Tailten Adds Irish Heritage and Creates New Culture of Board Games

Tailten Adds Irish Heritage
and Creates New Culture of Board Games

West Cork, Ireland – (July 16, 2009) – A new game steeped in the ancient legends of Ireland’s Celtic heritage and royal past is the premier product from Tailten Games.

TARA is the abstract, strategy game named after the Hill of Tara in Ireland , where legend tells that the High Kings contemplated the conjoined ringforts of Forradh and Teach Chormac. The overhead view of the ringforts eventually inspired the popular artistic Celtic knotwork pattern making, now found all over the world.

Created by Murray Heasman, president of Tailten Games, based in West Cork, Ireland, TARA (MSRP $29.95, for ages 8 and up) is now making its presence felt in the United States, winning game industry and consumer awards, and now selling nationwide at Barnes & Noble.

TARA offers a choice of playing one of three different strategy games with the same playing board and pieces in the game. Each games gives players a little bit of a history lesson and an artistic creation experience by working with the beautifully intricate Celtic knot designs on the tiles. Prior knowledge of Celtic knotwork is necessary to play; the genius of TARA is that the patterns develop automatically before your eyes.

Heasman explains, “We are thrilled that TARA is being embraced by the US market. The strategy of the game, along with the unique way that the game changes in appearance as it is being played, has been its key captivating features for consumers.”

Players can play TARA ’s Sacred Hill, a connection game of linking ringforts together with bridge tiles to create a landscape of Celtic knotwork. Building the 3-dimensional knotwork tiles, players also split opponent’s territory in a Divide and Conquer strategy.

Playing the High Kings of Tara introduces the kings in all their ancient power; they do the work of building the ringforts. Like moving the knight in chess, plus many more twists and turns, kings capture enemy ringforts, but can also be rendered immobile by the opponent.

In TARA ’s Poisoned Chalice game, the most advanced version of TARA , there is a battle of spirits between High King Lóegaire and St. Patrick , where players sit at right angles to each other, pitting their wits against the unknown powers of the enemy while trying to complete their ringforts on the board.

The Tailten Games website, www.tailtengames.com offers many other variants, animated demos, more strategy, new knot patterns and much more.

So far, TARA has garnered awards that include:

Best Abstract Strategy Game from Games Magazine ( USA )
Spiele für Zwei - Wiener Spiele Akademie ( Austria )
Ireland’s Index 100, Showcase
Best Irish-Style Traditional Gift.

Heasman was originally a cartographic surveyor where he perfected his skills as a technical draftsman. He turned his craft to carving, and then while trying to find a short strap to hold his mandolin, he recalled a book he had on Celtic knotwork. He began carving and painting elaborate Celtic knotwork mandolin and guitar straps, and was even commissioned to make a custom strap for legendary guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. With his expertise in Celtic knotwork, he thought to make it into a game. He started drawing, cutting and coloring cardboard. Whilst play testing this game, he met Tom Kremer , the marketing man behind Rubik’s Cube. When Heasman attended the Essen Game Fair in Germany , he met Alex Randolph , the ‘grandfather of all games inventors’ who helped to have “The Game of Kells” released in Essen a few years later. With rave reviews and some continued testing, the name of the game was changed to ‘ TARA ’.

The first release was a stone Collector’s Edition for actor Jeremy Irons, a friend whom Murray had worked for in his castle. In 2005, a family edition was released with plastic components. Rachel Arbuckle , one of Ireland ’s finest Celtic artists, was commissioned to paint the playing board. She did such an amazing job that Murray asked her to do two more paintings that he could turn into jigsaw puzzles. Today, Tailten Games also offers a greater assortment of the most beautiful puzzles you will ever find, also at Barnes & Noble, that includes the works of Jim Fitzpatrick , best known for the Che Guevara image and his mythological Irish art.

Based outside the beautiful West Cork town of Bandon , Tailten’s products were initially marketed just in Ireland , particularly within the gift industry, but they have spread worldwide now. With the help of the West Cork Enterprise Board, Eamon Curtin was brought in to develop the business strategy further. In addition, with help from Enterprise Ireland , things are going even further with a visit with An Taoiseach, Brian Cowan to New York and Washington DC to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Following up on TARA , Tailten plans to launch a new game, ‘Pluck the Peacock’ this year, and many more puzzles and games will arrive on US shores in the next few years.

Tailten Games & Puzzles Ltd.
Unit 5, Bandon Business Centre, Lauragh Industrial Estate
Bandon, West Cork, Ireland
T: +353 (0)23 8820544
info@tailtengames.com
www.tailtengames.com

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Tailten Adds Irish Heritage and Creates New Culture of Board Games West Cork, Ireland – (July 16, 2009) – A new game steeped in the ancient legends of Ireland’s Celtic heritage and royal past is the premier product from Tailten Games. TARA is the abstract, strategy game named after the Hill of Tara in Ireland , where legend tells that the High Kings contemplated the conjoined ringforts of Forradh and Teach Chormac. The overhead view of the ringforts eventually inspired the popular artistic Celtic knotwork pattern making, now found all over the world. Created by Murray Heasman, president of Tailten Games, based in West Cork, Ireland, TARA (MSRP $29.95, for ages 8 and up) is now making its presence felt in the United States, winning game industry and consumer awards, and now selling nationwide at Barnes & Noble. TARA offers a choice of playing one of three different strategy games with the same playing board and pieces in the game. Each games gives players a little bit of a history lesson and an artistic creation experience by working with the beautifully intricate Celtic knot designs on the tiles. Prior knowledge of Celtic knotwork is necessary to play; the genius of TARA is that the patterns develop automatically before your eyes. Heasman explains, “We are thrilled that TARA is being embraced by the US market. The strategy of the game, along with the unique way that the game changes in appearance as it is being played, has been its key captivating features for consumers.” Players can play TARA ’s Sacred Hill, a connection game of linking ringforts together with bridge tiles to create a landscape of Celtic knotwork. Building the 3-dimensional knotwork tiles, players also split opponent’s territory in a Divide and Conquer strategy. Playing the High Kings of Tara introduces the kings in all their ancient power; they do the work of building the ringforts. Like moving the knight in chess, plus many more twists and turns, kings capture enemy ringforts, but can also be rendered immobile by the opponent. In TARA ’s Poisoned Chalice game, the most advanced version of TARA , there is a battle of spirits between High King Lóegaire and St. Patrick , where players sit at right angles to each other, pitting their wits against the unknown powers of the enemy while trying to complete their ringforts on the board. The Tailten Games website, www.tailtengames.com offers many other variants, animated demos, more strategy, new knot patterns and much more. So far, TARA has garnered awards that include: Best Abstract Strategy Game from Games Magazine ( USA ) Spiele für Zwei - Wiener Spiele Akademie ( Austria ) Ireland’s Index 100, Showcase Best Irish-Style Traditional Gift. Heasman was originally a cartographic surveyor where he perfected his skills as a technical draftsman. He turned his craft to carving, and then while trying to find a short strap to hold his mandolin, he recalled a book he had on Celtic knotwork. He began carving and painting elaborate Celtic knotwork mandolin and guitar straps, and was even commissioned to make a custom strap for legendary guitarist Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin. With his expertise in Celtic knotwork, he thought to make it into a game. He started drawing, cutting and coloring cardboard. Whilst play testing this game, he met Tom Kremer , the marketing man behind Rubik’s Cube. When Heasman attended the Essen Game Fair in Germany , he met Alex Randolph , the ‘grandfather of all games inventors’ who helped to have “The Game of Kells” released in Essen a few years later. With rave reviews and some continued testing, the name of the game was changed to ‘ TARA ’. The first release was a stone Collector’s Edition for actor Jeremy Irons, a friend whom Murray had worked for in his castle. In 2005, a family edition was released with plastic components. Rachel Arbuckle , one of Ireland ’s finest Celtic artists, was commissioned to paint the playing board. She did such an amazing job that Murray asked her to do two more paintings that he could turn into jigsaw puzzles. Today, Tailten Games also offers a greater assortment of the most beautiful puzzles you will ever find, also at Barnes & Noble, that includes the works of Jim Fitzpatrick , best known for the Che Guevara image and his mythological Irish art. Based outside the beautiful West Cork town of Bandon , Tailten’s products were initially marketed just in Ireland , particularly within the gift industry, but they have spread worldwide now. With the help of the West Cork Enterprise Board, Eamon Curtin was brought in to develop the business strategy further. In addition, with help from Enterprise Ireland , things are going even further with a visit with An Taoiseach, Brian Cowan to New York and Washington DC to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day. Following up on TARA , Tailten plans to launch a new game, ‘Pluck the Peacock’ this year, and many more puzzles and games will arrive on US shores in the next few years. Tailten Games & Puzzles Ltd. Unit 5, Bandon Business Centre, Lauragh Industrial Estate Bandon, West Cork, Ireland T: +353 (0)23 8820544 info@tailtengames.com www.tailtengames.com