70 days

March 16, 2020. Confinement Day 1. An inevitable outcome, given what was known. It had just become a matter of when, and the when is now.

The day is still divided into two halves. The work-work one, remaining almost identical for most of the days, mainly lived in front of a computer screen. Even if the work-regime has changed, the word tele has been added to the word work, and the desk is not the same. Yes, the former desk is now out of sight; however, the distance to those on the other side of the network wires is in fact, for practical matters, undifferentiated.

The transitioning to the second half, the work-games one, is no longer made by means of a walk across the city, shorter or longer depending on the route chosen, and depending on the need to extend the interval between these two half-lives. It has now been replaced by a walk on the treadmill, in front of a wall or a window, by a change of room, or by a mere computer exchange, turning off the first and turning on the second one.

Everything else, all those other places that used to be part of ordinary days, seem to have come to standstill, receded, faded.

Cancellations in the world of work-games had begun, shortly before.

The first to fall was LeiriaCon, scheduled for late March. In last year’s edition I only attended it on Sunday, the final day. For this year’s edition I was aiming higher, wanting to experience the full deal, a complete immersion in games, from Thursday to Sunday! Holidays were granted and the accommodation booked. My own schedule was getting regular updates: a match of Newton with João Neves, waiting to be since Invicta Con; a presentation at Leiria Talks, to make people travel across five decades in ten minutes; a seminar by Paul Grogan on teaching and demoing games; the première of the game Rossio; a number of real meetings with people only known from the virtual space, such as Orlando Sá; meetings with publishers, creators, players and other accomplices, from Portugal and abroad; playing prototypes still undergoing  development; playing games; getting the latest edition of Madeira, and also Star Wars Outer Rim. A truly promising event! Plans now on hold, postponed, discontinued.

Almost simultaneously, another cancelled: the realization of a first exhibition of boardgames, in the University library, in Aveiro, with a selection of some of "my” game, from then and now, and of a few more, thanks to the collaboration of several publishers. It remains as an intention, an unfinished sketch, a plan, a possibility, waiting for a future.

Naturally, the regular game meetings promoted by Boardgamers Group of Aveiro, always an occasion to meet people, play games and photograph, have also been suspended till further notice.

And a couple of weeks later, since the current crisis was here to last, it was the turn for the cancelled of RiaCon, in Estarreja.

However, the work-games continued, despite the uncertainties, since much of it is done solo and at distance. Ideas continue to spring, projects to be developed, collaborations to be needed.

A few more prototype tests across digital platforms, with Dawson, Pedro Silva or Andrew Bosley.
Translation or revision of rules for games shared for free, a trend that has grown rapidly in these times, such as Paper Roll & Write, by Orlando Sá, André Santos and Pedro Kerouac, or Par Odin, from the French publisher Old Chap Games.

Translation or revision of game rules, within ongoing or prospective collaborations, always trying to broaden the range of board games available in Portuguese, and to ensure that finalised rules make it easier to discover new games, and contribute to a more enjoyable experience. Contacts across the globe, from Taiwan to Salt Lake City, Seville to Linköping or Minneapolis.

And some more pages were added to the notebooks I keep around for recording loose ideas and for a game in development.

To the work-games one need to add the games played, either in solitaire, at two and event at three player count, taking advantage of the fact that the household gained one more inhabitant, during these times, as well as an additional observer, who quickly exchanged the temptation to knock down meeples and tokens by the coziness of game boxes, things that only cats understand.

Time for diversifying experiences, more than to delve into the depths of a few games, perhaps as a contrast to the new routines, which do not allow for much variation. A combination of regular games, long-awaited debuts, and even recent acquisitions, hit the table: Arboretum (or the difficult art of combining card placement and hand management and control), Azul (already a house classic), Glen More (always a favourite), Jetpack Joyride (a fun race with simultaneous action), Kanagawa (beautiful, one of the recent acquisitions), Keltis (another safe choice), Keyflower (first time played and immediately a fan), Kingdom Defenders (a pleasant surprise, won in a raffle at RiaCon 2019), Photosynthesis (beautiful and original), Sagrada (in puzzle mode), Santorini (still with much to explore, strategy-wise, and wanting to paint some houses), Solenia (another one with original mechanisms and very interesting to play), Suburbia (this one had to be solo), Takenoko (entering the kingdom of the Giant Pandas), Tsuro (within the labyrinth) and Yangtze (another regular)
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I have not yet become a fan of online platforms for board games, whether BoardGameArena, Tabletopia or TableTopSimulator. It might be due to the scarce experience I have with them, only a Tzolk'in play, thanks to Pedro's invitation, and some prototype tests. Most probably because I also have a chance to play at home, during these times. What strikes me most is that the difference between digital games and board games gets blurred, when the board is gone, and the screen is ever present. There is something missing: the people around the table, the looks, the touch, the sounds. I believe that, all things taken into consideration, it will be more interesting to play games at distance when each player uses his own copy, or a shared copy is used, and people are connected by video and sound. But then again, this can not be used for all games around.

May 24, 2020. Confinement Day 70. Tomorrow will begin a mixed regime at work-work. The regime in work-games remains at distance.