October, 1997

The Living Room Floor

Most of the new stuff is scattered around the living room. After about four weeks, I'll pick stuff up and actually put it away in the Game Cabinet (give or take a bit depending on other demands on my time).

Gaming News & Commentary

• Letter from the Editor - notes and introduction to this month's issue (October)

• Essen Rumors - looks like a good year to me
• Mayfair Rumors - what does the future hold with ICE in control?

• Deutscher Spiele Preise 1997 - The German Games Prize as awarded by Die Pöppel-Revue
• GenCon 97 - Tim Isakson reports on TSR's farewell party

Conventions and Gatherings

• Northern Virginia Gamers - events for 1997 (Virginia, USA)
• Ramsdencon 98 - a weekend of fun and games (Essex, England)

Stump the Net

• October's Queries - have you ever heard of these games?

• Bao - Mike Smith summarizes the rules and asks for variations
• Hanafuda: The Flower Card Game - Yoshihisa Miura with more information and some leads
• Hanafuda and Yakuza - Keith Ammann with a titilating trivial tidbit
• Ludus Latrunculorum in Japan - Amanda Allen discovers an occidental game in the Orient
• Nine Men's Morris - John Taylor is answered by nine men (none drive a Morris)
• Nurds - Nadia locates the rules to this nerdly card game
• Polish Checkers - a draughts variant
• Tablero da Gucci - Katrina Wolffe brings us the drinking variation
• Scully - Mike Marks gets the skinny on this kids' sidewalk game

Letter Box

• Blue Beans in Bohnanza - Michael Tsuk explains the pun behind this card
• Bonko, New Orleans Style - John W. Sameluk says ya gots ta have da gumbo
• Interesting Card Trick - Joe Celko spots a clever way to print card decks
• Luitprand - David Bofinger places this name from Lidless Eye
• News from Sweden - Bengt Wennerberg with news of a new Game of the Year
• Tafl - Stuart Dagger comments on references in Daniel Thibault's article

Late Breaking Letters

• Hot Tip! - Africa 1880 at a Discount - Daniel U. Thibault spots a bargain

• Africa 1880 - Daniel U. Thibault with the scoop on this recent game
• Ludus latrunculorum in Japan - Bruno Faidutti with more info and a plug for his new book
• Magic Patent - Wizards of the Coast granted a patent on a trading card game

Game Reviews

• Capsule Reviews - short takes on various games by diverse reviewers
• Honor of the Samurai - a non-collectable card game of conflict in feudal Japan
• Shadowrun - talks the talk but is a little short on the walk
• The Terrain Game - mountain building and climbing in a beautiful format

• Sumo Rush by Mike Siggins
  • Ferrocarriles Pampas - trains on the plains of South America

• Now Playing at Plymouth with Steffan O'Sullivan
  • Fluxx - the card game where the rules are always changing

Game Bits

Note that the PostScript files in the rules below should be downloaded to your hard disk and then printed using the appropriate application (lpr on Unix, BBedit or others on Mac, Ghostscript on Windows, etc.).

• Honor of the Samurai - additional cards to keep your Shogunate stable UPDATED 10/21
• Letter-by-letter Word Games - a list composed by Steffan O'Sullivan and friends
• Print-Your-Own Pai Gow Cards - complete files and instructions
• Die Siedler/Settlers: Blood Rules Variant - for those who can't wait of Cities & Knights

Original Game Rules

• Starts and Ends - a noisy, frantic word game by Michael Petty

English Game Translations

• The Most Wanted List - rule sets at large and unaccounted for

• Arabana-Ikibiti - compete to dominate an archipelego (includes seafaring variant!)
• El Grande & expansions
  • The Basic Game - a revised translation without all of my original mistakes!
  • Koenig & Intrigant / King & Villain - which adds deck building and quite a bit more control
  • More Card Ideas - as submitted to Hans im Glück by El Grande fans
  • Großinquisitor & Kolonien / Grand Inquisitor & Colonies - politics in the Spanish Empire (removed - back soon!)
• Heuchel Meuchel / Feigned Favours - medieval wrangling for power and prestige
• Iron Horse - rail and tile laying game for the backpack set
• La Vallée des Mammouths / The Valley of Mammoths - ug. card translation. printumquick. ug.
• Mark / Market - a game of production and over-production
• Quartier Latin / Latin Quarter - the rough and tumble world of bistros and bars in Paris
• Schraumen / Scrunes - a game of runes, scrolls, and prunes
• Die Siedler Kartenspiel: Tournament Game for New Players - additional rules from Kosmos
• Texas - where the wind comes rushin' down the plain?

German Game Translations

• Vallee des Mammouths - ug. ereigniskarten. druckendemschnell. ug.

Traditional Games

• Dice - a general discussion of these useful game tools by Joe Celko
• Nos - a rather complicated Dutch domino game (on the Pagat Card Game site)

Web Games Terminal

Note that you must have access to Telnet, Java, and/or Shockwave in order to access most of these game sites. Contact your Internet service provider for details on acquiring these technologies. Your ISP will must provide Telnet access. Upgrade your browser to one that is Java enabled. Download the Shockwave plugin appropriate for your browser and operating system.

• CyberJacques - a wide variety of on-line games (Shockwave plugin required)
• Pico - the Doris & Frank micro-game as implemented by Frank himself (Java applet)
• Sumo - the sport but be En your Garde (Shockwave plugin required)
• Virtual Football - from a players point of view yet (Windows only)

The Front Door

• Impact 1 - the strategic, new, 3D space game
• McGartlin Motorsport Design - purveyors of fine auto racing games

Other Places

• Bambus Spieleverlag - the correct address for the inventors of Arabana-Ikibiti
• Die Siedler - the official page (German language - for now)
• The Elfenroads Page - a lavish tribute to this hard to find game
• Fata Morgana - Swiss makers of Tichu and other fine games, also a good source for Swiss games
• Fibonacci - a head-to-head abstract game that's not just for Sloan Rangers
• The not-yet-official Formule Dé Page - which is also not-yet-complete (nice links, though)
• Moonshot - an historically accurate, semi-collectable recreation of the race to the moon
• Lutz Pietschker's Game Pages - including some incredibly in depth game reviews
• Wingo Dingo - the logical game
• Wolfhound Games - makers of Swords of Glory and other, less violent games
• Zap Games - game tokens that change as you play!
• Zoki - a simple abstract game with a downloadable demo

The Game Cabinet - editor@gamecabinet.com - Ken Tidwell