I really think there needs to be more focus on WWI. Much of the world as we know it today comes from that conflict. Thankfully, there are games like The Grizzled. Speaking of which, CMON Limited has announced that they are purchasing the game from Sweet Games. Along with that, they've announced a new expansion is in the works. It's called The Grizzled: Armistice Edition and it will add a campaign mechanic to the game.
I really think there needs to be more focus on WWI. Much of the world as we know it today comes from that conflict. Thankfully, there are games like The Grizzled. Speaking of which, CMON Limited has announced that they are purchasing the game from Sweet Games. Along with that, they've announced a new expansion is in the works. It's called The Grizzled: Armistice Edition and it will add a campaign mechanic to the game.
From the announcement:
CMON Limited announced it has acquired the rights to the critically acclaimed board game The Grizzled from Sweet Games. Designed by Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez with art by the late Tignous, The Grizzled originally debuted as Les Poilus in 2015 as published by Sweet Games, with CMON’s English edition premiering the same year.
The Grizzled has appeared in over eight languages around the world, and, in 2016, spawned a successful expansion, The Grizzled: At Your Orders!. The designers, Fabien and Juan, will continue to work with CMON to provide fans of the game more content and enjoyment for the life of the game. An expansion, The Grizzled: Armistice Edition, is currently in development, and will add a campaign mechanic, further expanding an already beloved title, giving more structure to the story of friends surviving World War I.
“Sweet Games did an amazing job bringing Les Poilus to the gaming community, and CMON was proud to introduce the English language version to a wider audience,” says David Preti, CMON Limited’s Creative Director. “Now, CMON is happy to carry on The Grizzled’s legacy, helping it grow and expand to new heights.”
Fabian Riffaud explains, "The success of The Grizzled, especially in the United States, is thanks to CMON. Naturally, entrusting them with the game and the future release, The Grizzled: Armistice Edition, was an easy choice.” Juan Rodriquez adds, “CMON supports us in our work and shares our enthusiasm."
The Grizzled was recently recommended for the 2017 Kennerspiel des Jahres. The base game and first expansion are currently available for purchase, and more news on The Grizzled: Armistice Edition will be available in the future.
The "busy day" at Gen Con is in full swing. I'm running around like crazy trying to get photos of things. What you're reading now is past me telling you about current me. But past me knows that current you also wants to read about some game reviews. So let's get to it.
Today we have: Scythe, Medici, Evolution: Climate, Kraftwagen, Bear Valley, Oh My Goods, Here, Kitty, Kitty, The Grizzled, Bureaunauts, Cigar Box Battle Mats, Viticulture, Euphoria, Old School Tactical, Star Bastards, and Ember.
The "busy day" at Gen Con is in full swing. I'm running around like crazy trying to get photos of things. What you're reading now is past me telling you about current me. But past me knows that current you also wants to read about some game reviews. So let's get to it.
Today we have: Scythe, Medici, Evolution: Climate, Kraftwagen, Bear Valley, Oh My Goods, Here, Kitty, Kitty, The Grizzled, Bureaunauts, Cigar Box Battle Mats, Viticulture, Euphoria, Old School Tactical, Star Bastards, and Ember.
Bear Valley is a push-your-luck exploration game for two to six players. Players are trying to reach the destination camp. The first player there wins.
Your goal in Oh My Goods! is to create the most valuable production chains possible. You will do this by constructing buildings that produce goods which can be sold to fund the construction of further production buildings and so on and so on. That’s the idea anyway. Knowing what needs to be done is different than actually doing it, so let’s get into the nitty gritty.
For some undisclosed, insane reason you’re actually trying to collect the most feline critters in Here, Kitty, Kitty! Why you would want to do this is beyond me. Then again, you’re not just any old stereotypical cat lady taking in every random stray. No, you want to try to collect as many from the same litter as possible. Because, breeding? You know the old idiom, “Keep no more cats than can catch mice?” Fur-get about it!
In The Grizzled, players attempt to complete missions while avoiding threats and hard knocks that can impact the team’s ability to complete the mission. On their turn, players will play cards from their hands to no man’s land, ideally without adding a third matching threat (symbol) to the board. Players can withdraw from the mission at any time, but the number of cards that players have in their hand at the end of the round will affect the amount of threats added to the deck.
In Bureaunauts, players are racing to try to complete as many of their career goals as possible. Each player is a peg in the galactic corporate ladder and they must shrewdly use their photons (the game’s currency) to file paperwork, explore the galaxy and fight the denizens that inhabit it. As players climb the ladder, they will be promoted and gain influence with the department heads of the corporation, who will eventually determine who the new galactic CEO is… and also the winner of the game.
Cigar Box Battles is a company based in Nashville, Tennessee in the United States, and is run by Cory Ring and Chris Ward. They started the company in 2014, with a goal of letting wargamers game on tables that were beautiful to look at, but also easy to store and transport (no poster tubes!) This would this enable gamers to easily change the terrain over which they fought, rather than being stuck with a single gaming table. In addition, they wanted gamers to be able to place hills and other undulating terrain under the mat, thus making the final table look more realistic – this meant that the mats had to be produced in a material which was both flexible and heavy enough to drape pleasingly over whatever gamers placed underneath it.
Board games come in all shapes and sizes and in various types, usually involving hunting something, trading something or running away from something. The subject of oenology isn’t one that immediately springs to mind when listing subjects for games, but Stonemaier beg to differ. Viticulture is just that – a worker placement board game covering the many and varied aspects of vintnery and sommelliery.
Controlling the masses under the oppressive heel of authority isn’t as easy as you may think – a notion captured rather well by Euphoria from Stonemaier Games. In this dystopian worker placement game, you play the role of a middle manager – a term I’ve been described as in the past which I took considerable objection to – who’s taken upon themselves to take control of the city of Euphoria. Doing so requires the players to influence the four areas of the board to their advantage whilst denying their opponents the same luxury, represented by stars. Place all 10 of your stars and you win the game.
When I think of “old school” wargames, I conjure up fond memories of playing Panzer Leader on a tiny table in a friend’s home when we were in junior high school. At the time this experience was entirely new to me, and the idea of moving beyond the toys in our Guns of Navarone playsets to an “adult” game of WWII warfare with hexes and units felt almost taboo, and therefore irresistible. Bleeding through the combat on the map board was a realism that couldn’t be denied. It was if the futures of real men inside the cardboarOld School Tactical featuredd pieces hung in the balance while two undisciplined 13-year-olds determined their fates... Follow the link for the full review!
I'm a huge WWI buff. To me, no other event of the 20th century more-defined the world we currently live in than that. So I love games based on it, as it helps others remember that the conflict existed (as it's often overshadowed by other events). The Grizzled is one such game. Now, the expansion, At Your Orders, is available.
I'm a huge WWI buff. To me, no other event of the 20th century more-defined the world we currently live in than that. So I love games based on it, as it helps others remember that the conflict existed (as it's often overshadowed by other events). The Grizzled is one such game. Now, the expansion, At Your Orders, is available.
The main goal of the game remains the same: Survive! However, Mission cards are added in, bringing in many new elements. At the start of a round, the Team Leader draws two missions. They keep one, while the other goes back on top of the deck (you're not getting out of doing the mission that easily). The Missions put new rules on the encounter players are about to head out on. This might be a good thing. This might be a bad thing. Sometimes, players must complete certain goals in order to discard the Mission card. As such, it makes the game a bit tougher, as it'll dictate more which cards you'll want to play from your hand. There's three different difficulties of Missions, so you can tailor your game to how challenging you want it to be. There's also special rules for two-player and even single-player versions of the game. So even if your whole gaming group doesn't show up, you can still get some great WWI action in.
Saturdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Wooooooooooooo! When you're reading this, I'm hopefully using my Battle Chef in combat.
But that's me.
For you who's here reading the site, I've got your Review Roundup for you.
Today we have: Hail Caesar, Force on Force, Codenames, Five Tribes, Legends of Andor The Star Shield, Ninja All-Stars, The Grizzled: At Your Orders, Aviary, Booty, Catan: Explorers and Pirates, Allegiance: A Realm Divided, and The Golfing Dead.
Saturdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! Wooooooooooooo! When you're reading this, I'm hopefully using my Battle Chef in combat.
But that's me.
For you who's here reading the site, I've got your Review Roundup for you.
Today we have: Hail Caesar, Force on Force, Codenames, Five Tribes, Legends of Andor The Star Shield, Ninja All-Stars, The Grizzled: At Your Orders, Aviary, Booty, Catan: Explorers and Pirates, Allegiance: A Realm Divided, and The Golfing Dead.
Wargames rules, it seems, are somewhat like buses: You seem to spend ages waiting for a set to come along, and then two or three arrive at the same time. Last year (2010) this was true of Napoleonic rules, this year it’s the turn of Ancients, with several new Ancients rulesets being published at approximately the same time.
One of these is Hail Caesar, the latest offering from Mr. Priestly and Warlord Games. As you may expect, following on from the successful publication of Black Powder, these rules follow roughly the same format, and can indeed be seen as the Ancients ‘version’ of these earlier rules – or you could alternatively view these rules as a progression from Rick Priestley’s earlier work on Warmaster Ancients – either viewpoint has it’s merits.
Force on Force (FoF) are the new Wargames rules from Osprey Publishing. They are actually the second edition of the rules, the first edition being published in 2009.
This new edition of the rules is actually an amalgamation of the Force on Force first edition with Ambush Alley, the first rule set produced by Ambush Alley Games.
The Grizzled At Your Orders is a new expansion for The Grizzled, which is published by Cool Mini or Not. It plays 1-5 players and will be one of the toughest games you'll ever play but you'll want to play it again and again!
Your task in Aviary is to observe a number of birds with specific characteristics according to three assignment cards which determine points. But instead of honey seeds and binoculars you’ll be using good old fashioned trick-taking to prove that several birds in your hand are actually pretty useful at catching more of them in the bush.
Booty is an “I divide, you decide” set collection game for three to six players. Players are pirates dividing the spoils of their campaigns, and the player with the most valuable haul at the end of the game wins.
Each player takes the flag markers of one color. The islands are laid in the center of the table, and each player is dealt two Legacy tiles. Next, cards are dealt to the center of the table (one face-down, and three cards for each player in the game). Randomly assign player order.
Explorers and Pirates builds off the original Catan formula; you know, roll your dice, collect resources, beg for trades, build stuff. This big ol’ box adds a whole sea of opportunity, focusing heavily on exploration. Also, a bit of pirating.
In Allegiance, each player takes control of one of ten different heroes. Each hero has seven unique powers, a weapon and suit of armor (usually), and possibly some special abilities and cards.
During the game, players will be drawing cards from 3 shared decks (Basic Unit, Elite Unit, and Action) and using those to summon troops to battle. Each unit will has its own attack power, health, and possibly some special abilities. Players will be using a combination of hero powers, action cards, and units to attack their opponents. The goal in Allegiance is to reduce your opponent’s health to zero.
Golf is an old game we’ve played at home with a deck of face cards since we were kids. Maybe some of you have even played a “round” of it recently. We’ve taken this old classic and put it through the apocalyptic ringer.
Aaaaaah... Saturday. What a glorious day. What cannot be achieved on such a day as Saturday? Well, I know I can be working on various articles for the site. Hopefully you're getting in some gaming, like I am, too.
At the moment, though, we've got ourselves the Review Roundup.
In today's feature we have: Vikings Gone Wild, Blood Rage: Mystics of Midgard Expansion, Codinca, Blood Rage: Gods of Asgard Expansion, Imperial Settlers: Atlanteans Expansion, King's Forge: Queen's Jubilee Expansion, Talon, 13 Days, 51st State, The Grizzled: At Your Orders, One Night Ultimate Vampire, Area 1851, Tesla vs. Edison: Powering Up, No Thank You Evil, Valeria Card Kingdoms, Legends of the American Frontier, Jail Break, Adventure Land, Anachrony, Android: Mainframe, Shogunate, T.I.M.E Stories: Under the Mask, Aya, Porta Nigra, The Gallerist, Doctor Panic, and Knit Wit.
Aaaaaah... Saturday. What a glorious day. What cannot be achieved on such a day as Saturday? Well, I know I can be working on various articles for the site. Hopefully you're getting in some gaming, like I am, too.
At the moment, though, we've got ourselves the Review Roundup.
In today's feature we have: Vikings Gone Wild, Blood Rage: Mystics of Midgard Expansion, Codinca, Blood Rage: Gods of Asgard Expansion, Imperial Settlers: Atlanteans Expansion, King's Forge: Queen's Jubilee Expansion, Talon, 13 Days, 51st State, The Grizzled: At Your Orders, One Night Ultimate Vampire, Area 1851, Tesla vs. Edison: Powering Up, No Thank You Evil, Valeria Card Kingdoms, Legends of the American Frontier, Jail Break, Adventure Land, Anachrony, Android: Mainframe, Shogunate, T.I.M.E Stories: Under the Mask, Aya, Porta Nigra, The Gallerist, Doctor Panic, and Knit Wit.
Queen’s Jubilee is the first expansion for King’s Forge. It has new craft cards and some new gather cards too. It adds variety without adding complexity. And even makes the game play quicker!
In Area 1851, you are one of the area’s top five Tinkerers and you’re looking to prove your grit to the citizens of this Wild West town.
Each turn, players have to deal with and negotiate random events in the area, then continue the turn under those circumstances, by drawing Tinker cards to fill their hand up to five cards, then rolling dice to determine their resources for that turn. Players then spend those resources to build new Gadgets or augment their existing Gadgets with Modifications. These Gadgets and Modifications can then be Delivered to the townsfolk for Reputation. In addition players can choose to scrap cards from their hand, and pull them out of circulation.
The Powering Up! expansion takes Tesla vs. Edison gameplay to a whole new level by infusing exciting new systems and introducing both a sixth player and a solitaire variant! Fans of the game will delight in exploring:
Building a headquarters. What is a good electric company without state-of-the-art facilities such as a laboratory, works, office, and studio? Each option offers different bonuses and rewards to the enterprising player!
Valeria: Card Kingdoms is a tableau-building game for 1-5 players and will feel familiar to deck-building fans. The cards you buy can work for you on your turn and on all the other player turns, as well. On your turn, roll two dice and activate citizen cards with the result of each individual die and the sum of both dice. Other players will simultaneously activate their citizen cards based off of the roll. Next, take two actions from the following: slay a monster, recruit a citizen, buy a domain, or take 1 of any resource. The player with the most victory points at the end wins the game.
Legends of the American Frontier is an adventure game for 3 to 7 players in which you live the life of a newly-minted citizen in the colonial days of America, starting just after the Revolutionary War in the 1780s and running through the early 1800s.
Jail Break is played on a randomly setup, modular board. Consisting of 24 cards, the jail can be laid out in a 6×4 grid, or really into any shape the players would like. Changing the configuration of the jail can lead to a different experience in each game.
Players will each have a mugshot card that shows their special ability. During the game, players will be able to move throughout the prison, gathering resources and potentially attacking other players. Each turn a card will trigger a random event that could be positive or negative, and at the end of the turn, a guard will be moved to a new location of the player’s choice. The first player to successfully escape is the winner.
Adventure Land is a bit of an abstract fantasy adventure game. There are three different adventures (scenarios) included in the box, each of which has their own complexity level and win conditions. The basics of the game remain the same no matter which adventure you are playing.
In Adventure Land, players will be moving their heroes around a 10×11 gridded game board. As your adventurers move, they will be collecting items and companions to use when they try to defeat the game’s fog monsters. While each of the three adventures has their own unique win conditions, many require players to collect a certain type of item(s) to earn victory points. At the conclusion of the adventure, the player with the most victory points will be the winner.
Each player in Anachrony commands one of the games four Paths. During each round, players will be collecting resources, workers, and scientific breakthroughs in the hopes of advancing their society. Anachrony is a two-tiered worker placement game, meaning that players will be taking actions on a shared main board, while also building up their own player board with actions and special powers.
For you historians out there, Android: Mainframe is a reimplementation of a game called Bauhaus. That probably doesn’t mean much to most of you, since it was released only in Spain and only 17 people have it marked as “owned” on BGG. Allow me to explain.
No, there is too much. Let me sum up. The goal of Mainframe is to capture “nodes” (squares) on the board by surrounding them with “partitions” (little blue walls) with your Access Point Tokens inside. You only get points at the end of the game if your enclosed zones contain only your own tokens, and no other players. The bigger the zone, the more points your access tokens score.
Shogunate pits players against each other as heads of rival clans in a power play maneuver seeking the emperor’s throne. You’ll need to deceive others as to your true intentions, deduce that of your enemies’ and even eliminate other claimants.
In this quick, social deduction card game each player secretly receives a clan affiliation and five action cards. Cards corresponding to the five clans are then randomly lined up on the table. The goal is to scheme your clan’s way to the head of the succession line by the end of the game. The twist is that someone else gets to resolve the actions you play!
If you read my review of A Prophecy of Dragons, you'll know I was disappointed with the previous adventure for TIME Stories, the time travelling cooperative game which I still believe is one of the best cooperative board game experiences on the market. Thankfully, I am happy to say that Under the Mask is a return to form, a fun puzzle and adventure that gets everything just right.
TIME Stories is a mystery and as such your experience will rely on not knowing the puzzles ahead so I'm going to attempt to keep this review as spoiler free as possible. However, there will be some very mild spoilers from here on, so if you want the Under the Mask to be a complete surprise then come back later.
Imagine someone had created a cooperative board game out of domino rally. There you go, you've just imagined Aya and to be fair I could leave the review right there.
In Aya you and your friends have discovered a new land and are travelling inland via river, exploring the untouched wilderness and photographing the local wildlife and breathe taking scenery.
You are a builder in ancient Rome. But you want to be a Master Builder, known as the greatest in the Empire. To claim that title, you’ll work to construct four Roman structures, including the titular city gate, the Amphitheatre, the Basilica, and the city wall, faster and better than your opponents.
It’s a perfect economic strategy board game for all art lovers – manage your own art gallery and became successful and internationally well-known art dealer! You have to do a lot of work to achieve that – make promotions for pieces of art and artists themselves, buy and sell in the international market, bring visitors to your exhibitions, sign contracts and of course hire assistants, who will help you to cope with all this work. Develop your own business-strategy and become the richest and the most famous Gallerist! We are happy to offer you a board game review. Designed by Vital Lacerda, artist is Ian O’Toole, published in 2015 by Eagle-Gryphon Games, Fire on Board Jogos and Giochix.it.
It's here. Doctor Panic, the first co-op game to ever feature a whoopie cushion, or a hairnet, or a needle and thread, is now available in shops. Best of all, it's every bit as dumb as advertised!
There's never been a game that demanded SU&SD's attention more. Time for us to turn on the bright lights, disinfect our mouths and begin the delicate operation... of the review.
In (almost!) five years of running Shut Up & Sit Down we’ve always put the game first. We’ve fretted about player counts and waxed lyrical about themes. We’ve snapped apart mechanics like so many Lego bricks. So today, I hope you guys will indulge me in putting something else first.
Look. At. This. Flipping. Box.
I mean that literally. Knit Wit, the new game from Pandemic creator Matt Leacock, is opened with a flip-top magnetic catch at one end. But we’re just getting started.
Last year CMON Inc. brought us the English version of The Grizzled, a WWI-themed card game of squad survival. It's right in my wheelhouse for favorite types of games, as it's quick to set up and play, has some cool artwork, and the theme being WWI I really like. Well, now I'm going to be able to get even more, as CMON Inc will be publishing the expansion, At Your Orders, for US audiences.
Last year CMON Inc. brought us the English version of The Grizzled, a WWI-themed card game of squad survival. It's right in my wheelhouse for favorite types of games, as it's quick to set up and play, has some cool artwork, and the theme being WWI I really like. Well, now I'm going to be able to get even more, as CMON Inc will be publishing the expansion, At Your Orders, for US audiences.
This new set, originally published by Sweet Games, adds in several new options for play. Starting off, there's 1 and 2 player variants. You also get cardboard cut-outs of the solders in The Grizzled. There's also new missions which can dictate specific resolution conditions. Added to that, players might be forced to make a Last Stand or Final Assault, where the game will certainly come to an end, in victory or not!
Expect to see The Grizzled: At Your Orders on store shelves later this year.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Whether you're going out to a party or staying in, celebrate the holiday with some spooky-themed gaming. At least, that'd be my suggestion.
But how do you know what will and won't be a good game? You read a review, of course! And we've got a whole new batch for you here today.
They include: Blood Rage, The King is Dead, D&D Miniatures White Dracolich Miniature,Battle Foam P.A.C.K 432 Molle Army Bag, Apocalypse Chaos, Conflict of Heroes – Awakening the Bear Second Edition, Brother Vinni Minis, The Grizzled, Pandemic Legacy, Bright Future, Nautilus Industry, Warband Board Game, Stealing Mona Lisa, The Batman Miniatures Game, Isle of Trains, and Sneaky Cards.
Happy Halloween, everyone! Whether you're going out to a party or staying in, celebrate the holiday with some spooky-themed gaming. At least, that'd be my suggestion.
But how do you know what will and won't be a good game? You read a review, of course! And we've got a whole new batch for you here today.
They include: Blood Rage, The King is Dead, D&D Miniatures White Dracolich Miniature,Battle Foam P.A.C.K 432 Molle Army Bag, Apocalypse Chaos, Conflict of Heroes – Awakening the Bear Second Edition, Brother Vinni Minis, The Grizzled, Pandemic Legacy, Bright Future, Nautilus Industry, Warband Board Game, Stealing Mona Lisa, The Batman Miniatures Game, Isle of Trains, and Sneaky Cards.
When a game promises “politics and power struggles in the dark Arthurian Britain” and only eight actions per player, per game, the money flies out of my wallet. The promise of simple game mechanics that belie a deeper, strategic experience are nearly always a major draw for me. The King is Dead delivers on these counts... Follow the link to read the full review of this offering from Osprey Publishing!
There are few things more terrifying than an undead dragon, and this is exactly what the most recent Dungeons and Dragons miniatures set brings us in the Rage of Demons Premium Figure – a gargantuan White Dracolich. We’ve already reviewed what you can expect to find in the rest of the Rage of Demons set, and it’s topped off by this impressive monster which is available separately to the standard boosters for around £33 (or $30-$40). Join us as we unbox this pre-painted beast from WizKids and take a closer look…
Welcome to our review of the P.A.C.K 432 Molle Army Bag, our second review of the cases available from Battle Foam designed for safely storing and transporting wargaming miniatures. We’ve previously reviewed the P.A.C.K 720 and Battle Foam have kindly sent us its smaller brother the P.A.C.K 432 to test out. The bag itself is priced at £60 (or $77.99), and we have filled it with a set of foam trays specifically cut to fit Warhammer 40k Space Marine miniatures. This foam Space Marine Kit for the P.A.C.K. 432 is priced at £45.60 (or $56.99).
When it comes to original board games on the market today, you’d be hard pressed to find an experience more unique than a Legacy game. Published in 2011, Risk: Legacy turned tabletop gaming on its head by bringing a game to the market that players physically altered over time. Players wrote on, ripped up, and otherwise defaced their game during play, and they loved it. Who would have thought!
Since then, gamers have been chomping at the bit for the next legacy game to tickle our imaginations. Well fret no more because Risk: Legacy designer Rob Daviau has teamed up with Matt Leacock, the designer of the perennial best seller Pandemic (review here). What these two industry veterans have brought us is Pandemic: Legacy. A game played over twelve months where players must fight off the infections plaguing humanity. Can you save a world that will literally never be the same. Lets find out!
Pandemic: Legacy is a cooperative, campaign style game for 2-4 players that takes about 45-60 minutes to play. Pandemic: Legacy plays well with any number of players.
Bright Future is a card driven lite-RPG adventure. It is situated in an intriguing and immersive world where our civilization was destroyed after an all-out nuclear war. During the past decades the few remaining survivors are living a harsh life underground.
Nemo is gone, but his machines have opened a whole new world to us! The floors of Neptune’s seas lay open to us, ready to surrender their bounties. Equip and upgrade your mining machines, then guide them to the rich mineral seams beneath the ocean.Nautilus industries Control the supply of resources to bend the market to your will. Become the master of Nautilus Industries!
As a player in Warband: Against the Darkness, you control the warband armies of one of the great fantasy races of the Five Realms. Although the great races are currently working together in mutual defense, old habits and rivalries are hard to break and this isn’t in any way a co-operative game. It’s important that your kind emerges victorious from the war with more battle prestige and honor than your temporary and untrustworthy comrades. The player who collects the most Victory Points of one-upmanship for their race by the conclusion of the final battle against the Darkness – gained by advancing your soldiers in the warband, earning gold for your army captains, reconnoitering the combat fronts with your scouts, and defeating enemies on the battlefields – has achieved the greatest leadership glory and is declared the winner.
Warband: Against the Darkness is perfectly balanced in the design space between Euro and Ameri-style gameplay, combining strategic depth with an evocative fantasy theme and tense player conflict.
Stealing Mona Lisa is a casual “card drafting” card game that is for ages 5 and older, for 3 to 7 (yes 7!) players, that plays in about half an hour. Our many play testers have found it to be easy to learn and lots of fun!
The Batman Miniatures Game by Knight Models (the only site it has is an official forum, astonishingly) is a small skirmish game which seeks to lovingly translate the universe of street level DC comics heroes and villains to the tabletop. You will form a gang of 4-10 miniatures and fight to both take out enemy models and score objectives. And you get to do this with Batman, the Joker, and dozens of other iconic characters.
OH MY GOODNESS! Pandemic Legacy is upon us, daring men and women the world over to command the Centre for Disease Control for one grisly year. What components lie in wait in the box's secret compartments? What will your story be?
Of course we had to provide you with the earliest possible review. You won't find a more heartfelt, spoiler-free analysis anywhere.
Isle of trains, published by Dice Hate Me games, is number 5 in their Rabbit card game line. At its heart, it’s a game of resource collection and hand management for 2-4 players. Each player is a train operator, collecting freight, building train sections, and loading cargo in order to complete delivery contracts. It’s about the size of a deck of playing cards (50 cards, 6 contract cards) and takes around 15 minutes to play once you’ve gotten the rules down for a 2 player game.
If you’ve seen the movie “Pay It Forward,” you already have a pretty good idea of what Sneaky Cards is all about. The tagline for this game is “Play It Forward” and it’s similar in concept to the movie. The cards direct you to do nice things for others, engage with strangers, surprise people, and try things that you wouldn’t ordinarily try. After you complete your mission, you hope that others will continue your work by “Playing It Forward” and continuing the game. You are along for the ride in this interactive scavenger hunt that has you spreading joy, fun, and silliness throughout the world. If you’ve ever wanted to be a sneaky ninja of joy (kind of like Santa Claus, but without the reindeer), Sneaky Cards may be the game for you.
While WWII might get the majority of documentaries, movies, and games (video games, tabletop games, and other such), I always preferred learning about WWI. If I weren't doing TGN right now, I'd be finishing up a graduate degree in history, quite possibly studying WWI. It really was the first "modern war" as we know it. Machine guns. Tanks. Aircraft. All were used, either for the very first time, or highly refined and normalized into military tactics during the conflict. CoolMiniOrNot has just released the English version of The Grizzled, a cooperative card game that takes you into the trenches on the Western Front.
While WWII might get the majority of documentaries, movies, and games (video games, tabletop games, and other such), I always preferred learning about WWI. If I weren't doing TGN right now, I'd be finishing up a graduate degree in history, quite possibly studying WWI. It really was the first "modern war" as we know it. Machine guns. Tanks. Aircraft. All were used, either for the very first time, or highly refined and normalized into military tactics during the conflict. CoolMiniOrNot has just released the English version of The Grizzled, a cooperative card game that takes you into the trenches on the Western Front.
In The Grizzled, you and your other squad-mates must head out on missions, playing cards from your hand into the center pile. But if you end up with three of the same symbol out there, the mission is a failure. There's also plenty of danger out there, and you can end up being wounded. Too many wounds and you'll die. The object of the game is to uncover the peace monument before the memorial. If the memorial is uncovered, or if any of the players die, then everyone loses. I had a chance to play the game at the CMON Expo this past year and I really enjoyed it. It seems things are going along so nice and easy, but then it quickly crushes your soul (in a good way).
You can pick up your copy now from the CMON webshop.
While WWII is certainly more written and talked about, I personally favor studying WWI. If I were still working on an advanced history degree, I'd possibly be doing my research on it in some form. It really set up the entire 20th century and basically created warfare as we know it today. WWI isn't only under-represented in books, documentaries, and other popular culture. It's under-represented in gaming, too. Well, CoolMiniOrNot is looking to fix that last part a bit, by coming out with an English edition of The Grizzled.
While WWII is certainly more written and talked about, I personally favor studying WWI. If I were still working on an advanced history degree, I'd possibly be doing my research on it in some form. It really set up the entire 20th century and basically created warfare as we know it today. WWI isn't only under-represented in books, documentaries, and other popular culture. It's under-represented in gaming, too. Well, CoolMiniOrNot is looking to fix that last part a bit, by coming out with an English edition of The Grizzled.
The Grizzled is a cooperative card game where players are a squad of soldiers just looking to survive the war in the trenches on the Western front. Players must try and play out their entire hand of cards, which grows more difficult as time progresses. The final goal is to uncover the peace card before you uncover the memorial card.
Pre-orders are being taken now with the release of the game scheduled for the 10th.
Gen Con is fully underway now. The first day went by in a flash. The energy in the air was palpable. Everyone I've talked to agrees that this year is much busier than last. When the doors open, there's a huge rush as all the eager gamers head to the various booths in order to get the latest and greatest. One booth that attracted a lot of attention was CMON's. With lots of new games available for the first time, the line quickly wrapped around the whole double-booth that they have.
Gen Con is fully underway now. The first day went by in a flash. The energy in the air was palpable. Everyone I've talked to agrees that this year is much busier than last. When the doors open, there's a huge rush as all the eager gamers head to the various booths in order to get the latest and greatest. One booth that attracted a lot of attention was CMON's. With lots of new games available for the first time, the line quickly wrapped around the whole double-booth that they have.
Blood Rage, the viking board game from Eric Lang, sold out in just 2 hours. Everyone was looking to pick up a copy. The Grizzled, Queen's Necklace, and Rum & Bones were among the other games being snatched up left and right. And you saw all the Dark Age releases they had with them at the show.
Joe-Nathan, the video guy for CMON, put together a video showing off some highlights from the first day. Check it out.
Stay tuned for more from them at Gen Con. With all the special guests that are at the booth, you'll want to stop by and see what's going on. Don't miss out.
I told you that gaming companies were going to be putting up their announcements and such for Gen Con. Well, here's another one. This time around it's CMON. They've posted up both their pre-releases they'll have at the show, as well as the various events they've got planned.
I told you that gaming companies were going to be putting up their announcements and such for Gen Con. Well, here's another one. This time around it's CMON. They've posted up both their pre-releases they'll have at the show, as well as the various events they've got planned.
In terms of new releases, starting off there's the new edition of Queen's Necklace. After that, there's the cooperative WWI card game The Grizzled (got to try that one at CMON Expo. It's a great, little game). For Dark Age, the new Forsaken book, as well as a bunch of new models will be available. There will also be a limited number of copies of Blood Rage, The World of Smog: On Her Majesty’s Service, and Rum & Bones.
As for Events, the very popular Game Fest will be running, where you get points for playing various CMON games during the show. There will also be Build 'N' Play events for both Wrath of Kings and Dark Age. There's a Dark Age Immortals event that will happen on Saturday. Another event for Wrath of Kings will be the Wrath of Kings: Battle for the Empyrean Throne storyline event. Finally, for you Zombicide fans, there'll be the Trick & Track campaign event (they do love their stories, don't they?).
Announced at the GAMA Trade Show, the French game Les Poilus (first release in France in February 2015) is receiving an English translation and release in America as The Grizzled thanks to Sweet Games and CoolMiniOrNot. Les Poilus was designed by Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez, with art by Tignous, who was a victim of the tragic Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, France.
The Grizzled, whose tagline is "Can Friendship be stronger than War?", is a game of survival set in the trenches of World War I. Players must work together to survive the terrible conditions or everyone loses.
Announced at the GAMA Trade Show, the French game Les Poilus (first release in France in February 2015) is receiving an English translation and release in America as The Grizzled thanks to Sweet Games and CoolMiniOrNot. Les Poilus was designed by Fabien Riffaud and Juan Rodriguez, with art by Tignous, who was a victim of the tragic Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris, France.
The Grizzled, whose tagline is "Can Friendship be stronger than War?", is a game of survival set in the trenches of World War I. Players must work together to survive the terrible conditions or everyone loses.
Unique amongst games set during the World Wars, The Grizzled doesn't have players actively fighting. Instead, they take on the role of one of the Poilus, the French infantryman of WWI, and face the everyday trials and hardships these men suffered in the trenches.
In the game, these trials are represented as a deck with a Peace card at the bottom. Players must make it to Peace before their opposing Moral deck is depleted or any one player has faced too many hardships.
Stay tuned to TGN for future news and a more in depth look at The Grizzled.
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