Archive for February, 2009

Fun with Scrabble

Monday, February 23rd, 2009

As Dork Tower’s John Kovalic points out on his LiveJournal, someone probably should’ve screened the Scrabble example words more thoroughly.

Posted in Board Games | No Comments »

Dominion promo cards at BoardGameGeek

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Those of you who’ve gone all in for Dominion, Rio Grande’s customizable non-collectible game of card drafting (and selection for OgreCave’s Christmas Gift Guide 2008) should be stopping by the BoardGameGeek store right about now. Preorders have started for sets of Dominion Promo Cards: Envoy & Black Market. Sets will provide ten copies of each card, as well one different-backed randomizer. Currently, the cost is listed at $0.01, so there’s no reason not to grab one. The promo cards should ship in mid-March, and even more Dominion goodness is planned later this year. According to this month’s Rio Grande news, Dominion: Intrigue is in the works for release in the second quarter of this year, while Dominion: Seaside is tentatively planned for an Essen 2009 release.

Posted in Board Games, Card Games | 3 Comments »

RPG publishing guide released by Mongoose

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Prolific RPG publisher Mongoose Publishing is the latest company to release a guide to success in the game industry. Called I am Mongoose, and so can you! the book is designed to teach you “to create your own roleplaying games, what to do once you have a book ready to sell, and how much money you are likely to make over the course of your first year in business.” There’s some frank discussion in the previewed pages, akin to the infamous “Don’t enter the game industry” talk Steve Jackson has given at GTS many times. Note the release strategy on this book – one way to maximize earning potential is to use the PDF format for experimental side projects. At $29.95 for a 37 page PDF, it might be best to file this as a business expense. The press release is below.
(more…)

Posted in Industry, Roleplaying Games | 7 Comments »

Solve-a-crime contest at Pelgrane Press

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009

Gamers who are looking forward to Mutant City Blues – the upcoming GUMSHOE system blend of superhero themes and police drama by Robin Laws – should take note of a new contest announced by Pelgrane Press. The Stir Crazy Killing is a Mutant City Blues contest that asks you to read through the evidence of a reality game show murder, and email your conclusions on who did the foul deed. A correct guess could fetch you up to $150 in Pelgrane Press vouchers, all of Pelgrane’s PDF products, and a signed Trail of Cthulhu leatherbound copy. Even if you don’t win it all, Pelgrane plans to give something to every entrant. Isn’t that worth a little sleuthing work? Clues and entry requirements are linked here – interested parties should keep the March 1st deadline in mind.

Posted in Contests, Roleplaying Games | 3 Comments »

OgreCave review – Murder of Crows

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

We’d like to direct your attention to today’s new review, Murder of Crows by Super Genius Games. This Call of Cthulhu adventure, penned by popular game designer Stan!, was the debut Cthulhu product from SGG a couple months ago. Lee’s review gives us the skinny on this intriguing scenario.

Posted in Reviews, Roleplaying Games | Comments Closed

Dungeon Twister headed for Xbox 360

Tuesday, February 3rd, 2009

Another Asmodée game is migrating to consoles. Hot on the heels of Jungle Speed hitting the Wii, now it looks like a version of Dungeon Twister is in the works for Xbox 360, with other consoles to follow. According to a news post on the Asmodée website, French videogame company Hydravision is hard at work on the adaptation, which is tentatively scheduled to release in Q3 2009. The Xbox version is currently planned as a “faithful adaptation of the Boardgame and will not be turned into an ‘Arcade’ version which will require high-strung reflexes to win.” However, the new version will allow both solo and online play. Sounds interesting, and a peek at the Mechanorc game piece makes it look even more interesting.

Posted in Board Games, Computer and Console Games, Industry | 2 Comments »