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shannon_aWhile I was out of town, a box showed up for me containing review copies of Gryphon's five numbered bookshelf games. While I was at EndGame tonight, I tried out the first two, Money, and Roll through the Ages: The Bronze Age, and I was impressed. I also chatted a bit with a few other folks, and I think we generally came to the conclusion that Gryphon's bookshelf series is a very nice new entrant to the boardgaming field. Mind you, it's not all new games like Alea, but like Alea it is a bunch of high-quality games.
The first game in the series is Reiner Knizia's Money, which IMO is his best game that was out of print. It's an extremely clever little auction game, and one that I've wanted to have a copy of since I started playing Euro games. I'm very pleased to see it available again.
(I admit that some folks might consider Stephenson's Rocket Knizia's best out-of-print game, but different strokes and all ...)
Edit: It looks like Ra is currently OOP too, which would be another strong contender. However, it looks like Rio Grande has gotten the reprint rights back, which means y'all might see it again some day.
The second game in the series is their one brand-new entry (thus far), Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age. It's a neat dice game, but not just a press-your-luck game like most in the category. It has a real feel of a super-simple Civilization, with resources and a variety of things you can do with them. When we played, we almost played it immediately again, because it's light and has a nice feel to it.
Gem Dealer is the one game that I thus far have no sense of. It's another Reiner Knizia release, and I know it's a close cousin of Ivanhoe, which is a pretty good game.
The last two I'm personally not that excited by, because they're Uberplay retreads, and thus were available more recently than the early ones. They're: For Sale and High Society. However, since they're both apparently out of print now, I'm sure there are some folks that will enjoy them, and For Sale in particular is a great game that should be back in print.
Another nice thing about this series is that it's very reasonably priced. With its huge quantity of wood (for pegboards) I was sure that Roll through the Ages would be $40, but am surprised to see it's $30. The others vary from $22-$25, which is more normative for the current market. It's funny, when FRED started producing I thought their games were overly expensive, but since then the rest of the market has caught up. I think that FRED just came into the business at an awkward time when production prices were up but the current publishers were holding the line.
I'm hoping to see more from this series if Grypon/FRED/Eagle can maintain the high-quality. Racking my head for what else it should include, my top proposal is Edel, Stein & Reich, a simulataneous-action game from the Alea series that's never been published in the US. However, I don't know if the rights are available since Basari exists in the US, and I don't know if it meets the criteria of "simplicity" that this new series is striving for.
The one other thing I'd love to see in this series is an upgraded version of FRED's excellent Uptown.
I haven't sussed out any other ideas, though looking at Funagain it appears they have 3 more immediately planned. Looting London by Knizia appears to be a new game that hasn't garnered a lot of commentary yet. Birds on a Wire by relative newcomer Carey Grayson likewise has little discussion. However, I'm quite excited by what should be the8th 9th entry, Masters Gallery (aka, Modern Art: The Card Game). It looks like it'll have beautiful artwork and play that looks to be positively streamlined.
Edit: I missed the real 6th entry, which is a new edition of Incan Gold, which is indeed another nice, light game that was previously available from FRED. The first nine are all listed on FRED's page.
I expect to start reviewing these bookshelf games in the upcoming weeks.
Tonight was my first night at EndGame in three weeks. I was sick two weeks ago and in Hawaii last week. I had fun while there again tonight. Including the first two Gryphon bookshelf games, I played a total of 5 games, all of them pretty short, which was nice after a drought of gaming.
It was also nice to have Oakland riot-free. I thus was able to enjoy my bike ride there and back too, since it was the first serious bike-riding I'd done in weeks. (My last ride back from Endgame was a bit more stressful, since Oakland was burning behind me.)
Among the games I played was Ra, which I'll probably talk about tomorrow, in the first of my series on the 22 Alea games.
The other two games that I played formed a fun thematic duo. They were die Seidenstrasse and Marco Polo Expedition. They're both about the Silk Road. We traveled west in Seidenstrasse, then back east in Marco Polo. There was no copy of the other game I'm aware of on the theme, Silk Road, available for play.
The first game in the series is Reiner Knizia's Money, which IMO is his best game that was out of print. It's an extremely clever little auction game, and one that I've wanted to have a copy of since I started playing Euro games. I'm very pleased to see it available again.
(I admit that some folks might consider Stephenson's Rocket Knizia's best out-of-print game, but different strokes and all ...)
Edit: It looks like Ra is currently OOP too, which would be another strong contender. However, it looks like Rio Grande has gotten the reprint rights back, which means y'all might see it again some day.
The second game in the series is their one brand-new entry (thus far), Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age. It's a neat dice game, but not just a press-your-luck game like most in the category. It has a real feel of a super-simple Civilization, with resources and a variety of things you can do with them. When we played, we almost played it immediately again, because it's light and has a nice feel to it.
Gem Dealer is the one game that I thus far have no sense of. It's another Reiner Knizia release, and I know it's a close cousin of Ivanhoe, which is a pretty good game.
The last two I'm personally not that excited by, because they're Uberplay retreads, and thus were available more recently than the early ones. They're: For Sale and High Society. However, since they're both apparently out of print now, I'm sure there are some folks that will enjoy them, and For Sale in particular is a great game that should be back in print.
Another nice thing about this series is that it's very reasonably priced. With its huge quantity of wood (for pegboards) I was sure that Roll through the Ages would be $40, but am surprised to see it's $30. The others vary from $22-$25, which is more normative for the current market. It's funny, when FRED started producing I thought their games were overly expensive, but since then the rest of the market has caught up. I think that FRED just came into the business at an awkward time when production prices were up but the current publishers were holding the line.
I'm hoping to see more from this series if Grypon/FRED/Eagle can maintain the high-quality. Racking my head for what else it should include, my top proposal is Edel, Stein & Reich, a simulataneous-action game from the Alea series that's never been published in the US. However, I don't know if the rights are available since Basari exists in the US, and I don't know if it meets the criteria of "simplicity" that this new series is striving for.
The one other thing I'd love to see in this series is an upgraded version of FRED's excellent Uptown.
I haven't sussed out any other ideas, though looking at Funagain it appears they have 3 more immediately planned. Looting London by Knizia appears to be a new game that hasn't garnered a lot of commentary yet. Birds on a Wire by relative newcomer Carey Grayson likewise has little discussion. However, I'm quite excited by what should be the
Edit: I missed the real 6th entry, which is a new edition of Incan Gold, which is indeed another nice, light game that was previously available from FRED. The first nine are all listed on FRED's page.
I expect to start reviewing these bookshelf games in the upcoming weeks.
Tonight was my first night at EndGame in three weeks. I was sick two weeks ago and in Hawaii last week. I had fun while there again tonight. Including the first two Gryphon bookshelf games, I played a total of 5 games, all of them pretty short, which was nice after a drought of gaming.
It was also nice to have Oakland riot-free. I thus was able to enjoy my bike ride there and back too, since it was the first serious bike-riding I'd done in weeks. (My last ride back from Endgame was a bit more stressful, since Oakland was burning behind me.)
Among the games I played was Ra, which I'll probably talk about tomorrow, in the first of my series on the 22 Alea games.
The other two games that I played formed a fun thematic duo. They were die Seidenstrasse and Marco Polo Expedition. They're both about the Silk Road. We traveled west in Seidenstrasse, then back east in Marco Polo. There was no copy of the other game I'm aware of on the theme, Silk Road, available for play.