Weekend in Viana do Castelo, Portugal

 

Friday afternoon, October 21. Time to head north towards Viana do Castelo, for the third convention of the year, after LeiriaCon and RiaCon. This time, finally, for a full stay, to make the most of this opportunity for encounters, re-encounters, and discoveries at the table. 

A road trip in tones of gray, anticipating the contrast with the colours awaiting for us. Arriving just in time for the check-in, a glance at Santa Luzia’s hill, already in the darkness, and a quick dinner in an almost deserted place, where a football match was more discussed than watched.

VianaCon had indeed already begun in the afternoon, with a session addressed to schools. For me, it began in the evening, at the Café Concerto of the Theater Sá de Miranda, a different setting for welcoming participants and occasional visitors. 

Time for the first meetings, a table to avoid the more traditional seats, a quiz about games, what else, and a first prototype to try out. In the company of Pedro Santos and Maria Mota, both very strong in the questions and answers, and André Santos, the author of the game, which follows a Roll'n Write developed in pandemic times, and Neotopia, soon to be published. Serious prototype riding, stretching strategies to the limit, discussing processes, debating fine-tuning.

Saturday, the first day at the Cultural and Congress Center, with a cozy interior made of wooden tones, and the Lima River just outside the windows. An excellent venue for this kind of events, with tables of generous dimensions. Maybe a coffee zone was the single item missing, to reset the levels throughout the day!

Meeting people. Marlene and Luís, from Salta da Caixa, and their new projects that will bring more games in Portuguese. Manuel, from the boardgame café A Jogar é que a gente se entende, even when having the youngest family member sleeping in his lap (not yet the opportunity to pay visit to the café…). Luís Baixinho, one of the organizers, with whom we talked about science fiction and teaching (both fans of the brilliant short story Profession, by Isaac Asimov), and from Lego to board games of the 80s. Pedro Kerouac, a familiar partner at these conventions. Hugo, with some games in development, and a play test scheduled for InvictaCon. Nuno Rebelo and the future of the Boardgamers of Aveiro. Among others.

Also a first meeting with João Cotrim, partner in recent translations and proofreading of rule books, for the Belgian company The Geeky Pen.

Then, finally (!), it was time to meet Orlando Sá in person. Our first contacts began, like so many others, in Facebook gaming groups. Later, came an unexpected invitation to try out Rossio, one of his boardgames, then in the near-final development stage, and the fine-tuning of the solo mode. The collaborations went on to the most recent published game of his, Pessoa, and extended to various conversations and ideas, cycling included. It is so great that, in this gaming world, we may use virtual and physical spaces, taking advantage of both!

This time around, even with an added bonus: a very interesting workshop on the creation and development of games, from idea to prototypes, from play tests to rule books, from the home table to pitching to publishers.

Afterwards, it was time to play and to discover new games. If, in Leiria, I almost exclusively played prototypes, in different stages of development, this time around I opted to play games already published, recent ones or not that much. Sharing with Tiago, Sérgio, Eduardo, Filipa, Nuno, Pedro Kerouac and Luís Júnior.

Glory to Rome - Managing characters to rebuild the city 

Parks - Hiking across US National Parks

Sobek - Gathering resources in Ancient Egypt

Abomination - In the footsteps of Frankenstein

Viticulture - Wine making in Tuscany

I will be King

 

The Grand Island has lost its King. And, as many stories go, there were the Scots, the Welsh, and the English. You are neither. You are a noble man vying for the throne. But you are not the only one.

You seek to influence the balance of power, in each one of the eight regions, while seeking to get support from the different factions. There is, however, a catch. Each supporter entering your court, is one less counting for faction majority over the land. And do not forget, when a power struggle is settled in a region, its result is carved in stone, no changing allegiances, until the very end.

Plus, you may have far-reaching actions, but the number of choices is limited. No more than eight, each to be used one single time. And you do know your rivals’ hands are just the same. That is why timing becomes so more important. When to wait, observe, and pass. When to act. Which action to select. 

As if this would not be enough, there are the French, those black shadows hovering across the channel, patiently waiting for the void of power, or for mayhem, to invade the island! Even so, that still may play into your hands, not by becoming king, but instead the unifying leader that will fight back the invasion. 

The King is Dead, a fascinating creation by Peer Sylvester, illustrated by Benoit Billion, and published by Osprey Games. Very easy to learn, yet hard to master as each decision is a dilemma, extremely balanced and always tense, appealing both to casual and seasoned players. 

Summer works

    “In the land of dreams, you may be yourself (…)”, Jorge Palma

Holidays! Synonym for a long-desired pause on the work-work. At home with no schedules. On the road, drawing lines across the country. From north to south, from west to east, and back. Appointments with the blue, the waters, and the skies. Hot afternoons. Warm nights. Family, in larger or smaller numbers.

A word meaning time for games played. But, also, for games-worked on. Collaborations renewing themselves, checking-in without notice. One-off collaborations. New challenges. Projects hovering over the calendar, as in a suspension state. The search for the next to be project.

The agenda, constantly changing, remained filled, demanding time and space. Time, most often nocturnal. The usual space, the cozy living room, the lamp chasing away the dimness, the same desk, the chair, the soft light of a second screen, shelves in the background. All to be replaced for a couple of weeks. Because all it takes is just a laptop connected to the world, a more or less improvised place, a few schedule adjustments, and the work continues.

Summer brushstrokes, wandering in the land of games, crossing time-zones.

The Board Game Workshop (United States of America). Juror and Mentor. These are the roles I've been taking on since 2019 in the contest for games in development, run every year by Chris Anderson. The main objective is not to award notes and rank. The underlying intention is to make a contribution to the improvement of games yet to be, by commenting and discussing. I especially enjoy the mentor role, let us call it this way, for games that have been selected in first stage of the contest. A unique opportunity to meet new authors and have a first in-depth look at ongoing projects, to better understand motivations and choices, to enter that space beyond the curtains.

In this year's edition I followed two completely different projects. One abstract in essence, another with surfing as the theme. The first, with some complexity, calling for thought ad reflection. The second, for more relaxed moments, in a group-play, suitable for various audiences. Originating from very different geographies, Canada, and Australia. Conversations at a distance, five time zones back, ten forward. Sharing opinions, discussing processes, debating options, commenting, questioning suggesting. About the game itself, about writing rules, about presentation videos. On the way to the third stage of the competition, who knows, or on a route of its own, already beyond the contest. 

Want to try it? As authors or as jurors? 2023 is just around the corner, and registration is always open to everyone.

The Geeky Pen (Bélgica). (Belgium). Translate. Play with words and phrases. Sense, style, accuracy. Learning new terms. Looking for solutions. Imagining alternatives. Increasing the accessibility of games. In Portuguese.

The collaboration with this translation company, created in 2015 by Jo Lefebure, and specialized in games, is already one of my most regular ones, almost reaching two dozen of titles translated to Portuguese, in as many months. Regular, but always unpredictable, as it is the norm in this line of work.

This time, two messages arriving in the middle of August. One of them for a much longer rulebook than has been usual to date, suitable for a game of medium complexity, and requiring some thematic research work. Let's see if it's a new trend, or just an isolated event.

Gold Mountain Games (United Kingdom). Editing, reviewing. Seizing the meaning, verifying the consistency, questioning, suggesting, rectifying, preserving the authors' voice. Descriptions of continents, islands, and seas. Fauna and flora. Villages and cities. Multiple races and monsters aplenty. With history and stories. Cultures. Personalities. Skills. A world in creation, coming to life through texts, illustrations, and music. To be inhabited by adventurous players. To inspire the Game Master.

This is a company creating content for role playing games, narrative games, 5th edition compatible. And it is one of the brand-new projects and collaborations, as part of the team in charge of editing the texts. Together with people from different geographies. Right in the core of the narrative. Giving use to many years of editing and reviewing, in the most varied contexts and with the most varied themes.

August 2022. And so, it started!

Hollandspiele (United States of America). Playing, testing, reporting, detailing results, describing experiences, commenting. Repeating. Test, report, evolve. Test, report, evolve. Essential parts of game development. Always with an eye on the rules, of course, just because I do love those manuals that draw us into the gaming experience.

Testing through digital platforms, convenient, cost-effective, allowing to overcome distances and bypass time zones. Granted, they don't convey the same sensations as the real thing, at least for me. But they are the ones making these interactions possible and widespread! 

That Others May Live is a solo game about aerial search and rescue operations, in the Vietnam War. Tense, with the pressure of time draining away, and with the uncertainty of the positioning and behaviour of enemy forces. A creation by Brad Smith, about which you may read here, with development of Ryan Heilman, for Hollandspiele, an original publisher, who does not blink when engaging with sensitive topics, be it the politics of slavery, conflicts, or the challenges of rehabilitation following a brain injury!