Episode 55: Just For The Halibut

55: Just For The Halibut

Release Date: May 26, 2008

Running Time: 93 min.

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ep 55

Gone fishin'. The bait: wooden penguins and little rubber worms. We strike bargains with talking fish and dive under the ice looking for the big catch playing If Wishes Were Fishes and Hey! That's My Fish!

News & Notes: Bridge class with a Life Master (Spiel discount), Monty Python Fluxx
The List: If Wishes Were Fishes, Hey! That's My Fish
Name That Game: Win 2 Mosquito Expansion Tiles for Hive
Backshelf Spotlight:
Corsari, Lindy
Truckloads of Goober: Chateau Roquefort
Game Sommelier: Seven games to match the continents
Mail Bag:
Gridstones, Ta Yu still in print

Complete Show Notes continue after the break.

 

Game News & Notes

Bridge Class with Life Master David Hoffman at the JCC Link 

The Jewish Community Center here in Indianapolis is offering a Bridge class for beginners and those who play “just a little.” Join David as he guides you through the basics of this excellent strategic card game. And the best part? Spiel listeners get a discount!

The class will meet for 8 sessions, June 16–August 4 from 7-9 PM.  Ordinarily, the class is $90 ($11.25 per session), but if you mention that you are a Spiel Listener when you register,  the cost of the class drops to $60 ($7.50 per session)!

To register, visit the JCC website at www.jccindy.org call 251-9467 or visit either membership desk at the JCC -6701 Hoover Rd. Indianapolis, IN 46260.

The JCC is also hosting a Texas Hold 'Em Tournament Thursday, August 21. The April tournament had 98 players, over $9,200 in payout, 8 money winners and the first place winner took home almost $3,900.

Monty Python Fluxx BGG 

Ni! A new version of Fluxx drawing heavily from The Holy Grail but including as many Python references as designer Andy Looney can cram in!

The List

If Wishes Were Fishes BGG | Official Site

In this game, the fishes really can grant wishes - but you have to throw them back.Players are fishermen, trying to catch the most valuable fish and sell them in the market for the best prices. With limited space for storing caught fish, players must use their wits to get the right fish to market at the right times. The game is based on the Russian folk tale "The Golden Fish."

Hey! That's My Fish BGG | Official Site

At the pole your penguins are jumping from ice floe to ice floe hunting fish. They’re also trying to block other penguins and secure the best fishing grounds for themselves. The penguin colony that catches the most fish by the end of the game wins.

Backshelf Spotlight

Mystery Connection Contest
Can you create a connection between these two games?
Post your connections here and you could win a set of custom Spiel dice! Remember the more left of center your connection, the more likely you'll get our attention.

spiel dice

Congratulations to Depasb our winner for episode 54! Read his connnection here .

Corsari BGG | Official Site

Players are pirate captains working hard to recruit the best crews for their ships. The players try to collect a complete crew of 11 pirates, but each must recruit from only two groups to keep fights on their ships to a minimum. Players also get credit for including prisoners in their crews. When the ships set sail, players lose points for pirates that do not belong. Arrrggggghhhh!

Lindy: The New Flying Game BGG 

Created in 1927 to commemorate the first solo flight over the Atlantic, Lindy is a sequel to the popular car racing game, Touring, and a kissing cousin to the classic Mille Bornes.

Truckloads of Goober

Chateau Roquefort  BGG | Official Site 

Wonderfully creative castle board using the box, complete with pits to swallow you little mice as they search he mansion for cheese.

chateau roquefort

Game Sommelier

The Challenge: Seven games to match the seven continents

Dave's List

Stephen's Vote

Keythedral - North America
Thumbs Down
Java - South America
Thumbs Up
1960: Making of The President - Antarctica
Thumbs Up
Queen's Gambit - Europe
Thumbs Down
Unexploded Cow - Asia
Thumbs Up
Diamant - Africa
Thumbs Up 
Reef Encounter - Australia
Thumbs Up

Next Challenge: Seven games that correspond to the seven deadly sins. Mark "The Nemesis" Wilder has added and extra challenge. For every thumbs up I receive from Mark, he's going to donate $5 to the Spiel Foundation, our new charity fund to donate games to children's hospitals and senior centers. Mark is also going to come up with his own list of 7 games. For every game we match, he will also donate $5. That's $70, potentially!

Mail Bag

Thanks to donors John "The Bishop" Sturgill, Timb "Saga Spinner" Bennett, Jason “The Provost” Lukac, Justin “Tile Flipper” Moore

Kristof Tersago in Belgium wrote in to let us know that Ta Yu is still available from Goliath Games.

Congrats to Tim WK Brown on the newest member of his family, Payton. Tim also has a new game, Gridstones, that is being licensed and distributed by Danawares in Canada.

Errata

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

 

Comments

I would suggest that Antarctica and Africa should change places.

Wikipedia:

" In 1960, the UN General Assembly voted the Declaration on the Granting of Independence to Colonial Countries and Peoples"

Thus, many presidents were installed in Africa.

And ice crystals are somewhat like diamonds, don't you think?

 

I am pretty sure during the Hey That's My Fish! segment, you mentioned that you would have some suggestions for setup. Completely possible that I spaced out during that section, but it was a topic that particularly interested me since I just got the game a few weeks ago in my last order.

Any good suggestions? Suggesting that I re-listen to the segment is perfectly acceptable :)

You're totally right, I forgot to come back to that point at the end of my comments on the game. It's the Alzheimers.

I was GOING to say there are some great downloadable boards at Board Game Geek created by Diane Close. Here's a link to the file. The board comes in four parts. You can print them out on four sheets of card stock and then cut them so they fit together and also fit in the game box.

What makes these boards great is that they define the rows of hexes where you will lay out the tiles AND they include enough space around each tile to make removing them less of a hassle. Having played both with and without, it's definitely easier to set up and play with the boards, I think. Diane has also added a nice oceany background to the boards that fit well with the art of the game.

A very fishy episode indeed.

Sommalier was a little too off the wall but fun nevertheless.

I enjoyed the backshelf spotlight as Cosari is a game I picked up recently on a number of recommendations. Of course there is a holy war going on there around which version of the rules to use - the original European supplied ruleset or the tinkered Rio Grande adaptation.

I fall firmly into the 'original' camp but would be interested in your thoughts.

Maybe you could catch up with Jay at the Spiel-a-thon (remind me again when that is?) and ask him why he changed the rules for the US/UK audience. That would be a scoop !

ps Why does the Lindy "Official Site" link take me to an ElkFest page ?

Is that a connection ?

I'm sad to say it, but I'm not really all that up on the sommeleir choices this time. They were just a little too out there for me and I would have liked the connections to be a little more concrete. I know that some people did like it and that it takes all kinds, though, so I'm glad Dave had fun doing it. For the sins challenge, I hope Stephen isn't quite as out there. :)

Thanks for reminding me about "If Wishes Were Fishes." I saw it at the RGG booth at Essen and totally forgot that I was planning on picking it up! Now with that, Blue Moon City and Wicked Witches Way I think I have enough for an order...