CGI#10: Alpha Bandits, Rule Headaches, the Finances of Gaming, and Unpub
Casual Game Insider, Issue #10, Winter 2015
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Learn about Wiggity Bang's new devious little word game, Alpha Bandits.
Plus: highlights from Essen 2014, why board gaming makes financial sense, how to avoid headaches when teaching game rules, how the Unpub network is helping designers create better games, and the history behind industry veteran Looney Labs.
Page Count:
48
Issue Number:
10
Issue Period:
Winter 2015
love it thanks!
Another top notch issue!
Love this issue! The article on UNPUB was great; keep up the good work!
Looks good!
Almost want to pick this up for the Teaching Games ... thanks for a great magazine.
Might pick up a copy if I'm in a B&N in the next few months...interested to read the rest of the money/time/entertainment analysis.
I always find it funny that whenever people compare the price of games to the amount of house spent having fun with it, they usually leave out the QUANTITY of fun being had by people participating.
OK, a game costs $50. Let's say I play it 3 times (a lot for me) before I decide to get rid of it. Let's say the time spent playing the game was around 3 hours. But the amount of fun I had playing the game decreased with each subsequent play. That third play still cost me $17, but I didn't have nearly as much fun.
Similarly, going to a Phillies game takes about 3 or 4 hours, and costs me about $50 (if I pay for my wife's ticket as well), probably closer to $70 after I park and eat. How much fun did I have? That depends - did I tailgate with friends? Did we drink? Did I bring my KanJam set? Did the Phillies win? Was there a ninth inning rally?
No matter what, an hour of playing a board game is NOT THE SAME as an hour going to a baseball game. There is almost NO way to compare the two. In fact, I can guarantee that if I see a 9th inning rally that takes about 40 minutes, that would be worth more to me than pretty much ANY board game playing experience, even if the game I'm playing cost $5 and takes 20 hours. (25¢ an hour! what a bargain!!!)
Unless you find a way to QUANTIFY how much fun a person is having minute to minute, there is no way to compare the hourly cost of different activities "apples to apples."
I love the PDF version of the magazine! Makes it very easy to read on my Smart Phone or tablet! Thanks again for the "Insider" scoop!
Very true, it's difficult to put personal entertainment value on activities that aren't inherently identical... a Phillies game would be about as much entertainment as having a root canal! But that's just me!
It's given that different people place higher (or lower, as my tongue-in-cheek example above showed) on different activities - that's why we're different - if you'd accept that, in general, if we remove personal persuasion from the equation; we get more bang-for-the-buck with activities that have higher-replay value (like games).
Thanks for sharing your view on the article, I hope you get a chance to read the rest.
Go Phillies!
Look forward to reading the article on Unpub!
Good stuff.
This actually looks great! The article on "Rule Headaches" looks fantastic! I'm defiantly going to pick up an issue or two.
I love the game reviews!
The section on teaching game rules would be pretty handy.