Woot is ending the week with a refurbished sale on the 15-inch MacBook Pro, available in multiple storage sizes and colors. The sale starts with the 256GB SSD model (16GB RAM, Intel Core i7) for $1,579.99.

Note: MacRumors is an affiliate partner with Woot. When you click a link and make a purchase, we may receive a small payment, which helps us keep the site running.

For more storage, the 512GB SSD model (16GB RAM, Intel Core i9) is on sale for $1,849.99. Woot's refurbished sales are offering more than $800 in savings when compared to the original prices of these notebooks, which began at $2,399.00 when they launched in May 2019.

Similar to previous Woot sales, each MacBook Pro comes with a One Year Limited Woot Warranty. Each device has been refurbished and is ensured to be in full working condition. When shipped, they are packaged in a generic white box.

You can find even more discounts on new MacBooks by visiting our Best Deals guide for MacBook Pro and MacBook Air. In this guide we track the steepest discounts for the newest MacBook models every week, so be sure to bookmark it and check back often if you're shopping for a new Apple notebook.

This article, "Deals: Refurbished 15-Inch MacBook Pro Notebooks on Sale at Woot From $1,580 ($800+ Off)" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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A nationwide class action lawsuit filed against Apple in Northern California court this week accuses the company of knowingly concealing a defect with a display-related flex cable on recent 13-inch and 15-inch MacBook Pro models.


As discovered by repair website iFixit last year, some MacBook Pro models released in 2016 and 2017 have experienced issues with uneven backlighting caused by a delicate flex cable that can wear out and break after repeated opening and closing of the display. Impacted notebooks can exhibit uneven lighting at the bottom of the screen, which has been described as a "stage light" effect, and the backlighting system can eventually fail entirely.

Since the issue often takes time to manifest, the affected ‌MacBook Pro‌ units can be outside of Apple's one-year warranty period when they start exhibiting symptoms, resulting in an out-of-warranty repair fee of up to $850.

"Imagine spending more than $2,500 on a laptop only for it to fail shortly after the manufacturer's warranty expires," said PARRIS Law Firm attorney R. Rex Parris. "What's even more appalling is Apple requiring customers to spend an additional $600 to $850 to replace the screen."

Apple seemingly fixed the issue by extending the length of the flex cable by 2mm in the 2018 MacBook Pro. It also launched a free repair program in May 2019, but the program only applies to 13-inch MacBook Pro models released in 2016.

iFixit found the 2018 MacBook Pro flex cable on the left to be 2mm longer
The class action lawsuit seeks restitution for all costs attributable to replacing or replacing the affected MacBook Pro units, and calls for Apple to expand its repair program to cover the 15-inch MacBook Pro. The proposed class is defined as all persons within the United States who purchased a 2016 or newer MacBook Pro.

Related Guide: "Flexgate" Display Issues Affecting 2016 MacBook Pro and Later
This article, "Apple Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over 'Flexgate' Issue With MacBook Pro Displays" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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For this week's giveaway, we've once again teamed up with Throwboy to offer MacRumors readers a chance to win one of Throwboy's plushes modeled after classic Apple products and icons.


Throwboy makes a whole range of different plush pillow options priced at $30 to $40, with each one designed to look like an Apple product of some kind, including classic Macs, the iPod, the iPhone, and more. Each pillow features detailed embroidery and careful construction to highlight each component and to accurately represent Apple's designs.

The 1998 pillow, for example, is modeled after Apple's original iMac with its bright Bondi Blue design, while the 2001 pillow modeled after the original iPod comes complete with a screen and click wheel embroidery.


The 2007 pillow looks like the original ‌iPhone‌ with black bezels and a silver backing, and the Icon Pillow looks like Apple's classic happy Finder icon.


There's even a rainbow-colored Spinning Wheel Pillow that's designed to look like the dreaded spinning pinwheel that the cursor morphs into when an application is busy.


All of Throwboy's plushes are soft, squishy, huggable, and the perfect accent piece for an Apple fan. Each pillow is the ideal size to be used as a comfortable throw pillow for a couch or a chair. Photos of the pillows in action can be seen on Throwboy's Instagram account.


We have 10 of Throwboy's pillows to give away to MacRumors readers, and each winner will be able to pick their favorite pillow: ‌iMac‌, iPod, classic ‌iPhone‌, Finder Icon, or Spinning Wheel.

To enter to win our ‌giveaway‌, use the Gleam.io widget below and enter an email address. Email addresses will be used solely for contact purposes to reach the winners and send the prizes. You can earn additional entries by subscribing to our weekly newsletter, subscribing to our YouTube channel, following us on Twitter, following us on Instagram, or visiting the MacRumors Facebook page.

Due to the complexities of international laws regarding giveaways, only U.S. residents who are 18 years or older and Canadian residents (excluding Quebec) who have reached the age of majority in their province or territory are eligible to enter. To offer feedback or get more information on the ‌giveaway‌ restrictions, please refer to our Site Feedback section, as that is where discussion of the rules will be redirected.

Throwboy GiveawayThe contest will run from today (May 8) at 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time through 11:00 a.m. Pacific Time on May 15. The winners will be chosen randomly on May 15 and will be contacted by email. The winners will have 48 hours to respond and provide a shipping address before new winners are chosen.
This article, "MacRumors Giveaway: Win an Apple-Themed Plush Pillow From Throwboy" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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This week saw a couple of big announcements, led by the launch of an update for the 13-inch MacBook Pro line. Most notably, the update brought the improved Magic Keyboard previously introduced on its 16-inch sibling and the MacBook Air, with high-end models also receiving updated processors.

Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos.
The second significant announcement this week was that Apple's first all-digital Worldwide Developers Conference will kick off on June 22. Other news this week included a firmware update for the AirPods Pro, an update on Apple's Mini-LED efforts, and more.

Read on below and check out our video above for recaps of all of this week's most important stories!

New 13-Inch MacBook Pro Announced With Magic Keyboard, 10th-Gen Processors, Up to 32GB RAM and 4TB SSD, and More

Apple this week refreshed its 13-inch MacBook Pro lineup, with key features including the same Magic Keyboard as the 16-inch MacBook Pro, up to 80 percent faster Intel graphics than the previous generation, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, and 6K display support.


First introduced on the 16-inch MacBook Pro last year, the Magic Keyboard features a far more reliable scissor mechanism with 1mm of key travel. After five years, Apple has finally transitioned its entire notebook lineup away from its issue-prone butterfly keyboard.

10th-generation Intel processor options are only available on higher-end models, with the $1,799 configuration proving to be up to 16.5% faster than the $1,299 base model with an older 8th-generation processor.

Apple's Virtual WWDC Event to Kick Off on June 22

Apple has announced that its first-ever online-only WWDC will begin Monday, June 22 via the Apple Developer app and website. The weeklong event will include a virtual keynote, sessions, and labs, with more details to be shared in June. And it's free!


Apple is expected to introduce iOS 14, iPadOS 14, macOS 10.16, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 at WWDC 2020, with beta testing to take place over the summer.

Student developers from all over the world can enter Apple's Swift Student Challenge by creating an interactive scene in Swift Playgrounds that can be experienced in three minutes. Winners will receive an exclusive WWDC20 jacket and pin set. Submissions are open through May 17.

Apple Updates AirPods Pro Firmware to Version 2D15

Apple this week released a new firmware version 2D15 for the AirPods Pro, replacing version 2C54.


In recent months, some AirPods Pro owners have been complaining about reduced noise cancellation and crackling or static sounds, so users have listened for any improvements following the update.

Perhaps proving how subjective sound quality can be, feedback has been decidedly mixed, with some users noticing an improvement, some noticing no change, and some noticing further degradation to noise cancellation.

Apple has offered some help in the form of two new support documents for users to troubleshoot noise cancellation or crackling sound issues.

10 Tips and Tricks for the iPad Pro Magic Keyboard

Have you recently picked up a new Magic Keyboard for the iPad Pro? Here's a list of our favorite tips and tricks that you need to know.


The tips and tricks relate to adjusting the backlight brightness, customizing the cursor's behavior, enabling tap-to-click on the trackpad, other trackpad gestures, accessing the Emoji keyboard, and more.

Apple's Mini-LED Product Roadmap May Have Been Pushed Back to 2021

Disappointed that the new 13-inch MacBook Pro was not the rumored 14-inch model? That may be due to a slight delay in Apple's plans to release a range of new products with Mini-LED backlit displays.

Kuo believes Apple's first Mini-LED products might not launch until 2021. The analyst has previously said these products would include a new 14.1-inch MacBook Pro, 16-inch MacBook Pro, 12.9-inch iPad Pro, and more.


Kuo has previously said that Mini-LED displays will allow for thinner and lighter product designs, while offering many of the same benefits of OLED displays used on the latest iPhones, including good wide color gamut performance, high contrast and dynamic range, and local dimming for truer blacks.

NFC-Based Digital Key Specification Released Ahead of Apple's Rumored CarKey Feature on iPhone

Amid rumors that Apple is working on a digital "CarKey" feature for iPhone, the Car Connectivity Consortium has announced that its NFC-based Digital Key Release 2.0 specification has been finalized and made available to its members, which includes Apple.


"CarKey" will allow an iPhone or Apple Watch to unlock, lock, and start an NFC-compatible vehicle. Just like credit cards and boarding passes, users will be able to add a digital car key to the Wallet app, eliminating the need to use a physical car key or key fob.

MacRumors Newsletter

Each week, we publish an email newsletter like this highlighting the top Apple stories, making it a great way to get a bite-sized recap of the week hitting all of the major topics we've covered and tying together related stories for a big-picture view.

So if you want to have top stories like the above recap delivered to your email inbox each week, subscribe to our newsletter!
This article, "Top Stories: New 13" MacBook Pro, WWDC Starts June 22, AirPods Pro Firmware Update, and More" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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Apple recently updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro, and the $1,299 base model remains a popular alternative to the $999 MacBook Air. To help with your buying decision, read our comparison of the notebooks below.


The differences between the base 13-inch MacBook Pro and the MacBook Air are quite nuanced, with each notebook possessing some unique features.

What's the Same

• 13-inch Retina display with 227 pixels per inch and True Tone support


• Magic Keyboard with reliable scissor switch design


• Force Touch trackpad


• 2 × Thunderbolt 3 ports


• 3.5mm headphone jack


• 256GB of SSD storage standard, configurable up to 2TB


• Touch ID


• T2 security chip


• 720p webcam


• 802.11ac Wi-Fi, also known as Wi-Fi 5


• Bluetooth 5.0


• Three-microphone array with directional beamforming


• Dolby Atmos surround sound

Advantages of Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro

• The display supports the P3 wide color gamut for more vibrant and lifelike colors


• The display is brighter at up to 500 nits vs. 400 nits on MacBook Air


• Touch Bar


• Slightly better sounding speakers

Advantages of MacBook Air

• Up to 11 hours of battery life vs. 10 hours on base 13-inch MacBook Pro


• Weighs slightly less at 2.8 pounds vs. 3.1 pounds for base 13-inch MacBook Pro


• Faster RAM: 3733MHz LPDDR4X vs. 2133MHz LPDDR3 for base 13-inch MacBook Pro


• 6K display support vs. 5K on base 13-inch MacBook Pro

Unlike the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air also has a gold color option.

Performance

Generally speaking, the MacBook Air remains best suited for lightweight day-to-day tasks like web browsing and creating spreadsheets, while the MacBook Pro is better equipped to handle more intensive tasks like rendering large video files. This is not only because the MacBook Pro has faster processors than the Air, but also because it has a more advanced thermal design for dissipating heat inside the computer.

While the MacBook Air has been updated with Intel's latest 10th-generation processors, the base 13-inch MacBook Pro continues to use older 8th-generation processors. However, the Air uses lower-wattage Y-series chips with lower clock speeds, so the Pro still has faster overall performance, as confirmed by benchmarks.

Geekbench 5 scores for the latest 13-inch MacBook Pro and MacBook Air configurations:

• MacBook Air / 1.1GHz dual-core Core i3: 1,002 single-core and 1,998 multi-core


• MacBook Air / 1.1GHz quad-core Core i5: 1,055 single-core and 2,645 multi-core


• MacBook Air / 1.2GHz quad-core Core i7: 1,102 single-core and 2,843 multi-core


• MacBook Pro / 1.4GHz quad-core Core i5: 927 single-core and 3,822 multi-core


• MacBook Pro / 1.7GHz quad-core Core i7: 1,036 single-core and 3,909 multi-core

Takeaways:

• The base model 13-inch MacBook Pro for $1,299 has up to 91 percent faster multi-core performance than the base model MacBook Air for $999


• If considering the MacBook Air, upgrading to the quad-core Core i5 option is well worth the extra $100, as it is up to 32 percent faster than the base model and more closely rivals the base 13-inch MacBook Pro

Geekbench 5 scores are calibrated against a baseline score of 1,000, which is the score of an Intel Core i3-8100. Higher scores are better, with double the score indicating double the performance. Compare with other Mac benchmarks here.

Bottom Line

If you value portability and up to an extra hour of battery life, and are willing to sacrifice some performance, the MacBook Air is a relatively good value. Just remember to consider spending an extra $100 on the quad-core Core i5 processor option, as the $999 base model is equipped with a particularly sluggish dual-core processor.

For more intensive tasks, the 13-inch MacBook Pro's faster processors and more advanced thermal design will allow you to push the limits more without the fans running obnoxiously. You'll also get the Touch Bar, a brighter and more vibrant display, and slightly better sounding speakers with high dynamic range.
This article, "Base 13-Inch MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air" first appeared on MacRumors.com

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В рамках интервью для Rolling Stone барабанщик METALLICA Lars Ulrich ответил на вопрос о том, какая музыка его зацепила за последнее время:

«Я бы назвал Fiona Apple — её пластинка ["Fetch the Bolt Cutters"] просто сногсшибательна. В тот день, когда альбом только вышел, я его слушал часа три-четыре подряд и читал тексты. Честно говоря, я был поражён тем, насколько это необычно и гениально, потому что это так нестандартно. Каждые несколько лет выходит пластинка с другим звучанием. Я думаю, что последние ARCTIC MONKEYS, выпущенные года два назад ["Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino"], также имели схожий эффект, когда ты получаешь совсем не то, что ожидаешь, потом слушаешь это и просто говоришь: "Вау, это всё ещё возможно — сделать что-то музыкальное и не так, как у всех, ты ощущаешь уникальность, свежесть и неожиданность". Так что я бы сказал, что альбом Fiona Apple определённо из этой категории. Мне также нравится альбом Ed'a O'Brien'а. И его выступление на "Kimmel" — мы смотрели его достаточно часто.

В остальном, я думаю, вы заметили, что я больше обращаюсь ко многим своим старым друзьям [в музыкальном плане]. Пожалуй, музыка, которую я слушал больше всего за последние два-три месяца, — это RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. Неужели я единственный, кто думает, что их музыка с каждым днём становится всё более и более актуальной? Она всё больше и больше ассоциируется с тем, что происходит в мире. Просто такое ощущение, что все четыре этих альбома были записаны на прошлой неделе. И когда я делаю свои жалкие слабенькие упражнения, надеваю наушники и начинаю заниматься, я выдаю что-то типа: "Охренеть", когда просто слышу что-то в "Calm Like A Bomb", "Sleep Now In The Fire" или "Bombtrack", и думаю: "Не, ну правда, что ли? Какого хрена? Откуда это вообще взялось?" Так что RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE никогда не подведут!»

Ulrich также рассказал, что слушают члены его семьи:

«В доме довольно часто можно услышать Radiohead. Radiohead начали делать что-то вроде того, что делает Metallica, — они транслируют концерты, так что у нас дом фанатов Radiohead».

На вопрос о том, чем он заполняет своё время в период самоизоляции, Lars ответил:

«Я пытаюсь оставаться здоровым и здравомыслящим и быть как можно более продуктивным. Я пытаюсь быть более физически активным, чем несколько месяцев назад, занимаясь тренировками и играя, вместо того, чтобы валяться на диване. Это помогает чувствовать себя лучше в психологическом плане». #Metallica #ModernRock #Modern_Rock #AvantgardeRock #Avantgarde_Rock #HeavyMetal #Heavy_Metal #SymphonicMetal #Symphonic_Metal #ThrashMetal #Thrash_Metal

El actual entorno tecnológico impulsa a las empresas a transformar sus modelos de negocio en un escenario en donde, según la Organización para la Cooperación y el Desarrollo Económicos (OCDE), el 25% de la economía mundial será digital en los próximos cinco años. De esta forma, el uso de nuevas tecnologías se vuelve la pieza clave para asegurar tanto competitividad, como su alto desempeño.

El Grupo BBVA acaba de formalizar un acuerdo con IBM para que esta firma asuma la operación y transformación de la infraestructura tecnológica actual de BBVA y el procesamiento de datos en América Latina y EE.UU., actualmente gestionada por su filial ATA en México.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) presentó IBM Spectrum Storage, una nueva oferta de software de almacenamiento diseñada para cambiar la economía del almacenamiento mediante una capa de software inteligente. El nuevo software IBM crea una “huella de datos” eficiente que dinámicamente almacena cada bit de información a costo óptimo, maximizando rendimiento y garantizando la seguridad.

IBM anunció dos nuevas soluciones de almacenamiento empresarial completamente basadas en tecnología flash, las cuales ofrecen avanzada eficiencia e incremento en desempeño, así como una sobresaliente confiabilidad para ayudar a reducir costos, y acelerar infraestructuras y aplicaciones con manejo intensivo de datos.

Como parte de su compromiso por contribuir con la tecnología más innovadora a la resolución de los desafíos y retos que enfrenta el mundo, IBM dio a conocer que seleccionó a CUCEA (Centro Universitario de Ciencias Económico y Administrativas) de la Universidad de Guadalajara (UdeG); a fin de poner en marcha en México la implementación del Programa IBM Skills Academy, con foco en competencias de tecnología de Nube.

IBM anuncia el lanzamiento de IBM Cloud Private, una plataforma de software creada para los clientes que requieren la flexibilidad y capacidad de una nube pública en un ambiente privado. IBM Cloud Private transforma los sistemas de TI (Tecnologías de la Información) en un ambiente de nube flexible para crear un puente hasta las nubes públicas y acelerar el desarrollo de aplicativos.

IBM y PAPALOTE MUSEO DEL NIÑO, anunciaron hoy su alianza para desarrollar y ofrecer dos cursos de formación para profesores de la Ciudad de México. El taller estará basado en el portal web teacherstryscience.org de IBM y representa el compromiso de ambas instituciones por contribuir a la enseñanza de la ciencia y en particular de la astronomía, a través de dispositivos en línea.

Diltex -empresa mexicana propietaria de las marcas Ilusión y Fiorentina, socios de Vanity Fair Brands y franquiciatarios de David's Bridal en México- e IBM, anunciaron que la compañía dedicada a la industria de la moda está mejorando la experiencia del cliente y fortaleciendo su producción, distribución y comercialización a través de su transformación digital.

Durante la cumbre Business Connect 2017 en la Ciudad de México, IBM presentó a la Transformación Digital como una de las áreas de mayor crecimiento para los negocios en 2017 y mostró cómo las soluciones cognitivas (de analítica avanzada, de nube, de engagement), están transformando la forma en la que trabajamos y vivimos.

Las estrategias de negocio con las que organizaciones líderes están transformando su negocio para obtener mayores eficiencias se basan en tecnologías para mejorar el manejo de la información, la interacción con clientes y modelos de negocio en la nube. Estas tecnologías son impulsadas por IBM, reconociendo las necesidades de las compañías mexicanas.

GIG Desarrollos Inmobiliarios dio a conocer que está utilizando una solución de analítica de datos de IBM para transformar el área de ventas inmobiliarias. La herramienta les ha permitido acelarar hasta 6 veces el tiempo dedicado al procesamiento de datos para el cálculo de comisiones.

IBM y la Asociación de Tenis de los Estados Unidos (USTA por sus siglas en inglés) anunciaron que IBM Watson participará en el campeonato US Open por primera vez por medio de una nueva característica de consejería cognitiva piloteada en las aplicaciones móviles oficiales del torneo, a fin de mejorar la experiencia de los aficionados presentes en el Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.

IBM annonce de nouveaux services IT basés sur le Cloud pour aider ses clients à intégrer de façon rapide, facile et sécurisée les Macs au sein de leurs entreprises et dans leurs applications.

The IBM Research findings achieve the highest recorded accuracy of 86 percent by using deep learning and pathology insights to identify the severity of diabetic retinopathy.

A Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre study has demonstrated the potential for artificial intelligence to help reduce the time for clinicians to match lung cancer patients to relevant clinical trials.

Machi Koro  was one of the first games my husband Chris and I played together. It was released in 2012 and when we started gaming together in 2013, it was still a popular game on reviewer blogs and videos as we sought guidance in what to play and what to buy. Once Machi Koro  was in our collection, I spent every game trying my best to outthink Chris and acquire the best combination of establishment types to ensure victory. As we were enticed by other new games coming out and were drawn deeper into heavy Euros, we left Machi Koro on the shelf more frequently, with an occasional wistful comment about how we should play again.

At GenCon earlier this year, Machi Koro Legacy  was the talk of the town. Designed by Rob Daviau, JR Honeycutt, and Masao Suganuma (Masao is the original designer of Machi Koro), it promised to breathe new life into Machi Koro through a campaign style series of ten games, revealing new aspects of gameplay in each session at the table. We love legacy games, so we were sold on the idea right away.

The artwork for Machi Koro Legacy  features two of the principal artists from Machi Koro , Noboru Hotta and Jason D. Kingsley, and the signature cutesy cartoonish illustrations from the original are dominant in this legacy edition as well.

In Machi Koro Legacy, players take on the role of mayors competing to build the most attractive town on the Island of Machi Koro. During each game, every mayor is vying for the title of Best Mayor and must also work with the other mayors to build a landmark on the island. Players are given a starting assortment of establishment cards to select from for their town, and on each turn the following steps are taken:

(1) The active player rolls a die or a pair of dice, depending on the phase in the campaign.

(2) All players activate the establishment cards in their towns that match the sum of the die/dice roll and are applicable. Activating an establishment card means gaining the benefit listed on the card (usually collecting income). 

(3) The active player takes one action. Actions to select from vary widely depending on the phase of the campaign but always include purchasing new establishments from the market to add to one’s town, building a landmark in one’s town (landmarks are special buildings that change one aspect of the rules for the owning player), or contributing toward the community landmark. 

When one player has built all of their landmarks and contributed to the community landmark, they are declared the best mayor and win the game. As the legacy campaign progresses two main effects are felt. First, an overarching narrative slowly reveals itself. Second, as new legacy components are unboxed, the complexity of the game grows. The gameplay never grows in difficulty beyond a lightweight strategy game, but the new components present additional factors to consider when making decisions and also introduce more variability in the marketplace.

We decided to play through our review copy with our ten year old son, Max. We thought it would be a good fit because he’s quite adept at board games and loves Space Base, which features a similar mechanism (drafting cards+rolling dice to collect benefits based on the card numbers that match the dice rolls).  He also understands the concept of legacy games as Chris is playing through another legacy game, Zombie Kids, with him and our other children.

As we settled into our first game, I got a good look at the components. The coins are plastic, which I’ve never seen before. It’s a good middle ground between cost saving cardboard coin tokens and the more luxurious clay or metal coins some games includes. Besides the coins, the starting components include cardboard tokens for player flags and town boards, two standard d6 dice, a sticker sheet, 65 plastic coated cards, a legacy deck of plastic coated cards (which must be opened  and worked through in sequence when instructed), and six “mystery” boxes to be opened as instructed during the course of the campaign. All the components are sturdy enough to hold up to repeated play.

My son Max was enthusiastic about Machi Koro Legacy from the first turn and his enthusiasm continued to blossom as he won game after game. He quickly capitalized on the obvious strategies – buy up establishments that are statistically more likely to be activated during dice rolls, then push toward dice (vs die) rolls as soon as possible. This meant collecting a lot of establishments that activate when 7 or 8 are rolled.  My husband followed the same strategy but didn’t always remember to build his town landmarks in a timely fashion, so he only won a few games. Me, I was a tragic tale of bad strategy. I opted to corner the market on single die roll establishments during my first few games, which didn’t work out well at all. Even in future games when I shifted to a 2 dice strategy, I was unable to gain any ground as some of the legacy components unboxed that Max and Chris had quickly scooped up gave a strong advantage over the rest of the campaign. At times, I felt it was impossible for me to win and I felt frustrated that Machi Koro Legacy  doesn’t provide a good catch up mechanism or some way to balance out the power of the more powerful legacy components. Without giving away any spoilers, I want to offer this essential tip: when components are unboxed that you have to prioritize taking specific actions to earn, TAKE THOSE ACTIONS AND EARN THOSE COMPONENTS. Some of the components won’t prove to be game changers, but some will and if you let your opponents take all of them you will be at a serious disadvantage the rest of the campaign with no way to rebalance the game.

Max loved Machi Koro Legacy so much that we agreed to binge play. We ran through the entire campaign of 10 games in just one week. We didn’t face any serious analysis paralysis during gameplay, so each game took no more than 45 minutes. In the end, Max won six games, Chris won four, and I didn’t win any. The game offers a great amount of replayability - when the legacy campaign is over, players can continue to play the game using a modified set of rules and a subset of the components. Chris feels that the permanent game we are left with is a bit more interesting than the original Machi Koro  edition, so would be purchasers should consider Machi Koro Legacy  an investment in not only ten distinct game session experiences, but also a fun, kid-friendly, permanent, upgraded edition of the original game. I have to agree that Machi Koro Legacy  is one of the most kid-friendly legacy games in the board game marketplace. You absolutely want to add this to the Christmas present pile for your under 18 set, where the gift becomes not only the game, but the time you’ll spend playing it with them. And while hard core Euro gamers will likely skip over the game in pursuit of heavier strategy picks, gamers who enjoy lightweight strategy games will enjoy the easy-to-learn, quick-to-play experience that Machi Koro Legacy  offers. 

-------------------------------------------------

Publisher: Pandasaurus Games
Players: 2-4
Actual Playing Time (vs the guideline on the box): 30-45 min
Game type: card drafting, dice rolling
Rating:

Jenni’s rating scale:
OUI: I would play this game again; this game is ok. I probably would not buy this game myself but I would play it with those who own it and if someone gave it to me I would keep it.
OUI OUI: I would play this game again; this game is good. I would buy this game.
OUI OUI OUI: I LOVE THIS GAME. I MUST HAVE THIS GAME.
NON: I would not play this game again. I would return this game or give it away if it was given to me.

I will meet you there this weekend!

I'll be at TABLE F2 with the lovely keshii! There's going to be a lot of amazing and beautiful people there!

I will have Starfighter: Chapter 01, t-shirts, hot shorts, AND ALSO, some sweet extras. This will be my first con with a table.. and it is all because of you guys! Thank you so, so much! I can only hope I can meet you guys so I can thank you in person; you have my humble love and affection.

I'll see you there, sweethearts! -HamletMachine

TCAF site!

If you're attending, stop by and say hello!

(I don't have a table number yet but I'll be sure to announce this as soon as I know! If not, I'm sure you can find where my table is in the directory!)

EDIT: OH MAN! I almost forgot— At last Yaoi-con, there was a sweet person who had lost her voice from a cold (ah, I'm not sure if I got your name) and had printed out some TCAF info so I could attend— SWEETHEART, IF YOU READ THIS, THANK YOU! I hope to see you there!) -Hamlet

In the latest episode of their multi-layered podcast, Ken and Robin talk narrative voices in RPG play, Whitey Bulger & MK-ULTRA, curse tablets, and Oswald Wirth & Stanislas de Guaita.

V době koronavirové pandemie nás bombardují ze všech stran nejrůznější informace. Informační přetížení je tak značné, že v mnohých lidech vyvolává strach a stres. Jak tomu čelit, komu věřit a jaké informace ignorovat, se v komentáři zamýšlí psycholog Jan Urban.

The Worst Things For Sale is Drew's blog. It updates every day. Subscribe to the Worst Things For Sale RSS!