Wow! What a month. I hope things get better with the coming of Fall. Needless to say I've been very busy and I thank you all for your patience. I haven't been as good as I usually am about fixing up the various bugs in the Cabinet that you've all pointed out. And far too many good articles have been gathering dust instead of being added to the Cabinet. Please, continue to bear with me and things will surely get better. No. Really.
In any case, here we are with the first installment in well over a month! The longest gap yet.
This month sees the launch of Piet Notebaert's Dutch/Flemish (which is it Piet?) rule translations section. A big Hello! to everyone in Belgium and The Netherlands. I hope you all enjoy Piet's handywork.
I've been very excited about the self-publishing scene lately. Richard Breese's Keywood is great fun! I hope one of the bigger game companies publishes a deluxe edition soon! The Stock Car Championship Race Game is also a lot of fun, very original, and produced to a high standard.
Both of these games were self-published in runs of 200. And they're going fast so hurry if you're interested in them.
Simulations Workshop are another new company doing unlimited run, desktop published game kits. I've seen the first four and they look good. Two are war games so I'll leave commentary on these for other folk. The other two are very original. One is a Search for the Lost Dutchman mine and the other is Ironman, a simulation of the first five seasons of professional American football. I'll report back once we give them a try. Upcoming games include Mad Monks and Relics: the Search for the Holy Grail and Safe Return Doubtful: The Race for the North Pole.
On the professional front, White Wind has announced that they will release two small box card games, Tricks and Rainbows, at Essen this year. These new game are in addition to their previously announced game, Elfenwizards. I think Alan has been eating too much breakfast cereal but I'll leave you to ponder why. (Folks on the far side of the Atlantic or Pacific should not ponder too hard - this trick is for kids with hearts, moons AND clovers!).
Finally, I hate to tease but for all of you folks that have never seen a copy of Sumo or even if you just missed the first few issues years ago: watch this space.
Take care,
ken