Erik Arneson's Blog, page 5
October 31, 2020
Half Truth Trivia Game #3
This trivia game is inspired by the board game Half Truth, designed by Richard Garfield and Ken Jennings and published by Studio71 Games.
In each of the two groups in the image above, 3 answers are correct.
You guess 1, 2 or 3 answers. Guessing 3 can score more points, but it’s risky! If you get 1 right, you earn 1 point. Getting 2 right earns you 3 points, and getting 3 right earns you 6 points. BUT — and this is very important! — if you get ANY wrong, you earn ZERO points.
Each group is score...
October 27, 2020
Author Diary at BoardGameGeek
The fine folks at BoardGameGeek.com have allowed me to go on at some length about the process of writing HOW TO HOST A GAME NIGHT.
Read my Author Diary here!
BoardGameGeek, if you’re not familiar with it, is an amazing website for fans of board games and card games. (There are two companion sites: RPGGeek and VideoGameGeek.) BGG has far too many features to list here, but the Top 100 Games list (as voted by the users of BGG) is always interesting, as is the
For James Miller
Today is the official release date for my book HOW TO HOST A GAME NIGHT, and I’d like to focus a bit on one single page in the book.
The dedication page.
In the first chapter, I quote my good friend James Miller quite a bit. I describe James as “my favorite person to learn a new game from,” which is no exaggeration. He was an absolute master at teaching game rules — and he was very generous in answering a lot of questions so that I could share many of his tips and techniques in the book. (If yo...
Board Game Trivia – Tonight on Zoom!
It’s release day for my book HOW TO HOST A GAME NIGHT!
To help celebrate, I’m hosting a free trivia game all about tabletop games tonight on Zoom — please join the fun!
This trivia game features five rounds — each completely different from the others — and it can be played by individuals or by teams. (If you play with a team, just be sure you have a way to consult each other that won’t be heard by others on the Zoom. Discord, texting, and using the private chat feature on Zoom can all work.)
The...
October 25, 2020
List-O-Mania Trivia Game #1
This week’s trivia game is inspired by the terrific game show America Says, which is hosted by John Michael Higgins and airs on the Game Show Network.
It’s pretty simple: Just fill in the blanks! (Click on the image, or here, for a larger version.)
Each correct answer is worth 1 point.
BONUS POINTS:
+2 for completing “Fast Food Chains”
+3 for completing “Top-Grossing Movies”
+5 for completing “European Auto Makers”
I should let you know a few things:
First, pay close attention to the length of ...
October 24, 2020
My Essen Spiel 2020 Want List
Every year, the massive Spiel game fair in Essen highlights dozens (even hundreds) of recently released and soon-to-be-released games.
Here’s a look at 10 games featured at this years Spiel — and it was hard to narrow this list to just 10 games, because I’m leaving off plenty of games that I’m eager to try — that I’m most looking forward to.
1. Pandemic Legacy: Season 0. I playtested the first several months of this game a while ago and I’ve been eager to play it ever since.
2. Detective: Season...
October 20, 2020
Alan R. Moon’s Thoughts on How to Host a Game Night
When you write a book, you never know how people will react to it. You hope they’ll like it, of course, but it’s an art, not a science.
I’m very proud of HOW TO HOST A GAME NIGHT, and I think people will enjoy it. I have my fingers crossed that they will. But there’s no way to be sure.
So I was thrilled when, after sending him an early copy of the book, Alan R. Moon — designer of TICKET TO RIDE, ELFENLAND, ELFENROADS, and so many other great games — had this to say:
“Erik Arneson is one of Ameri...
My Mind is Boggled
I own two versions of the word game Boggle, one from 1977 and the other from 2003. While continuing to whittle down my game collection to a more reasonable size (it once topped 1,000 games) and after consulting with my wife, I decided there was no need to own two copies of Boggle.
But which one to keep?
October 18, 2020
Half Truth Trivia Game #2
This week’s trivia game is inspired by the board game Half Truth, designed by Richard Garfield and Ken Jennings and published by Studio71 Games.
In each of the two groups in the image above, 3 answers are correct.
You guess 1, 2 or 3 answers. Guessing 3 can score more points, but it’s risky!
If you get 1 right, you earn 1 point. Getting 2 right earns you 3 points, and getting 3 right earns you 6 points.
BUT — and this is very important! — if you get ANY wrong, you earn ZERO points.
Each group i...
October 13, 2020
Board Game Trivia on Zoom!
To help celebrate the Oct. 27 launch of my book HOW TO HOST A GAME NIGHT (available for pre-order now!), I’m hosting a series of free trivia games on Zoom all about tabletop games.
If you love board games and card games, join in! I think you’ll have a lot of fun.
This trivia game features five rounds — each completely different from the others — and it can be played by individuals or by teams. (If you play with a team, just be sure you have a way to consult each other that won’t be heard by othe...
