Take a look at Love Letter from AEG. This will probably be a short look there is only about 20 components and that includes the bag. Love Letter won the best family game at Origins.
It’s an amazing Game
I was introduced to Love Letter at Origins 2014, where it won an award for best family game. Honestly if it weren’t for Jason Hardy I wouldn’t have given the game a first look. I mean what kind of game has only 16 cards? Well Love Letter does, and it does it well.
The object of the game is that each player is trying to have a love letter delivered to the princess who’s grieving the loss of the queen. The princess wants nothing to do with society and has locked herself in the tower.
At the start of the game each player has one card in hand. At the start of a player’s turn they draw a card and play one. When a card is played the written effect is triggered. At the end of the round the player with the highest card value is the winner of the round and receives a marker indicating a letter has been delivered to the princess. The game rounds continue until one player has a predetermined number of letters delivered. The number of letters is set by the number of players.
It doesn’t sound like much does it? It doesn’t take long for a player to realize that if they don’t count and use logic they’ll lose. Then it hits you to bluff and it really begins. The combination of bluffing and deduction keeps the players engaged the whole game. There is no waiting to do something because you’re too busy studying your opponents.
I really thought that Love Letter was going to be a loser, but it turns out to be a winner largely because you don’t play the game, you play the players.
Numenera: Tech
nology Compendium
$39.99 SRP
The namesake of the entire game line, the “numenera” are artifacts, oddities, and little bits of almost magic-like technology left to the Ninth World by a billion years of previous civilizations. Now the Ninth World’s foremost expert, the redoubtable (though perhaps not entirely sane) Sir Arthour, brings nearly 1,000 new items to the Numenera gaming table!
The Technology Compendium contains 400 new cyphers, 225 new artifacts, and 300 new oddities. For the players, it introduces a new race: the artificial intelligence. And it includes extensive GM advice on integrating incredibly advanced technologies into your game.
Matt Takes a look at the contents of Heroes of Metro City. The super hero card game that allows players to make the hero each time they play. Brought to us by 3 Some Games.
Learn more about Heroes of Metro City at Game Salute.
Our relaunched Kickstarter has been funded largely because of what our first attempt taught us. Even though our first project was a complete bomb it has been a great ride. Gosh, I really don’t know how much to bore you here with our experience, so I’m just going to jump into the current project that is much more exciting. I may touch upon some of the lessons we experienced.
Our current project was funded in just under 24 hours. Why? Because we discarded all of the promotional items that inflated the funding goal. This was the secret to our success. We still have a T-shirt, but we felt the backers who were major contributors needed something more than just the media coverage. All of our backers are major supporters, by the way, the average daily contribution has been about $70. We can’t thank you enough for that!
For those of you that have backed this project, I’m not sure if you can see what you’re a part of. The effort you’ve put forth has opened so many doors and taught me so many things it’s not funny. Our blog and social media has increased nearly 30% in the last fourteen days, and that is because you have motivated me. My eyes have been opened, because of you, to what the essence of Through Gamer Goggles media truly is. Back to that in a minute.
I believe I will have published 300 videos before Gen Con 2015. That’s over 100 a year, plus reviews, radio shows, and release information. Through Gamer Goggles is a happening place. We offer a tremendous amount of content, but I have failed you. I have failed because the vision or essence of what is Through Gamer Goggles wasn’t realized until we attempted to fund this successful project. Through Gamer Goggles (TGG) was born with the vision of blending or balancing our gaming worlds with our real lives. Not only is that a monumental task but it has proven to be a very difficult one. Especially since very early on, I became nearly overwhelmed with the processing of game reviews. But this project has made me realize that I have failed at reflecting my personality in the content. I mean, I’m one of the most passionate gamers you’ll ever meet. I go out of my way for the gaming community as a whole by organizing events, judging, and blogging. I probably know hundreds if not thousands of gamers from such experiences. So where am I going with all this? The Gen Con Media project has kind of brought all of this to a head. I have realized that I want to take a very different approach to media. We have always been a part of the community and have run events for manufacturers (since 2000), but I don’t think it was enough to make me happy. Now, you are a part of what we do! That is the change that I was missing before. More than ever Through Gamer Goggles is about blending our lives with our gaming world. Which really means connecting with the gaming community in a unique way. We’re committed to bridging the gap from manufacturer to gamer by being involved with you! One of the results will be more of my super stunning personality as we continue to grow. This will include everything we have done in the past plus more demonstration content and regular radio shows. I might be rambling so onward to excitement!
The Project is all about going to Gen Con and having a blast with you. There are some really cool concepts we are trying to do.
The Photo Tier – every backer gets their picture taken and more.
The Coupon Book – Every backer of $20 or more will receive a coupon book (similar to the convention book but smaller). Currently we’re working with these great companies:
This is easily worth the $20.
Coffee with the crew – just as it sounds.
The coolest goal is a backer party. Basically this will be a dinner where all are invited to have a meal at a yet to be determined location. I have my eyes set on a steak house. But we will see what happens. It would be great for all of us to be in the same place at the same time to share our experiences and just get to know each other.
To celebrate our last hours I have come up with some unique ideas.
The first is a backer give away. For every ten new backers we get from now until the end of the campaign we will give out prizes to a randomly chosen backer. We are currently at 17 backers, so the prize thresholds are 27, 37, and 47. I currently have 3 prizes to give away: Combat Barbarossa 1941 German Infantryman Versus Soviet Rifleman from Osprey Publishing, Scoundrels of Skullport from GF9, and a signed copy of Forged in Fire for Mage Wars.
Second, I have decided to add another stretch goal – a scavenger hunt. This will be a simple game. It will involve backers of any pledge level to run around the exhibitors hall and do things like play games and other neat things. How dumb is that? At the end of the day we will meet up and have a drawing to award a daily prize. So far we have two Mage Wars Core Set and a copy of Forged in Fire from Arcane Wonders. That is two days of dashing from game to game. Who knows, we may create some other wacky ideas beyond game hunting. In either case it will be a lot of fun.
Like I said the Kickstarter is a door opener. It has started several new friendships, given us new direction and realization. While we’ve focused on Box Breakings, Figure Forges, Flip Throughs, and written reviews, you’re going to see more engagement from us. Beyond that we are going to strive to connect the manufacturers with you in an engaging way, while we continue to push the pace into news and media in exciting ways. Will we be perfect? No, but we have already proven that we learn from our mistakes, and that result means we will see you at Gen Con 2014 AND at Gen Con 2015! My only question is will you be part of our future?
Thanks,
Matt Lemke
In this Flip through Matt Takes a look at the Bastards of Golarion. This book gives you several options to round out your half raced characters. They have everything in here from random charts to a guide on using the half race guide.
You can learn more at Paizo.
Bastards of Golarion
In this Flip Through Matt takes a look at some of the highlights offered by the Inner Sea NPC Codex. The Inner sea Codes is produced by Paizo Publishing for the Pathfinder RPG. Unlike the first NPC codex that focuses on the core classes The Inner Sea NPC Codex focuses on the flavor of certain “factions”. For example this book contains templates for The Grey Gardner and the Red Mantis Assassin. Both of which have become an important part of the Pathfinder world.
You can visit Paizo for more details.
In this Flip Through Matt examines the pages and quality of the Dropzone Commander rulebook. This review focuses heavily on the images within in the book, especially those featuring the models and terrain. Matt also talks about the quality of the book.
Dropzone Commander is produced by Hawk Wargames.
The Anime Pitch Party Game
$25.00 SRP
Channel A is a party game for both anime fans, and those that enjoy poking fun at anime and anime fans (so, everyone!). A pair of premise cards is put on the table, and all the players must craft an anime series pitch based on that theme! However, they can only design a title out of a random set of ten word cards in their hand. Will Love Ninja Z rule the day? Or will Battle Fight Battler EX be the new fan favorite?
After the titles are crafted, the players vote on who had the best premise and thirty-second pitch delivery. Because of the laughter that results, and the energy involved in pitching series, Channel A is an extremely easy game to demo, and attracts a crowd.
The game contains over three hundred extremely high quality durable cards, between the Premise cards and the Title cards.
3+ players
Ages 14+
In this Box Breaking Matt breaks Kemvar out of the MERCS Kemvar starter. Briefly reviewing the detail displayed on the models.
The Kemvar faction is one of the more appealing factions in the MERCS game. Dynamic figures and stealth armor I can’t wait to get them on bases.
You can learn more about MERCS here and follow them on Facebook.
