Episode 94: A Real Page Turner

94: A Real Page Turner

Release Date: Jan. 18, 2010

Running Time:  115 min.

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Tome sweet tome. We travel the lands of Valdora, a board game where the roads are filled with gems and patrons and the cities guard giant wooden books.

News & Notes: Pillars of the Earth: Builder's Duel, The Game Makers
The List: Valdora

Table Talk: 
NHL Ice Breaker

Truckloads of Goober:  El Dorado
Scribbler:  Winner of the Essen Goody Bag announced
Mail Bag: 
Holiday haul, game-related tattoos

Complete Show Notes continue after the break.

 News & Notes

Pillars of the Earth: Builder's Duel   Kosmos | BGG


England in the 12th Century. The players slip into the roles of Prior Philip and Bishop Waleran.
Philip wants to build the most beautiful cathedral in England. Waleranplans to build a powerful castle.  Both players must erect their building as fast as possible. They just procure the raw materials and convert them to the needed building materials. They must form powerful alliances and emerge victorious from many conflicts. Whoever erects their building first will be the winner.

The Game Makers: The Story of Parker Brothers from Tiddley Winks to Trivial Pursuit  by Philip E. Orbanes Link

 

This book chronicles Parker Brothers from its birth through its early successes (including Pit, a card game invented by Edgar Cayce), its subsequent lean years, and its transition into pop-culture icon. Most of us know Parker Brothers as the company that makes Monopoly (created seven decades ago), but Orbanes lets us know it's much more than that; for example, George Parker was the guy who brought Ping-Pong to the U.S.

The List

Valdora Official Site | BGG

Travel the land of Valdora buying equipment and seeking out commissions from great books in the cities. Deliver the right combination of gems to the noble houses to score points and collect craftsmen and workshops. Clever wooden books with cards as pages add a great element of enjoyment and beauty to the game.

Table Talk

NHL Ice Breaker  Official Site | BGG 

Battle for the puck by forming the best poker hand. Multi-purpose cards give that game nice balance of speed and strategy.

Truckloads of Goober

Eldorado  BGG 

A game about gold prospecting with giant working balance scales!

The Game Sommelier

Dave's new challenge: 5 games that can be made of food and still be playable

Inspired by the 100 Game Cupcake Game.

Donors

Thanks to the following donors/subscribers:

Mark “The Vizier”  Weaver

Scotty “Knucklebones” Dickey

Jeffrey “Mayor of Catan” Myers 

Jefferson “Catastrophe Tile” Ridpath

Christopher “Mr. Indigo” Ross

Susan “Pearl Diver” McKinley Ross

Robert “The Guild Master” Wilson

Bill “Hunt Leader” Bauer

Mail Bag

Thanks to Casey Vise and Bay Chang for sending Dave sets of musical dice and the game Muzundrum. Dave can't wait to give this one a go!

Miscellany

Music credits (courtesy of Ioda Promonet) include:

"Open Book" by Big Walker - buy the track

"Picture Book" by Myka Nyne - buy the track

"Book of Dreams" by Joe Pacino, Vanessa - buy the track

"The Black Page" by Meridian Arts Ensemble - buy the track

"Paper Plane" by Natural Selection - buy the track

"Paperhouse" by The Pikes - buy the track

Errata

I'm sure there are some goofs in there somewhere. Let us know if (when?) you find one!

Comments

Heh, I've been pondering a game themed tattoo for some time.

Mrs Steerpike has even been encouraging. Let's have a mass Spiel tattoo done. A secret sign. We could be like the Freemasons :-)

 

man, those cup cakes look good  

How about a Scopa card like the seven of coins? It's obscure enough no one else would really have a clue what it was.

Except for a few million Italians...

You can have my tattoo, I'll just learn the secret sign/handshake.

I was going to suggest the miming of a dice throw, but I fear that might suggest the wrong thing.

A Spiel secret society?  I'm in.  Can we get some of those cool fez hats?

I think a fez would look fetching on any Spieler!

As long as there aren't any monkeys in fezes along for the ride...

I think the name Valdora stems from The Golden Valley, the Vallée d'or.

It is not Norwegian, I guess. Rather French or even latin.

/Patrik

Interesting connection, Patrik.

Is The Golden Valley a mythical place or an actual location in Europe?

I ask only because it's a phrase or term I am unfamiliar with.

Stephen--

You mentioned Valdora as a possible SdJ nominee for 2010, but actually it was on the recommended list for 2009, so I'm guessing it was eligible last year and not this year...

Thanks for the correction, Doug.

Of course, had I looked back at our own show notes I would have seen Valdora clear as day on the short list.

Sigh.... The ol' grey cells aren't firing as often as they should!