Ali Baba Games Club
| Ali Baba Spieleclub eV | |
|---|---|
| purpose | Care and dissemination of the "game" cultural asset and game culture |
| Chair: | Christian Wallisch |
| Establishment date: | 1991 |
| Number of members: | 817 (as of February 3, 2020) |
| Seat : | Nuremberg |
| Website: | ali-baba-spieleclub.de |
The Ali Baba Spieleclub eV is an association for board and card games based in Nuremberg . The association currently has over 800 members in ten regional associations in Nuremberg, Regensburg , Ingolstadt , Cologne , Berlin , Stuttgart , the Hunsrück, Bamberg, Chemnitz and Erlangen, making it the largest association for board and card games in Germany .
history
Beginnings
The club emerged from a games group in Nuremberg that had met regularly since 1981 and tried out new board and card games. The initially four to ten players grew over time, the private meetings quickly became larger and the available rooms too small. On May 13, 1991, ten years after the first meeting, the founding assembly of the Ali Baba Spieleclubs eV took place with 23 founding members. The basic idea behind founding the association was simply to be able to access publicly owned rooms more easily and use them for the weekly games evening. In addition, spreading the idea of games was also important to the founding members, but without having a precise idea of how this should be done.
After a few months, the players contacted the youth welfare office of the city of Nuremberg and asked for rooms for the game evening. Since the range of games complemented the activities of the youth welfare office in a meaningful way, the youth welfare office agreed to free use of the rooms in the youth center Rädda Barnen subject to certain conditions. When the rooms could no longer be used because they were dilapidated, the club had to move, and at the same time the German Games Archive was moved to Nuremberg. A new domicile was found for both of them in the former library in the Pellerhaus in central Nuremberg. The Ali Baba Games Club has been playing in the former reading room of the Pellerhaus since 2014 and works closely with the German Games Archive in Nuremberg.
With over 800 members (as of February 2020), the Ali Baba Spieleclub is the largest games club in Germany. In addition, there is no other club of this type that is divided into several locations. The Karlsruhe association Thoule followed in second place with 729 members.
The regional associations and locations
Originally founded as a local association, the division into two regional associations (RV) followed in 2001. Friendly players from Regensburg joined the club with their regular meeting and formed the club's second mainstay with RV Regensburg. The Regensburg founder moved to Ingolstadt a few years later and founded RV Ingolstadt there in 2004. In 2010 another move made for the next RV. A player from Nuremberg moved to the Rhineland in North Rhine-Westphalia and founded the first RV outside of Bavaria in Cologne. The regional associations Hunsrück and Berlin followed in 2011 and 2012, and Stuttgart in 2015. In 2018, the Ali Baba Spieleclub was expanded to include the Bamberg regional association and since January 2019, games have also been played in the Chemnitz regional association under the umbrella of the club. In addition, the Nuremberg RV established a second location in Erlangen. This has also been run as a separate regional association since February 1, 2020.
Offers of the association
General
The Ali Baba Spieleclub eV offers weekly games meetings at its ten locations. Almost 6000 different games are stored in the game archives, although this varies regionally depending on the age of the regional association. Be played social and family games , games of chance to win with the intention of money (or mostly lose) will be rejected. Members can borrow games free of charge, organizations and associations can borrow games for a donation.
The offers include:
- Weekly game meetings in the individual regional associations for everyone (also for non-members)
- Board and family games, children's games, business and strategy games
- Free game rental to members, game rental to organizations
- Free advice and tips on board games and help with rule questions
- Organization and implementation of tournaments
- Co-organization of the Nuremberg Games Festival (small public fair parallel to the Nuremberg Toy Fair)
- Game weekends
Game price DuAli
Since 2014 the Ali Baba Games Club has announced the “DuAli” game award, which awards the best two-person game year after year. The prize was awarded for the first time in January 2015 at the same time as the Nuremberg Toy Fair. After an internal brainstorming session, the name “DuAli” prevailed. We were looking for a name that shows both the club's name and the number two. Therefore the "A" is capitalized in the spelling.
The price is not a nomination price, but the publishers or authors apply. The game must be playable for a maximum of 2 people and appear on the German market for the first time in the evaluation period. New editions without relevant rule changes are not eligible. In order to be able to carry out evaluations at as many locations as possible, at least 5 copies of a game must be submitted. The games are rated by the members of the club. The evaluation period is always 01.01 to 31.12. one year and the award takes place at the end of January or the beginning of February of the following year in Nuremberg, while the Nuremberg Toy Fair takes place there.
The previous winners of the DuAli are:
- 2015 (evaluation period 2014): Death to the tyrant (Publisher: Heidelberger Spieleverlag)
- 2016 (evaluation period 2015): 7 Wonders: Duel (publisher: Repos, distribution in Germany: Asmodee)
- 2017 (evaluation period 2016): Bohnanza: Das Duell (publisher: Amigo)
- 2018 (evaluation period 2017): Codenames Duett (publisher: CGE, distribution in Germany: Asmodee)
- 2019 (evaluation period 2018): Imhotep: Das Duell (Publisher: Kosmos)
- 2020 (evaluation period 2019): Mandala (publisher: Lookout)
Further actions of the association
In its long tradition, the club has assumed a special place in the gaming scene. Be it as a prototype tester or as an organizer of tournaments.
Prototype tests for publishers
Before a game is launched, it usually has a long development period behind it. Some board games take several years from the idea to the finished board game. Usually it all starts with a creative idea from a game designer . The idea begins to take shape with simple sketches. After several tests and the exact development of the game instructions, the game will be proposed to one (or more) publishers.
The Ali Baba Games Club started testing prototypes like this early on. Until a few years ago, the Nuremberg publisher noris used the opportunity to pass these games on to the club and have them tested using criteria set by the club. The club is currently also receiving such unfinished games for tests from other publishers. For example, Piatnik Germany recently had two games tested at the Ali Baba Spieleclub. The well-versed players of the club were and still are decisive as to whether a game is further developed or not.
The association was directly involved in the development of the game Die Siedler von Nürnberg , a modification of the game Die Siedler von Catan .
Organization of events
In addition to regular player meetings, the Ali Baba Spieleclub organizes various events across Germany, including
Nuremberg Games Festival (formerly Games TÜV)
The Nuremberg Games Festival is a major event that takes place parallel to the Nuremberg Toy Fair and is also rated as a small public fair. While the fair is reserved for trade visitors only, the game festival can also be visited by all other people. All fair innovations are presented and explained to the visitors here. During class time, school classes in Nuremberg take the opportunity to attend the games festival. As a co-organizer, the association has the task of looking after the large game counter. If you are looking for a game, the "Ali Babas" will advise you. It is also the task of the game experts to explain the games to children, young people and adults. In 2011 the Bavarian Broadcasting Corporation reported:
Erlanger Spieletage and Bamberg plays
The Erlanger games day and Bamberg plays are local consumer fairs on board and card games. The Ali Baba Games Club in Erlangen was responsible for the process until 2017. After that, other groups took over the Erlangen Spieletage. Bamberg plays is currently organized by the "Ali Babas".
Play barn knick-knacks
The Spielscheune Nippes is a major annual event organized by the Cologne Regional Association. It took place for the first time on May 7, 2011 as part of the Cologne Elf Spectacle of the Cologne Citizens' Centers. The Cologne Regional Association of the Ali Baba Games Club converted the large event hall of the Nippes community center into a large play barn. The visitors were able to have the almost 500 game titles explained to them and get to know and test the optimal games for themselves.
Since then, the Spielscheune Nippes has been held once a year. However, the club moved the play barn to September / October. Since 2016 the play barn has been extended to two days. In 2019, the Ali Baba Spieleclub brought the Cologne Facebook group "Brettspiele.Köln" on board as a co-organizer.
Game afternoons
The Ali Baba Games Club organizes five game afternoons / evenings a week (one per regional association) for everyone. The aim of the events is to bring the topic of board games closer to children, young people and adults. This can also be seen as a counter-movement to computer games.
Agricola World Championship Qualification
The game Agricola (published by Lookout Games ) is one of the most complex strategy games currently on the market. In November 2011 Lookout Games is organizing a world championship in this game in Vienna. The Ali Baba Games Club is responsible for the qualification tournaments in Germany. In three major tournaments, the winner qualifies for the final in Vienna. The Ali Baba Games Club has developed the tournament rules and a fixed tournament mode. In addition, two of the three tournaments were held directly by the club. The third tournament took place according to the established rules at the VHS Bremen.
7 Wonders tournament series
The game 7 Wonders (published by Repos, distributed by Asmodee) is a popular card game for up to 7 players. In cooperation with the Asmodee publishing house, the Ali Baba Games Club organized the first and second German championships in this game nationwide.
Beat the advice
Schlag den Rat is an event organized by the German Games Archive in Nuremberg . The event is organized and carried out by the Ali Baba Games Club. At Schlag den Rat, citizens of the city can compete against the city council of Nuremberg in various board games. After a successful start in 2010, the second edition will follow on October 15, 2011.
The Ali Baba Games Club in the press
The association can be found regularly in the local press during its numerous activities. In addition, specialist magazines and the national press are also interested in the association and its activities. A complete overview of the publications is available on the homepage.
TV
In its coverage of the Nürnberger Spielefest, Bayrischer Rundfunk and its Bayern3 broadcaster also addressed the Ali Baba Spieleclub. The video can be found in the broadcaster's media library.
The online TV of the Nürnberger Nachrichten (nordbayern.de) also reported on the Ali Baba Games Club and its event "Schlag den Rat".
TV Bayern also took on the topic of "Beat the Council".
radio
The Ali Baba Games Club was also represented on the radio. Although not represented in Weimar or the surrounding area, the radio station Radio Lotte took up the topic of games and interviewed the club's press officer on the subject of games.
The online trade magazine “zupieler.de” also has an interview with the club online.
Trade magazines
In the gaming scene there are two specialist magazines for the German-speaking area. The " gimmick " and the "play box ". The latter is the market leader and also has a large online portal. While reviews of games come first in the magazine, the website is also used for news and the like. Here the Ali Baba Games Club has been mentioned many times with its promotions.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Bavarian television ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. : Nuremberg in the game fever: dice, cards and poker face , from February 6, 2011
- ↑ Ali Baba Games Club: Agricola Tournament ( Memento of the original from June 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Online TV of Nürnberger Nachrichten nordbayern.de: Beat the Council in Nuremberg , October 17, 2010
- ↑ Press comments ( Memento of the original from December 21, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Reporting in Bavarian Broadcasting ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. and Bayern3
- ^ Beat the advice , report in online TV of the Nürnberger Nachrichten
- ↑ Beat the advice ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at TV-Bayern
- ↑ Interview with Radio Lotte in Weimar ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Reporting in the online specialist magazine “zupieler.de” ( memento of the original from July 26, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Spiegel-online.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Spiegel-online.de of September 8, 2011 (PDF)
- ↑ Spiegel-online.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated August 11, 2011 (PDF)
- ↑ Spiegel-online.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. dated February 11, 2011 (PDF)
- ↑ Spiegel-online.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of November 2, 2010 (PDF)
- ↑ Spiegel-online.de ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. of October 8, 2010 (PDF)
