Episode 119 - Classics Revisited
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Release Date: Jan. 24, 2011 Running Time: 140 min. Listen Now: Download: Subscribe via iTunes: See sidebar for other subscription options |
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Everything old is new again. We review Rowboat, TZQ, Shokoba, and Booray: four card games that seek to adapt or reacquaint us with the classics Spades, Mah Jongg, Scopa, and Bourré.
News & Notes: Uno turns 40, Alvin & Dexter, 1955, Boardgameinfo.com
The List: Rowboat, Tien Zi Que
Back Shelf Spotlight: Shokoba, Booray
Game Sommelier: 5 games to connect Rattus and Last Call
Mail Bag: Plague movie, Spiel interview, tile bags, and a bet
Complete Show Notes continue after the break.
News & Notes
Happy 40th Anniversary, Uno
Uno-themed float from the Rose Bowl Parade Jan. 2011
1955: The War of Espionage Link
Upcoming title from new publisher Living World games, designed by Kevin Nunn.
Ticket to Ride: Alvin & Dexter Link
What was missing from Ticket to Ride? An alien and a dinosaur, right? Use these troublemakers to prevent new routes from being built in particular cities. Use cards to move them around the board.
Board Game Info.com Link
A new online community for board game enthusiasts.
Congrats to Dave for finishing his Half Marathon! more
Dave completed his run and raised $250 for The Spiel Foundation. Nicely done!
The List
Rowboat Official Site | BGG | Buy It
Read the Tide and make your bid for tricks. Be careful not to take on too many sandbags or you may sink! Classic game connections: Spades, Euchre
TZQ (Tien Zi Que) Official Site | BGG | Buy It
Create sets of 3 and runs of 3. Save 1 card from each set to create scoring combinations. Classic game connection: Mah Jongg, Rummy, Poker
Back Shelf Spotlight
Shokoba Official Site | BGG | Buy It
BCapture cards from a central line to collect four different types of gems. Classic game connection: Scopa.
Booray Official Site | BGG | Buy It
Trick taking witha fun betting angle. A Louisiana favorite, borrowed from Spain and France: Bourré
The Game Sommelier
The Challenge: 5 games to connect Rattus to Last Call
Next Challenge: 5 games to connect Uno to Mah Jongg
** This is the new format for the Your Move contest ** Enter here!
Mail Bag
Interview of Go Forth & Game Link
Thanks to Tom Gurganus for posting an interview with us on his great gaming blog.
Draw String Tile Bags made by Spielers Link
Reversible tile bags made by Jackie and Lucio Rodriguez.
Miscellany
Music credits (courtesy of IODA promonet) include:
Vivaldi's Breakdown by Tim Lake | buy the track
Non-Ioda Music:
Excitable Sea Porcupine by Scavenger Quartet | buy the track
Intermezzo by Lew Davies and His Orchestra | buy the track
Ballbuster by Dreamland Faces | buy the album
I'm sure there are some goofs in there somewhere. Let us know if (when?) you find one!
We forgot to mention the maximum number of rat tokens in any region on the board is 3.
Comments
audio hiccup
There was an audio glitch with one of the pieces of interstitial music ( the music before and after the Board Game Guy ad) when I first posted the show.
I have corrected the problem and posted new files to the media servers. If you want the fixed version, simply delete and re-download the file and you'll be ready to go.
tzq
Nice to hear some of the classics getting some love (although I struggle with the concept of Uno as a 'classic')
Interesting discussion of Tien Zi Que - I did a review of this over on the geek and I think I err more towards Stephen's view than Dave's.
To me this is a neat little card game that scratches a well defined itch - a two player variant of MahJong. Ok, it's not MahJong but it feels enough like it to deliver the mini experience.
I'm not sure that it would be much fun for non MahJong addicts and I really can not see the point of buying extra sets so that it plays with four (just play the original!!), but for what it is it works for me :-)
there are classics and there are classics
Uno passes the classic test to me. It certainly doesn't rank as high in my estimation as many others, but it has had wide appeal and seems like it will stand the test of time. We can create a new sub-category of "modern" classics if you prefer, but it seems right to include it.
I really enjoy the blending of Mah Jongg with the other classic elements in TZQ. I think I wouldn't like it as much if it were trying to simple wedge all of Mah Jongg into a 2-player experience. That would be like shoving a square tile in a round hole. TZQ passes that hard to quantify sniff test for me. It smells enough like Mah Jongg to qualify, but retains a flavor of its own.
Since I have been working on a dice game that incorporates many elements of Scopa, trying to figure out how to strike this balance has been on my mind!
ScoDice
The world still waits for Scopa dice with baited breath
well, I do, anyway
Scopa Dice
Oh man, I need to find my notes. I remember writing some scribbles down...now where did I put those???