March, 1997

The Living Room Floor

Gaming News & Commentary

• Letter from the Editor - notes and introduction to this month's issue (March)

• Phases of the Moon - a chat with one of America's top game designers, Alan R. Moon
• F.X. Schmid Seeks New Designs - Alan R. Moon is looking for a few good games

Conventions and Gatherings

• The Gathering of Friends - April 22nd-27th, 1997 (Enfield, Connecticut, USA)
• 1st Mind Sports Olympiad - August 18th-24th, 1997 (London, England)

• Northern Virginia Gamers - events for 1997 (Virginia, USA)
• Ramsdencon - June 13th-15th, 1997 (Essex, England)

Stump the Net

• March's Queries - have you ever heard of these games?
• 10,000 - Rena Whitehouse finds her dice game
• Bao - Kristie Nettle discovers yet another Mancala variant
• Koon Kan - Shelton Burton locates this melding card game
• Rummoli and Wampoo - leon van amelsvoort and David Hendsbee pick up some leads

Letter Box

• Flinke Pinke/Quandary - Reiner Knizia with a rules clarification
• Eurogames/Descartes edition of Formule De - Paul Evans chimes in with more info
• Eurogames via Chessex - Frank Branham with the heads up
• A comment about mail order shops - Mark Johnson with kudos and complaints

Game Reviews

• Swoop - Siggins runs afoul of this bird watching game

• 1876 - a small train game (the game is small, not the trains nor the fun)
• Hispania - Britannia redux on the continent
• Kill Dr Lucky and Before I Kill You Mr Bond - two shorts from Seattle
• Das letzte Paradies / The Last Paradise - short, strategic, playable business game

• Bonus Reviews - Blasts from the Past with Steffan O'Sullivan.
  • Blue Chip - buy low, sell high, live to tell the tale
  • Gunpowder Treason - Guy Fawkes tries for Parliament, again
  • Icebergs - iceflows and oil tankers with Tom Wham at the wheel
  • Trade Winds/Buccaneer - swashbuckling on the briney deep

Game Bits

Note that the PostScript files in the rules below should be downloaded to your hard disk and then printed using the appropriate application (lpr on Unix, BBedit or others on Mac, ?? on Windows, etc.).

• Updated Metagaming Ludography - Michel Boucher assembles the complete word on Steve Jackson's early publisher

• Family Business Stealth Variant - Heimlich & Co. branch out into the protection racket
• Die Siedler Kartenspiel / The Settlers Cardgame - a great, two page cheat sheet by Kurt Adam (PostScript)
• X Pasch/Any Double - Surprise Ending Variant - placing control over success in the hands of frontrunners

Original Game Rules

• Astromachia - a starship combat simulation boardgame by Peter Drake

English Game Translations

• The Most Wanted List - rule sets at large and unaccounted for

• Kleine Fische / Small Fry - chicken of the sea, more or less
• Meutre àl'abbaye / Murder at the Abbey - search for the murderer of Brother Body
• Pow Wow / Clan Meeting - a game of movement and positioning
• Zankapfel / Apple of Discord - a fruity race game

Traditional Games

• Games of the Vikings and Anglo Saxons - board, dice, word, and agility games
• Mancala Games - an exhibit by the Museum and Archive of Games at the University of Waterloo
• Medieval and Renaissance Games - games, images, and links

Game Software

• 20-Squares - a game similar to Senet (Windows)

Web Games Terminal

Note that you must have access to Telnet and/or Java in order to access most of these game sites. Contact your Internet service provider for details on Telnet access. Upgrade your browser to one that is Java enabled.

• You Don't Know Jack Netshow - the popular game comes to the Web (Windows/Mac beta)

The Front Door

• Impact 1 - the strategic, new, 3D space game
• McGartlin Motorsport Design - purveyors of fine auto racing games
• Phil O'Neill Games - makers of Ransom, Toilet Humour, and other fine games
• Shrink - from Bundex Games
• Yggerasill / Studio Grafix - an innovative new game company

Other Places

• Arvic's Guide to Intellectual Property - for information on copyrights and patents in the United States
• Chessex - distributors of fine games, books, magazines, and other gaming stuff
• The Grail, Inc. - makers of games and puzzles such as Claim Jumper and The Sword
• Hasbro - everyone's favorite monopoly (Parker Brothers, Milton Bradley, etc)
• Winsome Games - train games and more

The Game Cabinet - [email protected] - Ken Tidwell