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In this game, YOU are the finance minister of a country undergoing forced austerity measures. I’m not surprised that it swept the awards, and I’ll be even less surprised to hear a major publisher picks up the design in a year or two. This is one of those rare games that is fun to play, simple to learn, but also culturally relevant. Honors: Best Overall Game, Best Small Game, Best Hotel Game, Best Written Rules, Most Thematic Game (3rd) and Most Innovative Mechanic (3rd) When it comes to trying out a print-and-play game, I find it’s a lot easier to figure out VASSAL’s hotkeys than it is to craft a decent-looking physical copy, although I’m not exactly the most crafty guy. Many of the games from this year’s contest had a VASSAL module created for them through the generosity of BGG user Chad Mestdagh, and I’ll try to link to them when possible. This is a tabletop simulation, though, not an app, so the modules will do very little, if anything, to help you run the game or enforce the rules. There’s a massive catalog of “modules” available including professionally published, print-and-play and out-of-print games (including Eminent Domain, Machi Koro, Star Trek: Fleet Captains, and Star Wars: Imperial Assault), all of which you can try absolutely free, with the publisher’s blessing, for the onetime hassle of learning VASSAL’s somewhat arcane interaction interface. It’s a free, open-source engine for simulating tabletop games of all levels of complexity, supporting real-time online multiplayer, hotseat, play-by-email, and of course solitaire.
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VASSAL MODULE BATTLE FLEET GOTHIC SERIES
This series of short reviews has been a long time coming we started working on them before the final votes were cast, but just because the contest is over doesn’t mean these games are any less worth playing.Īlthough it’s likely to be overshadowed by Tabletopia, the subscription-based popular tabletop simulator that went through Kickstarter in September, VASSAL is an essential tool for the budding board game enthusiast. I begged the assistance of a board gaming friend, Ben Tieman, to help me cover this year’s Solitaire Print-and-Play Contest more widely than I otherwise could have. I don’t mean just the designers, either, but also the artists and graphic designers who donate their talents to enhance their favorite entries, the programmers who create digital translations of the games, and the many players who take the time to print, cut and assemble works-in-progress to help the designers make their games the best that they can be. One of the most stunning displays of generosity, though, are those gamers who devote their time to one of the several annual Print-and-Play Design Contests, a sort of elongated Ludum Dare that results in dozens of high-quality free-to-play games every year. There’s also the life-saving Spare Parts list and countless other acts of generosity, including the occasional “Hey, I accidentally bought two of this game, who wants one?” Tales of Midas-like philanthropy have made BoardGameGeek’s annual, international Secret Santa program a thing of legend, with certain generous donors well exceeding the $50 gift minimum and even picking up the slack for the inevitable Scrooge McDucks. Sure, you still have your share of hypercompetitive jerks, but something about the still-niche nature of the hobby encourages a tightknit community predicated on mutual generosity.
![vassal module battle fleet gothic vassal module battle fleet gothic](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/nHMAAOSw4PlfaBhc/s-l640.jpg)
As never ceases to amaze me, board gamers are just good people. In the land of the video game, trolls, cynics, misanthropes, and angry nerds are king. I experienced the biggest culture shock of my life when I transitioned from this world into board gaming.