- The BattlePlay web site posted an article about using the Plano 7771 fishing tackle box as gaming miniatures and parts storage.
- Days of Wonder has released the Memoir ’44 campaign book Vol. 2.
- Fantasy Flight Games announced the upcoming (1Q2012) Fortress America board game in which the United States must defend itself from three invading armies.
- Steve Jackson Games is giving away a Munchkin Silver Piece with all Warehouse 23 orders while supplies last.
- Z-Man Games announced the release of the board game Dungeon Petz.
Archive for Board Games
Board Game News–Dec. 18, 2011
Category: Board Games |
Board Game News – August 29, 2011
- Asmodee Editions has posted news about the Cyclades Expansion and Eclipse: New Dawn for the Galaxy.
- Cheapass Games has released a free PDF of "Cheapass Money" – a set of nine bills ranging from $1 to $1,000 – suitable for gaming use.
- Cloud Kingdom Games is repeating their Gen Con 2011 special on their web site through the end of September. Purchase three of their riddle books for only $25, with free shipping in the USA.
- Drumond Park has posted videos on YouTube for their Oginov Tumbler and their television ad for The Box of Shocks.
- Gamewright has released Knock Your Blocks Off, a game that reinforces hand-eye coordination and strategic thinking, designed for two players ages 8 and above.
- Gorilla Games says that the Battlestations Huge 3D models were a big hit at Gen Con, drawing 27 people for one event and 17 for another, as well as several unscheduled events.
- Indie Boards and Cards has announced their 2011 Essen release Flash Point: Fire Rescue. It can be pre-ordered today for pickup at Essen or delivery in the US/Canada.
- Matt Worden Games has announced that Dicey Curves is now officially for sale via TheGameCrafter.com.
- Mayfair Games has released expansions for two of their most popular titles, Age of Industry and Steam.
- Replay Sports Games is running a Summer’s End Special where you can take 15% off of any one item. The special ends September 3.
- Steve Jackson Games has released Munchkin Zombies 2: Armed and Dangerous and Munchkin Conan the Barbarian Booster Pack.
- Treefrog Games has posted updated images of their Ankh-Morpork Figures, and they are taking pre-orders for the game.
Category: Board Games |
Board Game News – August 21, 2011
- Blue Panther LLC has a $9.99 Knockdown Dice Tower – Value Edition product, and two new Print-On-Demand (POD) wargames: Hamel and Allenby Blitzkrieg.
- Cheese Weasel Logistics says that they’re planning to go to Gen Con a day early in 2012 to start their ConQuest program for those who arrive early. Their iPad app is coming along.
- Cryptozoic Entertainment has posted some additional computer desktop wallpaper images based on their Food Fight game.
- Dice Games.com has released the original LCR (Left Center Right) game for iOS devices (iPad, iPhone, iPod touch).
- Eagle Games is taking pre-orders for BuyWord, a game of words in which players pay cash to buy letters and form words to sell at a profit.
- Evertide Games has posted updates on their Nottingham, Hellas, Drug Lords, The Thing, and other titles.
- Fantasy Flight Games is hiring for the position of Organized Play Associate.
- Grognard Simulations, Inc. is launching a coupon program that provides a discount on the price of a game.
- Mayfair Games has posted news about the WWCC or World Wide Catan Championship coming up in September 2012 in Valley Forge, PA.
- Smarts Co. has released several new boardgame titles, including CatSmarts, ClassicRockSmarts, ElvisSmarts, RedWineSmarts, and ZombieSmarts.
- Treefrog Games has posted images of some of the pieces included with the deluxe version of Ankh-Morpork, a Discworld-themed game based on the novels of Terry Pratchett.
- Zombie State Games has posted a free PDF that adds depth to Zombie State by including diplomacy elements.
Category: Board Games |
Board Game News – August 8, 2011
- Steve Jackson Games is looking for playtesters for their Discworld RPG (set in Terry Pratchett’s fictional universe) based on GURPS. They’re planning a Munchkin expansion based on Felicia Day’s The Guild web television series.
- Eagle Games is taking pre-orders for Pastiche International Edition. Pastiche is a winner of the Mensa Mind Games competition and is a highly abstract art-themed game.
- Evertide Games has its Nottingham game on tour to receive playtesting feedback. Their Claim Jumper title is being tested, Tennis is being reformatted as Gladiators, and lots more is going on there. See this Executive Summary post for details.
- Wiggles 3D has announced that a booster pack has been released for the Eye Know trivia game.
- Congratulations to Buffalo Games, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary!
- [Game Deal] Replay Publishing, makers of a variety of sports-themed titles, is having an e-Book Sale through August 14. They also have a referral program for first-time buyers. See their site for details on both.
- Strat-O-Matic posted its newsletter for Spring/Summer 2011.
Category: Board Games, Game Deals |
Gen Con 2011 – Thursday/Friday
I picked up my badge Thursday morning and got some coffee. Heard people saying it took them 2-3 hours in line to get event tickets. Given the length of the line, I believe that. When I got in it later that afternoon it took only 35 minutes. Unfortunately, by then over half the events I wanted to take part in, including some with 100 seats, were sold out. My fault for not pre-registering and going in on a press pass I guess.
I ended up only getting one event on Thursday, a seminar on writing for RPGs. I spent most of the afternoon taking photos in the Exhibit Hall which I will post later. I spent a lot of the evening reading some excellent material by Michael A. Stackpole on how to write fiction. It included some of his short stories.
Friday morning I played two introductory games of Days of Wonder’s WW II board game “Memoir ’44″. I’ll post more about it later, but it is simple game to learn and seems to have a lot of replaybility.
Attended Mike Stackpole’s seminar on plotting a novel. Showed him a shirt I had made after Origins with a quote from one of his seminars: “You’re the author… suck it up and write!” I didn’t get to talk to him long but I think he appreciated it. He smiled at me and said “very good”.
This evening I played Steve Jackson Games’ “Munchkin Zombies” card game. It is essentially the same mechanic as the other Munchkin titles, with more of the same Kovalik artwork and the same twisted sense of humor.
I’m scheduled to play Fantasy Flight’s “Dust Tactics” later tonight. I expect it will be fun, since Fantasy Flight’s games tend to be good (at least those I’ve played or demoed).
Board Games–August 3, 2011
- 4th Street Software has released Wildcat Formation cards for 4th Street Football.
- Giant in the Playground says that the new Order of the Stick (OOTS) will be on sale at the Ookoodook both at Gen Con (booth 1649).
- Steve Jackson Games has announced some big things for Gen Con. Steve Jackson himself will attend this year and be signing games at their booth. They’ll have a brain in a jar, prototypes of announced and previously-secret games, a capsule vending machine, and more. Sounds good…
- TTwilight Creations has announced its attendance at Gen Con. They will have advance copies of Little Dead Riding Hood, Zombies! X, and Zombie Survival.
- Cheapass Games has announced the new, FREE, tenth anniversary edition of Witch Trial.
- Evertide Games is looking for an illustrator and texture artist for their Hellas 2D game.
- Matt Worden Games is holding a drawing for his Twitter followers. Sign up to win.
- Design Depot is taking pre-orders for the 2011 season of Dynasty League Baseball.
- On the Lamb Games will be at Gen Con, in booth 2233. They will be running demos of Brushfire at their booth.
- Ice Pack Games is giving games away randomly to their Twitter and Facebook followers.
- Fireside Games will be at Gen Con in booth 2239, with free swag and demos of all their games.
Category: Board Games |
Scrabble Champion Edition $6 at Amazon
Encore’s Scrabble Champion Edition is currently available at over 40% off on Amazon.com.
Scrabble Champion Edition offers eight levels of "the most revolutionary A.I. developed by National Scrabble Association tournament champions" and will challenge even the most seasoned Scrabble player. You can compete head-to-head in tournament play or battle the click in solo play. It uses the Merriam-Webster Official Scrabble Player’s Dictionary, and offers auto word validation, pop-up hints, best plays, and more.
Reviewers on Amazon.com have given the game four and half out of five stars, with over 125 reviews as of this writing. 109 reviewers of 127 total gave the game 4 or 5 stars. Reviewers have made the following observations:
- For those of you who cannot get enough Scrabble, this game is for you.
- Once you purchase this edition of Scrabble, you’ll never go back to the board version again.
- This game can be a lot of fun but one drawback is the dictionary. It is very limited and frequently does not provide a definition for the words in it.
- It’s amazing how many times I can get "AAAUUII" by the luck of the draw.
- …it has kept me entertained for many hours while recovering from surgery. This Champion Edition is great…
- Excellent program for any level. Easy to use and understand. A great learning tool.
- After several weeks of use, I’ll say that this program more than meets my expectations.
- Some of the words they allow are not typical, and even questionable in my view, but you will learn what they are and will use them after a while.
- For $6, this game is fantastic. Especially if you want to improve your game. The Best Play advice allows you to review all the words you could play with your tiles.
The game supports Windows 98, 2000, ME, Vista, XP, and Windows 7. It’s shipped on CD-ROM, so be sure that your computer has a CD drive available.
Army of Frogs App for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad
Gen 42 announced the availability of Army of Frogs for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad. Army of Frogs began life as a board game in which players fight for territory and the best possible location.
Category: Board Games, Smartphone and Tablet Games |
Asmadi Games News
The Asmadi Games news site indicates that they’re working on a web site reconstruction, but that Innovation: Echoes is available. Fealty is soon going to print (and can be pre-ordered through Kickstarter). They’ve also made a web-based version of Win, Lose, or Banana available.
Category: Board Games | Tags: Asmadi Games
Board Game News – July 29, 2011
- Evertide Games has given their Nottingham title "a greenlight for production". They’re also promoting Stacket, a wooden-pieced game. They’ve posted a lot of other news about upcoming titles.
- Gamewright has released a new title: Gubs. This card-based game pits players against one another to build the mightiest Gub colony.
- Ghenos Games announced the upcoming release of Lupin the 3rd, the board game.
- Gorilla Games announced that although they have canceled their cross-country tour, they still plan to make it to Gen Con next week.
- Matt Worden Games plans to show off Dicey Curves at Gen Con. This is an upcoming game that will be released for sale through TheGameCrafter.com during mid-August.
- Mayfair Games is planning to participate in a big way at Gen Con, including running the Mayfair Meta Game, Giant Mayfair Games, Food Court table top games, the North American Catan Championship, The Great Mayfair Ribbon Quest, and sponsorship of the Training Grounds.
- Oak Games has added two new titles to their product line, including Konane and Picaria. Konane is a game from Hawaii in which players can only move by capturing other players’ pieces. Picaria is a 3-in-a-row game played by the Keres people of New Mexico.
- Rio Grande Games has added a Brazil/Iberia map available for Power Grid.
Category: Board Games |
New Titles from Cambridge Game Factory
Cambridge Game Factory has two new titles listed on their web site.
North Pole by Christopher Rama Rao is designed for 2 to 6 players and requires 30 minutes to play. Board Game Geek rates it as a 6.8.
Hot Potato by Rob Seater is designed for 3 to 9 players aged 9 and above. It takes about 20 minutes to play.
Board Game News – July 20, 2011
- Atlas Games reports that "stores all over the place" should have their Cliffourd the Big Red God parody children’s book.
- Bezier Games has added Ultimate Werewolf Artifacts and Ultimate Werewolf: Night Terrors to their web site (both are expansions to Ultimate Werewolf).
- Cheapass Games has released it’s The Big Cheese game as a free title, supported by donations. You can download the rules and cards now.
- Cryptozoic Entertainment has posted images of puzzles and promos to appear in their products.
- Eagle Games is taking pre-orders for Dragon Rampage, a strategic dice game for 3 to 5 players who take on the role of adventurers who fight against or run from the dragon they just woke up.
- Gamewright is now offering Mermaid Beach, Splish Splash, and Who Would Win on their web site.
- Ghoulash Games has announced that they will soon be releasing Ghoulash Monstrosity, which takes their original game and builds on it.
- Gibsons Games has announced a new Pass the Bomb card game.
- Mayfair Games announced that they will be at Gen Con "in full force" with demos in their booth, a ribbon quest, running giant versions of their games, and a Catan championship.
- Minion Games has two new print-and-play releases: Kingdom of Solomon and Venture Forth.
- Simply Fun Games has added several new titles to their product line recently, including: Freefall, Math’d Potatoes, Matter, My Monster, and Pairamid.
- Stronghold Games will not be at Gen Con but has made a deal with Troll and Toad to carry the not-yet-released game Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War. Troll and Toad will also have limited quantities of the yet-to-be-released Survive: Escape from Atlantis game.
Category: Board Games |
Board Game News – July 13, 2011
- Three Crowns Productions (3CG) is already out of stock on Tannenberg 1914, Konigsberg ’45, and Plan West, but suggests that interested parties check with Noble Knight Games and World of Boardgames for availability.
- APBA Games is accepting pre-orders for the 1960 [R2] and 1964 [R2] Baseball Season Card Sets, as well as for the 2010 Football Season Card Set, 2010-11 Hockey Season Card Set, and 2010-11 EPL Soccer Season Card Set.
- Bruno Faidutti has posted rules to The Dwarf King board game on his web site in both French and English.
- Catan for Android is now available in the Android Market. I purchased a copy but haven’t taken the time to learn to play it yet. Hope to post a review when I do.
- Cheapass Games has made the Timeline strategy card game available for free download.
- Continuum Games has released Family Talk, a "fun portable conversation game designed to keep today’s busy families connected".
- Cryptozoic Entertainment posted an interesting article on how fans of Decipher’s long out of print Star Wars CCG have been keeping the game alive.
- Days of Wonder announced that Small World Underground is now available everywhere.
- DreamPunk Productions announced that they have been nominated for an ENnie award at this year’s Gen Con, for their game The Stork.
- Evertide Games playtested a revised version of their Nottingham game at Maxicon XI.
- Family Pastimes has released three new games this season: Let’s Make a Pizza, Gnightly Gnomes, and Let’s Go Digging.
- Fantasy Flight Games is hiring a Customer Support Associate out of the Minneapolis office.
- Gigamic won an award for their Kabaleo game, in which players try to change the majority of the pyramids on the board to their secretly chosen color.
- Googolplex Games has released Googolplex Solitaire, a game which combines "the elements of Vegas Style Solitaire and the easy play of Last Man Standing."
- Kalidasia Media Productions is celebrating summer with deals on the Legends of Kalidasia product line. Prices have been reduced by 20% or more.
- Mr. Bigshot is working on a massively multiplayer online version of the game as a way to conduct a nationwide tournament.
- Rio Grande Games announced that there will be a Dominion tournament at the Essen Spielfest with a 1,000 euro top prize. There will also be a tournament at Gen Con, with the winner receiving airfare, hotel accomodations, and entry to the fair at Essen.
- Sands of Time Games will soon receive the second printing of Catacombs and two expansions, and the game was nominated for the 2011 Diana Jones Award for excellence in gaming. It also won the Golden Geek Award from BoardGameGeek.com for innovation in 2010.
- Texotic Games, publishers of Twisted Pairs, has closed its business and is no longer selling the game.
- Truekid Games expects to have received their shipment of Grave Business from the printers in time for Gen Con (as they weren’t received in time for Origins).
Category: Board Games, Game Deals |
Board Game News–July 1, 2011
- Blue Panther LLC is releasing SOL, a game by David Mines. This 2-player game has players controlling moons to influence the planets and the stars. Blue Panther is also doing print-on-demand publishing work in the US for Schutze Games.
- Bruno Faidutti has posted an article on his blog about the reasons he doesn’t tend to offer expansions or extensions for his published games.
- Buffalo Games plans to release Phone Frenzy in August 2011.
- Mayfair Games’ Settlers of America won the Origins Award for Best Historical Game.
- Cheapass Games posted information about the Cheapass Games Poker Suite, a collection of fourteen games you can play with a standard deck of cards.
- Days of Wonder has released the Audie Murphy Campaign for Memoir ‘44, which can be downloaded from their site.
- Gen 42 Games is planning to release their Army of Frogs game on iPad, iPod, and iPhone soon.
- Numbskull Games is planning to release Bulldog Goldfield within the next 3 months. Bulldog Goldfield is a stock trading game where players try to cash in on the gold and silver rush near Death Valley in 1905.
- Reiver Games in the UK has closed down, according to their web site.
- Rio Grande Games has printed a Dominion Walled Village promo card for Carcassonne. They offered it at Origins and will be doing so at Gen Con.
- Steve Jackson Games will soon be selling Munchkin Zombies water bottles and a “+10 Bag ‘o ALL Munchkin d6”.
- TerrorBull Games is offering a free print-and-play Gaddafi themed game called Our Sonovabitch.
Category: Board Games |
New Family Titles from Gamewright
Gamewright has released four new titles recently:
- City Square Off™: In this game, players go head-to-head against their opponents in a game of city planning. Draw a card and try to fit the matching tile into the city grids. Careful planning will ensure you have a space to play your next piece. Build your city without going outside the limits and you’ll win.
- FlipOut™: This card game has players flipping, swapping, and switching cards to get at least four of a kind in a row. The cards are double-sided, so anyone can take and use any card they can see. Collect the most cards and you win.
- Joe Name It™: This party game tests your “numbers know-how” in a fast-paced “name it to claim it” mechanism. Draw a category card and then fill in the blank with the number of matching items you just rolled.
- Who Would Win™: This game of creativity and imagination has players drawing cards that become improbable celebrity match-ups, such as Donald Trump and Albert Einstein in a hot dog eating contest. Convince the judge why your character would win in the randomly chosen event, get the most votes, and win the game.
Category: Board Games | Tags: City Square Off, family game, FlipOut, Gamewright, Joe Name It, Who Would Win
Z-Man to Release The Walking Dead This Summer
On May 18, 2011, Z-Man Games and Skybound reached an agreement for Z-Man to license Robert Kirkman’s “The Walking Dead” board game. The Walking Dead is based on the popular comic book series of the same name, and gives players the chance to play Rick, Shane, Andrea, and their other favorite characters while dealing with zombies, collecting supplies, and picking up the pieces of their lives.
The game is designed for 1 to 6 players aged 13 and above. Suggested retail price is $39.99, with the release date expected to be “late Summer 2011”.
4th Street Shipping 2010-2011 Hockey Season
4th Street Software has begun shipping the 2010-2011 hockey season expansion for their 4th Street Hockey game. In 4th Street Hockey, players use the passing, skating, checking, and defensive abilities of their players (depicted on cards) to dominate a game. Deflections, slap shots, wrist shots, break-aways, odd-man rushes, and more are simulated. Sample copies can be downloaded from their site.
4th Street is also taking pre-orders for their 2010 4th Street Football season, in both the computer and board game variants.
FGI Releases “Fastest Dice Game in the Universe”
Family Games Inc. (FGI) recently released ZIP!™, which they describe as “The fastest dice game in the universe”. In Zip, players roll dice as fast as they can, keeping the dies which match the combination they need to move and re-rolling the test. Be the first to roll the right combination and you can move. The game includes a playing board, 4 goblets, 13 dice, and an hourglass. It’s suitable for ages 8 and above, 2-4 players, and is considered to have an “easy” difficulty.
Breakscore Site Updated
Matt Taylor has updated the site for his Breakscore dice-based game. Rolling dice and using cards, players interact with the game board and each other as they compete to be on the highest square on the board at the end of the game.
Breakscore rewards players for taking well-planned gambles, and includes blocks and bonuses to make it difficult to know who will win until it’s over. The randomness of the mechanics ensures that the game is not repetitive or predictable.
The game is designed for players aged 1o and above. It can be played in 20-45 minutes.
Get Z-Man Games “Duel in the Dark” for $19.99
Tanga.com, as of this writing on June 23, 2011, is offering the Z-Man Games “Duel in the Dark” boardgame for $19.99 plus $6.99 shipping. This is the second edition of the game which includes the “Bag of Expansions”.
Duel in the Dark is a World War 2 air combat game depicting the nighttime air raids of British bombers hitting German cities.
