This has been a very exciting week with plenty of new game announcements, company mergers, and opening registration for the largest gaming convention in the country. Fantasy Flight is finally releasing a game that turned a lot of heads at conventions last year. Also a company has finally stepped up to challenge Geek Chic with a more cost effective line of gamer Furniture.
Let's dig in with the latest kickstarter announcements.
First off is the triumphant jump start of Exploding Kittens featuring the art of Matthew Inman, creator of the Oatmeal webcomic. The game works by having players take turns drawing cards until eventually someone draws a kitten , explodes, and is removed from the game. Play continues until all but one player is covered in exploded cat guts.
The gameplay seems pretty simple even by filler game standards. But what truly sets it apart from other games in the goofy light card game category is the art by a very very popular cartoonist, that and the flying space shuttle full of cash it has made in just 3 days.
If you have a game group that enjoys a quick game in between larger heavier games or enjoy edgier themed games like cards against humanity this might be a good project to check out.
I'm not expecting this to be the next cards against humanity or love letter gameplay-wise but the cheap price point of $20 along with the huge following of The Oatmeal there is absolutely no way this thing is going to fall through. We will see this game coming to a lot of tables in the future.
One of the biggest hits of Essen 2014, Orleans, has a kickstarter going for a deluxe English edition so all of us here in North America can enjoy some eurogaming goodness.
Orleans combines worker placement and economic engine building mechanics in a medieval French setting using farmers, merchants, knights, monks, etc. to gain supremacy through trade, construction and science to see who can become the leader of the city of Orleans.
For $57 you get a hold of one of the top eurogames of the year improved with some very nice components. Not a bad deal.
Monolith board games is currently crowdfunding a dungeon crawl adventure game based on the adventures of Robert E Howard's Conan.
This game looks like it has some incredible detail put into it. The plastic miniatures look stellar and have a lot of variety and the artwork on the terrain pieces really pops and draws you in. Every bit of this game seems made to draw you into the world of Hyboria and looks like it has a lot of great interactive stories to tell.
My only concern about this game is that it is up against some stiff competition against very good and very popular adventure story games like Imperial Assault, Descent, and Mice and Mystics.
The $90 dollar price tag is pretty comparable to other games in its class and the stretch goals this game is reaching look really cool. I'd say this might finally be the game Conan fans have been waiting for.
Finally I would like to mention Epic PVP. This game just got a huge endorsement from AEG and it makes perfect sense seeing how the gameplay borrows a lot from its Smash Up franchise.
In Epic PVP players choose a deck of cards based on different classes in DNDesque role-playing games and combine it with a deck based on a fantasy race and do battle against others with the special abilities your cards grant you.
AEG is offering a free print and play version of this game on its kickstarter page so you can try it before you commit a pledge.
Fantasy Flight Games will be releasing its tabletop / mobile gaming hybrid, XCOM later next week. The game is based off of the popular video game and will set a team of players against a sophisticated system of game mechanics controlled by an app on a mobile device. Players will have to cooperate in this game to keep aliens from infiltrating our society and conquering our planet by deploying military forces, analyzing the technology of alien invaders, managing resources, and influencing, public opinion to keep the world from plunging into mass hysteria.
I am very excited to see what the combination of mobile technology and tabletop gaming will bring to our hobby. Look forward to seeing a review of this game here at Living the Nerd Life very soon.
Furniture makers, boardgametables.com have released two tables for your gaming enjoyment. These tables feature felt lined reliefs, cup holders and drawers that rival that of Geek Chic but at nearly half the price. The tables lack many of the different wood types that their high dollar competitors offer but for $1300 compared to nearly four grand for a comparable Geek Chic table I can make an exception. Currently the company is offering a 68x43 rectangular model along with a smaller hexagonal model similar to a card table. If you've been wanting to upgrade to a fancy gaming table this may be a great deal.
Asmodee continues to gobble up game companies left and right! After last years major acquisitons of Days of Wonder and Fantasy Flight the gaming conglomerate has turned it’s insatiable appetite on Pearl Games and Ystari. Pearl Games is known for publishing last years critical success, Deus and Ystari put out the incredibly immersive deduction game, Sherlock Holmes: Consulting Detective. Hopefully having these companies under the Asmodee umbrella will increase the distribution range and volume of these two difficult to acquire games!
Gen Con, the largest board game convention in the United States began open registration for attendance badges on Friday. The Convention which boasts “The Best Four Days In Gaming” runs from July 30th to August 2nd. Convention organizers believe the trend of increasing record breaking attendance will continue this year, which is terrific news for the board gaming hobby.
Keep your eye on more board gaming news, reviews and playthroughs, as well as information on all things nerd culture here at Living the Nerd Life!