I'm a sucker for a pretty garden. The well-manicured landscape with ornate flowers and other plants placed in just the right way. Apparently, the four gods in the kingdom feel the same way. A new heir
I'm a sucker for a pretty garden. The well-manicured landscape with ornate flowers and other plants placed in just the right way. Apparently, the four gods in the kingdom feel the same way. A new heir to the throne must be found, and it'll be the person that creates the most pleasing garden. That's the story behind Four Gardens, a new board game from Arcane Wonders that's available now.
From the website:
THE HEIR WILL BE CHOSEN BY THE FOUR GODS THEMSELVES!
Long ago, in a beautiful Eastern kingdom, a queen and her people pleased their Gods by building a mystical pagoda. The pagoda housed the four Gods and towered strong over the magnificent kingdom. As time passed, the queen fell ill and she summoned her people to compete for her crown. The crown would be passed on to the person who could build the most pristine garden around the pagoda. The heir would be chosen by the four Gods themselves.
The goal of Four Gardens is to accumulate the most points by completing Landscape cards and finishing sets. These finished sets are called “panoramas” and they create a panoramic view of your garden. Your score at the end of the game will be the total of the goodwill you have earned from the 4 Gods (shown by your position on the 4 God’s tracks on the Scoreboard), plus the value of any Extra rewards Bonus Tile you may have gained from finishing a set. This goodwill is earned by completing Landscape cards. Landscape cards are completed by laying Groundwork cards, acquiring resources, and allocating those resources to satisfy the requirements of each Groundwork card.
Who of us haven't imagined ourselves as a superhero at some point? To be able to shed our regular, everyday personas and gain super powers and go save the city from evil. Well, I don't have a spandex
Who of us haven't imagined ourselves as a superhero at some point? To be able to shed our regular, everyday personas and gain super powers and go save the city from evil. Well, I don't have a spandex suit under my regular clothes, but I can still live vicariously through board games such as Freedom Five, a new superhero board game from Arcane Wonders that's up on Kickstarter now.
The campaign's more than 6x funded with 16 days to go.
The Secret Neighbor Party Game's description seems like it's Tom Wait's - What's He Building and turning it into a tabletop game. Actually, it's based on a popular set of video games. But suffice to s
The Secret Neighbor Party Game's description seems like it's Tom Wait's - What's He Building and turning it into a tabletop game. Actually, it's based on a popular set of video games. But suffice to say, it's all about trying to figure out what the spooky neighbor down the street is doing while not getting caught. Who can you trust? Who can you rely on? And who's a Secret Neighbor? That's up to you to find out.
From the announcement:
Arcane Wonders (Texas, USA) in partnership with tinyBuild (Washington, USA), Evolution (California, USA) and Genuine Entertainment (California, USA) are excited to announce the upcoming tabletop game Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game designed by Ariel Rubin and Juliana Patel.
Building off the wildly successful Hello Neighbor and Secret Neighbor video games this social deduction game brings the world of Hello Neighbor to the real world. Plucking from classics like Werewolf and The Resistance, this new game requires no narrator and no eliminations, ensuring everyone at the table remains engaged!
5-10 players take on the roles of either one of the neighborhood kids, the treacherous neighbor or even a secret neighbor. As one of the kids you will need to use your items wisely if you are to locate the keys and unlock the door to win, but beware as not only are the neighbors at the table trying to trick you into voting to let them use a key, but one of your fellow kids is actually a SECRET NEIGHBOR!
If even one neighbor convinces the kids to let them use a key then the neighbors have won, so the kids must use all of their deduction skills to figure who they can trust!
Hello Neighbor: The Secret Neighbor Party Game will be available everywhere early October 2020 with a limited number of copies available during GenCon Virtual.
The gaming world often revolves around conventions. Companies schedule new releases to hit just when big shows are happening. Of course, with the pandemic and the move to online, things get changed ar
The gaming world often revolves around conventions. Companies schedule new releases to hit just when big shows are happening. Of course, with the pandemic and the move to online, things get changed around. And Origins cancelling even their online show has caused Arcane Wonders' release of Smartphone Inc. to get all sorts of wonky. Well, they have some available on their website, as well as the Update 1.1 expansion. Plus, some of the proceeds are going to go to charity. So, that's cool.
From the article:
We now have a limited stock of the retail version of the game and Update 1.1 expansion available through our webstore.
We had intended these to be available for folks during Virtual Origins, but as the event was cancelled, we decided to make these available ahead of the general retail in late August.
Additionally, we announcing that 10% of all purchases of Smartphone Inc and the Update 1.1 Expansion on our webstore from now until after GenCon Online will be donated to Black Girls CODE.
Black Girls CODE‘s vision is to increase the number of women of color in the digital space by empowering girls of color ages 7 to 17 to become innovators in STEM fields, leaders in their communities, and builders of their own futures through exposure to computer science and technology.
We can’t think of a better organization to donate a portion of Smartphone Inc to and we are excited for this! Smartphone Inc is all about the beginning of smartphone technologies and Black Girls CODE helps women of color to gain not only the passion for technology and the digital space, but also gain the skills to become leaders in those fields.
We are very blessed here at Arcane Wonders to be able to do something we love every day, bringing wonderful games like Smartphone Inc to game tables. We feel it is our privilege to do anything we can do to help others achieve their dreams, and even discover dreams they might not have known they had or believed they had a chance to do.
Who doesn't love a good superhero team up? Your favorite characters join forces to do something that none of them could do individually. Well, that's what we're getting with Greater Than Games and Arc
Who doesn't love a good superhero team up? Your favorite characters join forces to do something that none of them could do individually. Well, that's what we're getting with Greater Than Games and Arcane Wonders teaming up to bring you Freedom Five, a new board game based on Sentinel Comics. The game will be coming to Kickstarter this September.
From the announcement:
Arcane Wonders in partnership with Greater Than Games are proud to announce the upcoming game Freedom Five, A Sentinel Comics Board Game. Designed by renowned designers Richard Launius, Adam Sadler and Brady Sadler and published as part of the Dice Tower Essentials® line.
Freedom Five is a cooperative strategy game in which 1- 5 heroes race to protect their home city and its inhabitants from an onslaught of villainy. Each player must master their character’s unique abilities to manage multiple crises throughout the city of Megalopolis. Assemble your friends to face standalone challenges, or mix it up and adventure through a series of campaign comics where you will gain rewards — and new threats — every session.
Immerse yourself in the world of Sentinel Comics and test your wits against a dastardly smart “A.I.” in the newest evolution of the Defenders of the Realm series by Richard Launius.
Freedom Five will be launching this fall on Kickstarter on September 8th, 2020.
More details about Freedom Five can be found at www.freedomfivegame.com and be sure to signup now to the newsletter to get exclusive pre-Kickstarter information!
Rome wasn't built in a day. It took many builders many centuries to get it done. However, with your friends at the gaming table, you could knock it out in an afternoon. Foundations of Rome is a new bo
Rome wasn't built in a day. It took many builders many centuries to get it done. However, with your friends at the gaming table, you could knock it out in an afternoon. Foundations of Rome is a new board game from Arcane Wonders where you and your fellow builders are trying to make the grand city as majestic as possible. However, only one of you can end up being the most revered architect. The game is up on Kickstarter now.
From the campaign:
The campaign's making its way to 4x funded with 22 days left to go.
"Rome wasn't built in a day."No, that's true. You can build it in just a couple hours with your friends. At least, you will be able to when Arcane Wonders releases Foundations of Rome, a new city-buil
"Rome wasn't built in a day." No, that's true. You can build it in just a couple hours with your friends. At least, you will be able to when Arcane Wonders releases Foundations of Rome, a new city-building board game they're working on. It will be coming to Kickstarter in a little over a month and a half, but if you sign up for notifications, you'll get a free, metal 1st player token when it launches.
From the website:
We set out to create the most visually stunning city builder to date, along with what we already knew was an outstanding game design by Emerson Matsuuchi. Foundations of Rome is an intuitive city builder for 2-4 players, bolstered by over 100 wonderfully detailed miniatures.
Are you looking to break into the gaming industry? Do you look at what a company is doing and go, "Pfft, I could market and sell that game so much better!"? If so, you might be just what Arcane Wonder
Are you looking to break into the gaming industry? Do you look at what a company is doing and go, "Pfft, I could market and sell that game so much better!"? If so, you might be just what Arcane Wonders is looking for. They want to hire a new Marketing & Sales Manager. Think you're up to the task? Send in your resume today.
From the announcement:
Here at Arcane Wonders, we have been busy bringing on new team members, developing ambitious projects, and shaking hands with exciting new partnerships who will help pave the way for our future. It’s a great time to be making games, without a doubt, and we believe fully that the road ahead is lined with our best titles to date. We couldn’t be more excited to walk this path, but we know in our hearts we need to bring some extra firepower along on this journey.
Arcane Wonders is seeking a full-time marketing & sales manager who is looking to help grow alongside our company.
We're in the thick of Gen Con day 2, but that doesn't mean the show's over by any stretch. Arcane Wonders is here, and they've got a post talking about all the cool things they've got going on in thei
We're in the thick of Gen Con day 2, but that doesn't mean the show's over by any stretch. Arcane Wonders is here, and they've got a post talking about all the cool things they've got going on in their booth just over *points* there.
From the post:
Arcane Wonders is attending at Gen Con! Come visit us at booth #841, and the Arcane Wonders area in Hall C to demo our new games. The majority of our staff will be attending the event, so please anticipate delays in email inquiries until we return on Monday the 5th when we continue normal operations.
We have a lot of exciting events planned at Gen Con, and some big surprises!
Architectura
Arcane Wonders is excited to announce that we are working with Hobby World to bring Architectura to the USA, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand! We showed off Architectura for the first time at Dice Tower Con in July, and we’re gearing towards an early September retail launch!
In Architectura you are a masterful architect who has come to erect a magnificent city with the most elaborate buildings and monuments imaginable. However, other architects have come to this city as well and their ambitions inevitably lead to fierce competition! Each architect strives to make the most significant contribution to the city’s construction, so that they are remembered throughout time. Architectura is a highly interactive, easy to learn, card game, for 2 to 4 players, that plays in 30-45 minutes. For more information, check out the: Architectura How-to-Play Video.
Dragonscales
For the first time, Dragonscales will be available for sale to the public! Dragonscales, is a game of villainy and treasure-grabbing where players are sinister villains, each with their own unique advantages, tactics, and style! With multiple triggers for the end-game, this design by Richard Launius is has new exciting outcomes each time you play! For full information about this exciting upcoming game check out the: Dragonscales Game Page.
Volcanic Isle
Coming to retail release in October this year, Volcanic Isle will be available in limited quantities! 2-4 players are tasked with building villages and raising Moai across the continent, each doing their best to survive and become the strongest tribe. However, with each Moai raised, the possibility of a volcanic eruption increases! Eruptions devastate settlements and even cause whole sections of the board to sink into the sea and be removed! For more information about Volcanic Isle including a how-to-play video, check out the: Volcanic Isle Game Page.
Seriously, I've only had a smartphone for about 3 years now, give or take. Honestly, for the longest time, I didn't really think I needed one. But, eventually, my slide-out-keyboard phone gave up the
Seriously, I've only had a smartphone for about 3 years now, give or take. Honestly, for the longest time, I didn't really think I needed one. But, eventually, my slide-out-keyboard phone gave up the ghost and upgrading was practically mandatory. Since then, I've loved it. I'm not addicted to it, but this job would be a lot different without one. Oh, and the English version of Smartphone Inc is up on Kickstarter. There's that, too.
From the campaign:
The campaign's more than 3x funded with 13 days left to go.
Look, I only speak one language. I realize that many of you out there are multi-lingual and that's cool. But if it's not in English, I'm kinda out of luck when it comes to games. Thankfully, there are
Look, I only speak one language. I realize that many of you out there are multi-lingual and that's cool. But if it's not in English, I'm kinda out of luck when it comes to games. Thankfully, there are those out there looking to bring games to an English-speaking audience. In this case, it's Arcane Wonders bringing Smartphone Inc. to those of you out there like me.
From the announcement:
Arcane Wonders is pleased to announce a partnership with Cosmodrome Games to bring the English language version of Smartphone Inc. to the retail market as part of the Dice Tower Essentials product line!
Back when smartphones were only beginning to conquer the world, it was your destiny to lead one of the most promising manufacturing corporations in the world. Analyze and research customer demand around the globe. Get out of your comfort zone and try to get more profit by setting up new offices in nearby regions. Improve your production and research innovative technologies. Try to get local markets under your control.
Arcane Wonders will be partnering with Cosmodrome Games to bring the English language version of Smartphone Inc. to the retail market with a planned retail release in 2020 after a Kickstarter campaign run by Cosmodrome Games in coming months.
You did it. You pulled off the heist of the century. Now you're back at the hideout and it's time to divide up the loot. But, of course, nobody wants to just get their fair share. They worked harder t
You did it. You pulled off the heist of the century. Now you're back at the hideout and it's time to divide up the loot. But, of course, nobody wants to just get their fair share. They worked harder than everyone else, of course, so they deserve a bigger cut. But who's to decide who gets what? That's what you'll have to figure out in GoodCritters, a new card game available to pre-order from Arcane Wonders now.
From the website:
THIS PRODUCT IS A PRE-ORDER AND WILL BE SHIPPED AS SOON AS INVENTORY IS AVAILABLE.
GoodCritters is a game for 4-8 critters that just pulled off a major heist, and now it’s time for the Boss to distribute the loot. The Boss can distribute the loot however they want, but the crew has the final say. If they don’t like the split, they might just tell the boss to take a hike and put some other critter in charge! In the end, the critter that collects the most valuable stash of loot wins!
Part of the Dice Tower Essentials Line of games approved by Tom Vasel
Take the role of The Boss and distribute the loot to your crew, but remember to keep your share!
Bribe, beg, or bamboozle the other players to end up with the most loot at the end!
They call me the breeze. I keep blowin' down the road.
The wind is a wild and fickle thing. Sometimes, we're happy for a cool breeze on a hot day. Other times, it's a hurricane gale destroying all ar
They call me the breeze. I keep blowin' down the road.
The wind is a wild and fickle thing. Sometimes, we're happy for a cool breeze on a hot day. Other times, it's a hurricane gale destroying all around us. Arcane Wonders is bringing the wind to Onitama. The new expansion, Way of the Wind is coming next month. In this preview, we get a look at how you have to both deal with and can harness the wind in the game.
From the post:
The second Arcane Wonders launch coming October 31st to local game stores near you or available to PRE-ORDER NOW at the Arcane Wonders web shop, is the next expansion for Onitama!
“Once again, rival schools have made the treacherous journey through the mist-shrouded mountains to the shrine of Onitama. But something is different this time… their activity has attracted the attention of a Wind Spirit!”
ONITAMA: WAY OF THE WIND
In Onitama: Way of the Wind, an indomitable force, the wind spirit, will be interfering with the rival schools that are competing at the ancient shine of Onitama. This expansion, that requires the base game Onitama to play, creates a new layer of interaction and tactics in the game.
Most of my friends and I are ridiculously ready for October. Personally, I'm really excited for the cold, crisp mornings and the changing colors on the trees. I really need to make a pumpkin pie just
Most of my friends and I are ridiculously ready for October. Personally, I'm really excited for the cold, crisp mornings and the changing colors on the trees. I really need to make a pumpkin pie just because. Meanwhile, the folks at Arcane Wonders are thrilled about October because that's when Critical Mass comes out. They've posted up a new preview talking about all the mech-on-mech action the game holds.
From the webiste:
October is almost upon us! We have been busy behind-the-scenes over here at Arcane Wonders, and it is time to show off the fruits of our labor. This October, Arcane Wonders has four new games coming out to local game stores near you!
We have a ton of things to talk about, so we’re going to be highlighting one new release each week remaining this September. Today we’re going to be talking about our first launch of October: Critical Mass!
Giant robot alert! We have giant robot alert! Try and keep calm. Arcane Wonders is taking pre-orders for Critical Mass, their new mech-on-mech combat board game. This new simultaneous-play game puts y
Giant robot alert! We have giant robot alert! Try and keep calm. Arcane Wonders is taking pre-orders for Critical Mass, their new mech-on-mech combat board game. This new simultaneous-play game puts you in control of your own custom-built mech, with plenty of weapons and other options to give you an advantage. They've also got an expansion pack, Raijin vs Archon, that you can get along with the core box.
From the website:
Critical Mass is a game of hard-core, heavy-hitting Mech-on-Mech combat. As the pilot of a massive war machine, you must head out into the irradiated wastes and destroy your opposition. Behind the control panel, you must carefully choose the card you play each turn to attack your opponent, defend against their weapons, perform special actions, or enhance your Mech.
Expand your arsenal with Critical Mass: Raijin vs Archon and play with 3 or 4 players!
Featuring simultaneous play with Mech customization on the fly, the tension stays high until the final armor plate is incinerated!
Choose the cards you play strategically, or you’ll find yourself on the receiving end of a laser barrage!
It's feeling a lot like Saturday 2: Sat Harder (editor's note: rework that title before publishing) here. Yesterday I spent much of the day at home, hanging out and working on my friend's Guild Ball m
It's feeling a lot like Saturday 2: Sat Harder (editor's note: rework that title before publishing) here. Yesterday I spent much of the day at home, hanging out and working on my friend's Guild Ball minis. He moved recently and a bunch of his stuff got jumbled and busted up. Plus, there were some new kits he'd gotten in that he wasn't sure when he would be able to assemble them. Putting figures together is arguably my favorite part of the whole hobby, so I've offered to fix his busted minis, assemble his new ones, and even move some of his other figures over to sculpted bases he'd gotten. There's ~35 minis that are getting some kind of work on them, from assembly, to those bases, to fixes, to green-stuffing the slots. It's been a fun project. Certainly kept me busy. Plus, next time I see them on the other side of the pitch, I don't have to see a bunch of half-assembled and busted figures. :P But I'm currently taking a break (my hand's cramping from using a pin vice all morning) to bring you those reviews I know you all so desperately desire.
This week we have: Storm Hollow, The Mysterious Forest, Pandemic Legacy Season 2, Vengeance, Gloom of Kilforth, Spoils of War, Santorini, Kerala, Mini Rails, Armageddon, By Order of the Queen, NMBR 9, Coded: Card-Time Strategy, Legend of the Five Rings, Woo-Hoo!, AquaSphere, and Cities of Splendor.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Storm Hollow the adventure Storyboard game. There is a ton of content in this system and I am impressed with its smooth mechanics, simple game play, and high level of quality components. It really is a fantastic gaming system for the family and I highly recommend this if you are a RPG'er or have considered getting into something like this with the family. All fairy-tails and stories from this realm are a reality in Storm Hollow. You will go on awesome magical adventures both fun to tell, as the game master, or experience as a player. The introduction is quick for the game master and players will be ready to play and start quickly. It also features a co-op board game experience as well - so if you simply want to set the adventure story mode aside and play a board game like experience, you can do that as well.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at The Mysterious Forest from iello games. This is a great kids game which offers memory, group collaboration and tactical execution skill building. Its got a great theme, super high quality components and a low price point. Its a definite recommend from me for the kids and family gaming experiences.
Step into the shoes of a hero that has been bashed and tortured by one or more of the four gangs in the game. You win by building up your hero, scouting gang dens to find the baddies who wronged you, then taking bloody revenge through action-packed fight sequences made up of dice based puzzles.
The land of Kilforth is a perilous domain filled with nefarious monsters, mysterious Strangers and treacherous Locations, and dominated at its centre by The Sprawl, a huge city where intrepid Heroes begin their journey to fame and fortune. Throughout the land various factions vie for power over each other, such as the supposedly noble Order of the Rose or the terrifying Doom Guard. And presiding over the world outside Kilforth is the ever-present Overlord, Masklaw. Over the coming month, a deadly Gloom will descend upon Kilforth,which the Heroes must Battle through to prove their worth, defeat an Ancient evil, and save the land from darkness. Gloom of Kilforth is a card game of high fantasy with a Gothic edge, playable in 1-3 hours, where 1-4 players, working individually or together, must take their humble adventurers on a journey through a dark world of magic and peril. They will visit strange places, stranger people and overcome powerful enemies in their mission to discover mysterious artefacts and mystical Spells. Players follow their Hero’s tale from modest beginnings through an epic story to an exciting climactic battle for the fate of the world. Gloom of Kilforth takes about 45 minutes per player to play.
The raid is over, and the victorious Vikings gather in the chieftain’s tent to divide the spoils of war! Piled high on a massive oak table are the best treasures taken during the raid: gleaming gems, shiny swords, fine armor, and magical artifacts! Once strong allies, the Vikings are taken by greed, and soon a heated debate ensues — who will get which spoils? Fists pound the table, insults are made, and tempers rise!
Spoils of War is a fast-paced and exciting game of bidding and wagering for 3-5 players. Each round, players roll their dice, then cleverly bluff and bet to outwit their fellow Vikings. The winners of each round get to claim fantastic treasures to add to their collection! With lots of twists and surprises, no one knows who will win until the last treasure is claimed and the spoils are counted!
Santorini is a re-imagining of the purely abstract 2004 edition. Since its original inception over 30 years ago, Santorini has been continually developed, enhanced and refined by designer Gordon Hamilton.
Welcome to the elephant festival in the Indian province of Kerala! Colorfully decorated elephants roam everywhere, and naturally players want to participate and make the most magnificent fairground with as many elephants as possible.
In Kerala, each player wants to take at least one tile of each color, and all tiles of one color should be joined together, but of course the players are constantly getting in the way of one another and grabbing the tiles that someone else wants.
Mini Rails distills the essence of the stock-buying and track-laying game genre into a tight experience that can be finished under an hour.
The game includes only two types of actions — “Buy Shares” and “Build Tracks” — and you must carefully decide how to best use them. You must do each action exactly once per round, and which company you choose affects the turn order on the next round.
In a post-apocalyptic world, players try to rebuild society. Using the debris, they build new towns for the remaining survivors to live in — but these friendly folks aren’t the only ones still out there. Marauders want to pillage your town and see it burn. Scavenge what you can and build new structures to help you defend against the marauder threat. While you can get more things done in town when you house more survivors there, they all have to have a space to sleep or they might turn against you and join the marauders.
Armageddon is a strategy game that offers many tactical choices and different strategies to claim victory.
By Order of the Queen is a cooperative 2–4 player game with a fantasy role-playing game theme. Players take on the role of one of the Guilds of Tessandor, working together to dispatch Heroes to important quests, to combat monsters and to complete the Queen’s Orders themselves.
By Order of the Queen is designed to give players a full fantasy campaign in one 90-120 minute game, by giving players just the highlights of a role-playing adventure.
Players must work together to keep the kingdom from falling apart while trying to complete three Queen’s Orders to win the game.
In NMBR 9, players are trying to earn the most points by stacking different numbers. The game comes with twenty cards numbered 0-9 (twice) and enough tiles for 4 players.
Each round, the top number card is drawn and each player collects the matching number from the tray, placing it on the table. After the first round, each newly placed number must touch a previously played number. Players can also build up to higher levels, as long as it is fully supported by at least two numbers below it.
In Codex: CTS, each player starts the game with a set of heroes (one to three), a starting deck, and a binder… err… Codex… of 24 cards per hero. Each turn, a player’s workers generate a certain amount of gold that can be spent to build up a player’s draw deck with the cards from their Codex.
Players construct a deck using cards from one of seven clans, splashing in cards from another clan and generic cards. Each player has four provinces that serve as the staging area for cards coming into play, and are the target for attack by their opponent. Cards on provinces can either be characters, attachments that enhance characters in play, or attachments that enhance the province they are on. Each player also has a stronghold province that provides players with fate tokens each turn and is more difficult to defeat.
Woo-Hoo has two modes of play to choose from to cater to the kids you are playing with, but both share a fairly similar structure. Players will take turns rolling a die and moving the appropriate numbers of steps up of the elephant slide. Once your pawn reaches the top, you can slide down into the sand box. Yelling Woo-Hoo at this point is optional, but encouraged.
Then in the easy version, you will choose one toy from the box and place it in front of you. If you play with the slightly advanced setup you will roll a different die to determine how many toys, between 1-3, that you will collect.
There are 20 toys, five each of four different colors. The game ends when all of the toys have been collected. If you are playing with the basic rules, you can choose the number of toys to include to shorten the game if you’d like. In the advanced game you can also win by collecting all 5 toys of the same color.
Aquasphere is a point-salad Euro game for two to four players. Players use their engineer and scientist to program and use robots aboard an underwater station. The player with the most knowledge points after four rounds wins.
I was a latecomer to the Splendor love train. When it came out, I looked at it and thought, “That’s it?” Bear in mind, I was in a place in my life where I had time and energy for heavy games and something as light as Splendor was easily dismissed. But life changes. Not long after, everything did a 180 and I found myself with far less time and energy for gaming. I began seeking out lighter games which still possessed some depth, and that search led me back to Splendor.
I fell in love (or at least heavy like) with the base game, yet when I saw there was an expansion on the way, I thought, “Is it a good idea to mess with the simplicity of the original game? Isn’t the simplicity what made it great?” So with some trepidation, I took the plunge into expansion-land. So the question is, did Cities make things better or worse?
Rooster Teeth and Arcane Wonders are teaming up to bring you a new board game. It's called RWBY: Combat Ready, based on the show of the same name. Players work cooperatively, taking on the role of one
Rooster Teeth and Arcane Wonders are teaming up to bring you a new board game. It's called RWBY: Combat Ready, based on the show of the same name. Players work cooperatively, taking on the role of one of the four main characters from the series, each with their own unique combat deck, looking to take out the various villains. The basic artwork and concepts for the game are done, but with a successful crowdfunding campaign, it can be so much more. As such, they've taken to Kickstarter to get such funding.
From the campaign:
Here at Rooster Teeth, we have created great shows like Red vs. Blue, RWBY, Camp Camp, and more. We took our first step in the physical game industry in 2016 when we crowdfunded and created the party card game Million Dollars, But… The Game. This year, we’re taking a massive leap forward and trying our hand at a board game.
To leap into the world of board games as strongly as possible, we needed an amazing guide and developer with us. RWBY: Combat Ready is a joint creation between Rooster Teeth and Arcane Wonders, creators of other great board games like Sheriff of Nottingham, Mage Wars, and Viral.
Stories have been written, art has been drawn, and original characters have been created in every shape and form. Now you and your friends can each play as one of the four main RWBY characters. Be Ruby Rose and rise to victory with her Crescent Rose; slice and dice the Grimm as Weiss Schnee, wielding her Myrtenaster; join in and fire from afar as Blake Belladonna with her Gambol Shroud; or leap in and create massive explosions as Yang Xiao Long with her Ember Celica.
We’re making RWBY: Combat Ready, but we’re not able to do this alone. We need your help. We have a game idea, basic pieces, and a board, but we still have the ability to upgrade and mold this game to fit what everyone wants. Better pieces? More creatures to fight or heroes to play as? Every pledge from you amazing Backers can help shape RWBY: Combat Ready to be a board game that RWBY fans and board game enthusiasts alike want to play.
The campaign is doing rather well. They're like 2/3 of the way to their goal with still 32 days left on the clock.
Well, it seemingly took an eternity, but it is now Saturday.And, as I expected, from the time I clocked out until even now seems to have gone by very quickly. So, by the time I finish this, I guess it
Well, it seemingly took an eternity, but it is now Saturday. And, as I expected, from the time I clocked out until even now seems to have gone by very quickly. So, by the time I finish this, I guess it'll be time for Monday's Terrain corner...
But that's as may be.
Today we have: Cauldron Master, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows Of The Past Board Game Review, April O'Neil Hero Pack For Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shadows of the Past, Dice City, Picassimo, The Who Were 8, Cosmic Run: Rapid Fire, Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age, Dragoon, Dubai: Rebuild the Ruins, Mage Wars: Paladin vs. Siren, Firefly: Crime and Punishment, and Frostgrave Expansions.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at the newish TMNT board game from IDW Games /Pandasaurus and Kevin Wilson! We did the unboxing of the WORKS edition and now here is the game play of Battle 1 - the entire thing! You know this was only going to be a few turns but I got so into the battle and I could not stop and we went the entire scenario all the way to win condition. So who won? the Villain or the mighty green machine?? You will never know unless you watch and find out.
The game plays just as good as it looks and maybe even better. I absolutely love the battle mechanics and flow of the game. Its simple but offers tons of decisions to be made each game turn. This game is designed to be played as one player taking on the Villain and one player(s) being the turtles but I had a blast playing both sides against myself - that's how fun this game is!
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at the BRAND NEW April O'Neil Hero Pack Expansion, which will be released officially very soon. What I wanted to lay out in this review are the differences between the O'Neil pack you receive in the "Works" edition from the kickstarter and what you receive in this new hero pack because there are some definite differences!
Dice City is a dice drafting/dice placement game in which you first roll your dice and place them on city spaces dictated by the roll, then activate those spaces for your benefit. The goal of the game is to be the player with the most victory points at the end.
Each player has their own personal board (their city) where they place their dice and any cards purchased from the central market. A player’s turn consists of four steps.
Picassimo is a drawing party/puzzle game for three to six players. Players are artists trying to recreate the stolen works of the great Paco Picassimo. The player with the most points wins.
Each player receives a player screen with a language card tucked in the pocket, a drawing board, and a dry erase marker. The seven transformation cards are shuffled and set aside. Players decide which difficulty to play on, and each player takes a clue card. Players choose one of the two clues at the difficulty agreed level and draw a picture behind their screens.
In They Who Were 8 players are bards recounting epic tales of the gods. Players resolve action cards to bring glory (positive points) and infamy (negative points) to the various gods in play, represented by tiles.
In the individually competitive Titanomachy variant each player serves two immortals in particular, one paired with another from each of their neighbors. Your goal is to bring lots of glory to a pair of deities containing one of your patrons, but not too much glory to yours specifically. The winner is the player whose god has the least points among the pair with the highest total value. Perhaps this shows they’re magnanimity? Or possibly their chicanery.
Cosmic Run: Rapid Fire is a two player dice drafting game with players competing to pilot their three spaceships to sanctuary planets past a minefield. Even if players don’t reach the planets, achieving certain goals earns points and the player with the most points (or hasn’t lost by other means) wins the game.
RTtA is a dice rolling game for one to four players who are competing to build the best civilization in the history of humanity. It is a more complicated gamers version of Yahtzee, rerolls and all.
The game base game takes 30 – 40 minutes, but increases to 45 minutes to an hour with the expansion. The extra time that the expansion adds is more than worth it as I will explain later.
In Dragoon, each player takes on the role of a dragon, trying to collect the most gold from the surrounding countryside. During the game, players will be moving around the landscape, claiming or destroying villages, stealing gold, and battling other dragons. Turns will go by quickly, and if lady luck is on your side, riches will flow into your coffers. Be the first dragon to acquire 50 gold and you win!
First part of the weekend is already a success. The pizza last night was pretty much everything I could've hoped for. It's nice when a week-long cooking project turns out good (ok, the pizza doesn't r
First part of the weekend is already a success. The pizza last night was pretty much everything I could've hoped for. It's nice when a week-long cooking project turns out good (ok, the pizza doesn't really take a week to make, but parts I was able to do ahead of time like render the bacon and such was done along the way, instead of doing it all last night). Today it's all about the Board Game Day at the Milton Library. If you're in the Atlanta area, stop on by.
But that's for later (well, later to me now as I'm typing this, not later from the time you read this, since I'm typing this at 6am and will be gaming at 2pm when it posts).
Right now we've got reviews of: London, Colosseum, Ophidian 2360, Ore-Some, Critter Combat, Gloomhaven, Runebound: The Gilded Blade Expansion, Mage Wars: Arena Paladin vs Siren Expansion, Conquest of Speros, Castles of Burgundy, Flamme Rouge, and Ponzi Scheme.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at the new Critter Combat from Rare Mind Games. This is currently on Kickstarter with a super low funding goal. Please go out there an check this out as it is really a great little card game for kids and adults.
The mechanics are simple but the game still offers a good level of strategic thought process as you decide how to use 1 of your 3 available actions on your turn.
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at Gloomhaven! This is the game play review featuring game mechanics, my thoughts on quicker startup, layout and all the goodness that makes Gloomhaven. I will have to say, it will not be surprising to see this game make best game of 2017 as it is fantastic and the more you play the more you want to play and build out your board. It really offers a full RPG experience in a traditional board game setting.
So get out there and pick up a copy when it hits retail as this is a gamer's paradise!
theMCGuiRE review takes a look at The Gilded Blade a Runebound 3rd edition expansion featuring a new miniature, items, abilities and adventure cards. So as the festival takes place, buy sell and loot all you can - but watch out for thieves because they are everywhere in this one.
In Conquest of Speros, each player will take control of one of four different factions and battle for various locations. Location types and resources from those locations translate into points at the end of the game, with the player having the most points being crowned the winner.
Based on The Castles of Burgundy, the card game of the same name has players as lords of lands in renaissance France. Their goal is the expanding of their estates through the construction of buildings, creating farms, mining, shipping goods, and constructing castles. This is accomplished through the playing of cards to form sets and using cards with dice symbols as virtual dice. The player who earns the most points from this variety of activities wins.
There’s a fundamental question that every race-themed board game has to ask and answer, and that is this: what makes the track any more than a simple scoreboard? Or, in other words, what makes the race a race?
Ponzi Scheme is an economic trading game for three to five players. Players are fraudsters luring investors with impossible promises, trying to build the most profitable shell companies. The player with the most points in industries (without going bankrupt) wins.
Here in the northern hemisphere, we're well into cold and flu season. I've got various friends that are in various stages of being sick/getting over being sick. Sometimes it can feel like different pa
Here in the northern hemisphere, we're well into cold and flu season. I've got various friends that are in various stages of being sick/getting over being sick. Sometimes it can feel like different pathogens are fighting it out for different organs within your body. Well, in Viral, that's exactly what is happening, and soon Arcane Wonders will be bringing it to an English audience.
From the press release:
Arcane Wonders® is pleased to announce they have partnered with MESAboardgames® to release the English language version of VIRAL, designed by António Sousa Lara and Gil d’Orey. VIRAL is an intense area?control board game where players compete to infect and control organs in a human body.
You are a deadly VIRUS! You have just infected a patient. Your objective is to mutate and take over the host’s organs. Choose your strategy carefully, though, because other player’s viruses are sure to get in your way! If too many viruses are present in an organ, a CRISIS occurs and the IMMUNE SYSTEM will surely wipe out your infection!
“When Tom brought us VIRAL to play, we fell in love with it immediately!” says Arcane Wonders President, Bryan Pope. “It has a fresh, original and clever theme; a territorial control game set inside the human body! The game play is simple and streamlined, yet it has lots of great tactical decisions and difficult choices. The game has a lot of flavor and personality, with great player interaction. My favorite part is the mutation cards; They allow you to mutate your viruses, changing how they behave, and develop your strategy.”
Attendees of Gen Con will have the first public opportunity to play VIRAL at Arcane Wonder’s booth. Look for VIRAL to hit retail shelves in August 2017 with a MSRP to be determined. Gameplay is 60?90 minutes for 2?5 players ages 14+.
Like any good vikings, you've done your fair share of pillaging. Now, it's time to get your fair share of the loot. The tables are piled high with all manner of gems, jewels, gold, goblets, tankards,
Like any good vikings, you've done your fair share of pillaging. Now, it's time to get your fair share of the loot. The tables are piled high with all manner of gems, jewels, gold, goblets, tankards, and every other type of loot you can imagine. But how do you split it all up? What was once a jovial raiding party has turned a bit darker as everyone wants to get what they feel is rightfully theirs (well... beyond it being rightfully belonging to the people you just stole it from, anyway). That's the set-up for a new board game coming out from Arcane Wonders. It's called Spoils of War (appropriately enough).
In the game, players take in the role of vikings who need to split up the plunder from their latest raids. Players will need to bribe, bluff, bid, and bet in order to get the pieces they really want. Roll your dice and see what sort of things you can offer, while making sure your opponents are a bit in the dark about your true betting power. The winner each round will get to pick a piece of treasure from the table and add it to their pile.
“While designing and developing Spoils of War, the underlying goal was to make a game of high social interaction that we love to play.” says Arcane Wonders President and lead designer of Spoils of War, Bryan Pope. “We’ve been working on this game for a long time, and are confident that Spoils of War captures the fun and excitement our fans crave!”
You can expect to see Spoils of War on store shelves next April, but there'll be a couple chances to try it out beforehand, such as at BGG Con, going on now.
Ah, Saturday. What cannot be accomplished on a day like today?*hears someone shout out "You can't build Rome in a day!"* ... Ok, besides that. *hears people shout out hundreds of other things* Ok, fin
Ah, Saturday. What cannot be accomplished on a day like today? *hears someone shout out "You can't build Rome in a day!"* ... Ok, besides that. *hears people shout out hundreds of other things* Ok, fine! But besides the roads, education, the aqueduct, and stability, what have the Romans ever given us? ... I feel I've gotten off-track. Here's today's Review Roundup.
This time around we have: V-Wars, Imhotep, Celestia, Escape From the Aliens in Outer Space, Ghost Stories, Adventure Time Card Wars: Fionna vs Cake, Tanks – Panther vs Sherman Starter Set, T.I.M.E. Stories (spoiler-free and spoiler reviews), Light of Dragons, Roots of Mali, and Mage Wars Arena Battlegrounds Domination.
V-Wars is an all out war for control of the earth. The game starts out as a “fully cooperative game”, but as loyalties are revealed (or switched), it’s clear that lines will be drawn and only one side will win.
Ghost Stories is a cooperative game tasking players with defeating an army of ghosts attacking a lonely village. In order to claim victory, the players, or Taoists, must defeat all incarnations of Wu-Feng before the village is destroyed.
So Card Wars kind of smooshes together aspects of traditional trading card games like Magic and Yu-Gi-Oh into one streamlined lane-based battle-fest.
The idea of the game is to do damage to, and eventually knock out, the opposing player. You’ll be playing creatures, buildings and spells in order to chain some awesome combos and knock those hit points from 25 to 0. The battle area is split into four lanes. Cards only battle cards in their own lane, unless you’re told otherwise. Each lane contains two landscape tiles, one of yours and one of your opponent’s.
Gale Force Nine, the company behind titles such as Firefly: The Game and Spartacus: A Game of Blood and Treachery, have recently released a new game – Tanks: The World War II Tank Skirmish Game.
This new game has been launched with the Panther vs Sherman Starter Set, plus a set of two American expansions (Sherman & Pershing) and three German expansions (Panther, Stug G and Panzer IV). Further expansions of British & Russian Tanks are coming in July and August respectively.
Mage Wars Arena Battlegrounds Domination introduces tiles with terrain effects that create a modular arena. There are also more spells and a new way to play the game.
It's Saturday. Those of you that are at KingdomCon, be sure to selfie responsibly. #RossFaceFor me, it's the weekend before CMON Expo, so I'm super-busy getting things put together for the show. Lots
It's Saturday. Those of you that are at KingdomCon, be sure to selfie responsibly. #RossFace For me, it's the weekend before CMON Expo, so I'm super-busy getting things put together for the show. Lots to do, both work-related and just other things I need to get done.
In the meantime, though, I'm taking a break from baking German Chocolate Cake Cookies to bring you your regularly-scheduled Review Roundup.
Today we have: Blood Rage, Gempacked Cards, Star Realms, Polyversal, Scathach Games M.T.S Shipping Containers, Tash-Kalar Everfrost Expansion, VS 2PCG Defenders Expansion, Twilight Struggle Digital, Onimata, Warfighter, Stronghold 2nd Ed., Adventure Land, Thunder & Lightning, Celestia, Greedy Greedy Goblins, Splendor iOS, Feed the Shoggoth, Kingdom Death: Monster, and Res Publica 2230AD.
The thing that makes Polyversal stand out from the crowd is its being designed as a toolkit game, i.e. players can create army lists themselves and can take any miniature they own and use them in the game, but they are also planning on releasing the starter set of the rules with miniatures from different manufacturers to show players what’s being produced these days and also allow players to get a game going quickly whilst they start designing their own armies.
Join us as we check out the M.T.S Shipping Containers and accessories from Scathach Games, a UK based company specialising in laser-cut terrain for games like Warhammer 40k, Necromunda, and Infinity. Scathach Games contacted us a while ago asking if we’d review some of their terrain, and kindly sent over the products below. First we’ll have a look at the parts included in the various kits, and then what we can build out of them. As you can see below, they’ll definitely be handy for modern and sci-fi skirmish and wargames.
What follows is a thematic story “review” based on my recent solitaire session of Warfighter by DVG. Warfighter is a card-based tactical game of modern warfare, focusing on smaller groups of soldiers who are undertaking missions through enemy territory.
Stronghold is an asymmetrical two-player game. One player is the Defender, attempting to defend his medieval fortress. The other player is the Invader. Her horde of goblins, orcs, and trolls are trying to take the fortress from the Defender. Stronghold is a long and involved game, so I will not even attempt to list and explain every rule, action, and phase. Instead, let me just give you an overview of what the game feels like.
Adventure Land brings players to a medieval fantasy realm filled with swords, magical herbs, and deadly monsters. Players send their team of adventurers across the land, using strategy and smarts to score points by collecting valuable items, defending cities, and defeating evil.
In Thunder & Lightning, you’re playing in a grid made up of columns and rows. At the beginning of the game, Thor and Loki each draw nine cards from their draw deck.
It's time once again for you to place your evening in our large, spindly hands. Following on from Arboretum and Pasta With Trees, why not invite your friends over for a game of Celestia and a fluffy frittata?
Lovely push-your-luck mechanics? Check! Little cardboard boat? Check! Vegetables? Check!
We're not sure who'd have a checklist like that, but if you do, we should hang out. Get in touch!
Here’s how Greedy Greedy Goblins works: 2-4 players all want to be the first to reach 100 gold coins. Between these players are a circle of mineshafts. Between the shafts is a giant pile of tiles. Running your hand across these tiles makes a sound like a wave pouring over a pebble beach, but don’t start daydreaming! Daydreams are for winners.
When it comes to great family games, one doesn’t have to look much farther than Splendor to find an award-winning example. A gem of a game (pun intended) from publisher Space Cowboys, Splendor sucked people in with its very accessible rules and entertaining engine building mechanics. We actually reviewed Splendor a while ago, and have played it quite a bit since then. Today, we are going to take a look at the tablet version of this popular board game and see how this gateway game translates to the digital realm.
Feed the Shoggoth! is a fast paced card game where you play a cult faction leader trying to earn victory points by sacrificing minions to the hungry Shoggoth. Sounds easy right? Wrong!
Red Publica 2230AD is all about set collection and trading. The game works by building an increasingly complex tableau of cards in front of you that give extra options and more importantly victory points. To build these cards you need to collect sets from one of two decks, races and sciences. You'll gain new cards at the end of every turn but to get the cards you need you're going to have to trade with other players.
Welcome back once again to Saturday. I hope it's treating you well.Lots of things to look at today, so let's just get right to it.Today's articles include: 7 Ronin, Adventure Land, Karuba, Warehouse 5
Welcome back once again to Saturday. I hope it's treating you well.
Lots of things to look at today, so let's just get right to it.
Today's articles include: 7 Ronin, Adventure Land, Karuba, Warehouse 51, Aether Captains, Rattle Battle Grab The Loot, Istanbul, Wings for the Baron, Shenanigans The Musical Kickstarter, Brass, Star Realms, Star Vixen from Kabuki Models, and Mage Wars Academy.
Warehouse 51, designed by Bruno Faidutti, Sergio Halaban, and Andre Zats, focuses mostly on a closed-economy auction. The game is essentially a series of auctions where players try to accumulate sets to score the most points at the end of the game.
Relics are one of four colors and three different values. Players earn points at the end of the game for having the most or second-most value of each color. Additional points are scored for having sets that include each color. However, some relics will turn out to be fakes and not counted in the final tally. Managing limited money and using a small amount of hidden information to your advantage is key to successfully purchasing the best collection.
In Aether Captains, one player takes on the role of the Commander and controls a powerful navy zeppelin (or two), while the rest of the players control one of the Sky Captains. The Zeppelins are massive, lumbering warships with multiple hull sections that will fly around the skies of Arkady, punishing the nimble sky captain ships. The other players, each controlling a specific faction and three of these smaller ships, will be tasked with not only damaging the Zeppelin(s), but also completing a specific objective.
You are the captain of your very own pirate ship. However, you are not famous yet and your ship is still somewhat mediocre. But that’s OK because it’s time to go on an adventure. Each game of Rattle Battle is played out over a number of rounds. Each round, divided into two stages. The first stage is the sea battle (quest stage), where players go out on an adventure that is resolved by dropping dice into the box lid, fighting other ships, and collecting loot.
In the second stage, players head back to port to upgrade their galleons, hire crew, and maybe buy some victory points as they prepare for the next round of plundering. After a few trips out to sea, the pirate with the most victory points will be the winner!
Nothing captures the heartbeat of a city like the local market. It’s a blur of sights and movement, a well of sounds and smells. The movement of vendors and shoppers melds with the colors of the food and wares sold by the hawkers. The haggling and advertising creates a relentless murmur that’s impossible to escape. It can be overwhelming to some, but not for you. This is your territory. This is your home. It’s where you’re most comfortable. It’s probably why you became a merchant in the first place. But simply being a merchant isn’t enough for you. You want to be the best and you’re out to prove it. Though it would be a lot easier if the competition weren’t so tough.
In Wings for the Baron, players are German plane manufacturers during the Great War competing for government contracts by creating effective designs. But with a war on your struggle isn’t just against rival companies, but also a deteriorating economy. One can be just as cutthroat as the other!
Shenanigans is a light hidden role and deduction party game. You are all members of an orchestra, along with your classical instrument of choice, but one player is the artiste, who is obviously a pompous prick as another player is the Manager and their job is eject the Artiste from the orchestra.
OH MY GOODNESS! Just one week on from Paul tackling Through the Ages, Quinns is cracking open another board game classic. Brass is an incredibly nuanced game of carving out the industries of England's industrial revolution that dates all the way back to 2007, when Elvis Presley was on the radio and Vietnam was all anyone could talk about.
Will we recommend this game? Will Quinns have anything informative to say about England? Click play, and find out.
Earlier this year, Kabuki Models (Now Kabuki Studios) released the Star Vixen as the first model in their new Cal 75 Range. Being a rather big Star Wars fan that has so far missed out on every Knight Models Star Wars piece that has popped up on ebay at a reasonable price, she was an insta-buy.
Mage Wars Academy features a more streamlined ruleset and is quicker to play than its big brother Mage Wars Arena. But that doesn’t translate to this version being less fun.
CMON has announced that they have acquired Sheriff of Nottingham from the Brazilian publisher, Gapalagos Jogos. In the game, players are looking to smuggle goods past the titular Sheriff. The Sheriff
CMON has announced that they have acquired Sheriff of Nottingham from the Brazilian publisher, Gapalagos Jogos. In the game, players are looking to smuggle goods past the titular Sheriff. The Sheriff can only search so many wagons at a time, so you don't want to get caught with the illegal goods. However, there's plenty of legitimate things you can sell as well. Bluff your way past in order to make the biggest profit.
“CMON is excited to welcome such an esteemed title to our growing library and will continue to offer the game to fans worldwide,” says Chern Ann Ng, CEO of CMON. Sheriff of Nottingham will still be published in English worldwide by Arcane Wonders. As such, the two companies will be working together to bring the game to everyone worldwide. “Arcane Wonders is excited to be working with CoolMiniOrNot,” says Bryan Pope, CEO of Arcane Wonders. “This new relationship will provide even better support of the game and fans will see some great expansions in the future.” So if you're looking for not-English versions of the game, you'll want to talk with CMON about it (specifically Carol. She's really nice. I've met her. You'll be fine.).
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