"Boardgame News" Making the Move to BGG

Well, BGG fans, if you haven't heard it from the horse's mouth by now, BGG has swallowed up the Boardgame News blog and its author; the two will be incorporated into the BGG site beginning in January. What does this mean for us Internet-surfing gamers? A few things:

1. We have one less independent source for board gaming news
2. Easy one-stop shopping from here on out for interesting gaming reading...assuming BGG doesn't glitch out anymore
3. There's one less board game blog out there to compete with my tiny little blog
4. BGG set out to devour a blog and a writer....and it wasn't me. Shit.

Well, maybe the folks at BGG will discover the need for a humorous and sarcastic BG blogger in 2011. In the meantime, you can read the full news update over at the BGG website:
http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/597425/boardgame-news-moving-to-boardgamegeek

Ho-ho-ho! Board Game Geek Christmas Has Come Early This Year!

So, my husband and I are active members of the board game community, BoardGameGeek. If you don't know what "The Geek" is and you love board games, then you should be slapping your forehead right now since it's the absolute authority on all things boards and games. (If you are a member of BGG, look me up! I'm "wonderwitch".) And every year this magnanimous authority holds a giant worldwide Secret Santa exchange. Yeaaaa!

How could this work, you ask? Well simple, you sign up in November and a giant super computer positioned somewhere in Board Game Geek headquarters...named WOPR...randomly assigns each participant with a Secret Santa, who could reside anywhere in the world. Once you have your victim's gift recipient's name, you just check out their Geek wishlist for games, order, and ship. Then you taunt, poke, stalk, etc., until they have a general feeling of unease and anxiety.

Our sucker lucky target this year is someone who lives in.....oops....let's just say Europe (wouldn't want to give any specific hints!). I'm really stoked for the two items we sent this person. We worked off of his BGG wishlist exclusively, since it's our first year and didn't want to push our gaming agendas on someone quite yet. (That'll be next year.) It was an interesting adventure trying to find the games we wanted to send at European locations and in the right languages. And I temporarily went cross-eyed from converting Euros to dollars so many times. But it's all worth it. So much fun to surprise someone half a world away with a merry board game present!

And today was our turn! Our very, very kind Santa had his FedEx elves deliver our mystery gifts to our doorstep today. Yippeeee! Like two kids on Christmas morning, my husband and I sprinted from the front door (rudely slamming it in the face of the FedEx man) and jostled elbows side-to-side to get to the box cutter and begin opening our precious package. Our three year-old rolled her eyes. I swear. With mouths watering and eyes ablaze with early Christmas fervor, we found two a-m-a-z-i-n-g gifts inside.

The first one was a game that our Secret Santa had taunted us about, noting that he was going to "throw us some curve balls". Said curve ball ended up being a game I had never heard of, and didn't even have on my BGG wishlist: Infinite City. But you know what? I am so jazzed that this jolly (fat and red?) elf has so much enthusiasm for the game, that he sends a brand-new-in-the-shrink copy as a holiday present. Oh, you know it has to be good. That's like if you were to go to a new restaurant and someone in your party orders for you (okay, I guess that specifically would be kinda rude...but you get my point.). I cannot wait to try it and love it. And bonus!--it's two-player capable. If any readers have any feedback on Infinite City, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

The second gift was a different kind of curve ball. Yes, it was from our wishlist....but I don't think we dared hope that this would be a Secret Santa item. We scarcely ever thought we'd get our hands on a copy! The game is....Java! This is a Rio Grande title that's been out of print for over six years and is mega-sought after. And the copy we got? Yeah, it's gorgeous and mint condition. The opened game has protective sleeves on each of the cards in the "palace cards" deck. And it looks like it's never been played. My husband had to tie a lobster bib around my neck so my drool wouldn't land on the game pieces.

So if my Secret Santa is out there reading this, I'm sending a very big THANK YOU to you, and I hope you and your loved ones have a very merry Christmas!

Dominion Never Looked So Good and Sexy

Anyone who's played the Rio Grande game Dominion, no doubt understands that this card-intensive game is tricky to organize and store. Tons of stacks of cards, all of which need to be easily accessible, sorted, and secure in the box. To give credit to Rio Grande, they did a tolerably fair job of packing the original box, using a slatted cardboard insert and label sheet to help players find cards in a pinch (get it? 'cause you'd pinch the cards out of the box? Oh, never mind...). But not only is it far from ideal, the original packaging doesn't account for the oodles and oodles of expansions. That's where the Hope Diamond of all Dominion boxes comes into the story.

Now, I think most hardcore gamers who bum around Boardgamegeek.com (BGG) have seen many, many attempts to "pimp out" their Dominion decks. But the other day I stumbled across the prettiest, shiniest, smiliest game box I have ever seen. I want to pet it. I want to name it and take it home and put it in a little dress and serve it cookies. (And I'm only half in love with Dominion to begin with, owning just the original set.)

Furniture craftsman, and BGG member Wade Ashton, recently debuted his treasure chest-inspired wooden Dominion case as a prototype. The case features wooden row dividers, tabbed divider cards, metal hinges, a metal handle, and original Dominion artwork. And the whole thing is customizable since the row dividers can be removed and rearranged. Drooooool.  

The finished chest, which will accommodate even the cards in protector sleeves (Dominion nerd alert!), is being sold for between $160-170 (plus shipping). An unfinished version of the box is available for $90. And damn, is it worth the price. I'm very pleased to see that a number of pre-order requests are being placed (some for multiple boxes). You can find out more about ordering the box here. And if you'd like to gift one to me for the big 30th birthday in a couple weeks, leave a comment below and I'll promptly provide my shipping address. Anyone? Anyone?