Countdown to to Gen Con 8 Days Out; A look at Golem Arcana

 Board Games, Featured, Gen Con 2014, Hairbrained Schemes, Kickstarter  Comments Off on Countdown to to Gen Con 8 Days Out; A look at Golem Arcana
Aug 042014
 

 

Only 8 days left, are you excited yet? Well yesterday we discussed a Dropzone Commander. A game that when it came on the scene it hit the ground running and hasn’t stopped since. Today I’d like to talk about Golem Arcana from Hairbrained Schemes. Hairbrained Schemes is a small group of passionate game developers lead by Jordan Weisman, complete list here.

 

Duranni colossus

Golem Arcan is a new game that could potentially hold some keys to the future of gaming. Let’s start with the basics. Golem Arcana is a miniatures board game that is striving to incorporate the use of smart devices. I did get a look at the miniatures at Origins and the are excellent. Beautifully sculpted with dynamic poses and painted with vibrant colors, what you would expect from an average to an above average hobby painter. While the miniatures are an important part of the game I don’t believe they are the focus.

 

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Guardians’ Chronicles in August From Iello

 Board Games, Iello  Comments Off on Guardians’ Chronicles in August From Iello
Jul 302014
 

 

GardiansCroniclesGuardians’ Chronicles

$69.99 SRP

 

Guardians Chronicles is a superhero-themed miniatures game in which you play as one of the members of the Liberty Patrol or as the group’s archnemesis, Professor Skarov.

 

To set up, the Skarov player arranges the nine double-sided game board tiles into a 3×3 grid, with his control room in the center space. Each player takes her character sheet, miniature and 7-10 action cards. These characters enter the grid on one of the side tiles and need to advance around the square – confronting minions and traps along the way – in order to achieve whatever objectives are in place for this game, such as thwarting a nuclear missile attack.

 

Each turn, the hero players play 1-2 action cards; each card shows both a special power and modifiers to that hero’s inherent statistics – movement, attack, defense and mental – and the played cards can be used for either the special power or the modifiers. Each hero player has four actions in a round, and the players can play in any order they wish; the actions are move across the base, attack an enemy, or use a special power on a played action card or the hero’s character sheet.

 

Professor Skarov then receives a number of action points based partially on the heroes’ actions, and he uses these to activate himself, his minions, or his robots, with these figures also performing move, attack, or special power actions.

 

As the players complete (or fail to complete) objectives, the newspaper’s report on who did what, and the sum of those reports determine who comes out on top.

2-5 players

Ages 14+

Preview Blue Sun Expansion for Firefly from GF9 at Gen Con

 Board Games, Firefly: The Board Game, Gale Force Nine  Comments Off on Preview Blue Sun Expansion for Firefly from GF9 at Gen Con
Jul 292014
 

firefly gameFirefly: Blue Sun Expansion

$39.99 SRP

 

Firefly: The Game –  Blue Sun brings a whole new level of danger, adventure, and exploration to the ‘Verse. Leave familiar space lanes behind and strike out for the Rim! New challenges and rewards await captains enterprising and daring enough to brave the frontier.

 

 

 

 

firefly game in da box  Blue Sun includes new Supply Cards, Nav Cards, and Jobs, as well as Story and    Setup Cards to diversify your gameplay. Two additional Reaver Cutters and new    rules put the ‘Verse on high alert!

 

 

Jul 272014
 

Golem Arcana Base Game Set 

$79.99 SRP

base game

Golem Arcana is a point-based army building game. Each player fields an army consisting of Golems, Knights (sorcerers who “pilot” the Golems), Ancient Ones (powerful gods that might intervene on the army’s behalf), and Relics (powerful magical artifacts that can be carried and deployed by Golems), and each unit has special powers and capabilities. The key to victory is figuring out how to best combine these abilities to unleash havoc on the enemy.

 

The magic of the Bluetooth-powered Tabletop Digital interface (TDI) Stylus keeps the Golem Arcana App connected to the action on the gameboard. Players move their Golems and launch attacks by tapping the appropriate game pieces with the stylus.

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To Move:

• Tap the base of the Golem you want to move.

• Tap the square on the board you’d like to move to.

• The App calculates movement costs, reminds you of the appropriaterules when necessary, and handles any necessary record keeping.

 

To Launch an Attack:

• Tap the base of the Golem making the attack.

• Tap the base of the target.

• The App calculates line of sight, the chance to hit (automatically applyingall the relevant modifiers), and expected damage.

• Roll the dice. (Or have the App do it for you!)

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Munchkin more Munchkin is coming from Steve Jackson Games

 Munchkin, Steve Jackson Games  Comments Off on Munchkin more Munchkin is coming from Steve Jackson Games
Jul 162014
 

The ultimate Munchkin stocking stuffer! Do not concern yourself with the challenge of perfect gifting. We have taken care of it!

holidazedThumbHolidazed pack combining eleven new cards with four reprints from the hard-to-find Munchkin Holiday Surprise, a candy-themed Level counter, and six red-and-green festive 14mm dice! Not included: gratuitous exclamation points!!!!!

 

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Jul 162014
 

First I’m sorry this took so long, but I had a lot of unforeseen problems after Origins that prevented me from taking the time to break this down into three parts. For example flooding put our internet provider under water, that makes the whole social media thing pretty difficult.  There were other weather problems but no access to the internet was the worst. But Randall and I did talk at Origins game Fair about nearly everything Catalyst related.  Since Randall had so much to say it was necessary to break it into smaller segments.

  • Sprawl Gangers
  • Battletech and SR box sets
  • Valiant, The Duke, and Hostile Takeover

Part one is about the current trends with Sprawl Gangers. The Skirmish Game that takes place in the Shadowrun Universe. We do chat about Valiant briefly but we come back to it later.

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Folklore the Affliction Sneak Peek from Origins 2014

 Board Games, Featured, Folklore the Affliction, Origins 2014, Twinfire Productions  Comments Off on Folklore the Affliction Sneak Peek from Origins 2014
Jun 192014
 

folkloreWhile at Origins I took some time with TwinFire Production and looked in  detail at Folklore the Affliction.   Folklore the Affliction is a Kickstarter project scheduled for the fall of 2014.   The game is a classic horror storytelling game that uses nuances of table top role playing with board game mechanics.   We did this from the Crown with only natural light, I think it kind of adds to the theme of the the game.

 

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Jun 172014
 

folkloreAt Origins I had a chance to sit down with Twinfire Productions and chat about their game Folklore the Affliction.  Folklore the Affliction is a classic horror cooperative RPG story board game that will be on Kickstarter this fall.  I even had the chance to see the greens for the miniatures.

 

Nino and Will spent a great deal of time sharing their prototype with me, make sure you check out the other videos.

You can visit them at Folklore the Affliction,  read about the game on Board Game Geek.

Forged in Fire Signing with Bryan Pope

 Arcane Wonders, CCG, Featured, Gen Con 2014, Mage Wars, Origins 2014  Comments Off on Forged in Fire Signing with Bryan Pope
Jun 152014
 

Warning the exhibit hall is quite loud. Bryan Pope , producer and creator of the smash hit Mage Wars, from Arcane Wonders shows his support to Through Gamer Goggles by signing Copies of Forged in Fire. These copies are available as a pledge on Through Gamer Goggles Kickstarter you can find it here.     I have to put a special thanks out to Arcane Wonders for making this happen – especially Bryan Pope.

Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Game this August from Mantic Games

 Mantic Games  Comments Off on Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Game this August from Mantic Games
Jun 112014
 

mars attacksMars Attacks: The Miniatures Game

$79.99 SRP

 

Mars Attacks: The Miniatures Game is the game of over-the-top violence played with highly detailed colored plastic figurines, where one player commands the Martian invaders and the other commands the brave human survivors and scattered US soldiers.

 

Follow our heroes during the battle of Greenville with fun playable scenarios, each with their own objectives: eliminate the enemy, capture the intelligence and escape the Martian invaders!

 

Mars Attacks is full of wacky events and cinematic action made possible by the simple set of game mechanics that are very easy to learn, and by the game’s Event Card deck.

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