Category: games

bookmark_borderI am a Zazen master

Posted on by thomas


40560_Wii_Fit_zazen
Originally uploaded by gonintendo_flickr

The kids got a shared Wii Fit Plus for Christmas, and I have been using it too, mostly once they’re finally in bed.

I’m OK at many things and quite bad at others, as could be expected.

In general, I seem to be better at yoga than at the supposedly fun games (perhaps harking back to all the yoga I did during PE at high school).

However, I’ve now found my true vocation in life!

Whereas all the others struggle to sit still for more than a minute in the “Zazen” exercise, I managed to get the maximum points (180 seconds without moving at all) after just a couple of attempts.

And it wasn’t just a fluke. Marcel asked how I had done it, so I showed him. 🙂

I really don’t understand why they haven’t added an expert setting – three minutes is far too short a time for true Zazen masters like me! 😉

bookmark_borderWii!

Posted on by thomas

Da vi satte lejligheden i Rosensgade til salg, lovede vi børnene, at vi ville købe en Wii, når den blev solgt.

Men lige siden jeg fik pengene, har jeg desværre haft problemer med, at Wiien var udsolgt hele tiden (eller alt for dyr).

Men så i dag så jeg den endelig til salg på Amazon for £180! Jeg skyndte mig at bestille den, og det var godt, for ti minutter senere var den allerede udsolgt, og nu skal man igen lægge £270.

Selvom £180 lyder som en god pris, er det nu kun begyndelsen. Hvis jeg vil have ekstra controllere, et par spil og en oplader, løber det hurtigt op i lige så meget som konsollen. 🙁

bookmark_borderMore Diplomacy

Posted on by thomas

After talking to the other players, Italy seemed like the most reasonable ally – Russia was too absent, Turkey seemed too untrustworthy, and the other powers are too far removed on the board.

Italy then tempted me with the offer of a bold alliance where I would let him move through my territory (Venice->Trieste->Serbia->Bulgaria), thus confusing the other players and placing us in a really strong position towards Turkey and Russia. I knew this was really dangerous, but I decided I’d rather be bold and either die soon or win than playing a mediocre game.

So far, so good, but Italy has been very quiet recently, so I wonder whether he’s about to stab me in the back. The next moves are due tomorrow, and I’ll know then whether he was really on Turkey’s side or mine.

On the map, I’ve marked the past moves in black, the moves that I’m hoping for in green, and the ones I fear in red.

bookmark_borderDiplomacy

Posted on by thomas

Given that I’ll be on paternity leave for the next fortnight, I thought I’d join a game of Diplomacy, something which I haven’t had time to do for a while.

It’s a game of standard gunboat (= anonymous) Diplomacy, so I won’t reveal the name of the game here, but a map can be found here.

I’m Austria, and so far Italy and Turkey have been very friendly, Germany OK, and Russia hasn’t uttered a single word yet. I would prefer an AIT (Austria-Italy-Turkey) alliance, becoming either AT or AI later, but we’ll see. As England very truthfully put it, “no rumor is worth anything until the
first set of moves are completed”. Basically, everybody will pretend to be my friend until the first moves (due around the weekend), but their actions will reveal who’s been lying and who hasn’t.

I’ll keep you posted.

bookmark_borderDodgy Bank

Posted on by thomas

Yesterday, I introduced Marcel and Charlotte to the boardgame Broker (das Börsenspiel in German).

Normally, Charlotte tends to learn fast, but she didn’t really grasp the concept of buying cheap and selling dear. Marcel, on the other hand, very definitely got the idea, and he won the game with nearly £100k.

Charlotte made one sweet contribution, though: One of the companies traded in the game is Deutsche Bank, but she turned that into Dodgy Bank!