Game: Piecepack

Thread: New piecepack games?

Netopalis — 2008-11-20T19:49:50+00:00

Haldo,
I've recently discovered the piecepack, and I must say that I am addicted! I wanted to ask the assembled people here a few questions, though.

1) I've been developing a few piecepack games on my own - one is finished and in testing, the other still in development. Are there still people who play with the piecepack and is there still a demand for new games? I'd like to offer it online, but if there's nobody to play it....

2) Is there demand for a new piecepack website, assuming that people still play it? The official website hasn't been updated in years, and the Wiki seems to be mostly dead as well...Just curious.

Anyway, any help or advice you could give me would be appreciated!

Thanks,
Netopalis

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

mark_biggar — 2008-11-19T23:31:59+00:00

maka wrote:
Curufea wrote:
Excellent idea!
I think the most important part will be the indexing for this - a breakdown of the games by number of players, number of piecepacks, length of time and possibly theme/mechanic would be good.

The wiki does have some categorization (by type of game and number of players, I think)

The wiki has indexes for:

Name
Number of players
How long to play
Required extra equipment
Date of publication
(hum... I should add an index based on Author/Adaptor too)

and a partial index based on game mechanics (Please add to the Mechanic tags in the game descriptions). Note, all of these indexes are automatically generated based on the information in the various game description pages.

There is also Taxonomy page loosely based on David Parlett's taxonomy in his Oxford History of Board Games.

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

mothertruckin — 2008-11-19T23:24:14+00:00

Okay, I've combined the 23 games with the previous 136 into a new rulebook that will have a total of 159 games. I may need to do some tinkering with the big file so in the short term I have submitted a pdf with the missing 23 games which will hopefully be approved.

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

Curufea — 2008-11-19T23:14:26+00:00

It does, and I really like that. I'd like to see it carried over into the print version as well - there's nothing I like better than a well referenced document

Thread: Re: New Blue Panther color set ?

mothertruckin — 2008-11-19T06:09:51+00:00

The color of the pieces is not noticable when they are face down. As far as durability, it's too early to tell. The colors turned out quite nice. There is some bleed on the moon tiles into the 'plain' area around the number. I don't know if that's universal or just on my set. The centering of the graphics on this set was a lot better than my previous two. I can't say if that's just coincidence. All in all, a good purchase.

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

maka — 2008-11-19T00:18:28+00:00

Curufea wrote:
Excellent idea!
I think the most important part will be the indexing for this - a breakdown of the games by number of players, number of piecepacks, length of time and possibly theme/mechanic would be good.

The wiki does have some categorization (by type of game and number of players, I think)

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

Curufea — 2008-11-18T22:46:35+00:00

Excellent idea!
I think the most important part will be the indexing for this - a breakdown of the games by number of players, number of piecepacks, length of time and possibly theme/mechanic would be good.

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

mhowe — 2008-11-18T00:38:29+00:00

Thank you!

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

mothertruckin — 2008-11-17T23:45:36+00:00

Neither list is complete, for example, the wiki is missing Volcano Island and Pirates of Van Zandt, unless they are under a different name now. As far as I can tell, the games from the wiki that aren't in the big rulebook file are as follows:

Blood Diamonds
Chameleon
Climbing Man
The Colonists of Natick
Culture Wars
Dungeon Builders
Goods from Cape to Cairo
It's a Weird, Weird Galaxy!
Maze Makers
Petty Fiefs
Piecepack Letterbox
Scavenger Hunt 2
Senat-Ur
Sheep
Spam-O-Rama
Stacked Deck War
TAG: The Assassination Game
Take Off, Eh!
Tariffs
The Wandering Merchant
Tile Thirteen
Tribes of the Four Seasons
Wind Farms

If you get these 23 games, that should be close to all of them at this time. I'll see about making a pdf of these missing games.

Brett

Edit: Removed Kingdoms of the Middle Sea.

Thread: Re: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

maka — 2008-11-17T22:54:16+00:00

The problem is that the newest games don't appear on the piecepack.org page as they haven't updated that page in a few years...

AFAIK, the most current list of games is at the wiki: http://www.ludism.org/ppwiki

You'll be missing out some great games like the winner of the last competition: Colonists of Natick

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maka — 2008-11-17T22:48:42+00:00

New piecepack box for our sets with a more secure lid.

Image

maka — 2008-11-17T22:26:18+00:00

Now piecepack box for our sets with a more secure lid.

Thread: Re: All games currently available as a compressed file?

mothertruckin — 2008-11-17T20:14:54+00:00

I have combined the rules here:

http://boardgamegeek.com/thread/356518

Thread: 607 page Piecepack rulebook

mothertruckin — 2008-11-17T20:13:01+00:00

I have just combined the 136 games (approximately) from Piecepack.org into one large 607 page pdf rulebook and uploaded it to the file section here (in two parts). No more downloading individual files! Well, except for the two parts of the rulebook .

If you are new to the Piecepack system or are curious about what kind of games you can play with one, the rulebook should make it easy to browse a lot of the games quickly.

Rulebook Part 1
Rulebook Part 2

Enjoy!

Brett

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mothertruckin — 2008-11-15T23:43:11+00:00

JCD color Piecepack Set 1.

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mothertruckin — 2008-11-15T23:39:46+00:00

Size comparison: 16mm die vs. JCD Piecepack die.

Thread: Re: New Blue Panther color set ?

mothertruckin — 2008-11-04T22:18:50+00:00

I'm awaiting a color set from Tanga so I'll see what happens.

Thread: New Blue Panther color set ?

mmolus — 2008-11-04T18:56:25+00:00

Anyone buy the new Blue Panther color set now appearing on their website? It was also recently offered by Tanga. I'm concerned about the potential for marking and am looking for a review. As the color appears to be edge-to-edge, are the colors discernable when the tiles are face down? How about "colorfastness"/durability? I'm wondering about the potential for color to rub-off on the backs of other tiles, potential marking them. Valid?

I actually prefer the appearance of the representative image (Mesomorph?), but based upon negative comments here, don't think I would purchase one. Baseless?

Thanks.

Thread: Re: [Review] Piecepack

docreason — 2008-11-04T16:24:11+00:00

Is that vest an unofficial expansion to Piecepack?

Thread: Re: [Review] Piecepack

bran — 2008-11-04T15:41:13+00:00

i liked how you matched your stylish vest with the icehouse pieces, nice extra touch. it's really cool to see you going that extra mile when most people would just wear whatever they had on at the time.

Thread: Re: [Review] Piecepack

maka — 2008-11-04T15:08:54+00:00

Thanks for the review

Thread: Re: [Review] Piecepack

jrbentley — 2008-11-04T13:30:30+00:00

Good review, Tom....missed Holly!

I like the piecepack, but I know it's not for everybo......

OW! My eyes, my eyes.....please, lose the vest. And throw in out that tie while you're at it.

Thread: [Review] Piecepack

TomVasel — 2008-11-04T12:46:08+00:00

This is just a summary of the Ramalama set, and my thoughts on the set as a whole.

Youtube Video

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

PinkPiggy — 2008-05-28T13:51:53+00:00

jrbentley wrote:

Thanks for the advice on this one! So now I'd like to hear from someone who has the JCD Piecepack by Blue Panther...I'm considering the cheapest one, the Birch plywood version, laser etched but not color...has anyone used this and if so, what are your opinions?

Thanks!
jrbentley

I received my Blue Panther set yesterday and I'm very pleased with it. I received the standard set and the four seasons set in oak. It's a lovely laser engraved set with the look of wood burning but with precision that ensures the graphics of the backside of the tiles and coins do not mark pieces that should remain hidden.

The pieces are smooth and the texture of the engraving is pleasant to touch. They are not laminated or painted with polyurethane, so you may want to avoid staining liquids and greasy foods while playing with them. I cannot say how well they repel liquids but I personally would not risk the chance of staining them.

The pawns for each suit have the suits engraved on opposite sides, one side inverse to the other. You can play games with pawn facing without the need of a pawn saucer. The pieces come in nice wooden boxes with your name engraved. The wooden boxes have the nice smell of cut wood and wood glue.

Thread: Re: Still possible to purchase?/Is Mesomorph Games defunct?

flyinghogfish — 2008-05-26T15:12:06+00:00

while i realize this is an old post...
yikes. that response would have been rude and just a method to compound the bad PR emanating from this thread to start with, but since the original poster of this thread seems to have done exactly that (contacted the MG site), it makes it above and beyond the call of let's-yell-at-our-potential-patrons.

I agree! It may be an old post, but I've just now started looking for a set. No way I would purchase from someone who reacts to their customers like that - the OP was only asking if Mesomorph no longer existed as he hadn't heard anything from them - this would seem like the right forum to be asking that sort of question. Perhaps a post saying "Yes we're still here and sorry I've ignored you order and the money that came with it, I'll deal with it straight away, it never should have ended up with you asking Paypal to refund your money" would have been more appropriate? Or even, "sorry, I've had a stinking time recently and wasn't on the ball" would have been better than what amounts to ranting at your customers.

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

maka — 2008-05-20T22:33:45+00:00

Sorry for being late (just got home...) the contest technically ended 33 minutes ago...

It's a shame that people weren't interested enough. I really thought some prizes would encourage many more people to write some reviews and give some feedback to games that need it.

Still, as little as was accomplished, it was something.

I'm sending the two prices anyway.

Roger Meertens gets the first prize: a piecepack set

Jason Spears gets the second prize: a plywood dice tower.

Congratulations to the winners

-Jorge

Thread: Re: Still possible to purchase?/Is Mesomorph Games defunct?

truekid — 2008-05-20T22:11:12+00:00

DBoyle wrote:
Here's an idea. When you write a post saying I think Mesomorph Games is defunct... how about writing MG and asking? Nobody did that, hence the bad information here.

while i realize this is an old post...
yikes. that response would have been rude and just a method to compound the bad PR emanating from this thread to start with, but since the original poster of this thread seems to have done exactly that (contacted the MG site), it makes it above and beyond the call of let's-yell-at-our-potential-patrons.

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

spearjr — 2008-05-20T19:50:38+00:00

Well I'm guessing the contest is over now. And I'm also guessing that there was insufficient entries to award prizes. I'm cool with this. I liked the contest idea enough that I was happy to participate even without winning something.

In the interim, I've gotten the chance to play a few other piecepack games and I'll try to find time to review them after another play or so.

Thread: 5 days left until the 1st Piecepack Review Contest ends

maka — 2008-05-15T00:53:33+00:00

Participants who announced their reviews, you've got 5 days to post them. The more you wait, the less time you'll have to gather votes.

Please, try to post your reviews beofre the deadline.

-Jorge

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

jeep — 2008-05-10T07:05:57+00:00

I wrote the review, I just got super busy and couldn't get the pix added. I'll post it ASAP.

-JEEP

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

mark_biggar — 2008-05-09T03:00:41+00:00

PoisonedV wrote:
I too would like to know... I have been tinkering with these a while, and I appreciate it enough that I would prefer a real set. I like the Mesomorph ones, but they look too small. JCD look big, and nice, and come with a custom box, but they are one color and all the pieces have different shades of wood. I think I will go with the Mesomorph set.

All of the commercial piecepack sets (except the Blue Panther travel sets) use 2"x2" tiles and .75" coins. The dice and pawns differ much more.

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

ShaunGamer — 2008-05-09T01:38:09+00:00

The Bluepanther piecepacks are very good! My wife (who prefers "pretty" things) even likes them! The monochrome graphics are nicely done and the presentation is excellent!
Living in Australia and being burnt by other piecepack suppliers (paid for the product but never recieved it!), I found their service to be fast and friendly. I would highly recommend them!

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spearjr — 2008-05-07T23:43:26+00:00

Blue Panther piecepack - New Symbols - Flowers, Moon, Sun & Crown

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

PoisonedV — 2008-04-27T04:40:00+00:00

I too would like to know... I have been tinkering with these a while, and I appreciate it enough that I would prefer a real set. I like the Mesomorph ones, but they look too small. JCD look big, and nice, and come with a custom box, but they are one color and all the pieces have different shades of wood. I think I will go with the Mesomorph set.

Thread: Re: 1st Review Contest: Deadline extended for current participants

mothertruckin — 2008-04-22T04:01:13+00:00

Thanks Jorge!

Thread: Deadline extended for current participants

maka — 2008-04-21T23:37:47+00:00

I've decided to give all the current entries more time to get the reviews in. I'm a bit disappointed but I guess I'd rather do that than cancel the contest. So please, if you haven't published your review yet do so as soon as possible. The deadline is the time when the contest ends (May 20), but the more time you take, the less time people will have to vote for it.

This only applies to entries that were already announced on the geeklist. New participants won't be accepted.

Thanks for participating, and especially thanks to those that made an effort to get the reviews in early.

-Jorge

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

maka — 2008-04-21T22:51:17+00:00

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

maka — 2008-04-13T23:28:19+00:00

You can always do a shorter second review. The important is to get some feedback for lesser known games...

-Jorge

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

jeep — 2008-04-13T17:12:15+00:00

My first review should be up in time. The requirement that I write up a second review might be the thing that gets me.

-JEEP

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

maka — 2008-04-13T16:14:26+00:00

You're right. I've posted a couple of messages here and on the list to remind people. C'mon, at lest those of you that signed up, post the reviews!!

I'd be a shame to have to cancel the contest because of a lack of reviews...

-Jorge

Thread: 1st Review Contest: Deadline extended for current participants

maka — 2008-04-13T16:12:36+00:00

Just a reminder that there's just one week left to submit your reviews to the contest. Right now there're only two reviews up by the same person, so hurry up!!!

Here's the link to the information: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/thread/294818

Here's the list of games and participants: http://www.boardgamegeek.com/geeklist/29294

I especially want to encourage participants that still haven't submitted their reviews but already chose their games:

Jonathan Dietrich (One Man Thrag)
Jason Spears (Landrush)
Joe Peterson (Froggy Bottom)
Brett (Colonization)

C'mon people!

-Jorge

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

spearjr — 2008-04-13T15:10:41+00:00

Ok, I suck, I haven't even gotten my review game to the table yet. This week I will and I'll get my review up.

One week left people!

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mothertruckin — 2008-03-11T23:07:18+00:00

Anchor pawn from JCD piecepack.

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mothertruckin — 2008-03-11T02:22:14+00:00

Close up of 'crown' pieces from JCD piecepack.

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

maka — 2008-03-10T18:00:04+00:00

It just means thumbing or giving geekgold to your own review is of no use... but of course, your thumbs and geekgold in other people's reviews will be taken into account (if you get an avatar before the deadline)

Cheers,

-Jorge

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

littlebrothertimmy — 2008-03-10T16:58:56+00:00

In the How will it be juged?part you wrote BTW, thumbs or geekgold offered by the writer of a review won't count. Does this mean it's no use giving your own review a thumb (or geekgold) or does this mean as well that it's no use (for the results) to give a thumb to a fellow reviewer?

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

jrbentley — 2008-03-04T23:51:17+00:00

GeoMan wrote:
CDRodeffer wrote:
The Mesomorph 4th edition piecepack is in full color and includes a very nice drawstring bag, but at US$30, it's also a step up in price.

I do not recommend it!

I bought it and the quality was not good: badly aligned graphics, wood shades very different from piece to piece and parts of the paint on some symbols was missing (like you used a rubber stamp with not enough ink on it!)

Avoid!

Thanks for the advice on this one! So now I'd like to hear from someone who has the JCD Piecepack by Blue Panther...I'm considering the cheapest one, the Birch plywood version, laser etched but not color...has anyone used this and if so, what are your opinions?

Thanks!
jrbentley

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

GeoMan — 2008-03-04T23:44:10+00:00

CDRodeffer wrote:
The Mesomorph 4th edition piecepack is in full color and includes a very nice drawstring bag, but at US$30, it's also a step up in price.

I do not recommend it!

I bought it and the quality was not good: badly aligned graphics, wood shades very different from piece to piece and parts of the paint on some symbols was missing (like you used a rubber stamp with not enough ink on it!)

Avoid!

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

maka — 2008-03-04T22:26:55+00:00

Hi

Just want to clarify that our piecepack sets cost 25€ in the EU because of the taxes. To a non EU country, the price is 21.55€. Also (and I have to update our web site) a packaged set weights about 250g, so the shipping & packaging to the US would cost around 12.5€. It's still expensive, but not as expensive Of course, I don't know how customs work there, so there could be charges on arrival...

Still, making your own set is pretty easy. You can make a quick set printing the tiles on label paper and sticking it to cardboard to try some games, see if you like the system, then buy one if you like it.

And about what components you will need: Normally a standard set will work with most games. Many games use extra components that are readily available at a gamer's home or playaids you can print from the rules, others need a second set. There are also some games that need a different set such as the Seasons set or the Card suits set. We don't currently make any of the expansion sets, although we will start the minute someone asks for one

Still, you can see a list of games ordered by extra components needed in the wiki: http://www.ludism.org/ppwiki/RequiredEquipment

Cheers,

-Jorge

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

CDRodeffer — 2008-03-04T22:13:31+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
Thanks for the info.....so for the Pirates game, which piecepack would I need....gee, it's awfully handy to have the game author helping out -

Piece Packing Pirates was written with the four original "standard" suits (arms, suns, moons and crowns) in mind, but it would not be hard to translate it to any other four suits if you like something else better.

Clark

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

jrbentley — 2008-03-04T22:06:38+00:00

CDRodeffer wrote:
I can only guess which pirate game you might be thinking of.

Anyway, since you're in the USA, I recommend you first look at the JCD Piecepack by Blue Panther. They're monochrome, but at only US$25 for the birch plywood set, it's probably the best price you'll find. The Mesomorph 4th edition piecepack is in full color and includes a very nice drawstring bag, but at US$30, it's also a step up in price. I have an older edition of the IcePack Games piecepack, and it can be ordered in many different sets, all in color. Their prices are fairly competitive for what you get. Finally, I do not own and have not played with a RamalamaS piecepack, but at 25€ (plus 15€ shipping), it would be a more expensive option. But their monochrome graphics are very nice.

You can find more information on the various vendors, including their responsiveness to customers, on the piecepack wiki vendor page.

Clark

Thanks for the info.....so for the Pirates game, which piecepack would I need....gee, it's awfully handy to have the game author helping out -

I do appreciate your help....
jrbentley

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

jrbentley — 2008-03-04T22:01:22+00:00

Capoeirista wrote:
jrbentley wrote:
I've been checking out some games that use the Piecepack game "system"...but in browsing for these, I've found that there are quite a few different piecepacks.

Which one to buy?

In the process of looking for a good pirate game, I came across a pirate game that uses the piecepack which I thought I might try...but now I'm not sure which one to buy since there are various packs.

Are they worth the purchase? Does it really matter which one you get?

As always, thanks for any and all input,
jrbentley

Can't offer any input I'm afraid, although I am also very interested in the answer (although I suspect a lot of people feel the best piecepacks are the ones you build yourself).

You might also want to stick this question in the forums for the Piecepack itself as it will then trigger GeekMail for anyone subscribed to that item:
http://boardgamegeek.com/game/2860

How would I move this post to that forum?

Thanks,
jrbentley

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

CDRodeffer — 2008-03-04T22:01:00+00:00

I can only guess which pirate game you might be thinking of.

Anyway, since you're in the USA, I recommend you first look at the JCD Piecepack by Blue Panther. They're monochrome, but at only US$25 for the birch plywood set, it's probably the best price you'll find. The Mesomorph 4th edition piecepack is in full color and includes a very nice drawstring bag, but at US$30, it's also a step up in price. I have an older edition of the IcePack Games piecepack, and it can be ordered in many different sets, all in color. Their prices are fairly competitive for what you get. Finally, I do not own and have not played with a RamalamaS piecepack, but at 25€ (plus 15€ shipping), it would be a more expensive option. But their monochrome graphics are very nice.

You can find more information on the various vendors, including their responsiveness to customers, on the piecepack wiki vendor page.

Clark

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

Orph — 2008-03-04T22:00:09+00:00

I've looked into Piecepack a little bit. The wiki at http://www.ludism.org/ppwiki is pretty helpful. There are some basic components, but alot of games have little additions, I guess. My only suggestion would be to find out what components you need and get the pack that has them.

Thread: Re: Piecepack...which one?

Capoeirista — 2008-03-04T21:41:59+00:00

jrbentley wrote:
I've been checking out some games that use the Piecepack game "system"...but in browsing for these, I've found that there are quite a few different piecepacks.

Which one to buy?

In the process of looking for a good pirate game, I came across a pirate game that uses the piecepack which I thought I might try...but now I'm not sure which one to buy since there are various packs.

Are they worth the purchase? Does it really matter which one you get?

As always, thanks for any and all input,
jrbentley

Can't offer any input I'm afraid, although I am also very interested in the answer (although I suspect a lot of people feel the best piecepacks are the ones you build yourself).

You might also want to stick this question in the forums for the Piecepack itself as it will then trigger GeekMail for anyone subscribed to that item:
http://boardgamegeek.com/game/2860

Thread: Piecepack...which one?

jrbentley — 2008-03-04T21:18:06+00:00

I've been checking out some games that use the Piecepack game "system"...but in browsing for these, I've found that there are quite a few different piecepacks.

Which one to buy?

In the process of looking for a good pirate game, I came across a pirate game that uses the piecepack which I thought I might try...but now I'm not sure which one to buy since there are various packs.

Are they worth the purchase? Does it really matter which one you get?

As always, thanks for any and all input,
jrbentley

Thread: Re: 1st piecepack Review Contest

spearjr — 2008-02-23T00:16:11+00:00

maka wrote:
All right.

Here's the deal: All the piecepack games are eligible for the contest, but:

If a game you want to review has feedback on its wiki page or at least one review at its BGG page, then you have to choose a second game to review that has no feedback in its wiki page and no reviews on its BGG page. Only when the review to the second game has been submitted, will the review of the first be valid.

What do you think?

This doesn't make a HUGE difference for me. Originally, I wasn't planning to write more than one review and I didn't have my heart set on any particular game. I was just having trouble finding games that both: sounded interesting AND wasn't part of a previous contest (this was the big one) or had a review written. The list I made above will help at least with finding out quickly that game wouldn't count.

If you think the change will encourage more piecepack game reviews, then it is a great change.

(Now that I've found the game that I plan to review, I just need to get it to the table.)

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Capitaine Grappin — 2008-02-21T01:23:00+00:00

Tokens

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Capitaine Grappin — 2008-02-21T01:22:09+00:00

A tile

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Capitaine Grappin — 2008-02-21T01:21:21+00:00

Some tiles