Interviews by an Optimist # 18 - Frank Braham Frank says this about himself... "I'm a game collector and occasional designer. Currently I do the odd bit of...
Interviews by an Optimist - # 17 - Kory Heath Kory was born in 1970 in San Jose, California, and lived there until he was almost 30. He taught himself...
A year ago, I reviewed Warcraft: the Board Game, giving it high praise. I thought that it did a superlative job of emulating the computer game - as well as a...
Interviews by an Optimist # 16 - Tom Jolly Tom says this about himself... "I'm an electrical engineer at Lockheed-Martin in real-life. Wife and two kids, 3...
I have to admit that when I first heard of Alpha Playing Cards (tjgames, 1997 - Tim Shutz), I wasn't terribly interested. But when I read a description that...
Reef Encounter (R & D Games, 2004 - Richard Breese) usually inspires two reactions in new players. They are often dazzled by the spectacular beauty of the...
Interviews by an Optimist # 19 - Angelo Porazzi Angelo Porazzi is an Italian game designer who creates and illustrates his self- produced games. He is an...
I'm not sure how to express my first reading of the Twilight Imperium, Third Edition (Fantasy Flight Games, 2005 - Christian Peterson) rules, or my first...
When I first read over the rules for Message to the Czar (Winning Moves and Rio Grande Games, 2003 - Christiane Knepel), I thought they sounded fairly...
Her'es the line up from Fantasy Flight for 2005, which they've kindly shared with me... "Warrior Knights The classic GW board game. Updated design for the new...
Cities and Knights (Kosmos and Mayfair Games, 2000 - Klaus Teuber) is probably the most controversial of the Settlers of Catan expansion. And the reason is...
The Settlers of Catan is a fantastic game, and it would seem that in the board game world that means that a sequel was inevitable. So, eventually the...
One but need start talking about the advent of "Euro" games in America, and the name Settlers of Catan (Kosmos and Mayfair Games, 1995 - Klaus Teuber)...
Interviews by an Optimist # 20 - Andrea Angiolino Andrea is a renowned Italian board game designer and has designed many games, from the popular Wings of War...
NOTE: I've often wondered how Monopoly would be viewed if it were released in 2005. Would it garner the same popularity/negativity that it does today?...
Interviews by an Optimist # 21 - Cyril Demaegd Cyril says this about himself... "My name is Cyril Demaegd; I was born in 1971. I was introduced to the ...
As a game reviewer, I often get games from independent publishers. Many people can't, won't, or don't know how to get their games published by a larger...
Interviews by an Optimist # 22 - Rick Thornquist Rick Thornquist is the editor of GameWire - the source for daily news, information on new releases, previews,...
I had a lot of high praise for Ticket to Ride in my initial review. I stated that I thought it would win game of the year, and that it had a high probability...
Hi everyone, I know that B and M board game shops are pretty much non-existent in Korea but thought I'd take a chance and ask here. Thanks. cheers, david...
Interviews by an Optimist # 23 - Lawrence Whalen Larry got his start in the gaming industry 22 years ago when he acquired The GameKeeper store in Providence,...
Interviews by an Optimist # 24 - Friedemann Friese Friedemann gave this bulleted account of his life... Born 5th of June 1970 in Germany 13 years of school ...
Hi David, It's not a gameshop per se, but Checkmate game cafe off of the Kyungsung University/Pukyoung University subway stop used to carry extra games for...
Interviews by an Optimist # 25 - Jerry Taylor Jerry says this about himself... "I am 41 years old and live in Alexandria, Virginia. My "day job" is director of...
Well, with Shin and Joe sick on Tuesday, and not being able to get in touch with Jaewon, nothing happened. But Jesse is leaving in a little over a week, so I...
Indeed. I am in Osaka. (Went to the Ghibli Museum in Mikata yesterday, what a riot!) I will not be back until next Wednesday. It's OK if we game at the...
Sounds good! I plan to head down to Seoul around 9 AM tomorrow morning. I'll meet Shin at whatever stop he specifies (if all else fails, I guess the Coex Mall...
The title of Garden Competition (Toccata Games, 2004 - Ken Stevens) didn't send me into spasms of glee. I've never cared too much about gardens - my mom...
In my "Interviews by an Optimist", I often ask the interviewees their opinions on the importance of theme in a game. For some, it doesn't matter; but most feel...
Interviews by an Optimist # 26 - Kristian Roald Amundsen Ostby Kristian says this about himself... "I was born on February the 23rd, 1980, in the Norwegian...
