boardgame locations in Malaysia

I recently discovered this list of locations related to boardgames. This includes boardgame and hobby shops, boardgame cafes. This may be handy if you are in Malaysia. https://foursquare.com/grayle/list/tabletop-gaming-stores--venues-in-malaysia

concise reference sheets updated

It has been a long time since I last uploaded any new concise reference sheet. Here are the games that I have made reference sheets for since the previous version.

1. 51st State (updated)
2. 7 Wonders: Duel
3. A Few Acres of Snow (updated)
4. Alchemists
5. Ark
6. Camel Up
7. Cheaty Mages
8. Coconuts
9. Epic: The Card Game
10. Giants (corrected)
11. Glory to Rome
12. Hoity Toity / Adel Verpflichtet
13. Meuterer
14. Poo: The Card Game
15. Russian Railroads
16. Saint Petersburg
17. Ships
18. Zombie Tower 3D

Download the reference sheets here.

The full list of games can be viewed here. I have 291 games in my collection of concise reference sheets now.

concise reference sheets updated

My collection of concise reference sheets continues to grow. See the full list of games for which I have done such reference sheets here (more than 250 of them). Download the latest set (version 20) here. Additions and updates since the previous version are as follows:

1. Alhambra
2. Axis & Allies: Guadalcanal (updated)
3. Cartagena
4. Glass Road
5. Hare and Tortoise (updated)
6. Heroes of Normandie
7. Historia
8. Imperial Settlers
9. Lewis & Clark
10. Machi Koro
11. The Message: Emissary Crisis
12. Morels
13. The Palaces of Carrara
14. Panamax
15. Pandemic: The Cure
16. Roads & Boats (updated)
17. Roll for the Galaxy
18. Samurai Spirit
19. Targi
20. Tragedy Looper
21. Virgin Queen
22. Wildcatters

concise reference sheets updated

I still often make rules summaries, but I do them in my own Powerpoint file, and accummulate a whole bunch of them before I make the effort to share them on BGG and here at my blog. Here are the latest additions, updates and corrections. I now have more than 250 games covered.

1. A Few Acres of Snow
2. Attika
3. Axis & Allies 1914 (enhanced)
4. Brass (enhanced)
5. Cargo Noir
6. Civilization (Gibson Games edition)
7. Cuba Libre
8. Dark Darker Darkest
9. Die Macher (enhanced)
10. Entdecker (corrected)
11. GiftTRAP
12. Hammer of the Scots (corrected)
13. In the Year of the Dragon (corrected)
14. Kemet
15. Paths of Glory (enhanced)
16. Roads & Boats
17. Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island (enhanced)
18. Tokaido
19. Wilderness War (enhanced)

concise reference sheets update

It has been almost a year since I last shared these. Not that I have not been making such concise reference sheets, just that I never got around to tidying them up and releasing them. New games and updated / corrected games are listed below. Now I have close to 250 games in the package.

1. 1955: The War of Espionage
2. 1989: Dawn of Freedom (correction)
3. Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
4. Android Netrunner
5. Aquaretto (corrected)
6. Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 (updated with Alpha 3 rules)
7. Axis & Allies Europe 1940 (updated with Alpha 3 rules)
8. Axis & Allies Global 1940 (updated with Alpha 3 rules)
9. Axis & Allies 1914
10. Clash of Cultures
11. CO2
12. Entdecker
13. Fearsome Floors (enhanced)
14. Flashpoint: Fire Rescue
15. Goa (enhanced)
16. God’s Playground
17. The Great Zimbabwe
18. Hare and Tortoise (updated)
19. Jamaica
20. Java (enhanced)
21. La Citta
22. Liberte (corrected)
23. River Dragons
24. Robinson Crusoe: Adventure on the Cursed Island
25. Seasons
26. Town Center (enhanced)
27. Tzolk’in
28. Ugg-tect

My goal is always to keep it to half a piece of A4 paper, like this. Sometimes for very simple games I can do it in a quarter, but nowadays when heavy Eurogames tend to be more complex rules-wise, I often need a full page.

concise reference sheets additions

Some additions, corrections and enhancements made to my concise reference sheets repository. I have 230 ref sheets now.

1. 1989: Dawn of Freedom
2. Chicago Express (correction)
3. Coney Island (correction)
4. Confetti
5. Corporation
6. Dominant Species: The Card Game
7. Evolution: Time To Fly
8. Fauna
9. Rommel in the Desert (correction)
10. Shinobi
11. Ticket To Ride: Asia (correction)
12. Town Center
13. Urban Sprawl (enhancement)
14. Vanuatu
15. Zombie! Run for your lives!

concise reference sheets updated

I have just added a batch of games to my concise reference sheets. New games added, and games updated are:

1. Antiquity (only typo correction)
2. Confucius
3. Hammer of the Scots (rules v2.0)
4. Nature of the Beast
5. Nightfall (rules v1.2 - with Blood County expansion)
6. Ninjato
7. Ora et Labora
8. Paths of Glory
9. Power Grid: The First Sparks (correction)
10. Rommel in the Desert (updated to include more details)
11. Sekigahara
12. Ticket To Ride: Asia
13. Tournay

new concise ref sheets

New reference sheets for games released. Download here. New / updated games are:

1. Airlines Europe
2. Antiquity
3. The Bottle Imp
4. Coney Island
5. Dungeon Petz
6. Famiglia
7. Jab
8. Manoeuvre (correction done)
9. Mondo
10. Power Grid: The First Sparks
11. Successors (3rd edition)
12. Undermining
13. Urban Sprawl

Full list of games is here.

concise reference sheets v14

I reached a milestone of having done 200 concise reference sheets. Visit this link to download the latest set. Updates are as follows.

1. 51st State (new)
2. Cavum (new)
3. Commands and Colors Napoleonics (new)
4. De Vulgari Eloquentia (new)
5. Evolution (new)
6. First Train to Nuremberg (corrected)
7. Great Fire of London 1666 (new)
8. Illuminati (new)
9. Labyrinth: the War on Terror (corrected)
10. Manoeuvre (new)
11. Maori (new)
12. Maria (new)
13. Nightfall (& Martial Law expansion) (new)
14. Pacific Typhoon (new)
15. Shipyard (corrected)
16. Tinners’ Trail (corrected)
17. Tobago (new)

concise reference sheets updated

I have uploaded a newer version of my concise reference sheets. I now have ref sheets for 187 games in my compilation. New games in this batch are:

1. 7 Ages
2. A la Carte
3. Aladdin’s Dragons Card Game
4. Chaos in the Old World
5. Dominant Species
6. Endeavor
7. Fast Flowing Forest Fellers
8. First Train to Nuremberg
9. Ikusa / Samurai Swords / Shogun
10. Labyrinth: the War on Terror
11. Liberte
12. Navegador
13. Tinners’ Trail
14. Wars of the Roses

concise reference sheets updated

I've released a new version of my concise ref sheets (follow this link to download page). New games / updates are:

1. 1960: The Making of the President (new in v12)
2. 7 Wonders (typo corrected in v12)
3. Axis & Allies Europe 1940 (new in v12)
4. Axis & Allies Global 1940 (new in v12)
5. Axis & Allies Pacific 1940 (enhanced in v12)
6. Carson City (new in v12)
7. Giants (new in v12)
8. Railways of the World (new in v12)
9. Shipyard (new in v12)
10. Sid Meier's Civilization: The Board Game (Fantasy Flight Games) (new in v12)
11. Struggle of Empires (corrected in v12)
12. Tikal II (new in v12)

Concise reference sheets

I often make rule summaries for games that I own or games that I want to play. It is a form of taking notes when I read game rules. It helps me get a grasp of the rules while reading, and when I sit down to play a game, the reference sheet also helps as a reminder. I use these reference sheets to teach games too. I always try to keep the rules to one A4 page, preferably even just half a page.

Over the years I have accumulated quite a number of reference sheets. I upload them to www.boardgamegeek.com once in a while, in batches. I want to make it available here at my blog too. This post will be where I keep the latest version of my reference sheets.

Download latest version here.

If you come across any error please drop a comment in this post, or send a message to my BoardGameGeek mailbox. My username is hecose. 

List of games (currently 300+) can be found here. 

buying games

Self-control when buying games is a recurring theme at my blog. I keep telling myself about this, and despite some successes in curbing my buying habit, I still feel I could have done better. Now that the year end is approaching, I start looking at all the stats about my boardgame hobby that I have been meticulously recording. I had set a loose target of buying no more than 20 games a year. I am at 19 now (not counting 2 self-made games), so I'll meet this target if I can hold off buying any more games until end of this month. I do have some games on my definite-buy list now, e.g. Agricola: Farmers of the Moor, Axis & Allies Pacific 1940, but I can hold off for a while.

Here's a list of things I need to remind myself of. Maybe this will be helpful to you too.

1. You don't need to own every game that you like. If a friend has it, play his/her copy, or borrow it if you really feel like playing the game. I am working on convincing myself I don't need to buy Dungeon Lords ...
2. You don't need to play every good game. So what if you don't have the opportunity to play one particular game that you think you will love? Don't you already have lots of other games that you love that you're not playing much? So...
3. You need to play more of the good games that you own. For me, games like Die Macher, Power Grid.
4. Wait until your interest wanes. Procrastinate. When you hear of a certain new game, you can get very excited about it. Put it on your watchlist. Let it cool for 6 months. If 6 months later you still feel hot for it, then go for it. The wait will also allow you to read more reviews. Early reviews tend to be positive.
5. Don't impulse buy. "Don't marry a person you can live with. Marry a person you can't live without". Something like that.

Here are my 2009 purchases and what I feel about them:

Happy

1. Le Havre - (11 plays) I like it a lot, almost as much as Agricola. I wonder why I haven't played this more. Somehow it didn't have an addiction period or hot game period like Agricola did. Maybe it's the number of cards in Agricola.
2. Axis & Allies anniversary edition - (2 plays, but both PBEM games and not using my physical copy of the game) I have a soft spot for the Axis & Allies family. That all I need to justify this purchase.
3. Automobile - (8 plays)
4. Civilization - (2 plays before I bought this on eBay, 0 after) Need to find the right group and a right time (i.e. long enough). Kind of like Die Macher. This doesn't work with 2P.
5. Keltis - (20 plays)
6. Wasabi - (17 plays)
7. Space Alert - (3 plays) Need to play more to have a more solid opinion. I can't even beat the Level 2 (of 3) tutorials yet. This one also needs a right group. My wife doesn't like it.
8. Indonesia - (1 play) Want to play more. This probably needs 4 players. And 4 hours.
9. Pandemic: On the Brink - (11 plays) Excellent value for money.
10. Galaxy Trucker Big Expansion - (1 play before I decided to buy it, 2 after I had it) After many games of Galaxy Trucker, this expansion becomes necessary to keep the game challenging and brutal.
11. Race for the Galaxy: Rebel vs Imperium - (18 plays) Buying this is as natural as eating rice (to a Malaysian).

Unsure

1. Mystery Rummy: Bonnie & Clyde - (21 plays) I didn't realise I have played this many times. Good game and good addition to the Mystery Rummy family. But I don't seem to play it much now. Our default card game is Race for the Galaxy. Used to be Mystery Rummy: Jack the Ripper.
2. Metropolys - (1 play before buying it, 6 plays after) It's quite unique. Haven't played much recently though. Well, at least it passed the 5-plays-in-1st-year-of-purchase mark.
3. Barbarossa - (1 before, 0 after) Bought a used copy. Anticipating playing with my children when they are older.
4. Um Reifenbreite - (1 before, 3 after) Chong Sean gave me an offer I couldn't resist. I think this is the only race game in my collection. I don't fancy race games. One good thing is I have played this (albeit with much simplified rules) with my 4-year-old daughter.
5. Kakerlaken Poker - (1 before, 1 after, and both being 2P games, the "least good" way of playing I think) I intended to buy this piggy-backing on Chong Sean's game order, but afterwards he declined my payment and gave it to me as a gift. This is a game good for bigger groups and for non-gamers. I don't have such occasions often, so this becomes kind of an on-standby game.
6. Rabbit Hunt - (1 before, 2 after) Interesting first game. So-so second game. Need to play more.

Unhappy

1. Monopoly Deal - (4 plays) Impulse buy. I bought it using a gift voucher, which I should have spent on something else. The game is not bad, but nothing really draws me.
2. A Game of Thrones LCG - (4 plays) One I wanted to like, because I love the books. I haven't given up on it yet. I don't think 4 plays is enough to confirm I don't like it.

I feel a bit better after writing this down. It seems I didn't do too bad in 2009. Hopefully in 2010 I have more in the Happy list and less in the Unsure and Unhappy lists.

My current watchlist. Not the full list, just the higher ranked ones. Darn... that's already 17 out of 20 slots for 2010. Trim trim trim.

1. Agricola: Farmers of the Moor (buy)
2. Axis & Allies Pacific: 1940 edition (buy)
3. Axis & Allies Europe: 1940 edition (not out yet) (buy)
4. Race for the Galaxy: Brink of War (not out yet) (buy)
5. Power Grid - Factory Manager
6. At the Gates of Loyang
7. Campaign Manager 2008 (not out yet, I think)
8. Dominion: Seaside (I don't have Dominion: Intrigue though)
9. Times Square
10. Greed, Incorporated
11. Hansa Teutonica
12. Twilight Struggle
13. Homesteaders
14. Dungeon Lords
15. Warriors of God
16. Carson City
17. Power Struggle / Machtspiele

Already ordered. Oops... I'm actually already over 20.

1. Funny Friends
2. Planet Steam
3. Keltis - Die Erweiterung
4. Tales of the Arabian Nights