but still good: Green Beans & Humiliation.
• November 2009 - There were lots of good posts in November (lots to be thankful for!) including a number of kid game reviews... but I'll focus on Heroscape for Beginners (and Robo), the Translation Party - The Game Quiz and (because I don't want to leave you hanging) Translation Party - The Answers.
• December 2009 - Combining my love for Disneyland with my love for Jesus, Small World Christmas.
• January 2010 - The "winner" for this month is actually a post I wrote back in 2001... and finally reposted here at akapastorguy as a part of my Migration project: A Provocative Email.
• February 2010 - I'm a big fan of Richard Borg... but not as pleased with Fantasy Flight's way of handling his fantasy version of his Command & Colors system, as evidenced by the following posts: Battlelore is Pregnant, ...and Tide of Iron is the Baby Daddy, and, finally, Battlelore: Lost in Translation.
• March 2010 - This was a very good month... I hate to exclude any of the following from your attention: More Popular Than Jesus, Math is Magic... Really, Parenting is Hard, and Book Review: Raven's Ladder.

Top Ten Signs Of...

James Emery White & his Serious Times blog get righteously snarky... see if the following quote can help you fill in the blank in the title:

5. Phrases like, “We’ve never done it that way before,” “I’m not being faithless, just realistic,” “Why pray? God’s gonna do what God’s gonna do,” “If God wants His church to grow it will grow – we don’t have to do anything,” and “They really should do something about that” are common refrains.

One Tank Too Far

Braeden & I just finished his first game of Axis & Allies: D-Day... and I (playing the Germans) won at the end of turn nine because I held off a combined force of Brits & Americans (Braeden) at St. Lo. A single tank survived the final onslaught to keep him from reaching his objective.

I really like this game - it's a great "training wheels" game to teach basic wargaming skills.

The Invasion of the Peep Army

A few years back, my friend Jimbo was "inspired" by a message I preached (using Peep Science as a metaphor for eternal security - see PeepResearch.org for the original inspiration) and went out the week after Easter & bought 300 or so Peeps of various colors & types... and snuck into my office and, well, Peeped it out. Every flat surface in the place had a Peep on it.

This year, he outdid himself with the Invasion of the Peep Army.

The first Peep appeared yesterday next to my bathroom sink. "Mark - We've missed you." His title was "Scout Peep" and he was an indication of things to come.

This morning while I was getting my sermon ready, Sandra delivered the second Peep to my office after I appropriated a doughnut from the adult Sunday School stash. "A good Peep is never afraid to eat with the enemy." This one claimed to be a "Secret Agent Peep."

Then, right before the worship service, I went to get my wireless microphone and found yet another advance Peep - the "Audio Surveillance Peep." The ominous message: "We are listening."

We went to the Archuleta's for Easter lunch (we're the special guest gringos to make the gringo son-in-law, T, feel less lonely!) :-) and when we returned, we spotted the first signs of the Peep invasion on our gate. Yes, that's Peeps rappelling into our backyard.

On closer examination, I found that these were "Special Forces Peeps." I wonder where they go to get their intensive training. (Maybe this explains why they're so difficult to find in the store 10 months out of the year.)

Once in the backyard, there were Peeps with parachutes hanging from a variety of places. Evidently, "Paratrooper Peeps" are not good at reaching the ground.

One Peep-a-Trooper even managed to get hung on the old garage light.

At first glance, I wasn't sure who this troop was advancing through the high grass of our side lawn.

Turns out, it was "Infantry Peeps."

There were also "Calvary Peeps" - with Peep bunnies riding Peep chicks. Their objective seemed to be the patio.

The Peeps came prepared to take losses, complete with Peep coffins & a chaplain. "Some casualties for you to enjoy." (I suspect the "dead Peeps" are actually some sort of Trojan Horse kind of trick.)

Finally, knowing the futility of attacking something many times their size (even with their imposing numbers & near-indestructibility), the Peeps positioned "Sniper Peeps" throughout the yard - on the fence, in one of the trees, on the boys' basketball goal...

...and the final holdout near the eave of the old garage.

Menacing little bugger, isn't he? (I knocked him down with a stick.)

Of course, that was so the Peep Elimination Squad (my two sons) could harvest the Peep Army for some planned experiments involving Peeps & a microwave. (See Peep Science for more ideas on how to experiment/"torture" Peeps for educational purposes.)

Or perhaps as a tasty snack.

He is risen!

He is risen!
Originally uploaded by wvgasguy

He is risen indeed!

Stand By Me... but not too close

Muppet monsters & muppet bunnies... yippee!

Spiel des Jahres: My Uneducated Guesses

According to BGGWiki, the Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) is "the most prestigious award for board & card games" and "is awarded annually by a jury of German game critics." Some may debate the 'most prestigious' part (particularly your more hardcore capital "G" Gamer types) but the award has an amazing history.

I think it's a very good award for what we in the hobby call "family gamers" - folks who want something more than Phase 10 or Uno but aren't interested in devoting the rest of their natural life to learning the best opening moves for the various 18xx boards.

The nominees & recommended game will be announced at the end of May, with the winner announced at the end of June. (The Kinderspiel des Jahres - the Children's Game of the Year - will be announced in early August.)

Well, it's late March... and I'm going to attempt to predict which games will end up on the jury's lists. I'm doing this primarily on the strength of years of watching the jury and on my own gut feeling about the various games. Note: I haven't played very many of them - not even the kid games! But that won't stop me from trying to do this.

Special Award?

There's been some early talk about a Special Award (which they give on occasion) for Dungeon Lords... I think that's a distinct possibility. It's a bit too complicated to be on the regular nomination list, but it's a great game with one of the funniest rulebooks (esp. if you've ever played D&D) around. (It is, btw, a theme-heavy worker-placement game about building a dungeon & keeping those pesky adventurers from messing it up.)

Spiel des Jahres

Here are my picks (in alphabetical order) for the nominations/recommended list:

• Abandon Ship (Knizia push-your-luck game with cute theme)
• A Brief History of the World (this is really probably a dark horse... but it's a splendid new re-imagining of the original game)
• Fresko (Queen - building frescoes game... looks very cool)
• Jäger und Sammler (Knizia collecting game from Amigo)
• Kamisado (abstract game now released by Huch & Friends)
• Mosaix (Schmidt)
• Power Grid Factory Manager
• Ra: The Dice Game (I'm torn whether I like this better than the original game or not)
• R-Oko (R-Eco released by Amigo)
• Small World (another dark horse, mainly because of theme)
• Snapshot (Rudiger Dorn flicking game in a box from Kosmos)
• Seeland (Kramer game from Ravensburger, comes w/multiple ways to play/levels of difficulty)
• Tobago (beautiful deduction game that's weighted for families rather than gamers)

Even though it's a good game, I don't think Endeavor will end up on the list... just a bit too fiddly. I think that goes double for Opera, Carson City & Vasco de Gama. And for Kinderspiel:

• Burg der 1000 Spiegel (a memory game from Kosmos that uses mirrors inside the box)
• Diego Drachezahn (Haba makes a racing game out of marble bowling - I think?!)
• Nelly (another entry from Queen in the same line/box size as Enuk)
• Gelini Nightlife (while technically not a kids game, the artwork is likely to throw it into this category - it works VERY well with kids, btw)
• Heckmeck Junior (Zoch simplifies this great dice game about BBQ worms... the original game is known in the U.S. as Pickomino)
• Kraken-Alaram (a dexterity + memory game from Kosmos)
• Larry Lasso (Selecta now has us lassoing wooden pieces to score points... excellent)
• Minotaurus (the best received entry from the new Lego games line... I'd be surprised if at least one of them wasn't mentioned)
• Schatz der Kobold (from Drei Magier Spiele - it's got a weird crystal doodad that is almost enough to convince me to buy the game without a review)
• Schatz der Mumie (a small memory-based game from Haba that's received very positive reviews)
• Vampire der Nacht (Drei Magier Spiele's follow-up to the very popular Nacht der Magier)

BTW, we almost always forget here in the U.S. the influence of the stuff we won't see until the voting is pretty much done (the Spring releases)...

Kid Game Reviews: Click Clack

Click Clack

• designer: Birgit Hahnle
• publisher: Rio Grande/Queen
• date: 2008
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/6.15
• age: 5+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: in print
• cost: $22.99 (Troll & Toad)

This is a BIG game - not Fireball Island big, mind you, but certainly the box (and the game, which is one of those "game in a box" thingees) is large enough to use as an end table if you put some legs on it.

It's also got a BIG price tag, which is probably my only hesitation about recommending this game to families. The MSRP is $59.95... ouch. Note, however, that the price link above! Troll & Toad has six copies for $23, which is an incredible deal!

The game itself is pretty simple: players are squirrels trying to store up food for the winter. In turn, they roll the big, chunky custom die & move to the area indicated. In each section, there are four holes, which may or may not contain food (metal chips). The bottom of the squirrels are magnetized, so when you do place your piece on top of food, it makes a satisfying "click clack" sound - hence the name of the game.

After your squirrel is placed, you rotate the board one notch in either direction - the entire board is, btw, a giant turntable. If you (or anyone else) finds food - which will be clear from the "click clack" noise - you get to keep it & place it in your tree.

The first player to get 4 of the same kind of food or 7 food (regardless of type) wins the game.

There's one slight wrinkle: the pig can show up and chase your squirrel off the ground & into the trees. If a player rolls a pig, they move the pig to any area and all of the squirrels in that area are placed on the tree in the center of the board.

That's it. Really, no worker placement, no tile-laying, no 18xx-style stock investment. It's simply a roll'n'move with an amazing boards & wonderful bits.

And that's enough when you're four years old and you can play a game that not only has pieces large enough for you to manipulate easily but also has a big cool-looking board & makes noise when you get stuff. It's also enough when you're a parent who likes kid games that are simple enough for a four year old to enjoy while designed so that they have an ending in a reasonable (15 min or so) amount of time.

I think the age suggested by the publisher is for kids playing without adult supervision. With adults playing, it wouldn't surprise me to see bright 3 year olds enjoying this game.

Quotes That Make You Go "Hmmmm..."

from Jeffery Overstreet's Through A Screen Darkly: Looking Closer at Beauty, Truth & Evil in the Movies:

The reality of God is not bound to a particular earthly language, country or style. His spirit can speak through anything. But He is far more likely to be encountered in those things that are excellent rather than shoddy, particular rather than general, authentic rather than derivative.

from Paul Richardson's A Certain Risk: Living Your Faith at the Edge:

Perhaps the easiest way to understand faith is to identify it by what it is not. Those who lack faith tend to compartmentalize reality, mentally tearing apart the elements of reality and stuffing them into separate chambers as if they have nothing to do with each other. We see this compartmentalization running rampant in society. The objects & people we cherish are naturally given the places of honor. Everyone else is rounded up & crowded into another chamber. Joy & laughter live in the den. An addiction might be shoved under the bed. Other secrets are stuffed in the closet. Hurting & lonely people rent space in the garage. Our own sour attitude sits impatiently in the car waiting for the ride to church. The glory of God politely greets us as we pull into the church parking lot. God tends to be held at a distance & walled away from the rest of life. Everything is disjointed.

Some Game Lists

Since my brain is still a bit foggy from the meds I'm using to fight the phlegm-based-evil which attacked me this week, I'll simply give you a rundown on what needs doing 'round these parts...

A List of Kid Games I Need To Review

• Birds, Bugs and Beans
• Burg der 1000 Spiegel
• Click Clack
• Das Magische Labyrinth
• Enuk the Eskimo
• Feed the Kitty
• Gelini Nightlife

A List of Other Games I Need To Review (or at least comment extensively about)

• A Brief History Of The World
• Adios Amigos
• Alea Iacta Est
• Burger Joint
• Ca$h 'n Gun$: Live
• Dungeon Lords
• Fightball: Aztecs vs. The Dark
• Keltis: Der Weg der Steine
• Marrakech
• Piece o' Cake
• The Adventurers
• Tobago

Book Review: Raven's Ladder

I'm never quite sure what to expect from fiction by an author of Christian faith... for every wonderful reading experience (like Stephen Lawhead's Celtic Crusades or C.S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia), there are numerous slogs through preachy & cliched schlock. (Insert obligatory reference to the Left Behind books here.) It's a little like Tim Burton films - you never know when an "Edward Scissorhands" is going to bloom amongst a field of weeds like "Batman Returns" and "Planet of the Apes."

It helps, of course, when you trust the author as someone who appreciates story & subtlety, which is certainly true of Jeffery Overstreet. As a long-time reader of his articles & reviews at ChristianityTodayMovies.com and his blog, LookingCloser.org, I was excited to find his first book, Through A Screen Darkly, which is a series of essays on movie-going & faith.

So when Mr. Overstreet released the first book in The Auralia Thread series, Auralia's Colors, I... checked it out from the library & felt really guilty about not reading it. Yeah, I know, that wasn't the story I wanted to tell either, but it's the truth. I'm not sure what kept me from digging into the first novel - some of the reviews I'd read made it sound "artsy" and I never managed to pick it up and get into it before I had to return it.

Fast forward a couple of years to the early part of 2010 when I agreed to blog/review Raven's Ladder, the third book in the series. I quickly realized that I didn't want to read book 3 before I read the first two books. So, for the past couple of weeks, I've carted around The Auralia Thread books and read them whenever I could... waiting for my boys at the park, taking a break at work, even squinting at them by the light of a bedside lamp.

Yes, the books are that good.

It's my assignment to review Raven's Ladder... a task which I'm finding daunting. I want to try & paint a picture of the book (and the series that leads up to it) without spoiling the joy of discovery that comes from reading a fantasy series set in a new world. I hope to get you to pick up Auralia's Colors and find yourself swept up by Jeffery Overstreet's beautifully crafted descriptions & plotting... leading inexorably to you buying all three books.

As I've thought about how to do this, I realized that The Auralia Thread reminds me of the TV series, "Lost." No, there's not an airline crash or a smoke monster or even a four-toed statue... but Mr. Overstreet uses the same kind of cinematic style of storytelling to move his plot forward. We get to see important moments from the viewpoints of different characters. Hints are dropped & questions are raised at odd moments that pay off chapters (or sometimes even books) later. The author, much like the writers on "Lost," isn't afraid to kill off characters or radically alter their lives rather than simply pander to our desires for things to be tied up in a simplistic package.

And while the story has definite philosophical & spiritual themes (esp. the relationship of art & faith), those themes don't seem to drive the plot. Instead, they flow out of the natural development of the characters and their lives.

Importantly for me, this is NOT a Christian allegory. Playing the "who's the Christ figure?" game with Christian-penned fantasy novels quickly grows tiresome and takes me out of the book and into "theology debate" mode. Jeffery Overstreet deftly avoids this while still dealing with questions about blind faith, the relationship of art & theology, legalism & freedom, desire as the arbiter of truth, and a plethora of other important themes.

I realize that writing about "serious themes" is likely to turn off some readers. I wonder if my initial hesitation to read Auralia's Colors has to do with other reviewers writing similar things. Pleased, give the story a chance... let the wonder & mystery of this fascinating fantasy world pull you in.

Some specific notes about Raven's Ladder:

• The prologue tells a story that I was sure would be the first half of the book (based on what had gone before). In other words, Jeffery Overstreet managed to both fulfill my expectations and take the story in some wild new directions in just a few pages.
• The book covers even more of The Expanse in vivid detail.
• There's a story (told by Krawg) that absolutely blew me away near the middle of the book... and the implications of what happens to that story speaks volumes about the way we deal with truth & art in our culture.
• Some key story lines are resolved here, while others are advanced and left hanging... thankfully, there is at least one more book coming!

It's probably no surprise that I recommend this book (well, the whole series) heartily!

Parenting is Hard

These are the times that try men's souls.

Thomas Paine was actually talking about the American colonies fighting for independence from British rule... but it's the first quote that popped into my head when I thought about being a parent.

Parenting is hard. For those of you who are parents, this is not a surprise. There are so many competing needs, expectations & dreams bouncing around in our brains, both for our kids and for ourselves. It's a wonder anybody survives the 18 or so years it takes to raise a child, let alone two or three kids. (Those of you with 4+ children are either saints of incredible patience or gluttons for punishment... or both.)

Some of us had great parenting models from our families that balanced wise discipline with gracious love. We had families that showed interest in our lives & hearts and encouraged us to make good choices regarding spiritual truth & moral/ethical choices. Others of us had families of origin that were replete with all sorts of dysfunctional behaviors: verbal & physical abuse, neglect, addictions & codependcy... the list could go on & on.

Either way, it's pretty common for parents to latch onto some kind of resource to act as a guide for their parenting - when you're tired & frustrated & overwhelmed, it's a lot easier to read a book and follow what it says.

This explains, in earlier generations, the popularity of Dr. Spock & his book "Baby & Child Care" (and, no, this isn't the "live long & prosper" Spock, btw)... and in the last few years, the cultural impact of folks like Dr. Phil and Dr. Laura. (Interesting side observation: we like to listen to people who sound like they are well-educated.)

In Christian circles, the "go-to" guy has been Dr. James Dobson (there is that doctor title again!). While I don't agree with every political crusade that Dr. Dobson has undertaken, I've found his parenting books & the materials he recommends to be helpful.

But there are more folks out there who have teaching ministries, purporting to have THE Biblical way to parent your child(ren) most effectively. Some of those ministries go beyond the bounds of what you can legitimately claim from Scripture to support their particular (usually legalistic) version of parenting.

Without going into major detail, I want to refer you to a couple of sites that talk about two of these ministries:

• The checkered history of Gary Ezzo and the variety of resources he has published (including Babywise and Growing Kids God's Way) is worth a very careful look - Ezzo.info does a great job of compiling articles & responses.
• The "teaching" that set me off to write this post comes from Michael & Debi Pearl and their No Greater Joy ministry - TulipGirl's blog has an excellent list of warnings & critiques of what they teach and the horrific consequences

For me, any kind of useful parenting advice is going to lead me to balance grace & truth, to show both justice & mercy, to use discipline in order to build up the character of my boys rather than break their spirits. It will not affirm my cultural preconceptions but instead inspire me to treat my family (and esp. my children) as gifts entrusted to me & my wife. Good parenting techniques will not necessarily make my life easier. In fact, they will focus on helping me raise adults rather than control children.

When the advice goes the other way - and particularly when the advice purports to be "God's way" - I need to call it what it is... a lie.