Gipf: I play the game

July 25, 2004
New edition of GIPF

We are currently working on a new version of GIPF. The game remains the same, of course, but it will get a new design, the box will have the same size as ZÈRTZ, DVONN and YINSH, and the pieces will be manufactured in bakelite, i.e. the same material as the ZÈRTZ, DVONN and YINSH pieces. Concerning this last matter, there's a risk: the black pieces will be OK for sure (after all, black is black, isn't it?), but we have no idea yet of what the exact color of the ivory pieces will be; that will depend on the raw material that is used to color the bakelite. The pigment of the raw material cannot be controled, and as a result of that it is not possible to know in advance what the shade of the ivory color will be. This will have no consequences for those who play straight GIPF (i.e. all the ivory pieces in one and the same game will have the same shade), but there may be a problem for the ones amongst you that like to add potentials: if we have bad luck, the shade of the new ivory pieces may differ quite a bit from the color of acrylic plastic that is used to manufacture the potentials. Any way, the decision has been made; after a lot of considerations we took the risk! The idea behind it is: if also GIPF will have bakelite pieces, then bakelite will become even more the "standard" material of Project GIPF. We just *love* the feel, the sound, and the weight of bakelite pieces!Now, let's just hope that it will turn out well!

The new version is supposed to be ready by the end of September, and it will be officially released during Spiel '04 in Essen, Germany.

Distribution in Canada and the Netherlands

We have found new partners in Canada and the Netherlands:

- Filosafia Inc. will from now on distribute Project GIPF in Canada. Filosofia is located in Montreal, Quebeck. That is the French speaking part of Canada, but Sophie Gravel, the woman behind Filosofia, will cover the complete country! Filosofia also carries Abacusspiele, Days of Wonder, Jeux Descartes and Haba, so the games of Project GIPF are in good company - and in good hands! Contact: Sophie Gravel.

- Vendetta is a new company in the Netherlands, that was founded by 8 game-enthusiastics. They were all already active in the Dutch game scene - some professionally, others as experienced gamers - and now they have joined forces. Their aim is to promote playing games in general and to support all kinds of gaming events. Besides that, they will also start distributing games. To start their activities as a distributor, they are going to put Project GIPF in the picture! Contact: Armand Servaes.

Dedicated people, this is what Project GIPF needs. We are very excited about what is going to happen in Canada and the Netherlands.

YINSH selected for the "Nederlandse Spellenprijs"

We got the good news that YINSH is nominated for the "Nederlandse Spellenprijs". That means something like the "Dutch Games Award". Each year a jury with 7 members makes a selection of 8 games amongst the games that are published the past 12 months. These 8 games are presented to the public - this year the selection was made public on 19th of July. Now the public has 6 weeks to play the selected games, and next they may vote, c.q. give, respectively, a score of 4, 2 and 1 to their 3 favourite games. The voting starts on September 4, and the winner will be announced one month later, on October 4. The eventual presentation will take place during "Het Spellenspektakel", the yearly games fair in Eindhoven.

Those who understand Dutch can find more info about this award on the site of the "Stichting Nederlandse Spellenprijs".

DVONN & GIPF WC again in Eindhoven (NL)

There has been very little tournament activity this year. As already said in a previous news item: we'll try to get more tournaments scheduled again in the future. And we have good hope that others will also start to do so. For the time being we have two big events to announce: there will be a GIPF and a DVONN World Championship in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, again. That is, just like last year, during "Het Spellenspektakel". The GIPF WC will take place on Saturday, October 30, and the DVONN WC on Sunday, October 31. More details will follow in due time.

Unfortunately no ZÈRTZ WC in Eindhoven this year. We had planned to put it on the agenda for Friday, October 29, but almost the entire competition area will be used for a big Yu-Gi-Oh tournament that day. The only alternative was to also schedule the ZÈRTZ WC on the same day as the DVONN WC, but we decided not to do so. But, somehow, we'll have a ZÈRTZ WC this year. Maybe we'll use the online facilities on boardspace.net. We'll keep you informed!

"Boîte à Jeux": turn based GIPF & DVONN

For the moment things are going quite well in France. The games get very good reviews, Yinsh got a nomination for "l'As d'Or", and a new French games portal offers the possibility to play GIPF and DVONN. The site is called "La boîte à jeux" and so far they have 4 games going (and a 5th coming up). It is online for already 4 or 5 months; in the beginning there were some bugs, but steadily play got better and better. Meanwhile the portal counts more than 1000 registered players and there's a lot of gaming going on. So, if you know how to deal with the french language and if you are looking for GIPF- and DVONN-opponents, go to Boîte à Jeux. Good work, *fredm*.