Interviews by an Optimist # 43 - Benno Delonge Benno said this about himself... Born 1957 in Munich, where I have always lived since then. Learned to game at...
Interviews by an Optimist # 41 - Craig Besinque Craig gives this info about himself... "Age 58, live in New Denver BC, a small town in the middle of the ...
Interviews by an Optimist # 42 - Richard Berg Richard Berg is a very renowned war game designer, having designed scores of war games. He is very vocal in the...
Interviews by an Optimist # 45 - Ted Racier Ted says this about himself... I was born in a log cabin that I built with my own hands... Actually I was born in...
It seems that every Days of Wonder big box game is an event – with a lot of press, fanfare, and general excitement. This general adulation is no mistake, as...
Interviews by an Optimist #44 - Xavier Garriga Xavier Garriga (36) "Probably my relationship with games is due to something genetic, because my father also...
Kablamo (Gigantoskop, 2004 - Christoffer Kramer and Jesper Moberg) definitely has a controversial theme - that of playing Russian roulette with some...
The first thing I noticed about In a Pickle (Gamewright, 2004 – Colleen McCarthy-Evans and Joyce Johnson), besides the interesting name, was the sheer amount...
Sometimes I have a game that's more a fun diversion or an activity rather than an actual game. I keep these games around, because they're fun to pull out, but...
Interviews by an Optimist # 46 - Peter Olotka Creative Consultants has extensive design experience having created over 50 award-winning games and projects....
Sometimes, enjoyment of a game requires that you haven't played another game. For example, Risk might be enjoyable – until you've played Risk 2210, at which...
Interviews by an Optimist # 47 - Jim Doherty Jim says this about himself... "I'm from the suburbs of Boston, MA, USA. I've lived within about an hour of the...
Interviews by an Optimist # 48 - Bruno Cathala Bruno says... "I'm 41 years old, divorced, with two children (11 and 9). I've been working for 18 years as...
Loot (Gamewright, 2005 – Reiner Knizia) is a reprint of this game (also known as Pirat or Korsars). I had a chance to play Korsars a while back and remember...
Gamewright has an entire line of games that are doing well in the mass market, and while fun, are mainly marketed towards children (Slamwich, Rat-a-Tat Cat,...
Episode 6 of The Dice Tower has been posted! It's the first of four prerecorded episodes (for the summer), and also the first in a two part Origins preview...
Okay, I've gotten a large portion of my site up and running - the interviews and the reviews. www.tomvasel.com, part of www.thedicetower.com (which will be...
Interviews by an Optimist # 49 - Richard Garfield Richard says this about himself... "I was born in Philadelphia in 1963. My father's work in architecture took...
I know I just posted two other interviews, but # 53 is also up at my site now. http://www.thedicetower.com/interviews/int053.htm Christian Petersen, the...
Two new interviews are up at my web site. Andrea Meyer (designer of Mall World, ad Acta) - http://www.thedicetower.com/interviews/int051.htm Richard Breese...
The second part of our pre-Origins show has been posted at GameFest! http://www.gamefest.com/news/news_detail/2770_0_4_0_C/ We talk about a variety of things...
We used to (and still do) have long discussions in my gaming group as to how much theme affects a game. Obviously theme is more evident in some games (Betrayal...
The next interview in my series, with publishing house R & R Games president Frank DiLorenzo has been posted at my site. Keep on gaming! Tom Vasel "Real men...
Our latest episode of the Dice Tower, episode 8 is up! http://www.gamefest.com/news/news_detail/2818_0_4_0_C/ In this episode, we discuss our top ten "gateway"...
Snorta (Out of the Box Games, 2004 – Chris Childs and Tony Richardson) is one of those games that instantly looks childish and fairly silly. And the toy...
The theme of High Society (Uberplay, 2003 – Reiner Knizia) is one of flaunting your wealth in everyone's faces. Apparently players managed to jump off the...
I'm very pleased with the "Bright Idea Games" line from Playroom Entertainment. They're bringing a group of games that are simple, fun, and do a good bit to...
I first was introduced to Harry's Grand Slam Baseball Game (Out of the Box Publishing, 2004 – Harry Obst) at Origins 2004. Mike Fitzgerald sat me down and...
Easy Come, Easy Go (Out of the Box Games, 2005 – Reiner Knizia) is basically Knizia's version of Yahtzee. If you don't like Yahtzee too much, even as a...
