Everyone Needs A Shed

Life and Games (but mostly games) from Tony Boydell: Father, Grandfather, Husband and Independent UK Game Designer.

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Lost In Translation

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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A couple of overseas eBay lots for Aleph Null popped up on a recent search and - by crikey! - the descriptions are a bit *ahem* unusual:
From gallery of tonyboydell

"Family Game" and "Solo Game Horror"?!

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"Family Dissection Puzzle?!
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Stopping by...

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
It's quite the period for 'special visits' to the Museum - must be the change of Season? - so I found myself down at The Shambles late Wednesday PM to greet Mr Matt Bayley. He came, from about an hour away, to peruse the cave of treasures and to chat all-things board gaming and to very generously donate a copy of Glory to Rome! As well as being an avid collector of modern games himself, he also runs a side-line business in game-related' tee-shirts (see here: https://www.etsy.com/shop/ShirtsAndMerchStudio) and presented me with a test print of a Black Box GtR tee as well!

Over a slap-up supper at The Kings Arms, we chatted about favourite games, the persistent desire to buy more board games, life and several new tee-shirt ideas including, maybe, me designing a special Snowdonia one - you know: making it a Train as well?!

In the back room, there was a double-figure turnout (huzzah!) and three tables were quickly allocated: Pillars of the Earth (Gary, Steve, Joe), the new Castles of Burgundy (Sandra, Paul, Tom and Dave) and a bijou trio for Snowdonia (myself, Matt and Will).
From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

I have been keen to teach a nervous Will 'Snod' for a while as I think it's realtively-straightforward for a noob; Will is keen but lacks confidence and often gets overwhelmed. Guiding him to a bit of this and that Contract card gave him some direction from the start; then, having completed that, he was able to keep an eye out for another...and so on.

There was plenty of gentle ribbing as I guided him through the first Rounds; overall he seemed to enjoy the experience!
From gallery of tonyboydell


More chat with Matt until the PotE table had done and joined us for Modern Art Card Game:
From gallery of tonyboydell

This seemed to be a two horse race between Joe and Gary from the start as they settled into pushing and exploiting a couple of the artists; my own hand - including the Round 2 and 3 refreshers - seem entirely composed of the two ignored creators and, consequently, I never managed to get a figurative foothold. Joe pipped Gary by just one currency unit ($1000) in the final tally leaving me $100,000 behind in last place.

For the next two weeks, the club will have to get on without me as I have a trip the glorious Bath and Essen Spiel in my diary.
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Fri Sep 22, 2023 6:20 am
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Embrace the magic that the darkness bears; breath deep in the chill and shift in the air.

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
Autumn comes dripping in on the soles of our shoes and the tails of our coats:
From gallery of tonyboydell

It's time to put the Winter duvet back on the bed, stock up on logs for the wood-burning stove and pull the 'slow cooker' from the back of the Pots cupboard. Pretty soon there is Essen Spiel, and, then, the hibernating will begin in earnest.

I'm not one who misses the Sun, or suffers from S.A.D; indeed, the opposite is true as we are now moving into my favourite time of the Year. I love the way the world shrinks around you: the shorter days, the weather that necessitates cocooning-in-clothes, the shuffling closer-together of furniture - a general lifestyle hunkering down as you bid farewell to the Sun until the Springtime.

Bliss.
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Wed Sep 20, 2023 9:00 am
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Mi casa es tu casa

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
Fortune has brought me into a connection with the splendid Mr Dan Hallagan and a bijou project related to his magnum opus Obsession! Back in the way-back-when, I'd had an idea for an Activity tile and our recent discussions about something for Snowdonia: Grand Tour have brought this reciprocal piece back to life as part of a forthcoming Obsession expansion (due October 17th-31th this year)!

In a mechanism that breaks a core rule of the game, the Pony & Trap/Hansom Cab let you make use of activities owned by the other players:
From gallery of tonyboydell


Using someone else's activity won't cause their tile to flip, however.

From gallery of tonyboydell

To be added as part of the general supply (from the bag) rather than a starting piece, I hope to hear many tales of outrage and intrigue.
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Tue Sep 19, 2023 6:20 am
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Meetings

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
Friday was a day of fettling and settling: Daisy and Andy have moved to their first house (bloody lovely place, very exciting for everyone etc) and left a few bits of IVAR shelving behind - like the IKEA Vulture that I am, I pounced upon them and carried them away to my nest the Museum!

I am also trialling my new work laptop and its ability to tether off of my phone thus enabling me to work from The Shambles - I can be on standby for visitors but - more importantly - I can decide to get out of the house and walk to work ie. for the benefit of my mental health!

The Gift Shop - BEFORE
From gallery of tonyboydell


From gallery of tonyboydell

Everything is looking pleasingly-consistent though I could really do with one more shelf layer.

From gallery of tonyboydell

And speaking of 'work', Saturday saw a special visit from three of my workmates who - for the last 24 months - have been icons on Teams meetings (we had never met IRL); from Newport (South Wales) and Bristol, they tootled into Newent in time for a hearty Erol's Breakfast Bap, coffee and what would be four hours of gaming history and work-related chat. I also had them scurrying about the premises in a game of Railway Riot...which was made especially-spicy when the whole of The Shambles suffered a 20 minute power cut:
From gallery of tonyboydell

This gave us an idea for Hallowe'en...

A full and busy day was rounded off with an impromptu trip to the Cinderford Palace Theatre to see A Haunting In Venice - the new Poirot - which me, Mrs B and Arthur enjoyed very much.
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Sun Sep 17, 2023 6:10 am
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Go Figure

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan

Shedlife sometimes presents me with curious things - as in this, from a recent e-mail:
From gallery of tonyboydell

What, on (Base-Plate) Earth, could've happened?!
(speculative events added my me)

TBF, I'd be bricking myself...
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Thu Sep 14, 2023 6:15 am
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caveat emptor, quia ignorare non debuit quod jus alienum emit

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
Avatar
Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
Well, I always thought that our Nanny State was rather over-egging the pudding when it came to Internet Safety; that is, of course, until I experienced the dangers myself.

Bear with me, dear pals, as I may become emotional: this copy of G1 from the 1980s - described as 100% complete - brought my trusted view of the digital domain smashing and crashing to the ground:
From gallery of tonyboydell

There are supposed to be 54 cards in the deck - but there are only 52 in the box; there should be five player rocket ships but only the one made it to my door. As for the 'Bases'?! Well, the good Lord knows wheretofore they have wandered!
From gallery of tonyboydell

Without hesitation, I turned to eBay for assistance and the vendor immediately apologised and refunded my money...
From gallery of tonyboydell

...I'm not sure I can ever recover from this trauma.

To add insult to (grevious) injury, this 90 year old edition of Trilos - noted with "all parts and pieces" - was delivered on the same day and - woe upon stomach-churning woe - it was missing its rulebook!
From gallery of tonyboydell

I had to - gasp - go online and download a previously-scanned PDF! Though, to be fair, BGG has everything you need to know right here:
Quote:
Trilos is a game system featuring Triangular Dominoes (twenty-four Trilos and one Joker,) two playing boards, and two tile holders that include clips for tracking scores. Each Trilo has a number of pips along each side, one through nine, and has a white face on one side, black on the other. The spots on each side are the same, so that on one side the numbers run clockwise, the other anti-clockwise, which is indicated by an extra mark.

The rules describe these games for play with Trilos:
Dom Trilo – a game of drawing Trilos and matching them on a table, in an attempt to rid one's hand of any remaining tiles
Stones and Windows – two players match randomly drawn Trilos around the blank edges of the small board (a triangular grid of 10 triangles the same size as the Trilos.) The goal is to be the first to use all one's Trilos or, if reaching an unplayable position, to score the fewest points on remaining Trilos.
Rummy Trilo – three players draw seven Trilos and privately try to match a pattern drawn in the rulebook, taking turns swapping out pieces until someone completes the pattern.
Crazy Pavement – a more complicated version of Stones and Windows, with players trying to match pieces around the numbered sides of the small board, tracking several different ways to score points. When the game becomes unplayable, the score determines the winner.
Khuti – two players lay Trilos on the larger board (which features a grid of twenty-two triangles,) attempting to fill the board while outscoring each other.
Khefren – two players engage in a slightly less difficult version of the above game, Khuti.
Two Patience Games – there are two solitaire games included in the rules, Pyramid Patience and Trilex Patience.
Troulette – a game of chance utilizing a scoring board drawn in the rules and the Trilos pieces.
From gallery of tonyboydell

What alchemy is this? Boards that don't fold along a line of symmetry?

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

A player's tile display 'standing' mechanism

From gallery of tonyboydell


I just have to nip off for a bit of a lie-down; it's all so stressful!
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Wed Sep 13, 2023 6:20 am
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I can lock all my doors, it's the only way to live...

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
Unspecified
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
Avatar
Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
Newent Town is not very good when it comes to self-promotion; indeed, the council seem reluctant to take charge and - instead - rely on busybodies and enthusiastic amateurs to organise pretty much anything! Pre-Covid, the annual Onion Fair - put together by volunteers - would easily bring 5000+ folks into the sleepy streets for a full day of spending, sunshine (usually) and fun; the viral times brought an abrupt end to the tradition and we're left to see the Summer melt into the Autumn with barely a whimper.

Huzzah!, then, for the Rotarians who decided to put on a Vintage Car Show this weekend - albeit at the Cricket Club about a mile away from the Town Centre - that was well-advertised (in plenty of time) and, as it turned out, well attended (500 people?) too! Arthur and I walked through the back lanes, in the humid early morning, and arrived just before the official 10AM start; machines of great beauty and interest were still turning up, so we set about our zig-zagging tour of these mechanical friends:
From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

Sublime.

From gallery of tonyboydell

Ridiculous.

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

Yellow car no returns...for 3 points!

We explained the 'Yellow Car' game to the owners - much to their delight - and how this might explain any funny looks and pointing they might notice in the future

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

Our favourite of the day: a gorgeous, Series 3 (V12), export E-Type

Arty and I had a lovely chat with the owners about how the gentleman had dreamed of owning an E-Type since Primary School (something for Arthur to cling on to as this is his ambition too) and how they, eventually, acquired it. They even got the engine running so we could listen to the glorious purr of it!
From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

Le Mans 66! This GT is a thrilling piece; we actually followed it home down a jammed lane a bit later - it made a wonderful growling!

From gallery of tonyboydell

You could've picked this Fiat up and put it in your pocket!

From gallery of tonyboydell

Arthur helped the owner do some restoration work on this 2CV in the Spring!

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

You're nicked!

From gallery of tonyboydell

From gallery of tonyboydell

A barn find?!

The Grandfather of the chap who gave Arthur a Summer job helping at a garage found this beast tucked in a local barn - forgotten, dusty and unloved; within two hours, he'd gotten the engine running. Despite some severe rusting in places, it's a grand example and drew much admiration from passers-by.
From gallery of tonyboydell

A convoy of Lotuses and a shiny AC snarled into the field at one point; later there was a train of Austin 7s and a crocodile of tractors.
From gallery of tonyboydell

Bonnets (hoods) and boots (trunks) open; picnic chairs and flasks of tea; the smell of hot oil; loud, deeply-technical discussions - it was a bazaar of automotive treats!
From gallery of tonyboydell

Despite a storm blowing in at lunchtime, my boy and me had a full two-and-a-half hours of happy wandering; I'm not really a petrol head myself but I do like an old car.

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Tue Sep 12, 2023 6:05 am
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F.O.B.I.

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Board Game Designer
Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
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F.O.B.I: (abbrev) The Fear of Becoming Incomplete

A compounding, emotional state similar to - but distinct from - FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) that relates to games a gamer already has rather than those not yet purchased. More specifically, it is the urge behind the continued purchase of expansions, add-ons and promotional items in order to maintain a product's completeness; this is due to products being virtually-unsaleable on the secondary market if they're not comprised of 100% of the publisher's release history 'to date'*.

The severity of FOBI is proportional to the length of time the product has been curated within the owner's collection and is exponential.

Recent, serious outbreaks of FOBI have been associated with Terraforming Mars and Root.

*see also Unrealistic Future Value Syndrome and Creosote's Disease
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Sat Sep 9, 2023 6:10 am
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The Lilliputians

Anthony Boydell
United Kingdom
Newent. Glos
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Every homo sapiens needs an outbuilding within the curtelage of their property
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Welcome...to my Shed!
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Microbadge: I love Europe!Microbadge: 5 Games for Doomsday fanMicrobadge: Talk Talk fanMicrobadge: Citizenship Recognition - Level VI -  Is six any more shiny? ... Well, it's one shinier isn't it? ... Okay, why don't you just make five a bit more shiny and then that would be the most shiny? ... Because these go to six.Microbadge: Iain Banks fan
Both of the Batesons - that's Ben (Boffo) and Becky (Smudge) - have their birthdays at the end of the Summer and like to celebrate with an open house. I've lost almost all contact with the Friday gathering at The Drop Inn for a number of reasons and, so, like to pop along whenever I can to their cheery, little abode; a sea of familiar faces greeted me after I'd squeezed the Volvo on a slim sliver of drive space:
From gallery of tonyboydell

We opened with a 'full 7' 7 Wonders with a sprinkle of Cities; Gerv and I tying for the win in Game 1 and everyone within a point of each other in the second:
From gallery of tonyboydell

Ian had to leave, so the remaining six set up an expanded Pictures and paused to dive into the tremendous cheese and meat buffet our hosts - via their local pub - had laid on: *burp*

With full tummies, Pictures continued with us using some new materials - the Azul-like tiles and the pegs/orange felt:
From gallery of tonyboydell

Becky's amusing 'ascanse' view of the World had the rest of us scratching our heads until we all settled on the maxim "Whatever you THINK she's constructed, discount it and pick something else entirely" - this worked for a couple of rounds when she had a 100% hit-rate. However, I seemed to be the most 'in tune' and snuck a couple of points ahead for victory!

Things and stuff at home brought a premature end to my away-day - I was very much hoping for a Ben, Becky and Tony 'Gric - and so I left everyone to the sunniest of September afternoons. A disappointingly-brief encounter but - for the couple of hours - a rich and delightful one.
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Wed Sep 6, 2023 6:20 am
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