{"id":17975,"date":"2025-05-23T20:46:25","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T20:46:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/?p=17975"},"modified":"2025-06-14T08:01:34","modified_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:01:34","slug":"etourvy-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faidutti.com\/blog\/blog\/2025\/05\/23\/etourvy-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Etourvy 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Les rencontres ludopathiques, ma petite convention de jeux personnelle, se tient tous les ans au mois de mai \u00e0 Etourvy, charmant petit village de l\u2019Aube. Nous \u00e9tions cette ann\u00e9e 150, un peu moins que lors des \u00e9ditions pr\u00e9c\u00e9dentes, pour deux raisons. La premi\u00e8re est que je m\u2019\u00e9tais un peu embrouill\u00e9 dans les dates, r\u00e9servant d\u2019abord la semaine de l\u2019Ascension, fin mai, qui tombait en m\u00eame temps que l\u2019UKGE, le salon du jeu anglais \u00e0 Birmingham, et la r\u00e9union des auteurs de G\u00f6ttingen en Allemagne, \u00e0 laquelle j\u2019avais d\u00e9cid\u00e9 d\u2019aller. L\u2019annulation d\u2019un mariage, ce sont des choses qui arrivent, m\u2019a heureusement permis de d\u00e9placer mes plus modestes rencontres ludiques \u00e0 la semaine du 13 au 18 mai. Comme c\u2019\u00e9tait l\u2019une des rares semaines de mai sans jour f\u00e9ri\u00e9 en France, les enfants ont \u00e9t\u00e9 moins nombreux qu\u2019\u00e0 l\u2019habitude, ce que je regrette. <\/p>\n\n\n

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En outre, cela tombait cette fois en m\u00eame temps que le Tokyo Game Market, o\u00f9 une douzaine d\u2019habitu\u00e9s des ludopathiques ont pr\u00e9f\u00e9r\u00e9 cette ann\u00e9e aller au Japon. Je suis donc d\u2019autant plus flatt\u00e9 que mon ami l\u2019auteur Cor\u00e9en Yohan Goh ait, lui, fait le choix de venir \u00e0 Etourvy alors que Tokyo \u00e9tait quand m\u00eame plus pr\u00e8s de chez lui.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u00c0 quelque chose, malheur est bon, et cela a permis d\u2019inviter quelques nouvelles t\u00eates, notamment des auteurs plus jeunes que les vieux briscards qui \u00e9taient d\u00e9j\u00e0 l\u00e0 quand le Domaine Saint-Georges s\u2019appelait plus modestement Foyer Rural de Grand Secteur. Nous avions aussi cette ann\u00e9e une petite \u00e9quipe de critiques de jeux am\u00e9ricains, avec Candice Harris du Boardgamegeek et Zee Garcia de Dice Tower, qui \u00e9taient invit\u00e9s en France pour la c\u00e9l\u00e9bration des vingt ans de Ticket to Ride<\/em> et ont pass\u00e9 juste avant deux jours \u00e0 Etourvy. Je pense et j\u2019esp\u00e8re qu\u2019ils ont appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 l\u2019ambiance plus d\u00e9contract\u00e9e que dans les conventions am\u00e9ricaines, et que nous les reverrons l\u2019an prochain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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La m\u00e9t\u00e9o \u00e9tait avec nous, ce qui est important pour un \u00e9v\u00e9nement qui se d\u00e9roule largement en plein air, dans la vaste cour entre les b\u00e2timents du domaine Saint-Georges  et le moulin, ainsi que sur la prairie qui borde le Landion, la petite rivi\u00e8re qui traverse le village. Les quelques ann\u00e9es o\u00f9 il a beaucoup plu, nous nous sentions un peu enferm\u00e9s dans la grange. Cela a permis \u00e0 Charles d\u2019organiser, comme chaque ann\u00e9e, son \u00ab Walk and Wine \u00bb, promenade dans les environs suivie de d\u00e9couverte de vins apport\u00e9s par les convives. Bien que la balade ait lieu avant la d\u00e9gustation, ils ont r\u00e9ussi cette ann\u00e9e \u00e0 se perdre dans les bois\u2026 Le beau temps a \u00e9galement permis \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9quipe du Domaine Saint-Georges de nous faire vendredi soir un barbecue, avec notamment d\u2019excellentes andouillettes, id\u00e9e \u00e0 reprendre pour l\u2019an prochain.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Trollympics<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Les ludopathiques tombaient fort bien cette ann\u00e9e pour faire la promotion de mes nouveaut\u00e9s. Trick or Treat avait envoy\u00e9 de nombreuses bo\u00eetes de Trollympics<\/em><\/a> et de Treasure of the Dwarves<\/em><\/a>. Trollympics, qui est th\u00e9matiquement la suite sportive de Trollfest<\/em><\/a> et m\u00e9caniquement un improbable croisement entre Seven Wonders<\/em> et Munchkin<\/em>, a \u00e9t\u00e9 con\u00e7u en collaboration avec Camille, qui m\u2019a aussi beaucoup aid\u00e9 pour la logistique des ludopathiques, et notamment la bi\u00e8re. Je me suis plus occup\u00e9 de Treasure of the Dwarves<\/em>, dont j\u2019ai m\u00eame organis\u00e9 un tournoi alors que je suis g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement plut\u00f4t r\u00e9ticent \u00e0 cet exercice, et qui m\u2019a sembl\u00e9 remporter un grand succ\u00e8s. Je l\u2019ai d\u00e9j\u00e0 dit, mais je le redis ici, je tiens Treasure of the Dwarves<\/em>, un jeu d\u2019ench\u00e8res, d\u2019embrouilles et de n\u00e9gocations jouable de 3 \u00e0 8 joueurs, pour mon jeu le plus r\u00e9ussi. Je pense d\u2019ailleurs m\u2019\u00eatre d\u00e9brouill\u00e9 pour que les jeux Trick or Treat, jusqu\u2019ici difficiles \u00e0 acheter en France, soient bient\u00f4t chez Philibert.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\u00c0 la lettre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

 \u00c0 la lettre<\/a><\/em>, mon premier jeu de lettres, ne sera sans doute en boutique qu\u2019en septembre, mais les bo\u00eetes sont d\u00e9j\u00e0 imprim\u00e9es ; C\u00e9dric, l\u2019\u00e9diteur, et moi en avions apport\u00e9 quelques-unes, qui ont aussi \u00e9t\u00e9 beaucoup jou\u00e9es. Mes amis japonais de chez Oink ont fait en sorte que les premi\u00e8res bo\u00eetes de Wriggle Roulette<\/a>, un jeu de prise de risque con\u00e7u avec Jun Sasaki et qui sortait en m\u00eame temps au Tokyo Game Market, parviennent juste \u00e0 temps \u00e0 Etourvy.<\/p>\n\n\n

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My favorite recent microgame, Wanted Wombats.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u00c0 quoi bon s\u2019envoler pour Tokyo, en effet, puisqu\u2019outre Wriggle Roulette<\/em>, plusieurs jeux d\u2019auteurs ou d\u2019\u00e9diteurs nippons \u00e9taient parmi les plus jou\u00e9s \u00e0 \u00c9tourvy cette ann\u00e9e. L\u2019\u00e9quipe de Origames, qui va le sortir en fran\u00e7ais cet \u00e9t\u00e9, avait apport\u00e9 quelques bo\u00eetes de Yubibo<\/em>, un jeu de dext\u00e9rit\u00e9 qui fut l\u2019un des plus jou\u00e9s et clairement le plus photographi\u00e9 de la semaine. J\u2019avais rapport\u00e9 de la Gama un exemplaire de Wanted Wombats<\/em>, un jeu de prise de risque minimaliste de Kaya Miyano, qui fut moins photographi\u00e9 mais aussi tr\u00e8s jou\u00e9, sauf lorsque l\u2019on ne parvenait plus \u00e0 le retrouver, parce que c\u2019est quand m\u00eame une toute petite bo\u00eete. Les amateurs de Diamant<\/a><\/em> devraient adorer Wanted Wombats<\/em>. Chaque ann\u00e9e, sans que l\u2019on sache trop pourquoi, un jeu qui n\u2019est plus vraiment nouveau est d\u00e9couvert par des joueurs qui ne le connaissaient pas ou l\u2019avaient oubli\u00e9 et devient un succ\u00e8s inattendu \u00e0 Etourvy \u2013 cette ann\u00e9e, cela a \u00e9t\u00e9 aussi un jeu japonais, dans une plus grosse bo\u00eete, Come Sail Away<\/em>, de Daryl Chow et Saashi. Il n’y en avait qu’une bo\u00eete, il fallait la r\u00e9server !<\/p>\n\n\n

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Il y a bien s\u00fbr eu quelques parties de Flip 7<\/em>, de Bomb Busters<\/em> et de Ch\u00e2teau Combo<\/em>, les jeux auxquels tout le monde joue ces derniers temps, mais pas tant que cela. Tout le monde essaie en effet de jouer aux jeux qu\u2019il ne conna\u00eet pas, aux prototypes apport\u00e9s par les auteurs, aux avant-premi\u00e8res et nouveaut\u00e9s toutes fraiches des \u00e9diteurs. Je ne vais pas discuter des prototypes, dont je ne sais g\u00e9n\u00e9ralement ni comment ils s\u2019appellent, ni si j\u2019ai le droit d\u2019en parler, mais vous pouvez essayer de les rep\u00e9rer sur les photos. Je me cantonnerai aux nouveaut\u00e9s les plus appr\u00e9ci\u00e9es. Toy Battle<\/em>, de Paolo Mori et Alessandro Zucchini, est un adorable jeu de baston \u00e0 deux joueurs \u2013 oui, un jeu de baston peut \u00eatre adorable \u2013 publi\u00e9 par Repos Prod. Plein d\u2019\u00e9diteurs avaient apport\u00e9 plein de petits jeux de cartes. Beaucoup \u00e9taient des jeux de plis ou de d\u00e9fausse \u00ab \u00e0 la japonaise avec un twist \u00bb, qui vont \u00eatre trop nombreux sur le march\u00e9 avant que je n\u2019aie pu caser les miens, Jungle Tricks <\/em>et King’s Fool.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Fifty<\/em>, un bingo tr\u00e8s malin avec un zeste de psychologie, a aussi eu son petit succ\u00e8s. The Gang<\/em>, l\u2019un des hits de l\u2019an dernier, \u00e9tait encore sur toutes les tables. Suite peut \u00eatre des ann\u00e9es Covid, plusieurs \u00e9diteurs semblent croire aux jeux d\u2019ext\u00e9rieur, dans le style p\u00e9tanque ou Mollky<\/em> \u2013 le plus appr\u00e9ci\u00e9 m\u2019a sembl\u00e9 \u00eatre Swoobee<\/em>, d\u2019Antonin Boccara.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Confirmation d\u2019une tendance d\u00e9j\u00e0 observ\u00e9e l\u2019an dernier, le jeu de r\u00f4le est de retour. Certains ne s\u2019en sont peut-\u00eatre pas rendu compte, car c\u2019est un peu \u00e0 l\u2019\u00e9cart, dans la nouvelle salle de la Meunerie, que se sont d\u00e9roul\u00e9es vendredi soir la Murder Party 1900 et samedi des parties de jeux de r\u00f4le sur table. C\u2019est un peu un retour au tout d\u00e9but des ludopathiques, dans les ann\u00e9es quatre-vingt-dix, alors que je pratiquais encore assidument le grandeur nature.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Ces rencontres ne seraient pas ce qu\u2019elles sont sans les grands jeux d\u2019ext\u00e9rieur, notamment le traditionnel Brouhaha<\/em>, auquel nous avons jou\u00e9 jeudi midi. Nous avons aussi tent\u00e9 cette ann\u00e9e des adaptations grandeur nature de deux jeux de cartes, Non Merci<\/em> et Things in Rings<\/em>. Si le Non Merci, o\u00f9 les joueurs ne sont m\u00eame pas des pions mais de simples jetons, n\u2019a pas \u00e9t\u00e9 tr\u00e8s convaincant, Things in Rings<\/em> grandeur nature, ou plut\u00f4t People in Rings<\/em>, avec des cordes de 15 m\u00e8tres et des joueurs \u00e0 la place des cartes, a tr\u00e8s bien fonctionn\u00e9. Nous avions trois \u00e9quipes de 5 joueurs, et une quarantaine de joueurs pour constituer la pioche, les \u00e9quipes qui piochent pouvant prendre le joueur de leur choix ; les cat\u00e9gories \u00e9taient le pr\u00e9nom (jaune), l\u2019apparence physique (bleu) et les v\u00eatements (rouge). Samedi, Manu avait organis\u00e9 une course de licornes qui, comme Yubibo<\/em>, a \u00e9t\u00e9 tr\u00e8s photographi\u00e9e. Inutile d\u2019expliquer le principe, il suffit de regarder les videos.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Comme chaque ann\u00e9e, les \u00e9diteurs avaient envoy\u00e9 de tr\u00e8s nombreux jeux pour la table des prix. Chaque ann\u00e9e, je me dis que je vais en dresser la liste, et finit par renoncer par peur d\u2019en oublier. Grand merci \u00e0 eux en tout cas, leurs jeux ont \u00e9t\u00e9 jou\u00e9s et appr\u00e9ci\u00e9s. Et un grand merci au petit groupe qui \u00e9tait l\u00e0 d\u00e8s le lundi soir, Camille, Herv\u00e9, Ghislain et Didier, \u00e0 la Brasserie Thibord, et \u00e0 la sympathique \u00e9quipe du Domaine Saint-Georges, qui doit finir encore plus \u00e9puis\u00e9e que nous.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Vous trouverez plein de photos en dessous de la version anglaise de ce post, m\u00eame s’il nous manque les habituelles photos d’Antoine Bauza, qui est sans doute l’un des meilleurs photographes du petit monde du jeu.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The ludopathic gathering, my own private boardgame convention, takes place every year in May in Etourvy, a small village in Eastern France.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were a little fewer of us this year, more or less 150 attendees, for two reasons. First, I got a bit confused when choosing the dates. I first booked the venue for the last week of May, not realizing it was the same week-end as UKGE, the Birmingham boardgame fair, and the G\u00f6ttingen game designers meeting which I had planned to attend this year. Thanks to a wedding cancellation, these things happen, I later could reschedule my event to May 13-18th<\/sup>. Unfortunately, this was one of the few May weeks without school holidays in France, so there were much fewer kids than usually. Also, this was once more the same week-end as another event, the Tokyo Game Market, which a dozen of Etourvy regulars had decided to attend this year. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Every cloud has a silver lining, and this allowed me to invite a few new people, mostly younger game designers. We also had this year a nice small US game critics team, with Candice Harris from the Boardgamegeek and Zee Garcia from the Dice Tower. They had been invited in France to attend the Ticket to Ride 20th anniversary tournament and spend the two days before in Etourvy. I hope and think they had a good time and might come back next year.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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The weather was with us, which is very important for an event which, when possible, takes place partly outside, in the vast courtyard between the buildings of the Domaine Saint Georges and the old mill, as well as in the lawn next to the Landion river. We have had a few rainy days in the years before, and felt a bit locked in in the barn.  The sunny weather made it possible for Charles to organize once more his \u201cWalk and Wine\u201d event, a walk in neighboring woods followed by a tasting of wines brought by various attendees. Even when the walk took place before the wine sampling, they managed to get lost in the woods\u2026 The nice weather also made possible for the Domaine Saint-Georges team to prepare a barbecue on Friday night, with really good andouillettes \u2013 these tripe sausages are a local specialty.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Treasure of the Dwarves<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The timing was perfect this year to promote my new games. Trick or Treat had sent many copies of <\/em>Trollympics<\/a> and <\/em>Treasure of the Dwarves<\/a>. <\/em>Trollympics, which is thematically a sport follow-up of <\/em>Trollfest<\/a> and mechanically an unlikely crossover between <\/em>Seven Wonders and <\/em>Munchkin, was co-designed Camille, the young black clothed punk who help me take care of the beer and other logistics issues. I was more involved with <\/em>Treasure of the Dwarves, and even organized a tournament, something I\u2019m usually a bit wary of. I think it was a hit, and I probably managed to have the Trick or Treat games, usually hard to find in France, now available through Philibert. <\/em>Treasure of the Dwarves, a fun auction, treason and negotiation game which accommodates from 3 to 8 players, is, in my opinion, my best design.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u00c0 la Lettre<\/a>, my first letter game, will probably be in shops in September, and at first only in a French version, but it has just been printed and both C\u00e9dric, the publisher, and I had brought a few copies, which were intensely played. My Japanese friends at Oink had managed to have a few copies of <\/em>Wriggle Roulette<\/a> sent just in time directly to Etourvy; this fun risk taking game was designed with Jun Sasaki and presented at the same time at the Tokyo Game Market<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Yubibo, most photographed game, if not most played.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Why fly to Tokyo indeed, when in addition to <\/em>Wriggle Roulette, several other games by Japanese publishers or designers were among the main hits in Etourvy ? The Origames team, who is going to do the French version, had brought a few copies of <\/em>Yubibo, a dexterity game which was played over and over and was probably the most photographed. I had brought back from Gama a copy of <\/em>Wanted Wombats, micro risk taking by Kaya Miyano, which is less present in the pictures but was played a lot when we managed to find it, because it\u2019s really a very small box. If you like <\/em>Diamant<\/a>, you will love <\/em>Wanted Wombats. Every year, a game which is not that new is suddenly rediscovered and becomes une unexpected hit, this year it was <\/em>Come Sail Away, by Daryl Chow and Saashi – there was only one copy, in constant use..<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Come Sail Away<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

There were a few games of <\/em>Flip 7, <\/em>Castle Combo and <\/em>Bomb Busters, the games everyone is playing at home these last months, but not that many. The general excitement made people want to try new stuff, games they hadn\u2019t played or even heard about before, designers\u2019 prototypes and publishers\u2019 previews and brand new stuff. I won\u2019t talk here of the prototypes, I don\u2019t know their name and if I am allowed to talk about them, but you can try to spot them on the pictures. I will only talk here of the most hyped new games. Paolo Mori and Alessandro Zucchini\u2019s <\/em>Toy Battle is a cute light two player war game \u2013 yes, games are not life and wargames can be cute \u2013 published by Repos Prod. Most publishers had brought small card games. Many of these games were Japanese style trick-taking games or shedding game \u201cwith a twist\u201d, and it looks like there will be too many on the market before I can find a publisher for mine, <\/em>Jungle Tricks and<\/em> King’s Fool. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Dadada<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Other were simple and often zany party games, games in which one must give twisted answers to questions, bet on their neighbor\u2019s answers, hit the table when playing cards, pile stuff, give more or less discreet hints, tell fantasy stories and all that stuff. This year\u2019s crowd was partial to creative games about words and ideas, all trying to be the next <\/em>Codenames or <\/em>Just One. <\/em>Landmarks, which has just been translated in French under a strange name meaning something like <\/em>\u201cThe Island of the Cursed Words\u201d and <\/em>DaDaDa, which is international by nature since players create their own language, were continuously played. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Murder Party<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The revival of role playing games I had noticed last year has now been confirmed. Many attendees might not have noticed what was happening in the new room under the Meunerie, a long murder party on Friday night, and tabletop role playing games on Saturday. This feels a bit like a comeback to the very first ludopathic gathering, in the early nineties, when I was still regularly playing LARPS.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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People in Rings<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A traditional feature of the ludopathic gathering is the large outdoor games, and especially Brouhaha, which we played on Thursday noon. We also tried giant \/ live action adaptation of two well-known card games, <\/em>No Thanks! And <\/em>Things in Rings. No thanks, with players as individual tokens living their own life, fell a bit flat, but Things in Rings worked well and was fun. It was more <\/em>People in Rings, with 15 meters colored ropes and players instead of cards. We had three teams of 5 players, and a \u201cdrawing crowd\u201d of 40 players in which the team could chose who they were drawing. The three categories were name (yellow), physical appearance (blue) and clothes (red). On Saturday, Manu held a unicorn race which, like Yubibo, was photographed by everyone. No need to explain the rules, just look at the video.  <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Like every year, publishers had sent many games for the prize table. Like every year, I first tried to keep a list and soon gave up by fear of forgetting some of them. Anyway, many thanks to them, their games were played and enjoyed. Many thanks also to the small team which came with me on Monday, Camille, Herv\u00e9, Ghislain and Didier, to the Thibord brewery and to the friendly team at the Domaine Saint-Georges, which was as tired as us when we left on Sunday.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There are a few more pictures below, even when I miss the usual pictures by Antoine Bauza, who is probably one of the best and most dedicated photographers in the small boardgaming world.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Mes photos, en ordre chronologique.
My pictures, in chronological order.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n