Mayfair Games News

Origins Events Posted!

Fri, 17 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

We've just updated our Origins Mayfair Events page and our Origins Catan Events page.

Take a look at the schedules and plan out your ultimate Origins Experience!

Once you have your schedule set, make sure you're registered for the show.

Here's a handy link to the show registration page.

Have fun and we'll see you at Origins 2013!

Walter Koenig joining Mayfair at Gen Con 2013

Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 -0500

For Immediate Release

Mayfair Games and Gen Con are ecstatic to announce that for the second year in a row, a science fiction legend will be joining us in Mayfair Land at Gen Con 2013!

Walter Koenig portrayed Ensign Pavel Chekov in the original Star Trek TV series, one of the most beloved characters in television history.

Mr. Koenig will be in the general autograph area on Thursday and at the Mayfair booth on Friday, where he will sign autographs. So mark your calendars and be sure to stop Mayfair Land, where for the second year in a row you can meet a legend and have him sign your copy of Star Trek: Catan!

About Walter Koenig

Walter Koenig is a producer, director, writer, teacher and actor who portrayed not one but two iconic characters for television, Alfred Bester on Babylon 5 and the role for which he is most famous, Pavel Chekov on the original Star Trek television show and 7 subsequent feature films.

He has been a star of stage, screen and television for over 5 decades, starring in more than a dozen films and appearing in such iconic television shows as Combat, The Untouchables, General Hospital, the Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Gidget and I Spy.

In 2012 Mr. Koenig’s career was recognized by a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

About Mayfair Games

Mayfair Games is an international publisher of fine board games and card games suitable for families and hobbyists. An Illinois-based company, founded in 1981, making the games of our generation.

Mayfair Games Nominated for Two Origins Awards

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The Origins Awards were just announced and Mayfair scored two nominations!

Catan: Junior was nominated for "Best Party, Family or Children's Game" and Clash of Wills: Shiloh was nominated for "Best Historical Board Game".

Good luck to all the nominees and we'll see you at Origins 2013!

Autographed Copy of ST Catan

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Congratulations to Eric Carlson of St. Paul, the winner of a signed copy of Star Trek Catan autographed by Wil Wheaton, just one of the many awesome things that happened on Tabletop Day this past weekend!

Popular Mechanics takes on "alternative" board games including Star Trek Catan�

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Popular Mechanics has a list of ten "alternative" board games, which I believe is another attempt for a word that means ("not Monopoly"). See also "designer" and "indie".

Still, it's a great collection of great games you should probably own.

Check it out!

Mothers and sons playing Catan: Junior� together

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 -0500

I admit it, sometimes I am a cynic. We get jaded running our day to day lives and just trying to get all our errands done, we just want to wave our hands and say "bah" to anything innocent or, god forbid, homespun, we come across.

And then you read about a mother and son discovering Catan: Junior together.

Check it out!

Visiting Catan

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Adam Rothstein has a very imaginative article up at the-magazine.org about a visit to modern-day Catan®, detailing the struggles the tiny island faces as it moves toward modernity. It's fascinating, and even believable in spots, and well worth a read.

Check it out!

Mayfair Fan page passes 10,000 "Likes"!

Thu, 28 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The Mayfair Fan page on Facebook has passed 10,000 "likes"!

Thanks to everyone who has already followed our page, and to those who have yet to take the plunge, stop on by and visit with the cool kids!

Check it out!

Catan� in the Classroom

Fri, 15 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

“We can’t bring them back to Mesopotamia, Egypt or Greece, but this (Catan) brings it alive,” Brady said. “One student was so frustrated because he was winning at one point, and the other kids froze him out and wouldn’t trade with him. He said flat out, ‘I now understand why people go to war.’”

Catan is of course a fun, enjoyable experience, but it also gives students new insights into carving a settlement from an untamed land. Read the full article for lots of great quotes from the kids.

Click here to read the full article, it really is an amazing piece.

Something awesome this way comes

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Catan and Mayfair Games will launch something very special for fans next week!

A truly historic and unique Catan event.

Can you guess what it might be?

Take a closer look at the picture :)

Games Magazine Reviews Aeroplanes: Aviation Ascendant

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Games Magazine reviewed Aeroplanes: Aviation Ascendant in its April 2013 issue and gave the game positive marks despite containing "more randomness than usual from Martin Wallace".

They conclude (rather awesomely if you ask me), "Misguided losers should not complain about unlucky rolls: Designer Martin Wallace is a historian who understands how uncertain aviation was in those early days."

You can read the rest in the April issue of Games Magazine, which you can get here, either in dead tree or electronic formats.

Cracked features The Settlers of Catan�

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Cracked is an awesomely hilarious comedy website, updated multiple times each day with awesome, hilarious articles of awesome hilarity.

Did we mention it's awesome and hilarious?

Today, they released a comedy gem into the world called "6 Boardgames That Ruined It For Everyone". They list 6 old-fashioned board games, then suggest 6 better games you should play instead.

As you can probably guess from the title, one of the better games they suggest is The Settlers of Catan®.

It's awesome and hilarious, so you should check it out.

RPG.net's Shannon Applecline reviews Catan Histories: Merchants of Europe�

Tue, 05 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

RPG.net's stalwart staff reviewer Shannon Applecline reviewed the latest Catan spinoff, Catan Histories: Merchants of Europe™.

He rated the game a 5 for Style and a 5 for Substance, calling it "a very nicely themed game that adds complexity and depth to the Catan game system."

Read the full review here.

Bob and Angus explore the kindness of Catan�

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Yeah right. Ahem.

Bob and Angus take a look at Frenemies of Catan™ and discuss its application to Angus'... unique... playstyle. There's some shocking footage here folks, definitely not for the faint of heart.

And if you recognize your own playstyle in any of this footage, please, seek help.

Watch the episode here!

Explorers and Pirates Design Diaries by Klaus Teuber

Thu, 28 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Klaus Teuber has been busily writing design diaries for the upcoming mega-expansion for Settlers of Catan®, Catan: Explorers and Pirates™! Follow the links below to get furhter glimpses into what might be the biggest Catan® expansion yet!

Pictures from the 4th annual Caribbean Gamer Cruise!

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

It was a moveable feast of sheep and wheat as a Catan® tournament was held on the high seas for the fourth straight year!

The winner of the tournament will receive flight, hotel, badge and seat in the semi-finals at GenCon 2013!

Also on hand at the tournament was our reigning World Champion, Herbert Schager of Austria was on hand as part of his victory lap for winning last year's championship! Here we can see him looking over the board, deep in thought.

Stay tuned for more information on the tournament and thanks to everyone who joined us to game on the high seas!

UPDATE

And our winner is Michael Schaer from Denver, CO!

Zen Garden is here!

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Just a quick note to remind you that Zen Garden™ is in stock at local hobby retailers near you!

Also, if you order through March you can get the promo expansion sheet for Zen Garden™ with variants for Zen Garden™, Family Business™ and Bacchus Banquet™!

Supplies of these variants are limited, so order now!

Mayfair Games Promo Program

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

As part of Mayfair Games' continuing program to support the hobby trade, we are pleased to announce the next pre-order bonus expansions for Road Rally USA™ as well as our new poster program, which is coming soon to your friendly neighborhood hobby retailer.

Limited edition expansions: When you pre-order Mayfair Games from your hobby retailer, you receive exclusive promo tiles containing mini-expansions for at least three Mayfair Games. As a pre-order bonus for Zen Garden™ the promo tile sheet includes variants for Bacchus' Banquet™, Family Business™ and Zen Garden™. As a pre-order bonus for Road Rally USA™, the promo tile sheet includes variants for Ablaze™, Elkfest™ and Road Rally™!
Posters (NEW!): Mayfair's new poster program will release 2 posters with each new product. One 22" x 34" poster will highlight the new release and the second poster will focus on backlist or an existing product line. The first two are Zen Garden and Empire Builder.

Capricon 2013 crowns CNAC pre-qualifier champion

Tue, 12 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The competition was intense at Capricon 2013 but eventually Dan Miller emerged victorious! Dan has won a trip to Gen Con 2013 to compete in the Catan North American Championship.

Congratulations Dan!

Congratulations also to the top 16 finisher

1 Michael Bernat
2 Jesse Boyd
3 Levi Baer
4 Mandy Sanders
5 Dan Miller
6 Monika Harding
7 MJ Isabella
8 Alex Kevern
9 Tasha Robinson
10 Lindsay Pastor
11 Bob Koester
12 Clyde W. Henry III
13 Susan Zell
14 Josh Harding
15 David Hoshko
16 Michael Nowakowski

Mayfair Games reaches 9,000 likes on Facebook.

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 00:00:00 -0500

The staff at Mayfair Games would like to thank all our awesome fans for liking us on Facebook!

Today we topped 9,000 likes and it's all thanks to you.

Stop by our Facebook page and see why it's so popular, then, if you haven't already, like the page so you can follow all the latest news about upcoming games and the occasional silly photo (ok, maybe more than occasional).

Check it out!