Hello once again
Today I play even more ancient games, this time in the form of Tafl, Hnefatafl and Tablut.
All of these game is are pretty much the same, in which the idea of each game is to get the king from the middle of the board to one of the corners or edges of the board, depending on what rules you decide to play. However as the king's army, you are heavily out numbered by your opponent and must make tactical moves in order to the get to the goal. You can take each other pieces within the game by having one piece on opposite side of the piece you are wanting to take. Once this has been met, the piece is completely removed from the game. However in order to capture a king, you must trap him from all four sides to fully win the game. Movement is a set value, in that you can move any piece single piece you want each turn, and the movement is exactly the same as moving a castle/rook in the game of chess. You can move in a line however many spaces you want.
I really enjoyed playing this game, since there was an extremely good tactical approach. You had to think about cutting off the king's exits, or making it so that your men create a clear path to make your king escape, there was an endless number of ways to tactically win the game, which was the highlight of the game.
Thursday, 19 December 2013
Duodecim Scripta and Pachisi
Hello all
Today I shall talk about some more ancient games that I got to try out. These games for today are Duodecim Scripta and Pachisi.
Duodecim Scripta is the ancestor to the game Backgammon and the meaning of the name is Twelve (lines) written down. It is a board that has 24 places and the goal of the game is to get pieces off the board. There aren't very many known rules for Duodecim Scripta except for the knowledge that 3 dices is used to determine the player's movement across the board. Also, if your opponent has 2 pieces in the way of the other player and he tries to land on the same square that pieces, he cannot and must go onto the place behind the opponent's piece. However if there is only one pieces, you are able to take that piece and send it back to the start, a similar rule found in Royal Game of Ur.
Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that is considered India's national game. The goal of this is to get all four pieces that a player has, around the board at least one lap. Player would throw cowrie shell in order to determine the movement for that turn. If a player lands on a place that is occupied by an opponent's piece that is not a castle space, they can capture pieces and send them to a location on the board known as Charkoni. The movement in this game is similar to the game Frustration, in which you could move around the board, take pieces and send them back, and then finish the game by moving up the column you started.
Out of these two games, I find Pachisi to be the most interesting, as it shares similarities with modern games, and it also has a very good concept for a board game. The only downside I would have to say for the game of Pachisi, is the use of shell for replacing dice, though I would of thought that they have developed a version that uses some sort of dice to determine movement.
Today I shall talk about some more ancient games that I got to try out. These games for today are Duodecim Scripta and Pachisi.
Duodecim Scripta is the ancestor to the game Backgammon and the meaning of the name is Twelve (lines) written down. It is a board that has 24 places and the goal of the game is to get pieces off the board. There aren't very many known rules for Duodecim Scripta except for the knowledge that 3 dices is used to determine the player's movement across the board. Also, if your opponent has 2 pieces in the way of the other player and he tries to land on the same square that pieces, he cannot and must go onto the place behind the opponent's piece. However if there is only one pieces, you are able to take that piece and send it back to the start, a similar rule found in Royal Game of Ur.
Pachisi is a cross and circle board game that is considered India's national game. The goal of this is to get all four pieces that a player has, around the board at least one lap. Player would throw cowrie shell in order to determine the movement for that turn. If a player lands on a place that is occupied by an opponent's piece that is not a castle space, they can capture pieces and send them to a location on the board known as Charkoni. The movement in this game is similar to the game Frustration, in which you could move around the board, take pieces and send them back, and then finish the game by moving up the column you started.
Out of these two games, I find Pachisi to be the most interesting, as it shares similarities with modern games, and it also has a very good concept for a board game. The only downside I would have to say for the game of Pachisi, is the use of shell for replacing dice, though I would of thought that they have developed a version that uses some sort of dice to determine movement.
Royal Game of Ur and Senet
Hello all
It's been quite a long time since I last posted.
Today, I'm going to talk about some ancient game that I got to look at the other day.
The games in question are known as Royal Game of Ur and Senet. These are two of the oldest games in existence and are both similar to each, since both of them are a race game.
The goal of Royal Game of Ur is to get all of your pieces to the end of the board before your opponent does, by tactically moving with what you roll on a D4 each turn. You can also take other people's pieces in order to send their pieces back to the start, and additionally you can create stacks in order to stop your opponent from being able to take your pieces if his stacks are not as big as yours.
Senet's goal is very much the same in that you need to get all your pieces off the board before your opponent.You could also land on panels that caused different effects throughout the game.
Over the years, Royal Game of Ur's board design got changed so that it was only one straight line to the end, rather than doing the same route pattern as in the beginning of the game. Also Senet got a few rule tweaks to balance some of the game play.
Out of these two games, I believe Royal Game of Ur to be more enjoying, as it has a lot of tactic thinking and movement within the game, and also it is quite a fast pace game, so you can play the game quite frequently before it starts to get boring. I think one of the major downsides to the game, is that it can be quite unforgiving, especially with the idea of taking pieces and also being able to take stacks of pieces that are lesser than the one taking the pieces. It is a good thing that you can take people's pieces, however sending them back to the beginning is quite harsh, especially when the player gets a big stack sent back to the start.
It's been quite a long time since I last posted.
Today, I'm going to talk about some ancient game that I got to look at the other day.
The games in question are known as Royal Game of Ur and Senet. These are two of the oldest games in existence and are both similar to each, since both of them are a race game.
The goal of Royal Game of Ur is to get all of your pieces to the end of the board before your opponent does, by tactically moving with what you roll on a D4 each turn. You can also take other people's pieces in order to send their pieces back to the start, and additionally you can create stacks in order to stop your opponent from being able to take your pieces if his stacks are not as big as yours.
Senet's goal is very much the same in that you need to get all your pieces off the board before your opponent.You could also land on panels that caused different effects throughout the game.
Over the years, Royal Game of Ur's board design got changed so that it was only one straight line to the end, rather than doing the same route pattern as in the beginning of the game. Also Senet got a few rule tweaks to balance some of the game play.
Out of these two games, I believe Royal Game of Ur to be more enjoying, as it has a lot of tactic thinking and movement within the game, and also it is quite a fast pace game, so you can play the game quite frequently before it starts to get boring. I think one of the major downsides to the game, is that it can be quite unforgiving, especially with the idea of taking pieces and also being able to take stacks of pieces that are lesser than the one taking the pieces. It is a good thing that you can take people's pieces, however sending them back to the beginning is quite harsh, especially when the player gets a big stack sent back to the start.
Thursday, 14 November 2013
Games Britania Part 2
Hello again
Not too long ago, I watched the second part of games britania, where it showed all of the top board games that are currently the best in the market to date. The program showed how they originally came to be the modern day product they are today.
It was interesting to see how T.V and the early videogames were starting to "threaten" board games and make them submit to the future technology. But the board game hasn't died, and is still going very strong today. It was particularly interesting when they were showing the history of how Monopoly was created and what it was originally called back then.
The program as a whole was a good watch, and I hope the finally part is just as good and descriptive as the first two parts, especially when the last part is going to looking into the growth of video games and how they made such an enterance into our world.
See you next time.
Not too long ago, I watched the second part of games britania, where it showed all of the top board games that are currently the best in the market to date. The program showed how they originally came to be the modern day product they are today.
It was interesting to see how T.V and the early videogames were starting to "threaten" board games and make them submit to the future technology. But the board game hasn't died, and is still going very strong today. It was particularly interesting when they were showing the history of how Monopoly was created and what it was originally called back then.
The program as a whole was a good watch, and I hope the finally part is just as good and descriptive as the first two parts, especially when the last part is going to looking into the growth of video games and how they made such an enterance into our world.
See you next time.
Bibliography
Hello again
This is going to be the first in a couple of posts today. The first (being this one) is going to be a small bibliography, of references that I have found interesting and valueable to read.
This is going to be the first in a couple of posts today. The first (being this one) is going to be a small bibliography, of references that I have found interesting and valueable to read.
Books
·
Thompson, J., Berbank-Green, B. & Cusworth, N. 2007, The
computer game design course: principles, practices and techniques for the
aspiring game designer, Thames & Hudson.
·
Simons, I. 2007, Inside game design, Laurence King.
Articles
·
COMPUTER GAMES: You can't have a realistic gaming experience
without using the rules of physics- the calculations involved are what make the
difference between stick figures that jitter across the screen and 3 D
characters that sweat and stumble writes Cian Traynor 2010, .
·
Staurt Andrews 2005, World of Warcraft: Final 7 Edition.
Individual Chapters
Alvisi, A, (2006), “The economics of digital games” in Rutter,
J. and Bryce, J. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, Page 58.
Dumbleton, T and Kirriemuir, J, (2006), “The economics of
digital games” in Rutter, J. and Bryce, J. London: SAGE Publications Ltd, Page
223.
See you in the next post.
Sunday, 20 October 2013
Hello again, it been a while since I posted something.
The other day, I watched a good program that was about board games and how they developed through history. It was showing all the different versions of modern games such as snakes and ladders, and chess and how they made history.
I learnt in particular that chess is like one big war, trying to trap and kill the other person's king, and that it was one of (if thee) most played board games in the world, and that it has more in depth strategy than any other board game ever created.
It was also quite fascinating to see how snake and ladder is a typical game in one country where you simply get to the finishing line, and somehow in another country, they saw and created snakes and ladder as a journey to heaven, and all of the encounters along the way. It has a very unique take on a modern game and it was very interesting to see the game played out from a different stand point.
The program as a whole was a good watch, however I am kind of hoping that they would talk more about the growth of video games within the part of that program.
The other day, I watched a good program that was about board games and how they developed through history. It was showing all the different versions of modern games such as snakes and ladders, and chess and how they made history.
I learnt in particular that chess is like one big war, trying to trap and kill the other person's king, and that it was one of (if thee) most played board games in the world, and that it has more in depth strategy than any other board game ever created.
It was also quite fascinating to see how snake and ladder is a typical game in one country where you simply get to the finishing line, and somehow in another country, they saw and created snakes and ladder as a journey to heaven, and all of the encounters along the way. It has a very unique take on a modern game and it was very interesting to see the game played out from a different stand point.
The program as a whole was a good watch, however I am kind of hoping that they would talk more about the growth of video games within the part of that program.
Wednesday, 9 October 2013
Hello there
My name is Oliver Hayler, a new games student beginning university.
I have been a games stduent for 2 years already, studying previously at Cambridge Regional College.
I recently took part in an ice-breaker interview with people on the same course as me. Here are the answers to my interview.
Q1. What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read)?
The fictional book series that I am currently reading is the Evenagelion series. I really like the story in general as there is a lot of build-up and devolpement for a lot of the characters. I also really like the setting of the story, with humanity desperatly holding on to its last defense in order to defend themselves from the threat of the "Angels". Another good reason for reading the series, is there are many different spin-offs of the series, telling the story with the same character, but with those characters either being different in general characteristics, or they have sided with new forces within those particular books. The series in general is great and it is worth the time to try and get into the deep story within the books.
Q2. What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non-fiction book you read)?
The last non-fiction book that I read wasn't really much in the ways of a story, but rather an art book. I read the Tomb Raider survival guide (aka the art book). This book was incredibly fascinating to me as it showed all of the many art styles that they tried to work into the game, but pulled them back because of a wide range of reasons such as it didn't fit the style of the game, or it didn't look right to begin with, etc. I particularly liked the parts where they showed the art for each part of the game step by step, (e.g. the ship Lara starts out on in the beginning which becomes shipwrecked by the storm of the island). It was really good to read about all the different challenges that the compnay faced when creating the game, and also how they found their insparation in their designs for their's characters, the island in which you play on, and also most notably, the monsters and creatures that you encountered and their reasoning behind their design choice.
Q3. What is the last live performance (music, drama or dance) you attended?
The last live performance that I attended an extremly long time ago, when their was a show being advertised called The Top Gear live show. This featured the presenters of the show on a live stage, doing the stuff they normally did on the show, plus a bunch of extra stunts and displays.
Q4. What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema / online or watched on dvd?
The last major film I watched was 5 centremeters per second. This film in my eye is something beautiful and a really powerful and almost painful display of two childhood friends and their increasing distance that is put between them and how it slowly but surely changes their lives.
Q5. How often do you read a newspaper? (which one? online or physical?)
I do sometimes read both online and physical newspapers, but not as often as before.
Q6. Which art gallery / museum / exhibition did you last visit?
The last exhibition that I last visited was a trip with my college to american for Games.con. The massive event displayed all of the newest games and gear for the future and it was a total joy to see what the next stage of advancement was in the gaming world.
Q7. How many hours a week do you spend playing video games.
I spend a minimum of 20 hours per week playing. 16 of those 20 hour are raiding hours within my guild in World of Warcraft.
Q8. How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video games?
Currently I dont play anything else at this time, however I would very much like to get back into sport, since I used to play badminton for 6 years but stopped for a number of years after that.
My name is Oliver Hayler, a new games student beginning university.
I have been a games stduent for 2 years already, studying previously at Cambridge Regional College.
I recently took part in an ice-breaker interview with people on the same course as me. Here are the answers to my interview.
Q1. What is the title of the book (fiction) you are currently reading (or the last fiction book you read)?
The fictional book series that I am currently reading is the Evenagelion series. I really like the story in general as there is a lot of build-up and devolpement for a lot of the characters. I also really like the setting of the story, with humanity desperatly holding on to its last defense in order to defend themselves from the threat of the "Angels". Another good reason for reading the series, is there are many different spin-offs of the series, telling the story with the same character, but with those characters either being different in general characteristics, or they have sided with new forces within those particular books. The series in general is great and it is worth the time to try and get into the deep story within the books.
Q2. What is the title/topic of the book (non-fiction) you are currently reading (or the last non-fiction book you read)?
The last non-fiction book that I read wasn't really much in the ways of a story, but rather an art book. I read the Tomb Raider survival guide (aka the art book). This book was incredibly fascinating to me as it showed all of the many art styles that they tried to work into the game, but pulled them back because of a wide range of reasons such as it didn't fit the style of the game, or it didn't look right to begin with, etc. I particularly liked the parts where they showed the art for each part of the game step by step, (e.g. the ship Lara starts out on in the beginning which becomes shipwrecked by the storm of the island). It was really good to read about all the different challenges that the compnay faced when creating the game, and also how they found their insparation in their designs for their's characters, the island in which you play on, and also most notably, the monsters and creatures that you encountered and their reasoning behind their design choice.
Q3. What is the last live performance (music, drama or dance) you attended?
The last live performance that I attended an extremly long time ago, when their was a show being advertised called The Top Gear live show. This featured the presenters of the show on a live stage, doing the stuff they normally did on the show, plus a bunch of extra stunts and displays.
Q4. What is the title of the last film you saw at the cinema / online or watched on dvd?
The last major film I watched was 5 centremeters per second. This film in my eye is something beautiful and a really powerful and almost painful display of two childhood friends and their increasing distance that is put between them and how it slowly but surely changes their lives.
Q5. How often do you read a newspaper? (which one? online or physical?)
I do sometimes read both online and physical newspapers, but not as often as before.
Q6. Which art gallery / museum / exhibition did you last visit?
The last exhibition that I last visited was a trip with my college to american for Games.con. The massive event displayed all of the newest games and gear for the future and it was a total joy to see what the next stage of advancement was in the gaming world.
Q7. How many hours a week do you spend playing video games.
I spend a minimum of 20 hours per week playing. 16 of those 20 hour are raiding hours within my guild in World of Warcraft.
Q8. How many hours a week do you spend playing games other than video games?
Currently I dont play anything else at this time, however I would very much like to get back into sport, since I used to play badminton for 6 years but stopped for a number of years after that.
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