February 8, 2006: Headlines: COS - Guinea: Computers: Games: Computer Games: Missoulian: Guinea RPCV S. Matt Read plays "Torres"
Peace Corps Online:
Peace Corps News:
Library:
Peace Corps: Computers:
Computers:
February 8, 2006: Headlines: COS - Guinea: Computers: Games: Computer Games: Missoulian: Guinea RPCV S. Matt Read plays "Torres"
Guinea RPCV S. Matt Read plays "Torres"
“Torres” is remarkable in that it gracefully combines its theme with its game play. At the end of a session, you'll find a board filled with castles, knights, and an aging king with a tough decision. While the crown is justly passed to the most industrious and clever knight, all players can appreciate the final landscape of the kingdom and the struggle of wits needed to get there.
Guinea RPCV S. Matt Read plays "Torres"
Three-dimensional board game brings castles to life
By Smatt for the Missoulian
In the fall of 2002, my partner Annie and I found ourselves in France. We were weeks away from finally returning to the states after our Peace Corps Guinea services, and we had taken the long way home.
To put it mildly, we were a little different. I carried around a green metal trunk whose handles had broken off. We said “hello” to just about everyone, and often asked how people were doing three or four times in a conversation. To top it off, in the heart of the culinary capital of the world, we found the only Guinean restaurant and ate there once a day. We were hopeless.
Eventually, we realized we wouldn't catch up so easily to the developed world. Since we couldn't go back to Guinea and we couldn't hack it in Paris, we decided to take an average of sorts. What we settled upon was the medieval town of Carcassonne, France.
*
Carcassonne is home to a large fortress built during the Middle Ages. It rests on a hill overlooking the town, and its many towers are even now a formidable appearance.
Let me spare you the suspense. There is indeed a game called Carcassonne, and while it's a great game, it's played on a flat surface. Maybe I'm being a little picky, but shouldn't a game about a castle have at least something to do with building up?
For those of you nodding your heads, there is such a game. It is called “Torres.”
Designed by Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer and distributed by Rio Grande Games, “Torres” is a pure strategy game which involves building three-dimensional castles to impress an aging king.
Set in the Middle Ages, “Torres” tells the story of a kingdom ravaged by war. The old king, eager to choose a successor, charges his knights to rebuild his kingdom. By building tall castles and manning them, the knights win favor (points), and he or she who wins the most by the third year of reconstruction wins the throne.
Two to four valiant knights set out to impress the king. Winning favor can be done in two ways: 1) being in a castle and 2) being in the king's castle. The latter has a flat reward, so the players' maneuvering within the first goal becomes the central strategy of the game.
The basic rules are as follows. Within a turn, you may use up to five action points. You may place an additional knight (two points), move an existing knight (one point), add a castle square (one point), draw a card (one point), play a card drawn from another turn (zero points), or move your point marker a single square (one point). There are a host of minor rules which govern each action, but don't let that fool you. The rules are meant to be read once, while the game is meant to be played a lot.
“Torres” is remarkable in that it gracefully combines its theme with its game play. At the end of a session, you'll find a board filled with castles, knights, and an aging king with a tough decision. While the crown is justly passed to the most industrious and clever knight, all players can appreciate the final landscape of the kingdom and the struggle of wits needed to get there.
Annie and I finally made it back to the states, but our hearts never caught the flight. We're forever stuck wanting a slower life, with simple food and long conversations. Until we next set foot on the dusty roads of Guinea, we'll have to content ourselves with our in-between place - the castles of the Middle Ages, the age of kings and knights, and the simple, comforting contours of “Torres.”
Smatt is the pen name of S. Matt Read. Look for his game reviews or letterbox clues every two weeks in the Sunday Missoulian. For daily puzzles, check out http://www.thepuzzler.blogspot.com and www.traditionalgamereviews.
When this story was posted in February 2006, this was on the front page of PCOL:
Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers
| RPCV admits to abuse while in Peace Corps Timothy Ronald Obert has pleaded guilty to sexually abusing a minor in Costa Rica while serving there as a Peace Corps volunteer. "The Peace Corps has a zero tolerance policy for misconduct that violates the law or standards of conduct established by the Peace Corps," said Peace Corps Director Gaddi H. Vasquez. Could inadequate screening have been partly to blame? Mr. Obert's resume, which he had submitted to the Peace Corps in support of his application to become a Peace Corps Volunteer, showed that he had repeatedly sought and obtained positions working with underprivileged children. Read what RPCVs have to say about this case. |
| Why blurring the lines puts PCVs in danger When the National Call to Service legislation was amended to include Peace Corps in December of 2002, this country had not yet invaded Iraq and was not in prolonged military engagement in the Middle East, as it is now. Read the story of how one volunteer spent three years in captivity from 1976 to 1980 as the hostage of a insurrection group in Colombia in Joanne Marie Roll's op-ed on why this legislation may put soldier/PCVs in the same kind of danger. Latest: Read the ongoing dialog on the subject. |
| PC establishes awards for top Volunteers Gaddi H. Vasquez has established the Kennedy Service Awards to honor the hard work and service of two current Peace Corps Volunteers, two returned Peace Corps Volunteers, and two Peace Corps staff members. The award to currently serving volunteers will be based on a demonstration of impact, sustainability, creativity, and catalytic effect. Submit your nominations by December 9. |
| Peace Corps at highest Census in 30 years Congratulations to the Peace Corps for the highest number of volunteers in 30 years with 7,810 volunteers serving in 71 posts across the globe. Of course, the President's proposal to double the Peace Corps to 15,000 volunteers made in his State of the Union Address in 2002 is now a long forgotten dream. With deficits in federal spending stretching far off into the future, any substantive increase in the number of volunteers will have to wait for new approaches to funding and for a new administration. Choose your candidate and start working for him or her now. |
| The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today. |
| Friends of the Peace Corps 170,000 strong 170,000 is a very special number for the RPCV community - it's the number of Volunteers who have served in the Peace Corps since 1961. It's also a number that is very special to us because March is the first month since our founding in January, 2001 that our readership has exceeded 170,000. And while we know that not everyone who comes to this site is an RPCV, they are all "Friends of the Peace Corps." Thanks everybody for making PCOL your source of news for the Returned Volunteer community. |
Read the stories and leave your comments.
Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.
Story Source: Missoulian
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Guinea; Computers; Games; Computer Games
PCOL25068
66