Board Game News!

The world of table top gaming had another big week. Announcements for some anticipated new releases were dropped. One of the most influential games in recent history is getting a reprint. Wiz Kids announces a big change to their organized play structure for D&D Attack Wing, and some exciting new Kickstarters hit the ground running.

Hans Im Gluck announced a rethemed Star Wars version of Carcassonne to be released in the Fall of 2015! Carcassonne is one of my favorite games and introduced me to the world of board gaming. The addition of a theme starring my favorite film franchise is very exciting, however I’m not entirely sure how it will work out. The above image is a prototype version of the game showing what appears to be some type of hyperdrive lane to replace the road system and some planets to replace the cities. I’m not sure what this will do to the city building and farming mechanic of the game or what the Imperial and Rebel Alliance logos will have to do with the gameplay but I am very excited to find out and will definitely be keeping my eye on this project.

 

Speaking of Star Wars, Fantasy Flight Games released an in depth look at the Rebel Alliance faction from their upcomming Star Wars Armada miniatures game. The game looks to build on the foundation of their massively popular Xwing miniatures franchise by introducing much more large scale combat featuring capital ships and squadrons of fighters in favor of the dog fight skirmishes that are featured in Xwing.

The ships featured are the Correllian Corvette, the Nebulon B Frigate,and the Assault Frigate MKII. For more info on these ships visit the announcement page here: http://www.fantasyflightgames.com/edge_news.asp?eidn=5348

 

Wiz Kids announced a change to the organized play structure of their D&D Attack Wing miniatures game. Originally the company had each player bring a prebuilt 120 point value faction to the event. New rules now require the players to bring a prebuilt 90 point faction that will be supplemented by one of fiver blind box miniatures to be provided at the event.

Wiz kids offered a preview of three of these new miniatures along with the announcement featuring a fighter, druid and a ranger.

This new announcement is going to add a good deal of randomness to organized play events and will not only give a bit more balance in favor of gamers with less impressive factions but will also be a good source of sales for the stores hosting the events.

 

Stonemaier games released new artwork for my most anticipated game of 2015, Scythe! Scythe is a asymetrical miniature wargame combined with a worker placement economic game. The setting is in an alternate 1920s WWI scenario where players will have to harvest resources on a game map and construct different mechanized walking machines of war to defeat their enemies and defend their territory. The game features absolutely stunning art by artist Jakub Roalski who inserts giant terrifying mechs into scenes from the era. More artwork for this game can be found here: http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/digital/fact-vs-fiction/jakub-rozalski-killer-robot-paintings?click=pm_news#slide-1

 

El Grande, the game that introduced most of the world to the concept of the worker placement game is getting a much much deserved reprint. This big box reprint does not only give you a much upgraded version of the game featuring meeples instead of giant cubes and a nicer tower but you also get every expansion ever made for it.

The game communities excitement around this release is palpable and I am very excited for new information about a release date and price to come out in the future.

 

In Kickstarter news Stonemaier games announced that they will be launching their partner driven city building game, Between Two Cities, on February 25th. The game features an interesting mechanic where one player will have to build two cities collaboratively with the player on their right and left in an attempt to build the most impressive city in the world.

I am very intrigued by the mechanics of this game which will include a bit of co-op play, drafting, and tile laying. The artwork looks like a really appealing mishmash between Suburbia and Machi Koro and the miniature meeples featuring The St. Louis Arch, Taj Mahal, The Roman Coliseum, The statue of Christ the Redeemer, Eiffel Tower, Sydney Harbor Bridge, and the Great Pyramids all look really fun to play with.

Reportedly both standard and Deluxe versions of the game will be available at less than $40 pledge tiers which seems like a decent value for the game.

 

Slaughterville is a cooperative survival horror game featuring a group of college students exploring the haunted town of Slaughterville.

Each player will take on the role of a college student archetype such as the nerdy one, the angry guy, the goth girl, etc. They will be investigating the town of Slaughterville which is being haunted by a random horror movie monster like vampires or bodysnatchers. Throughout the game players will be finding powerups and different survivors to help them combat the different spooky events that will be randomly occurring throughout the game until finally they get strong enough to take on the big bad monster.

The artwork and style of the game is fairly reminiscent of Flying Frog’s a touch of evil. I like the combination of photography and illustration. It gives off a sense of realness to the terror that is going on in the game and seems like it will help bring the character further into the world.

The text on the cards looks a little small and wordy but it does look like it’s trying to add a lot of theme to the game and is adding some story elements to give a more immersive experience. Small text is never good for playing in dimly lit rooms which this game is pretty much meant to be played in.

The downside is that the game is currently hovering at about $2,000 of its $15,000 goal and has some pretty unimpressive stretch goals. The price point of $55 is fair for a game of this type and quality and I think that having a $10 print n’ play option is a nice touch so that you will at least get a playable version of the game at the end of the campaign.

The designer seems like a first timer and doesn’t seem to have a lot of game design credentials. Some rookie mistakes do seem to be getting made on this campaign by having some plain video work to describe his goals and game, small card text, and undervalued stretch goals. But the game itself does look solid and seems like a lot of fun.

Look for yourself at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2138513287/slaughterville-a-game-of-fun-and-horror

 

Finally, on kickstarter are these giant 40 sided spindown dice for use primarily with magic the gathering. I’m not really sure why Magic players prefer using dice to keep track of their life instead of pen and a piece of paper but these dice look like they would be very useful for the EDH and Two Headed Giant formats that require multiple dice to keep track of life.

The $20 price tag seems a bit costly, but then again just about everything is with Magic. If you are looking for a cool way to keep track of your life points and have a good conversation piece for your game then go fund this project here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/maxstats/40-sided-spindown-dice-life-counters/

 Thank you for checking out Board Game News here at Living the Nerd Life. Keep checking back for more great reviews and news on your favorite geeky hobbies!

 -Levi Bushue

Board Game News

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!

Games Update / 2015 GLOBAL GAME JAM

Today is a really exciting day for us here at Living The Nerd Life. We are taking part in the 2015 GLOBAL GAME JAM. Which for those of you who may not know is a week end long event where people from all around the world meet up in different areas to create games!

Not only are we excited for the JAM later tonight but we are rolling out a new tab on our website! The GAMES tab! Check it out on our main navigation. From time to time we will update this page with games that we are in the process of making or have already finished. 

Go to the GAMES tab and check out our first game that we made back in the Fall of 2014. Its called The Rise of Balthazar! In our game you play a character called Blathazar who is set out on an adventure to free all the Super Villains in the world of Utopia.

We will also be updating this page this week end as we start to work on our game for the 2015 GLOBAL GAME JAM!

STL Scatter Jam The Rise of Balthazar

The Rise of Balthazar is finally here! This is the results of our 5 man team at STL Scatter Jam a few weeks ago. Going into this Scatter Jam only 1 of us had created a game before and that was done awhile ago. 

 

We loved this project and have learned so much. I personally can not wait to make another game and keep building on what we learned.

 

Checkout the video and let us know what you think in the comments!

 

Checkout some of the art we created for this project.

Intro title slides

 

Sprite Sheets

 

Game pieces

 

Thanks for everyones hard work on this! 

Ethan Weber, Phil Freeman, Nic Weber, Zach Cavarretta, Ryan Dampf