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IntroductionThe Singapore Board Games League (SBGL) was set up to bring organized game play for the board games community and interest groups in Singapore. It aims to let casual gamers experience the challenge of a competition environment, and to recognize outstanding board game players in Singapore. The Singapore Board Games League seeks to accomplish this by the working with both the board games and non board games community to hold various events and tournaments. It will select, for a start, up to ten different designer board games for its league. At the same time, it will work with various schools and organizations to host such tournaments. It will also seek to hold each year a National level board games tournament (Singapore Board Games Nationals) and to send its winners to represent Singapore at the international board games tournament levels. BackgroundCurrently in Singapore, there is a strong growing interest in board games as a leisure activity. These are no longer just the Monopoly or traditional games, but are what are commonly called Designer Games. Designer Games are basically board games that do not rely on the luck factor to win; instead it depends on good strategy and multiple paths to victory. Most of these games rely on soft skills such a negotiation, and help build communication. League FormatThe league format will be divided into three categories. These categories are to ensure that competitors can choose to play within their peers, or to choose to play against all competitors. Prizes and entrance fees will likewise be scaled accordingly. The categories are: Junior Category Junior Category targets for children between the ages of 7 to 12. The games chosen will be those that are easy in steps, but hard to master. This helps to develop the child’s mind. Youth Category Youth Category targets youths from the ages of 13 to 16. The Junior Category games are also used here. Most of these games require a deeper level of understanding, and may have complex strategies. Open Category The open category is for all participants. Games are from both junior and youth as well as a select few that are also used for international tournaments. At the same time, there will be 3 basic levels of tournaments. This is to allow venues to hold social tournaments to the more serious tournaments. This allows the casual player to enter into the tournament type of his choice, be it the more relaxed mini tournaments to the highly competitive Nationals. The three levels are: Casual These informal games are usually played as a regular weekly event at various avenues around Singapore, such as board games cafes, stores and community clubs. The main goal is for players to sharpen their gaming skills as well as to socialize. Regionals / Qualifiers These monthly tournaments are targeted for those who would like a more competitive environment. Players basically play to a right to be seeded into the top 8 of the Nationals. These tournaments must be overseen by an SBGL Committee Member, of which a Head Judge and his team of judges will be appointed. Prizes tend to be more lucrative. Nationals This annual event may be split into two sessions, June for the Open Category for Singapore Representatives to the Essen Spiele, the annual International Board Games Convention held in Essen Germany, as well as the November and December period for the Nationals. This event recognises the true board game champions in Singapore, who will be awarded prizes as well as trophies. The Nationals are not a new event, it has been run in Singapore since 2006 under the organization of Settlers Board Games Café. Finally, league format for the game will be based on groups of four players where possible. In cases where it is impossible to break into groups of four, last few groups will be grouped as groups of three instead. League Point SystemThe SBGL works on recognizing and rewarding players with points as a means to monitor the rankings of the players. Points are won or lost as a result of the matches played in the league, be it at the Casual or National level. Players are also awarded participation point bonuses for attending such events. The points are awarded as follows:
At the same time, participants will be awarded participation points at the end of the league, irregardless of their position, based on the tournament level. The points awarded are:
These points will be updated monthly on the SBGL website, and rankings will be based on these points. Tournament FormatsThe tournament format used by SBGL will be both the Swiss as well as Elimination. The Swiss format is defined as playing a set number of matches, with a randomized first match and ranked matches for the subsequent rounds, based on player points. In Elimination, players play only one match, and advance if they are first, or either first and second in the match. As a guideline, Casual play will consists of Elimination, Regionals / Qualifiers Swiss and Nationals a combination of Swiss for qualifying matches and Elimination for the Top 16, where winners of each table advance to the finals. Points awarded will be 4 points for 1st, 3 points for 2nd, 2 points for 3rd and 1 point for 4th. Players tied will share the total of their position points divided by the number of players. In the case of a tie to determine final winners, the total in game points scored will be used, in the event of another tie, the total game % wins. Current list of games planned for LeagueBelow is the list of games that are planned for the League:
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