Not exactly newsy news but I got another SPIEL newsletter and maybe some of you are interested in how the plans for spiel.digital are progressing… the current video is somewhat in (English)–well most of the words are anyway. But he’s showing a few interesting mockups of what they are planning. Knowing how hard it can be to get a software project (which that is) off the ground, they have very little time to accomplish this, so consider me sceptical they are going to achieve what they propose.
Note: I only scrolled through the video to have a look at the mockups because too many words to listen to that kept being repeated over and over and over.
Looks like they are making a website with events, gaming table, shopping and involving several well-known gaming entities including SUSD.
Here’s one of the mockups. There’s also one showing different boardgame themes you can browse and then each publisher will have a page with their games, a schedule of online events, links to gaming tables (online?) and (most importantly?) shopping! He said something that publishers can include links to different shopping options depending on where you are to reduce shipping cost etc.
But as noted, I’ve only listened to a few parts of the lengthy thing.
This is probably a stretch to post here but I think it’s seriously cool and want to share…
Of the example coats in the linked article, two include depictions of the board game Go, speaking to its popularity and significance in Japanese culture at that time.
I’ve got another one but only if you speak German. Still it was quite interesting to listen to this on the local radio station where they interviewed the CEO of Ravensburger Spiele.
So they talked about how he’s the great-great grandson of the founder. Ravensburger was founded in the late 19th century when for the first time people were considering how to better raise kids and so they started as a maker of toys and games. He’s the only family member currently working at the company.
They are talking about how Ravensburger has expanded worldwide and how each market is different, how Germany is still a boardgame country, France is buying more toys like tiptoi, Americans like strategy games more than anything and they are finding that in Japan people want only the highest quality in products.
He’s currently playing a game called “Level 8” with his family.
Their headquarters are situated in the city of the same name in Southern Germany (actually a 2-3h drive from me). Ravensburg is absolutely pretty (I’ve been there several times) and close to Bodensee which is also worth a visit or three. But Ravensburg is not a city but rather a small town and it hasn’t always been easy to find people wanting to come and work there. He’s saying the current economic crisis will hopefully let him find good people to work at the company… as far as I can tell from the interview the company is thriving.
Also, I kind of knew this but didn’t realize they have their own software department digitzing their games themselves.
Personally, I had no idea how much Ravensburger had expanded… and he didn’t say a single word about the latest game they apparently announced just a few days after the interview (Princess Bride themed adventure game) so I am assuming he thinks it is not for the German market
They got a nice selection of gateway games. But this wasn’t the internet if I didn’t feel like I know better… so I would have liked if they replaced Takenoko with something more recent like maybe Quacks or Azul.
I think it’s because it’s often unavailable. Looking at BoardGamePrices, the places that have it “in stock” list it as about £55-60, but places where it’s out have it as around £45.
Ticket to Ride is still my go to suggestion if non gamers ask me what they should play as a first hobby game. (Actually that would make an interesting thread)
Pandemic is fantastic. Probably don’t need 2 Leacock co ops though.
I’ve not played Taekonoko, but I think we have the app.
Wingspan, still never played. My wife made up a 5 with a group who unboxed it at the table and she destroyed them. She loves Terraforming Mars (which I believe WS is often put in a similar bracket to), but wasn’t overly impressed.
I take a bit of exception to “they can easily cost £140”
I had to scroll quite a way through boardgameprices.co.uk before I got to a copy of Gloomhaven that cost much, and that was only because it was being shipped from Italy!
Maybe they were looking at Kickstarter all in pledges… ? Because those go up there and beyond easily indeed. But besides that Gloomhaven remains my most expensive retail game by a wide wide margin.
