I added a photo gallery to my website, www.beforeimthrough.com, which shows images of prototype boards for Focus and a "Mini-Focus" prototype which I picked up at the Sid Sackson auctions.
I was lucky enough to dive into Sackson's archives at the Strong Museum. It was way too many archive boxes to explore in my limited time, but I did find a few gems:
Oh man. Community is so critical in historical preservation. We may have digital preservation through social media (to a limited extent), but homing and caring for the actual "artifacts" rely so heavily on being involved in the community. Right now, board games is a pretty big and involved community. But I imagine niche groups and collectors of other things and the actual value of the small online chat groups or Discord communities. I hope people find their tribe.
Glad to hear you got that letter and Cosmic Encounters in the end, and the money went to a good cause. Minutes before I opened my email this morning, I thought... I'd love to buy a Euro about finding something special (a few times in the game), and then using it in the game to do things like earn money or improve an engine, but not a game with lots of luck to find them. Besides Tinners' Trail, I thought you would be the only one that would know the answer. Then I read you article about searching and finding something special :)
I just played Cosmic Encounters for the first time two days ago. And now here it is. The universe works in strange and wonderful ways. Given that board games are a centuries-old art, it's great to see someone taking preservation seriously.
I added a photo gallery to my website, www.beforeimthrough.com, which shows images of prototype boards for Focus and a "Mini-Focus" prototype which I picked up at the Sid Sackson auctions.
The Museum of Board Games in the UK has quite a few prototypes, notes etc: instagram.com/themuseumofboardgames
I was lucky enough to dive into Sackson's archives at the Strong Museum. It was way too many archive boxes to explore in my limited time, but I did find a few gems:
Handwritten manuscript of the Gamut of Games preface: https://twitter.com/DanielSolis/status/1433807335584149506
Journal entries as he hunted for rare games while on vacation in Europe: https://twitter.com/DanielSolis/status/1433809254155161600
Letters finalizing the rules of Acquire with the publisher: https://twitter.com/DanielSolis/status/1433903506549772288
Thanks for sharing this! It's both a touching tribute to Sid Sackson, and an important note on preserving the history of tabletop games.
Oh man. Community is so critical in historical preservation. We may have digital preservation through social media (to a limited extent), but homing and caring for the actual "artifacts" rely so heavily on being involved in the community. Right now, board games is a pretty big and involved community. But I imagine niche groups and collectors of other things and the actual value of the small online chat groups or Discord communities. I hope people find their tribe.
Glad to hear you got that letter and Cosmic Encounters in the end, and the money went to a good cause. Minutes before I opened my email this morning, I thought... I'd love to buy a Euro about finding something special (a few times in the game), and then using it in the game to do things like earn money or improve an engine, but not a game with lots of luck to find them. Besides Tinners' Trail, I thought you would be the only one that would know the answer. Then I read you article about searching and finding something special :)
Synchronicity!
I found a game like that. A Czech Games one scheduled for release this year, "SETI: Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence".
I just played Cosmic Encounters for the first time two days ago. And now here it is. The universe works in strange and wonderful ways. Given that board games are a centuries-old art, it's great to see someone taking preservation seriously.
Synchronicity!