Game Central Station: Mississippi Queen

Rulings & Variants

Let's start with the opinion of the conductor... I think this is one of the best games of 1997. It plays quickly, it's easy to teach, everyone in the game is subject to the same level of randomness (via the selection of the river tiles), and it looks GREAT laid out on a large dining room table. Go buy the new English edition from Rio Grande Games NOW!

OK, we've gotten that out of the way.

Some folks don't agree with me... or they have some problems with the game and/or need some clarifications to the rules. So, the information below is to help you (and them!) "see the light".

End Game Problems(?)

One of the most commonly mentioned problems is the end game. Evidently, some gaming groups have a great deal of trouble with "the endless push war standoff that almost always happens at the end of a game of Mississippi Queen. Last night we played a 3 handed game and ended up in a draw, cyclicly pushing the next boat to move out of the way because that was the only way to prevent that boat from winning." (comment from Robert Derrick) Mind you, we've never had a problem with it around here...

Here's a quartet of possible solutions:

1. From the demented mind of Geoff Engelstein: "We just ignore the rule that you need to have a speed of '1' to win. Works well and captures the 'spirit' of the game (in that if you're in front with passengers going into the last tile you're in good shape). Always fun to watch the spectators flee in terror as the steamers barrel towards the docks!" I'm thinking we don't let Geoff drive we if go out to dinner...
2. From Game Central Station: We've tended to use a variation on George's "full speed ahead" rule, allowing players to finish at a speed of 1 or 2.
3. From Jeff Goldsmith:Disallow ships from being pushed straight backwards, that is, they cannot be pushed into the hex whence they came last time they moved. To simplify bookkeeping, perhaps you could simply disallow ships to be pushed directly astern. (He notes this idea is untested.)
4. From Kurt Meyer & the Westbank Gamers: One can reach the final dock only if he is traveling at the exact speed. Thus, if one is two spaces away, he can reach the dock by traveling at a speed of 2. (This is has "river-tested" by the Westbank Gamers and they use it regularly.)

Determining Movement Order

One of the biggest debates involves how to determine movement order. The following process is distilled from an extended conversation on rec.games.board.

First & foremost, turn order is determined for all players BEFORE a new round and does NOT change once the round begins. (This seems simple enough, but confused a couple of folks out there in Internet Land.)

1. A boat on the tile ahead of boats on another tile are ALWAYS ahead. (This is not in the rules, but makes sense. In the words of Russ Williams, "This has the virtue of simplicity. In terms of "realism", one can of course construct situations where a boat on the further-ahead tile is actually farther from the finish than a boat on the farther-back tile, but we've found it difficult to actually specify an simple unambiguous way of defining who's truly ahead. So I think we'll just go with your simple solution, since it's very clear and simple, and worrying about realism is silly in a game like Mississippi Queen."
2. For two boats on the same tile, work back from the next tile to figure out which one is ahead. (There will always be at least one tile or the finish tile, so you can always orient the direction the river "flows".)
3. If two or more boats are even, then the one moving faster goes first.
4. If two or more boats are even and are moving the same speed, then the one with more coal remaining goes first.
5. If two or more boats are even and are moving the same speed and have the same amount of coal remaining (yes, this does happen), the the one on the right goes first.

Starting Order

"It still begs the question of why the numbers on the start tile are wrong. Do people really play that boat #1 goes first, even though it's not farthest to the right, or to the left? Is this just a special exception for the first turn?" says Russ Williams. In fact, Russ isn't the only person who's asked that question... he's just the one I decided to quote.

The answer is, Yes, we do play that boat #1 goes first. Why? I don't know... but it seems to work so who are we to argue?

Variants

There are a variety of other variants wandering about... here are a couple that caught our eye here at Game Central Station.

Pushing

From Rich Shipley:

The pushing boat has its speed wheel reduced by one. Rich finds that this seems to make the game work a bit better.

Icebergs

From Wolfgang and Brigitte Ditt (thanks to Godwin Solcher):

Each player is given an additional chip (not provided) and can use it during the game as an iceberg (obstacle). The iceberg must be played during your turn. If a river section with an iceberg is removed from the board (due to all players passing it), that player receives his iceberg back, which he use again on a later turn.

If a player drives into an iceberg, because he cannot or will not use coal for an evasive maneuver, he stops in the space before the iceberg and removes the speed wheel from the ship. On the next turn, the ship can only be accelerated to " 1 " (by replacing the speed wheel).

An iceberg may not be set directly in front of a ship. There must be at least 1 space between the ship and the iceberg. As well, an iceberg may not be used to block the river completely... a route through must remain theoretically attainable. Finally, icebergs are not allowed on the first two river boards or on the last river section.

Editor's Note: This is a paraprhase of a AltaVista Babelfish translation... frankly, my German stinks. This may not be exactly what the author(s) intended, but hopefully it's close.Also, what about those icebergs on the Mississippi? As folks say down in the South, "Boy, you ain't from around here." Heck, call 'em big rocks... it's still a good variant!

Sand Bar & Log Alignment (The Black Rose)

To make a great game even better, Goldsieber published The Black Rose expansion, which adds more paddlewheelers and more river, including sand bars and log jams. There are some questions about how they work, which we're happy to answer for you right here.

When pushed into a sand bar or logs, the boat being pushed keeps it's current alignment and moves over pointed the same direction as before.

This ruling is confirmed by Jay Tummelson, head honcho of Rio Grande Games with the following strategy note: "This is the way it was intended when I wrote/edited the English rules. And, yes, it can result in a player being 'pushed' out of the race - so be careful near the sand bars."

Departures

Here's a couple of reviews of Mississippi Queen...

• The Game Cabinet
• Kulkmann's Gamebox

Framing the Conversation: Worms & Jail

Sorry this has taken me so long to write... hope you find it thought-provoking & illuminating.

So from a larger perspective, what is your feeling on laws that may not fall in line with the teachings of the church. What is the church's responsibility?

This conversation is raising some great questions... the one quoted above is from the comments on another post in the series.

The response is pretty simple for me, actually - individuals & organizations who claim loyalty to Jesus Christ (and by extension, to the Bible) should give their first loyalty to Jesus.

Whether it's Martin Luther's statement to the Diet of Worms (church history safety tip: the "Diet of Worms" is NOT what they forced monks to eat when they were bad; it was a church council)...

Unless I am convinced by proofs from Scriptures or by plain and clear reasons and arguments, I can and will not retract, for it is neither safe nor wise to do anything against conscience. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me. Amen.

...or Martin Luther King's "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"...

There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period when the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.

...great thinkers & followers of Jesus have issued the call over & over for those who believe to stand up for what is true, regardless of the consequences.

There are a variety of ways to do this:

• speak out clearly on issues of moral & ethical signifigance, both from the pulpit & in what we teach
• campaign in God-honoring ways for the passage or defeat of laws that affect these issues
• disobey those laws when they conflict with Scriptural truth

Regarding this particular issue (sanctifying marriages), clergy as individuals & churches as entities should exercise great care who they choose to marry... even if the laws of the state compel them to do otherwise.

When or if we are forced to disobey, we need to do so with great care & godliness. Our disobedience should focus solely on the law in question & not be rebellion against the government or an attempt to use the power of numbers to "bring the government to its knees." Civil disobedience is powerful because we stand for what is right, not because we get our way or force others to agree with us.

#45: Buddel-Wuddel

Buddel-Wuddel

• designer: Richard Ulrich & Wolfgang Kramer
• publisher: Haba
• date: 2003
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/6.11
• age: 6+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP?
• cost: 9.90 EU (Amazon.de - approx. $15.00)

Kramer & Ulrich are famous for other designs - most notably, El Grande & The Princes of Florence (two of my top ten games for adults). What we have here in this bright yellow Haba box is a mechanic from one of their "gamer" games (Die Handler) repurposed to drive a kid game about moles, gnomes, mine cars & a friendly goblin.

Players share two mine cars (with four spaces each) - and their moles careen about the mine attempting to reach the stolen treasure before other players. There are ways to ditch players off the cars (thanks to some handy gnomes on the board) as well as a friendly goblin who frees moles from the pesky gnomes. But the part of the game borrowed from Die Handler is the sharing - you're riding with other moles, so you've got to decide if you're going to "play nice" or try & take over the car for yourself.

The game is driven by the die - but you can move up to the rolled amount, so you always have some flexibility. Each move also ends with the car spinning one quarter turn, which adds another level of "how do I maximize this simple move to do the most possible damage to my opponents while keeping my moles as safe as possible?"

When players reach the treasure chamber, the mole "in front" gets 2 gold while the other moles get 1 gold each. The car is then returned to the start point & is re-loaded with moles. And the game continues until all 20 gold are dispensed - the player with the most gold wins.

This is one of those games that can be pleasantly random playing with a group of kids (who don't always think about the implications of their moves) or pretty tactical when played with adults. The nice thing is that it works both ways. (A counter-example, btw, is Amazing Labyrinth, which doesn't appear in the Kid Games 100 despite it's iconic status as a German kids game because the game is insanely long when played randomly by kids - and no shorter when played with a bunch of AP-prone adults.)

#46: Bärenstark

Bärenstark

• designer: Heinz Meister
• publisher: Goldsieber
• date: 2002
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 2804/6.34
• age: 5+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: 4.99 EU (Amazon.de)

Benni the bear is kind of like Pooh's deranged cousin - he wants honey, but rather than disguise himself as a raincloud and use a helium-filled balloon for lift, he decides to grab a bunch of beehives and run.

His loss is our gain - because we get to try & help him leap from flower patch to flower patch in this extremely short dexterity game. I've been known to describe this as "Kapitan Wackelpudding (another odd dexterity game) for kids"... which is still a pretty good description.

Players load Benni up with one hive (thick wooden discs of varying size) based on the color of flowers in the patch he's standing on. Then they roll the die, which tells them how many patches Benni must travel to end their turn. (It is possible to roll a zero, in which case you load up a 2nd hive.)

Moving Benni is tricky - not only is he carrying the hives, but the hives are placed on a thick cardboard "shelf" that is positioned between his arms. The basic/kids game uses a square shelf... but the game comes with a rounded shelf that is MUCH tougher to use.

The goal, of course, is to not drop any hives. When you do, you get the space Benni was sitting on in front of you, the hives are put back in the middle of the table, and play begins again. The first player to get two flower patches (by dropping hives) ends the game and is declared the loser. The player with the least flower patches wins... which means this is a game that can often have multiple winners.

Steadiness & hand/eye coordination are necessary skills here - which means that the recommended age of 5 is fine for some kids & (in the words of Monty Python) "right out" for others. Even if kids have some trouble with the game, it moves VERY quickly - the longest game I've played was with 4 adults & only took about 15 minutes.

#47: Bob the Builder - Scoop's Construction Site Game

Bob the Builder - Scoop's Construction Site Game

• designer: uncredited
• publisher: Milton Bradley
• date: 2001
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/4.97
• age: 4+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: $9,99 (Amazon - used)

You don't have to be a fan of Bob the Builder to enjoy the game - this is a simple build'n'smash game dressed up with Scoop as the smasher, Bob as the blocker & Pilchard as the reward for winning the game. (If you don't recognize those names, you obviously haven't had young boys in your house - Bob used to be hot stuff for the under 5 crowd.)

The game itself is simple - you spin the spinner (which is nicely made w/a chunky easy-for-small-fingers arrow) and get one of three results:

1. let Scoop do his stuff (50% chance)
2. put the Bob blocker in front of your tower (25% chance)
3. take a free I-beam (25% chance)

If you get to let Scoop do his thing, you pick him up by his "light", which turns on the small battery-powered motor inside him. This motor does two things: (a) it moves him when he's sitting on the board, and (b) it spins him around & around while you're holding him off the board. You must let Scoop spin around at least one time before setting him on the board so he can bulldoze forward. Thanks to the magic of technology, he stop moving when he reaches the edge of the board... and any I-beams you knocked completely off the board can then be placed in your tower.

Of course, the best possible result is to knock over another player's tower & steal their I-beams. That's why we all love Bob, whose sawhorse/blocker thingee actually sets into holes in the board & keeps Scoop from knocking your tower over.

The first player to build 3 levels (4 levels in a 2 player game) wins.

I don't understand the low Geek rating of this game - granted, it's not the 2nd coming of Agricola or anything, but it's not a sub-5 rated game. Kids love this game... as long as they're old enough to deal with something they've built being knocked down in a game. (Some of you have kids who should not play these kinds of games because you're just asking for a royal meltdown if their tower gets destroyed - you know who you are. Heck, I've played with some adult gamers who shouldn't play these kinds of games.)

When playing with adults, a suggestion: Scoop must spin 2 times around before setting him down.

Vampire Christians

No, this is not because I really want to play Fury of Dracula again...

The gospel of sin management produces vampire Christians who want Jesus for his blood and little else... At the heart of right-wing theology is the individual forgiveness of sins. On the left it is the removal of social or structural evils. The current gospel then becomes a gospel of sin management. Transformation of heart and character is no part of the redemptive message. Moment to moment human reality is not the arena of faith and eternal living. What right and left have in common is neither has a coherent framework of knowledge and practical direction adequate to personal transformation toward the abundance and the obedience emphasized in the New Testament. (Dallas Willard)

OK, Dallas can be tough to wade through sometimes - let's let Erwin take a crack at it.

How is it, that for many of us, being a good Christian is nothing more than being a good person? The entire focus of our faith has been the elimination of sin, which is important but inadequate; rather than the unleashing of a unique, original, extraordinary, wonderfully untamed, faith. (Erwin McManus)

Is this me? Is this you? Is this what we've settled for? Are we just slinking around the shadowy edges of life, mistaking being a good guy for being men of faith?

#48: The Lost World Jurassic Park Game

The Lost World Jurassic Park Game

• designer: uncredited
• publisher: Milton Bradley
• date: 1996
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 3401/5.85
• age: 8+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: $18.00 (Son of Nostalgia Zone - I do NOT know how reputable they are!)

This is one of the few "representative" games on the list... as I think that Jurassic Park III: Island Survival Game is just as good, though very different in the way they play out. (I'll tuck some info about that game at the end of this post.)

You may or may not be a fan of the films - for the record, I really liked the first one, tolerated the second one, and ignored the third one - but if you like dinosaurs, you'll love the whole "run or be eaten" vibe that the game gives off.

You'll also love the cool bits vibe as well - as you can see from the picture, the game has a number of cardboard buildings that you assemble & use for play. (Unusual for an American game - there's actually a diagram to show you how to get them all back in the box!)

The game is pretty simple - the human player (or players) start with 12 people and are trying to get them across the ruined compound to the helicopter pad. (Three people escaped counts as a win.) The dinosaur player has a T-Rex & four 'raptors to chase down & eat the humans.

Each team has a different set of dice for movement. One of the dice for each side is a "go/stop" dice - on a "go" roll, you do your move & then roll again. On a "stop" roll, your turn ends with this move. (There's a lot of complaining about this particular mechanic on the Geek - there are a couple of fixes posted in the forums there & both of them look like they'd work pretty well. It hasn't bothered us that much - it's just the way a dice-heavy game goes sometimes.)

Players can hide in buildings - but there are ways for the raptors to jump in and eat everyone. Thankfully, raptors who get into buildings sometimes have a hard time getting out, which is good for the humans. There's no hiding in the start building, however - that's what the T-Rex is there to prevent. He rumbles forward during the early turns & when he arrives eats whoever is left in the building.

For the human player(s), it's a game of lunging forward to safe zones and hoping for streaky runs... while the dinosaur player usually ends up playing a combination of offense (sending raptors forward to snack on humans caught outside) and defense (keeping a raptor or two close to the helipad to pick up anyone who's trying to make an end run.)

It's not a particularly balanced game - again, something that bothers some folks over on the Geek. I think it's actually part of the charm of the game - the dinosaur player has a built-in advantage that makes this a great parent/kid game. In our case, Dad takes the humans & my son takes the dinos - I'm lucky to get 3 players out! (I have got as many as 5 and as few as, well, zero.)

Along the same lines, there's:

Jurassic Park III: Island Survival Game

• designer: uncredited
• publisher: Milton Bradley
• date: 2001
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 3397/5.84
• age: 8+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: $19.75 (Amazon)

Also unbalanced, but it works much better for 3 or 4 players. This time around, the dinosaur player is at a disadvantage. Still, a ton of fun in the box.

Avoid at all costs the Jurassic Park III: Spinosauras Chase game... blech.

#49: Zingo!

Zingo

• designer: uncredited
• publisher: ThinkFun
• date: 2002
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/5.66
• age: 4+
• # of players: 2-8
• print status: in print
• cost: $12.46 (Amazon)

It's Bingo... there, I said it. All of you who want to make fun of me training my children to park their walkers & ink up a bunch of score cards before going down to Luby's Cafeteria for lunch should have at it.

But then you should shut your traps & take a look at a number of things the (sadly uncredited) designer of this game has done to plain ol' Bingo to turn it into a great kid game:

1. Rather than using the letter/number grid, they used icons with the words beneath them for a variety of very common objects, which makes playing the game with small kids very easy.
2. They used the sliding revealer goodie from their earlier game, Smart Mouth, so that rather than calling a single item, each turn two items are revealed. The game moves faster & you have more to take in each time.
3. There's a real-time component to the game - only the first person to call the name of the tile gets it.
4. There are 2 or 3 of each symbol in the tiles... so you aren't out of the game if you don't snap up the first tile of a type.
5. The game boards have two sides - an "easy" side (where you don't have a lot of overlap with the other boards) and a "tough" side (where there's lots of overlap). You can choose the side that makes more sense for your group - whether you're just playing with the grandkids (easy side) or playing for blood (tough side).
6. Finally, rather than trying to get 5 in a row, you're simply competing to fill a 3x3 board... again, this makes the game much more accessible to the younger set.

My 3 year old also plays this one (if someone else is manning the revealer goodie)... and pays attention not only to his own board but also to his mom's board. (He likes to help her out.) The components are well-made (kudos to whoever designed the icons - they're VERY easy to read & recognize) and it works well with small or large groups. And for those of you who love comic books, there's a Marvel version of this game as well.

One warning: the tiles must be reloaded into the revealer goodie - which, due to tile orientation, is not a job for small children. So this isn't a game you'll be letting the littlest members of your family play on their own, even though the age range is appropriate.

#50: My Haunted Castle

My Haunted Castle

• designer: Virginia Charves
• publisher: FX Schmid
• date: 1989
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/5.9
• age: 6+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: I could not find any available from a reputable online source... there is a copy of the German version of the game (no English necessary), Das Geisterschloss, available on the Geek for $16.00.

Another classic example of the way to misname a game when it crosses the Atlantic - in German, this is "The Ghost Castle". In English, it sounds like a Halloween episode of My Little Pony.

The game itself is a memory variant - the board is a picture of the castle in question with various horror film staples peeking out each window: the Headless Horseman, Frankenstein, Dracula, the Mummy, a witch, a skeleton & a ghost. Placed over each of these are shutter pieces - which have one of the beasties on their reverse side. One window is open (with a shutter piece that remains safely hidden in the box).

Players look at figure in the open window and then pick up one of the other shutters & show everyone the reverse. If they match, the tile is placed beastie side up, facing the player who got it right. (It's actually a very nice way to score the game while still keeping the spaces covered.)

However, if a player does not make a match, the shutter tile is placed on the previously open window - thus creating a new open window AND moving the tiles around. Because there are duplicate tiles of each type, this isn't as frustrating as it might seem, but it's also not simply a game of memorizing positions.

The shutter tile left in the box figures into the game as well... each player can make one guess during the game about which tile is missing. A correct guess is worth 2 points; an incorrect guess is minus 2 points. (We're still trying to figure out how to make this work so it can't be gamed - there's no time limit in the rules, which means you could wait until almost all the tiles are out and make a perfect guess. I checked the translated rules - rather than the English rules from the "My Haunted Castle" edition - to write this post & this rule does not appear in the German rules.)

When all of the tiles are matched, players total the number of matches they made plus any bonus/penalty for guessing the final tile & the player with the most points is the winner.

My three-year-old is scary good at this game - it moves fast enough for him to pay attention and his memory is much better than mine. He asks for it on a regular basis. For kids to play on their own, I'd guess the recommended age 6 is probably about right.

Andrew Peterson is Coming To A Church Basement Near You (But Not Near Me)

Andrew Peterson's new album, Resurrection Letters Volume II, is releasing on October 21... and to celebrate/promote the release, he'll be doing a 3 week album release tour. To quote the promotional materials:

Resurrection Letters Volume II is about our personal response to the resurrection of Jesus. Each show will be an intimate night of Andrew Peterson performing the songs from his new record acoustically on guitar and piano. He will be telling the stories behind the songs, and how they tie into the Gospel as we reflect on the resurrection.

And he'll be doing it for FREE!

Below, I'm listing the dates & cities for the tour - for more information, check out Andrew's website & the upcoming shows page.

• Chattanooga, TN - 10/11
• Birmingham, AL - 10/12
• Tupelo, MS - 10/14
• Knoxville, TN - 10/16
• Conyers, GA - 10/17
• Bowling Green, KY - 10/18
• Nashville, TN - 10/19
• Columbus, OH - 10/20
• Elmhurst, IL - 10/21
• South Bend, IN - 10/22
• Rockford, IL - 10/23
• Oshkosh, WI - 10/24
• Plover, WI - 10/24
• Frankfort, IL - 10/25
• Gaylord, MI - 10/26
• Maumee, OH - 10/27
• Columbus, OH - 10/28
• Elizabethtown, KY - 10/29

#51: Monster Fressen

Monster Fressen

• designer: Alex Randolph
• publisher: Simba
• date: 1998
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/6.6
• age: 7+
• # of players: 2-6
• print status: OOP
• cost: I could not find any available online... FunAgain has a used copy of Die Heisse Schlacht am Kalten Buffet, which is an earlier version of this game for $21.95. There is a copy of Kangaroo, the earliest version of the game, available on the Geek for $14.95.

I think I paid a Euro for Monster Fressen - which, when you get a gander at the pasteboard tiles, the lightweight board & the generic plastic markers, seems about right - but there's a lot more game in the box than the quality of the components indicates.

This is actually the fifth version of this particular game system:

• Kangaroo (1974)
• Generalowsky (date?)
• Pushover (1981)
• Die Heisse Schlacht am Kalten Buffet (1990)
• Monster Fressen (1998)

Give Alex Randolph credit - he managed to keep this baby afloat for 24 years & five different editions.

And here's why - the game play is simple to explain, there's a lovely push-your-luck dice rolling mechanic at the heart of the game, and it's just plain fun. Whether the theme is racing kangaroos, Soviet generals, odd little men riding on golems, scarfing the best food at a cold buffet or monsters sampling dinner from the kitchen, the heart of the game is the ol' "just one more roll" dilemma.

On your turn, you roll a 1/2/3 dice (in other words, a dice with 1, 1, 2, 2, 3, 3 on the faces)... and then, you may roll another 1/2/3 dice... and then, if you're feeling lucky, you may roll one final 1/2/3 dice. Whenever you stop, the dice faces are totaled - if the total is 4 or less, you get to move. If it's higher than 4, you go back to start. Before you move, though, you multiply the total on the faces with the number of dice you rolled - meaning you can potentially move up to 12 spaces in a turn.

When you pass the cooking pot, you get the top monster food tile - and if you land on the cooking pot space, you get two tiles. They range in value from 1-7. Of course, you can land on the same space as another player... and whoever is on top of a stack gets to dictate how the player below them rolls. Since only the top player gets monster food when you pass the cooking pot, it's wise to set yourself up to be carried across by another player.

The game is played until all the tiles are gone - and the player who gets the last tile gets a bonus point award. Points are totaled & the player with the most is the winner.

I have only played Pushover & Monster Fressen - and though Pushover has a nifty plastic board and great little men, I think it's a much less successful game than Monster Fressen. Monster Fressen looks (to me!) to be the cleanest implementation of the game... and it's been a hit with kids (esp. boys, who love the gross-out food tiles) and adults alike.

#52: Froschkönig

Froschkönig

• designer: Bernhard Lach & Uwe Rapp
• publisher: Zoch
• date: 2003
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/6.37
• age: 5+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: in print
• cost: 14.90 Euros (Milan Spiele - about $24)

We've had some weird themes on this list... and there are more to come. However, I'm not sure any of them can beat "Frog King" for sheer weirdness. (It is, btw, one of the games that Frank Branham, designer of Dia de los Muertos, Nodwick: The Card Game & Warhamster Rally, recommended to me - he has a real gift for picking out wild kid games that I'll enjoy.)

The frogs are all princes who are trying to kiss the princess first & turn into a frog - now, I don't know how to say this without sounding weird, but since these critters are sticking their tongues out, they're trying to, well, french kiss the princess. That's not right. Really not right.

Still, this is a wonderful game, with estimation skills being a key mechanic - which I'm pretty sure doesn't happen in too many games. Each turn, all of the players grab two "tongue sticks" out of their bag, trying to make the combination longer than everyone else's "bid" but not over the limit. (Yes, it's kinda like Contestants' Row on The Price Is Right: "The contestant who bids closest to the actual retail price of the prize, without going over, wins.") The first place player puts the longer of his two sticks in front of his frog, while the 2nd place player puts the shorter of his two sticks out. Any sticks that were bid are then set aside, the player with the shortest tongue (on his frog!) sets the distance for the next "bid"... and you keep going until one of the frog tongues "kisses" the princess. (Ewww.)

This is easily playable with 5 year olds... though the proper estimation skills don't kick in until mid-elementary school years. It's also great fun with adults as a filler - it plays quickly and isn't quite like anything else in my collection.

Battle Royale

The new jungle terrain for Heroscape is in... and Braeden & I created a monster-sized board to fight on. This is the view from his side of the battle... you can see his red dragon flying towards the bridge & his Onyx Vipers working their way through the swamp on the right hand side of the board. The objective is to get to the magic pool hidden inside the castle & take a vial of the fluid off the other (my) side of the board.

On the other side of the board, over in Markland, my giant fly is moving to opposed the dragon, while my Ashigaru spearmen & gunners get ready to defend the road. There's also some samuari in the swamps below the castle.

Each of us have 1210 pt armies... and are playing with two sets of order markers per turn. I'll keep you guys updated on how the battle goes!

TV Brothers

Just thought I'd share a couple of delightful pictures with y'all - the first is the brothers in "cuddle up & watch TV" mode. The second I entitled "Grin & Grinner" - I think it speaks for itself.

#53: Enchanted Forest

Enchanted Forest

• designer: Alex Randolph & Michael Matschoss
• publisher: Ravensburger
• date: 1981
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 2459/5.81
• age: 6+
• # of players: 2-6
• print status: in print
• cost: $18.50 (Games Surplus)

Oooo, kids - look at the cute plastic trees & all the fairy tale story art! What a sweet game... well, no. It's not. It is, possibly, one of the meanest kid games ever made - and, boy howdy, is it fun to play!

The basic idea is simple enough - an item from the tales (Puss in Boots' boot, Sleeping Beauty's spindle, etc.) must be located - you can tell which one by the face-up card on the castle. Players roll 2 dice & maneuver their "knights" (pawns) in order to peer beneath the plastic trees & find the object of their quest. When they do, they race to the castle to tell the king where it is.

Of course, it's not that simple. (It never is, is it?) If you roll doubles, you can change the top card at the castle, magic yourself 1/2 way across the board or even jump to a tree. Better yet, if you finish either part of your move on top of another player, you send them back to the village (start space).

So, by now the savvier members of my reading audience have figured it out: Enchanted Forest is an evil combination of Aggravation and a memory game. Stomping on other players is an integral part of the fun!

To succeed at the game you need two basic skills:

1. memory - there are 13 trees & you'll need to remember all of them that you can without getting to pick the order you see them in.
2. ability to juggle small numbers - each turn, you get two "turns" - each die is a separate movement. Playing quickly depends on your personal ability to figure out the best possible way to use your die rolls.

It's the second of these skills that make this game almost unplayable with younger kids - they can do the memory part (in fact, they're downright scary how good they are at the memory part). But they have great difficulty figuring out the movement - I'd set the minimum age for this one at 7.

There are some simplified rules available on the Geek for younger kids - and one crazy group who has created rules to make the game harder. (These people scare me, btw.)

Two Reasons I Miss Living in Nashville

There's one... and here's the other:

Speaking of concerts with friends, it's not too early to make your plans for Andrew's annual Christmas concert at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium. Tickets just went on sale through Ticketmaster and the Ryman box office. Seats are $18.50 and $22.50 for this 7:30pm concert.

This year's show, as always, will include a wonderful line-up of talents, and will also feature a string quartet. The Ryman concert never fails to be a memorable night, filled with surprises both for the artists and the audience. It's definitely an event you'll want to keep as a holiday tradition. Grab your tickets while they last.

I just checked: the Christmas concert is on Thursday, December 18th.

Religion & Politics: The Christian & Politics

This article actually comes from Serious Times - a website created by James Emery White to help followers of Jesus have a thoughtful impact on the culture we live in. (The book that inspired it, Serious Times, is very good, btw.) I really liked what he had to say about political involvement & Christians, so here it is...

If there are two words that can raise the temperature in any room, they would be “religion” and “politics” - or as Linus would add, “...and the Great Pumpkin.” When it comes to religion and politics, we have deep convictions and opinions, denominations and parties, divides and loyalties. Christians in particular can get confused about how to engage the political realm.

On the one hand, we know that politics matter, as there are issues which are inextricably intertwined with politics that we are called to care deeply about: the definition of marriage, when life begins and ends, care for the poor, or the treatment of the oppressed. These are deeply spiritual matters, and as a result, deeply spiritual concerns.

But we’ve also been burned by politics. Whether it’s embarrassment over the excesses of the religious right during the 1980’s, or the groups that would shout out “God hates fags” or scream at women entering abortion clinics. In fact, we were so burned by it – and associated with it - that it’s become one of Christianity’s biggest image problems. As Gabe Lyons and Steve Kinnaman have found in their research on young American “outsiders”, the dominant view of Christians is that we are antihomosexual, judgmental, insensitive to others and, of course, too involved in politics.

So here we are in an election year when, in just a few short weeks, we’ll choose a new president.

What to do?

It might be healthy to remind ourselves what churches and their leaders can do.

Since 1954, when then Senator Lyndon Johnson proposed and successfully passed legislation prohibiting nonproftis from either opposing or endorsing a candidate – after being opposed himself by a nonprofit organization - churches may not directly endorse or oppose a political candidate.

The key word is “directly.”

No church can officially say, “We endorse John Doe,” or “We oppose Jane Doe.” Not only that, but a pastor cannot send out a personal written endorsement on church letterhead. Political signs cannot be displayed on church property. The only participation in the political process that is allowed is “indirect.”

As a pastor, I can personally endorse a candidate. I can tell you who I like in the church parking lot or the grocery store aisle in normal conversation. I just can’t do it directly from the podium. As a pastor, I can also personally work for a candidate, and contribute financially to their campaign, but the church itself cannot contribute financially with church funds even if approved by the membership. I can also endorse a candidate in print, and use my title and the church I am affiliated with; I am free to speak and teach on moral and social issues that may be integral to the political debate, such as abortion, gay marriage, and economic matters – even if, by implication, it throws support toward one candidate and critiques another.

As a church, we can also take official positions on such issues, as long as we don’t directly endorse or oppose a candidate in the process. We can organize voter registrations and drives as long as they are directed at all eligible voters and not toward just one political party. We can hold forums where candidates are invited to address the issues. If a candidate were to visit our church, they could be publicly recognized and introduced. We can even host candidates to speak from our stage, as long as that candidate is not directly endorsed or urges the church to vote for them. We can distribute non-partisan voter guides giving information on where each candidate stands on the issues. And, of course, we can offer our campus as a voting station.

This is what a church, and its leaders, is currently allowed to do – though a group of pastors recently announced their choice for president to their congregations and encouraged them to vote accordingly in a “Pulpit Freedom Sunday” in the hopes they will be sued and the laws inhibiting such speech will be changed in a court of law.

But what of the individual Christian? Politics can be a dizzying affair, and is increasingly difficult to navigate. Clearly God is not aligned with any political party. There is a fascinating passage in the Old Testament where an angel of the Lord comes to Joshua. The Bible records that “Joshua went up to him and asked, ‘Are you for us or for our enemies?’ ‘Neither,’ he replied, ‘but as commander of the army of the LORD I have now come’” (Joshua 5:13-14, NIV).

Yet there are stands that one or both parties may take on a specific issue that reflect the Kingdom of God or do not; issues about the sanctity of human life, the definition of marriage and family, how the poor are treated, and whether those who are victimized are protected. Based on your reading of the Bible, you may find that one party gets one set of issues right, and another party gets another set of issues right. And to add to the complexity, on some of these issues, thoughtful Christians disagree about how best to flesh out the principles of the Bible in addressing various matters, such as with immigration or welfare, when a war is just and when it is not, or how best to care for the environment.

But however you vote, vote. Christians should dig deep into the issues, even deeper into the Scriptures, and emerge with a resolve to care deeply and work passionately while behaving in a civil and loving manner. They should run for office when God calls them to it, and strive to make a difference in that realm – not as a partisan Democrat or Republican, though they may be aligned with such a party, but primarily as a Christian attempting to be salt and light.

Because it matters.

In my study, there is a small, brass bust of Winston Churchill. It is the only such sculpture I own. I purchased it at his birthplace, Blenheim Palace, in England. I have it there because it reminds me of a life that reflected passion, resolve, and conviction. Almost singlehandedly, Churchill resisted one of the greatest onslaughts of evil the world has ever known, willing the world to victory. His words to the English people, particularly during that dark summer of 1940, still stir the human heart:

"Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known or cared for, will sink in to the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science. Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.'"

Later, biographers would call it his finest hour.

Compare that to the confession of Martin Niemoller, a pastor who initially sent a telegram congratulating Hitler on his rise to power:

"In Germany, they came first for the communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up became I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up."

Let that never be our confession.

James Emery White

Sources

• David Kinnaman and Gabe Lyons, Unchristian: What a new generation really thinks about Christianity (Grand Rapids: Baker, 2007).
• On what a pastor, or church, can “do” politically, a good primer can be found in “Politics from the Pulpit,” posted January 7, 2008, on the “Out of Ur” blog as compiled by Allen R. Bevere. Link: http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=45438226&msgid=545075&act=&c=320029&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.christianitytoday.com%2Foutofur%2Farchives%2F2008%2F01%2Fthe_bully_pulpi.html%23more.
• “‘Pulpit Freedom Sunday’ Tally: 31+ Sermons, 6 Complains With IRS,” September 30, 2008, Adele M. Banks, Religious News Service, at http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=45438226&msgid=545075&act=&c=320029&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fblog.christianitytoday.com%2Fctpolitics%2F2008%2F09%2Fpulpit_freedom.html.
• Churchill’s speech was delivered on June 18, 1940, and is quoted here from Norman Rose, Churchill: The Unruly Giant (New York: The Free Press, 1994), p. 329.
• Martin Niemoller’s confession was actually a poem and has been represented in various ways with minor variations. This is the version that Niemoller himself said he preferred, when asked by Richard John Neuhaus in 1971, as relayed in the November 2001 issue of First Things.

Editor’s Note

To enjoy a free subscription to the Serious Times Update, log-on to http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=45438226&msgid=545075&act=&c=320029&admin=0&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.serioustimes.com%2F, where you can also join the conversation on this update by posting your comments, and view past Updates in our archive.

Highlights

No, not the magazine - but some highlights from the past few days:

• One of my former youth (and the first bride I had the privilege to perform her wedding ceremony) has a wonderful blog - Sarah Underhill. (Yes, her last name sounds like she's straight out of a Tolkien novel.) I loved her post Bedtime Conversations.
• Iron Man was very, very cool - Robert Downey Jr. was perfectly cast, the pacing was great & the FX were right on. I'm not sure it's the best comic book movie ever (can't forget Batman Begins or the first two X-Men) but it's awfully good.
• Traded the old Mayfair game Sanctuary (yep, I actually read the Thieves World short story collections back in the day - when I was heavily into swords & sorcery fantasy/D&D) for GW's Chainsaw Warrior. This was actually a re-acquisition - I sold my copy of Chainsaw Warrior way back when for store credit to buy 3rd edition Talisman. I'm 7-8 games in without a win (it's a solo game) and having a blast.
• I'm currently being challenged by Gary Thomas' The Beautiful Fight & Matthew Paul Turner's Provocative Faith. Open these books at your own risk.

#54: Klondike

Klondike

• designer: Christian Wolf & Stefanie Rohner
• publisher: Haba
• date: 1993
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: 1524/6.38
• age: 6+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: in print
• cost: $38.00 (ThoughtHammer)

You open the box & the first thing you notice is the dinner plate-sized metal pan... and then the rope ring - because, unless you've been playing a lot of German kid games (esp. Haba games), you haven't seen components like these in a box. (Americans games have, unfortunately, tended towards plastic & thin cardboard.)

Once you start playing, you quickly find out that you've got a lot more here than nifty components - there's a wicked gambling/bluffing/dexterity game shoehorned into the box. (This, btw, is another one of those kid games that works really well with a group of adults - even with no kids in sight.)

Players take turns "panning" for gold - they draw three wooden marbles out of the bag & drop them into the pan. Carefully, you try to get the non-gold marbles (grey & black) to fall out of the pan without losing any gold marbles. It's a skill that takes some practice... ok, a lot of practice.

Meanwhile, the other players are betting on the results, predicting how much gold you'll have left when all the non-gold marbles are gone. The payoff system is simple - if they're right, you owe them gold; if they're wrong, you get their wager.

There's also a raccoon that goes to the player who last picked a grey marble out of the bag - they get a tax of 1 gold when a player draws 3 gold marbles. As well, there is a second variation on the rules that mainly changes the limits on betting.

Here's the deal - Haba packed extra wads of fun in the box along with the rest of the stuff. Since you're wagering on each person's turn, you always interested in how they do - there's no real "down time". Of course, the panning player can dump all the gold in an attempt to burn the gamblers... or get burned themselves.

While the game works (after a fashion) with 2 players, it's really better with 3 and best with 4. The age recommendation here is pretty solid as well - the coordination needed to pan successfully doesn't happen much before age 6.

By the way, the rope circle is to keep the marbles from rolling all over the place, not so siblings can strangle each other at the end of the game.

#55: Drops & Co.

Drops & Co.

• designer: Gunter Baars
• publisher: Haba
• date: 2004
• BoardGameGeek rank/rating: not ranked/5.75
• age: 5+
• # of players: 2-4
• print status: OOP
• cost: I could not find a copy for sale from a reputable online source (sorry!)

Some games work really well as "kid games" - in other words, teach 'em the game & then let them play it on their own. (Many of Haba's games have this quality.) Other games, however, work much better if an adult is there to supervise and/or play with the kids. Drops & Co. is one of those other games.

It's not that Drops is chock full of strategic or tactical decisions - it's basically a dice game played out on a near-vertical board filled with mini-conveyor belts. There is some look ahead (you need to set yourself up while avoiding helping other players) - but the real attraction here is the little wooden "candies" dropping down the face of the board and into the bins.

However, setting up the game is challenging, even for adults - the initial candies have to be placed just so to work - and then younger players have to be reminded about what they're doing. Still, though it's not a great game, it's a great gaming experience with younger kids (age 3-6) and I'm glad it's in my collection.