{"id":29042,"date":"2014-01-13T17:00:36","date_gmt":"2014-01-14T01:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/?p=29042"},"modified":"2014-01-13T17:00:36","modified_gmt":"2014-01-14T01:00:36","slug":"uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it’s not always a mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Games, especially wargames, tend to get superficial or even dismissive treatment in the mainstream press. So it’s refreshing to see an informed and thoughtful piece<\/a> explore the outstanding design work of Volko Ruhnke, a CIA security analyst who happens to be the designer of a series of multiplayer counterinsurgency games, including videogame reviewer Tom Chick’s favorite Labyrinth and ex-Colombian general Carlos Ospina Ovale’s favorite<\/a> Andean Abyss. The Washington Post’s Jason Albert is the best kind of mole, establishing his credentials as an insider only after the article hooks you.<\/p>\n

Beginning as a 10-year-old more than three decades ago, I spent innumerable hours hunched over wargames playing commander. My parents didn’t understand. My friends who saw the sun regularly didn’t either. But I wasn’t alone. Even though I left wargaming behind, I never forgot the games’ ability to evoke a sense of time, place and history.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then describes playing Ruhnke’s games with him at his home, his experiences at the World Boardgame Championships, and how games like this can be a passion for both designer and player.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Games, especially wargames, tend to get superficial or even dismissive treatment in the mainstream press. So it’s refreshing to see an informed and thoughtful piece explore the outstanding design work of Volko Ruhnke, a CIA security analyst who happens to be the designer of a series of multiplayer counterinsurgency games, including videogame reviewer Tom Chick’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1656,"featured_media":29045,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nWhen uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it's not always a mess - Quarter to Three<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it's not always a mess - Quarter to Three\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Games, especially wargames, tend to get superficial or even dismissive treatment in the mainstream press. So it’s refreshing to see an informed and thoughtful piece explore the outstanding design work of Volko Ruhnke, a CIA security analyst who happens to be the designer of a series of multiplayer counterinsurgency games, including videogame reviewer Tom Chick’s […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Quarter to Three\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-01-14T01:00:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"700\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"467\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bruce Geryk\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bruce Geryk\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bruce Geryk\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df02e83783158ce66487a16e1aa0285e\"},\"headline\":\"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it’s not always a mess\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-14T01:00:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":198,\"commentCount\":4,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"News\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/\",\"name\":\"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it's not always a mess - Quarter to Three\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-01-14T01:00:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df02e83783158ce66487a16e1aa0285e\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg\",\"width\":700,\"height\":467},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/2014\\\/01\\\/13\\\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it’s not always a mess\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/\",\"name\":\"Quarter to Three\",\"description\":\"All games, all the time. Except for the bits about movies.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/df02e83783158ce66487a16e1aa0285e\",\"name\":\"Bruce Geryk\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.quartertothree.com\\\/fp\\\/author\\\/bruce-geryk\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it's not always a mess - Quarter to Three","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it's not always a mess - Quarter to Three","og_description":"Games, especially wargames, tend to get superficial or even dismissive treatment in the mainstream press. So it’s refreshing to see an informed and thoughtful piece explore the outstanding design work of Volko Ruhnke, a CIA security analyst who happens to be the designer of a series of multiplayer counterinsurgency games, including videogame reviewer Tom Chick’s […]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/","og_site_name":"Quarter to Three","article_published_time":"2014-01-14T01:00:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":700,"height":467,"url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bruce Geryk","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bruce Geryk","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/"},"author":{"name":"Bruce Geryk","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#\/schema\/person\/df02e83783158ce66487a16e1aa0285e"},"headline":"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it’s not always a mess","datePublished":"2014-01-14T01:00:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/"},"wordCount":198,"commentCount":4,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg","articleSection":["News"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/","url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/","name":"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it's not always a mess - Quarter to Three","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg","datePublished":"2014-01-14T01:00:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#\/schema\/person\/df02e83783158ce66487a16e1aa0285e"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/what_is_it_good_for.jpg","width":700,"height":467},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/2014\/01\/13\/uber-nerdy-boardgames-collide-mainstream-media-always-mess\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"When uber-nerdy boardgames collide with mainstream media, it’s not always a mess"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/","name":"Quarter to Three","description":"All games, all the time. Except for the bits about movies.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/#\/schema\/person\/df02e83783158ce66487a16e1aa0285e","name":"Bruce Geryk","url":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/author\/bruce-geryk\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1656"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=29042"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29042\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29044,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29042\/revisions\/29044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/29045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=29042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=29042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quartertothree.com\/fp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=29042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}