Designer Games Events SG

Gaming Lallapalooza '08

2008-02-05T23:53:00.002+08:00

Gaming Lallapalooza '08 - Tertiary-Level Tabletop Games Challenge 2008

By NUS Tabletop Gaming Interest Group

This will be an exciting gathering for boardgamers! A total of 5 boardgames will be featured: Settlers of Catan, Dividends, Ticket to Ride, Sudoku and Blokus. So if you think you have what it takes to be the master gamer of these games, register early as vacancies are limited. Now It's Your Move!

Winners will walk away with cash prizes, vouchers and much more!

Day / Time: 28 Feb 2008

Venue: NTU Auditorium

Contact TGIG @ boardgameinterestgroup@gmail.com for any queries

Organising a gaming event? Write to us at info@settlerscafe.com to list with us!

Singapore Board Games League (SBGL) 2008

2008-01-07T09:51:00.000+08:00

Introduction

The Singapore Board Games League (SBGL) was set up to bring organized game play for the board games community and interest groups in Singapore. It aims to let casual gamers experience the challenge of a competition environment, and to recognize outstanding board game players in Singapore.

The Singapore Board Games League seeks to accomplish this by the working with both the board games and non board games community to hold various events and tournaments. It will select, for a start, up to ten different designer board games for its league. At the same time, it will work with various schools and organizations to host such tournaments. It will also seek to hold each year a National level board games tournament (Singapore Board Games Nationals) and to send its winners to represent Singapore at the international board games tournament levels.

Background

Currently in Singapore, there is a strong growing interest in board games as a leisure activity. These are no longer just the Monopoly or traditional games, but are what are commonly called Designer Games. Designer Games are basically board games that do not rely on the luck factor to win; instead it depends on good strategy and multiple paths to victory. Most of these games rely on soft skills such a negotiation, and help build communication.

The popularity of such games can be seen in that within 4 short years, board games cafes such as Settlers Café, Minds Cafe and Pitstop Cafe have grown and there are now about eight such cafes here. At the same time, Paradigm Infinitum reports very strong sales in designer board games. These translate to more people being aware of such board games, and are buying them. At the same time, companies such as Youth Enterprise Academy are using such board games to run their course and seminars.

League Format

The league format will be divided into three categories. These categories are to ensure that competitors can choose to play within their peers, or to choose to play against all competitors. Prizes and entrance fees will likewise be scaled accordingly. The categories are:

Junior Category

Junior Category targets for children between the ages of 7 to 12. The games chosen will be those that are easy in steps, but hard to master. This helps to develop the child’s mind.

Youth Category

Youth Category targets youths from the ages of 13 to 16. The Junior Category games are also used here. Most of these games require a deeper level of understanding, and may have complex strategies.

Open Category

The open category is for all participants. Games are from both junior and youth as well as a select few that are also used for international tournaments.

At the same time, there will be 3 basic levels of tournaments. This is to allow venues to hold social tournaments to the more serious tournaments. This allows the casual player to enter into the tournament type of his choice, be it the more relaxed mini tournaments to the highly competitive Nationals. The three levels are:

Casual

These informal games are usually played as a regular weekly event at various avenues around Singapore, such as board games cafes, stores and community clubs. The main goal is for players to sharpen their gaming skills as well as to socialize. Any SBGL member may run such a tournament, but may not participate.

Regionals / Qualifiers

These monthly tournaments are targeted for those who would like a more competitive environment. Players basically play to a right to be seeded into the top 8 of the Nationals. These tournaments must be overseen by an SBGL Committee Member, of which a Head Judge and his team of judges will be appointed. Prizes tend to be more lucrative.

Nationals

This annual event may be split into two sessions, June for the Open Category for Singapore Representatives to the Essen Spiele, the annual International Board Games Convention held in Essen Germany, as well as the November and December period for the Nationals. This event recognises the true board game champions in Singapore, who will be awarded prizes as well as trophies. The Nationals are not a new event, it has been run in Singapore since 2006 under the organization of Settlers Board Games Café.

Finally, league format for the game will be based on groups of four players where possible. In cases where it is impossible to break into groups of four, last few groups will be grouped as groups of three instead.

League Point System

The SBGL works on recognizing and rewarding players with points as a means to monitor the rankings of the players. Points are won or lost as a result of the matches played in the league, be it at the Casual or National level. Players are also awarded participation point bonuses for attending such events. The points are awarded as follows:

1^st Placing = Total Point value of the match / Player’s Current League Points

2^nd Placing = Total Point value of the match / Player’s Current League Points / 2

3^rd Placing = - (Total Point value of the match / Player’s Current League Points / 2)

4^th Placing = - (Total Point value of the match / Player’s Current League Points)

At the same time, participants will be awarded participation points at the end of the league, irregardless of their position, based on the tournament level. The points awarded are:

Casual = 1 point

Regional / Qualifiers = 5 points

Nationals = 10 points

These points will be updated monthly on the SBGL website, and rankings will be based on these points.

Tournament Formats

The tournament format used by SBGL will be both the Swiss as well as Elimination. The Swiss format is defined as playing a set number of matches, with a randomized first match and ranked matches for the subsequent rounds, based on player points. In Elimination, players play only one match, and advance if they are first, or either first and second in the match.

As a guideline, Casual play will consists of Elimination, Regionals / Qualifiers Swiss and Nationals a combination of Swiss for qualifying matches and Elimination for the Top 16, where winners of each table advance to the finals.

Points awarded will be 4 points for 1^st, 3 points for 2^nd, 2 points for 3^rd and 1 point for 4^th. Players tied will share the total of their position points divided by the number of players. In the case of a tie to determine final winners, the total in game points scored will be used, in the event of another tie, the total game % wins.

Current list of games planned for League

Title

Blokus

Boomtown

Carcassonne

Cartagena

Dividends

HIStory

Puerto Rico

Settlers of Catan

St Petersburg

Ticket to Ride

Singapore Board Games League Team (to date)

SBGL is currently headed Colin Lim. It is in the process of confirming at least two more key members of its team.

Colin Lim

The SBGL is headed by Colin Lim, one of the founders of Settlers Café, Singapore’s First Board Games Café. His impressive experience in the area of competitive gaming tournaments includes organising both Singapore Board Games Nationals (2006, 2007), Settlers of Catan Nationals, judging for Magic the Gathering CCG, Marvel/DC Vs CCG, World of Warcraft CCG. He is also the creator of Corporate Cahoots!, Singapore’s first live interactive team building game for companies and tertiary institutes, which includes HP, Microsoft, Simtech and Power Seraya among its clientele. A passionate board gamer, Colin is always at the forefront of all board gaming developments in Singapore, and a passionate supporter of games groups such as the NUS Table Top Board Games Interest Group.

Joseph Tan

Joseph Tan is the founder of Melchiz Pte Ltd, which produces the card game HIStory. Based on the Biblical ancient heroes such as Samson, it has reached out to many schools and churches in Singapore. Joseph will be in charge of developing the Youth and Junior Leagues.

Adrian Teh

Adrian Teh is Singapore’s ultimate CCG games organizer. From his early days in running Magic the Gathering CCG tournaments at Admiralty Country Club to the Regional Manager for South-East Asia (Upper Deck), he has been involved in organized play tournaments at every level. Experienced in organizing National and Regional CCG tournaments for both Wizards of the Coast (Magic the Gathering CCG) as well as Upper Deck (World of Warcraft CCG), he is one of the key personnel that will be developing the tournament format and coordination of the league.

Wee Kee

WeeKee is one of the founders of Pitstop Cafe. He is currently a student after spending over 4 years in the field of software and product development. He is a geek and believe that combining internet technology with board games can make the SBGL a more engaging experience.

Current Singapore Board Games League Venue Partners

Paradigm Infinitum

Settlers Café

Pitstop Cafe

DeCoders Cafe

Hideout Cafe

Hippos

Pending

NUS Games Club

SMU Games Club

NIE Games Club

NTU Games Club

How you can get involved

We are definitely looking for sponsors to come forward and support the SBGL. By being a sponsor, you have already taken a huge and exciting step into supporting organized play for board games in Singapore. At the same time, if you have other talents to support us, such as photography, videography, creative designs, match reviews and writing, we welcome you to assist us into establishing the league.

If you are not able to meet any of the requirements, then you fall into our most needed category, the word of mouth supporter. Just email this information to anyone you feel might be interested to sponsor or help. At the same time, be excited to join in our tournaments, and bring your friends along!

For further information, please email to:

colin@settlerscafe.com

Singapore Board Games Nationals 2007 Results

2007-09-12T11:16:00.000+08:00

Singapore Board Games Nationals 2007
WARNING Lotsa Pics!!!!

The attendance at the event - FULL HOUSE

The Singapore Board Game Nationals 2007 were held on 1st and 2nd September 2007. Located at My.Playground, this event was held in conjunction with Gaming Fiesta 2007, insupport of Children At Risk Empowerment (CARE).

4 Different games were chosen this year for the Nationals, namely Dividends (Funfactory), Settlers of Catan (Mayfair), Blokus (Growing Fun) and Carcassonne (Rio Grande Games). A total of 62 registrants took part in the event, with Settlers of Catan taking the lead as the most popular game played, garnering 50% of the registrants.

Prizes were sponsored by Growing Fun (major) as well as Funfactory, Paradigm Infinitum and Funfactory. Players stood to receive over $1000 worth of prizes, with winners of the Catan and Carcassonne going to the Worlds Championships at Essen Germany to represent Singapore. All in all, players had a good time meeting up with new faces and enoying the games.

Both Paradigm Infinitum and Settlers Cafe would like to thank all those who came down and supported in one way or another a very big Thank You!!!!!!! These photos are a small token of our appreciation!

Trophies for the event

Dividends Players

Airin Yacup emerged Champion for Dividends

Simon Lek got the consolation Dividends set

Dividends designer, Nikki Lim, was on hand to autograph Simon's set

The public joins in at the open gaming with Nanyang Girls hosting

Start of the Settlers of Catan Nationals

Players studying their positions

The eventual winner, Calvin Ng, at his first table

Students also joined in the fun

Damien from Paradigm Infinitum teaching a game of Ca$h 'n Gun$

While Nikki runs a session of Dividends

Back at Catan, Weng Keong makes a decision

As Calvin negotiates at another table

Winner of Dividends, Airin in a round of Settlers of Catan

Final round of Swiss

Building up his points

Players ponder on their next trade

final minutes of the swiss rounds

And finalists: Marcus Tong, Teng Howe, Calvin Ng and Ricky Purnomo with Frederik as the Table Judge

The setup for the Grand Finals

The players' initial setup

Ricky concentrates on defending his title

The Grand Finals had a little tension in the air

Marcus Tong, last year's runner up back in the finals

Fredrik assisting the players

Nice view of Marcus and the 3-D Catan set

Calvin looks on as he decides his next move

A nice view of the 3-D board as players expand

Teng Howe making his move

Robber strikes!

In the meantime, meetup members bring their own games to share

The final board placement

Another shot of the final board

And we have a WINNER!

Group photo of the finalists

4th placing: Teng Howe (sorry about the blur photo)

3rd Placing: Ricky Purnomo

2nd Placing (AGAIN) Marcus Teng

Winner: Calvin Ng

Day two: Two Trophies to win

First up was the Blokus Nationals

We had a good mix of participants

Fast paced, each swiss round took only 30 minutes each

One of the best games to mix young and old

Nearing the end of the round

Agonizing over where best to place their pieces

Start of the next round

Early aggresive blocks

In a competition, no niceties as players strove to expand and block opponents

Green striving to break out of the blocks

The best way to win is always keeping track of your pieces

But hey its fun!

But thought provocating at times

Another game near completion

Yellow spreading his pieces far and wide

As each game nears completion, the board becomes colorful indeed

While Blokus is easy to learn, it is hard to master

Early Sunday morning most shops were still closed

This gives an ideal quiet envronment for thinking

Shuttered shops seen in the distance

Giant Blokus set to be used in the finals

Dividends winner Airin Yacup back on the second day for more gaming fun

Fenchao winning the lucky draw of a Blokus Trigon set

Meantime we welcome back Ricky for another round of Settlers!

Hosting for the public were the Nanyang High Girls

Here they are teaching out Snorta!

Grand Finalists for Blokus preparing for the tournament

And the game is on!

Reaching the centre

Finding ways to go through while blocking opponents

Midgame

And round 1 belongs to Ding Yuan!

Rob with his students preparing for the Carcassonne Nationals!

Ding Yuan was undefeated for the swiss rounds

Vincent looking on in horror as he is blocked!

While Fredrik gets a new perspective on the game!

End Game! And Ding Yuan emerges this year's winner by winning all his games!

The final board

Winners gather for a photo shoot

4th Placing: Marcus Tong

3rd Placing: Elijah Lau

2nd Placing: Vincent Gan

Blokus Champion: Ding Yuan

Final tournament of the Nationals: Carcassonne!

Its 1 on 1 as players slug it out for the finals!

The indefatigable Airin in her 3rd Nationals!

While Ricky challenges in Carcassonne!

Ladies were not uncommon for Carcassonne

Another game in progress. Each round was 1/2 hour long

Scoring charts had to keep shifting as the board grew

Kids got involved too in the Nationals!

Frederik with his well deserved break charming the ladies!

One of the NUS Volunteers from Gaming Fiesta

Commemorative Limited Edition Cards of the games played

Blokus proving to be very popular

Semi Finals of the Carcassonne Competition

Kah Leong concentrating on his opponent

Teng Chek is the brother of Teng Howe, also in the finals

Rob concentrating in his match against Teng Chek

View of the game in progress

Teng Howe vs Kah Leong...

but Kah Leong goes on to the finals and Teng Howe gets 4th

Rob came in 3rd

Teng Chek is 2nd

Champion of Carcassonne: Kah Leong!

That's all folks! To the next Nationals!

Prizes for the Blokus Competition at Family Games Carnival 2006

2006-12-23T13:36:00.000+08:00

This is the prize list going out for Blokus Competition at the Family Games Carnival 2006

1st prize:
Blokus Trigon, Dividends Board Game, Goola Board Game and Rummix Dice Game + $60 Mind Cafe Vouchers (Value $200)

2nd Prize:
1 Giza Board game, 1 Goola Board Game, 1 Rummix Board Game + $60 Mindcafe Voucher (Value $150)

3rd Prize:
Blokus Trigon + $50 Mind Cafe Voucher (Value $100)

4th Prize:
Giza Board Game + $50 Mindcafe voucher (Value $90)

5th-8th Prize:
Goola Board Game + $30 Mind cafe Voucher (Value $50)

9th - 16th Prize:
$20 Mind Cafe Vouchers

Goodie bags given to all paricipants for the contest, as well as lucky draw prizes ! Lucky draw is also open to those who purchase the $3.00 coupons (for food and game stalls)

Tickets are still available until 27th Dec 2006 at the following outlets:

All Settler's Cafe Outlets
Kim Seng CC
Mind Cafe outlets
Pitstop Cafe
Paradigm Infinitum

Join in the fun today!

Planned Schedule of Events for Blokus Competition 2006

2006-12-13T12:28:00.000+08:00

Event Schedule

12pm: Hall Opens

Registration for Blokus Competition Qualifier 1

12.15pm: Blokus Qualification 1 Starts

Registration for Blokus Competition Qualifier 2

12.45pm: Blokus Qualification 1 Ends

1pm: Blokus Qualification 2 Starts

Registration for Blokus Competition Qualifier 3

1.30pm: Blokus Qualification 2 Ends

1.45pm: Blokus Qualification Round 3 Starts

Registration for Blokus Competition Qualifier 4

2.15pm: Blokus Qualification Round 3 Ends

2.30pm: Blokus Qualification Round 4 Starts

3pm: Blokus Qualification Round 4 Ends

3.30pm: Blokus Quarterfinals Starts

4.30pm: Blokus Quarterfinals Ends

4.45pm: Blokus SemiFinals Starts

5.45pm: Blokus SemiFinals Ends

6pm: Blokus Finals Starts

7pm: Blokus Finals Ends

7.15pm: Prize and Lucky Draw Presentation

7.30pm: Hall Closes

Locations to Sign Up for Blokus Competition

2006-12-13T12:04:00.001+08:00

These are the following locations where you can sign up for a discounted price of $2.50 per team for the Blokus competition.

KimSeng CC
570, Havelock Road, S(169640)
Tel: 6272-3878

Settler's Cafe Singapore
sg.settlerscafe.com

Settler's@Central
39, North Canal Road, S(059295) (Clarke Quay MRT Exit A)
Tel: 6535-0435

Settler's@Holland V
15, Holland Drive, #02-98, S(271015) (Behind Holland Village)
Tel: 6464-0178

Settler's@Katong
107, East Coast Road, S(428799) (Opposite Katong Mall)
Tel: 6345-0071

Paradigm Infinitum
pi.com.sg
220, Orchard Road, #03-01, Midpoint Orchard, S(238852)
Tel: 6734-3858

The Mind Cafe
themindcafe.com.sg

Prinsep Branch
60A, Prinsep Street, S(188664)
Tel: 6334-4426

Boat Quay Branch
68A/B, Boat Quay, S(049895)
Tel: 6334-4427

Pitstop Cafe
pitstopcafe.blogspot.com
14B, Circular Road, S(049370)
Tel: 6535-5383

Logicmills
logicmills.com
155B, Rochor Road, Bugis Village
Tel: 6883-2171

Blokus Competition Rules and Regulations

2006-12-13T11:58:00.000+08:00

1. General

1.1 All contestants shall meet the requirements or otherwise shall be denied the right to compete in the contest by being disqualified immediately.

1.2 Contestants must not approach judges or organizers with the intent to change or influence the outcome of the results.

1.3 Contestants will treat other contestants with respect, refraining from any form of accusations or unfavourable comments.

1.4 Contestants should avail themselves should there be any pre or post event interviews or publicity required with relevance to the event.

1.5 No refund will be made for incorrect entries, multiple entries, and for participants who wish to withdraw from the competition after payment.

1.6 Entry into the competition on the day itself will be charged at $4/-.

1.7 Photographs submitted by contestants and taken of contestants during the contest will become property of the organizers and may be used for publicity and other purposes.

1.8 Organizers reserve the right to change the format of the contest.

1.9 Judges decisions are final throughout the qualifying & final round.

1.10 Competitors are allowed to play in more than one qualifiers.

2. Competition Rules

2.1 Each team may enter as many times as they wish (Max of 4 Qualifiers).

2.2 Only the top score of each team from the qualifiers will be used to position for the top 16.

2.3 Teams score a total of both players, using the standard Blokus rules.

2.4 Points scored will be based on number of segments, with bonuses for using the single segment piece last.

2.5 In the event of a tie, the number of Qualifiers played will be used, with the team playing the least qualifiers

winning the tie.

2.6 Qualifying rounds are played over one game, with half hour time limit.

2.6 Top 16 plays best of 3, with a one hour time limit.

2.7 Competition format may change without notice at the discretion of the organizers.

Kim Seng CC Family Games Carnival 2006

2006-12-13T11:13:00.000+08:00

Venue: Kim Seng Community Club

570, Havelock Road, S(169640) (behind Tiong Bahru MRT)

12pm to 7pm

FREE

To showcase FAMILY games, as well as to foster COMMUNITY bonding, through the use of FUN board and card games for all ages!

HIGHLIGHTS

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OVER $1000/- worth of prizes to be won!

$4 for a TEAM of 2 OR

$2.50 for signing up at selected locations!

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Open Gaming, Games Demonstrations

Friendly game hosts to help you and your family or friends try out this astonishing array of games, including World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, Giza (Singapore Designed), Blokus, Bridgette, Contract Bridge, Scrabble, Ticket to Ride, Settlers of Catan and much more!

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Other Activities

~Food Stalls~Trishaw Rides~Battery Operated Card Rides~Fishing Pond~Balloon Sculptures~

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This event has been organised by:

Kim Seng CC Youth Group
Kreta Ayer CC WEC
Funtastic Youth
Settler's Cafe

Proudly Sponsored by:

Growing Fun Pte Ltd
The Mind Cafe
Funfactory Games
Paradigm Infinitum
B. Hive
PUB
Civil Defense

Proudly Supported by:

Bukit Swee Court RC
Delta RC
Covent Indus RC
Pitstop Cafe
Mensa Singapore