#Alain Orban

[yespat49]

La Hongrie repense son rôle au sein de l’OTAN et ne veut pas d’une guerre contre la Russie

par Pierre-Alain Depauw Viktor Orban a souligné que la Hongrie n’avait pas l’intention de participer aux actions de l’OTAN qui pourraient entraîner les États membres dans le conflit en Ukraine et conduire à une confrontation directe avec la Russie. Toujours réticente à participer à la mission militaire de l’OTAN en Ukraine, la Hongrie réévalue son rôle au sein de l’organisation, a déclaré le…

[lifeworldless]

[cinematografieliebhaber]

Black Angel für 1 bis 4 Spieler, von Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges und Alain Orban, ist ein Brettspiel über das erste intergalaktische Kolonieschiff in der Geschichte der Menschheit, welches menschliches Erbgut jenseits aller bekannten Welten transportiert . Es ist eine Reise, die vermutlich mehrere tausend Jahre dauern wird. Jeder Spieler steht dabei für eine KI, welche mit ihren Robotern das Schiff am Laufen hält.

[whovian223]

It’s week 3 of our weekly look through the Boardgame Geek Top 100 to see what games I’ve played and which ones I may be interested in playing.

Last week I got educated about Dominion, maybe even enough to try it again some day.

What will this week bring?

Maybe a treatise on train games?

You got that in you, Dave? (let’s see if he reads this…)

I picture Dave like this.

Let’s see if he even sees this…if so, I’m sorry.

Anyway, this week there are a lot more that I’ve played, and some good stuff in here.

And some…well, not so good stuff. At least for me.

So let’s get started!

#80 – Roll for the Galaxy (Rio Grande Games) – 2014

Designers: Wei-Hwa Huang, Thomas Lehmann

Artists: Martin Hoffmann, Claus Stephan, Mirko Suzuki

Roll for the Galaxy is the dice version of Lehmann’s Roll for the Galaxy, but it is so much more than that.

No screenshots of the app yet, so have to make do with boring pictures of the tabletop game

Each player will get a set number and type of dice depending on their starting world development that they choose at the beginning of the game. These dice will then be rolled and secretly used to activate actions.

You get points based on the points on the tiles that you build, whether they are developments or worlds that you colonize (just like the card game) but you have to assign dice to these tiles on your player sheet. Each tile takes the number of dice equal to the point value to put them into your tableau. If you don’t build it in one shot, those dice are trapped until you do.

When you assign your dice, you have to choose one action to activate (Explore, Develop, Settle, Produce and Ship). You can use any die to activate an action, but all subsequent dice assigned to that action have to actually have that action’s symbol (there are ways around that, of course).

If somebody else chose an action that you have dice for, you get to use those dice as well, but if nobody did, they go back into your cup.

I really like this game a lot, and it’s a shame that I haven’t played it since 2017. It just hasn’t come out to the table since then and the one guy who owns it hasn’t been to our game day in quite a while.

I have played some games on Boardgame Arena, though, which is nice.

Here’s hoping I do get it to the table again soon!

#79 – Russian Railroads (Z-Man Games) – 2013

Designers: Helmut Ohley, Leonhard “Lonny” Orgler

Artists: Martin Hoffmann, Claus Stephan

Two entries in a row with Hoffmann & Stephan art!

Russian Railroads is a game that breaks my brain, though part of that is because I tried to figure it out on Boardgame Arena a few times.

It never really made that much sense to me, but I think I have an inkling of what’s going on in the game.

I’m just terrible at optimizing actions.

Needless to say, I’ve never played it on the table, though it has shown up at a couple of game days in the last year or so.

There’s just been something else I wanted to play instead.

Essentially you’re trying to build the best railway network in Russia (I assume, based on the name).

From BGG:

“The development of simple tracks will quickly bring the players to important places, while the modernization of their railway network will improve the efficiency of their machinery. Newer locomotives cover greater distances and factories churn out improved technology. Engineers, when used effectively, can be the extra boost that an empire needs to race past the competition.”

There are three tracks that you’re trying to extend, but you’re also trying to make them good tracks, as well as doing other things. There are multiple paths to victory (so they say) and like most games where that’s the case, I always found myself doing a little of everything and thus falling way behind.

I wouldn’t mind trying this once just to see if I can wrap my head around it when I can physically manipulate the pieces.

However, it’s not that urgent.

If I never get the chance to play it, I won’t be that heart-broken.

Fans of the game, tell me why I should play this as soon as possible.

And then maybe I’ll do it.

#78 – Codenames (Czech Games Edition) – 2015

Designer: Vlaada Chvátil

Artists: Stéphane Gantiez, Tomáš Kučerovský, Filip Murmak

I’m not big into party games for some reason. Maybe I’m just an anti-fun guy, I don’t know.

Codenames is a party game in that there are two teams of multiple players and they’re both trying to make contact with their agents by using the clues that the clue-giver on the team says to try and identify the words on the table that match their agents.

A number of cards with words are laid out in a 5×5 grid. The clue-givers on each team have a layout of which cards are their agents and which ones aren’t. They give one-word clues and say how many of the cards they are referencing with that clue.

The other players have to then try to guess, but if they choose one of the opposing team’s agents, they their turn ends and that helps the other team because they have fewer agents to identify. If they choose an innocent bystander, their turn just ends.

If they choose their own, then they can keep guessing. If either team accidentally chooses the assassin, they lose.

The starting team has 9 agents to identify while the other team has 8.

Whoever identifies all of their agents first wins!

Codenames is a fun little game but it’s not something that really grabbed me that hard. I’m not that great at deduction games and I am a terrible clue-giver in this one. I haven’t played it since 2016 (back when I was less diligent taking pictures, as I couldn’t find one!) and I have no aching desire to do so either.

Of course, it’s moved on now with multiple variations of the same thing (Marvel, Disney, etc), including a 2-player cooperative game!

So many Codenames, so little time.

#77 – Architects of the West Kingdom (Renegade Games Studios/Garphill Games) – 2018

Designers: Shem Phillips, S J Macdonald

Artist: Mihajlo Dimitrievski

On the other hand, how about one of my Top 10 games played of all time?

Yeah, that would be Architects of the West Kingdom, a game that I’ve reviewed here (and people really seem to gravitate towards it as it now has my second-highest view count on this blog)

Blue didn’t build much, I see…

Go check out the review if you want to know how to play, but why do I like it so much?

I love the “place workers to get resources and the more workers you have there, the more you get but somebody might come and capture all of them to weaken you again” mechanic (say that 3 times fast!). I love the apprentices and how they work to make your actions even better, or at least help you build more buildings.

I love the Black Market and how Virtue can get you points but also can affect whether you can either build in the Church or visit the Black Market (though come on, in reality if you are too virtuous to visit the Black Market you would find a way to get somebody to go for you).

Everything just goes together so well and it’s a blast to play. And it doesn’t even take that long either.

The University adornment gets you a new building card and 2 more points! The Smithy adornment gets you three stone immediately and also 2 more points.

I only have one play of the game with the Age of the Artisans expansion, but I think it will make this game go up even higher in my esteem (if that’s possible).

After you’re done reading this review, go try a game of this however you can. See if you think I’m right.

Because I am.

#76 –Marvel Champions: the Card Game (Fantasy Flight Games) – 2019

Designers: Michael Boggs, Nate French, Caleb Grace

Artists: N/A

I first (and only) played this game at OrcaCon in January and while it ain’t no Marvel Legendary it is kind of fun in its own right.

It’s a totally cooperative game where you all play a Marvel hero (I believe there are 4 in the basic box?) that will be teaming up with other heroes to defeat the nasty villains and their schemes.

The base box comes with Captain Marvel, Black Panther, Spider-Man, and Iron Man but you can buy multiple expansion packs with new cards, new heroes, new villains, and stuff like that.

It was a fun game and I liked how it scales based on the number of players (basically each player draws a card from the villain deck at the end of their turn and has to face what happens, so fewer players means that fewer cards come out.

I just have a thing about Living Card Games (LCGs). I don’t want to be constantly buying new stuff, even though I do like that you know what the new stuff will be rather than buying random Magic: the Gathering packs.

The Marvel Champions packs seem to just add new scenarios and heroes and stuff. I don’t think they add cards for the original heroes (though maybe they do? Somebody please tell me).

The other LCGs that I took a look at, namely Arkham Horror: the Card Game, while you can play with the suggested decks it also has deck customization options as well. I don’t want to construct a deck before each scenario/story and that along with having to buy more and more stuff to get the varied content has just turned me off to the whole concept.

However, as a standalone experience, Marvel Champions was a fun game to play and I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to play it again.

LCGs just don’t really appeal to me in general as far as playing multiple times.

Somebody tell me what I’m missing.

#75 – Aeon’s End (Indie Boards & Cards) – 2016

Designer: Kevin Riley

Artists: Gong Studios, Stephanie Gustafsson, Scott Hartman, Daniel Solis

Aeon’s End is a cooperative card game where you are trying to defend a town from ancient evil (or maybe just evil in general).

You will choose a Nemesis which will come with its own card deck and then up to 4 players.

There are a couple of interesting-sounding twists to this.

First, there is no shuffling. When you discard your hand, you choose the order it goes in. When you are out of cards, you just flip your discard pile over and start playing again. So you know exactly what cards are coming and when.

Secondly, who acts first, second, etc, is completely randomized. The bad guys could go twice in a row, or maybe it will end up being in order.

Who knows?

From the app, since I haven’t played this before

I have only played the Steam version of Aeon’s End and I know I’m having a devil of a time trying to figure out how to play this and win. I know the basic rules (or can pick them up again, as I haven’t played in a while), but I get my ass kicked every time I play.

It’s starting to hurt.

I wouldn’t mind trying this on the table once, especially with somebody who’s played it before and can coach me.

Because otherwise, there’s no way to win.

When a village sees me coming to protect it, they start setting up their wills and everything because they know they’re going to die.

#74 – Patchwork (Lookout Games) – 2014

Designer: Uwe Rosenberg

Artist: Klemens Franz

Patchwork is a 2-player tile-laying game where you are trying to fill a grid (quilt) with a bunch of different misshapen pieces of cardboard (fabric). You are collecting buttons that will then enable you to take one of up to three pieces that are available to you (depending on how many buttons they cost).

At the end of the game, your points will be the number of buttons you have minus points for any missing squares on your grid.

I have to say that tile-laying “Tetris-shaped pieces” games don’t really do a lot for me.

When I first (and only time) played it on the table back in March 2016, I didn’t really care for it that much.

I don’t like spatial puzzles and this was the ultimate in spatial puzzles.

Then I played the app.

Wow, man, I fell in love with it.

Sure, I still suck at it and probably will never win a game.

But I decided that it didn’t matter. I really really like it.

So much so that I have finally bought a copy (when 401 Games is able to get it to me).

I’ll be able to let you know more a little later whether the game on the table holds up or not.

I’m really looking forward to it, actually.

#73 – Agricola – Revised Edition (Lookout Games) – 2016

Designer: Uwe Rosenberg

Artist: Klemens Franz

It’s a Lookout Games/Uwe Rosenberg/Klemens Franz twofer!!!!!

Yes, we have another Uwe game with Klemens art but they couldn’t be any more different.

Agricola is the first of Uwe’s many “place workers (family members) somewhere to get something, and then don’t forget to feed them at the end or bad things will happen” games (For some reason I have trouble shortening these descriptions).

In it, you’re running a family farm, trying to build up your farmhouse, raise many sorts of animals and plant your crops.

Each round an additional space opens up for you to place your worker, where you can get resources, food, animals or crops to then sow in your plowed fields.

At the end of a certain number of rounds, you have to have enough food to feed all of your family members.

Don’t worry, nobody dies. You just have to beg for food (and lose points).

Might be more fun if somebody did die.

It would be an Ameritrash game then!

I have never played this game on the table, but I have played the app of the original version (this revised edition came out in 2016).

I���m honestly not really sure what the Revised Edition does.

I really don’t enjoy this game that much. The idea of feeding your family is ok (and has been done in many games since) but it’s a very punishing game.

I have never been able to figure this one out. I have played its sister game, Caverna, and it’s much more pleasurable to me (though I still haven’t played it in a long time). Caverna isn’t quite as punishing with the feeding mechanism and that makes me feel less trapped.

I’ve played this on the app recently and unfortunately it still doesn’t agree with me.

Sorry to you fans.

#72 – Troyes (Pearl Games) – 2010

Designer: Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, Alain Orban

Artists: Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, Alain Orban, Alexandre Roche

I played this game once on the table but have played many games on Boardgame Arena since then.

This is a dice rolling and drafting (kind of) game where you are managing your own section of the population of this famous city (pronounced “Twah” for those uninitiated). This population is in the form of dice depending on what regions you have your people stationed: Religious, Civil or Military.

You roll your dice and then the first thing everybody has to do is beat off invasions using some of their dice.

Remaining dice are then used to do various actions around the city (or out in the countryside where you may use them to cancel bad stuff that’s sitting out there). You can even buy your opponents’ dice because you need more and you don’t want them to have them.

That can be a mean thing.

It’s a game I enjoy but don’t love, and I haven’t had much of an urge to get it to the table again (not that I could without buying it, as I don’t think anybody I know has it anymore).

It’s fun enough, though, and I’m always willing to play an asynchronous game on BGA, but it’s not something I’m burning to play again any time soon.

I do like the dice drafting mechanics and how you can place your workers in a bunch of different areas to make actions more efficient (as well as possibly get points for them at the end of the game).

I really like how you can buy other players’ dice too.

Overall, I think it’s worthy of its spot in the Top 100 even if it wouldn’t be in mine (well, maybe it would since I’ve only played something like 350 games, but you know what I mean).

#71 – Battlestar Galactica: the Board Game (Fantasy Flight Games) – 2008

Designer: Corey Konieczka

Artists: Kevin Childress, Andrew Navaro, Brian Schomburg, WiL Springer

And now we come to almost the ultimate hidden traitor game, a game that sounds so cool that I really want to play it.

Sadly, I never have.

And it’s not for lack of opportunity, because I have seen it being set up at conventions and stuff.

It just intimidates the crap out of me, partially because of the deduction aspect and partially because it can take 2-3 hours to play. Every time I’ve had the opportunity, something has just told me “no, you need to leave yourself open to other stuff” and I back away slowly.

Maybe I’m a Cylon in disguise and I just don’t know it?

It’s a semi-cooperative game because you are trying to get the Humans to safety, but some of you (at least one, I think, and perhaps more than one?) are Cylons hidden for years without even knowing about it, programmed to doom humanity.

Do you hide the fact that you’re a Cylon or do you just go balls to the wall and try to kill everybody?

Those sound like exciting decisions.

If I ever get back to a con and I see this being set up (or if it’s a scheduled game), I need to sit down and play it.

Scratch that itch, fulfill that dream, kill that human get the humans to Earth.

Crap, that was supposed to be a “delete,” not “strikethrough”

I have revealed myself.

Run for your lives!!!!

So we’ve reached the end of another week. I’ve played 6 this week with one on Boardgame Arena and one on Steam (also an iOS app if you don’t count the Revised Edition). Not too bad.

That makes 13 that I’ve played “officially” (on the table) out of the bottom 30. Almost 50%

Will that go up or down next week?

I guess you’ll have to tune in and find out.

What do you think of these games? Love them? Hate them? Good enough for Cylons but not you?

Is there something I really need to play in there?

Let me know in the comments.

Posts in this Series:

#100-91 #90-81 #80-71

Boardgame Geek Top 100 - Played or Play? 80-71 #boardgames @riograndegames @Zmangames_ @FFGames @czechgames @PlayRenegade @garphillgames @IBCGames It's week 3 of our weekly look through the Boardgame Geek Top 100 to see what games I've played and which ones I may be interested in playing.

[patatedestenebres]

Soirée Troyes, un excellent classique de Sébastien Du jardin, Xavier Georges, Alain Orban et Alexandre Roche, chez le super éditeur @pearl_games_ Une petite merveille d'équilibrage, de fluidité et de profondeur, rarement égalée. #juegosdemesa #giochidatavolo #brettspiel #boardgames #jeudesociété #patatedestenebres #soiréesjeux #pearlgames #j2s #jds (à Cenon Haut ... La Saraillere) https://www.instagram.com/p/CFu18MTKWFj/?igshid=iva8soqto530

[jewish-privilege]

The note jammed onto a windshield in Sweden in March last year was designed to terrify. WE ARE WATCHING YOU, YOU JEWISH SWINE, read the message to a retired professor, written on paper with the logo of the Nordic Resistance Movement, a Swedish neo-Nazi organization.

In the bucolic university town of Lund, with its cobblestone streets and medieval buildings, the threat seemed jarringly out of place. More notes followed. “I was really scared,” says the professor, a small woman of 70, who is too fearful about a further attack to reveal her name in print.

Finally in October, an attacker broke into the professor’s home before dawn and set it alight. By a stroke of luck, the professor was not there. But her living and dining rooms were reduced to ash. So too were the writings of her late mother, detailing her internment in the Nazi concentration camp of Auschwitz. “For the first time in my life I have needed therapy,” she says, over tea in a sunlit café in Lund. “I have not known what to do with my life.”

The professor was targeted because she is Jewish, and in that she is not alone. Anti-Semitism is flourishing worldwide. Attacks on Jews doubled in the U.S. from 2017 to 2018, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) in New York City. That included the shooting in Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life synagogue last October, which killed 11 worshippers.

But the trend is especially pronounced in Europe, the continent where 75 years ago hatred of Jews led to their attempted extermination. The numbers speak plainly in country after country. For each of the past three years, the U.K. has reported the highest number of anti-Semitic incidents ever recorded. In France, with the world’s third biggest Jewish population, government records showed a 74% spike in anti-Semitic acts between 2017 and 2018. And in Germany, anti-Semitic incidents rose more than 19% last year. The findings prompted Germany’s first anti-Semitism commissioner to caution Jews in May about the dangers of wearing kippahs, the traditional skullcaps, in public.

Unsurprisingly, many Jews in Europe feel under assault. In an E.U. poll of European Jews across the Continent, published in January, a full 89% of those surveyed said anti-Semitism had significantly increased over five years. After polling 16,395 Jews in 12 E.U. countries, in a separate survey, the E.U.’s Fundamental Rights Agency concluded that Europe’s Jews were subjected to “a sustained stream of abuse.” With the decade drawing to a close, 38% of those surveyed said they were thinking about emigrating “because they no longer feel safe as Jews,” says the E.U. report.

European officials were stunned at the findings, but perhaps they ought not to have been. A complex web of factors have combined to create this moment in time for one of Europe’s oldest communities. Anti-Semitism has found oxygen among white supremacists on the far right and Israel bashers on the far left. Millions of new immigrants are settling in Europe, many from Muslim countries deeply hostile to Israel and sometimes also Jews. Exacerbated by the Internet’s ability to spread hatred, anti-Jewish feeling is surging in way that experts fear could result in a conflagration, if governments and communities fail effectively to tackle its causes.

...Not waiting for their leaders, communities across Europe have begun to take action themselves. Raised learning about Nazism, many fear what might happen if anti-Semitism is left unchallenged. In recent years, teachers, imams, rabbis and local activists have launched countless initiatives to break stereotypes, educate youth and forge links across religions. In several interviews with TIME, those fighting anti-Semitism caution that it is likely to take many years for their efforts to succeed. Still, they have begun. In Paris, Delphine Horvilleur, a rabbi and author of a recent book on anti-Semitism, says a young Muslim worshipper approached her in her synagogue after she presided over a joint Muslim-Jewish prayer service.

“He told me, ‘I grew up in a family where anti-Semitism was the music in the background,’” she says. Now, she says, “We have to ask ourselves, How can we make sure they have the ability to lower the volume?”

The horrors of World War II shamed the world into acknowledging the evils of anti-Semitism. But exposure did not cure it. Instead, say experts, the hatred simmered for years. “There was a consensus that anti-Semitism should not be voiced openly after World War II,” says Günther Jikeli, a specialist in European anti-Semitism at Indiana University, who is German. “This has gone away with time.”

The growth of the Internet provided new platforms for conspiracy theorists to circulate racist fantasies more broadly. After the financial crisis of 2008, for example, the ADL warned that anti-Semites were spreading lies on message boards that Jews were somehow to blame for the crash. One rumor went that Lehman Brothers, the vaunted U.S. investment bank founded by Jewish immigrants from Europe, had transferred $400 billion to Israeli banks prior to its collapse.

A decade on, those who monitor anti-Semitism believe each attack or conspiracy theory posted online, no matter how small, sets off others. As social media has become an ever greater and yet more unregulated part of our lives, hatred has proliferated. “It used to be that anti-Semitism peaked during times of conflict in the Middle East,” says Katharina von Schnurbein, the European Commission’s first-ever coordinator for combatting anti-Semitism. “Now the incidents remain at their highest level ever recorded.”

...Tensions sporadically erupt in violence. In Sarcelles, a French commune where Jews and Arab immigrants have lived alongside each other for decades, violence erupted during a pro-Palestinian march in 2014. Jewish businesses came under attack by demonstrators, many of them Muslim. Five years on, the Jewish residents of Sarcelles live with armed French soldiers on permanent patrol on their streets, in a measure of the government’s concern about further race riots. “We live with a sense of anxiety,” says René Taïeb, a Jewish community leader, sitting in a kosher café in Sarcelles. “We have a bag packed, ready to go, in the closet.”

But Europe’s most hardcore anti-Semites are arguably on the far right, and they are slowly joining the mainstream, as Europe’s political loyalties have fractured and polarized. In Hungary, the far-right Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s campaign against Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros is regarded as thinly veiled anti-Semitism. And here in Sweden, ostensibly the most liberal country in Europe, a group of far-right extremists has achieved something close to political legitimacy.

...On the opposite end of the political spectrum, anti-Semitism has also flared up. During months of the so-called Yellow Vest protests in France, a handful of demonstrators in the crowd resurrected the stereotype of Jews controlling the levers of power. In February, a group of protesters accosted renowned French philosopher Alain Finkielkraut on a Paris street, screaming, “You are going to hell!” and “Go back to Tel Aviv!”

The problem is not always so overt, however. In the U.K., the opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has faced fury among some members over his alleged tolerance for anti-Semitism, especially regarding criticism of the Israeli government. The veteran leftist has said the party’s problem stems from a “small number of members and supporters,” and has pledged to stamp it out. But his defense has rung hollow to some. “The party is institutionally anti-Semitic,” says Luciana Berger, a Jewish member of Parliament who quit Labour this year over the issue. Under Corbyn, she tells TIME, “there is more of a permission for it to happen now.”

...Many Jews in Europe say it is not the major incidents but the minor ones that prove how widespread this problem is. They describe anti-Semitism as having seeped into quotidian life, in some ways complicating the effort to tackle the problem. “Unless it is very serious and you are physically attacked, there is a tendency not to call the police,” says Fredrik Sieradzki, spokesman for the Jewish community in Malmo, on Sweden’s southern border with Denmark.

...The more insidious effect is not at all visible: the choice by many Jews to remain discreet about their religious background. In numerous interviews, European Jews tell TIME that they avoid wearing a Star of David, and if they do, they tuck it under their shirts. Many also forgo affixing the traditional miniature prayer scrolls, called mezuzahs, to their doorposts, as many American Jews do, choosing instead to hang them inside. “Parents say to their kids, ‘Don’t tell your friends you are Jewish.’ Jewish teachers are afraid to tell kids they are Jewish,” says Shneur Kesselman, the Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi of Malmo, who moved from his native Detroit in 2004.

Kesselman recently installed bulletproof glass on his office window in Malmo’s synagogue, which dates from 1903. He says Jews have steadily adapted to low-level hostility. “We feel so long as our names are not on a list, we are O.K.,” he says. “There is a danger that we are accepting much too much.”

...Taïeb, the community leader in Sarcelles, says the best form of resistance might be to remind anti-Semites who Jews really are — their neighbors, and fellow citizens. He recalls watching the protest in 2014 spiral into violence and deciding to gather about 100 men to surround the synagogue. Instead of chanting Jewish prayers, as one might have expected, they decided instead to sing “La Marseillaise,” France’s national anthem. “We wanted to make the point that we are French, really French, who happen to be Jewish.”

...Yet, after a long period of feeling paralyzed by fear, the professor says she is finally venturing out. “Every day, I wake up and tell myself to go out and repair myself,” she says. Her home, rebuilt, now has security glass and alarms, far different from before the attack. “My house was wonderful, totally open, with big magnolia trees in the garden. The magnolia trees survived.”

[Read Vivienne Walt’s full piece in Time.]

[critiquequantique]

Tops quantiques 2019 - JEUX DE SOCIÉTÉ ET SÉRIES

Dernier arrêt pour les tops de cette année, et on atterrit évidemment sur la case des jeux de cartes (surtout) et de plateau (un peu). 2020 est déjà là, et je m’impose de clore ce tour d’horizon avant que 2019 ne soit trop vite oublié, même si, les nouveautés ludiques paraissant majoritairement en fin d’année, ce classement aurait pu s’affiner avec le temps. Ah et, pour une fois, quelques unes des photos habillant cette sélection sont maison.

Avant de parler des nouveautés, un léger bilan de mon année ludique :

741 parties jouées (-14% par rapport à 2018) 44 nouvelles acquisitions (10 de plus que l'année dernière, oups... Mais une trentaine de titres possédés ont été revendus en parallèle, rassurez-vous !) Les cinq jeux les plus joués : - Codenames Duo (42 parties) - 13 indices (15 parties) - Marvel Champions (15 parties) - Reef (15 parties) - The Mind (14 parties)

TOP 10 JEUX DE SOCIÉTÉ 2019

1. Marvel Champions de Michael Boggs, Nate French et Caleb Grace Le jeu de cartes Marvel qu’on n’attendait plus. Sélectionnez un héros, optez pour un vilain à affronter, et alternez entre votre alter ego et votre super-costume aux moments opportuns. Le système tourne comme un charme et donne envie d’y plonger encore et encore. La difficulté de Marvel Champions, équilibrée, s’adapte au nombre de joueurs (ce qui le rend excellent en solo). Une infinité de possibilités, un gameplay accessible mais profond, les protagonistes qu’on chérit… Un régal. Vivement les extensions.

2. Res Arcana de Tom Lehmann L’auteur de mon jeu préféré (Race for the Galaxy) revient avec une perle de minimalisme. Dans votre paquet, huit cartes, pas une de plus, dont il va falloir exploiter savamment les capacités pour façonner un moteur plus performant que ceux de vos adversaires. Une course où l’on reste les yeux rivé sur son propre bolide, mais lors de laquelle la tension grimpe en flèche quand approche l’arrivée. Les férus de « tableau building » seront aux anges.

3. Point Salad de Molly Johnson, Robert Melvin et Shawn Stankewich Le genre de jeux de cartes imbattables, de la trempe de Parade ou Cubrids, mais en plus varié. Une centaine de façon de marquer des points différentes, six sortes de légumes, vous prenez une ou deux cartes à votre tour. C’est tout ? Oui, et c’est cela qui rend la mécanique géniale. On enchaîne les parties, de surcroît très rapides, avec un immense plaisir.

4. Pictures de Christian Stöhr et Daniela Stöhr Ce jeu d’ambiance fantastique sort de nulle part. Le principe semble universel : 5 matériaux (cubes de couleur, formes en bois, lacets, galets et bâtons, icônes), 16 images. Chaque joueur doit en faire deviner une avec son propre bazar, et il vaut mieux aimer l’abstrait ! Tout le monde joue en même temps, cherche à déduire la proposition des autres tout en façonnant la sienne. La partie compte 5 manches, donc chacun à l’occasion de s’essayer à l’intégralité des types de bricoles. Élémentaire, désopilant et accessible.

5. Black Angel de Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges et Alain Orban Changement d’univers et de registre : science-fiction et gros jeu bien costaud. Né du trio géniteur des médiévaux Troyes et Tournay, Black Angel incarne l’une des horlogeries les plus complexes de l’année. Mais l’imbrication s’avère brillante, et l’interaction se montre présente sans devenir frustrante. À conseiller à tous ceux qui aiment voir fumer leurs neurones.

6. Letter Jam d’Ondra Skoupý Attention, OVNI ludique : sorte de Scrabble coopératif mixé avec un jeu de déduction, Letter Jam paraît tellement incongru qu’il pourrait décontenancer les amateurs de lettres. Mais tant mieux pour les curieux, qui savoureront cette marmelade exquise jusqu’à son apogée, lors de laquelle il s’agit de former un mot avec les cartes reçues dans le désordre, dont on n’a fait que supposer la signification à l’aune des indices de ses co-équipiers. Gare à la crise de désespoir. Mais, même dans la confiture, certains apprécient l’amertume. L’un des titres les plus innovants de l’année.

7. Shy Monsters de Sandro Dall’Aglio Épuré, malin et très rapide (parfois une poignée de minutes), ce duel asymétrique donne souvent envie d’y revenir. Même si, parfois, l’issue se joue à la « chance » (comprenez, au bluff et à la déduction), on reste impressionné par le coffre de cette toute petite boîte. Les splendides illustrations, signées Christine Alcouffe (Paper Tales), servent parfaitement cette proposition minimaliste « à la japonaise ».

8. Nine de Gary Kim et Sorry We Are French Technique mais abordable, tendu jusqu’au bout, ce jeu de cartes basé sur les majorités se paie le luxe d’être excellent à deux joueurs. Tout le monde n’adhèrera pas au style visuel marqué, mais il a le mérite de s’inscrire dans la continuité d’une saga pilotée par l’éditeur, initiant une forme de « Marvel Cinematic Universe » du jeu de société. Prometteur, surtout si les différents opus restent aussi convaincants de manière indépendante.

9. Wingspan d’Elizabeth Hargrave Personne n’avait vu venir ce carton d’un jeu de cartes à combos basé sur… l’ornithologie. Et en plus, il prend ce thème au sérieux : habitat des espèces, taille, chaîne alimentaire… Le gameplay ciselé et sans fioriture de Wingspan s’agrémente de nombreuses infos encyclopédiques. Sans me montrer fan de la recette, il faut lui reconnaître son efficacité, qui la rend digeste et addictive.

10. Stay Cool de Julien Sentis Chacun à votre tour, vous devez répondre oralement et par écrit à un maximum de questions, tout en même temps. Un jeu d’ambiance original, authentiquement drôle, et auquel on peut jouer à partir de trois convives. Attention : il devient un peu longuet à plus de quatre, et tout le monde n’y brille pas de la même façon, ce qui peut frustrer les plus compétitifs.

Ça part bien mais je dois encore approfondir avant de me prononcer :

Space Gate Odyssey de Cédric Lefebvre Pharaon de Henri Pym et Sylas Ankh’or de Frank Crittin, Grégoire Largey et Sébastien Pauchon Tavernes de la vallée profonde de Wolfgang Warsch

Si je fais l’impasse sur la musique cette année (j’ai approfondi trop peu de nouveaux albums que pour pouvoir me prononcer, je vous renvoie aux tops de Lucas Krywicki ici et là), je me permets de vous conseiller quelques séries qui m’ont émerveillé. N’en déplaise aux fans de Netflix (qui occupe tout de même trois places, parfois en annulant des pépites), mes coups de cœur de l’année viennent de France.

TOP 5 SÉRIES 2019

1. Irresponsable (Saison 3) de Frédéric Rosset On se refusera le poncif de la « saison de la maturité », mais ce dernier volet d’Irresponsable clôt la boucle de manière magistrale. Drôle et émouvante, pleine de surprises et de personnages vivifiants, la série déploie, à une cadence affolante (épisodes de 20 minutes), des thématiques universelles traitées avec un ton lucide. Casting irréprochable, humour inarrêtable, écriture imperturbable : regardez Irresponsable.

2. Platane (Saison 3) d’Eric Judor Six ans après une deuxième fournée un peu foireuse, les huit voyages en absurdie de cette cuvée 2019 sonnent comme une résurrection. S’il faut parfois s’accrocher à son siège tant Eric Judor foule des terres absconses, l’écriture se raccroche souvent à son fil rouge et évite le piège de la roue libre. Hilarante de malaise, cette troisième saison constitue prend des risques (parfois un peu trop) mais rafraîchit inexorablement.

3. Mindhunter (Saison 2) de Joe Penhall et David Fincher Aux côtés d’Ozark, voici l’autre série policière de Netflix qui met tout le monde d’accord. Maîtrisée et dévorante, elle allie historicité détaillée et romantisme noir. Un peu frustré par la seconde moitié de ce millésime, j’en redemande ardemment. C’est bien simple : il s’agit de la seule œuvre que je ne peux m’empêcher de « binge-watcher ».

4. The movies that made us (Saison 1) de Brian Volk-Weiss Après les jouets, l’équipe de ces documentaires survoltés produits par Netflix s’attaque aux classiques de notre enfance cinématographique. Maman, j’ai raté l’avion, Ghostbusters, Piège de Cristal… La recette n’invente rien mais fourmille d’anecdotes intrigantes qui nous maintiennent accrochés. Même si la forme se repose sur ses lauriers, je me vois mal bouder mon plaisir face à une seconde saison.

5. Tuca & Bertie (Saison 1) de Lisa Hanawalt Malheureusement annulée par Netflix, cette nouvelle création de la productrice de BoJack Horseman (à voir absolument, bien sûr) partait très bien : déjantée, plus lunaire que son modèle, elle n’hésite pas pour autant à aborder des thématiques féministes et socio-politiques. Je conseille de picorer les épisodes, particulièrement denses, pour mieux apprécier la finesse de l’écriture… Et éviter de trop déprimer en rêvant à la suite.

Merci de m’avoir lu ! J’ai souhaité conserver l’homogénéité de ces quatre tops mais, l’année prochaine, je prends la résolution de suivre vos conseils : les présenter en commençant par le bas du classement. Portez-vous bien, passez une excellente année, jouez, regardez, profitez quand vous le pouvez.

Boris Krywicki

[abrukstuff]

Vem aí... Hippocrates

Vem aí… Hippocrates

A editora Game Brewer anunciou há dias que o seu novo projeto de financiamento coletivo será Hippocrates. Hippocrates é um jogo de Alain Orban (criador de Troyes, Black Angel, Tournay) com ilustração de Laura Bevon para 1 a 4 jogadores com mais de 12 anos e uma duração aproximada de 90 a 120 minutos. Hippocrates transportará os jogadores para a Grécia Antiga onde a sua missão será tratar e…

[misutmeeple]

Black Angel (2019, Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges & Alain Orban) Una revisión de Troyes, ahora con una ambientación especial, simplificando algunos conceptos y mejorando la variabilidad. Si queréis saber más sobre el juego, tenéis disponible la tochorreseña correspondiente en el blog (enlace en la bio). #blackangel #bgg #boardgames #brettspiel #juegosdemesa #jocsdetaula #jeuxdesociete #jokoak #tabletopgames #boardgaming #jeudeplateau #boardgamegeek #jogosdetabuleiro #MisutMeeple (en Gijón, Asturias) https://www.instagram.com/p/CB5GULsqRU3/?igshid=rflkf69vf05z

[tabletopontap]

Top 30 to Look Forward to at GenCon 2019 (#21-30)

Here’s the continuation of the Top 30 with a look at #21-30, the end of the list.

Dungeon Academy - Have I mentioned lately how much I like games that play under an hour? This looks like a roll & write game published by Matagot and created by Julian Allain. It’s for 1-6 players and takes 20 min. to play. In the game, you roll dice and draw lines to chart your path from start to the dungeon, defeating monsters along the way. It looks like a fun implementation of a dungeon crawl.

City of the Big Shoulders - Published by Parallel Games and designed by Raymond Chandler III, this is a heavier game that supports 2-4 players and takes 2-3 hours to play. In this game, players work to build up the city of Chicago. It’s apparently a marriage of an 18xx style (ie. HEAVY) game of stock manipulation with the easy rules of a Euro-style game. Throughout the course of the game, players will run companies, trade stock shares, and produce/sell goods in order to become rich capitalists of industry.

Black Angel - Designed by Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, and Alain Orban and published by Pearl Games, this game for 1-4 players takes 1-2 hours to play. This is probably one of the biggest games to watch at the convention. This game is apparently a reimplementation of the popular board game, Troyes, but with a space theme. Honestly, that description should be reason enough for me to NOT be interested. However, I can’t help but be drawn into the theme. The game is described as existing in a post-apocalyptic world. Like in the Disney animated film, Wall-E, Earth’s resources have been depleted and humanity’s only hope is to board the ship, Black Angel, and seek life elsewhere. Different factions fight over who gets to control the ship and dictate the use of resources. The game has an interesting premise--exciting enough to pull me in, despite my hesitancy about gameplay mechanisms. I’ve played Troyes before, and I didn’t like the gameplay.

Undo: Blood in the Gutter - Designed by Michael Palm and Lukas Zach and published by Pegasus Spiele, this game supports 2-6 players in 45-90 min. I’m very excited about this one! It’s a cooperative game that involves storytelling and a murder mystery! Jump back in time to stop someone’s death, Quantum Leap style. From reading about this game, I get the impression that it’s a cross between Unlock! (escape room in a box) and Time Stories (escape room in a box before the Unlock! and Exit series came out, but with a sort of clunky time-loop, replay the same scenario over and over game mechanism instead of pure exploration). If the story is strong, then I think this game will be successful in adding a new twist to the popular escape-room-in-a-box genre.

Quirky Circuits- Designed by Nikki Valens and published by Plaid Hat Games, this quick playing game takes 15-30 min. for 2-4 players. The art on the box cover is irresistibly cute! Hats off to the artist, Danalyn Reyes. I should really be giving more kudos to board game artists, but this one in particular caught my eye because of the cute animals and robots. This is a cooperative game, my favorite type! Players simultaneously select programmable actions to set the course of their quirky robot in hopes it will complete its task before its battery runs out. I guess they should’ve invested in some Energizer batteries for that robot. The designer, Nikki Valens, is known for formerly working at Fantasy Flight Games on big projects like Mansions of Madness 2nd ed, Arkham Horror, Eldritch Horror, and Legacy of Dragonholt. While I would love to see another storytelling game from Nikki, this game piques my interest. Plaid Hat Games is well known for publishing games set in the zombie apocalypse, Dead of Winter, as well as the Evolution series of games. Considering the pedigree of both the designer and publisher, I expect great things.

Century Golem: Eastern Mountains- I didn’t think Plan B Games would actually create and publish this golem-themed sequel to Century: Golem edition (aka the golem version of Emerson Matsuuchi’s smash hit, Century: Spice Road). I’M SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!! They said they weren’t going to do it, and I fell for it, hook, line, and sinker. The artists for this one are Atha Kanaani and Chris Quilliams; Chris was also one of the artists of the original Century: Golem game. The art makes all the difference of this easy to play, easy to like goods conversion game. I might have to shell out extra money for the playmat, too. I just can’t get over how great the art is in this game! It’s also an easy game to teach to people who are new to boardgaming.

Wingspan - New designer Elizabeth Hargrave has created one of the most talked about games this year, which is surprising to me, given that this is a game about birds. Yes, you heard that right, this game is for the birds! Wingspan supports 1-5 players and takes 40-70 min. to play. Published by Stonemaier games, the game probably had some built-in trust that the game would be good. Stonemaier has been known to publish fun games with quality components. I can’t decide if it’s the tiny eggs that look like candy or the birdhouse that dispenses the dice that makes this game eye-catching. I like that this game has card drafting. I’m eager to play this one, myself!

Colors of Paris - Another newbie designer, Nicolas De Oliveira, has created this game about creating great works of art. The publisher is Super Meeple, and the game supports 2-4 players in 45-60 min. This game appears to feature a rondel mechanism. I think I’m generally pulled in by games about art, even though I fear Fresco might just be the best of them all. We’ll have to see what Colors of Paris brings to the table.

Crusaders: Thy Will Be Done - Created by Seth Jaffee and published by Tasty Minstrel Games, this game supports 2-4 players and plays in 40-60 min. This game uses both rondel and mancala mechanisms. As is to be expected from Tasty Minstrel, the wooden tokens are custom shaped pieces that look like knights, castles, and other buildings. There are also variable player powers in this game, which I’m not always a fan of because I think some player powers are more intuitive to employ than others, making gameplay feel uneven. At least, that has been my experience with variable powers in other games; it’s THE reason my gaming partner doesn’t like The Voyages of Marco Polo, and to this day I regret playing with the suggested player powers for a first game (she got whatever power is prescribed for third place, and the first player’s power was overwhelmingly strong). I’m intrigued to find out how the mancala and rondel interact with each other in this game.

Cartographers: A Roll Player Tale - Produced by Thunderworks and designed by Jordy Adan, this is yet another roll & write game that takes 30-45 min. and supports 1+ players. Like any good roll & write, the player count is really only limited by the number of papers/pencils you have. This game takes place in the Roll Player universe. Instead of rolling up the stats of a player character, this time you’re a map maker charting out distant lands for the queen.

That's a wrap on my Top 30 from GenCon. Stay tuned for my upcoming list on Essen Spiel, the biggest boardgaming convention in the world! This year’s Essen Spiel is from Oct. 24th-27th, so I need to get my preview list together quickly.

[aqais81]

The hottest new board games from Gen Con 2019

Enlarge /

A sea of gamers prepares to storm the hall to snatch up the most coveted games before they sell out at Gen Con 2019.

Aaron Zimmerman

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INDIANAPOLIS—If it's early August, you can count on one thing: we're gonna be in downtown Indianapolis with 70,000 other board gamers, forgoing sleep, food, and general wellbeing to play a truly ridiculous amount of new tabletop games at Gen Con, the self-described "Best Four Days in Gaming." Gen Con is America's largest and longest-running tabletop games convention. 2019 was the con's 52nd year, bringing with it a record-breaking 538 exhibiting companies and a truly impressive 19,600 ticketed events. (If you want some sense of what that cardboard chaos looks like, our Gen Con 2019 image gallery is a good place to start.)

And then there are the games—more games than you could play in a lifetime, all being released at once. We sifted through the chaos to bring you a big list of games we think you should be paying attention to going into the last few months of the year. With such a massive amount of games on offer, we couldn't get to everything we wanted to—your correspondent is just one man!—but we think our list has something for everyone on it. Roleplaying games were sadly outside the scope of this article, so be sure to check out our coverage of perhaps the most anticipated roleplaying title at this year's Gen Con: Pathfinder. Developer Paizo debuted the game's second edition at this year's conference more than a decade after the beloved RPG debuted.

But back to our list—these games should largely be available soon. If a specific title catches your eye, make sure to check in with your favorite local or online game store in the near future for info on when they'll be getting it in. And if you're really one to plan out your play in advance, it's never too early to consider it: next year's Gen Con returns to Indy and runs July 30 through August 2, 2020.

Parks

Henry Audubon, Keymaster Games, 1-5 players, 40-60 min, age 9+

Parks: for my money, the best-looking game at Gen Con 2019.

Players travel along the bottom path to collect resources and special abilities.

Cute little hikers.

Gorgeous artwork from the 59 Parks Print Series.

More!

If Parks were a bad game, I’d still be tempted to recommend it based solely on the strength of its stunning presentation. Thankfully there's no need for such silliness; the underlying game is also great.

Parks is a game about US national parks that's a little like Tokaido, in that players all move along a path to pick up various rewards from each spot. But whereas Tokaido is a set-collection game, Parks focuses on resource management. The resources here are sunlight, water, trees, mountains, and wildlife—or, I guess, the memories of those things that you collect as you go along your travels. When you reach the end of the trail, you can “visit” a national park by trading in the correct resources and securing a beautifully illustrated card of the park (the thematic underpinnings get a little shaky here, but just go with it). You can also take pictures, fill your canteen up with water to get special actions, and pick up gear cards that give you ongoing bonuses.

The game features gorgeous art from the Fifty-Nine Park Print Series, and the rest of the components are equally handsome. An all-around lovely little game that could easily serve as a gateway game for newbies or a chill night-ender for seasoned gamers.

Pandemic: Rapid Response

Kane Klenko, Z-Man Games, 2-4 players, 20 minutes, age 8+

Pandemic: Rapid Response is a frantic, real-time dice-game version of the co-op classic.

Each character has a special ability, just like in Panemic.

The box.

Do you love the panicked feeling you get trying to save humanity from a world-ending epidemic in Pandemic but wish the game was more hectic? Friend, have I got a game for you.

Pandemic: Rapid Response, a new Target-exclusive game, puts a “real-time” spin on the co-op classic, trading Pandemic’s globetrotting card collecting for frantic, desperate dice rolling. Players in Rapid Response are an elite team of scientists, doctors, and specialists traveling around the world in a specialized plane while cooking up cures to the diseases popping up in the world's major cities. Each turn, players roll six dice—and can then reroll them Yahtzee-style—in order to generate resources that are used in the cures. Resources are then moved to the plane's cargo hold and are ready to be dropped off in the cities around the board containing outbreak cards (assuming you can roll enough plane icons to get you to the desired location). Watch out, though, as generating resources also causes waste—create too much waste and you lose.

Of course, you're doing all of this under the watchful eye of an always-depleting two-minute sand timer. Every time it runs out, you add an outbreak card and lose a time token. Lose all your time tokens, lose the game. Cure a city to get back a time token; cure all the affected cities to win. Pandemic is a cooperative game that's notorious for its potential for "quarterbacking"—an alpha gamer telling everyone else what to do on their turns—and while that element could still be present here, the game's fast pace makes it less of an issue. If you're ready for a 20-minute panic attack, this is your game.

Black Angel

Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, & Alain Orban, Pearl Games, 60-120 minutes, age 12+

There's a lot going on in Black Angel a new Eurogame in the vein of the designers' previous game Troyes.

Aaron Zimmerman

You also get your own player board.

The Black Angel: savior of humanity?

Adorable little robots in adorable little spaceships.

Well, we’ve gone and done it. Humanity’s reckless ravaging of Earth has reached its inevitable conclusion: a spent planet and the end of human habitability. But before we go, the nations of the world have gotten together one last time to load our genetic heritage on an intergalactic frigate and send it on its way to Spes, the planet most likely to sustain life for a new human civilization. Who’s crewing the ship on this long journey? You are, of course, and you’re an AI.

Black Angel is semi-cooperative in the sense that if you and your opponents succumb to the aliens attacking your ship and never make it to new-Earth, things will go badly for you. But every player is competing to prove that he or she is the most worthy AI to head up operations on the new planet (the other AIs will be summarily shut down). There are a ton of interlocking mechanics here; you'll be going on missions, fending off attacking aliens, upgrading your technology, and grabbing end-game scoring opportunities.

The game bears some similarity to a game that two of the designers previously worked on, the well-loved medieval France sim Troyes. But man is Black Angel's theme cooler. The game was one of the most hyped-up of the con, and it's the one I'm most looking forward to exploring in the coming months.

Marvel Champions: The Card Game

Michael Boggs, Nate French, & Caleb Grace, Fantasy Flight Games, 1-4 players

Marvel Champions: The Card Game is a new co-op living card game from Fantasy Flight.

You have to defeat the big bad—but also keep an eye on thwarting his or her schemes.

Your character card can be flipped between hero and alter-ego sides.

When I first heard that Fantasy Flight Games was releasing a new Marvel living card game (a somewhat wallet-friendlier collectible card game), I was instantly bored. But when I heard it was going to be a cooperative game, I knew I had to get a demo in. Co-op CCG-type games are few and far between, and the ones that FFG has released in the past (

Lord of the Rings: The Card Game

and

Arkham Horror: The Card Game

) have been generally excellent and a nice change of pace from the countless two-player card battlers choking the market.

Marvel Champions seems to take inspiration from both of those earlier FFG games while injecting some Marvel thematic flair into the mix. The base game—which for the first time in an FFG LCG includes a complete set of cards—comes with five heroes (Spider-Man, Iron Man, She-Hulk, Black Panther, and Captain Marvel) and three villains (Rhino, Klaw, and Ultron). Scenarios pair a villain with a deck of scheme cards, and you and your friends can pick from among the heroes to try to save the world yet again. The villains use their turns to advance their evil schemes and attack the players; the players, of course, use their turns to thwart the schemes and fight back through the usual card-game combo-rific antics. Once per turn, players can flip their character card between hero and alter-ego sides to gain access to different abilities, a cool little thematic and mechanical flourish.

The game looks like it might be a bit lighter than some of the other FFG card games we're used to (understandable, given the broad appeal of the subject matter) but we're hoping it will still be a fun, continuously updated co-op (or solo) romp.

Listing image by Aaron Zimmerman

https://arstechnica.com

[mrjohnangulo]

The BoardGameGeek Show: The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth, Black Angel, and Origins 2019 Preview Preorders

by W. Eric Martin

Scott Alden, Steph Hodge, Lincoln Damerst, and I are back in a new episode of The BoardGameGeek Show, with all of us talking about somewhat long games that we've played in the past couple of weeks. Scott and Lincoln dove into The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth for five hours (after starting play at 11:00 p.m.), while Steph played Escape Plan and I played Pearl Games' Gen Con 2019 release Black Angel four times in two days, with all of those games lasting 2-2.5 hours. I kept teaching the game to new players, so I was the only one with experience, which made the games last longer as you have a lot to consider in your first playing. You're attempting to put together long-term plans without having an idea of how the game flows from beginning to end, so initially you're kind of taking actions at random, then the lightbulb goes on halfway through the game. (I played game #5 of Black Angel a couple of days after recording this episode, and I now feel ready to record an overview video once I try the solo game once or twice. So much preparation...) Near the beginning of this episode of The BGG Show, Scott reveals a new initiative we'll debut with the Origins 2019 Preview on Monday, May 6, this being the ability for publishers to take preorders for their new releases through the Preview for pick-up at that convention. I've already showed off this addition to BGG convention previews to more than a dozen publishers, and I'll send out details about this system to publishers on Monday, April 29 along with my RFI letter for Origins 2019. Once the Origins 2019 Preview goes live the following week, I'll post details about the program for you, gentle reader. For now, I'll just say that I'm excited we finally have this system in place! Youtube Video 00:20 Opening and intros 00:52 BGG Spring! Get tickets here: https://boardgamegeek.com/bggcon/spring 02:14 Origins 2019 Convention Preview Preorder Pick-Up 05:17 Very few tickets remain for BGG.CON! 05:45 What Have You Been Playing?: Lincoln - Big Trouble in Little China: The Board Game - Christopher Batarlis, Boris Polonsky, Jim Samartino - Everything Epic Games 08:06 Eric - Black Angel - Sébastien Dujardin, Xavier Georges, Alain Orban - Pearl Games 14:56 Scott - The Lord of the Rings: Journeys in Middle-earth - Nathan I. Hajek, Grace Holdinghaus - Fantasy Flight Games 21:47 Steph - Hadara - Benjamin Schwer - Hans im Glück 26:21 Escape Plan - Vital Lacerda - Eagle-Gryphon Games 29:41 Roll-and-writes galore 31:28 News and New Releases: Bloodborne: The Board Game & God of War: The Card Game 33:54 Mensa Select winners 36:28 Kickstarter News: Terraforming Mars: Turmoil - Jacob Fryxelius - FryxGames, Stronghold Games 38:17 Oceans - Nick Bentley, Dominic Crapuchettes, Ben Goldman, Brian O'Neill - North Star Games 40:22 Kickstarter slowing down? 43:03 Goodbyes from BoardGameGeek News | BoardGameGeek http://bit.ly/2UNmuVb

[dakaractu]

Le monde d’après.

Plus jamais ça ? A chaque grande catastrophe mondiale, qu’elle soit politique, économique ou sanitaire, le monde se plait à repeter : “plus jamais ça”. Sans remonter très loin dans l’histoire, quelques exemples pouvent nous rafraîchir la mémoire.   Après la première guerre mondiale, le monde a dit : “plus jamais çà”. Cela n’a pas empêché la deuxième. Après la grande crise économique née du krack boursier de 1929, le monde a dit : “plus jamais ça”. Cela n’a pas empêché les krach de 1987 (taux d’intérêts), de 2000 (éclatement de la bulle Internet), et de 2008 (subprimes – Lehman Brothers). Après Timisoara (la revolution en Roumanie de 1989) qui a balayé la dictature de Nicolae Ceauscescu – et qui fût la première grande manipulation médiatique mondiale – le monde a dit : “plus jamais ça”. Cela n’a pas empêché la guerre du golf et ses fameuses armes de destruction massive, autre grand mensonge médiatique. Après la haine des juifs, théorisée par certains intellectuels, et pratiquée par le regime nazi, le monde a dit : “plus jamais ça”. Cela n’a pas emêché la stigmatisation actuelle des musulmans ou leur rejet comme citoyens de seconde zone par des regimes démocratiques comme l’Inde de Modi et ses lois anti Islam. Après l’apparition du SIDA, le monde a dit : “plus jamais ça”. ET voilà qu’arrive le COVID 19.   Alors l’histoire comme perpetuel recommencement, théorie des cycles ou amnesie collective ? Certainement un peu de tout cela, mais aujourd’hui la question centrale est de savoir à quoi va ressembler le monde de demain ? Après l’Ancien Monde et le Nouveau Monde, quid du Monde d’Après ?   En 1992, Francis FUKUYAMA publait “la fin de l’histoire et le dernier homme”. Dans cet essai, l’auteur prononcait une victoire éclatante du libéralisme économique et de la démocratie politique sur toutes les autres ideologies. Et la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989 en était la parfaite illustration. Le face à face Est – Ouest était terminé : l’Ouest avait gagné par KO. Durant et après les 30 glorieuses (1945 – 1975), la mondialisation s’était accélérée et avait gagné ses lettres de noblesse, elle était “heureuse” comme le soulignait Alain MINC dans un livre éponyme paru en 1999. Malgré quelques soubresauts, le libéralisme et la démocratie étaient l’horizon indépassable. C’était l’Ancien Monde.   Puis apparurent le populisme et le repli nationaliste. En vérité, ses racines sont plus profondes et les années 30 furent déjà un creuset assez fertile de ce phénomène. Dans “la dernière trahison des clercs” publiée par Julien BENDA en 1936, veritable pamphlet anti-élite, on peut retrouver les germes du populisme d’aujourd’hui. Ce populisme se veut le moteur d’un repli identitaire, premier rampart contre la mondialisation, donc contre l’ancien monde. Le protectionnisme, pendant économique du populisme, est devenue la nouvelle normalité. C’est la revanche des perdants (de la mondialisation) sur les gagnants. Les laissés pour compte de la revolution technologique, “ces gens qui ne sont rien” pour citer Macron, ont pris leur revanche.   Au plan politique, cela se traduit par le mouvement des gilets jaunes en France, les elections de Narendra MODI en Inde, de Joao BOLSONARO au Brésil, et de Donald TRUMP aus Etats – Unis, de Viktor ORBAN en Hongrie. Emmanuel MACRON s’est donc trompé : le Nouveau Monde qu’il a pensé theoriser n’est pas la fin des clivages politiques, ni l’avènement des “start-up nations”, mais la resurgence des vieux demons nationalistes, populistes, protectionnistes et identitaires. C’est ça le veritable Nouveau Monde. Que sera alors le Monde d’Après ? Le monde après cette crise du covid 19.   Essayons d’abord de voir ce que le covid 19 a révélé. Il aura tout de meme permis, entre autres, de constater certaines tendances Lourdes : www.dakaractu.com https://www.dakaractu.com/Le-monde-d-apres_a190758.html?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=tumblr

[reseau-actu]

Jusqu'ici installé dans une relation «cordiale» avec Emmanuel Macron, l'ex-président se montre aujourd'hui très critique sur l'incapacité de l'exécutif à restaurer l'ordre depuis le début de la crise des «gilets jaunes».

L'image est symbolique. Elle est devenue presque habituelle. Dimanche, sur le plateau des Glières, ce haut lieu de la Résistance, où l'ancien chef de l'État s'est rendu dès 2007, Nicolas Sarkozy et Emmanuel Macron s'afficheront une nouvelle fois ensemble. Eux qui ont pris l'habitude d'échanger sur l'international notamment, et sur l'Europe fortement.

» LIRE AUSSI - Macron-Sarkozy: les coulisses d'une relation bienveillante

Alors qu'Emmanuel Macron s'apprêtait à publier, début mars, sa tribune sur l'Europe, le président adresse sa copie… à son prédécesseur. «Macron m'a envoyé son texte pour que je fasse des suggestions», confie alors Nicolas Sarkozy à un élu. «Macron me consulte, ce n'est pas toujours le cas de ma famille politique… Il me traite bien.»

«Macron me consulte, ce n'est pas toujours le cas de ma famille politique… Il me traite bien»

Depuis le début du quinquennat, Macron prévient systématiquement Sarkozy quand il nomme à un poste un de ses anciens conseillers. Si les deux présidents ont développé une relation «cordiale, respectueuse et républicaine», selon leurs entourages, elle reste très protocolaire. Les deux hommes qui se vouvoient et se donnent du «Monsieur le président» n'échangent ni par SMS ni directement sur leurs téléphones portables. Uniquement via leurs secrétariats particuliers.

» LIRE AUSSI - La nouvelle vie de Nicolas Sarkozy

Mais quelques gestes suffisent parfois plus qu'un long message. Depuis le début du quinquennat, les attentions des Macron ont été appréciées par le couple Sarkozy: «On aime les gens bien élevés», résument-ils souvent, dans une allusion à François Hollande. Fin décembre 2017, six mois après leur premier dîner à l'Élysée, Macron se fend d'un appel à Sarkozy qui vient de perdre sa mère. «Pardon de te le rappeler mais ni Alain Juppé ni François Fillon ne m'ont appelé!», fait remarquer alors Sarkozy à un élu LR. Le 15 juillet dernier, en pleine Coupe du monde, l'aide de camp du chef de l'État propose à Sarkozy de faire le trajet du retour dans son avion. «Vous voulez dire dans l'avion que j'ai acheté!», s'amuse Nicolas Sarkozy. Le 23 décembre, coup de fil de Brigitte Macron à Carla Sarkozy: la première dame voulait lui souhaiter un bon anniversaire.

Macron doit agir

Et pourtant… Quelque chose a changé ces derniers mois. Après la crise des «gilets jaunes» et les samedis marqués par la violence et la casse, Nicolas Sarkozy, qui avait fait part de sa préoccupation au chef de l'État dès leur déjeuner du 7 décembre, s'est montré très critique sur l'incapacité de l'exécutif à restaurer l'ordre et à répondre à la crise sociale. Pour Sarkozy, Emmanuel Macron s'y est très mal pris ces derniers mois avec le grand débat qui n'en finit pas, lui qui avait l'habitude de «cheffer» et de trancher. Il n'a d'ailleurs pas compris que le dernier remaniement se soit étiré dans le temps… pour si peu de changement. Comme il ne comprend pas aujourd'hui les nombreux départs des conseillers de l'Élysée, deux ans à peine après la présidentielle, lui qui avait gardé son équipe pendant cinq ans.

«L'État doit répondre. Je suis sûr qu'il le fera. Mais il faut le faire maintenant et avec une fermeté extrême»

Surtout, la multiplication des actes antisémites a poussé l'ex-président à participer au rassemblement, mi-février, place de la République. Ses mots se font alors cinglants, le message est clair: Macron doit agir pour restaurer l'autorité. «L'État doit répondre. Je suis sûr qu'il le fera. Mais il faut le faire maintenant et avec une fermeté extrême», fustige Nicolas Sarkozy. «Il a considérablement durci le ton ces derniers temps à l'encontre d'Emmanuel Macron», reconnaissent plusieurs élus qui l'ont vu dernièrement.

» LIRE AUSSI - 2018, une année de descente aux enfers pour Emmanuel Macron

Comme sur l'Europe. Alors qu'Emmanuel Macron a érigé le Hongrois Viktor Orban comme sa bête noire, Nicolas Sarkozy lui rend hommage à l'occasion d'un colloque international, samedi dernier. «Mon amitié avec Viktor Orban m'a fait sortir de mon silence», énonce-t-il à la tribune. «L'Europe ne doit pas être sectaire. Personne n'a de leçon à vous donner», affirme-t-il encore. Des mots qui résonnent, à l'approche des européennes, comme un désaveu de la politique d'Emmanuel Macron et un soutien à la ligne LR. Voire à la liste LR sur laquelle figure en position éligible Frédéric Péchenard. Ce très fidèle sarkozyste que Macron avait reçu, après la démission de Gérard Collomb, pour le ministère de l'Intérieur, et à qui il avait proposé ensuite d'être nommé à la Préfecture de police de Paris, a donc préféré rester aux Républicains. «Après le ralliement de Raffarin, certains se prenaient à rêver que Sarkozy et ses proches soutiendraient LREM…», reconnaît un ex-élu LR, membre de la majorité.

«Ça finira mal. À un moment ça va se retourner, et la droite devra être prête»

«Ça peut être dangereux cette proximité avec Emmanuel Macron. Il vous utilise», l'avait mis en garde un élu LR, inquiet que l'Élysée s'en serve pour diviser la droite. «Ça démontre aussi notre capacité à adresser un message à cet électorat, s'il faut rassembler…», avait rétorqué Nicolas Sarkozy, y voyant un intérêt en cas de défaite d'Emmanuel Macron. L'ex-président en est de plus en plus convaincu: «Ça finira mal.»«À un moment ça va se retourner, et la droite devra être prête.»

[nouvelordremondialcc]

Les élections européennes porteront sur Merkel et Macron contre Orban et Salvini, et ces derniers sont en train de l'emporter Le philosophe français Alain de Benoist, qui a assisté à la conférence internationale "Un nouvel ordre mondial est né" à Budapest, a parlé de politique européenne au quo

[edgysocial]

New Post has been published on http://edgysocial.com/weekend-roundup-u-s-founders-entrusted-elites-to-save-democracy-from-itself/

Weekend Roundup: U.S. Founders Entrusted Elites To Save Democracy From Itself

The word “democracy” does not appear in the U.S. Constitution. Nor in the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence. That is because, as most Americans today would likely be surprised to discover, America’s Founding Fathers not only distrusted democracy but, based on their close reading of Greek and Roman history, were actually hostile to the notion that it was the best system for governing society.

James Madison, the fourth U.S. president and a key author of the Federalist Papers, famously declared: “Democracy is the most vile form of government … democracies have ever been spectacles of turbulence and contention; have ever been found incompatible with personal security or the rights of property; and have in general been as short in their lives as they have been violent in their deaths.” John Adams, the second American president, wrote: “Democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

Taking into account this central lesson of antiquity, the founders instead designed a mixed constitutional republic that, while rooted in consent of the governed, delegated authority to elites ― representative, indirectly elected and appointed bodies ― that could “refine and enlarge the public views” as ballast against the popular passions of prejudice and the narrow horizons of self-interested constituencies.

For the founders, popular sovereignty unchecked by the cool and reasoned deliberation of the meritorious few would invite majoritarian intolerance of individual and minority rights, degenerate into mob rule and summon tyranny to restore order. “No political truth is certainly of greater intrinsic value,” Madison wrote in The Federalist Papers No. 47.

In an interview with The WorldPost this week, political scientist Francis Fukuyama addresses the conundrum presented to the founders’ idea of governance in the face of 21st century populism. “Populism exists,” he says, “because institutions are elite-driven.” While “institutions in the past have always been controlled by the elites,” he continues, “through the presence of the internet they are losing their power. Maybe democracies don’t work too well without a certain degree of control from elites.”

I would add that the great danger today is conflation by fervent populists of corrupt, out-of-touch and unresponsive elites ― that rightly should be overthrown ― with a learned and experienced elite that any large society needs to govern. As a governing ethos, know-nothingness will get you nowhere.

Yet, as Pankaj Mishra observes in another WorldPost interview, the very foundation upon which elites might rehabilitate their authority has eroded. The Indian author takes the debate to both a deeper and a more global level by examining how the ressentiment against the cosmopolitan caste that has been gestating in the developing world for decades has now erupted in a mutiny against the governing narrative in “the heart of the modern West.” If the Western “truths” that have dominated the world in modern times at the expense of alternative worldviews are now themselves unraveling, where do we go next?

“We are now recognizing that our modern civilization has always been incredibly fragile,” Mishra says, “since it has no recourse to any transcendental truth, as distinct from certain agreed-upon truths. And so while political and economic crises may come and go ― Trump’s presidency may implode tomorrow ― the moral and epistemological breakdown we witness today is more enduring and destructive. I would argue that the naïve people, the free-marketeers and globalizers, responsible for this state of affairs did not know what they were doing ― that they were dismantling a whole system of interlocking and necessary fictions that societies and individuals have needed since the death of God to give a degree of meaning, purpose and stability to their lives.” 

The consequence, Mishra argues, is the universalization of nihilism in which the whole notion of “consensual truth” is collapsing. “Nihilism today is the single greatest threat to the modern world since its founding principles of reason, science and progress were formulated,” he concludes. It is not surprising, then, in his view, that “the subjectivization of ‘facts’” and the “fragmentation of ‘truth’” are filling up the vacuum. They are the remainder of the West’s heyday.

Nowhere is the truth these days more malleable than in Russia. Writing from Moscow, Ilya Yashin marks the second anniversary this week of the assassination of his friend and opposition leader, Boris Nemstov. Yashin sees a dangerous campaign to revise recent history and roll back post-Soviet advances in the media and the rule of law in the nationalist revival under Russian President Vladimir Putin. Nick Robins-Early reports that Russian disinformation efforts have a lopsided advantage over Europeans trying to defend the integrity of their discourse as elections loom. He also highlights a speech by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban this week in which the leader expressed a new angle on nativism ― that “’ethnic homogeneity’ is key for economic success, and that ‘too much mixing causes problems.’”

In a wide-ranging essay, Nicolas Berggruen examines the role of opposition movements. While raucous protests in and of themselves may make a point, he says, they also can create a sense of chaos that “is the greatest gift to parties in power, especially dictators.” Social movements that succeed, by contrast, are characterized by a broadly shared narrative, a plan, organization and leadership, Berggruen argues.

This week the Berggruen Institute also hosted a discussion in Los Angeles with Sapiens and Homo Deus author Yuval Harari. The Israeli historian discussed what it means to be human in an era when we are attaining the power of gods to change our own species and create a new one ― AI. “History began when humans invented gods, and will end when humans become gods,” he says. 

Former WorldPost China Correspondent Matt Sheehan looks outside the box on the troubled relations between Washington and Beijing. “The engine room of the U.S.-China relationship,” he writes, “has moved from the White House to City Hall.” While the talk in Washington is of tariffs, American mayors are wooing Chinese investors and immigrants for their local projects.

Writing from Shanghai, Zhang Weiwei argues that political legitimacy comes fundamentally from the competence of leadership, as in the case of the Chinese Communist Party, that fulfills its contract with the people by delivering prosperity and security ― whether they were elected or not.  

Eric Olander and Cobus van Staden see a Trump-inspired shift to China coming to Africa as the continent looks to Beijing for stability in the absence of a clear American Africa policy.

Finally, our Singularity series this week asks a question about our pets that we may soon be asking about our children: should we genetically engineer dogs to make them healthier?

WHO WE ARE

  EDITORS: Nathan Gardels, Co-Founder and Executive Advisor to the Berggruen Institute, is the Editor-in-Chief of The WorldPost. Kathleen Miles is the Executive Editor of The WorldPost. Farah Mohamed is the Managing Editor of The WorldPost. Alex Gardels and Peter Mellgard are the Associate Editors of The WorldPost. Suzanne Gaber is the Editorial Assistant of The WorldPost. Katie Nelson is News Director at The Huffington Post, overseeing The WorldPost and HuffPost’s news coverage. Nick Robins-Early and Jesselyn Cook are World Reporters. Rowaida Abdelaziz is World Social Media Editor.

EDITORIAL BOARD: Nicolas Berggruen, Nathan Gardels, Arianna Huffington, Eric Schmidt (Google Inc.), Pierre Omidyar (First Look Media), Juan Luis Cebrian (El Pais/PRISA), Walter Isaacson (Aspen Institute/TIME-CNN), John Elkann (Corriere della Sera, La Stampa), Wadah Khanfar (Al Jazeera) and Yoichi Funabashi (Asahi Shimbun).

VICE PRESIDENT OF OPERATIONS: Dawn Nakagawa.

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Moises Naim (former editor of Foreign Policy), Nayan Chanda (Yale/Global; Far Eastern Economic Review) and Katherine Keating (One-On-One). Sergio Munoz Bata and Parag Khanna are Contributing Editors-At-Large.

The Asia Society and its ChinaFile, edited by Orville Schell, is our primary partner on Asia coverage. Eric X. Li and the Chunqiu Institute/Fudan University in Shanghai and Guancha.cn also provide first person voices from China. We also draw on the content of China Digital Times. Seung-yoon Lee is The WorldPost link in South Korea.

Jared Cohen of Google Ideas provides regular commentary from young thinkers, leaders and activists around the globe. Bruce Mau provides regular columns from MassiveChangeNetwork.com on the “whole mind” way of thinking. Patrick Soon-Shiong is Contributing Editor for Health and Medicine.

ADVISORY COUNCIL: Members of the Berggruen Institute’s 21st Century Council and Council for the Future of Europe serve as theAdvisory Council — as well as regular contributors — to the site. These include, Jacques Attali, Shaukat Aziz, Gordon Brown, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, Juan Luis Cebrian, Jack Dorsey, Mohamed El-Erian, Francis Fukuyama, Felipe Gonzalez, John Gray, Reid Hoffman, Fred Hu, Mo Ibrahim, Alexei Kudrin, Pascal Lamy, Kishore Mahbubani, Alain Minc, Dambisa Moyo, Laura Tyson, Elon Musk, Pierre Omidyar, Raghuram Rajan, Nouriel Roubini, Nicolas Sarkozy, Eric Schmidt, Gerhard Schroeder, Peter Schwartz, Amartya Sen, Jeff Skoll, Michael Spence, Joe Stiglitz, Larry Summers, Wu Jianmin, George Yeo, Fareed Zakaria, Ernesto Zedillo, Ahmed Zewail and Zheng Bijian.

From the Europe group, these include: Marek Belka, Tony Blair, Jacques Delors, Niall Ferguson, Anthony Giddens, Otmar Issing, Mario Monti, Robert Mundell, Peter Sutherland and Guy Verhofstadt.

MISSION STATEMENT

The WorldPost is a global media bridge that seeks to connect the world and connect the dots. Gathering together top editors and first person contributors from all corners of the planet, we aspire to be the one publication where the whole world meets.

We not only deliver breaking news from the best sources with original reportage on the ground and user-generated content; we bring the best minds and most authoritative as well as fresh and new voices together to make sense of events from a global perspective looking around, not a national perspective looking out.

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