This is a copy of the “script” we used to organise Brainwaves Episode 149. It is not a full transcript but should give you an overview of the news as we reported it. Quotes are in italics.
Headlines
Chess Poisoning & Sexual Harrasment
https://www.chess.com/news/view/russian-chess-player-suspended-after-allegedly-poisoning-her-rival
- Who would have thought that when we started this podcast that Chess would be one of the most controversial games that we cover on a regular basis.
- At the beginning of the month, footage from the Dagestan Chess Championship that was circulated seemed to show Dagestani chess player Amina Abakarova allegedly poisoning the chess pieces to be used by her rival Umayganat Osmanova.
- The footage showed Ms Abakarova walking over to a chessboard where Ms Osmanova was to play on in twenty minutes. She then smeared something that several news outlets reported was mercury from a thermometer on the pieces. Thirty minutes later, Osmanova was suffering from what she described as dizziness and nausea:
“I still feel bad. In the first minutes, I felt a lack of air and a taste of iron in my mouth. I had to spend about five hours on this board. I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t seen it earlier.”
- Allegedly Abakarova had asked previously if the cameras in the room were operational, and was told they were not.
- This animosity apparently stemmed from the Dagestan Rapid Championships a week previously, where Osmanova finished above Abakarova on tiebreaks. According to a confession from Abakarova, she wanted to “knock her opponent out of the tournament,” and had intended to scare her, not harm her.
- Osmanova finished the tournament in second place, and Abakarova is facing up to three years in jail and maybe a lifetime ban from the game.
- We are not done with chess controversy yet
- On the 12th of August, the international chess federation (FIDE) issued a a ban for 5 years against international chess master Andrejs Strebkovs.
- In a detailed report, the organisation lists at least 14 separate letters that the chess master sent to female chess players, some of whom were minors, containing used condoms and pornagraphic material.
- When challenged by FIDE Strebkovs claimed his behaviour had no relevance to the chess federation. FIDE disagreed. From their ruling
- By the definition of harassment as systemic, hostile and repeated actions affecting the dignity of a person, the conduct of the Respondent qualifies as such behaviour. The Respondent´s unwanted and disturbing letters which contain lewd sexual contents is repeated and clearly of a sexual nature. Though at first some of the victims dismissed or thought the envelopes were a joke, some eventually felt the negative, psychological effect. The EDC rejects the Respondent’s position that these envelopes were ‘private correspondence’. One needs only to check a dictionary for the definition of correspondence to know that it includes communication between both parties, known to each other. Sending envelopes under an alias and impersonating other does not qualify as correspondence, especially when there is no element of a reply. Even if the Respondent had sent the letters under his own name, it would not have qualified as” private correspondence”. The main reason for this is that the sender and the recipients were not acquainted with each other. The only connection between them were the fact that they all belong to the FIDE Family.
- Strebkovs has 21 days to appeal. He has not been stripped of his ranking and international master title. When asked by site Polygon why this was the case, FIDE said the offences ‘did not take place in the course of play, like cheating in chess’. It also said ‘We would once again like to reiterate FIDE is committed to protecting every player and to makingchess a safe space for everyone’
Lego and Asmodee build a house
- International plastic brick manufacturer Lego and our corporate overlord Asmodee have announce a multi-year partnership to produce board games together.
- A publishing arm called Dotted Games, based in Denmark, will produce these games.
- Jaume Fabregat, Board Games Lead at Lego Publishing, said this in the press release announcing the partnership
- “We are thrilled to announce that our collaboration with Asmodee – has been a truly inspiring journey. By combining Asmodee’s extensive expertise in board games with the limitless potential of the LEGO system, we are unlocking exponential possibilities for innovation in play. This partnership paves the way for future collaborations that will redefine the LEGO building experience within the tabletop landscape, offering fans unique and distinctive play experiences.”
- Thomas Koegler, deputy COO of Asmodee said
- “Embarking on this journey with the LEGO Group is exciting, combining their timeless creativity with our passion and expertise for games. Together, we aim to build unforgettable experiences that will unite families and friends around the world, one LEGO brick and one shuffle of the deck at a time,”
- The first game from the new studio is called Monkey Palace and will be shown off at Spiel Essen on October the 3rd, and the be available to buy more widely after that.
- The second title is called Brick Like This, a party game that sounds a bit like lego Pictionary to us.
- Jaume Fabregat was interviewed by Mojo Nation about the partnership.
- In that piece he went through the history of Lego and board games. The first Lego board game was published in 1948 and was a collaboration with the Danish transport authority on a game about road safety.
- He touched on the history of ‘Lego Games’ the previous department of the company that was focused on board games. You may have seen some of these games available to buy over the years, including one by Dr Reiner Knizia.
- Fabregat touches on what will make Dotted games different to previous attempts to integrate Lego and boardgames
- In our case with Dotted Games, we aimed to integrate the vast number of construction possibilities of the LEGO System in Play into the core game mechanics. If players enjoy LEGO building, we want them to be constantly building, unbuilding and rebuilding with the bricks. Our goal was to make a board game where players enjoy the endless possibilities the LEGO system.
- The interview dives further into what will make Monkey Palace unique and the various steps on the journey that has led Lego to forming this new studio.
Gen Con sells out
https://www.gencon.com/press/gen-con-2024-breaks-attendance-records-press-release
https://www.gencon.com/press/4daysellout
https://www.gencon.com/press/2024-charity-partners-announcement-tangram-rose-gauntlet
- Gen Con, the largest tabletop gaming convention in North America, announced in a press release dated the 6th of August that this year’s event in Indianapolis, Indiana had over 71,000 unique attendees, which is a new record for the annual event.
- To underline the attendance record, Gen Con previously announced that it had sold out of 4-day badges for the first time.
- Gen Con also confirmed that more than 540 publishers and vendors had been exhibiting, and that nearly 24,000 events and activities took place during this year’s event, including gaming sessions and tournaments, artist and author appearances, film screenings, musical performances and the annual Gen Con Costume Contest.
- Gen Con also raised more than $31,000 for the Rose Gauntlet Foundation, a community-driven initiative supporting underrepresented people within the tabletop industry, and Tangram, a nonprofit organization helping individuals with disabilities.
- The convention, which ran from the 1st to the 4th of August in the Indiana Convention Center, the Lucas Oil Stadium and several hotels, commemorated the 50th anniversary of tabletop roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons with a slate of events that offered a look back at the game’s history. There was even a pop-up Dungeons & Dragons Museum displaying artifacts of the game’s history including previous editions of the game’s rules.
- Additionally, the U.S. Postal Service revealed new Dungeons & Dragons stamps, which were on sale during the convention.
- As the publisher of the game, Wizards of the Coast,hosted live Dungeons & Dragons gaming events, a special tournament and a preview of the game’s future with the release of the hotly anticipated 2024 Player’s Handbook.
Jess Lanzillo, VP of D&D Franchise and Product at Wizards of the Coast, said:“It was so cool being in the audience when Dungeon Master Aabria Iyengar revealed Brennan Lee Mulligan and Anjali Bhimani were both playing secret dragons in the live game. Gen Con 2024 has been an amazing celebration of 50 years of Dungeons & Dragons and a testament to the countless imaginations that have been inspired by this game.”
- David Hoppe, Gen Con’s president, said about this year’s event:
- “Gen Con 2024 was a rousing success and we are once again humbled by the passion of our attendees and the hospitality of Indianapolis. We were proud to join with our attendees on the historic occasion of the 50th anniversary of Dungeons & Dragons to celebrate how much D&D and Gen Con have each grown in scale and cultural influence over the past five decades.”
News
Embracer Numbers
- Embracer Group is a Swedish investment company that owns many computer game studios alongside Asmodee.
- They have just released their quarter 1 earnings report, that’s April to June of this year.
- Overall net sales reduced 24% to 7933 million swedish kroner.
- However the tabletop segment that we are interested in only declined by 5% and is still the largest part of Embracer Group taking 3039 million swedish Kroner
- The Earnings Before Interest and Taxes, or EBIT, of the Tabletop games segment grew 20% year on year to 250 million Swedish Kroner. This was supported by the star wars unlimited card game, the third set of which is coming out later this year.
- Last time we reported on Embracer it had effectively spun Asmodee off into its own company and saddled it with some of the debt the parent company was carrying around. In the statement Lars Wingefore, CEO of Embracer Group, said this
- Asmodee is well-positioned to build on its strategy and continue to prosper as a standalone entity. As per last 12 months June 2024, Asmodee generated net sales of SEK 14.7 billion, with Adjusted EBIT of SEK 2.1 billion and EBITDAC of SEK 2.2 billion. The company has a solid earnings growth outlook, with its strong game portfolio and sales channel presence bolstered by the successful release of in-house developed trading card game Star Wars: Unlimited, which remains in high demand.
- EBITDAC mentioned in this piece is Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Deprecitation, Amortization, and Coronavirus. The last part of that is the impact on companies due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
- The press release concludes
- I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all our team members, shareholders, customers, gamers, and business partners for their ongoing contributions. Together, we are well positioned to achieve our strategic objectives and drive long-term growth. We are living in challenging and difficult times in many places across the world. That makes it even more important and encouraging to see our teams and gamers from near and far coming together to create experiences together, irrespective of distances and boundaries.
Deutscher Spiele Preis 2024 Finalists
https://www.spiel-essen.de/en/program/dsp
- The Deutsche Spiele Preis, an annual board game award run by Merz Verlag, which owns and organizes Spiel Essen, the biggest annual board game fair in Europe, announced the finalists in its two categories: Best Family and Adult Game, and Best Children’s Game.
- Voting was open for about a month to anyone living in Germany, Austria or Switzerland to choose from games published in German between the 1st of May 2023 and the 30th of April 2024.
- The finalists for Best Family and Adult Game are:
- Die weiße Burg (The White Castle) by Sheila Santos and Israel Cendrero from Kosmos / Devir
- Mischwald (Forest Shuffle) by Kosch from Lookout Spiele; the game was also on the longlist for the Kennerspiel des Jahres 2024, the award we previously reported on
- Sky Team by Luc Rémond from Kosmos / Scorpion Masque; which is also the winner of the Spiel des Jahres 2024
- The finalists for Best Children’s Game are:
- Die magischen Schlüssel (Magic Keys) by Markus Slawitscheck and Arno Steinwender from Game Factory / Happy Baobab; which was the Winner of the Kinderspiel des Jahres 2024
- Lecker Lava by Sophia Wagner from Drei Magier; a Kinderspiel des Jahres 2024 longlist entry
- Unlock! Kids – Geschichte aus der Vergangenheit (Stories from the Past) by Marie Fort and Wilfried Fort from Asmodee / Space Cow
- The winners will be announced at a press conference during Spiel Essen.
- Congratulations to all the nominees.
- Discussion: Deutscher Spiele Preis is a different award to those chosen by the Spiel des Jahres jury, but as a people’s award, the choices here are clearly influenced by who won this year’s Spiel des Jahres, Kennerspiel des Jahres or Kinderspiel des Jahres award.
Boardgamearena passes 10 million users
- Boardgamearena, the website where you can play many of your favourite games in a digital form, has surpassed a huge milestone.
- Boardgamearena was acquired by Asmodee in 2021 after attracting a lot of attention during the height of the pandemic as one of the main way folk were managing to play together.
- From the Asmodee press release
- Asmodee and Board Game Arena (BGA), the premier online destination for board game enthusiasts, proudly announce the achievement of surpassing 10 million registered accounts. This significant milestone marks a pivotal moment in the platform’s evolution since its creation in 2010. Originally conceived over a decade ago by two engineers to unite players worldwide, Board Game Arena has blossomed into a cornerstone of the board game community.
- Boardgamearena has two tiers of user. Free accounts can access some games, but subscribers get the full suite of games. The price for the paid tier has risen under Asmodee’s ownership.
- Discussion: It’s clear that the buyout by Asmodee has helped the platform. I can only imagine it is going to keep getting larger as more and more people come to the hobby.
Jobs, Opportunities, and Events
https://www.facebook.com/groups/TabletopJobs
People of Play Young Inventor Challenge
https://www.peopleofplay.com/blog/young-inventor-challenge-registration-is-open
- People of Play, a US-based networking and resource hub for the toy industry, has announced their Young Inventor Challenge.
- The event is open for children aged between 6 and 18 from all over the world.
- To take part, you have to submit your toy and game inventions by the 27th of October.
- If you are able to, you can also take part in the in-person pitching session on the 9th of November.
- All entries are judged by toy industry professionals and participants have the opportunity to win prizes and get their creation published.
International Game Inventors Convention
https://www.spielwarenmesse.de/en/game-inventors-convention
- Spielwarenmesse, the world’s biggest international toy fair held annually in Nuremberg,Germany, and the Bavarian Games Archive, a research centre and archive with a unique collection of more than 40,000 board games spanning five centuries, are jointly organising the International Game Inventors Convention at the Nuremberg Exhibition Centre on Friday, the 31st of January 2025 as part of the Spielwarenmesse trade fair.
- Game designers can register to take part in this event, with package prices starting at EUR 130.00, which includes a space to present prototypes, support and advice from long-standing experts from the International Game Inventors’ Fair in Haar, Germany and the Bayerisches Spielearchiv Haar, also in Germany, as well as entry to a networking event.
- More information can be found on the Spielwarenmesse website, a link to which we will put in the show notes.
SDhistcon
- Tickets are now on sale for SDhistcon. The convention takes place from November the 8th – 11th in San Diego, in Point Loma at the SES Portugese Hall.
- The press release lets you know what to expect from the event
- This year’s convention will continue our tradition of having a compelling mix of historical game designers, publishers, influencers, prototypes, and gamers. Designers will demo games under development and publishers will show off their best and brightest new and upcoming historical games.
- The convention also sees the SDhist Summit award winner announced. This is given out to games that broaden the appeal of historical games by being particularly easy to play and learn, have unique features of play, or have a novel approach to its subject. The award has been running since 2021. You’ll be able to play many of the nominees at the convention before the winner is announced.
Patreon Shoutouts
Kevin Bertram
James Naylor
Shaun Newan
game-a-lot.fun/en
facebook.com/gamealotboardgames
Our Patreon
https://www.patreon.com/thegiantbrain
Fanroll
https://fanrolldice.com/ref/2783
Outro
Tabletop Scotland
- There won’t be an episode next fortnight due to Iain and Jamie being at Tabletop Scotland when we usually record.
- 6th to the 8th of September at the Royal Highland Centre
- Alongside the second annual Giant Brain/Waves pub quiz, there will be panels and some live rpgs, seminars and a film ’Art in Miniature’ about tabletop miniature painting which will be introduced by Ben Porter of Ashenhold Art and ex-Unlucky Frog.
- Loads of play space, huge number of RPGs to take part in, all just outside Edinburgh.
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