#95: Tumblin' Dice (Mark's 100 - 2014)

Tumblin' Dice

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 95th
• 2012: did not appear
• 2010: did not appear
• 2005: new to me

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 434
• rating: 7.12

Print Status

• in print

Why It's On The List

• it's shuffleboard... with dice - and as simple (and silly) as that sounds, the stairstep design of the board (and the curved edges) make for a really great game

Tips & Tricks:

• You can play this with more than 4 players if you add extra sets of colored dice. (Six is probably the maximum number that works - but we've tried it with 8!)
• We play 4 rounds, with the order of players changing each round... the player with the lowest score goes last.
• Use the dice of other players as "backstops" for your dice - especially when you're shooting for the tiny 4x platforms.

Extras

• I haven't written much about Tumblin' Dice... except to brag about how I found my near-mint copy in a thrift store in Fresno, CA for $5. 

#96: Rum & Pirates (Mark's 100 - 2014)

Rum & Pirates

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 96th
• 2012: 49th
• 2010: 61st
• 2005: prior to publication

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 1322
• rating: 6.44

Print Status

• out of print (but pretty easy to find a copy on BGG)

Why It's On The List

• a dice game with opportunities to manage your risks... and a really neat movement mechanic that makes for some great board play... and a nicely done theme

Tips & Tricks:

• If you can pull it off, always have a coin so you can get in on tavern runs.
• Don't forget you can pay a coin to skip your turn!
• Extra sailors are the key to winning - don't pass them up & don't set other players up to get them easily.

Extras

• Rum & Pirates is my favorite Stefan Feld game... which is funny, because for most hardcore gamers, it's the one they like the least.
• If you've got five players who are not prone to downtime, it's a great game. Otherwise, stick to 3-4 players on this one.

#97: Witch's Brew (Mark's 100 - 2014)

Witch's Brew

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 97th
• 2012: did not appear
• 2010: 44th
• 2005: prior to publication

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 409
• rating: 7.05

Print Status

• very OOP

Why It's On The List

• Clever game of reading the minds of the other players - with some nifty gamer-y elements to the card play.

Tips & Tricks:

• It's best with 4-5 players... the expansion for 6 players (found in the Treasure Chest from Rio Grande) is functional but not as much fun.
• The easiest rule to forget is the ability to buy vials when you brew a potion - there's an entire strategy based on collecting vials that can work.

Extras

• I've never written anything substantial about Witch's Brew... except to say that I thought it should have been the Golden Geek Card Game of the Year instead of Dominion back in 2009.

#98: To Court the King (Mark's 100 - 2014)

To Court the King

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 98th
• 2012: 54th
• 2010: did not appear
• 2005: prior to publication

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 951
• rating: 6.48

Print Status

• original edition is OOP... according to BGG (and the designer), the game is seriously being looked at for a re-tool/reprint

Why It's On The List

• Imagine Yahtzee crossed with Magic: The Gathering... using card powers to manipulate dice in order win favor with the King.

Tips & Tricks:

• It's a little slow with 4 or 5 players... I like it best with 2 or 3.
• You need dice - and a few dice manipulation powers. Going the other way (dice manipulation powers & a few dice) will lose you the game.

Extras

• Tom Lehman (the designer) showed me an unpublished expansion nifty that makes me like the game even more - but my lips are sealed.

The Kitchen Sink: Comics, Cards & Kings

It's been a while since "The Kitchen Sink" appeared here on the blog... the place where I share various bits of stuff that really aren't big enough to deserve their own posts. You may now proceed to ignore and/or enjoy this as needed.

coulson lives
Just finished watching the first season of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. on DVD - and I loved it. It took a while to ramp up - but once it did, it combined sly humor, comic book references, great action sequences & Whedon-esque twists & turns. I particularly like how events in the Marvel films (Thor: The Dark World & Captain America: The Winter Soldier) play an important role in the storyline of the series.

I've DVR'd the first few episodes of the second season and look forward to watching them this weekend. I'm also looking forward to seeing the Agent Carter series on the way this spring.

dominion
In the very first Kitchen Sink post in September of 2013, I told you guys that I had reached 1000 plays of the long-defunct Dominion iPhone app. I noted:

(There's an official one now through Goko, but I haven't bothered with it.) I don't even own a copy of Dominion (it's low on my list of "deck-building games I like" - sorry, Dale)... but this app manages to run a 2 player game in about 5 minutes, making it perfect for standing in line/waiting around time-killing.

Well, it's October of 2014 - a little over a year later - and I've made it to 2000 plays. The AI is pitiful - I've managed 1,451 wins (72.55%). 

If you're looking for better (read: games I like) deck-builders, I'd strongly suggest checking out Eminent Domain (with the Escalation expansion) or Core Worlds (with the Galactic Orders expansion).

quote of the week
"When a king forgets who he is, he looks for himself in the rubble of conquered cities. He is haunted by a bottomless pit in his soul, and he will pour the blood of nations into it until the pit swallows the man himself." (Andrew Peterson, North! or Be Eaten)

#99: Zahltag (Mark's 100 - 2014)

Zahltag

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 99th
• 2012: 95th
• 2010: did not appear
• 2005: had not played

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 6612
• rating: 5.77

Print Status

• OOP

Why It's On The List

• a low-bid construction card game - you need to underbid the competition and keep your workers "on the job"... it's a refreshing twist on standard auction game mechanics 

Tips & Tricks:

• This game is occasionally dismissed as "blind bidding." Let's be clear here, people - if you're paying attention, this is NOT blind bidding. Sheesh.

Extras

• The designer, Franz-Benno Delonge, created another much-loved city-building game - Big City (which will show up much later in my Top 100 list).
• I also need to say "thank you" once again to Joe Huber who introduced this game to me.

10 Games I Want to Play More

Two of my good buddies on Twitter, Josh Edwards (@BGjosh) and Grant Rodiek (@HyperboleGrant), both recently wrote blog posts on the ten games they want to play more.

In a fit of stunning originality, I am

• doing the same thing
• and giving it the same title

Look at me, going boldly where no gamer has gone before. (Ha.)

If I had written this post a month ago, Heroscape would have been Numero Uno on the list... but my wonderful wife recently allowed the purchase of extra shelving & storage to bring the metric ton of pre-painted minis & terrain out of storage and into the light of day. (Note: when I say "metric ton", I am only slightly exaggerating; when I say "light of day", I mean "light of the game room".) 

Before we dig into the list, though, I need to let you know who I game with on a regular basis... since that has a big impact on which games I get to play.

• My regular gaming buddies are my 13 year old son (Braeden) who is a gamer in his own right... and my 9 year old son (Collin) who enjoys games but enjoys creating them even more.
• Every two weeks or so, I get together with some long-time friends that I turned into gamers years ago

So, here are the 10 games on the top of my "wish I could get them to the table more and/or more often". (It's no surprise, of course, that all of them are on my top 100 board games list.)

#10: Prophecy - This is basically Talisman done right. Vlaada "I Am A Game Design Genius" Chvatl worked his magic on the roll'n'move + interact with a card fantasy adventure genre and came up with this very recently republished gem.

And while Braeden & I love the game, it's long enough that it doesn't hit the table. (That's especially true when you add in the Dragon Realm expansion - and I'm guessing the recently reprinted Water Realm expansion will only make it worse.)

#9: Innovation - Both of my boys have now tired of this wonderful card/tableau manipulation game... Braeden flat out refuses to play and Collin likes it but keeps begging off. Which is too bad, as I find it intriguing and always enjoyable. I don't particularly like it with 4 players (unless played partnership) and five, in the words of Monty Python, is "right out" - so it doesn't end up getting pulled out at game nights.

It has another problem (you call it a bug, I call it a feature): there's a certain level of randomness inherent in the game system that can be particularly irritating to some. I love it - the wild card combinations and opportunities for clever play make the swings of fortune bearable. 

I really like the first expansion set, though it does add some wrinkles that are tough for new players. The second expansion set has some interesting ideas but I haven't had enough chances to play it (note: why it's on this list, for cryin' out loud!) to firm up my opinion.

#8: Big City - You would think that my Minecraft & Lego-obsessed sons would find the idea of a game where you build something with cool plastic pieces to be irresistible... but they don't.

Big City is best with 2-3 players (and pretty random with 4-5 players), so it's only likely to come out with the boys or when I have one person over to play games.

#7: Web of Power - "Three shalt be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three"... and my younger son is JUST old enough to grok the tricks & twists of this incredible game. (Yes, I do have the 2 player "variant" pieces created by the designer - but you need to know/understand the game in order to play with the variant.)

#6: A Brief History of the World - While it is briefer than the Hasbro/Avalon Hill version of History of the World (and much briefer than the AH version of the same game), it's still not a filler game - a 6 player game usually takes us about 3-3.5 hours. 

I still think this is the best version of the game to play - higher level of control coupled with streamlined gameplay - now if I can just get some more chances to play it!

#5: Bohnanza - There is nothing quite like this classic Euro card game of trading & bean planting/harvesting... and that means it can be a hard sell to get to the table with newbies ("bean planting?!?").

It also really needs 4+ players (best with 5 or 6)... and when that happens, other games tend to end up getting played - Ca$h'n'Gun$, Dice Town, Family Business, 7 Wonders - all good games but the beans get no love.

#4: Ausgebremst - This re-imagining of the classic Ave Caesar as a Formula 1 road-racing game is a personal favorite - but it really needs 4+ drivers to make it work. (The boys actually like this one - but I do not plan on having more kids to bump up my game group to the appropriate numbers.)

#3: Um Reifenbreite - The other classic race game that I own - an SdJ-winning team cycling game with goofy French art and impeccable game play. For some reason, it is like pulling teeth to get people to play this game - but they love it once they play.

Braeden likes it but Collin has (so far) refused - he doesn't particularly like racing games. I need to bring it to a game night and recruit some gamers to join me on this one.

#2: Clash of Cultures - The newest entry to my collection on this list is here primarily because the playing time can be on the long-ish side: Braeden & I have managed to get our 2 player games down to about two & a half hours... and my one 3 player game (which was an epic nail-biter) clocked in at just under 4 hours.

Braeden has declared that he's waiting for the expansion (due to come out this fall around Essen) so he can field elephants. (Safety tip for those playing my eldest son: he WILL focus on increasing his military and you must be prepared for him to load up ships and circle your empire like a school of sharks.) 

For me, this is the civ-building game I've been looking for... a dynamic tech-tree system that doesn't force you down a single pathway, a simple set of rules (with some exceptions) that nevertheless create a complex (but not complicated) set of decisions, and an evocative set of board pieces & miniatures.

#1: The Settlers of Catan - Yes, that's right. It's not a typo. The game that has become "cool" to hate on (in gamer circles) is the game I most miss getting to play. I love the base game as well as Cities & Knights, Settlers of the Stone Age, and even Struggle for Rome. But, because so many people have played this one into the ground, I don't get to play it much any more. 

And that's sad.

My younger son loves the game - but since Braeden hates it with the passion of a thousand suns and Shari has vowed never to play it again, it's much tougher to play. (Collin & I play a lot of The Rivals for Catan... but it's not the same thing.) And my good friends are split on it - two of them love it and two of them have grown incredibly weary of losing to the two who love it.

Honorable Mentions:

• Space Cadets
• Zooloretto/Aquaretto
• Glory to Rome

#100: Adlungland (Mark's 100 - 2014)

Adlungland

Mark's Ranking

• 2014: 100th
• 2012: did not appear
• 2010: had not played
• 2005: prior to publication

BoardGameGeek

• rank: 5048
• rating: 5.98

Print Status

• hard to find in the U.S. but still available in Europe

Why It's On The List

• while it was intended to be a celebration of the history of Adlungspiele (the company), it's a great tile-laying card game with some very tricky interactions with negative "currency"

Tips & Tricks:

• As in many tile-laying games, it's important both to score big AND to keep yourself from setting up the next player to make an even bigger score.
• Adlungland is especially good as a two-player games.

Extras

• I haven't written anything about Adlungland... but my friend (and fantastic game designer) Joe Huber has written a review for Gamers Alliance.

My Top 100 Games: Once More With Feeling

It's been a couple of years since I made a list of my top 100 games... so it's time for me to update it.

This time around, I've used a new process to rank the games:

• Since I rate pretty every game/expansion I play on BGG (here's a link to my collection), I chose to download all of those games I rated 7 or better. That gave me a list of 1001 games & expansions.
• After removing all of the expansions, I was left with 665 games.
• I "shuffled" the games and began pitting one game against another...
• "Which of these games do I want to play more?"
• That created two piles:
• like
• not as much
• I then shuffled the 'not as much' pile and pitted those games against each other, putting the positive response games into the 'like' pile and creating a new 'not so much' pile.
• When finished, I once again shuffled the 'not so much' pile and ran the process one final time.
• The games that ended up in the final 'not so much' are dropped from the system...
• And then it starts all over again...

It took 15 runs through this system to narrow the list down to 100 games. From that point on, each round worked down to 2-3 games to be "dropped" - of course, they dropped into a position on my top 100 games list!

Here are the parameters:

• Unlike previous top 100 lists, this DID include what I lovingly call "kid games". (If you're interested in kid games, my Kid Games 100 would be some great reading material.)
• It's not the "best games ever made" - it's my list of the one hundred games I most enjoy playing right now.
• With that said, there's a lot of flex in the list. Don't invest too much in any individual ranking - if I'd sorted the list on a different day, many of them could be in a different order.

You are welcome - no, encouraged! - to comment, kibitz and/or vehemently disagree... that's part of the fun! #100 will show up tomorrow!

aka Puzzler

While the weekly Car Talk Puzzler is not my favorite part of listening to Car Talk (that would be the hilarious driver instruction advice they give), they did inspire this "welcome back to blogging" post that you are now enjoying.

So, the Jackson family just returned from vacation - let's see if you can figure out where we went from the following three pictures! (Those who already know the answer should keep mum and let other people play the game.)

Put your answer (guess) in the comments & I'll let you know the winner(s) later this week.

The Quest

For the first few years, I made fun of people who watched Survivor... or any "reality" TV, for that matter. Then I watched a few episodes (of the now classic "Palau" season) and I was hooked. (Read my apology to those I made fun of at A Real Good Thing.)

Over the years, I've been drawn into other race/competition shows:

• The Amazing Race
• Treasure Hunters (kind of National Treasure meets Amazing Race 3-member team show)
• Expedition Impossible (3 member teams racing across the wilds of Morocco)
• The Mole (the non-celebrity seasons, thank you)
• Capture (hi-tech tag in a forest)

My most recent (and possibly favorite) entry into this genre is ABC's The Quest - which you should be watching. And, if you hustle over to ABC's website, you can watch Episode 1 & 2 tonight and Episode 3 & 4 tomorrow... just in time to watch the fifth & sixth episodes on Thursday.

I don't quite know how to describe it:

• it's a reality competition with no prize other than the honor of winning & defending the kingdom
• it's not really a reality competition - because it's set in a fantasy world (and shot primarily in an Austrian castle)
• the contestants (paladins) are immersed in that fantasy world - and whoever did the casting knocked it out of the park, as the paladins seem to have bought into enjoying the fantasy world & storyline
• it's family-friendly... which can be a rare commodity in reality television

In short, just go watch it. And tell your friends about it. (We get the TV shows we deserve - if we watch garbage like Mud Lovin' Rednecks, they'll program more of that schlock. If we support wonderful stuff like The Quest, networks will pay attention.)

Heroes know that things must happen when it is time for them to happen. A quest may not simply be abandoned; unicorns may go unrescued for a long time, but not forever; a happy ending cannot come in the middle of the story.      Peter S. Beagle, The Last Unicorn

Eavesdropping on a Bunch of Gamers, Part II (Classic)

Yesterday, I posted Eavesdropping on a Bunch of Gamers, Part I... so today, I'll post Part II. I am nothing if not a man of numerical order.

I'm known in the gaming hobby not just for my love of "fluffy" games but also for my former "day job" as a pastor - and so I get some very insightful questions about Christianity & faith. Yesterday, you got to eavesdrop on a bit of conversation about evangelicals & mainline churches, as well as how I believe we're supposed to relate to non-Christians. Today, I want to share with you an exchange I had with Mister Cranky (real name: Josh Adelson; home state: Pennsylvania) on fear & religion.

Just a short note: it starts with a Mister Microphone joke, which probably means that all of you under the age of 30 will be scratching your heads... and some of the rest of you will wonder what I was talking about - and I'm sorry, but it's in reference to a very geek-y gamer thing and I won't waste three paragraphs trying to make sense of it for you. Just trust me on this one.

For this new version of the post, I have managed to find a copy of the Mister Microphone ad... yes, it was the 70s.

===

In the words of the Mister Microphone ad, "I'll be back for you later."

Mister Cranky: My goodness, that's ominous. No wonder I've always been too afraid to buy a Mister Microphone. Speaking of scary clerics, do you think that fear has any place in the promulgation of one's faith? [Note: "cleric" is another way of saying "minister" - used pretty commonly by gamers because it's a player class in Dungeons & Dragons.]

In just a second, you're going to ask me about fear. Here's what I fear: you, Mister Cranky, with a Mister Microphone in hand.

You said: "Speaking of scary clerics, do you think that fear has any place in the promulgation of one's faith?"

Well, yes... but you know I'm going to qualify that statement, right?! :-)

Gavin de Becker is a security consultant to the stars (who, frankly, spends way too much time on entertainment TV shows to make me entirely comfortable if I was one of his clients) who has also written a very good book entitled The Gift of Fear. (No, I don't get any royalties.) He ascribes our fear "instinct" to evolution (and since it's a micro- rather than a macro- kind of deal, I won't argue with him)... I'd attribute it to God. Either way, fear can serve a very useful purpose - to keep us out of danger.

Coercive fear ("become a follower of ___________ or I'll punch your lights out") is never OK... conversion by the sword was/is a dumb idea for Muslims & Christians.

OTOH, pretending that there isn't an element of fear in the Christian faith would be the rough equivalent of going through the Bible and cutting out passages you don't like. (The word "fear", btw, appears over 300 times in the NIV translation of the Scriptures.) But I think/believe that this is a healthy fear, similar to what de Becker talks about - fear that serves a useful purpose.

Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king.     1 Peter 2:16-17 (NIV)

Now, two caveats:

1. Fear is not the only and/or the main motivator to follow God.
2. Trying to increase other's fear levels in order to get them to knuckle under & cry a spiritual "Uncle" misses the whole picture of God as portrayed in Scripture.

But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.     Psalm 86:15 (NIV)

So, the traveling evangelist who went church to church in the 1960's & '70's wearing a special shirt that he could light on fire - then scream about "this is what hell is like!" - is, let's just say, freakishly over the top. OTOH, if I don't preach from the Bible about hell, I'm simply editing out verses (a LOT of verses!) that make me uncomfortable.

Mister Cranky: Very nicely answered, if I do rantlessly say so myself.

===

Notice something here - Josh (aka Mister Cranky) wasn't offended by my use of Scripture or my belief in hell when it was set in the context of an actual answer to   his question. Which is a nice reminder that sharing the truth about Jesus doesn't have to devolve into an argument... from either side! (Also note: part of the reason I get the freedom to write like this is that I'm a contributing member of the online boardgaming community - I didn't just show up & start spouting off about Christianity. People know me as an avid gamer with both a sense of humor & solid moral principles... and then as a spokesman for Jesus Christ.)

As well, the whole "fear & faith" topic brings up another question for you to consider: how well do you balance a legitimate fear of a holy God with the truth of His compassion & graciousness? Be honest with yourself - which one of those  sound more like the God you believe in?

Whichever side you're leaning toward, make sure you take some time to ask God to give you a COMPLETE picture of who He is... to expand your relationship with Him.

Quote to Ponder

People outside of the church who aren't in relationships with those inside the church might never hear the gospel or get to see it lived out in someone's life. Instead,  they'll only get an impersonal tract that focuses on hell or see a street evangelist who many times ends up making things worse. Sometimes when I talk to pastors about this, someone will quote Romans 10:14 - "And how will they hear without someone preaching to them?" - and tell me that their job is to preach the gospel in their church. 

But people who need to hear the gospel most likely aren't going to church. On Sundays, they are sleeping in, shopping at the flea market, going out to breakfast - they're anywhere but a church meeting. I don't know why we think that if we have good preaching or add a worship band or have coffee & candles that they will come. Those things are all good, but people outside the church aren't looking for a church with those things. They aren't looking for a church at all. 

It is in the context of relationships with missional Christians that they become inspired to come to worship gatherings. But the sad part is so many outside the church don't have a relationship with someone inside the church. I'm always amazed at how many people outside  the church say they don't know any Christians personally. It's not that they would mind hanging out with one if a true friendship was built, but the Christians they work with or attend school with don't make themselves known to them or befriend them and spend all of their social time with other Christians. And so we widen the chasm.     Dan Kimball, They Like Jesus But Not The Church

Eavesdropping on a Bunch of Gamers, Part I (Classic)

Back in the day, this was the first of two posts in my church e-newsletter stemming from my "appearance" as Geek of the Week. I've spruced it up a bit for your reading enjoyment. (You can read Part II as well.)

Right around Christmas 2006, I was given the opportunity to write & answer questions for folks from around the world at the premier boardgaming website, BoardGameGeek. (Of course, the honor has the unfortunate title of Geek of the Week. Oh, well.) I talked about my favorite games, how I got thrown out of Disneyland as a teenager, traded quips with folks, and generally had a very good time. (If you'd like to read the whole conversation, you can check it out here.)

But I'm known in the gaming hobby not just for my love of "fluffy" games but also for my former "day job" as a pastor - and so I got some very insightful questions about Christianity & faith. What follows is an extended exchange with Virre Annergård (from Färgelanda, Sweden), David Seddon (from the East Midlands, United Kingdom) and myself.

===

David: Do you see any conflicts/tensions between evangelicals and more traditional Christians (of whatever denomination)? If so, how do you personally deal with and feel about that?

That's a tough question... I assume by "evangelicals" you mean "those who believe in the need for a personal decision to surrender your life to Jesus Christ" instead of some kind of political affiliation. [I was wrong, btw - David was asking about worship style issues... but that's a subject for another day.]

If that's true, then the tension between evangelicals and what commonly gets called "mainline" churches is not about worship style or organization but instead about theology - the prime question is the nature of Jesus Christ & our relationship to Him.

A blog I particularly like (GetReligion) has suggested over & over that the following three questions could tell you a great deal about the theological bias of religion reporters. I'd suggest that they would also help clarify the tension you're observing:

(1) Are the biblical accounts of the resurrection of Jesus accurate? Was this a real - even if mysterious - event in real time? Did it really happen?
(2) Is salvation found through Jesus Christ, alone? Is Jesus the Way or a way? Thus, it was highly symbolic that the Episcopalians tabled a resolution declaring the church's "unchanging commitment to Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the only name by which any person may be saved" and acknowledging "the solemn responsibility placed upon us to share Christ with all persons when we hear His words, 'I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through me' (John 14:6). . . ."
(3) Is sex outside of the sacrament of marriage a sin? The question is a matter of moral theology, not national policy. The controversial word is sin.

My answers, btw, are "yes", "yes" and "yes".

How do I personally deal with that tension? I choose to work with pastors/churches who disagree with those statements only as far as I can continue to express my personal convictions. When I'm considering whether or not to be involved, the explicit or implied pressure to "sit down & be quiet" is a deciding factor in me walking away.

A different question - one you didn't explore - is how do I deal with non-Christians as individuals? Maybe someone will ask that. :-)

Virre: OK, how do you deal with non-Christians as individuals?

Excellent question. :-)

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn't talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don't even eat with such people.
It isn't my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, "You must remove the evil person from among you."     1 Corinthians 5:9-13 (NLT)

Shortened down, the real problem for people who claim to be believers in Jesus is not how they relate to non-Christians... it's how we relate to those who claim to follow Jesus but then live something else.

The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips but deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.     Brennan Manning

As long as folks who believe differently from me allow me the freedom to speak about my faith & live it out, I'm a happy camper. It's my job to do the same - to give others freedom to worship in ways that I think are wrong & spiritually dangerous without interference.

BTW, let's define "interference" - that means I don't physically or emotionally intimidate or prevent people from doing what they want. That doesn't mean I can't criticize, debate or point out the foibles of a religious system. (Of course, any critique I offer should be seasoned with grace & respectful.)

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.     Colossians 4:5-6 (MSG)

Does that make sense?

Quote to Ponder

We are witnessing the emergence of a new world... The phenomenon has been noted by many who tag the emerging culture as post-Christian, pre-Christian, or postmodern. The point is, the world is profoundly different than it was at the middle of the last century, and everybody knows it. But knowing it and acting on it are two different things. So far, the North American church largely has responded with heavy infusions of denial, believing the culture will come to its senses and come back around to the church.
     Reggie McNeal, The Present Future

Kickstarter Thoughts for A Monday

Some thoughts on Kickstarter and some projects I've backed:

1. While I wish that both Dungeon Roll: Winter Heroes and Coin Age were on time, I do NOT begrudge the good folks at Tasty Minstrel Games taking copies fresh off the boat to sell at GenCon this week. GenCon is the largest gaming convention in the U.S. and as a publisher, it just makes sense. There are some whiny folks out there... and, in the words of Lloyd Dobbler: "You. Must. Chill!"
2. Running late is not the sole province of board game companies - I'm still semi-patiently waiting for the new CD ("Goliath") from Steve Taylor & the Perfect Foil. I will admit to being entertained by Steve's very humorous backer updates.
3. If anyone at Gamelyn Games is paying attention to this, my son & I would be happy to playtest/print-n-play review Tiny Epic Galaxies for y'all... because we've backed both of the previous Tiny Epic games after trying the print'n'play versions. (Here's my thoughts on Tiny Epic Kingdoms, which should be showing up in mailboxes across the world this fall.)
4. I think I'm most excited about Baseball Highlights 2045... I do so love Mike Fitzgerald's game designs.

Anyone want to chime in?

Hey, I Think You Missed Something

This was originally written in 2006... and I was preaching through 1st Thessalonians verse by verse. (For those of you who care, it's called "expository preaching".) In the process, I "jumped" past a few verses - but felt like I needed to cover them in some way - and so this article/blog post was written.

Those of you who've been following along with my message series on 1st Thessalonians (Overloaded) may notice this week that I skipped some verses between last week's message & this week. (Or you may not have noticed until I pointed it out - oh well.)

Either way, I want to take just a moment to comment on 1 Thessalonians 3:9-10:

How we thank God for you! Because of you we have great joy in the presence of God. Night & day we pray earnestly for you, asking God to let us see you again to fill up anything that may be still missing in your faith. (New Living Translation)

I don't know about you guys, but there are some days when my faith feels like it's missing something...  or lacking something. Or, if I want to be bluntly honest (and that's not a given, people), I feel like my faith is the 90 pound weakling of faith. Other faiths come along & kick sand on it and takes the good-looking girl away by flexing their faith muscles, while my faith lays there on the beach towel, dreaming of whatever the faith equivalent of a workout program might do.

So, why doesn't Paul (or somebody like him, since the Apostle Paul's been dead about 2000 years) show up and...

• "supply what is lacking in [my] faith" (NIV)
• "mend and make good whatever may be imperfect and lacking in [my] faith" (Amplified)

And then I have to dope slap myself - God has been sending me Paul (yep, even though he's deader than a doornail) to me since I was old enough to read. All I have to do is walk across the room and pick up a copy of the Bible. (If I'm really desperate, I can check myself into a cheap motel & swipe the Gideon Bible in the bedside stand.) Either way, I have access to 66 profoundly spiritual books compiled into one easy-to-carry volume.

As if that weren't enough, it's stunningly easy get "face-2-face" with a diverse crew of people who walked with God, thanks to the magic of Guttenberg's printing press. Everyone from the Bishop of Hippo (Augustine) to a guy who worked in a monastery kitchen (Brother Lawrence) to a Oxford professor of medieval literature (C.S. Lewis) can "walk with me" through their writings.

Finally, God did this crazy thing & created "the church" - not some monolithic bureaucracy but instead local groups of people who'd surrendered their lives to Him and were/are trying to live all of their lives in the light of God's grace & love. Which means that there are ready-made crews of people who want to do just what Paul talked about - "fill up anything that may still be missing in [my] faith." I just have to go and get involved.

My problem isn't a lack of options to grow & mature in my faith... it's a lack of follow through to enjoy the stuff God is sending me by the truckload.

Quotes of the Week

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us.     Augustine, Bishop of Hippo

We must know before we can love. In order to know God, we must often think of Him. And when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.     .     Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

Though our feelings come & go, His love for us does not. It is not wearied by our sins, or our indifference; and, therefore, it is quite relentless in its determination that we shall be cured of those sins, at whatever cost to us, at whatever cost to Him.     C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

Drive-By Board Game Reviews & Thoughts: July 2014

I write for a wonderful blog/website (Opinionated Gamers) that encourages conversation between the writers... and this post is a collection of three things I've written as a part of those conversations.

Chinatown

There's a new edition of Chinatown coming... and I can still remember playing it for the first time back in 1999 at Gulf Games III in New Orleans. We had the rules wrong (Greg Schloesser does a nice job of summarizing these in the review I've linked to) and it still was a blast to play.

Rio Grande didn't pick Chinatown up to publish... and over the years it's been in and out of print. Here's what I added to Dale's well-written review:

Somewhere lost to the mists of time (and older computers) is my analysis of how the game doesn’t work with 5 players. (Basically, there’s not enough stuff for players to negotiate with – and luck of the draw plays a HUGE role in getting something worth trading.) I still like it with four players… but not enough to hang onto it when I got a great offer. (As for negotiation games I did hang onto, that would most notably include Bohnanza, Basari and Zauberschwert & Drachenei.)

Feld Madness

Stefan Feld is the current darling/favorite of Euro gamers... nearly every game he releases brings new waves of praise & adulation. I have not jumped on the bandwagon.

A number of us contributed to an article about our varied opinions about his designs - with the "top" games from our aggregate ratings being Macao and Notre Dame.

Here's what I said:

As much as I admire some of his designs, I feel like a lot of Feld’s work is mechanics with little or no thematic connection – and life is too darn short for that. 

• Love it: Rum & Pirates

• Like it: In the Year of the Dragon, Rialto (but just barely)

• Neutral: Macao, The Castles of Burgundy, Notre Dame, Roma, Roma II

• Not for me: Name of the Rose

Game Recommendation

Every once in a while, we dip into our mailbag and answer a reader question - this time around, a fan with a love for lighter dice-heavy games asked for other suggestions. (I can't believe I missed adding Machi Koro and/or Gelini Nightlife to my list.)

First, I’ll echo Dale’s suggestions of Yspahan & Bang! the Dice Game. 

Then, I’ll add a few of my own that might be a little tougher to find (but will be worth the trouble)

• Nur Peanuts – this OOP game from Heinz Meister is a 45 minute gambling game with some vague abstracted similarities to Monopoly – but mostly just a great way to press your luck for 3-6 players.
• Cheese Snatching (Kaseklau) – a small box Haba push-your-luck game with cute wooden cat & mouse pieces that works great as a short filler and/or a game with kids.
• Abandon Ship – an overlooked Knizia game which (I think) is the best of the “you can move any piece – but you secretly want 3 of them to score” family of games. The very cool sinking ship board is a plus.

And if you haven’t played Can’t Stop (the King of Dice Games), you should fix that now!

Stuck

This post was originally written in 2006 - when Collin was 16 months old. He's 9 now. (How time flies.) In the context of my spiritual walk today, I really really need to listen to Mark from 2006.

Collin has discovered the joy of putting small objects into slightly larger holes. Yes, it's that time the developmental progress of a young boy when everything is a puzzle waiting to be solved. So, yesterday afternoon, I found myself attempting to extricate an empty Mini M&M's container from one of his toys with a shish-kebab skewer. (For the record: no, I did not succeed.)

I've had a similar experience with my computer this last week. I returned home from vacation (which we enjoyed immensely) last Monday to find my e-mail box flooded with spam. And I when I say "flooded", I am in no danger of exaggeration. At one point, I had over 2500 new messages. (Evidently my mailbox on the network server was stuck - that's right, somehow a virtual piece of mail managed to get stuck in the virtual pipeline and cause a virtual overflow into my life.)

"Stuck" is a utility-fielder, word-wise.

OK, I'll take a short break to define "utility fielder" for those of you who don't live, breath & eat ESPN... a utility fielder is someone who can play multiple positions. We now return you to our regularly scheduled column.

We use the word "stuck" to refer to crushing football hits ("He stuck right under the chinstrap"), to register our disgust ("This chewing gum is stuck to my shoe"), and to commend someone who's stood up for what they believe ("They stuck to their guns"). We also use "stuck" to complain about our employment situation ("I'm stuck in this dead-end job"), grumble about the way our brain works ("I've got that stupid 'Macarena' song stuck in my head"), and describe what happened to our car when we drove through the mud puddle ("I'm stuck... call a tow truck").

And some of us live like we're just stuck...

And you are such a foolTo worry like you doI know it's toughAnd you can never get enoughOf what you don't really need nowMy, oh my You've got to get yourself togetherYou've got stuck in a momentAnd you can't get out of it Don't say that later will be betterNow you're stuck in a momentAnd you can't get out of it 

And if the night runs overAnd if the day won't lastAnd if our way should falterAlong the stony pass
It's just a momentThis time will pass     U2, "Stuck in a Moment"

Every time that song plays on my CD player, I'm reminded once again how easy it is to live as if I'm mired in the mistakes of my past. Each choice I make to focus on the muck & mud only serves to dig me deeper into worry & fear - which almost always leads to a frenetic search for ways to get myself distracted from the panic.

Thankfully, God speaks forcefully into our "stuck-ness" with the crowbar of His truth:

I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection! But I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No, dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which
God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us up to heaven.     Philippians 3:12-14 (NIV)

Wherever you've been, whatever you've done, what kind of mess you've left behind... it's time to stop living as if that one moment (or string of moments) is the definition of your life. You are not stuck - it just feels that way.

Homework for today: ask God for help in seeing your life through His eyes. When we see things this way, the prayer "Help me get unstuck" is accompanied by the clarity of vison & spirit in order to drive our lives back onto solid ground. OTOH, if all we want is for our Cosmic AAA Tow Truck to come & pull us out of the mud we've created, we'll miss seeing God at work in a thousand different ways.

There's a difference between seeing people/situations like God sees them and simply waiting around for Him to "work." Guess which one is more conducive to being stuck?