Batman has been in some tough situations throughout his existence, but, as everyone knows, he always manages to get out of them.  Now it’s your turn to try and create an inescapable trap for the caped crusader in Arkham City: Escape.  An epic two-player game that pits The Dark Knight against his greatest foes (all in the Arkham City game design) inside the titular prison city.  What makes the game interesting is that each assortment of villains is chosen randomly, making every game a new experience.  One player tries to kill the Batman while the other tries to punch baddies in the teeth.

approval payday loans

In the deep, dark reaches of the jungle exists hidden resources of the best coffee beans in the world.  It’s your job to venture forth and find them.  VIVA JAVA!  In this Coffee Game, players compete against each other as they travel across the globe searching for the finest beans the world has to offer.  If the going gets tough, however, you can choose whether or not you will team up with the other players so that you both come out caffeinated.  For all the coffee lovers out there, here’s a fresh cup o’ Viva Java!

In the fourth-quel to the ever more popular Quarriors! dice game series, Quartifacts, a new set of dice known as Quest Dice.  In this expansion, all the mystical relics of the previous Quarriors! games have disappeared, leaving you, the questor, to venture after them.  Quest cards will allow you to unleash your creatures in order to find them.  In addition, five new creatures, two new spells, The Squire basic, and six Quest cards and dice are also included.  Quet quor Quarriors! quon!

A resource management game with a new spin, Saint Malo blends dice games, resource management, and…drawing?  Players roll dice to decide what villagers, buildings, and so forth that they are allotted, then draw them onto the erasable grid board in front of  them.  But be quick about how you arrange your resources because they’re going to need to protect you from the pirates that are invading the city.

The Conquest of Planet Earth continues.  But now it’s the Apocalypse.

The first expansion to the original Flying Frog Productions game that pits Earth against a horde of invading martians kicks the total number of players up to six.  This increase of playablity comes in addition to an entirely new alien faction, including new miniatures like The Cube!  As much of this expansion’s action takes place over the ocean, a Coastal Resistance Deck is included to boost Earth’s defenses.  The invasion has begun, fight to stop the conquest!

Achieving a huge amount of positive response from their initial reprintings of the Dungeons and Dragons Advanced hardcovers, Wizards decided to reprint the 3.5 edition core books.  Now, it’s 2nd edition’s turn, as the three core books, the Player’s Guide, DM’s Guide, and Monster Manual are all reprinted in beautiful embossed hardcover editions, complete with their original artwork and errata-ed material.  Pick them up to collect the classic versions of D&D in total!

 

Life is full of tough questions.  Paper or plastic?  With or without cheese?  Red pill or blue pill?

Pig or dog?

The correct answer to the latter question is actually both.  And, luckily, when you buy a copy of Pick-a-Dog and Pick-a-Pig you get both.  When combined with each other, these games go from 2-5 players to 6-8 players, blending matching and dexterity games together no matter which version you play.  A grid of cards sits in the center of the table, each with five attributes noted on them.  Players also have a single card in their hand.  Once the game has begun, everyone tries to grab a card with at least four similar attributes, adding it to their hand and continuing from there.  The game stops when one player has no more cards to grab.  As one can imagine this game plays well with family members or friends plus a bottle of scotch.

Is your tower protected?

Not exactly a new game, but one we’ve just gotten back in stock, Batt’l Kha’os is a tile laying game with some fighty bits thrown in.  Players attempt to take control of various tower tiles laid across the table by placing their own army tiles around it.  Each tile intersection point is then totaled up for the amount of humans vs. orcs and whoever has the most takes the corner.  Once all four corners around a tower are calculated, whoever has the most corners (orcs or humans) takes control of the tower.  Though it leaves some letters out of its title, Batt’l Kha’os combines the best of Carcassonne and Pocket Battles.

Nathan Fillion has charmed television, comics, and cinema, but now he’s setting his sights on the world of board gaming. Castle:  The Detective Card Game transformers the comedy and mystery of the hit television series into a clue solving card game.  Players take control of a key character from the show in order to piece together the clues and figure out who the murderer is.  Players can choose to compete in episode mode, finding only one killer to win the game, or season mode, playing through a range of episodes and murderers to see who has solved the most by the end.

In the middle of all this complicated gaming hooha, let me throw in a quick shout-out to the newest Data Pack for the Netrunner LCG from Fantasy Flight.  Humanity’s Shadow includes the standard assortment of sixty new cards to be incorporated into the base game.  Download them into your hand right now.

Tear down your quarantine signs, put aside your rifles, and lay down your machetes, and come out of your reinforced basements because it’s time for the first Zombicide expansion to arrive.  Although, as this expansion, Walk of the Dead (see what they did there?), contains twenty-four additional zombie miniatures, you may still want to guard your brain.  There are also twelve spawn cards include so that these figures can be introduced into the game.  Stay close, lock and load, and make sure to wear a helmet.

Ahoy, maties, it be Catan: Pirates and Explorers!

The newest expansion for the hit Catan game series, Pirates and Explorers, like Cities and Knights, Seafarers, and Traders and Barbarians before it, adds new mechanics to the already popular ones from Settlers of Catan.  Bridging the gap between Catan and Seafarers, Pirates and Explorers starts players out on one island, searching for resources and settlers to build and pilot a sailing vessel to another island.  Once there, players discover a range of new resources to continue building and growing.  This version of the game comes packed with five original scenarios to keep the gameplay fresh and original.

And, because of time and all that stuff, the last three items tonight will be presented in image only.  They do say pictures speak louder than words, right?

Okay, maybe a few words.

There’s Ugg-Tect, a cooperative game where players have to act like cavemen while instructing each other on how to build a prehistoric building.  There are also inflatable clubs included.

Two RPG softcovers also release this weekend.

One, for Call of Cthulhu (Atomic-Age Cthulhu), providing a 50s era setting for Cthulhuian mystery and murder with a nuclear backdrop.

And, two, the newest addition to the Only War Warhammer 40K RPG, Hammer of the Emperor.

 

Restock is the magic word for this week’s New Game Stuff.

Above all else is the return or revenge or attack of the X-Wing miniatures game.  After having been out of print for a limited time, all of the wave two ships are back in stock.  That’s the Tie Infiltrator, the Millennium Falcon, the A-Wing, and the Slave I.  And they’re just in time, too, because this Sunday brings the first Star Wars X-Wing League Play day up at the store.  So choose whether you support the Rebel Alliance or the Empire then come knock some ships out of the stars in some head-to-head battle.  Sign-up will begin at noon and play will commence shortly after.

After selling out swiftly last week, Dixit Quest has returned from whatever magical land this game hails from.  For those who’ve been awaiting the return of Dixit 2, this is your chance.  Dixit Quest is an eighty-four card expansion for the base Dixit game, adding a gallery’s worth of psychedelic, gorgeous artwork to this Apple-to-Apples-esque party game.  If you’re not familiar with Dixit, then allow me to inform you.  Play revolves around players taking turns offering descriptive words, sounds, or phrases, then everyone who didn’t lays down a full-art card which they feel best encompasses the description.  From there, everyone chooses the card they think the person who offered the descriptor laid down.  Points are awarded based on who is correct and incorrect.  An extremely well illustrated game, Dixit is fun for the whole family.

Magazines are supposed to have gone the way of the dodo, but here’s a brand new one in the tradition of Dungeon and Dragon Magazine called Gygax Magazine.  As they say in the forward, the name of the publication was chosen out of respect to the originator of the RPG and as a statement of the traditional approach the magazine is going to take to its content.  The first issue of this nostalgic treat features stories about “The Future of Tabletop Gaming,” “The Cosmology of Role-Playing Games,” and “DMing for Your Toddler.”  A system-neutral play setting is also included, being Gnatdamp a tiny hamlet in the middle of a swamp, full of rowdy cutthroats.  Come reminisce with issue #1 of Gygax Magazine.

And, finally, a moment of Warhammer 40K zen featuring (the late arriving; thanks Games Workshop) the XV88 Tau Broadside Battlesuit.  Soak it up.

Apr 122013
 

Begin the snapping because it’s about to get all West Side Story up in here!

But you can throw technicolor and musical numbers out the window, because this gang warfare is in the dystopian city of Gatorum.  Two to four players take on the role of futuristic gang leaders attempting to overrun the city in a power play.  Hire up local toughs, collect some heavy artillery, and build up your home turf.  But beware because your rivals will be ready and waiting to nab anything you do build up.  City of Remnants is basically Agricola or Kingsburg but filthier.

Throw dem bones!

Adding a component long missing from the slew of Vegas themed games out there, Las Vegas is a new dice game where players roll to win it all!  With six different casinos littering the Las Vegas landscape, each player must carefully choose which casino they roll in so that they maximize their rewards.  A fast-paced, easy to learn family game of interactive dice play, Las Vegas will bring lady luck to your house tonight!

The band’s getting back together!  That’s right, you’ve got the gargoyle, the ogre, the prince, the warrior, the ghoul, the enchantress, the centaur, and, above all, the dragon maiden.  Each of these eight new characters appears in the first expansion set for Chaosatle, the Melee Expansion.  Each of these characters adds a new ability to the game, including the ability to ride the centaur or the dragon maiden’s power to call to her aid the mighty red dragon.  The expansion also includes a special conversion for a solo version of the game where clips reconnect the board in different ways.

Why travel the world to see each of the seven wonders when you can pick up the 7 Wonders:  Wonder Pack?

This expansion to the base 7 Wonders drafting game packs in four special wonder boards and their matching wonder card along with a rule book on how to use them.  These wonders include the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, Abu Simbel, and Manneken Pis.  These brand new wonders can be incorporated into the game easily, adding entirely new abilities to the process.

You’ve made it to the surface, you’ve found a raft, you’ve got a broken sword to defend yourself with, but can you Escape from Atlantis?  Survive:  Escape from Atlantis receives a expansion reprinting and a new release this week in the form of The Giant Squid and Dolphins and Dive Dice.  The Giant Squad has been in print before, but it is no less vicious.  Guard your boat carefully, because the five giant squid tokens included within are always ready to attack.  Luckily, if you get the Dolphins and Dive Dice the friendly creatures kept within will help you back to your boat if you fall out.  However, the Dive Dice give a new benefit to the monsters surrounding Atlantis, that of diving below the surface.

 

Same great Zombie Dice flavor, but now with  more dinosaurs!

That’s Dino Hunt Dice, the most recent addition to Steve Jackson’s line of fun, family-friendly, easy-to-learn games.  Exactly like Zombie Dice, players roll three dice at a time in an attempt to nab as many dinosaurs as they can (unlike Zombie Dice, there are multiple types, like T-Rex, Triceratops, and more) without getting stomped three times by a giant dino foot.  If you get a leaf you’re able to reroll that die, but if three feet do appear you lose all the dinosaurs you’ve collected that round.  It’s that simple.  For two or more players, Dino Hunt Dice is a portable, easily learned dice game for the whole family.

The Force is growing stronger for the Star Wars Living Card Game with the release of the first Force Pack.  The Desolation of Hoth, like Fantasy Flight‘s other LCG expansions, contains sixty new cards for inclusion in the Star Wars LCG base game.  These cards expand the experience of the game, structuring a new adventure on the ice planet of Hoth.

If you’re tired of staring at your boring family during that holiday dinner, get Rory’s Story Cubes.  If you can’t get your brain to come up with any ideas for that novel you’ve been whittling away at, get Rory’s Story Cubes.  If your child keeps begging for a new bedtime story and you don’t have any on to tell, get Rory’s Story Cubes.  A simple solo or multi-player storytelling game, Rory’s Story Cubes are sets of nine dice, adorned with various pictures used to spur narrative forward in a group environment.  Each of the three existing sets is themed to focus on Actions, Voyages, and basic story elements.

The draft is on!

The Blood Bowl Team Manager Card Game is expanding its ranks by three in with the Sudden Death expansion set.  Each of these three new teams incorporate new abilities, like the Champions of Death who raise zombified players from underneath the field whenever the chips are down.  The Dark Sorcery Syndicate (magic, magic, magic!) and the Black Fangs (they want to suck away your victory) round out the options.  But some other Hail Mary additions have been included, too, like enchanted ball cards, contract payouts, and much, much more.  HIKE!

Always a yearly highlight for Magic the Gathering players, the newest Duel Deck has hit shelves.  Considering the pairing this time is Sorin vs. Tibalt, they are not likely to remain on shelves for much longer.  For those looking for money cards, the cost of the Duel Deck is recuperated by the Sorin, Lord of Innistrad card alone.  If you’re just looking to play with a buddy, these sets are the perfect starting point for new Magic players or anyone looking to have a quick throwdown.  Each deck, Sorin and Tibalt, are constructed to pose a threat to their opponent, leading to a fair match between players and reliable decks to learn the game off of.

© 2013 Pulp Fiction Comics & Games Suffusion theme by Sayontan Sinha