Picture Archive, 2001–2007

July 25, 2007

In the summer, most of our undergraduates are away, but one can encounter some "usual suspects."

[gamers]

John, Chris, Jay, and Mark watch Anthony make his move in a game of Neuroshima Hex, a tile-laying strategy game with a post-apocalpytic theme.


[gamers]

John, Tom, and Frank are playing Box Office, an out-of-print board game, in which players attempt to put on plays in a variety of venues.


March 23, 2005

[gamers]

It's a typical Penn Gamers Club meeting in Bishop White Room of Houston Hall. Three games are in progress on the large central table.


[gamers]

Lou is introducing Josh, Edmund, and Jason to the game Tigris & Euphrates. This is a tile-laying game that simulates building competing civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia. If you look below, you'll notice that Lou likes to play this game.


[gamers]

Michael and a new gamer are playing Power Grid. In this board game, you try to build an empire of power stations, using scarce resources.


[gamers]

Their opponents in Power Grid are Hank and Jim. Jim looks like he has a plan to buy up all the best energy sources.


[gamers]

Laurie, Brett, Mark, and Chris are playing Tichu, a classic trick-taking game for partners. Mark has a "This-could-be-a-Grand-Tichu" smile on his face. If you look below, you'll see this is not the first time Mark and Chris have played this game.


[gamers]

Frank and the photographer (Jay C.) are playing Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation.


March 3, 2004

[gamers]

Chris, Bjørn, Chris, and Mark play Tichu, a classic trick-taking game for partners. (To make the sides even, it's generally a good idea to have at least one Chris on each team.)


[gamers]

At one end of a large table, Jay and Joe play Tabula Rasa, a two-person strategy card game designed by Reiner Knizia. We're playing in one of our favorite meeting rooms, the Bishop White Room in Houston Hall.


[gamers]

In the middle of the same table, Alex, Neil, Praveen, and Misaka play Taj Mahal. Taj Mahal is a bidding game set in India. Players bid for positions on the board. This game was also designed by the prolific Reiner Knizia.


[gamers]

Alex and Neil focus intently on Taj Mahal. Alex appears to be calculating his chances.


[gamers]

Praveen and Misaka seem to be doing quite well at Taj Mahal, while Mike checks the rules. The Tichu match proceeds in the background.


[gamers]

At the other end of the table, Lou, Jay C., and John are playing yet another Reiner Knizia game, Tigris and Euphrates. This is a tile-laying game that simulates building competing civilizations in ancient Mesopotamia. (We didn't deliberately set out to play three different Knizia games at the table. It just happens that Knizia makes games that we like to play.)


[gamers]

Lou, John, and Frank (who took the previous picture) are still busy building their civilizations and grabbing land in Tigris and Euphrates.


August, 2003

Penn Gamers in Penniman Library

Penn Gamers met in Penniman Library during the summer of 2003. Its building, Bennett Hall was remodeled during the next year, and became Fisher-Bennett Hall.



Penn Gamers stand on the stairs in Penniman Library before it disappeared

In the remodeling, Penniman Library and its quaint stairways and catwalks disappeared.


August 20, 2003

[Lew and John playing unknown 
game]

Will, Bjørn, Mathilde, Mark, and Jay are playing Café International. In this tile-laying game, you run a restaurant and your job is to seat multi-national customers at the tables. Your customers are very picky when it comes to flocking with birds of a feather, and you need to maintain a balance between men and women. It's easy to seat them — until the restaurant starts to get busy.


[Mark, Jay, Will, and Bjorn at 
play]

Mark, Jay, Will, and Bjørn are playing Café International. It's a good game. It won the Spiel des Jahres award in 1989.


[Lew and John playing unknown 
game]

Neil, Jay C., and Jay are playing Clans. In the transition from hunting and gathering to a less nomadic lifestyle, prehistoric humans begin to settle down and build villages. Whose clan will be able to move their huts into the best territories to form cohesive societies? And who will be left gathering nuts and berries on the edges of civilization? (Spiel des Jahres 2003)


[Lew and John playing unknown 
game]

Kim, Cassandra, their mother, Alex, and Joe play Through the Desert, a strategy board game. Each player builds trading routes around oases and other resources. Camels figure prominently. Desert and camels — what's not to like, right?


[Lew and John playing unknown 
game]

Lew and John are playing a game that, amazingly enough, has nothing to do with either trains or Mesopotamia. Perhaps it's a simple matter of Discretion. It's a city-building game that involves bidding.


August 22, 2001

[Six players around an 
Ursuppe board]

Ursuppe is a game in which each player represents a species of amoebae struggling to survive in primeval soup. If you're going to be an amoeba, you have to adapt in clever ways (by amoebic standards) to your rather hostile environment and neighbors, or else your role in life will be to supply nutrients for everyone else. Jay, Mark, "Aggressive" Chris, Ed, and Lou watch "Evil" Chris makes his move. (There is a reason for these monikers: they're more fun than last names.)


[Picture of Magice: The 
Gathering]

Would you believe a game of Magic: The Gathering? Sure! Bridget and Dieter challenge each other to arcane combat in the game that started a new genre. Now where did I leave my Black Mox?


[tight spot in 18AL]

John and Frank are gauging options as their 18XX Alabama game reaches a critical point. In this game, you have to build railroads and manage your stock portfolio. It can be challenging, and it's really a lot of fun. Right, guys?


August 1, 2001

Here are a few pictures taken at our meeting on August 1, 2001. This was Rob's last meeting before he goes to Urbana.

[Picture of a tight game]

Mark, Anthony, and Lou are well into a game of Tigris and Euphrates. Anthony hardly ever plays this game, and he's starting to remember why. Lou, on the other hand, ... well, let's just say that Lou is willing to play this game if anyone else is.


[Picture of Adel Verpflichtet]

Rob, Rich, Anthony, and Chris are playing Adel Verpflichtet. Fortunately, you don't need to understand German to play this game. You just have to be able to guess the hidden intentions of the other players: whether they will buy valuable items at auctions, exhibit their collections, try to steal money or items, or catch thieves red-handed.


[Picture of a pyramidal pieces 
and puzzled players]

These funny little pieces of plastic are used to play Ice Towers. Jay, Chris, Mark, Anthony, and Shelby seem to be wondering how.


[Picture of Shelby holding up 
four finger]

Shelby attempts a sophisticated signal across the table, while Rich chows down.


[Picture of Jay making a 'quote' 
gesture]

Jay attempts an equally sophisticated signal.


July 25, 2001

Here are a few pictures taken at our meeting on July 25, 2001. In the summer, most of our undergraduates are away. Otherwise, many of the usual suspects were there, including Kim and "Good" Chris, just back from an extensive trip through Europe.

[Picture of a vote in Werewolf 
game]

Kim referees a village vote in a Werewolf game. Villagers are voting on who the secret werewolf is. Most of them think it is Anthony. Anthony and another werewolf beg to differ.


[Picture of Anthony pointing in 
Werewolf game]

When a Werewolf game has ended, everyone's role becomes clear. Here the werewolf emphasizes a point.


[Picture of a Royal Turf game]

With more or less success, Kim, Rich, Mike, and Jay try to hide their grins and secret bets while they manipulate the action in a Royal Turf horse race. Mike loves it when a plan comes together.


[Picture of card game starting]

A new deal means anyone could win this game of Mystery Rummy. Notice the calculating smiles all around the table. Yes, it's a friendly little grudge match between Doug, "Good" Chris, "Evil" Chris, and Anthony.


[Picture of two people 
playing a board game on top of a computer]

John and Frank play a railroad game on the computer. This game is playable on any platform. System requirements: 6 colors of crayons and $1K in play money.