Tribes: Ascend Beta Impressions originally appeared on About.com Internet Games on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 18:13:06.
MMORPGs: Why So Few Sandboxes? originally appeared on About.com Internet Games on Sunday, January 29th, 2012 at 20:22:50.
WoW: Mists of Pandaria Talent Overhaul originally appeared on About.com Internet Games on Saturday, January 28th, 2012 at 23:42:26.
SWTOR Crafting Basics originally appeared on About.com Internet Games on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at 22:50:15.
MMORPGs: The Difficulty Dilemma originally appeared on About.com Internet Games on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 21:15:11.
MMORPGs: Are Voice-Overs Now Mandatory? originally appeared on About.com Internet Games on Saturday, January 14th, 2012 at 22:50:44.
A painting of two men playing cards was purchased by the nation of Qatar for $250 million -- which, according to an article in Vanity Fair, is "the highest price ever paid for a work of art" and "more than doubles the current auction record for a work of art."
The painting, by post-impressionist Paul Cézanne, is known as The Card Players, and it is one of five Card Players known to exist. (Here's another, with three men playing cards.) I was not able to find any source indicating what card game is being played in the paintings. But for $250 million, Qatar could have bought 6,946,374 copies of Dominion from Funagain Games.
$250 Million for Two Guys Playing Cards originally appeared on About.com Board / Card Games on Friday, February 3rd, 2012 at 12:15:36.
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Nominations for the 2012 About.com Readers' Choice Awards -- where you get to pick the best games, the best game stores, and more -- have been pouring in. Thank you to everyone who has made nominations already!
The 2012 Board/Card Game Readers' Choice Awards feature 11 categories to recognize the best of the best from 2011. You can help choose the best strategy game, the best party game, and the best iOS or Android game, in addition to the best local game store, the best Twitter account, and the best Facebook page.
If you haven't already, go ahead and make your nominations now!
Image © About.com
2012 Readers' Choice Award Nominations Pouring In originally appeared on About.com Board / Card Games on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 16:18:50.
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The Wiggles, a wildly popular Australian children's music group, sued a small game distributor last year to prevent the board game Yikerz! from being sold in their home country. Do the Wiggles hate all board games, or just Yikerz!, a magnetic game in which players try to place their pieces on the board without attracting other pieces?
Neither, as it turns out. What got the Wiggles' attention was the pouch inside the box which held the magnetic pieces. On that pouch, the word "Wiggles" appears as part of a logo -- because the game's publisher is Wiggles 3D. According to an article in The Telegraph, the lawsuit was recently settled with the game distributor agreeing to repackage the game pieces.
Apparently, Yikerz! was sold in Australia without incident for three years -- about 7,500 copies per year -- before the Wiggles got worked up about it.
Image courtesy of Wiggles 3D
Do the Wiggles Hate Board Games? originally appeared on About.com Board / Card Games on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 12:02:13.
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Mark Zuckerberg, co-creator and CEO of the social network Facebook, is a big fan of the board game Risk, according to an article at SFGate.com. Writer Boonsri Dickinson says this isn't at all surprising: "Clearly, Facebook has done a good job at world domination, beating out the other social media websites."
Facebook recently filed for an initial public stock offering.
Image courtesy of Hasbro
Facebook CEO Loves Risk originally appeared on About.com Board / Card Games on Thursday, February 2nd, 2012 at 09:56:47.
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Two new games in the popular Ticket to Ride series are now available from publisher Days of Wonder. Ticket to Ride: Asia and Ticket to Ride: India are both expansions which require a copy of the original game (or Ticket to Ride: Europe) to play.
TTR: Asia includes two maps, one for Team Asia and the other for Legendary Asia. Team Asia (designed by Alan R. Moon) is for 4 to 6 players in teams of two each. Teammates share some -- but not all -- destination cards, so working together is a key part of success in this game. Legendary Asia (designed by François Valentyne) adds mountain routes, which cause wear and tear to the trains that travel on them, to the game.
TTR: India (designed by Ian Vincent) is for 2 to 4 players. It features a Grand Tour bonus at the end of the game for players who connect destination cities with at least two distinct paths. TTR: India also includes a copy of Moon's Switzerland map, which is for 2 to 3 players and is one of my favorite versions of the game.
Days of Wonder has also announced the upcoming release of Zug um Zug Deutschland (Ticket to Ride: Germany), which will debut at the Nuremberg Toy Fair this week. It uses the same map and routes first introduced in Ticket to Ride: Märklin and is scheduled for release in the second half of 2012, only in Germany and Austria.
Images courtesy of Days of Wonder
New & Upcoming Ticket to Ride Games originally appeared on About.com Board / Card Games on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 12:30:41.
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The week of the Super Bowl always gets me pumped to play a few football-themed board games. As a young child, I was taken with the buzzing excitement of Electric Football. Now, I'd much rather play great games like 1st & Goal, Pizza Box Football, and BattleBall. (In fact, this Saturday my wife and I are hosting a game event that features our Eighth Annual BattleBall Tournament. Sadly, I've only won once -- and that was way back in 2007.)
Fans of Pizza Box Football will be happy to know that On the Line Game Company is sponsoring its 7th Annual Predict the Winner Event. By filling out a simple form at that site, fans can download team sheets for New York and New England, including custom solitaire system sheets. Over the past six years, PBF players have correctly predicted the winning team five times.
Image courtesy of Hasbro
Super Bowl Week = Football Games originally appeared on About.com Board / Card Games on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 09:15:33.
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One thing Star Wars: The Old Republic does a little differently is crafting, with companions that alleviate some of the tedium typically associated with crafting in MMORPGs. If you want to get off to a good start with your SWTOR character's crafting skills, we've put together an introduction to the game's crafting system.