My Mind, or: The Haunted House

What's new in the world of your G.G.J. (ginger games-junkie)? It will come as an insect-sized surprise to the more observant among you that I've been jamming a beta release by pretty-much the best publishing/development package in the world of Warcraft (pun inte/slap...OK! I'll stop) and other great works of fantasia - the almighty Blizzard. I've recently referred to the affectionately named Blizz as Midas. The reason is obvious: they simply never miss. Everything they touch.../ tremendous applause and whistling . From the ancient-but-amazing The Lost Vikings  and Blackthorne  to what I like to call the "-Craft collection" ( Warcraft , Starcraft & the crack-like World of Warcraft ) every single release seems to be mind-blowingly great. So...what's so cool about Hearthstone? Hmmm...let's see. The artwork and tone for one. The soundtrack features the tavern (where you log in and out, mostly) music from WoW. When you end your turn, an o

...you don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. Life is a crazy ride, and nothing is guaranteed. Who would have thought the great poet himself would have something so eloquent to say about life? I'm only being very slightly facetious when labeling Eminem a "great poet". People who know me, understand that I LOVE rap/hip-hop/call-it-whatever. Eminem is a LYRICAL GENIUS. His are truly very well thought-out. I'm pretty much a fan of his very early work. In addition, he was never a rhythmical master. I suppose it's my great love of the English language. Its expressiveness and variation are, IMO, unparalleled. Some people find the journey I made, pretty much becoming English, to be weird and off-putting. Crazy, some would say. To be perfectly clear, I am not embarrassed, AT ALL, to admit my Afrikaans roots. Having said that, I just find myself not-quite-agreeing with some of the more traditional/conservative beliefs. Reading that statement again, it

Well, the Dota 2 game idea was prototyped and I realized I'll have to change it. Why? The format of the game, the hundreds of choices, are better suited to the computer than a board-game. So, I'd like to take inspiration from it, but to not make it exactly the same. Walking into a toy-store looking for a random object, a display of a "Pirates!" colouring book caught my eye. Suddenly, a couple of ideas flew into my head. No. 1 - I LOVED playing Sid Meier's Pirates! Truly a legendary game. Then I thought back - I had been SO INTO pirates and everything that goes with them when I was a kid. I clearly remember a pirate-themed birthday party when I was around 8 or so. I'd been thinking for a while that I really find the draft portion of a professional Dota 2 game to be fascinating. For a board-game, I'd have to narrow the number of possible selections down to around 20-30, for production efficiency and play railroading reasons. Choice is good, but som

I would very readily try King of Tokyo  again, but my very first impressions were that  It was a hilarious party game It would prove VERY stimulating Then, I played it. I'm glad I did, but I'm also glad I didn't buy into any hype yet. Why, though? It's very simple. I would say that my two main gripes with the game are: When a player gets eliminated, a common occurrence, he has NO further part in the game Instead of feeling like a powerful monster, I felt like a very weak praying mantis. You can literally die in one or two turns. Sure, I suppose you could in Richard Garfield's other big property, but it's EXTREMELY unlikely, whereas in King of Tokyo , you could die very easily. I literally went from the starting 10 health once, down to 9, and felt like "OMG. I'm gonna die again." It's hard to describe, but you really just don't feel like something stomping on Tokyo. You feel like a fragile glass cannon. 

When I mention I LOVE boardgames, I often get exactly that question. Let me answer it, once and for all. "No!" would be a perfectly suitable answer. However, it's not as simple as that. " Another 9 1/2 Weeks ? Gigli ?" That's a similar question to the title, but about films. Obviously I don't consider the J-Lo joke masquerading as a film as the quintessential example of a beautiful film. That's RIDICULOUS. In a very similar way, I don't consider Monopoly and Cluedo fine examples of design. Perhaps they were decent at some point, I don't quite know when, but they're certainly not right now. They're vaguely OK. I have played and enjoyed them. But they're quite simple. I suppose that is part of the appeal for a casual audience. In fact, that's a good way to group them. "Casual games." That's exactly what they are. I suppose I'd rather play one of those with the grandparents on a Sunday afternoon, than a g

I was quite ill the last week or so, hence updates were sporadic. Over it now, mostly. I suspect it was flu, but not the sniffles-type "flu". I want to mention that I have lived an extremely happy life this last while. In no small way has it been due to A. He makes me very happy. I'd love for him to be just as happy as I am, since he's still young and happens to be a bit neurotic about stress. But I digress... I have several immense sources of strength in my life. First and foremost, and the inspiration for this entry, my family, lover and friends. They are amazing! They truly are. So often, in the past, I've been really quick to anger, ungrateful and selfish. Not to mention, stubborn. However, they're still with me. Now's the time to give back. When something/someone threatens this source of strength, the natural instinct becomes to defend it with one's life. You know, Gandalf on The Bridge of Khazad-Dûm. This is exactly the way it should be.