Best New Board Game

I do not usually blog about board games, but game and game theory are an important part of data science. In fact, I would say that that a good game player makes a good data scientist.

Recently a blog called BoardGameGeek posted a article about a game called Nika. Nika is a game out of a new generation of game designers that return board games to a simpler environment. Gone are the stacks of cards and piles of dice and other members of the entourage of pieces that came with a board game of my generation. However, do not let the simplicity of design fool you into believing this is an easy game easily mastered. Nika is as complex and challenging game as the players wish to make it. The game is also an 2013 Ion Award winner for best strategy game.

The game itself was thought up by designer Josh Raab. Josh is currently a Masters student studying game design at NYU. He designed the game and originally put it on Kickstarter where it was easily funded. You can buy the game from the eaglegames website.

I hope you enjoy the game and the time away from the computer. If you want to know more about the game designer here is a link to his blog.