Tales of the Arabian Nights -- shipping

No no no...the Fairbanks one is good, but it's the 1940 Michael Powell/Alexander Korda picture I'm talking about, the one with Sabu and Conrad Veidt. Technicolor.

Another vote for Thief of Bagdad. Haven't seen it in years though.

Sag.

Isn't that what is meant by PG? Man, have I got my rating system all messed up.

Third on Thief of Bagdad. Follow up with any of the Harryhausen Sindbad movies.
I think Golden Voyage is my favorite, but it was a later one and kind of crazed.

As to Tales.... Swamp Castle gets one Wednesday. Sandi and I have a bit of a preference for the game Thursday.

moofrank wrote:

Third on Thief of Bagdad. Follow up with any of the Harryhausen Sindbad movies.
I think Golden Voyage is my favorite, but it was a later one and kind of crazed.

As to Tales.... Swamp Castle gets one Wednesday. Sandi and I have a bit of a preference for the game Thursday.

Saw the Thief of Baddad (1940)...surprisingly good. In fact, the kids liked the story better than Aladdin. (But they did keep pointing out the problems with some of the special effects...I had to keep telling them that this was before WWII).
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Started watching the first Harryhausen Sinbad film...I'll reserve judgement.

Like Branham suggested, GOLDEN VOYAGE is the best of the Sinbad pictures. Tom Baker as an evil vizier, Eurotrash cinema mainstay John Philip Law as Sinbad, Caroline Munro's oiled clevage, and the scene with the Kali idol make it a winner. I think it's also the best scripted and most modern out of them. 7th VOYAGE has some great scenes though, no doubt.

Years ago I saw a Japanese Sinbad picture with Mifune in the title role...wasn't very good, but interesting.

I got the Harryhousen boxed set, that thing is killer. Golden Voyage was always my favorite but they're all great.

Dear god, this game is huge. And weighs a ton.

moofrank wrote:

Dear god, this game is huge. And weighs a ton.

I can hear the online retailers who offer free shipping crying now...

...movie talk...

I scored a copy of the Criterion Collection edition of Thief of Baghdad; not sure what the others out there look like, but the CC version is a beautiful transfer of a great movie.

I just got a play in tonight and my nine-year-old crushed his sister and me. Scored 17 points in about an hour and ten, when our goal was a ten point game.

This was a lot of fun and I think kids can enjoy it. The trick is to keep the book in solid hands and keep things moving. If you're not quick they'll wander off.

There's not a lot of control of your fate in this title, but I didn't mind a bit, largely because my character was growing and changing the entire time. Granted, I was envious, cursed, wounded and crippled at the end, but I had one hell of a story to tell!

Sag.

Is this game soloable?

Sure.

Sagrilarus wrote:

Scored 17 points in about an hour and ten, when our goal was a ten point game.
Sag.

Would you say that was a fast game or an average-length one?

Columbob wrote:

Sagrilarus wrote:

Scored 17 points in about an hour and ten, when our goal was a ten point game.
Sag.

Would you say that was a fast game or an average-length one?

Sorry for not seeing this question earlier. My boy got to seventeen in one big hurry largely because of his quest card ("Exiled") having a big reward and him landing what he needed to complete it early. It's a D3/S2 reward -- 5 points towards your win and we were playing a 10 point game. Two of us (not me of course) had landed about six or seven points when he got it, it put him to about 14 with the points he picked up for the encounter that completed it and he picked up a few more on the way home to Baghdad.

For a fully-specified 20 point game with you scoring the D/S combination you choose, I'd plan three hours. But, you can set the point total wherever you like, so you can set the time frame to whatever you like.

This is valuable with kids in the mix. Kids require no mastery of the ruleset in this one -- you can run it yourself and have you kids merely play the story part. Setting a reasonable game length completes the set, and I plan to recommend to other parents. These days folks are recommending Agricola and Race for the Galaxy for kids, but that's crap. Tales of the Arabian Nights can actually work, and the kids may enjoy it more than the parent.

Sag.



Then again, (late edit here) my twelve-year-old let me get the whole board set up, decided she didn't like her quest, and bailed on me because an important Spongebob episode came on TV. My one four-year-old boy was still gung ho though, so I'll just need to not invite her to the table.