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Twin toddlers, board games, and the "boom crash piece"

5/17/2016

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​Having twins is wonderful – but it is sometimes like a Die Hard movie. They run over smaller toys with ride-on dump trucks, know professional wrestling moves innately, and love to crash cars into airplanes.
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Twin A, Zechariah, enjoying fresh air at the park.
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Twin B, Elijah, loves motorcycles of all sorts.
​Yet I could not resist their ever-so-nice and cute smiles asking to play board games on the shelf. And when Zechariah was jumping up-and-down in excitement for “Daddy’s game” (Stratos), with Elijah ready to climb the bookshelf for it, well, I gave in.
Fortunately, they love to help and to build things for people. Both have such generous spirits, and it melts my heart every time I see them sharing and helping each other when they might otherwise be painting the walls with spaghetti sauce. Or fighting/arguing over who is, in fact, Batman (conclusion: they are both Batman). 
You thought this was going to be about more crashes and explosions, didn’t you? Me too. 
I am continually fascinated by how much board games can have a calming effect on my twin tornadoes. Here it gets Zechariah counting the pieces and telling me about them, and Elijah telling me stories about the dragon and the owls in the spooky forest, echoing some of his favourite bedtime stories. 
It amazes me at how much it brings out their creativity and storytelling, some of which ends up being in their own twin language that only they understand, laughing at each other while I observe, completely befuddled.
Ultimately, I’m observing board games shaping how my twins engage with storytelling in a tactile way, helping their world become more alive. 
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Elijah making a funny face
It’s a joy to be a father of boys, who are as into games as deeply I am; I guess I’m not surprised. Like father like son as they say. This is why I try to set a strong example of hard work mixed with creativity and humour. I can’t wait to see what’s next. Even if it has a boom crash piece.
​For reference, one of their other favourite activities is running around naked wearing buckets on their heads. Those pictures may be saved for future wedding days. We’ll see. 
More than anything, I see in them the free-ness, innocence, and joy that inspired me to create Stratos in the first place. They really do remind me of me.
I really thought this would turn out like Jumanji. It hasn’t … yet. I am hopeful, though, that sharing with them may inspire a future development. 
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Me and Elijah, watching and listening.
​So try introducing board games with your kids. Watch as they fall into a new world and observe theirs expand. It may result in random nakedness, yelling fits, and lots of Lego pieces underfoot, but I would not trade any of this for anything in the world. 
Thanks for reading, 
Jacob Chodoriwsky | Lead Designer, Stratos
PS - If you’d like to keep on top of the latest news, product updates, and freebies, join our mailing list below. There will be cool stuff to come - I promise.
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Hey, it's me. Come say hi at a Comicon or a Hamilton game night sometime.
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Trying to quit World of Warcraft? Try Catan.

4/18/2016

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With over half a million results in Google.ca just for “quit World of Warcraft”, WoW has a reputation for being possibly the most addictive fantasy game ever made – or at least, the most successful. And rightly deserved, as it features a beautifully-crafted world and was, in my experience, the first MMORPG with good hit detection.
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That particular feature made it a more immersive experience compared to every MMORPG that came before it. I’m sure there were great qualities to these games, but the combat just didn't connect with me. Being a big fan of games like Tekken 3, I just couldn’t get into games where collision detection was way off.
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World of Warcraft: beautiful world, and perhaps the first MMO with good hit detection.
WoW was extremely well put-together even beyond having your attacks actually connect on-screen, and had a powerful effect on some of my friends.
I still remember that time when one roommate’s girlfriend would go log into WoW on his PC as the first thing she did upon visiting - even before saying hi to any of us, including him! That's when I knew there was something wrong.
Over time, however, the hooks of Azeroth were simply not enough to overcome the laughter and chaos that accompanied nearly every match of Catan, a now legendary board game that appeared among us around the same time. While I definitely still respect the old classics, it was a revelation to play a board game that had the design maturity of video games with respect to balance, pacing, and strategy – while also being a more truly social experience than anything online.  This new way of engaging in role-playing-like scenarios with friends was truly a life-changer.
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Settlers of Catan: the go-to game for getting people unhooked from World of Warcraft.
Not all of our roommates quit World of Warcraft. But some did, and we all played Settlers of Catan regularly, at some points even daily. It quickly acquired a bigger presence in our apartment than WoW, and left us with many more memories to boot. Come-from-behind victories always kept us on our toes thanks to multiple ways to earn Victory Points, leaving whoever lost itching to play again and settle the score.
Seeing the power of games like Catan to bring people together and keep players interested right to the end was a real inspiration for us. When co-designer David Gundrum and I first dreamed up Stratos, our goal was to make something accessible and social like Catan and other Euro games, but with a rich and beautiful RPG-like world and combat. Our inspirations there definitely stretch back much further. How many of you 90s gamers still love Shining Force or Final Fantasy Tactics, to name only two?
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First-timers Zach and Natalya enjoying a round of Stratos at A-Game Cafe in Toronto, Ontario
This whole episode helped us to understand what we love most about different kinds of games. RPG and fantasy-themed games don't have to be quite so battle-centric, and but we felt inspired by the idea of a Euro style game being more dynamic with RPG elements. 
So, if you’re in love with Catan, or trying to wean someone off of WoW, I feel like we've made something you'll appreciate. 
Thanks for reading - I hope to hear from you, too, about games that have had a major impact on your life. 
Sincerely,
Jacob Chodoriwsky | 
Lead Designer, Stratos
PS - If you’d like to keep on top of the latest news, product updates, and freebies, join our mailing list below. There will be cool stuff to come - I promise.
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    Author

    Jacob Chodoriwsky is the lead designer of Stratos and CEO/Co-Founder of Board and Tale Games Inc. He lives in Hamilton, ON with his wife Rebecca and twin sons Zechariah and Elijah.

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