Mitä Pelataan? 🎤

Today my first semester teaching my own class ended. The semester was filled with countless new experiences. I began the semester in a class of 17 5th and 6th grade pupils I did not know. I ended it with 17 wonderful kids who each have their own character and are individuals. Each has their own specific interests and thoughts. My aim was to help the kids learn and grow. .. The class was not the easiest really, and I tried my best. We had ups and downs together. We had some clashes and we had moments of joy. What is important to me, is that we had way, way, way more laughs and fun in the class and among the group than we had of sadness or arguments. I hope I have been able to give attention individually to each and every one of the pupils this semester that wished it. . I will miss them all, every single one of them. I almost teared up when other kids sang farewell to my 6th graders. I did so when reading all these cards for me. One said "to the best teacher", that broke me. From a kid who was not a "model" pupil. But they were brilliant in their own witty way, an individual. . I regret I could not have a talk with the 6th graders before they left for home, I had to send a Wilma-message to them afterwards, I hope they read it. Some of you stalk me here, some follow me - I know 😉. Please read my unspoken words, say this to your classmates too, thanks! . I will miss NHL talks in the mornings with one little dude (his sis, let him know if you read this, thx) I will miss football and spending time with all the kids during breaks. I will miss telling some little boys to not shout or swear in class. I will miss the silly puns in class and BrawlStars talk (I'll play with you guys sometime, promise). I will miss all the chats I had with all the kids in the school, they were priceless to me. . Most of all, I will miss spending time with my pupils. Whoever gets to spend time with them next year, I hope they appreciate it as they should. These moments are important to pupils, they should be so for teachers and adults too. And leave an overall positive vibes. . Please greet if we meet! Now, summer stuff. Me, out. ❤️ #opettajanelämää #opetus #kesäloma #kevätjuhla #oppilaat

Short instruction how to find your way to #JokiCon this weekend in case you're wondering how to get here. Also, testing how reels work. #boardgames #lautapelit

I rarely post in relation to my work or politics. Now I feel like I need to. . Exactly 2 months ago our colleagues left Joensuu. They were here for a week after traveling for 3 days from Gaza to Egypt to Turkey to Finland, as there is no airport in Gaza and they are not allowed to depart from Israel. It is like a win in a lottery for these very hard working educational academics to even be allowed a visit to Tel Aviv to even apply for a visa, let alone get it. It took a long time, and this was their 2nd trip now. . The focus was Finnish culture besides project stuff. We went to Koli (@kolinationalpark ) for a hike, played real Mölkky (@molkky @tacticgames ), experienced golf (@kareliagolf ), wondered Finnish library system (@vaarakirjastot ) and of course spent time in Finnish school (@jnsnorssi ) as well as got to see Finnish baseball (@joensuunmaila ), and Sauna & swim (@joensuunjaakarhut ). They also stayed in cottages (@holiday_linnunlahti ). . These guys have done an absolutely fantastic work on teacher education and reformed it immensely during our project. They've done so in #Gaza and specifically in #STEM subjects. I have never met a more driven group to better the conditions in their land, for future generations. And possibly never will. As we said farewells, we promised to meet in Gaza one day, soon, not late. . Now all that might be gone, these guys have fled with their families within the open-air prison they live in. Some students they've mentored in our project dead. Their job now is to care for their families and try to get water and necessities to them while there are any to get. . I hope the future is bright, the people deserve it. They deserve something to look forward to. Education is at the core of this, and these guys have brought brightness to an often dark place. To the youth there, to people. . Terror is terrible, genocide is unjustifiable. Human rights are priceless. No civilian should suffer from leaders' whims and their lust for power or status. This goes to everyone in this world we live in, it is the only one we have. Stand up to "leaders" who are not on the people's side, elected or not. The world is for EVERYone, equally. Heal the World!❤

Next weekend, it's time for #JokiCon again! It's a gaming convention organized by the boardgameclub (#JoensuuBoardGamers ) of our university's (#uef ) student union (#isyy ). We get about 100 attendees in the Con, but estimating from 30+ weekly game evening attendees this semester (earlier around 20), we will break records this autumn! . I will be hosting the (traditional) quiz show using Wits&Wagers where there will be game prizes. The club also received a Bingo machine and I will test it and run a game for prizes too! Also, of course, raffles for games! Prizes are provided by #AsmodeeNordics and #LautapelitFi ! . This is a wonderful convention to attend to especially if you seek to play games among hospitable and nice people - we North Carelians are that group in Finland. There are also #yugiohtcg and #digimontcg tournaments and #roleplay by #MannunVartijat ! If you have no other reason to visit Joensuu (#joensuu ) this is a good one! Welcome! . @asmodee_games @lautapelit.fi @lautapelit.fihelsinki

#Challengers ! designed by Johannes Krenner & Markus Slawitscheck is an #AutoBattler boardgame for 2 to 8 players that plays in about an hour. It is published by @zmangames_ and won Kennerspiel this year. It is also available in @boardgamearena , and plays very quick there! . Players have a six card starting deck to which they add cards after each match. Matchups are predetermined on cards to make the game flow better and tournament easier. Each player plays 7 matches and at the end the two players with most fans will play in a final - winner wins the game! You gain fans by winning matches and from some cards. . Cards have a power and most have an ability. There are different sets of cards selected at the start of tournament and each set is divided into A, B, and C cards. A are the weakest and those you get most to your deck and in the beginning of the tournament, while C are strongest and you get them the least and towards the end. The sets include for example Geeks, Aliens, and Film. . In a battle the beginner is chosen by a coin flip and they place the top card of their deck to the battle and they take the flag. Then opponent becomes the attacker and places cards until they match or exceed the power of your card, they take the flag, your card goes to bench. If more than one card was opened, form a pile with last card on top, and your cards go to bench. Change attacker and repeat. . You lose when you can't draw from your deck you can't place a card on bench. Bench has 6 slots, where you can place 6 differently named cards - cards with same name go to same slot. Winner gets a trophy with unkown amount of fans (earlier rounds' trophies have less than later) Between matches you find your new match spot and add and may remove cards from your deck. . I asked Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ) if I could get a 2 copies of the game for a tournament at JokiCon, they provided. We played a 13 player tournament of Challengers! using 2 copies. Most of the pics are from that, including final final ending video. The game plays very well and is easy to play, deckbuilding has some difficult decisions, otherwise it's automatic. Components are great as well! I rate this 7/10.

#ArcheosSociety is a game published by @space_cowboys_officiel and it's a re-imagining of #Ethnos , the designer Paolo Mori's area majority and hand management-set collection game. Both are for 2 to 6 players and take about an hour to play according to the box. Ethnos had a fantasy setting, this one's set in archeological expeditions. . The main change in the game is that there is no map with locations to compete in area majority anymore. There are now site tracks with different conditions to advance. Other than that the game is almost the same. You choose which decks of people (factions earlier) you take into the game and shuffle them. You add 3 monkeys to the deck in a way that they appear in bottom half of deck. Season ends when 3rd is drawn, and players score their expeditions. This is done 2 or 3 times depending on the number of players, then the game ends. . On your turn you either a) pick up a card from deck or available face up cards, or b) play a set of cards with matching colour or type of people. You choose a leader among them, advance on that colour site's archaeology track and get to use the special ability of that leader. The twist in the game is that you then discard the rest of your hand face up to the table and those cards are available for taking from now on. Each track has different requirements to advance and give different bonuses and points, so choose wisely. . I think Ethnos is a good game (7/10), so I wanted to try this new one. The setting in this one is interesting and the artwork is nice. I hate the player "colours" though, need brighter! I didn't like this as a game as much. I had hopes for the tracks, but they remove almost all direct competition in the game - you do what you do and ignore others. Sure, someone will often take the card you want, but that's all. The game felt also a bit long, especially when you did not get what you need and couldn't do anything proper towards the end. I was disappointed. It is inevitable for me to compare these unfortunately, for someone who hates interaction and hasn't played Ethnos this might be a gem! For me this is 6/10. * (Game from Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ), thanks!) *

#Dixit #Disney edition is a celebratory release on Disney's 100 years. There's a sticker 100 on the wrapping I wanted to be visible in the pic so I didn't unwrap the game prior, and thus the embargo-note is there too (thank you @asmodee_games ). The box also has a sign stating that over 12 million copies of Dixit has been sold (my Turkish Dixit from 2017 says 1,5 mil). Dixit is most known for its art in the cards, so Disney should suit it well. . Dixit is a game designed by Jean-Louis Roubira and published in 2008 by @libellud . The game takes as long as the group makes it take, meaning the more discussion, the more creativity, and difficulty there is in the game, the longer it can take. This version supports 3 to 6 players, and does not end when the deck ends, but when a player reaches 30 points. . In Dixit one player is a storyteller and chooses a card from their hand and gives a clue/tells a story related to that card. It can be anything and given in almost any way - just agree with the group so you have some frame. The trick is, that the storyteller does not want everyone to guess (too easy) nor do they want nobody to guess (too hard). They want something in between, like 1 player, to guess. In such cases, both the storyteller and players who guessed right, score 3 points. If everyone guessed, they get 2 points each, but storyteller gets 0. Everyone gets 0 if nobody guesses. . So what is there to guess? Well, after the storyteller gives their clue, everybody looks at their hand of cards and pick a card that matches that clue. All cards are shuffled and randomly assigned a number. Then everyone votes secretly which number they think is the storyteller's card, you cannot vote your own. Other players get 1 point for each vote their card received. That's how you score. . This version comes with an insert that can hold at least 3 decks of dixit cards. It also has places for the superb disney meeples, no, Diples maybe? Disney People? Anyway, the voting dials are themed to match the Diples and the board is beautiful. The cards are also wonderful and have detail, although not as weird and wonky at times. Wonderful version of a mellow game. 7/10, as the original.

#Tipperary is a game designed by Günter Burkhardt and published by @lookout_games . The game takes you and 1-4 of your friends to an Irish countryside setting of green meadows (with sheep ofc) and yellow fields (for whiskey ofc). A small bog can be seen here and there, as well as stone circles and ruins of towers. The trip takes about 45 mins as the box says, and doesn't vary much as you act simultaneously. . Your aim is to create a rectangular shape of land around your home tile (the one with whiskey-track) with a lot of sheep adjacent to each other on meadows. While doing so you also try to arrange 3 ruins in a line, 2 bogs next to each other, and create pairings of fields and breweries to produce whiskey. Stone circles will provide points by themselves. Why? . * If you fully (incl. diagonals) surround your home tile, you get 5 points. * You get points from the largest rectangle you have on your land, i.e 7 wide, 6 high would be 7x6=42 points. * Each connected sheep in your largest group is worth 1 point, most such sheeps 5 points. * Each field & brewery adjacent to each other will let you advance 1 step on your Whiskey track for points and sheeples. * Each line of 3 ruins gives you a tower piece to fill a hole on your land or make your rectangle larger. * 2 adjacent bogs will give you a single square tile to add to your land. This can be also placed on an empty meadow. . You build simultaneously. Starting player spins a wheel and your emblem will point to a sector with 2 tiles. You choose one of them to add to your land, you can't build on top of previous tiles. Gain the benefits from above if condition fulfilled and a sheeple if tile has a +🐑 symbol. Check who has the most sheep, give the 5p token to them. Iterate for 12 rounds (10 if 5p). . This game plays and feels fast. Take a tile, place it, check sheep, next round. It has easy rules, but has nice decisions for the player as the tiles are different shapes and have different types of lands on them. This is almost a filler game for me, and a good one. It's not often I find fast and easy to play game that has enough decisions and feels fresh. 8/10. . * (Game from Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ), thanks!) *

#Sonic Super Teams is a card-driven racing game with a #VideoGame theme some might have fond memories from their past (or even present). It's designed by Max Gerchambeau and published by @zygomaticgames & @asmodee_games . The game box says it plays in 20 min, but I'd add about 50%. . You are in charge of a team, a pair, of racers and try to get both of them to finish before others. In a 2p game you have 2 teams each. On your turn you play a card and move either one of that colour racers the number of spaces (1-6) the card indicates. Yes, doesn't matter if it's your team, you move. You also have to play all the cards in your hand before you get new ones. Rinse and repeat. . However, there are things to consider: * you have to pass a loop fully on one card or you slide back to beginning of it. * if you begin from spikes you move only 1 on next card. * if you begin from coins, you move double on next card. * if you end on a (?) You get a special card. . Seems simple? Well it is - and that's the thing. Almost everything is up to timing when you play cards, save that opponent's 6 for spikes, blast your own racer for 10 spaces from coins. I didn't think much of the game after playing it 4p at the game club. I was about to trade it awa, but The Daughter wanted to play (with th great minis). So I played it 2p with her almost a year after the 4p... And wow how fun it was with 2 teams and teasing each other all the time! Almost every card raised emotions, good or annoying. So much fun. Typing this, I'm leaving the game visible to be asked "can we play this again?". I rated this 6.5, now it's 7.5/10, which is about as high as this kind of game can be for me. One of the few games I'm happy I gave another chance. Usually games don't get much better from initial impressions. Might of course be because of the company. . Any questions I can answer? * (Review copy from Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ), thank you!) *

#HEAT #PedalToTheMetal is possibly the hottest game of last year. It's designed by Asger Harding Granerud & Daniel Skjold Pedersen, and published by @daysofwonder . It's a racing game for 1 to 6 players and plays in about an hour (box) or two (reality). . The game is a race of set number of laps depending on the track. You race by playing a number of cards from your hand depending on the gear your car is currently on. You can play speed cards, stress cards, or upgrade cards. Speed cards move your car the number of spaces the card states, upgrade cards can do various things, and stress cards make you flip the top card of your deck and add its speed to total speed you move with. Your engine also has a set number of Heat cards that are moved from engine to discard pile when an effect (like going too fast in a curve) states so. They later on come to your hand and can't be played, but have to be cooled down (put to engine) with an effect (like using a low gear). . Advanced modules include: service - lots of new upgrades to draft in the beginning, legends - solo, weather and conditions - self explanatory, and championship - set of races for the championship. I have used the first two, and do fully recommend both - maybe after one play though. . I think Heat is a great racing game. The card play is tactical and strategic after you know what is in your deck and see where others move. From advanced modules the solo module is very easy to add, so you can always have full set of opponents. Drafting upgrades brings needed variability to the decks. I like the game more after each play when more stuff is added in. Not sure if that trend will continue with the rest of modules. I rated the game 7/10 after beginner game, now 8.5/10 after using the first two modules. The rating might stay put, or it might move .5 up or down. . Anything else you wish to know? I'll respond. * (Review copy from Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ), thank you!) *

#SplendorDuel is a 2-player version of the popular and praised game #Splendor published by #SpaceCowboys . As it's predecessor it's designed by Marc André, who's now joined by Bruno Cathala of course as it is a 2p take on a bigger game. . As in Splendor, your aiming to be first to reach a goal by picking chips (gems) and buying cards with them. Cards are of a colour (or wild) and provide discount to future buyings using that colour gems. That is Splendor. . However, this is the duel. Here some cards have effects when they are bought, for example: take another turn, take a chip of the card's colour, and take a gem or a pearl from opponent. Some cards also have crowns: when you get your 3rd crown you take a royalty card, another when you get your 6th crown. Oh, and one of the multiple win conditions is to get 10 crowns. Others are the basic gain 20 points, and 10 points in one colour of cards. If you reach one of these 3, you win. . Other differences to earlier is how chips work. You can pick 1-3 chips in a orthagonal or diagonal line from the board (pic2), no gold. If you pick 3 same or 2 pearls, your opponent gets a privilege. Used gems go to bag after you buy a card. If you choose to fill the board in your turn before main action, opponent gets a privilege. Privileges can be used at the start of your turn to pick one chip (no gold). Getting gold and reserving a card is like in Splendor. . For me, every single change in the game makes the game more interesting and deeper. Picking chips has an idea, cards are more varied and have crowns and effects, three ways to win, reason to collect one colour. This is also mayne my favourite of the shrunk into 2p games, as this became meatier! I am not big fan of Splendor to begin with, but this is good. As an added bonus my 7yr old Daughter played well, although age says 10+. I rate this 7/10. . Anything else you wish to know? * (Review copy from Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ), thank you!) *

#aGameOfThrones #Btwixt is a game for 3-6 people lasting 90 mins according to the box. It is published by @fantasyflightgames and the designer is not mentioned. . In the game you take a role as one of the characters (pic2) trying to influence allies (pic3) to join your councils by playing cards (pics 4&5) to a kind of a trick. Who has the highest power in the trick gains the ally and the next round begins. When a set number of rounds have passed, season changes. When winter has come and its rounds played. At the end of the game whose small council has most power wins, in a case of (likely) tie, the tied player whose other council has more power wins the game. . Each player has two councils (pic9), and they are shared with neighbours, one on the left and one on the right. The one with less power is that player's small council which is compared to others' at the end of the game. Besides allies, power tokens can be placed to councils face down and they will count towards power at the end. . Each round players play cards and apply their abilities trying to gain an ally being influenced that round. Who has the highest combined power of their played cards gain the ally. Allies have varying powers and abilities also, which are executed at certain time. . The game is intriguing and cardplay is tactical as well as strategic at times. It is very important to follow what others, especially your neighbours, are doing and which cards have been played. Each player has 10 cards per season, and those have to last the whole season. A big played pile might be a bad move early. I definitely suggest the advanced variant where character specific cards come to play as well as events. The game has a lot of good stuff, but I can not justify the playtime of the game - it is too long for what it is for me. Rated 6.5/10. . Anything else you'd like to know? * (Review copy from Asmodee Nordics (@asmodee_games ), thank you!) *