SquarkBlog

This is an urgent message:

There was a solar eclipse yesterday in Kuala Lumpur. One of our fans sent us a dramatic pic of the event:

Squark Games' educational games division, SquarkEDU, has been appointed as the Official Online Resource Centre for Thinkcon-1, Malaysia's first ever convention to showcase the use of designer games in classrooms as tools for developing critical thinking and other skills to be held on Sri Cempaka School, Damansara this weekend. We plan to provide an facilities for and online community dedicated to the use of games as educational tools at all levels of education from kindergarten through primary and secondary schools, right up to tertiary. We are also dedicated to providing the corporate sector with the knowledge and tools to use games in team building and various knowledge and skills training.

 

 I hope everyone has had their fair share of gaming over the Christmas and New Year holidays with friends and family members.  Traditionally, casual gamers tend to break out their board games around the end of year break and play the usual board games that are tailored for the, er, casual gaming market. Hard core gamers like us play all throughout the year and play more during long breaks, and we play real games.

Now that the year-end holidays are over, we incurables are resuming our weekly gaming. This weekend, we will be trying out my brand-new Essen copy of Ghost Stories. I tore open the shrinkwrap a few days ago, opened the box (no box fart), and marvelled at the production quality of this game. Repos Production has excelled themselves this time. The beautiful rulebooks one each in English, German and French, comes in quality matt coated paper. The illustrations in the rulebook have to be seen to be believed. Piero the artist credited for the graphics. If I meet him, I would like to shake his hand. First-class graphics in the rulebook, cards, boards and tiles. Ghost Stories is the perfect example of how to present a game. I wouldn't be surprise if the majority of the sales of this game were impulse purchase on the strength of the game box alone. To me, Piero's graphics define Ghost Stories. The box inlay of this game is also very well illustrated. It is the best box inlay I have ever seen.

Today is the last day of 2008. Some people will be glad to see the back if it, and others will bid 2008 a fond farewell. It has been a tumultuous year for most. It has been the year the US sub-prime issue took a stab at practically everyone in the world. It has been the year of many landslides in Malaysia. It has been the year where political flashpoints erupted in many areas of the world. It has been the year of suffering. However, 2008 also have had its cheerful moments. It has been the year of the Beijing Olympics. Who could forget the amazing Opening Ceremony, or Michael Phelps' eight gold medals?  It has been the year of the first Formula One night race in Singapore. It has been the year when the price of crude oil plummeted. Games-wise, it has been  The Year of the Outer-Space Euro Game - the year when the theme of Designer Euro Games moved on from the Renaissance trader into outer space.

The typical theme of a Designer Euro Games was trading in the Age of Renaissance. Being games designed in Europe, this was understandable. However, there were too many games with similar settings. Examples of very good games with Renaissance trading themes are The Traders of Genoa, Ys,  Goa, Oltre Mare, Medici, etc. Besides these classics, there were also mediocre games with tired oft-repeated games mechanics set in the Renaissance era. Personally, I am of the opinion that the Renaissance trader theme has been over-utilised in board games design. The delicious games displayed in Essen Games Fair 2008 had a preponderance of science fiction themes. This is a refreshing change. I believe 2007's very popular card game, Race for the Galaxy (RftG) had something to do with this. RftG was a hot game for many reasons. It's a fast game where players has to analyse the immediate game conditions and deploy compatible combination of cards. The adrenaline felt while playing a good session of RftG is, to date, unmatched. Needless to say, RftG sold like hot cakes. Board game designers, being  intelligent beings as they were, quickly caught on to this and saw the light beyond the candle-lit Renaissance night. A quick theme change and voila! One science fiction game was born.

We can now place orders for the very nice Vallejo Colours and Modelling range:

Vallejo Model Color - Paint Sets
Ref. Code Description SRP (RM)
8 UNITS
70103 8 Wargames Basic 89
70104 High Elves 67
70105 Orcs & Goblins 67
70106 Non Dead Chaos 67
70108 Panzer Colors 67
70124 8 Face & Skintones 67
16 UNITS
70101 Folkstone Basics 165
70102 Folkstone Specialist 165
70107 WW II German 165
70109 WW II Allieds 165
70110 Napoleonics 165
70111 American Civil War 165
70112 16 Wargames Special 165
70114 WW II German Camoflage 165
70125 16 Face & Skintones 165
70140 Basic Colors USA 165
70141 Earthtones 165
70142 Medieval Colors 165
70144 Equestrian Colors 165
70145 Native Americans 165
70146 Naval (Steam Era) 165
70147 American Colonial 165
70148 American Revolution
BOX SETS
70178 Intro 8 Model Color 127
73099 Train Color Set 127
PLASTIC CASE
70172 72 Basic Colors 917
70173 72 Military Colors 917
PANZER ACES - 8 units sets
70122 Panzer Aces No. 1 100
70123 Panzer Aces No. 2 100
70126 Panzer Aces No. 3 100
70127 Panzer Aces No. 4 100
70128 Panzer Aces No. 5 100
70129 Panzer Aces No. 6 100

Vallejo Model AIR - Paint Sets
Ref. Code Description SRP (RM)
8 UNITS SETS
71174 Basic Colors 89
71175 WW II German Starter Set 89
71176 Metallic Colors 89
71177 Panzer Colors 89
16 UNITS SETS
71178 Basic Color Set 165
71179 WW II German 165
71180 WW II Allied 165
71181 Metallic Effects 165
71190 "Extreme Modelling" Tank Set 165
PLASTIC CASE
71170 72 Basic Colors 917
71172 Basic Colors + H&S AB 850
71173 Camoflage Colors + H&S AB 850
Vallejo Game Color - Paint Sets
8 UNITS SETS
72295 Skintones 67
72296 8 Game Inks 89
16 UNITS SETS
72297 Game Color Specialist Set 165
72298 Game Color Advanced Set 165
72299 Game Color Introduction Set 165
BOX SETS
72208 Intro 8 Game Color 126
72209 Intro 9 Game Color 126
PLASTIC CASE
72172 72 Game Colors 918
Vallejo Water & Stone
Ref. Code Description SRP (RM)
26201 Transparent Water 48
26202 Mediterranean Blue 58
26203 Pacific Blue 58
26204 Atlantic Blue 58
26230 Still Water 55
26231 Foam & Snow 21
26210 White Stucco 38
26211 White Stone Paste 38
26212 Fine White Pumice 38
26213 Rough Grey Pumice 38
26214 Black Lava 48
26215 Sandy Paste 48
26216 Mat Gel Base 38
26535 Extra Heavy Gel 58
26589 Oxid Paste 48
262579 Mica Flake Gel 58
Auxiliary Products
28010 Primer in Aerosol - White 67
28011 Primer in Aerosol - Grey 67
28012 Primer in Aerosol - Black 67
28530 Acrylic aerosol varnishes - Gloss 67
28531 Acrylic aerosol varnishes - Matt 67
28532 Acrylic aerosol varnishes - Satin 67
70510 Acrylic Gloss Varnish - Model Color 12
71058 Acrylic Gloss Varnish - Model Air 12
72072 Acrylic Gloss Varnish - Game Color 12
70520 Acrylic Mat Varnish - Model Color 12
71059 Acrylic Mat Varnish - Model Air 12
72070 Acrylic Mat Varnish - Game Color 12
70522 Acrylic Satin Varnish - Model Color 12
71060 Acrylic Satin Varnish - Model Air 12
72071 Acrylic Satin Varnish - Game Color 12
70470 Medium Gloss 12
70540 Medium Mat 12
70597 Drying Retarder 12
70596 Glaze Medium - Model Color 12
72069 Glaze Medium - Game Color 12
70598 Crackle Medium 12
70400 Plastic Putty 12
70401 Plastic Putty - Tube 20ml 12
70524 Thinner - Model Color 12
71061 Thinner - Model Air 32ml 12
70521 Metallic Medium - Model Color 12
72074 Metallic Medium - Game Color 12
Auxiliary Products
Ref. Code Description SRP (RM)
28900 Brush Cleaner 85ml 17
28890 Brush Restorer 85ml 17
70523 Liquid Mask 17ml 12
28851 Liquid Mask 32ml 23
28850 Liquid Mask 85ml 26
71099 Airbrush Cleaner 85ml 17
71199 Airbrush Cleaner 200ml 35
Hand Painted Color Charts
CC970 Model Color 239
CC971 Model Air 145
CC991 Water & Stone 55
Printed Color Charts
CC070 Model Color - full range 3.7
CC720 Model Color - 72 colors 1.7
CC071 Model Air 3.7
CC072 Game Color 1.7
CC026 Water & Stone 3.7
CC073 Equivalent Values 4.3
CC074 Train Color 1.7
BRUSHES
RK25999 Detail Set - 4/0, 3/0, 2/0
RK25998 Painter Set - 0,1,2
P518 Kolinsky Sable Brush - 12/box
- 10/0, 5/0, 4/0, 3/0, 2/0, 1/0, 0-7
P510 Round Toray brush - 12/box
- 10/0, 5/0, 4/0, 3/0, 2/0, 1/0, 0-7
P515 Round Toray brush Triangle - 12/box
- 3/0, 2/0, 0-3
P530 Taffino Toray "Drybrush" - 12/box
- 2, 4, 6
PF20 Camel Hair Brush - 12/box
- 1-12
P903.00 Round Toray Brush - fine
P021.06 Flat Toray Brush - drybrushing