Review: FREEZE

For over a decade, I've enjoyed watching improvisational comedy both live and on television. There was a time, in fact, when I was so addicted that I requested my parents send me videotaped episodes of Who's Line is it, Anyway? from the U.S. I took notes on the different improv games and situations, and soon hosted improv parties with my friends and youth group in Berlin. There was, of course, the occasional over- or under-acting among the amateurs I assembled, but I was always astounded by the creativity and humor that almost always emerged from each skit. Rarely did anything fall completely flat, and we often laughed so much, we were literally gasping for air.

I have often thought about how one could turn one of these improv games into a successful party board game and can happily report that a new game – Freeze, released at the Spiel 2010 convention – has done just that. Fellow Berlin designer Andrea Meyer has teamed up with Hans-Peter Stoll – himself an improv actor in an amateur theater group – to create what will arguably be the game most likely to draw a crowd in Essen this year.

POSTCARD FROM BERLIN #48: My Favorite Things

My latest article in the Postcards From Berlin series is up on the Opinionated Games website. It's that time of year to discuss favorite games of 2010, and I take inspiration from John Coltrane in writing about "my favorite things."

Games in Galleries

The Family Center where I work was recently turned into a gallery by a group of visiting artists.  As some of them transformed the main room into an exhibition space, others performed music while a friend from a local catering service demonstrated how to cook some amazing Thai recipes.  Together with some inviting Spring weather and opportunity for children to make their own art outside, it made for a very creative and festive atmosphere.

I thought it would also provide a good opportunity to present my game-as-art project, War Game: A Prototype For Peace, in a better context.  Up until now, I had only tested the game during a game night or prototype-testing session, where it was compared to other games that were meant mainly as entertainment.  This would, instead, be an opportunity for people who are unfamiliar with the gaming culture to approach this as a work of art.  At least, that was my hope.

Emotionally Repressed?

If you've ever been witness to a Chess tournament, you know what I'm talking about. A pin dropping might cause one of the contestants to jump out of his or her seat. It's that quiet. I stumbled upon a tournament while I was in Macedonia several years ago. And from what I've seen in films about these kinds of events, I could have been anywhere. That stoic Chess-player is also the typical image the general public has of a modern boardgamer.

As I visited a recent gaming event in Berlin, I did, in fact, notice a similar atmosphere. Sure, there were intermittent discussions and laughter between games, but most of the players were intently engaged in the components on their respective tables.

Afterwards, I began to wonder if gamers repress their emotions more than the average person. And I began to think about games that actually encourage this: namely those with bluffing elements. There's nothing more somber, after all (and filled with latent tension) then watching a high-stakes Poker match. They don't call them "Poker faces" for nothing.

GAME DESIGN TV - Part IV: Showtime

I already wrote about my experiences in filming a segment on game design for the ARTE program X:enius (see Part I, Part II, and Part II on this blog). The show was aired this week, and will only be online until next week. Furthermore, it is unfortunately blocked to viewers from the U.S. Below is a brief description of the final show, which lasted 26 minutes:

“Warum wir spielen, und was wir dadurch lernen (Why we play and what we learn from it)”

The program opens with the moderators, Dörthe und Pierre playing a large-scale game of Scotland Yard in the streets of Berlin with the help of an iPhone App. They discuss the enormity of the computer game market which transitions to a segment on South Korea, where professional gamers, earning 6-figure salaries, compete in the computer game Starcraft live, in front of 120,000 fans.

Air Time

The timing is funny, but my games have been featured in two separate news shows about modern gaming in the past two weeks--one on each side of the ocean.

The first aired on April 3rd on CBS Sunday Morning News, in which moderator Mo Rocca played a game of Piece o' Cake at the GENCON convention. The program, entitled Board Games Through the Ages, is also online.

Today, a show is airing on German/French TV station ARTE on their news program X:enius discussing the history of playing games and the modern developments in computer games and traditional board games. They visit the Spielwiese and film the development of one of my unpublished games from inspiration to prototype. The program is also already online in German and in French.

Unfortunately, the program is only viewable online in Germany and France, I believe. Here's the official description:

Ob Brettspiele, Computerspiele oder Rollenspiele, allein oder mit Freunden und der Familie - fest steht, der Spieltrieb steckt in jedem von uns. Gesellschaftsspiele gehören zu den ältesten kulturellen Ausdrucksformen der Menschen, noch vor Schrift- und Lesekultur. Doch auch Computerspiele sind schon lange keine einsame Angelegenheit mehr.

In Korea werden die Computerspiel-Wettkämpfe der Gaming-Liga bereits in großen Stadien vor gut 100.000 Zuschauern abgehalten. Aber warum spielen wir und was lernen wir dadurch? Und was macht ein gutes Spiel aus? Dörthe Eickelberg und Pierre Girard erfahren von einem Spieleentwickler, wie Spiele konzipiert werden und dürfen dabei exklusiv einen bisher noch geheimen Prototypen testen.