Tag: en

Top 10 Board Games Mechanisms [EN]

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bgames-popuri-smAs a follow up to Family Showdown channel’s list i have created my own Top 10 list of favourite board games mechanisms. I have listed a few games for every mechanism that i think represent it the best (of course, of those i have actually played). Btw, i have not consulted any official list of mechanisms when doing this Top 10. So i have came up with some on my own 🙂

 

10. Set Collection

One of the first mechanisms you learn when starting playing modern board games (and even some traditional card games). This is also often an additional mechanism in a board game. Like in Ticket to Ride where you have to collect sets of cards of a same color to be able to build tracks. In Tokaido you collect painting cards to create a beautiful panorama (and get lots of points by doing that). There are also small games, which are all about set collection, like Jaipur or Coloretto.

 

9. Dice Allocation

Not just rolling of dice, but allocation their results to various actions. This feels a bit like worker placement, but in this case results on the dice matter and changes the outcome. My favorite in this genre is my most played game – Zooloretto: The Dice Game. This is essentially “i divide – you choose” type of game. When you roll the dice and select how to spread them among the trucks. And then your opponent chooses whether to take some dice or roll more. In The Voyages of Marco Polo you place dice with their values on the spots to get the according number of resources. Dice Town also allows you to select how to use your “hand” of dice. And Nations: The Dice game lets you combine a few dice into a single value to purchase a card.

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Board Game Review – Carcassonne: South Seas [EN]

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Carcassonne: South Seas

Carcassonne is one of the first board games i’ve tried. And one of the most favourite. I also own a few expansions, though i probably like it the most without them. Because it is so simple and in the same time so charming. South Seas tries to shake it up by adding contracts, when you have to collect resources by completing objects and then spend those resources to fulfil orders and get points. It’s an interesting twist, but i like classic Carcassonne more, when i get points after completing objects and some points for incomplete objects at the end of the game. Also it seemed that in this variant there are a lot of tiles with roads, therefor it was harder to complete islands. And just in general it was a pain to find a spot for a tile when there were so many tiles with incomplete roads around. Of course, there is a simplified fishing (fields) counting, when you don’t have to complete them. But again, i liked how you could swing the score with the farms in the end. In general, while playing this variant, i tend to think that i should be playing the original. But this is not a bad game. A solid 7/10.

Yucata implementation: it is using framework 2, so it looks like many other games, though it could have brighter colors as it is hard to see your meeples sometimes, especially when the map grows. 8/10.

what3words – naming the world [LT-EN]

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 [LT] Vakar man parodė įdomų projektą-aplikaciją, kuri leidžia bet kuriam Žemės lopinėliui (3 x 3 m) priskirti adresą iš trijų (angliškų) žodžių. Taip išvengiama sudėtingų koordinačių skaičių naudojimo. Buvo įdomu koks visgi principas naudojamas šio projekto įgyvendinimui. Pirmas variantas – tai kažkoks unikalus algoritmas pagal koordinačių skaičius (ilguma ir platuma) priskiriantis atsitiktinius, bet visada tuos pačius, žodžius iš anglų kalbos žodyno. Antras variantas, kuris man į galvą atėjo tik šiandien, tai vardo suteikimas, kai dėl jo kreipiasi vartotojas ir išsaugojimas duomenų bazėje. Tokiu atveju nereikėtų labai įmantraus algoritmo ir tikriausiai niekada neprireiktų jo pritaikyti bet kokiai pasaulio vietai. Aišku, reikės didelės duomenų bazės tokio kiekio užklausų ir priskirtų žodžių saugojimui. Visgi, paskaičius projekto DUK, panašu, kad what3words pasirinko ir įgyvendino pirmą variantą. Pasak jų, visa aplikacija tesveria 12 MB (vis tiek nuostabu, kad pavyko į tokį dydį įkišti nemažą žodynėlį). Nors tame pačiame DUK kūrėjai mini, kad parduoda prieigą prie aplikacijos (API) didelėms bendrovėms, visgi praktinė nauda neatrodo tokia didelė, kai visos žemėlapių programėlės turi paprastas galimybes pasidalint vietove (share). Bet reikia pripažint, kad pasiūlymas draugams susitikti candy.magnum.fact taške (viena iš Katedros aikštės vietų) skamba kietai 🙂

[EN] Yesterday an interesting project-application has been shown to me, which allows to assign a 3 (english) words combination to any (3 x3 m) patch of the Earth. This is a way to avoid usage of complex coordinates numbers. I was curious how exactly this was implemented. First variant – some unique algorithm assigning random, but always same, words from an English dictionary to a set of coordinates numbers (longitude, latitude). Another approach, which cam to my mind today, would be to only apply a three words name when someone requests it for a particular location and save it into database. This way you won’t need a very sophisticated algorithm and there won’t be a need to apply it to any place in the world. Of course, this would require a huge database to store all the saved locations and assigned names. However, after reading project’s FAQ it seem that what3words have implemented the first variant. In their words, whole application only takes 12 MB (still impressive, that they managed to fit pretty big dictionary into such size). Although in the same FAQ developers mention that they sell API access to big companies, this is still doubtful that there is a sufficient practical usage of it, when every map application has an easy way to share the location. But i have to admit, that a proposition to your friends to meat in candy.magnum.fact point (one of the Katedros square spots) sounds cool 🙂

Windows 10 Feedback Hub open to everyone [LT-EN]

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 [LT] Šiandien perskaičiau, kad Microsoft padarys Feedback Hub prieinama visiems Windows 10 naudotojams (ne tik Insiders programos dalyviams). Nesu tikras dėl šio žingsnio. Iš vienos pusės, tokiu būdu galima gauti atgalinį ryšį apie dabartinėje stabilioje versijoje esančius sprendimus ir funkcijas ir pamatyti ar nueita teisingu keliu dabartinėse testiniuose build’uose. Iš kitos gi pusės, kokia prasmė gauti atsiliepimus apie pasenusius sprendimus ir sumaišyti atgalinio ryšio programoje naudojančius paskutinį kodą ir senesnį? Nejau, gavus visai kitokius atsiliepimus iš plačiosios publikos jie nurašys pokyčius, kuriuos gerai įvertino Insiders testuotojai? Tai va, toks dvejopas jausmas dėl šio sprendimo.

[EN] I’ve read today that Microsoft will make Feedback Hub available for all Windows 10 users (not just members of Insiders program). I’m not sure about this decision. On the one hand, this way it is possible to receive feedback about design choices and functions of the current stable version and see if they are on the right path with the current test builds. On the other though, what’s the point to receive feedback about so old design and mix feedback on the older and current code. Will they drop the changes praised by the Insiders if they receive bad feedback from a wider audience? Mixed feelings on this decision.

Burbuliatorius – 8 sezonas [LT-EN]

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[LT] Gegužės 23 dieną startuoja kasmetinė akcija-renginys “Burbuliatorius“. Jau aštuntas sezonas 🙂 Kaip greitai prabėgo tie metai. Atsimenu šiek tiek keistoką jausmą dalyvaujant pirmam renginy, kai vidury miesto putėm burbulus. Po to tai pasidarė taip įprasta ir jauku. Ateidavai po darbo kaip į namus. Matei pažįstamus veidus, ar tiesiog atsipalaidavusius, linksmus miestiečius, tai buvo proga susitikti su draugais, su kuriais paprastai retai pasimatydavai. Dar nepraleidau nei vieno sezono, nors teko dėl įvairių priežasčių praleist 3-4 renginius. Deja, bet šiemet Vilniuje prasidės Lukiškių aikštės rekonstrukcija ir renginiui šiam mieste teks persikraustyt į kitą, mano manymu ne tokią patrauklią ir tinkamą, vietą. Nežinia ar po rekonstrukcijos žmonės galės vėl grįžti į aikštę ir tiesiog pasėdėt ant vejos ar tai nebus akylai saugomas “porcelianinis” reprezentacinis paminklas vietoj tokių trūkstamų rekreacinių žalių zonų mieste.

[EN] May 23d is the start of the annual event “Burbulator“. Already a 8th season 🙂 Time is running so fast. I still remember the weird feeling of blowing bubbles in the middle of the city during the first event. Then it became so usual and soothing. You were coming there after a work day and it felt like home. Seeing familiar faces or just relaxing cheerful townsfolk. It was a chance to meet friends, whom you were rarely seeing otherwise. I haven’t missed one season yet, except for a 3-4 single events for a various reasons. Alas, this year reconstruction of Lukiškių square will begin in Vilnius and this event will have to migrate to another, in my opinion not so suitable or charming, place. It’s not known whether people will be allowed to come back to the square and simply sit on the grass after the reconstruction, whether it won’t be some delicate representative and vigilantly guarded monument instead of such needed green recreation zones in the city.

Spark – one year of development reboot [LT-EN]

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 [LT] Lygiai prieš metus paėmiau į savo rankas šio projekto valdymą (trumpųjų žinučių programa). Šiandien išleista 2.7.7 versija (aštuntoji nuo 2.7.0). Per metus nemažai klaidų ištaisyta, pridėta naujų funkcijų, pagerintas skirtingų platformų palaikymas ir pan. Išspręsta 100 kreipinių klaidų bazėje. Aišku, dar labai daug lieka padaryt. Nors dėmesys programai šiek tiek išaugo ir sulaukėm apie 10 žmonių pataisymų, bet vis dar trūksta stipraus Java programuotojo šio projekto priežiūrai. Praeitais metais norint padidint programos žinomumą/matomumą paleidau puslapį Wikipedijoj (juolab, kad serverinė dalis “Openfire” jau tokį turėjo nuo seno). Nors vis dar esu “nubas” programavime, bet per tą laiką išmokau kai ką ir iš Javos, ir kaip naudotis Eclipse programa bei pramokau GitHub ypatumus. Beveik pilnai galiu atlikti visą naujos versijos išleidimo procesą (išskyrus paruoštų instaliacijos paketų padėjimą į serverį). Taip pat nebloga patirtis norint sustyguot skirtingų komandos narių atliekamas užduotis, patirtis pateikiamų pataisymų testavime, forume pateikiamų klaidų pranešimų analizavime ir t.t. Įdomūs metai 🙂

[EN] Exactly one year ago i took the lead of this project into my hands (IM client). Today 2.7.7 version has been released (8th since the 2.7.0). A lot of issues have been fixed, new features added, various platforms’ compatibility improved during that year. 100 tickets resolved in the bug tracker. Of course, there is still very much left to do. Although the program gets a bit more attention and we have received patches from around 10 contributors, but a strong Java developer is still amiss for looking after this project. Last year, seeking to improve visibility/awareness of this project i’ve launched its page on Wikipedia (especially as its server part “Openfire” already had one for a while). Although, i’m still a noob in programming, but during that time i have learned a bit about Java, how to use Eclipse IDE and a few GitHub quirks. I can do a new version release almost single-handedly now (except for putting new installers onto the server). It was also a useful experience in managing tasks of a few team members, experience in testing submitted patches, analyzing bug reports in the forums, etc. Interesting year 🙂

Reviewers, reviewers [LT-EN]

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[LT] Žiūrint eilinį video įrašą iš mano Youtube prenumeratos pagalvojau, kad galėčiau išvardinti kanalus apie stalo žaidimus, kuriuos aktyviai seku, žiūriu, kurie daro įtaką mano pasirinkimams ir šiaip smagūs žiūrėti.

[EN] While watching another video from my Youtube subscription a thought came to me, that i should list all the channels about board games which i actively follow, watch, which influent my choices or are just plainly fun to watch.

 

Dice Tower

[LT] Tai kanalas, nuo kurio viskas ir prasidėjo prieš jau turbūt 7 metus. Tuomet, tai buvo vieno žmogaus (Tom Vasel) varomas video podcast’as. Dabar gi po jo sparnu yra nemažai kitų apžvalgininkų, video kūrėjų, šiaip stalo žaidimų mėgėjų. Kai kurie iš jų jau turi ir savo atskirus kanalus (bus pavardinti žemiau). Aukščiau įdėtas video yra šios savaitės savaitinis epizodas, kuriame Tomas surenka video iš įvairių žmonių ir padaro mini laidą.

[EN] It’s the channel which started it all for me probably already 7 years ago. At that time it was a video podcast driven by a single person (Tom Vasel). And now there are a lot of other reviewers, content creators and board game lovers under his roof. Some of them already have their own channels (will be listed below). Video above is this week’s episode of a weekly series in which Toms gathers videos from various contributors.

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Tiny Wooden Pieces – a webcomic about board games [LT-EN]

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[LT] Vienam iš paskutinių įrašų pamiršau paminėti kas mane įkvėpė nupiešti kažką susijusio su stalo žaidimais. O gi tai, kad jau apie metus laiko skaitau internetinį komiksą apie stalo žaidimus – Tiny Wooden Pieces, kurį kadaise paminėjo Dice Tower kanale. Ne daug yra komiksų apie stalo žaidimus (bent jau aš atsimenu tik vieną, bet jis buvo ne piešiamas, o su tikrais žmonėmis ir keliais pliušiniais žaisliukais). Šis komiksas išleidžia naują įrašą kas penktadienį (kai penktadieniais einu pietaut ir išsitraukiu savo planšetę, visada pagalvoju “valio, turėtų būti naujas įrašas!”). Visi įrašai būna smagūs, humoristiniai ir dažnai iš mūsų (stalo žaidimų žaidėjų) tikrų gyvenimo situacijų 🙂

[EN] In one of the latest posts i forgot to mention what inspired me to draw something board games related. And that is that i’m reading this webcomic about board games for about a year – Tiny Wooden Pieces, which once was mentioned on the Dice Tower channel. There are not many comics about board games (at least i remember only one, and it wasn’t with drawings, but with real people and a few plushy toys). This comic releases a new issue every Friday (on Fridays when i go to lunch and take out my tablet i always think to myself “wohoo, it should be a new issue today!”). All the issues are fun, humorous and often based on our (board games players) real life situations 🙂

First win in Pergamon [LT-EN]

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pergamon_250[LT] Pagaliau pavyko laimėti ir šiame žaidime (bandau nuo rugpjūčio). Ta proga nupiešiau šį paveiksliuką, kuriame pavaizduoti visi žaidimo artefaktai. Keista, bet archeologai šiame žaidime visus artefaktus randa suskaldytus į dvi dalis 😀 Laimėjimas galbūt paaiškinamas skirtingu žaidėjų lygiu, bet gal ir aš išmokau geresnės strategijos šiame žaidime. Iš pradžių stengiuosi surinkt daugiau pinigų ir nesivaikau brangių eksponatų. O surinkti pinigai leidžia vėliau užimti geresnes pozicijas renkantis iškasenas, kurios labiau tinka prie tavo jau turimų. Kaip ir sakiau anksčiau, šiame žaidime man labiausiai patinka lipdyti atskirus gabaliukus į ekspoziciją.

[EN] Finally i’ve managed to win in this game (trying since August). For this occasion i’ve drawn this little picture, which shows all artefacts from this game. Strange, but archeologists in this game find all artefacts split in two pieces 😀 My victory can probably be explained by different level of players, but maybe i’ve learned better strategies in this game. At first i always try to collect more money and do not chase after pricy exhibits. And the money i have amassed helps me later to take better place when choosing fossils more fitting to ones i already have. As i’ve said before, in this game i like gluing different pieces into exhibition the most.

Board Game Mini Reviews [EN]

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So, this time only two new games (will not count one game of “4 in a row). Maybe will have to post about one new game right away and not wait until i gather more in the future.

 

Kahuna

I hated it after the first play. Then i decided to give it one more chance. I’ve won the second game. After the third one i’ve decided that i don’t want to play it anymore. Even when i’ve managed to win, it didn’t feel that i did something clever or outsmarted my opponent. I was just lucky to get the right cards. The problem with this game is, that once you did a few bad moves you will drag on a second place for the reminder of the game without a slight chance to come back. This is unacceptable, especially in an abstract game for two. The game is from 1998 and it feels (visually it is not very attractive either). Most probably there is some deep strategy, tactics in there, but i don’t even want to discover them. 5/10

 

The Voyages of Marco Polo

First of all, that name?? Some publishers don’t consider that simple names are letting people to share their impressions easier and to find information on the internet. By the way, the biggest problem with this game is exactly that “travel” part. Because the game is too short and you have to do lots of things in it to collect enough points, so the traveling part is very limited and leaves you with a bad taste in your mouth. I’ve played 3-4 games of it. In one of them i’ve tried to concentrate on traveling and still wasn’t able to fulfill both of my travel tasks. On the other hand i’ve collected very few points in other parts of the game. In other sessions i wasn’t thinking about traveling at all and concentrated on fulfilling the orders. True, i still didn’t won, so maybe one has to keep a balance and try to do everything. But when you are not able to complete just one traveling task, it is not allowing to get full satisfaction from a game. And the other parts (action selection, orders fulfillment) are fun. That’s why it gets a higher rating. But every session i’ve played felt too short. 7/10