Friday, November 21, 2008

Map Plates

Feast on this:



Available from What on Earth: "You might serve pasta on Italy, pierogi on Poland, sauerkraut on Germany, or paella on Spain. Each plate is shaped like the nation it represents, with major cities highlighted. Pieced together, you can create a substantial serving platter."

Via Apartment Therapy The Kitchen and thanks, Hunter!

Labels: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Paris Map Gift Card

Yet another Live Journal blog in Russian or Ukrainian. As far I can determine, from my Bablefish translation, Konstantin had a co-worker getting married. What to give them? Just cash in an envelope? Not good enough.



The solution: a map of Paris is folded in such a way that it creates a card with a pocket for the cash.

Konstantin's blog title, roughly (babelfish) translated: "I see purpose, I believe in itself, I do not note obstacles!"

Any solution that involves a map is worthy of notice!

Labels: ,

Thursday, July 24, 2008

Power Grid

My latest boardgame aquisition is Power Grid. As eurogames go, this one is middle-range in complexity. Success requires analysis and planning. I have played this game for several years, and a few weeks ago, I actually won for the first time! So I decided it was time I owned a copy.

The object of this game is to supply the most cities with power. To accomplish this goal players purchase power plants and the raw materials needed to run the plants. These materials include coal, oil, garbage, and uranium, but also includes wind and solar-powered plants. The winner of the game will create the most efficient network of plants powering the most cities. The base game comes with a map of the United States on one side:



and a map of Germany on the other:



Official game expansions include Italy, France and the Benelux countries:



However, many enterprising Power Grid fans have created their own maps, allowing them to play in Scandinavia:








...and Connecticut



As it often happens, I found something cool while looking for something else. GameInk.net is offering Power Grid (and other boardgame) themed T-shirts:



Power plant #44 in the game deck is one of the most desirable in the set, as it powers up to five cities, but because it uses solar and wind power, you do not need to purchase resources to burn.

"Money isn't everything, but it is a tie-breaker in Power Grid"

Game board images from BoardGameGeek.com

#227

Labels: , , , , , , , ,

Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Ties

I must wear a tie to work almost every day. Sadly, I have only two map ties:



Labels: , , , , ,