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New Game Stuff (7/27/2012)

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Jul 272012

If it ain’t broke, reprint it.

Or, at least, that seems to be Wizards of the Coast’s motto. Two weeks ago, all three of the original Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books were reprinted in beautiful remastered hardcover packaging. The DM’s Guide, Player’s Handbook, and Monster Manual are untouched rules-wise while also reprinting all the original artwork. Plus, each purchase puts part of the funds toward furthering the Gygax Memorial Fund.

Crossing the street for a visit to Paizo, the new Pathfinder Player Character Folio. Coming with sixteen pages that will help you to organize and track your character’s progression and abilities. Broken into boxes and sections for listing feats, class features, familiars, cohorts, and items, as well as quick reference charts and folder flaps, this folio is all you’ll ever need to stay on top of all your character’s developments.

Chasing dragons is usually not advised as they are regularly unfriendly when caught, however the new Game of Thrones LCG Chapter Pack of the same name actually advises it. As with the other Chapter Packs, the Chasing Dragons pack comes with 60 new cards for the Beyond the Narrow Sea cycle. If you haven’t played any of the LCG games before, each chapter pack is designed to advance the story and alter the gameplay, so, in short, keep the game fresh and interesting.

Agricola is easily one of the best resource management games ever created, but it is a long game and it is intented for multiple players. But don’t worry, Z-Man is on top of it. The new Agricola two player game has parred the playstyle down, adapting Agricola for a quick head-to-head, stand-alone experience. Players compete by working to fence in the most animals over the period of eight turns.

It is, in fact, not a small world after all.

Days of Wonder releases a new addition to their popular Risk-style board (featured on Will Wheaton’s Tabletop) this week, Small World Realms. This edition to the game is a collection of map pieces, tokens, and original rules scenarios, allowing players to create their own board for use by races and powers from either the original Small World or Small World Underground. So, maybe the real answer to whether it’s a small world after all is: it’s up to you.

Two millennia after the dawn of space travel, the galaxy hums with prosperity and peace. But as mankind and its neighbors colonized the stars, the burgeoning need for resources becomes apparent. As a plucky entrepreneur you must explore the edges of space searching for precious minerals. Will you buy the fastest ship in the sector? Can you afford to hire the best pilot in the galaxy? Shall you choose to purchase the latest state-of-the-art gadgets, invest in planetary refineries or pay off your rising debt? The cargo you haul could be worth fortune, so grab your helmet and suit up! So are the stakes in Starship Merchants!

You can’t teach an old war new tricks. But you can update them.

Axis & Allies releases two updated and altered versions of its classic wargame structure today with Axis & Allies 1942 Second Edition and Axis & Allies 1941. The 1942 edition is an updated, heftier version of the previous edition, complete with new units. 1941, however, is an entirely new Axis & Allies release featuring the same popular mechanics in a different theater of war.

New Game Stuff (12/30/2011)

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Dec 302011

Not sure about you, but there’s nothing better to do on a New Years Eve than venture across fantasty landscape, battle creatures, overtake towers, and become the most powerful warrior in the land. Or maybe drink a lot. Or you can always combine both.

In that effort, we present the new Mage Knight board game from WizKids. Expanding on the original Mage Knight miniature game, this board game offering forms the adventure around the player as they choose what to attack, what spells to develop, and what dungeons to raid. Based on these actions players gain or lose fame, loot, and acclaim as the most praised Mage Knight in the land. Taking place over three rounds of night and day, players adventure with one of four knights, balancing their action deck with their adventure choices.

And what would that night be without a dragon or two?

The new Dungeon Petz (a stand alone spin-off of Dungeon Lords) can supply just those kind of creatures. At heart a worker placement game, Dungeon Petz involves opponents strategically positioning workers in hopes of breeding, feeding, and selling the most exotic assortment of fantasy beasties know to imp kind. Supplied with humorously cartoony artwork and finely crafted pieces from Z-Man games, Dungeon Petz should make every happy. Except PETA, those guys are never happy about anything involving animals.

If you’re one of the folks who favor Ascension over Dominion (or if you like both) you might prick your ears up to hear about the new Ascension: Storm of Souls expansion/game. That / is in the previous sentence because this bad boy does not need to be combined with the base game. So, when you pick up Storm of Souls (as I’m sure you all will), you’ll be getting a completlely stand-alone game filled with new mechnics previously unavailable in the other Ascension editions. Namely, these come in the form of new Event Cards which alter the rules of the game as you play. And if you’ve got up to six players, you may as well combine it with base Ascension for more god fighting action.

New Game Stuff (10/8/2011)

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Oct 082011

Master of puppets
I’m pulling your strings
Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams

-Metallica

Never doubt the foresight of James Hetfield, because he completely called the premise of the new Malifaux-related game, Puppet Wars. Spun out of the dark, patchwork themes present in Malifaux, Puppet Wars is a two to four player miniature based battle game. Each player gathers their army of puppets around one central “puppet master” (see where the Metallica mention comes from?) who controls them in attempts to protect their master and destroy their enemy. The base game set comes with all the materials for two players to dive into play immediately, but various booster packs allow players to add other puppet miniatures to their army and/or alter the game to support up to four players. If you’re looking to get into a miniature game that doesn’t break the bank nor require a ton of purchases just to build a basic army, Puppet Wars will twist your mind but keep your dreams nice and cozy.

I think it’s written in the book of life somewhere that if you come across someone who carries a pair of swords that they’ve given names to, you need to run the opposite direction. Such is the case with the new Tannhauser miniature pack for Mizu Kage. Working for the Shogunate or Reich teams, Mizu is in the assassin department either way, as she is extremely talented at using her swords, Willow and Winding Stream, to, let’s say, diminish the competition. Mizu‘s box o’ goodness comes complete with the mini, the character sheet, 12 game tokens, 10 equipment cards, a rulebook, and a dedicated scenario. Or if slinky ninja assassins ain’t your speed, you can try hulking Itami. Again playable with both Shogunate and Reich teams, Itami is chock full of mysterious magic, which is exactly what his special scenario focuses on. He too comes with all the regular bells and whistles any Tannhauser miniature pack supplies.

The new Battle Pack for Warhammer Invasion has been dubbed The Inevitable City. One might think that this title has something to do with the city setting for this first chapter in the Capital Cycle, but I’m going to suggest that it actually has to do with the inevitable butt kicking that players who purchase this pack will give their opponents. Specifically, players who favor the Chaos faction, as half of the sixty cards held within it are associated with Ruinous Powers.

How would you feel if there was no Return of the Jedi? Or Last Crusade? Or The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly? I think I’d feel a little incomplete. Which is exactly the way you should feel if you’ve picked up all the first two books in the Rogue Trader RPG trilogy from Games Workshop and haven’t yet picked up the third, and final, book, Fallen Suns. Capping off the series, Fallen Suns includes all the contents you will need to finish off your party’s final adventures as they attempt to save the Koronus Expanse while defeating the Faceless Lord. If you haven’t yet started the trilogy, what are you waiting for?!

If you’ve ever gotten drunk over a gaming session and suggested a combination of Starcraft and Pitch Car then laughed and laughed and laughed because it sounds crazy, you have been proven wrong. That is because Z-Man Games has found a way to combine the two. Maybe they too drink and design. Anyway, Ascending Empires is the Frankenstein-ed game in question, set in a universe where the Earth has been destroyed and humanity has expanded far out into the stars hoping to find sanctuary. It is from this starting point that players enter the game. From each of the four corners of the board, players flick ships out among the various planet tokens scattered across the universe, hoping to land in their orbit so they may build colonies, develop technologies, mine, or enact other such actions. As usual, players gain points by complete each of these actions (all of which are explained on a handy-dandy cheat card). An inventive combination of play methods, Ascending Empires offers a unique gaming experience, to be sure.

And the hope that you flick a token into an opponent’s eye.

New Game Stuff (6/18/2011)

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Jun 182011

I know Atlas held the world on his shoulders, but there’s no way he could have lifted all the Atlas Games restock we received this week.

I’m talking games like Pieces of Eight, Gloom (and its expansions), Mad Scientist University (and its expansions), Lunch Money, Beer Money, Once Upon a Time (and its expansions), Let’s Kill! (and its expansions), Recess, Letter Head, Grand Tribunal, and Spammers. A good portion of these games are card based and pocket-sized, much like a number of popular Z-Man games.

To hand choose a couple of the finest options, here’s a brief rundown on Letter Head, Recess, Let’s Kill!, and Once Upon a Time.

Letter Head is a blend of word and bluffing games. A good fit for anyone who’s played and loved Quiddler, players gain cards that contain letters and point values as they attempt to create words. The difference here is that you can barter and lie to your opponents to gain cards you don’t have. But it doesn’t stop there, Letter Head also contains rules for 14other letter-based gaming scenarios. Good bang for your

buck.

Recess transports you back to the school playground as players race their boy and girl tokens across the playground attempting to have them meet (and kiss *Gross*) within a time limit. If you land on a space with another player’s token, though, some bullying ensues with only the winner walking away with lunch money. And beware the nuns roaming around the playground who will whip your butt into detention so fast you won’t even see theruler coming at you. A perfect kids/family game.

This next one is a rosy little ball of sunshine called, Let’s Kill!. Man, with games like this and Gloom (equally dark, equally hilarious) Atlas might not be a gaming company you want to run into in a dark alley. Anyway, the title pretty much says it all as the game revolves around players drawing victim cards from one deck and weapons from another in an attempt to murder as many people as you can in the most gruesome ways possible. And if that isn’t enough bloody mayhem for you, there’s always the Crime

Scene Instigation and A Pretty Corpse expansion decks to add more victims, weapons, and other interesting cards to the mix.

Once upon a time there was a great game called Once Upon a Time. I know, cheap. Sue me. Once Upon a Time uses elements of storytelling and roleplaying to create a game where players via for control of a fairy tale-esque by playing cards that shape the direction of the tale. However, if another player interrupts you, they can gain control of the story’s flow. Certainly a game where having a sharp imagination comes in handy. Plus, you can always add the Dark Tales expansion (with a grimmer set of cards with trolls, goblins, and darker elements) or get really creative with the Create-Your-Own Storytelling Cards (blank cards that allow you to draw in the story elements).

As a period to this tale of Atlas, you should also know that we received the entire line-up of Dungeoneer card games.

Going boldly where no Heroclix game has ever gone before is the new Star Trek Expeditions cooperative boardgame. Updated with the likenesses of the most recent J.J. Abrams film, the storyline of this game has players juggling three objectives, working together to solve all of them in a thirty day (one day=one turn) time limit. Classic Heroclix-style dials are utilized, but in a different fashion that before; characters’ dials rotate, not from damage but, from choices and successes they make. As far as using the license to its fullest, most enjoyable extent, this game knocks it out of the park. Come play test it on any of our Sunday game nights, if you feel inclined.

Camelot Legends helps you get your knight on! Players build up their own round tables in an effort to complete tasks and missions in the lands of Camelot, Cornwall, and the Perilous Forest. The game contains 100 different cards, giving players a ton of options from which to build their cavalry

of knights. Whichever team of knights completes the most tasks by the end of the game wins.

Another expansion in the ever expanding Warhammer Invasion card game, Legends, introduces new legend card types to be used with each race. What are legend cards, though? Representing one of the more powerful characters in your army, these cards can be placed in the center of your play field, allowing for cards in all your other three zones to utilize their powers. Basically, Legends adds another layer of play in the already diverse two-player battleground that is Warhammer Invasion.

Last, but most creative, is the card expansion for Dixit. Called Dixit 2 (okay, that’s not too creative), this hefty little expansion box adds eighty four new, full art cards to the existing game. If you haven’t played Dixit, shame. But, past the reprimanding, here’s how it works: much like a Pictionary version of Apples to Apples, Dixit has players laying down cards decorated with gorgeous artwork in the center of the table and having one player guess who laid down what based on a prompt. If nothing else (and there’s plenty else), the game is beautiful!

New Game Stuff (3/14/2011)

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May 142011

Hopefully you have about a month to kill, because this post is going to be like the War and Peace of game posts.

Let’s jump right in with a restock (sort of) on the freshly reprinted Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG. The classic Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone created series has been picked up by Arion Games, updated, and reprinted. Based around single player adventuring, this core rulebook contains everything you’ll need to start up. That’s hero creation rules, game rules, spells, powers, and all the monsters, dungeons, and adventures you could shake a battle axe at. A perfect way to get into roleplaying, if you’re looking to start.

Just in time for the Thor movie, Yggdrasil. Z-Man games (so you know it looks a’very nice) releases this one, which has players taking on the role of gods in the defense of the world tree, Yggdrasil. Yes, Ragnarok is on the way and you have to take three actions each time your turn comes up. Actions include conversing with dwarfs, elves or Valkyries for benefits, fight frost giants, and/or venture to Asgard and fight against the baddies. If you dig Norse mythology and smashing things, this is for you.

Okay, here’s a short one.

Age of Steam: Germany & France Expansion pack. It combines the maps of Germany and France for you to play on…that’s it. Done.

D&D The Shadowfell: Gloomwrought and Beyond has dropped onto the shelves. Inside its box-y confines are all the contents giving you the ability to play in the city of Gloomwrought. These contents include: a campaign guide, a 32-page book of encounters, a lovely map of the city and other areas, character and monster tokens, and 30 cards to enhance your encounters. D&D knows what’s up, so these box sets always treat you right.

Very inventive game here. Pastiche revolves around art and its creation. Players select a card that displays a famous work of art, underneath it is a set of colors that were used in the palette. Players then attempt to “mix” colors by placing tiles. Simple yet strategic and, yet, still fun for the whole family.

Another Call of Cthulhu offshoot, The Legacy of Arrius Lurco is set in the Cthulhu Invictus universe. The story follows Arrius Lurco who has vanished and returned recently only to start having nightmares. This softcover contains a campaign divided into four sections set in ancient Rome, Rome, and Cyrenaica. Expect all the creepy, disturbing monsters and horror of any Lovecraft offshoot.

If you’re Jonesing for a good screw-your-opponent game, then you’ve just found FaceEater. A card game, FaceEater involves time travel, face melting, nerve gas, and a number of other horrible tortures. Each player tries to earn the most points while screwing their opponents up as much as they can. Inside the box are 192 cards to create a deck from. Dark, funny, and addictive.

The rulebook for Mercs, a new futuristic miniature game, shipped, along with a number of the stats cards that are necessary for play. As always, the rule book, through detailed instruction and bright, stylish pictures and artwork. Why not check it out?

Merkator is next. Players control merchants during the Thirty Years’ War who are working to complete contracts based around requested goods. After you finish a contract, you gain another, more lucrative, one. But you’ll find that global travel may be necessary to locate the goods you need. Above all, though, time is of the essence.

More traveling in this travel game about traveling called Travel Blog: Europe & USA. That’s lots’a travel. And, as I said, the game is about traveling across the world, but hinges on your knowledge of the globe. You pick up cards that link countries, basically choosing the route of your trip, and attempted to do it quicker than your opponent. The game can be used as a learning tool, as well, because it focuses heavily on world geography and the names of countries.

Troyes is a game divided into card and dice control. Centered around the construction (over four centuries) of Troyes, France, the game has players controlling a portion of the population (the dice) which will fall into one of three categories, civil, religious, or military. Through them, players choose what options to perform that will assist them in building the city.

Another perfect family game, Simpatico, is all about strategic movement of cards. The game consists of 84 cards that have various images and colors on them. Placed on a game mat divided into three sections, gamers move the cards up to the top row, where they’ll gain points, by placing them on top of other cards that have the same shape, color, or quantity. A fast, portable game like Treehouse, Fluxx, or Archeology.

Winner of a New Worlds of Gaming Spiel Des Jahres award, Space Alert is a game that demands your attention. Suitable from one to five players (always nice to see a single player game), Space Alert is similar to Red November, but with one major change: CDs. Yes, included CDs control how the space mission the players are on occurs. Also, the game is team based, so the crew of the ship needs to work together if they have any hope of surviving.

An investment, currency control game, at heart, Airlines: Europe has gamers bidding, buying, and controlling the beginning stages of the commercial aviation business in Europe. If your airline performs better than others, investors will flock to you, earning you further influence and success. Of course, the most impressive profit is always the end goal.

The Secret of Monte Cristo builds off of Alexandre Dumas’ famous story. The game’s premise revolves around searching for hidden treasure in that the Count left in his former prison. Turn order fluctuates, giving one active player the chance to place explorers, based off a new marble rolling system. The game may sound a bit odd, reading it on here, but once you’ve seen it in person you’ll realize the genius in its design.

Another game based on a classic literary tale, The Three Musketeers: The Queen’s Pendants offers a hell of a lot more fun than reading words. Heh, who does that any…Oh. Uh, keep reading. Anyway, some players take on the roles of the Musketeers while one controls Cardinal Richelieu. As the Musketeers fight to make it through the Louvre so that they may give the diamonds back to the Queen Mother, Richelieu chases them, attempting to find and steal the diamonds first. Action, adventure fun.

Bueller? Bueller?

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