Pulp Fiction Comics & Games

A fool and his money are soon parted, as they say, however you’re no fool if you pick up a copy of A Fool’s Fortune.

In the tradition of Rummy and other set-building card games, A Fool’s Fortune from Rio Grande Games elicits a tarot vibe as it has players deciding the fate of their opponents and themselves.  As you and up to two friends select and play cards, attempting  to build a perfect set, you’ll run across special fortune and character cards with special abilities.  Play them right, and you may just win A Fool’s Fortune.

Monkeys combined with just about anything usually results in both comedy and destruction.  Taking advantage of that equation is the new Spin Monkeys board game from Rio Grande.  A slew of bumper cars have been dropped into the jungle, only to be found by a pack(?) of simians.  With that in place, players attempt to spin their monkeys around the board, using rotation cards, trying to gather fruit and attack other monkeys.  If you hit another monkey, then you get to choose where they spin next.  As you might imagine, humor and destruction follow.

It’s been zero days since an incident at the Monster Factory.  Let’s all try and keep it that way, hmm?

From the creator of Kingdom Builder and Dominion comes Monster Factory.  This family friendly tile laying game of monster creation.  Simple to learn, gameplay revolves around players placing specialized, illustrated tiles, each with a piece of monster body on it, in hopes of completing the largest monster.  However, if your monster is left unfinished by the end of the round, you lose.

Continuing to live up to its name, Innovation: Figures in the Sand is the newest expansion to the popular card game and it continues to advance the gameplay mechanics of the series.  Instead of the cards in this expansion being representations of inventions or concepts, this time around the cards are famous historical figures.  That means Albert Einstein or Napoleon Bonapart could come to your rescue or, if you’re unlucky, to your opponent’s.  Dogma powers here are replaced with Karma, an ability that alters the course of the game by changing rules.  For instance, an instruction to give cards to another player may become an instruction place them in the center of the table.  Decree cards have also been added to the game, accomplishing the same effect as achievements, but with the caveat that they can be stolen.

Let me ease your worries, Village, the new tactical board game from TMG, has absolutely nothing to do with M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.

No, instead players take part in a strategy heavy, turn-based game of tactics that covers the length of the village residents lives.  As you play, you will carefully choose where and how your peasant characters make a living and earn their keep.  Will they be a part of the government?  A clergy member?  A farmer?  It’s up to you, but realize that no matter what profession you choose, they all are accountable to the ticking clock of life.  With time not on your side, you’ll have to strategically balance your time and actions for the most benefit.  Or find yourself in a shallow grave.

Greek gods can never just sit down and have a calm, relaxing cup of tea together.

Since that’s the way of things, Athena and Hades are the two combatants in the new Mythic Battles miniature board game.  Each god controls a sizable army of soldiers, monsters, and demigods, pitting them against each other on a field of battle.  Before the fight commences, though, each player gets to assemble their army however they choose.  Once that’s done, players activate their forces with battle cards, then roll dice to complete the interaction.  This combination of cards, dice, and miniatures creates a new system called Building Battle Board gaming that is exclusive to Mythic Battles.