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  • THE WORLD CUP GAME- Best Sports Game Ever Published

THE WORLD CUP GAME- Best Sports Game Ever Published

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There Will Be Games
THE WORLD CUP GAME Alright, I've been playing THE WORLD CUP GAME for months and I figured I'd put the review up at Gameshark.com rather than the scathing, hateful rant against the attendees (including many gamers) of Dragon Con 2008 that I was going to send in to Bill Abner this week.   I realized that I wasn't writing about gaming but about "geek culture" in general.

Seriously, if you took all the time,  money, energy, concern, and passion that "geeks" invest in bullshit like failed TV shows, building elaborate costumes, and gaming and focused it all on social change, environmental stewardship, and humanitarianism then the world would be a different place.

And then there's the girl that came up to me and assessed the three games I brought to play with AGF alumni (CUTTHROAT CAVERNS, REALLY NASTY HORSE RACING, and THE WORLD CUP GAME)- "Fun once, fun once, never heard of it."  Ah, the unsolicited elitist geek opinion.  Thank you for that.

And then there was my realization that the root of all geek humour is juxtaposition, typically of pop culture references or incongruity.  "McCthulhu's" or KILLER BUNNIES are key examples.  Or a Stormtrooper with one of those Firefly toboggans on.  And that Dr. Horrible crap, which as I predicted was all over the con, is totally based on the hilarity of a "bad guy" talking about "soft billowy curtains".  Juxtaposition like that is not ever funny to me. 

And then there was this artist...I think I heckled this painting in the artshow for like twenty minutes.  She also had a painting of a feather with Elvis crying in it, I think I know why.  NSFW!  NSFW!  NSFW!

See!  I'm doing it.  Nobody wants to read six pages of that, so go check out the review instead.  The game is awesome.
There Will Be Games THE WORLD CUP GAME
THE WORLD CUP GAME
Michael Barnes (He/Him)
Senior Board Game Reviews Editor

Sometime in the early 1980s, MichaelBarnes’ parents thought it would be a good idea to buy him a board game to keep him busy with some friends during one of those high-pressure, “free” timeshare vacations. It turned out to be a terrible idea, because the game was TSR’s Dungeon! - and the rest, as they say, is history. Michael has been involved with writing professionally about games since 2002, when he busked for store credit writing for Boulder Games’ newsletter. He has written for a number of international hobby gaming periodicals and popular Web sites. From 2004-2008, he was the co-owner of Atlanta Game Factory, a brick-and-mortar retail store. He is currently the co-founder of FortressAT.com and Nohighscores.com as well as the Editor-in-Chief of Miniature Market’s Review Corner feature. He is married with two childen and when he’s not playing some kind of game he enjoys stockpiling trivial information about music, comics and film.

Articles by Michael

THE WORLD CUP GAME
Michael Barnes
Senior Board Game Reviews Editor

Articles by Michael

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