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Recommendation List #4
 
Boardgames Australia
Best International Game 2010 Print E-mail

Dice Town by French designers Bruno Cathala and Ludovic Maublanc has been voted the Best International Game for 2010 by Boardgames Australia. Dice seemed to be popular this year, with the final roll-off being between Roll through the Ages and  Dice Town, though there were lots of great short-listed games: you can see the full list here.

 

Dice Town has a lot of give and take between players, and always generates lots of laughter, accusations, and dodgy cowboy impressions.

The players are characters in a Wild West town, and can do all the things you'd expect such as holding up the stage coach, brawling in the saloon, or being elected Sheriff. The aim is to acquire land holdings, gold, and money, all of which are worth points at the end of the game. It doesn't matter whether you come by these things through honest hard work such as mining, an appeal for charity, or just down-right cussedness!

Game Board. Image courtesy of Matagot.

 

The game play is simple and exciting: every player has 5 poker dice and a cup. Each round the players are trying to build a good 'hand' of dice. The best hand will be awarded land holdings, but nearly every other hand will win some prize: be it the right to shop at the General Store or dig for some gold nuggets at the Mine. Making a good hand is not easy - keeping one die is free, every other die you would like to keep costs a dollar; add to this the need to keep an eye on what all your opponents are doing, so that you can secure the prize you are after. This all adds up to a recipe for constant tension and excitement.

 

As with any game involving dice, there is luck; however there is also plenty of chance for tactics, and for 'reading' your opponents. The rules are short and clear, and the game looks beautiful. It comes with little 'gold nuggets', colourful cards, as well as 5 poker dice and a dice cup for every player.

Some of the game components. Image courtesy of Asmodee.

This game is rattling good fun for 2 to 5 players, lasts just half an hour, and should have everyone hollering!

 

 
Sydney Protospiel 2011 Print E-mail

There will be an event for Game Designers in Sydney.

On June 26 we will be holding another Protospiel, where game designers can come and test their protype games with other designers. This provides an opportunity to receive frank and honest advice on the game, as well as tips on getting published from more experienced designers. We have run several of these events before and participants have reported them to be both useful and great fun.

 

Location:
Petersham RSL

7 Regent Street
Petersham NSW 2049
(100m from Petersham Station)

Time:
10.30 - 5.30, Sunday June 26

Cost:
$5 payable on the day

 

We will assign you to groups for each session.
You will be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement that you will not discuss the games you playtest outside of the event.
You will definitely have the opportunity to test your game, but must commit to playing several other games and providing feedback on them.
There will be a break for lunch and a discussion session.


What you need to do and bring:

* Before the day

Register by providing the details requested below.

If you want your game to be blind playtested you must send the rules to us by email by June 19.

If you have volunteered to be a blind playtester, set aside some time to read the rules before the event.

 

* On the day

Bring your prototype to play.

Make sure that you have a full written set of rules - it is embarrassing if you can't remember how to play the game.

The physical appearance of the prototype is not critical, other than that the graphics are clear enough to make it easily playable.

The sessions will be either 1 or 2 hours long.
This time includes:

rules explanation
set-up
play
debrief

We suggest you allow about 30 minutes to debrief your session. This means that if your game takes more than 80 minutes to play, you will need to figure out a way of truncating it for test purposes.

Bring paper and pen to write notes about the feedback you get.

We will provide a contact list of all participants to enable exchange of information after the event.

 

Registering:
Email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

and give the following details

Name
Contact phone (pref. mobile)
Desired length of time slot (1 or 2 hours)
Minimum # of players
Maximum # of players
Optimum # of players
Blind-testing wanted for your game?
Are you able to blind-test another game by committing to read the rules beforehand?
A brief description of your game.

 

Any questions? - email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

 

 

 
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Latest news!

New Aussie Review site

There is a new site with game reviews by an Australian gamer Jimmy Castelli: www.castellireviews.com.  He has reviews of lots of new games such as Alien Frontiers and 7 Wonders in a standard words and picture format, but there is also a video channel with more information.

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