BrettspielWelt

Games-of-the-month History:

January 2006	Caylus	Emerald (unofficial)
February 2006	OFUA	Tongiaki
March 2006	Medina	Mueterer
April 2006	Attika	Fuersten
May 2006	Manhattan	Manitou
June 2006	CCJuS	Verraeter
July 2006	Settlers	Caylus
Sept 2006	Puerto Rico	San Juan
Oct 2006	Clans	Ra
Nov 2006	Säulen der Erde	SchrilleStille

---

Hello, fellow Munchkins!

These are my suggestions for February's Game of the Month:

• OFUA
• Verräter
• Meuterer
• Paris Paris

and

• Caylus

Most votes get it - as usual : )

reikja

*votes for Meuterer*

if someone can teach it to me  ;D

I think neither Caylus nor OFuA really do qualify for game of the month that early, since we want to push the games least played, or?
ParisParis does get played from time to time and is more a 2p game in my opinion. So i had to decide between Verräter and Meuterer, but since i am in EC i havent seen anyone playing Meuterer. So that gets my vote. I hope I find a few munchkins willing to teach me *ggg* I think i even remember Esterio offering something like that... ;)

Jocy, who almost had to activate her SplitPersonality to answer in both of reikjas threads ;)

well, that's only because of this f** machine we use at the office. : )

so - once again, single thread and here is my vote:

OFUA

@Jocelyn: ParisParis is getting worse if you play it with more than 2 players. Things get interesting, soon...

I played OFuA a few times in person (It is Citadels right?) and I quite like it, I had hated it the first time I played, I had it catogrized as a "serious" game, and now have it categorized as a "light" game in my mind and it is a lot more fun :)

?

Caylus has already had January...

Yep and had 148 plays in the first two weeks, so I would skip that.  OFUA and Paris Paris was game number 18 and 23 at the end of the year on the total games played list and do have a following (I will always play OFUA, we just had a 7 player game of OFUA at the last EC day).

Verrater and Meuterer are near the bottom of list so either one of those are ok with me.

How about we start at the bottom and work our way up?  The least played game in EC that we have a game room for is....

Tongiaki

Anyone for that?

Also, I would like to learn Doppelkopf.  icetrey, Alexfrog, Esterio and Hanno played this game quite a bit (1880, 457, 281 and 279 respectively) in the past.  Another 8 Munchkins have played this game 30 to 90 times.  So, it seems like a number of us have liked the game in the past.  However, no one plays it now (9 plays in the last 7 months).

It is a costly game too (in terms of taxes) so it would likely generate a lot of resources for us.  Anyone for Doppelkopf?

Since I will be away most of February, I would prefer seeing Tongiaki as February Game of the Month, so that we keep games I enjoy, like Meuterer, Verräter or Doko, for months when I'll be here. ;)

Another thought (which rather leads in the opposite direction): I think we should avoid having Verräter and Meuterer GotM on consecutive months.

Esterio

I would like to learn:

Tongiaki
Meuterer
Doppelkopf

any of these are fine.

I would like to see being played more:

Verräter
Medina

DQ

Ok, how about Tongi in February, and then Verraeter, then i'd like something in April that I can teach. (It's also the Olympics that month, start another thread for those discussions please)

LA

What about Emerald, in the newest game room?

Otherwise I'd vote for Meuterer or Verräter.

I think we should have two games-of-the-month each month, just to give us a little variety. :) So far, our games for January have kind of been Caylus (because it's the hot new game and we know the designer;)) and Emerald because we have a new room for it.

I like Paul's suggestion of working on games that get little play. By having two games each month, we can do that plus pick another game that's perhaps more popular.

Here's my list in no particular order:

• Attika
• Doppelkopf (I assume this is Doko)
• Clans
• Fuersten
• Medina
• Meuterer
• Ra
• Tongiaki
• Verräter

Based on the posts so far, if we go with two games then perhaps Tongiaki and OFUA would be a good start, then Meuterer or Verräter the next month paired with something else.

Your assumption is correct
Sounds good.
I am not sure if two games will blur our focus again, but I guess we just have to test what works best. I think one game, rarely played and not well-known by Munchkins would be enough. But let's try it out with Tongiaki and OFUA and rediscuss it.

DQ

I agree with this, but like DQ said, let's try it out.  I was looking at the 'Game of the Month' to see if we can find some 'forgotten gems' from the past.  Which is why I'm really wondering about Doppelkopf.

That being said, maybe it is better to use GOTM with more popular games.  Let's see how it goes!

ooooookkkkk, close to the next month - which will be February and a short one with a few people absent or busy - here we do have a result for our first GOTM games:

TONGIAKI and OFUA


Let's have fun, munchkins! reikja

Only a couple more hours. :)

I know many of us play Ohne Furcht und Adel (OFUA, English name Citadels) so we should have little trouble finding teachers. For anyone who hasn't played, the rules are available on Bruno Faidutti's web site (http://www.faidutti.com/index.php?Module=mesjeux&id=328&fichier=103) Note that the BSW version doesn't have the expansion characters nor did they implement the 2-player and 3-player rules.  :(

English rules for Tongiaki are on the BSW pages (http://www.brettspielwelt.de/gate/jsp/base/full.jsp?url=/en/Hilfe/Anleitungen/Tongiaki).

As with all games, more info can be found at BoardGameGeek (http://www.boardgamegeek.com).


I hope having two games-of-the-month works out, but if we find it better to have just one I think it'll be fine to do that next month.

/Elttil grabs a paddle, puts on a grass skirt, and contemplates who to stab in the back.  :o

Direct link to the rules in MS Word:

http://files.boardgamegeek.com/viewfile.php3?fileid=5200

For anyone who's wondering, Tongiaki is based on Polynesian expansion from the island of Tonga which is the starting island in the game. Our game room name, Malo e lelei is a traditional Tongan greeting equivalent to "hello".  :)

We had once a real polynesian Munchkin? ;)

What diversity!

DQ
--who thinks that 'Malo e lelei' sounds much better than 'hello'

Hello munchkins,
February is almost over again and its time to think about March's gotm :)
Here my suggestions:

• Attika
• Meuterer
• Medina
• Fuersten
• Verräter
• 6nimmt

I know that a couple of munchkins (me included) want to learn DoKo, but as i heard from several players that this aint as easy as it sounds, i would prefer having a couple of teaching round firsts before we announce it gotm. I know that the gotm is good for learning new games, but DoKo seems to take reaaaally long, so maybe we should first of all talk to our DoKo players if and when they are willing to take the time and teach us and not "force" that into this 1 month time frame.

Jocy

Medina and Verräter are fun. I would like to work on my Medina skills anyway and I have enough space in my residence for some Verräter Munchkins Cocktail Parties.

I would love to learn Fürsten too and I am interested in learning Meuterer.

These are my four priorities.

DQ

I vote for DoKo as long as someone is willing to teach, it can't be that bad, can it?

I would pass on 6N.  Most people know how to play.

Based on the numbers for the first month, many more played the game they did not know (Tong) instead of they did know (OFUA).

thanks, Jocelyn, for posting the next issues and my vote is up to

Medina  

- I really like to learn something new.. :)

As for something i was even into it sometime - I am looking forward to some

Verraeter

Cocktails at Don's place..

cu all online soon, reikja
(still trying to win her first game of Tongiaki...)

Believe me, Paul, it is that bad. I tried to learn it a couple of times and also watched many games. I even asked the guild master and he said it takes about 3 hours to learn the basics. Plus we dont have many DoKo players who are online often enough to regularly play it as gotm.

Jocy

aehm, this is one of the main reasons for taking it GOTM: get people to know how to play and play it more often : ))

reikja

In theory, yes, but if no-one knows how to play, then we won't get anywhere...

LA
Who doesn't know how to play Doko...

Which was my thought on the matter.  <Putting on Project Manager's Hat>  If we don't have a focus on the issue.  It will never get done and just keep getting put off. </Putting on Project Manager's Hat>

The goal here for GOTM, at least to me, is not to try to play a lot of games for EC, but to learn new games.  If DoKo is hard to learn, so what?  If we only play 5 DoKo games in the month, so what?  If it takes all month to get 7 to 10 Munchkins to learn DoKo in the next month, then IMO it was a success reguardless of how many games are played.

I think this is an excellent game to be GOTM and will do my part to learn it now.  I don't think the difficultly of the game and the amount of people who currently know it should be an issue.  Like reikja said, isn't this the whole point of GOTM?

http://www.sheepshead.org/doppelkopf.htm

Looking over the rules, it looks like Munchkins are going to need to do some homework on this one.  Learning this online without looking at the rules ahead of time will be hard.  Even after 3 hours I don't think you will fully get it.  To me, if you read the rules ahead of time and make a few notes, you will struggle, but should be able to work it out.  There is a lot going on.

The game on a number of levels screams Pinochle to me, so now I really want to play.

Anyway that's my $.02

Well, in my opinion gotm is for all munchkins, who want to, to learn new games and have a fun time, but learning DoKo cant be done in this short time imho and if you try, requires a lot of time from teacher and student. so why put a time frame around it? But this is just my opinion, and if the other munchkins choose it as gotm i will try to learn it as best as i can. Personally I would rather learn Meuterer, which i dont know at all, and Verräter, which i theoretically should know ;)

Jocy

I guess we disagree, but no problem, having read the rules, I'll just learn it on my own.  While the game has a lot of rules, the game is far from unlearnable in a month.  Having looked over the rules for an hour, I can at least say I've got an 'ok' idea on how to play.  I'd totally suck, but I can at least throw the cards.

The only requirement is to read the rules ahead of time, because I agree that trying to learn the game online without having some idea of the rules would be REALLY hard.  However, this is no different than other games.

I'm only one vote, but if two people can teach two each, who after two weeks those 6 teach two more each.  That's 18 people who will have learned the game, right there in two weeks.  We only had 15 people play Tong in the last month.

I don't think anyone is looking to be great at this game, we just want to learn the rules and have a little fun.  If I can look at the rules for an hour and have an idea on how to play it can't be that hard.  It's Pinochle with two decks and a lot of different twists.  (Maybe I've played Pinochle too long, YMMV.)  ;)

Teach me and I'll be glad to try to teach others.  I would think our Tichu players would like it.  BTW, BBG has a high Game Weight for Caylus then for DoKo (i.e. Caylus is harder then DoKo).  So, again, I don't think it that unlearnable since Caylus was GOTM.

My votes for March games of the month would be Medina and Meuterer, which I consider as two wonderful under-estimated games which no munchkin should ignore.

As for Doko, I agree we should make it GotM at some point, but considering how few people know it, I think it is too early for March. I am pretty sure everyone who cares is considering that I know how to play Doko because my stats tell about 200 games or so, but don't forget that I haven't played it for about 2 years and I wouldn't be able to play it now, let alone explain it.

What I would rather suggest is that the most interested in Doko among us (whether they used to know it, like myself, or not, like Paul) try to learn or remind the rules, play some games between ourselves or with others, so that we can have Doko as GotM later, maybe in April, when enough of us know how to play at least half-decently and explain it to the others.

Doko (just like Tichu, except that there are more rules and special cases than Tichu) is not the kind of game, in my opinion, you can just play once or twice and decide you know how to play. The assumption that you can learn how to play in one week looks like a big one to me.

Esterio

I suppose I have played Pinochle too long. ;D  I was watching a few hands of DoKo last night and had no problems following what was going on.

Now if you are going to ask me about when is the best time to call 'Re' or 'No 60', well that I'm only going to figure out as we play.  So count me in. :)

I'm going to try summerize the rules for myself, maybe that will help others if they want it.  I usually have to do that for new Pinochle players when they are trying to figure out how much melt they have.

Oh change my vote to either Medina and Meuterer.  I'll follow Esterio's lead.

I'll go for Medina and Meuterer as well....

Looking ahead, it's been generally accepted that Verraeter would be GOTM sometime soon, (although please not in the same month as Meuterer - the games are too similar), it's just a question as to wether we do it next month or the month after. I think that maybe we should wait until May, adn have 2 "lighter" games in April, because more than a few of us will be thinking about the Olympics...

LA

hej, nice to see at least 15 (!!!)people played Tongiaki!
This will put a smile on Tongiaki guild members - still a
small guild, so they could need support to get a boost from town to town..

Well, if we put the DoKo - noDoKo discussion aside, there are 2 games in lead for GOTM in March:

Medina
Meuterer

which suits March very well, for it's both M-Games, too :)

It's cool to catch up with your opions on this topic, never thaught the GOTM issue will force so many postings.. *gg

have fun, munchkins!

reikja, deputy majoress, who's looking to Meuter Medina

Maybe we can do Attika and Attribute for April. ;)

I think Medina and Meutererererer and great selections and look forward to playing more of both!

About Doko, I like the suggestions above to have any who are interested take the time to learn (or re-learn) the game so we can make it a gotm some day and have enough people willing and able to teach.

Manhattan for May...

...and Doko in December ::)

DQ

P.S.: I did not say which year ;D

Don't worry.  I'm not asking for DoKo anymore.  I'll learn it on my own.

guess DOKO is not a SU game, Paul. But put me on your list when you are able to TEACH, will you?

reikja

Unbelievable, but March is almost over and once again its time to start our discussion on the Game(s) of the Month for April. Here my suggestions:

• Attika
• Manhattan
• Verräter
• Cartagena
• Fuersten
• Piranha Pedro
• Sticheln

My vote goes to Manhattan and Fuersten this month.
Enjoy voting and discussing.
Jocy

edit: i didnt suggest Bazaar, Heckmeck, Verflixxt or Geister, cause usually the "new" games are played more often anyway.

I would suggest that we choose at least one game playable with 2, for instance Attika or Manhattan.
And as Fuersten had not been played at all in February, and probably not much in March either, I think it should be made GotM as soon as possible - the game is really worth it.
I can explain these 3 games if needed, GotM or not.

Esterio
PS: If I really have to vote for only 2 games, I would choose Attika and Fuersten - let's keep Manhattan for an M month. ;)

I haven't looked at the numbers yet, so may edit this post, but for now:

I vote for Attika and Fuersten

I can also teach either of them.

--SpaceSquirrel

Both those games are great and are some of htose I like most on bsw =)
Attika is one of my most played games I think. Princes of Florence is a bit better in RL as it is easier to keep order of things there (it's a bit more chaotic here).

As a comment to the older posts: I like doku =) (But only played it a couple of times)

I'm pretty sure Intrige and Schrille Stille need to be GOTM soon. ;)

But seriously, let's make April an "F" month(April Fools and all): Fuersten and Funkenschlag!!

I like the idea of PowerGrid, haven't played that in a while, the games do take a bit of time however.

I like the suggestions of Fuersten and Attika since they're both near the top of my "to learn" list, however, I consider Funkenschlag one of my favorite games on BSW. :) The only problem with combining Fuersten and Funkenschlag is that they're both longer than average for BSW games and I think it'd be good to combine a long and a short game. I also like the suggestion to have at least one be available as 2-player which both Attika and Funkenschlag are.

Therefore, my final vote is for Fuersten and Attika, but I'm sure I'll be happy with anything that's picked. ;)

My vote is for Attika(A for April..) and Fuersten (for fooools), for I have not played Attika for a while and never played Fuersten ....

reikja, who will join you after 9th of April again...

Attika and Fürsten sounds good to me

-pine
(wodering what month she'll be able to learn RA...maybe in the next rainy season)

Ra? That's an auction game, should be ok for August. But I'm sure you can find someone to explain it to you before then. Hadn't we a gold medalist in Ra recently?
If no one else volunteers, I could explain it. It is a good game - as long as you appreciate sheer auction games.

Esterio

Attika is fine by me.  I've played a few times with szwanger and it is a good game.  I don't have a vote for the 2nd game.

So is Fuersten...

Yip. DamageIncSKB won last month.

Attika is best played with 2. Most people agree on that. Fuersten is best not played with 5. Allow 2 hours for a teaching game of that...

LA

I've played a lot of Fuersten and it's not really that good with 3 either, too little competition in the game. Attika is one of the games where 3 players are better than 4.

/Elttil looks over all the posts about April's games of the month, tallys the votes, crunches the numbers, fills in some blank ballots, corrects the votes of some obviously confused citizens, and arrives at a fair and equitable result.

Attika and Fuersten!

As always, you can read about the BSW interface on Boomer's Brettspielwelt Help Server (http://www.brettspielwelt.info/rules/) and read about the games on BoardGameGeek (http://www.boardgamegeek.com/).

This vote was rigged. An independent exit poll conducted by myself and a recount of the ballot came to the same conclusion:


Monopoly and Chess

DQ
 ;)

No, let's play: Global Thermal Nuclear War.

Who do you wish to play?
-> USA
-> USSR

(Sorry, that movie just popped into my head.)

Ok, but only if I get to be the car.  ;D

So, with May coming next, I simply pick up some of your postings out of this thread to summarize:

Manhatten for May

and

Verraeter, too,

for April was such a mess and we all could need some practice..  ;D

reikja

I like both those suggestions. Manhattan is for 2-4 players and plays fairly quick, while Verräter requires 3-4 and appears to take a little longer (I haven't played it yet).

But just to keep this discussion interesting ;) I'll throw out two other rarely played games that can handle more players: Sticheln, 3-6 players but can get kind of long; and Cartagena, 2-5 players, medium length.

Or how about Manitou and Yinsh?

yeah we wanted to take manitou for city league, if i remember correctly and for the second game, id take either manhattan or yinsh :)

Jocy

I forgot about getting Manitou in there. Perhaps then Manitou and Manhattan for May. :)

We'll obviously have to drop this game name related to month name issue in June. Except for maybe JuS,CC. ;)

I vote for Manitou and Yinsh as well.

I hereby declare our games-of-the-month for May, 2006 are:

Manitou and Manhattan


Looking through this whole thread, we have Manhattan mentioned more than Yinsh, so I think it's a better choice.

You can play Manhattan in Carmilla's house, C41-45, but we don't have a Manitou room (yet). We'll take a look at getting one in town, but for now please feel free to play it elsewhere. If it's an all-munchkin game, we're still likely to earn the resources.  :)

Just to post it here too.  Manitou is in C41-81.  This is a new game in the city league, so experts are always needed.  8)

June is almost here and we need new gotm.

So here are my suggestions

• Caylus
• Yinsh
• CCJus
• Verräter
• Cartagena

Voice your opinions, munchkins, June is near :)

Jocy

CCJuS makes sense for June. My other vote would go to Verräter (which I think is only worth playing with 4 players).

But May is not over yet, and I'm sure not everyone has played Manitou and Manhattan yet...

Esterio

I like the suggestions of CCJuS and Verräter. However, it was also suggested that Caylus be one since it just won the Spiel des Jahres complex game award (http://www.brettspielwelt.de/Forum/index.php/topic,70284.0.html). It was an unofficial game of the month in January, but I wouldn't mind seeing it again in an official capacity.

I'll let someone else make the official proclamation this month because I did it for Manhattan and Manitou last month and they don't appear to have generated much activity. ;)

June and Schrille and Stille all end with the letter 'e' !!!

Schrille Stille also has Heino !!!

well, Heino would be a reason NOT to take Schrille Stille, but i would be fine with all of them - Yinsh (almost June..), CCJuS of course and anything else that has nothing to do with balls and a net.. *gg

Sounds good for me.


LA and I can fix most of you playing Manitou via the city league. ;)

Well, that probably makes

CC Hunter & Gatherer
and
Verraeter

GOTM for Juuuuuune!

CC JuS / CC green is at Jonty's place, C41-52
Verraeter is located at Don's casa (and I still won't comment that), C41-71

Feel free to practice, learn and beware - you might need some of these in the City League!  ;)

reikja

Ok, I was cleaning my residence. I put up a buffet with drinks and snacks. Please help yourself. You can also start a fire in the fire place to make the place more cozy. Don't leave a mess when I am not there and be careful with the sofa, the leather is very delicate. Please be also careful with the carpet (souvenir from Azerbaijan).

And a last thing: Don't play CCJuS first and than behave like cavemen in my residence!  ;D

A warm welcome to all the traitors.

DQ

Well, June is almost over, Summer met us (most places, finally) and here we go for another try to make these GOTM for July:

Caylus (still on our favorite list since January... but never made it GOTM since, officially)
Siedler / Settler
Yinsh
Cartagena

Any further suggestions? So please go ahead.

reikja

Settlers is good for me.  I love the game and it gets very little play in EC.

I've only played a couple games of Siedler/Settlers so I'd love to see it for GOTM.

Settlers would be good. The game is week on BSW b/c of the trade system. If I played with people who would trade in chat, then it would be great.

Well, not many responding comments this week so this will make

Caylus

and

Settler / Siedler


GOTM for July!!


You will find Settler / Siedler in room C41-7 Whaaaaat? 
Caylus room I is still to find: C41-21 Alexfrog's house
and
Caylus room II: C41-87 at mitnachtKAUBO-I's casa

Two Questions:

1) I love the ideas of the games of the month, but I'm wondering if we should take a break.  The numbers for June's games were light and we didn't get much in the way of comments for July.  I ran some early numbers for July.  They look light too.  Maybe people are on vacation and we should start again in Sept? 8)

2) If we want to continue with the GOTM, then what are your picks?  Hey, how about Tichu?  We haven't played that much lately. ;)

im also for a break in gotm, over the summer everybody is just to busy with other things and i think we should pick up in september again. my $02

GOTM: I agree. I wasn't much online recently, perhaps this also made the feeling I should play the GOTM wear off a little, but I see the same tendency. I would agree with a break but I am also willing to make an effort again (which would actually be a good solution too :) ).

Tichu as GOTM: Tichu? What's that? (Don_Quijote hears a dog barking somewhere far away).  ;D

DQ

Sounds fine with me to take a break for a month or two. The couple times I've tried to find munchkins interested in Seidler this month no one else has wanted to play. I have enjoyed learning the games I didn't know so I definitely want to continue with it after a break.

I think as well that we should make a pause in GotM, and maybe think about a new way to make them attractive and interesting. I must confess I have not been playing Siedler (at all) or Caylus (much) this month myself.

I find it a bit... surprising, maybe even disappointing, that not every munchkin (or BSW player in general of course) who has been there for a while has not tried most or all of the BSW games at least once. Maybe not really specific games which they know they would not enjoy anyway (I'm thinking about games such as Ligretto, Intrige, and also heavier games such as Power Grid, Caylus, or even Puerto Rico for not-so-heavy players), but I mean light or middle-weight games such as Transamerica, Emerald, KUK, Meuterer, Ra, Einfach Genial, Sticheln... My point is not that all these games are universally good, or that you have to enjoy all these games to be allowed to be a munchkin. It is just that some people may be missing opportunities to play games they could enjoy.

I thought that the GotM would help making these games better-known to munchkins. I am sure it helped, but there are still munchkins (and I do not mean new ones) who have not played all of the previous GotM yet. Maybe there is a better way we ought to find.

Esterio, who is (most of the time) ready to teach most games

Ok, we will give the GOTM a break.

I have to agree with E as well.  I've missed a few GOTM here and there R) but on the other hand I've played 39 different games and I am not a heavy gamer compaired to many others in EC (that will change when my kids get older).  I find learning new games fun.

In Sept we will either restart GOTM or think of some other idea to get others to play a few different games on BSW.

And I still need to learn Doko!!! :)

When we suggested to make the low (often: rarely) played games to become GOTM - it was our intention to get people know them and probably find out - they like them, too!

Numbers have never been brilliant since we started in January, but some of us DID try the new games, at least once. So I guess it WAS a success and - we filled the almost empty game rooms for those games too. Plus: we filled them IN town. :)

Any Munchkin is free to teach a game he/she knows well to Munchkins, visitors and newbes whenever he/she feels to and as far as i see, i never heard a "No, i won't teach you!"

Giving GOTM a break during Summer season is a good idea, especially for we picked looong lasting games for July.. (whoever did this, do you remember?? *gg*).

Let's start again in September and keep it with the small, fast and
not so well known games we do have in town.

The constant drop hollows the stone. reikja

 :o I just realised I have played more than 55 different games on BSW and I haven't played Manitou and Fürsten although they were GOTM. For me it has a lot to do on how often I go online. In times when I have not much time I am often too lazy to learn a new game as I want to use the limited time online with playing and not producing the famous 'mööööp' sound all the time.

On the other hand, games have to be learned at some point! I guess I need to make use of Esterio's offer and learn those games before we start again with GOTM.

Mea culpa (and with that greetings to Ricky Martin ;) )

DQ

The bottom line is that there is soooo many games and soooo little time.  With better and better games (and interfaces) coming on BSW, it's only a matter of time that the other games will drop to the side.

Take 6N for example.  I like that game the about same as Manitou, but will likely play 6N just for the flying cards and the mooooo sound.

The best we can do is try to point out the hidden gems and get a few people to try them out.

Speaking of Doko, if we can get 3 other people (besides me) to read the rules, I would love to try it out.  If there are any takers let me know...

Sure, I could teach you Fuersten. But since the explanation and first game will require about two hours, I would rather teach it to several new players at once. That was supposed to be one of the interests of having it as GotM :)

Also, for most games, but especially the heavier ones, like Fuersten, reading the rules in advance usually helps. Heavier games are more difficult to learn, but remember they are also more difficult to teach and it is easier to forget a rule when explaining (I have taught Fuersten online much less often as lighter games such as, for instance, KUK or Emerald).

I agree that the interfaces are improving (although they also tend to have more and more annoying sound effects), but the games themselves are not, in my opinion, better (or worse) than the old ones. Of course, having more available games and just as much time means you can only spend, on average, less time on each game...

Sure. I have to refresh my memories of various contract types, and scoring, but playing Doko will probably be quite refreshing after so much Tichu lately.

Esterio

1 - I guess you are right about the games.  Caylus I like.  TuT is a improved ParisParis to me, but not a outstanding game (even though it just won game of the year). uKuK is not my cup of tea.  Heckmeck, I haven't played yet.  I guess it looks average to me.  Verflixxt is really brainless.  Nothing else jumps to mind.

2 - 'annoying sound effects'  Hey that mooooo sound kept my youngest kid happy for about 1 to 2 months.  That's gold to me.  ;)

Paul runs off to reread the Doko rules....

See, you have forgotten FussballLigretto already ;)

For even more annoying (in my opinion) sound effects, try Heckmeck. Or FussballLigretto. ;)

Well I've never played LG, so I didn't even look at FLG.  Now I'm going to have to check it out. :)

Dearest munchkins,
September is SchrilleStille month!

Yours truly,
Hein O.

Verflixxt is NOT brainless *fumes

Don_Quijote runs of to reread the Verflixxt rules...  ;D

Sorry Jo, didn't know we had someone who likes Verflixxt that much. :)

Ok let's try to get the GOTM going again...

Considering we are going to have a PR tourny starting in Sept, should we make PR one of the GOTM by default?

If PR is one, how about something light for the other?

Should Jo teach us the hidden joys of Verflixxt?
Should we make ratpfink happy and go for SchrilleStille?
Do we have enough players for go for Doko?
Any other ideas?

Cast your votes!

I am glad you didn't suggest to have another complex game. Or did you mean for Go or Doko  ;D

DQ
--still trying to understand what Doko is about  ;)

PR sounds great, and I got a taste of Doko so I'd like to play some more and get beyond the "know how to play but don't have a clue what I'm doing" phase.  ;D

I'm also ready to Go for Go with DQ.

If PR is one GOTM and is 3 or more, should we consider another game that has a min of 2 players?

It looks as if PR is set as GOTM, and I think that is a good idea.

I would love to have Go as game of the month once hoping to have more people I can practice with. My mastery of the game is very limited (I know the rules and I can play but that means nothing in that game...).

I don't know how many Munchkins actually know how to play it. I won't be around for about half of the months of September and October. So if Go would be that GOTM in another month I wouldn't object. In addition I think Go should be combined with something lighter as Paul suggested for PR.

For those who want to start practice Go, read the rules  (http://gobase.org/studying/rules/?id=0&ln=uk)and then do this tutorial (http://playgo.to/interactive/) (I think it is quite helpful in the beginning). Perhaps I will learn the game properly if I have a few Munchkins to practice with :). People say you learn it best with a more experienced player when you discuss each game (there is a tool for it in BSW).

Did we have SJ as GOTM yet? Wouldn't that be a good match for PR? And it is an 'S' game for September ;D

DQ
--Ready to Go

I agree that a light 2p game is a good idea.
San Juan would qualify. It has many similarities to PR which could be good for people who are learning both games (does anyone in town have fewer than 5-10 plays in both?).  At the same time, it means less variety in the GOTM.

If we like the idea of an "S" game, StreetSoccer is an option, but being playable by ONLY 2 people may be a slight downside.  Backgammon falls into the same category.

Packeis is playable, ParisParis has potential, and Cartagena is a candidate ;).  Veilleicht Verflixt should be in the mixt as well.

I can't decide which I want to vote for just yet.

--SpaceSquirrel

[vote SJ]

PR will be one GOTM (unless I hear a large shout from the masses)

Tally:

Doko (1) - Elttil (1)
Go (1) - DQ (2)
SJ (1)  - PaulW (3)

Tiebreaker by longest held vote.  Each person gets one.

Current Picks: PR, Doko
Deadline: Monday Aug 28th about 3AM BSW Time

Paul has been playing too much werewolf on BGG.

Now you really got me! It is about voting and I don't understand the result. ;D

What exactely is it that you were counting? Perhaps it is just that I wasn't clear about to Go or not to Go.

DQ
--who favours SJ not Go as second game, but would like to see Go to be GOTM in November or December (you can call it 'No' or 'Do' if you want ;) )

I'm sorry DQ, it was more meant as a joke for ratpfink (we both seem to end up playing in werewolf games on BoardGameGeek)  I should have thought about that post more before I made it.

Name of Game Voted For (Number of Votes) - Person who voted for it (Order of the Vote)

So for example, Go has one vote, DQ voted for it, you were the second person to vote.

Here is a link where rat and I both played a game and he won at the end (if you want to see a 25 page example of the game):  http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/115795/page/1

Paul wonders if we should have a Munchkin only game of Werewolf on this board sometime...

I vote for Dokkkkkkkkko

szwanger who would be happy with anything but Go

PR will be one GOTM (unless I hear a large shout from the masses)

Tally:

SJ (4)  - PaulW (3), Elttil (4), DQ (5), Esterio (6)
SS (1) - ratpfink (8 )
Doko (1) - Elttil (1), szwanger (7)
Go (0) - DQ (2)

Tiebreaker by longest held vote.  Each person gets one.

Current Picks: PR, SJ
Deadline: Monday Aug 28th about 3AM BSW Time

I vote for ParisParis

--SpaceSquirrel

I second that emotion.

PR will be one GOTM (unless I hear a large shout from the masses)

Tally:

SJ (4)  - PaulW (3), Elttil (4), DQ (5), Esterio (6)
ParisParis (2) - Squirrel(9), daward2 (10)
SS (1) - ratpfink (8 )
Doko (1) - Elttil (1), szwanger (7)
Go (0) - DQ (2)

Tiebreaker by longest held vote.  Each person gets one.

Current Picks: PR, SJ
Deadline: Monday Aug 28th about 3AM BSW Time

Looking like we are going with PR and SJ.  Our home page has been updated.

End of Month is getting closer.  Time to vote for Game(s) of the Month.

Did a lot of people play PR and SJ?  We have a LOT of PR games still to play in Nicias' league.  Do we still find the GOTM useful?

Please let me know your thoughts and votes. :)

I played a handful of both games this month, but more SJ than PR.

As I look through the game rooms EC has that I've never played, I see Clans, Go, and Ra so I'd like to see at least one of those as GOTM. Clans is for 2-4 players, Ra 3-5, and Go for 2.

Clans and Ra sounds ok, I know the first but not the second. As for Go, Don really likes it and he's one of the few in town who would like to promote the game. But he's out of town until October 16th. Maybe we should postpone Go to another month.

-pine

I like the idea of Clans (mainly 2p) and Ra (3-5p) as GotM. These are my votes too.

Esterio

PS: I can explain either if needed.

Good timing.  I was starting to wonder if anyone in EC was still following GOTM...

Looks like Clans and Ra right now. :)

I vote for Säulen der Erde for November. It can handle 2-4 players and appears to be better with more at this point.

Ah, good timing Elttil.  Yes, it's that time again.  I'll vote for Säulen der Erde and SchrilleStille.

I would be happy with these (Säulen der Erde & Schrille Stille) as GotM.

Esterio

Hi All,  :)

Does anyone still follow the Games of the Month?

We had only 3 people vote for this last month and that's with reminding people to vote with the Message of the Day for the last week in the month.

Should we drop GOTM for awhile?

I can honestly say that GotM doesn't really influence my choice of games except (maybe) on EC day. 

I don't see anyone else cheering for GotM in the EC chat either.

Maybe someone should write a script to choose the GotM randomly.

I still think GOTM is a good idea and it worked for me in the beginning.

I wasn't regularly on in recent weeks/month so I thought it was just me who did not play the GOTM because I wasn't there.

It might be that there is a general GOTM-fatigue and I wrongly attributed it to the fact that I didn't get much of a chance to play.

Perhaps (provided we want to keep it alive) it needs a kick-off like a teach-in on EC Day and then it is GOTM until next EC day. Perhaps there are other possible incentives (or we just drop it until Munchkins want to have it back).

DQ

When we started GOTM, it was an effort to get the people to try (and play!) the games who are not played very often in town
and - get them re-started!

Making a brandnew game GOTM therefore was not the favorite aim - for it will be played a lot untill people get used to it and dropt it again :)


Guess we should stick on the basic idea, forcing minimum played "older" games to be played more often!

reikja

True, but RA and Clans are not very popular games in EC and they did not get a lot of play in EC last month.  About 7 to 9 games of RA and less than that for Clans (Assuming the games played was between Munchkins).  When we started, a GOTM would be in top 10 of games played.

I love the GOTM idea, but it people don't want to follow it, then it might be time for a new idea...

I like the game-of-the-month idea, but I agree that it hasn't had a huge effect lately. Learning older games can be a challenge because there are few people around who want to play and/or teach them so gotm helped with the opportunity to get some play. I've learned 9 new games purely because they were gotm. It's helped me get closer to my casual goal of playing every game on BSW -- 4 to go!

I still like the concept, even if it doesn't get used a lot, but if someone has a better idea or a different way to handle it, let's hear it.

I think there would be more people playing the GotM if there were some kind of reward.  I'm not exactly sure what the reward could be, but I don't think it should base on wins and losses since GotM is about playing new games - not necessarily about winning.

Maybe we should reward the person who plays the most GotM games in any given month.

Part of the trick is how to reward someone.  Cities\Guilds can not directly give Talers to people.  I don't think random lotteries within cities are allowed (but I will dlb check).  Too many ways around it.  Taler rewards for tournys are usually given to the city and not to the player.

The council is working on a few new ideas.  One day tournaments, for example.  I'm going to give the GOTM idea a break.  I'm sure this will come back someday.