News Links for Episode 39

Cones of Dunshire is Going Cardboard

Kudos to Mayfair for taking the logical next step following their TV triumph on Parks and Recreation. The famous faux board game got a great write-up in Entrepreneur, “How Cones of Dunshire Became a Real Game.”

The Onion’s AV Club geeks out on board games

It wasn’t enough to publish “9 board game adaptations of vintage video games,” featuring Pac-Man, Tetris, and Donkey Kong board games.

Then the AV Club topped themselves with “11 baffling TV-to-board-game adaptations” featuring:

  • All in the Family (similar to Loaded Questions)
  • Hogan’s Heroes (take turns helping fellow prisoners escape)
  • Divorce Court (bizarre psycho roll-and-move)
  • Gomer Pyle Game (board supposedly designed by Sid Sackson)

BBC recalls popular board game played in WWI trenches

Fascinating piece about Mensch Aergere Dich Nicht, popular with German troops in the trenches. The Parcheesi clone translates to “Don’t Get Annoyed With Me,” which automically made me think of another Parcheesi clone, Aggravation.

Cooperative board games popular in Japanese classrooms

Cooperation is such a Japanese trait that this comes as little surprise. Still, it’s always interesting to see how games can be productively used in the classroom. The Japan News notes that among the games used are Onimichi, Pandemic, and Say Goodbye to the Villains.

Mashup Alert! Poker Stars International Chess Tournament

In October, the Isle of Man will be hosting both a Chess Tournament and a Poker Tournament, with the two overlapping for a couple days. So, someone there at the brilliant idea to stage a one-night-only mash-up tournament combining the two games. So far, 91 players have entered.

The first stage will be a 5-round Swiss chess tournament, using a 7 minute timer. Then, immediately after,  there will be a No Limit Hold’Em Poker tournament. Players get a set amount of chips, plus each chess win adds 1000 chips and draws earn 500 chips.

If you have any news items to share, you can contact me at Drew@BoardGamersAnonymous.com.

  • Drew is a contributor to the Board Gamers Anonymous podcast. He's a curator by nature, compulsively reading and obsessively organizing what he's read. He's also been a gamer since the age of 3, which means he's been playing board games for... let's just say more than 40 years, and leave it at that...

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