Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Board Game Madness 1/8

Happy new year! I took December off, mostly due to work and vacation. So we're back in earnest. I'm going to change things around a little bit this year. Based on some feedback I've gotten from some readers, there are a few things that people are mostly interested in:

Cool pics and funny tidbits
New releases and announcements
What's hitting the table

So I'll be focusing on those in the future. The new format will develop some over time. If you have any more feedback, please don't hesitate to leave some comments below!

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Fun:
New Games:
Recently Played:
Happy Gaming!

Credits: BGG, GameBugle
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Thursday, November 29, 2012

Board Game Madness 11/29

Fun:
New Games:
  • Quarantine: Where once there was Pandemic, now there's Quarantine. Be part of the solution by building the most effective hospital in this tile laying game. Manage which rooms you build and try to prevent infections from killing your patients... or your patience. Release date March 2013.
  • Batman: Gotham City Strategy Game: WizKids is coming off their last IP games from the Star Trek universe and opening up the DC universe with their first Batman game. This looks like a Clix euro with area control and resource management mechanics. There's one big difference here though: You're the villain! Release February 2013.
  • Frenemies of Catan: Want your Settlers of Catan game to be more social? More interactive? Mayfair just released an expansion where you help out your friends to get a bunch of bennies. I'm not sure of the price of this, but it is expected to be available in the next few days.
  • Recent releases: Beer & Vikings, Plethora, Lady Alice, Roll'n Bump, Croak!, Uchronia, Gauntlet of Fools, Hooyah: Navy Seals Card Game, The Palaces of Carrara, Card City, Okiya, Legendary
iOS:
News:
  • Dominoes is being inducted into the Toy Hall of Fame
  • What happens when a board game is labeled sexist? What happens when the person calling attention to it is 6-years old?
  • One of our local game stores, The Game Table is moving to Hicksville, NY and renaming the store Game Master Games. Bigger space, more to offer! They are "almost there..." I tried to do a drive-by view but they weren't open yet.
Recently Played:
  • Two weeks worth of gaming here...
  • Gaming with the wife, we went back to one of our favorites: Core Worlds. I've already pre-ordered the expansion. Hopefully it'll come soon!
  • My sister-in-law came and we played Kingdom Builder.
  • I've been teaching Alien Frontiers a LOT lately. At least 3 times in the last 2 weeks.
  • Other friends came over and we taught them 7 Wonders and Pandemic. I spotted them at The Game Table last week looking for both games for purchase...
  • Actually Pandemic was the game of the week. My kids learned it and are now in love with the game. We played it about 5 or 6 times with different people.
  • We had a game day after Thanksgiving where we played Poo, Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game and Homesteaders
Happy Gaming!
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Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Board Game Madness 11/14


Fun:
  • You know it’s funny, but when I played Talisman with my friends it always devolved into arguments. But in this case it seems to have solved sibling rivalry.
  • It’s time for taking holiday pictures. Fall leaves on the ground. Nice sweaters being worn. Your favorite board game on display…
  • What do meeples do when they aren’t playing board games? Check out this fantastic geek list of staged pics (some of the individual ones have been referenced in previous entries).
  • Pimp your game: How about redesigning the tile set from The Settlers of Catan
  • I mentioned last week that the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund Auction is up for people who would like to donate to gamers in need of some help. Or if you need to apply for assistance. It seems that Mad Men actor Rich Sommers has donated a game night with fellow actors Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory) and Jorge Garcia (Lost). Only good for those in the LA area though.
  • Apparently Hasbro is looking to sponsor board gaming nights on New Year’s Eve. I already throw one and based on the games they are giving, I’m not sure I’d have any attendees, but their hearts are in the right place at least…

New Games:
  • Roll for the Galaxy: Tom Lehmann turns his award winning card game Race for the Galaxy (one of my favorites) into a dice building game (a la Quarriors!). We still get some good play from this one so it may be worth checking out. Release Q2 2013.
  • City of Remnants: Post-apocalyptic power grab with auctions and dice. Sounds interesting! Release early 2013.

iOS:
  • Fluxx coming in December

News:
  • How did families entertain themselves when the power went out from Sandy or Athena? Board games!
  • Apparently the board game company GMT Games is giving out free paper and pencil war games to the unemployed. Only thing is their war games take weeks to play so that’s time away from looking for a job!
  • Apparently Kurt Vonnegut designed a board game called General Headquarters, a mix between Chess and a war game. No one picked it up though.

Recently Played:
  • During the Nor’easter this past week, the family whipped out Snow Tails right after the kids had their fill of a snowball fight. Then my wife and my older son and I played some Dominion.
  • My sister-in-law stayed over for a night and we got a quick game of FITS in.
  • My son and I played some more Blood Bowl. He’s got the rules down, now it’s just getting him to sit still for long enough to play. We played only a half.
  • Friends came over this weekend and we got some Core Worlds, Alien Frontiers and Race for the Galaxy in. Apparently it was sci-fi day. I interrupted the game play to watch the Jets game. My friend didn’t understand why I couldn’t do both at the same time though.

Happy gaming!

Credits: Board Game Geek, Purple Pawn, Game Salute, Google News
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Wednesday, November 7, 2012

Board Game Madness 11/7


For those board gamers who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy and you have lost so much, please avail yourself of the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. They are undergoing an auction right now and here’s the writeup that Tom Vasel has posted:

**

One tragic event and two acts of generosity brought the BGG community together: the result was the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. In January 2011, Cate Pfeifer (Cate108) posted an auction for Tom Vasel and his family to help with the unfortunate loss of his son, Jack. The generosity of the BGG community was amazing. Tom was touched and wanted to pay the kindness forward so he created the Jack Vasel Memorial Fund. He used some of the money that BGGers donated and spent to build this fund. The fund is a not-for-profit with a simple goal: raising and distributing funds to help gamers in their hour of need.

Are you a member of the public that is part of the gaming community and has suffered a personal hardship?

The gaming community's generosity up to this point has been amazing, and we anticipate you will continue to amaze us. However, we are not just here to raise money, but also to do good.

Please contact Tom (tom@jackvasel.org is preferred) if you believe you are a member of the gaming community and have suffered personal hardship. Tom and the rest of our Board of Directors are happy to work with you to explain our eligibility criteria, confirm your situation is within our mission statement, and then provide assistance.

**

For those of you who have been affected in any way, please find a safe and warm space to stay and keep a bright outlook. We will recover.

And now back to the blog…

Fun:

New Games:

iOS:
News:
  • It appears that two gamers killed another one over his collection of Magic: The Gathering charges
  • If you are interested in what took place at the Settlers of Catan World Championships, it’s over at the Unboxed Blog
  • Shut Up and Sit Down has recorded a videocast about the golden age of board gaming. I have not had a chance to view it yet, but they do good work so I’m sure it’s well done.
  • Geek Dad from Wired.com goes over history-related board games in his article this month.

Recently Played:
  • LOTS to report on here…
  • My son had a family math night at his elementary school before Halloween. We all went and played some math games and solved problems. It was really cool. We played Farkle and Diceathon.
  • We also had our Halloween-themed board game night right before the Witches Sabbath and played Zombicide, Zombie Dice, Fury of Dracula and Ghost Stories (which we won on Nightmare mode! I’ve never done that before!)
  • Some gaming with my older son brought Quarmageddon to the table
  • I also played some Dominion with my wife and friends and then we brought Yahtzee to the table. It’s been a long time since I played that one!
  • On the night that Sandy hit, my son and I were playing some Blood Bowl. In the middle of the game the power went out and we played by candlelight. The lights came back on and we finished. Emboldened by the sudden electricity windfall, we took out Zombie Dice. Then the power went out again. We finished the game again by candlelight and then put the kids to bed before the storm got really bad. Eventually the power came back on again (that night believe it or not – we were SOOOOO lucky!). So we decided to take a shot at Race for the Galaxy and were able to make it through the game.
  • With friends coming over after the storm to take showers, charge their devices, etc. we had a veritable gamefest over the next few days. We played Homesteaders, Kingdom Builder, 7 Wonders, Tichu, No Thanks and Cards Against Humanity. The last few were at a game night I called to celebrate the passing of Sandy. Really, it was just an excuse to get everyone over to play games.
  • I also had my birthday after Sandy and some gaming was had. I taught a friend Alien Frontiers and we played more Zombie Dice and Dominion
  • Finally, I kept my Blood Bowl team, the Death Rockers, undefeated last night with a 2-1 win over the Frogluks of Guk, a Slaan team. I’m now 4-0 and in first place in my division.

Happy gaming!

Credits: BGG, Purple Pawn, Game Salute, Google News
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Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Board Game Madness 10/24


Fun:
  • For those of you who want to get into the holiday spirit a little early, The Dice Tower is starting up their new Secret Santa. I’ve done this the last two years and had an absolute blast. I wrote a novella to give the gift to one person and a few modified Christmas carols to give to the next. And yes, we performed the carols at their front door (two friends of mine volunteered quite resistantly, but we had a blast). Anyway, if you are interested, go listen to Dice Tower 277 and get the details. Entry by November 11th if you want in.
  • Destination gaming: Battle at Normundy
  • I’ve heard of dogs playing poker, but this is a bit much
  • Crossover – music meets gaming. From the gent who brought you the Tour De Geek (without doping), comes his delve into the greatest rock song of all time
  • If you are interested in what other collections board game geeks might have, here’s a geeklist. Some of these are very interesting. I don’t think I collect anything, other than when I was younger I had a bunch of baseball caps.
  • So here’s a lot of hate about Essen I’m reading, the major board gaming convention that just took place in Europe.
  • Want to kick your opponents around in a game of Ticket to Ride? Well Game Knight has published a free strategy guide. I guess this is the next untapped resource for the board game industry. Just wait until they release the FITS one.

New Games:

iOS:

News:
  • The Canadian Game Design award went to Paul Saxberg for Coven
  • Staying in the cold regions, what do they do to fight boredom in Fairbanks Alaska? Play board games of course! OK, there’s only 5 members, but they should be able to up that once the weather turns cold. Oh wait, it did already…
  • A great look at the upcoming election from the point of view of board games. My favorite is: “Settlers of Catan: The game is fun, sure, but only a certain group of people are absolutely obsessed with it and insist on bringing it out at parties.”

Recently Played:
  • The Blood Bowl season continued for LIBBL. My Death Rockers won two games this week, 2-1 over the Undead Presidents and 2-1 over the Bree Bashers. We’re 3-0 and at the top of the division for now.
  • At a birthday party for one of the members of our gaming group, there was a lot of gaming going on. Unfortunately that was a short time for me as I had to be up before dawn on Sunday morning. But I played Founding Fathers and Sushizock im Gockelwock. That last one was a nice little fun game that took about 10 minutes.

Happy Gaming!

Credits: Board Game Geek, Game Salute, Google News
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Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Board Game Madness 10/17


Fun:
  • The biggest board gaming convention in the world, Spiel 2012, is going on in Essen right now. You can get a live stream of Board Game Geek’s booth if you are into that right on the front page of their site.
  • I haven’t mentioned the show Tabletop in a while, but Wil Wheaton just took on Pandemic.

New Games:
  • Keyflower: Bid for tiles to add to your home tile and expand your kingdom over 4 seasons. At the end of each season, boats arrive with more workers allowing you to get more tiles which give resources or victory points. Release October 2012.
  • Snowdonia: Excavate the mountain and build your train line with your work gang in the snowy peaks of Snowdonia (isn’t that redundant?). Use your works and contracts to build more of the line than anyone else. Release October 2012.
  • Nothing Personal: Tom Vasel of The Dice Tower fame is releasing his second game. This is mob-themed as you try to get the most respect to be given the position as the new Capo. Very much a “take that” game it seems. Release later this year/early 2013.
  • Recent Releases: Banditos: Hippies and an Armored Truck, Casa Grande, Indigo, Saint Malo, Urbania, Giftzwerge, Shadows over Camelot: The Card Game

iOS:
  • Dominant Species released
  • Can’t Stop released
  • Lexatron, Scrabble meets Tron, released
  • Monopoly Millionaire released
  • Qin (Reiner Knizia) releasing on iOS at same time as board game in the next week
  • Elder Sign updated and now has a new campaign “Trail of Ithaqua”
  • Phantom Leader ready to submit
  • For the Win going to beta soon

News:
  • This weekend is Extra Life, a charity which supports children’s hospitals. 24 hours of gaming, are you up to it?
  • The board gaming blog I Slay the Dragon is building an FLGS database. Register your local store.
  • The guys at Days of Wonder gave an interview at VentureBeat and explained their rather morbid exit strategy in case the gaming thing doesn’t work out.
  • The Boston Globe interviews the designer of a board game about the Salem Witch Trials, now on Kickstarter
  • Roxio and CERN (the guys with the supercollider) are creating a bunch of games and content aimed at teaching kids about particle and quantum physics. This actually scares me a little bit…

Recently Played:
  • My son has been fantastic lately in and out of school, so I decided to put together a bunch of miniatures for him to finally have his Lizardmen Blood Bowl team. Then we played. We still have to work on his strategy. I also brought one of the new players in our league up to speed with a scrimmage where he soundly beat me.
  • My wife said, “Can I go out tonight?” I said, “On one condition, when you come back, we play a game of Dominion.” Actually we played three. And for you haters out there, she knows could have gone without “my permission”. But I might as well get something out of it, right?
  • My wife took my older son to a First Lego League training session so my 4 and a half year old son asked if we could play some games. Of course! We played Zombie Dice, I taught him out to play Othello and we played one of his favorites: Incan Gold. On that last one, we even have this funny thing we do when the treasures are shown before they get mixed in the deck, we get a nice “ooooooh aaaaaaah” in unison.

Happy Gaming!

Credits: Board Game Geek, Game Salute, Google News
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Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Board Game Madness 10/9

Fun:
  • It’s nice to see the men and women of our armed forces getting R&R with some deck building action
  • Destination gaming: King Philip’s War
  • Accessibility is always an option in gaming. This group added braille to their pieces in a game.
  • Some gorgeous shots of backgrounds for the new X-Wing miniatures game: Here and here

New Games:

iOS:
  • Alien Frontiers released
  • Can’t Stop release imminent
  • Marvel War of Heroes release imminent
  • Cadwallon: Citi of Thieves due in November
  • Dominant Species still in development, DS:The Card Game has also started development
  • Through the Ages: A Story of Civilization still in development but progressing
  • Da Vinci’s Art of War (based on Magnifico) in development
  • Playdek will be developing Looney Labs titles, first will be Fluxx

News:
  • How many points for the word “cheater” in Scrabble? BTW, read the article, it’s very interesting. It talks about some of the history of cheating in Scrabble.
  • A woman in South Carolina killed her fiancée over a dice game. That’s just sick.
  • Game Salute, a partnership of FLGSes banded together to promote the game industry and improve distribution channels, has now acquired Clever Mojo Games (most known for publishing Alien Frontiers). This strikes me as interesting. I imagine they’ll be a little less objective in their reviews now.
  • A Staten Island paper touts that it’s time to start playing board games with the family instead of letting the kids play video games. 
Recently Played:

Happy Gaming!

Credits: BGG, Purple Pawn, Game Salute, Google News
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