Mindtwister AB developed Pentago, which is distributed in the US by Mindtwister USA. In the meantime, Mindtwister USA (Mike Richie) has developed his own board games: Element is a Go-like game of surrounding another player’s piece, but you roll a die to see which of four types of stones you place (each with special abilities) or [...]

I wrote the history of Griddly Gamez some time ago, and the new company appears to be thriving and moving away from sports board games. In addition to last year’s release of Wise Alec, they have two new games set for immanent release: Chronicles of the Mind, conversation cards with a few suggestions on how to [...]

The earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has caused massive devastation; since it's a trending topic on Twitter and all over the 24-hour news networks, you don't need to us to tell you about that. Nor is it surprising that the various charitable organizations around the world have sprung into action to help out.

But now you can donate to the relief effort with just a simple text message. By typing in "Haiti" and sending it to 90999, you'll donate $10 to the Red Cross' efforts in Haiti. (It shows up on your next phone bill, or is deducted from your prepaid minutes.) You can still send in money the usual way -- via their website, toll-free number, and snail mail -- but using mobile technology to eliminate the barriers to donation is simply smart.

It's good to be living in the future, even during natural disasters.

(Note: It has been pointed out that the Red Cross has been accepting donations via text message for some time, with the 2HELP program. Specifically, texting "GIVE" to 24357 (aka "2HELP") donates $5 to the Red Cross. The "Haiti" program seems to be the first crisis-specific use of donation-via-text.)

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Last night, after Ross and I spent the day separately -- I hit the last day of the Hong Kong Toy Fair, while Ross took a much-needed break and enjoyed the city -- we wandered back into the streets of Hong Kong to find dinner. After taking the ferry from Wan Chai to Kowloon -- $2.50 HKD, which equals $0.32 in U.S. currency -- we found a shopping mall with a food court. And what awesome food! It was like any food court in a US shopping mall . . . if US shopping malls had food courts packed with authentic and fantastic Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Korean, and Indian food. I settled on beef teriyaki with rice and, after paying my $42 ($5.41 U.S.), I sat down for the best meal of the trip. I guess the secret to great food in Hong Kong is to get out of the tourist districts and find where the locals eat. Cheaper and tastier.

Next on my list is a meeting at my hotel with the same factory rep I tried to meet on Thursday (I mentioned this meeting in Thursday's Daily Illuminator entry). I never did make it to the factory office; from taxi to subway to taxi, I couldn't find anyone willing to take me to a destination that didn't appear on any of my maps of Hong Kong. After far too much time wandering, I returned to the hotel and made arrangements to just meet in the lobby. I would have loved to have seen their offices, but I can't spend my last day in Hong Kong searching for an office when the rep is more than willing to come to me.

After the meeting, that's it for work. I am going to spend the afternoon sightseeing and shopping. Most likely I'll grab a few more toys and try to fit them into my already overflowing suitcases, and then Ross and I plan to meet at 6 and then go out for dinner! Where are we going? The exact same place we went last night, of course!

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St Paul, MN: Man shot to death over an argument at a dice game. (source) Wildwood, FL: Man pulls out an shoots a shot gun over an argument at a card game (no injuries). (source) Beloit, FL: A robbery at a card game in a bar may result in the bar losing its license due to illegal [...]

Last night, after the show, Ross and I set off in search of Capstone, a boardgame cafe hidden somewhere in the winding streets and alleys of Hong Kong's Causeway Bay district. Fortunately, Ross and I now understand that an "F" in an address means floor -- and we've learned that the buildings that don't look at all like a shopping center usually house the best shops and restaurants -- so actually locating the cafe was easier than we expected. Hey, we've got this Hong Kong thing!

This boardgame cafe was a little smaller than the one we visited a few days ago, but no less fun. Capstone was clean, had a great selection of games, and Ross and I weren't there more than two or three minutes before we were offered drinks. (If you care, I chose the ice caramel chocolate, which was fantastic.) And after chatting with Felix, one of the owners of the cafe, Ross and I soon found ourselves sitting down for a game of Summoner Wars. (I lost.)

After thanking our hosts and finding our way back to the street, Ross and I then proceeded to search for Victoria Park, one of Hong Kong's gorgeous parks. The quest led us to the harbor, where we spotted hundreds of junks. No photos of the insanity in the harbor, though, because it was way too dark for my camera to work. The adventure continued as Ross and I looked into dozens of shops, got turned around a few times, tramped through tunnels beneath the city, and otherwise played tourist in one of the busiest cities I've ever visited.

Today's the last day of the Hong Kong Toy Fair, so I'm now setting off for one last look at the booths. I've only got a few hours to explore the exhibit halls before my next meeting with a factory rep. What's this meeting about? Munchkin, but I can't talk about the specific project because it's unannounced, still in development, and is a completely new type of FNORD for us.

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Lots of people find lots of things that put on a deck of playing cards, in the hopes that when the usefulness of the things runs its course, at least you’ll still have a deck of playing cards. Shonfeld’s makes dozens of decks of cards called “52 Ways”, and these are distributed in the UK by [...]