OgreCave

As sometimes happens, one of our recent review targets has been updated, and Demian is on the case. As proof, he’s taken a look at two recent additions to the Wickedly Errant Game System from Gamewick Games. First, WEGS: Old Skool Redux tweaks and adds to the core fantasy RPG system, improving on the original edition. Then we hear about Dice Rule!, which is an enhancement more than an expansion, but certainly worth checking out.

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It’s that time of year again: Gen Con draws ever closer, heralding the announcement of the Diana Jones Award and its shortlist for 2010. Each year, this independent award is bestowed on prime examples of “excellence in gaming” by the Diana Jones Committee (made up of past winners and other luminaries). The nominees are an interesting group, and are described thusly:

• BoardGameGeek, a website edited by Scott Alden and Derk Solko
• Chaos in the Old World, a boardgame by Eric Lang, published by Fantasy Flight Games
• Kagematsu, a role-playing game by Danielle Lewon, published by Cream Alien Games
• Montsegur 1244, a role-playing game by Frederik Jensen, published by Thoughtful Games

Follow this link for more details on what brought these four nominees to the committee’s attention. As always, the winner of the 2010 Diana Jones Award will be announced on the evening before Gen Con Indy gets started at the Diana Jones Award and Freelancer Party in downtown Indianapolis.

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RPG Blog 2 broke the news that Precis Intermedia is the new home of the Masterbook, Shatterzone and Bloodshadows properties, which all formerly belonged to West End Games. Last month, it was revealed that WEG’s Eric Gibson had sold the rights to TORG, the precursor to the Masterbook system, to German company Ulisses Spiele – now it seems all WEG has left is the Junta board game. I’m sure someone can be found to adopt it.

We’re still awaiting a more official Precis Intermedia announcement (there’s just this fun hint so far). When we hear more, we’ll let you know.

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Because we know you can’t get enough, we’re starting the week with another Gaming News Update interview. This time Lee Valentine chats with Colby Dauch of Plaid Hat Games and Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons Heroscape line. Colby has several projects in his queue, both freelance designs and new Summoner Wars releases, which Lee quizzes him on for this new episode.

By the way, if you still haven’t familiarized yourself with Summoner Wars we’ve got a review of it right here.

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To help keep us up to date on the mass of card gaming goodness available these days, Demian has sent over his thoughts on 7 Ate 9 and Super Circles (both from Out of the Box), and on Third-World General (Battle Bunker Games). As it turns out, at least one of these failed to fully convey its “goodness” to him, while another was selected as part of OgreCave’s Christmas Gift Guide 2009. We trust you’ll figure out which is which.

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Mike tweeted about this earlier, but it deserves a main page mention: Betrayal at House on the Hill: Second Edition is on final approach for release October 5th. Co-designer Bruce Glassco announced the new edition back in November 2009, and has recently hinted at new features of the updated game. The new game will feature eight new Haunts, a new “hidden traitor” mechanic, five new items, redesigned die-cut tokens, and new artwork. In all, great news for fans of the original edition (which we reviewed here), especially those who waited too long to pick up a copy.

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In our latest Gaming News Update interview, Lee Valentine chats with Chuck Kroegel of Petroglyph Games about the company’s plans to release a card game, a board game, and a PC game in the next few months, all about a single fantasy setting. Kroegel, Petroglyph’s General Manager and one of the company’s designers, goes into the details of their plans to present the world of Graxia to the greater gaming public.

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In his quest to examine every corner of Small World, Lee has taken an extensive look at Small World: Tales and Legends, the brand-new expansion for Small World being released this week by Days of Wonder. The set adds random Event cards to the ebb and flow of conquest and civilization decline that fans of the game have come to know and love. How does this set stack up? Have a read and find out.

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Alderac Entertainment Group announced on July 9, 2010 that most of the Dust Games design library they have published or were going to publish (excluding The Adventurers) will be moving to Fantasy Flight Games. Some games involved in the transfer include Dust Tactics, City of Thieves, Arcana, and Mad Zeppelin. The increasing number of games on AEG’s release schedule was going to require the company to grow faster than it was prepared to, and may have forced AEG to release multiple titles per month to keep pace with both its own planned releases as well as those of Dust Games. AEG will cut the total number of scheduled releases to provide adequate playtesting and support for each product they do release. The company also plans to focus on its core product lines that are already doing well (such as L5R and Thunderstone), and may push some other new games back to 2011 release dates. GenCon 2010 events that were scheduled for the affected products will go on as planned, only to be run by FFG staff instead of AEG. (Full AEG announcement copied below.)

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I mentioned this in our KublaCon 2010 image gallery (on OgreCave’s Facebook page – you’ve become a fan of us, right?), where our readers saw a shot of the Small World iPad app. Well, this just in: Days of Wonder has upgraded the program to include an AI to play against, enabling solo play for the formerly two-player only app. Those who already purchased the app can upgrade for free, or new players can download the app for $6.99.

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Demian has been busy looking over Strange Aeons 2, the recent Call of Cthulhu adventure collection from Chaosium. He’s prepared a review for us, which you should read. Or if not, you can read our other reviews. So the gist of this is, you’ve got reading available to you. You’re welcome.

Seriously, when there’s an adventure called “Three Days of Peace, Music & Tentacle Love” – I kid you not – how can you not be intrigued?

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We’ve given new Cave dweller Daron the task of getting us up to speed on the near-legendary game line of Memoir ’44, and today he has delivered his first two reviews for our edification. To make sure everyone’s on the same page, Daron describes the Memoir ’44 main set first. Then he moves on to one of the game’s early expansions, Memoir ’44: Eastern Front, which brings the Russians barreling into your WWII scenarios like an irate bear. If you still haven’t discovered this board game foray into wargaming territory, read on, and prepare for battle.

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What goes better with a dice game than brains and shotgun blasts? That’s right, we’re talking about Zombie Dice, one of the new releases from Steve Jackson Games that puts players in the role of a hungry zombie (is there any other kind?). Lee has thrown the bones for a while and chased down his share of tasty humans, and lets us know just how much game is in that dice cup. Have a look at his review, or browse our long list of previous reviews in the review index.

Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) has big plans for the gaming industry this summer. They have a strong list of games to be released between now and GenCon. All these products will be available at the AEG booth at GenCon, and there will be demos and scheduled events for their new board and card game products at the show. From Legend of the Five Rings to Mad Zeppelin, AEG has a full gaming plate for the next few months.

[EDIT 7/12/10: some of the releases below have changed due to AEG's recent arrangement with FFG to take over Dust Games releases. -Allan]
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Sometimes you find a game that speaks to you, and really hits that sweet spot between strategic play and rewarding fun. For OgreCave reviewer Demian, Giants is one of those “sweet” games, forcing players to juggle resources – and even work together at times – to get those giant statues built and score the most points. Have a look at his review to find out what makes this Asmodee release from last year a great choice to add to your collection.

Though the news trickled out in other ways, the 2010 Origins Award winners have finally been announced. Among the highlights: the rerelease of Space Hulk beat out Small World for Best Board Game; Looney Labs continues its streak with a Best Party Game win for Are You the Traitor?; the return of WizKids and HeroClix gets a nod for Best Miniatures Line; and Eclipse Phase wins for Best RPG. (Click through to read the full list.)
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It’s that time of year again, and we’ve learned Germany’s game of the year award for 2010 (better known as the Spiel des Jahres, but you knew that) is Dixit by Jean-Louis Roubira (Libellud/Asmodee). The storytelling-meets-Apples to Apples game is back in stock according to Asmodee, so if you want to grab a copy, it should be available.

I posted what I know of the nominees a few weeks ago, but here’s the list again, in case you want to test drive a couple selections for yourself:

• Dixit, the winner (Libellud/Asmodee)
• Roll Through the Ages: The Bronze Age from Eagle Games/Pegasus Spiele (by Pandemic designer Matt Leacock, who I recently interviewed for our Gaming News Update podcast)
• Portrayal by William P. Jacobson and Amanda A. Kohout (Asmodee)
• A la Carte by Karl-Heinz Schmiel (Moskito/Heidelberger)
• Fresco by Marco Ruskowski and Marcel Süßelbeck (Queen Games)

Congratulations again to all the nominees, and to Dixit for winning this year’s award.

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Steve Jackson Games knew all too well: dice and Cthulhu make a tempting combination for many gamers. At just $5, you probably have friends who’ve already given in and picked up a set or two of this recent game release, if only for the sweet Cthulhu die. But how is the game itself? Demian gives us the short-but-sweet answer in his review, after which you may resume your hunt for a glow-in-the-dark set.

If you missed our interview from KublaCon, you didn’t hear Aldo Ghiozzi of Impressions talk about today – that is, Free RPG Day ’10. Yes, it’s today. Hopefully, you’re at a participating store right now, or you soon will be. If not, listen to our interview, try not to weep over the fun and freebies you’re missing, and if we hear of any other free goodies today you can take advantage of, we’ll post ‘em here.

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To commemorate the 20 millionth game that will soon play out on the Days of Wonder Online digital board games network, Days of Wonder announced its best Online Giveaway yet. In a nod to its recent release of the best selling Small World for iPad digital board game on the App store, Days of Wonder will be giving away a new Apple iPad Wi-Fi 16 GB, and a copy of Small World for iPad, to the winner of its 20,000,000th game. Additionally, all other participants in that 20,000,000th game will receive a nice consolation prize – an 8GB Apple iPod Touch. All Days of Wonder Online members are eligible to participate in this giveaway by playing any Days of Wonder Online games including: the Ticket to Ride series, Gang of Four, Fist of Dragonstones, or Queen’s Necklace.

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The Ticket to Ride World Championship will take place on June 19 in the Musée de la Carte à Jouer (Card Game Museum) in Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. Days of Wonder held national and regional competitions around the globe to find the best TTR player in the world. Seven total champions were crowned. They are from North America, the Benelux countries, France, Spain, Germany, Poland, and the UK. Those seven champions plus one additional runner-up from North America will compete head-to-head, playing several games on the various maps of Ticket to Ride. The one who performs the best will then be declared Ticket to Ride World Champion and win a trip for two on the legendary Orient-Express. The championship games will be broadcast live by the Tric Trac TV Team and on the Days of Wonder Ticket to Ride World Championship page starting at noon in the GMT+2 timezone. According to a handy internet time converter, this is the equivalent of 6:00 AM EST in the United States on June 19.

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We’ve all marveled at the elegant way certain games work, and the cooperative masterpiece Pandemic has impressed more than its fair share of gamers. In our latest Gaming News Update interview, I caught up with Matt Leacock, the man behind Pandemic, as he celebrated his new cooperative game, Forbidden Island. The new release was all the rage at last month’s KublaCon, and gamers came out to Dr Comics & Mr Games in Piedmont, CA to play GameWright‘s foray into cooperative games with the man himself. Have a listen for Matt’s thoughts on game design, giving “life” to games that defeat players, being nominated for this year’s Spiel des Jahres award (for Roll Through the Ages), and more.

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In my high school days, when free time was more plentiful and friends didn’t have jobs or families yet, it was common for us to spend all afternoon on a game of Games Workshop’s Space Hulk. Well, as common as I could make it – after a while, some of my friends grew tired of sending squad after squad of space marines to near-certain doom in genestealer-infested derelict ships. I usually got to play the genestealers, and as such, often ended up winning, which I didn’t grow tired of at all. In any case, years later, the end result has been that we all have less time to game together, and I seem to be the only one always down for some Space Hulk.

Fantasy Flight’s upcoming Space Hulk: Death Angel – The Card Game, due out this summer, may help me get my fix, and convince my buddies to give it another try as well. Playable in 30 minutes to an hour, Death Angel lets each player control a set of two space marines as they try to destroy the alien threat. Location cards will determine how many critters the squad will face, Action cards will determine what marines are doing, and troopers’ facing will still be important. Since cooperative games are the growing trend lately, that’s exactly what Death Angel players will get – if even one marine completes the mission, everyone wins; if not, everyone loses. Up to six players can join in, and even if I can’t find anyone to help me quell the xeno threat, the game can be played solitaire (in which case, I’d control three sets of marines).

It occurs to me that cooperative is what Space Hulk always should have been. Yeah, we could make teams, but it’s not quite the same – if we had all played against the game, against the inscrutable, automatic advance of the game’s genestealers instead of against the genestealer player, it might have been even more exciting and memorable. This iteration of the the Space Hulk theme could be just what I need to entice a few volunteers to go into Overwatch and blast some ‘stealer scum.

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Hollywood’s been shopping for games again, and now DreamWorks may be courting Tim Burton to direct a feature film based on the Monsterpocalypse property. DreamWorks picked up the movie rights to Privateer Press’ collectible miniatures game last month, and is working on forming the right team to make big screen kaiju magic. My question: will fans be thrilled or worried by the idea of their city-stomping aliens and monsters potentially getting the Nightmare Before Christmas animation treatment?

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I’m a little behind on this, but since I’ve finally played one of this year’s nominees for Germany’s game of the year award (better known as Spiel des Jahres), I thought I’d research the others a bit and get to know them. In no particular order, this year’s nominees are:

• Roll Through the Ages: a Yahtzee-ish strategic dice game by Pandemic designer Matt Leacock.
• Dixit: a popular party game that plays similarly to Apples to Apples.
• Portrayal: another party game known in Germany as Identik, wherein players draw an image based on a description before learning what criteria it will be judged by.
• A la Carte: a lighthearted game of food preparation, with spice “cubes” that are shaken out onto dishes, and too much spice can ruin the food.
• Fresco: a more strategic game where players manage a team of artisans as they work to restore a fresco in a renaissance church.
• The Kinderspiel des Jahres nominees were also announced – Diego Drachenzahn, Kraken-Alarm, Panic Tower!, Vampire der Nacht, and Turi-Tour.

There’s no clear winner in the listed nominees, but of the shortlisted group, I’ve just played Dixit over the weekend. It gets described as having “gorgeous” artwork, and having looked through the full color cards, I can see why – but I found the game’s style more quirky and weird than most… like Salvador Dali was running the art department. Not bad at all, just weird. Still, a neat variation on the peer-judged mechanic made famous by Apples to Apples, with a touch of storytelling thrown in for flavor.

[EDIT]: I’ve just interviewed Roll Through the Ages designer Matt Leacock in our Gaming News Update podcast feed, so be sure to have a listen. – A

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