Countermoves is an attempt to put down on
paper some of what excites a few people about gaming.
Countermoves the
zine is a way to
publish games of all types, articles about a wide range of games as well as to spur on more
people to not only get into those games but create more of them. Big trees come from small
seeds and if this
zine does anything at all it will hopefully spread around some seeds.
The type of games that you will find in this
zine is varied. The only real criteria for what is published is that the games make you
think.
This would cover, but not be restricted to war games,
board games,
dice games, card games,
abstract games, role-playing games (
rpgs), microgames, etc.
Some of the games that the
zine will cover will not
interest you. That's a good thing, because if you turn the
page odds are you will find something that does interest you.
Countermoves will try to have an open
scope rather than a limited one. Magazines focused on just one or two type of games are great; I would not give up my copies of Strategy & Tactics for all the Pay Pal cash on the
Net. But they are out there already being done, and done really well.
What
Countermoves looks like changes from
issue to
issue. In the same issue you might find a
PHD level thesis on Alexandrian tactics, a review of the new
Magic The Gathering (of your money)
card series, the full rules/maps/counters for a new reader created
microgame, a list of rule modifications for
Diplomacy and Warp War, a look inside the finer points of 20th Century arms for
Fudge, a recipe for
Pasta De Panzers (a quick to cook tasty meal for a long game season), a WffNProff variant to model
quantum physics, a scattering of logic puzzles, the latest installment of web resources for
PBEM/
PBNet apps and servers, as well as assorted art work and other articles.
You might also find an article covering the Power Puff Girls game; my 7 year old loves to play this
board game. I got hooked on it and found that it actually
teaches some good foundation skills that will prepare her to
play more
complex games in the future. I can almost imagine her beating me in a game of
Third Reich any week now. So a review of this game, maybe some rules variants, extra pieces, etc. would fall well within
Countermoves charter. I know for some members this will be an unread article, but for the parents in the crowd it might be just the thing to spark a connection of gamming between them and their kids.
Much of what gets into
Countermoves comes from you. If there were anything you would like to see in its pages all you need to do is
create it. So long as it fits in the
Countermoves charter (see above) it will be more than
welcome.
All the issues of
Countermoves and
information on the current state of
zine can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/countermoves/ .