SpielByWeb

JokeToy · Joined: 12 Dec 10 Posts: 151 Location: Sheepscott, Maine

It's the day after Halloween, All Soul's Day, a fitting time for this Joker to say goodbye to the Jungle after nearly 5 years of wandering around the timeless ruins of Tikal. I'm very grateful to Michael Kiesling and Wolfgang Kramer who designed a beautiful game with the Tikal theme in 1999, and to Mikael Sheikh who brought that game to the Web in 2004. It's always a good idea to make a donation from time to time to help Mikael maintain the SpielByWeb site which has hosted FREE gaming for a dozen years.

Thanks to the many, many players I squared off against over the years ~ you always challenged me to play my best. And a special tip of the hat to the great players who taught me the game way back in 2010, The Hammer, almondralf, Saul Pum, albeitar and nacore - you guys made losing fun and educational!

I can't say goodbye without also mentioning Barra(uda, who has been a terrific friendly rival and consistently my toughest opponent - our heads up record is BC 39 vs. JT 33, with (uda having much the best of it in 2015 - ouch, watch out for the big fish's deadly bite!

OK, that's it. I'll log in once in a while to see how things are going and maybe to write some encouraging words. I hope all of you will keep Tikal alive and well on SBW, and continue to enjoy clearing temples and digging up treasure - make sure your shovels stay shiny and sharp!

ciao for now, JT

Cool

The Hammer · Joined: 31 Aug 09 Posts: 70 Location: Flowery Branch, Ga

JT - Just read your departing words in regards to hanging Tikal up - at least for the time being. I guess in my own way - as it seems with some of the others you mentioned - I've somewhat departed from the game myself. With that being said I'm actually playing a couple of games @ present - and neither are the auction variant! Imagine that!

You included me with some pretty lofty players in your farewell and I really do appreciate the kind words. And of course you yourself developed into a player whose force should not to be taken lightly. Definitely an A player. Thanks to you for your online friendship, sportsmanship and for being a heads up player and all around stand up guy. We always had a good time duking it out - not only in one-on-ones with each other but also in all those 3 and 4 player contests. And in addition the tourneys we both hosted. Good memories.

Good luck to you sir. I'm sure you will continue to keep some type of gaming going on in your life. The call for competition and strategy is sometimes just to strong to be ignored. Carry on - and Happy gaming!

The Hammer Cool

JokeToy · Joined: 12 Dec 10 Posts: 151 Location: Sheepscott, Maine

Thanks for the kind words and good memories, TH. I always looked forward to your friendly greetings, informative commentary, witty byplay and sincere congratulations in the Tikal chat rooms. Frankly I don't see too much of that engaging banter anymore, one of the reasons I decided to hang 'em up.

I cut my teeth in your tourneys and they were certainly fun while they lasted. I obviously played a ton of games in 5 years and some of my favorite moments involved the "unusual' ~ I won 2 games with no tents in play, I was able to profitably cap 2 temples in the same turn twice in my career, I threw my leader right down into the mouth of the volcano with good results a number of times, I won a close heads up contest by deliberately leaving 6 AP on the table in final scoring, and though I never could manage tenting and capping in the same turn, what tickled me the most was how many games I was able to pull off without digging up a single piece of treasure! You know what I think about expending too much energy on those shiny but expensive tikals.

I'm a devoted lifelong gamer for sure. I'm spending most of my time these days playing games that have the potential to earn me money. I can't get anyone in my local gaming group to play me in "board game" Tikal but I'd like nothing better than to hook up with you across the table in "real time". If I ever get to Georgia or if you ever get to Maine, let's look each other up Cool

The Hammer · Joined: 31 Aug 09 Posts: 70 Location: Flowery Branch, Ga

I'd have to say hooking up for a real time showdown would be a hoot. Will have to definitely keep that in mind.

If it were to happen here in Georgia I have a buddy of mine that would be interested in joining us. Don is a good guy and player himself. He did play online for a while but then his interest waned waiting for the opponents to make their moves. As we both know - patience is a virtue playing online.

Laughing

Until possibly then . . . Cool

mariamedina · Joined: 14 Jun 16 Posts: 13

Nice Idea!!

king · Joined: 23 Aug 18 Posts: 480