Professor Rob

Thanks for the offer, but I got the weight off BGG (1.8Kg). Should be $15 shipping, plus whatever import duty gets added.

Thanks, chaps. I ordered with the full expectation of having to pay shipping/import duty, so I'm not too fussed. It's a game I really want, and it's still cheaper than the utterly bonkers secondhand prices.

Board game weekend on Steam.

Has anyone here ever participated in GMT's P500 pre-order/reprint scheme? I've just placed an order for 1989: Dawn of Freedom (which is at 380 orders, so is some way off being reprinted), and it looks like the shipping will be free, even to Europe (on the order receipt, the shipping is listed "Euro Friendly P500 Orders via SCG – VAT prepaid to EU"). I was prepared to pay shipping/import duty, but it looks like I'm only paying $44.00 in total, which is very much a bargain. Anyone know if this is correct? If it looks too good to be true, it usually is.

Kickstarter. I’m not sure when the retail release is.

Had the first couple of plays of Awkward Guests. It's a card-driven deduction game (like Cluedo, Mystery of the Abbey, Mystery Express etc), but rather than just crossing cards off that you happen to have seen, you have to use the snippets of information given on the cards to piece together the solution. For example, if you find out that Suspect A claims to have been alone in the Library at the time of the murder, but then later find out that someone else also claims to have been in the Library, then you know one of them is lying (and is therefore the murderer). Or if it's established that nobody passed through the Kitchen, then that means none of the Kitchen implements were the murder weapon. There are many different sorts of clues and you have to establish who commited the murder, which weapon was used, what the motive was, and who the accomplice was – the accomplice is only in the harder levels, and will give false info to protect the murderer. I have to say, it's probably the best game of its kind that I've ever played. It's so much more satisfying than other games in the genre, and gives you a genuine sense of having used deductive reasoning to arrive at the solution. Really looking forward to playing it again.

I'm pleased to say, we managed to play everything except Sushi Go over the course of the two weeks, in addition to EXIT: Pharoah's Tomb. Still not keen on Tides of Time.

Another notable bargain is Cardhu Gold, which seems to cycle round all the major supermarkets one after the other, at £25.

Oh, that’s interesting. I’ve recently taken a shine to Tamnavulin, after it being on offer in multiple supermarkets. It’s a decent dram.

I’d say I enter about three-quarters of them, and have done for the past six years or so. Not a sausage.

To be honest, I played it when I wasn't really in the mood for it, so ought to give it another try.

Going on holiday for the next two weeks, so I thought I'd see how many games I could pack into a reasonably-sized box. I took the insert out of Unlock: Escape Adventures (we have one scenario we haven't played yet), and have managed to fit in: Kingdomino Machi Koro plus Harbour expansion Coup Love Letter Red 7 Intrigue Bohnanza Jaipur Sushi Go Tides of Time Cockroach Poker Unlock: Escape Adventures (Island of Doctor Goorse scenario only) plus a deck of playing cards. There's a couple in the list that I don't particularly enjoy, but other people asked me to take. I reckon I could also fit Port Royal in there, and will probably take out Tides of Time (which isn't that good). Everything fits OK, but it weighs 2.5Kg.

Some great choices there. For easy-to-get-into but fun-to-play-with-non-gamers games, there's also: Camel Up Azul Imhotep Kingdomino There's loads of others too, but they're the ones that came immediately to mind. The Unlock and Exit series of games are also very good to play with non-gamer groups, but they're single playthrough only (and in the case of the Exit series, you end up destroying the components during play, so you can't even sell it on).

Late to the party, but only just got round to seeing this. Thought it was brilliant - loved every minute of it.

Cheers.

Congratulations, Mark. Well deserved!

It seems to be on the increase in American-made shows, and I do wish they wouldn’t use it.

Thank you for this suggestion; I wouldn’t have been aware of it otherwise, and I really enjoyed it. I’ve always dismissed clicker games as completely pointless wastes of time, but that one sets itself apart from the crowd and keeps things interesting to the end. Are there any others that are as good?

Yes, I know it hit the crane. I've listened to the podcast, and I've since seen the original footage from the event, and I've watched the dramatised scene again. At the time, my impression was that either the helicopter had failed, or the pilot had succumbed in some way. It's not completely unambiguous, and there's really no need to compare us to the Guardian reviewer for not grasping exactly what had happened on first viewing.

Watching that scene again on YouTube it is clear that it hits the cables, but I must admit that when I watched the episode, I thought it had failed due to the radiation. I do think that is implied in the scene, given the build up, but I don't think the intention was to deliberately mislead.

I haven't read any of his reviews for years – just got fed up of the spoilers.

One thing I didn't realise, until listening to the podcast later on, is that the 90 seconds on the roof is the total time they are allowed to work. They're not given any further exposure, as what they've had in those 90 seconds will have already shortened their life expectancy, and they just get sent home. It really hammers home just how toxic an environment it is.

I think the reason the roof scene works so well is that it’s drawn out for the full 90 seconds they have to stay out there, and the handheld camera and overwhelming noise of the Geiger counter immerses you right in it. About half way through it, you start to think, “that must be about it, now” and start to get desperate for the gong to sound, and every second past that becomes more and more unbearable. The relief you feel when the gong finally sounds, after what seems like forever, is immense, and is then immediately followed by despair again when the guy keeps stumbling on his way back. It’s a phenomenal scene. You feel every second of it.

So the main thing everybody mentions when talking about the game is the thing they then get rid of? Makes sense.