Who runs the site?
Boardspace.net is a hobby, not a
commercial site under
development, not a technology demonstration for a software
company. There is no hidden catch. Just enjoy it as my
guest. My home page is here.
Why Zèrtz? Why Yinsh? Why
Punct? Why Dvonn?
I was originally hooked into playing Zèrtz on
Richard's PBEM server, using Zèrtz
for One
as a study tool to plan moves. It's great to spend hours
planning
perfect sequences, but face to face games are another thing
entirely. I waited a year for a direct play site to emerge.
When none did, I fell off the deep end and did it myself. Kris Burm, the inventor, is not
directly
involved, but knows about the site and approves. Likewise, Michael Reitz (who wrote ZF1)
has provided some useful feedback, but isn't directly involved with the
design or implementation of this site. The remaining games in
project GIPF are strong candidates to be added to the site eventually.
Why Lines of Action? Lines
of Action
was a game I had played some, but knew little about, and knew no one
else that played it. Way back when the Internet first exploded on
the public
consciousness, I adopted Lines of Action as project. I
developed an applet to play and review games, and a home page
to consolidate all known information about the game. It was
always
my desire to have
a place to
play it online. It just took a while.
Why Plateau? The
thing that attracts me to Plateau
is that it is as much a
psychological game as it is a strategic and tactical one.
The concealed information makes the threat matrix uncomputable - there
are no safe plays or sure winning strategies. Plateau is a really fine
game that deserves a wider audience.
Why Hex?
Hex is one of those classic games that no one seems to actually
play. Imagine my surprise that it's actually a very interesting
game, especially to a Go player. Hex reminds me of the a sequence
in Creatures of Light and
Darkness. (extra
points if you can tell me which one, and why.)
Why Trax?
Trax is another under appreciated classic game. It's been around
a while, and has a following. It's probably better analyzed than
any other game played here; and the good players are good not just amateurs who are a
little more advanced. Oh yea, and my friends from
Tantrix.com are distributing the tiles, so I hope for a little
cross-site traffic.
Why Gobblet? Gobblet was an not-quite accidental discovery - my wife gave
it to me for Christmas. Among a bunch of games I've acquired randomly
in
the last couple years, it's the clear winner as the most fun, light
abstract. So there you are.
Why Hive? Hive made the cut because in addition to being a first rate
and highly rated new game, it seemed to inspire fanatics far beyond the
oh-yea-its-a-good-game variety. Game fanatics deserve to be
rewarded.
Why Exxit?
Exxit grabbed my attention at BoiteAJeux, a turn based site. It's
a frustratingly difficult game for such simple rules. In other
words; just the kind of thing I like., I think Exxit has huge potential.
Why Tablut? It's a classic - literally - having been played for over
1000 years. A modern variant called Breakthru was a
favorite of mine. This is in the class of games which definitely
ought to be more widely known.
Why Dipole? Mark Steere's austere approach to game design results in
real gamer's games: finite, unforgiving of errors, and begging for
in-depth study. Dipole is his best yet.
Why Tumblingdown? Someone pointed out the similarity of Tumblingdown's move
mechanic to Exxit, and it turned out to be a first rate game which was
invented and promptly forgotten.
Why Truchet? There's no doubt: my attraction is to the tiles.
Why Fanorona? I was intrigued by the novelty of the "capture by
withdrawal" mechanism, and the back story "national game of Madagascar"
helped too. Plus I can see an emerging category of classic
abstracts - so far containing Tablut, Lines of Action, and Fanorona.
Why Volcano? Icehouse pieces! They're so nice looking, and so
versatile, they deserve a place in every abstract gamer's shelf.
Volcano is my current favorite icehouse game, and also one of the less
frequently played since it requires 6 stashes.
Why Traboulet?
Traboulet came to my attention on a BGG geeklist for games with unique
mechanisms. It proved to be
hard to find, fun to play, and the inventor has a compelling story to
tell about his struggle
to with the publisher of similar-looking Abalone.
What's the Master Plan?
The plan is to build the site into a place where you can
drop in anytime for a game. Under reasonable assumptions,
it
takes (only) about 200 regular players to reach the point where you
will probably encounter another player in the lobby within a few
minutes. Unfortunately, the number 200 is separate for each
game, so having lots of games doesn't directly help.
Getting to 200 will be hard.
Meantime, bring your own opponent.
More Games! Better Robots!
Better Graphics! etc. etc. etc. I'm always interested in
suggestions, especially suggestions with a lot of support in the player
community. Easy things and things that really grab my attention are
much more likely to be implemented. If you want to
help, lets talk.
What does it take to make a site
like this? No actual spit or baling wire is involved.
Here's the rundown.
