Hey, did you know that Cosmic Encounter Online has relaunched, with a much snazzier tool for online play, a much busier pool of players, and a wider selection of alien powers? Of course you didn’t! The new Flash-based engine supports new aliens like “The Dork,” whose “power to annoy” causes
Category: Board Games
FFG gets WarCraft board game license
Well, WotC sure as hell wasn’t doing anything good with it: Fantasy Flight Games will be doing a WarCraft board game for this Christmas, the design of which will “make time itself a resource.” That’s not the way I’d handle the problem of translating RTS gameplay to a board game
News flash: GAMES Magazine worth buying for once
Time to mobilize the Cave Army: head on down to a local newsstand that stocks GAMES, and pick up the August 2003 issue. It has a Hall-and-Oates-looking guy on the cover whom you might recognize as the guy on the spine of the Puerto Rico box. That’s right, GAMES is
Crimson Skies Playtest Report, or: Rules-bogeys at 12 o’clock
If you’re accustomed to other WizKids combat-dial games, the CS Air Action rules are going to throw you some curve balls. Sadly, due to vague technical writing, those curve balls may hit you right in the unmentionables the way they did my test opponent, a MechWarrior fan. Here’s what you
Alien recruiting drive
The guys at Alien Menace, the diabolical geniuses behind some of our favorite weird games, are looking to line up some playtesters for a new historical wargame they’re working on. If you think you’ve got what it takes, head over to their playtest page for details and to apply.
Rio Grande Games Update
Rio Grande Games has just e-mailed out their latest newsletter (though it won’t be on their webpage until next week). Several new games are described; due out later this month are Message to the Czar, a game in which players compete to be the first to get a courier to
Columbia Games selling direct only
“After 30+ years, we have concluded that our products can best be sold directly. To improve product output and customer service, all Columbia Games products will henceforth be sold ONLY by mail order, telephone, or via www.columbiagames.com.” This is the kind of shakeup I was talking about when Games Workshop
And if you complain once more, you’ll meet an army of sheep
“In Settlers of Catan, you get to build villages, cities, roadways and even armies. But in one of the most glaring oversights in the history of boardgaming, you cannot attack using your armies!“
Citizen goes Island Hopping
The Citizen Games website has the cover art posted for a new board game, Pirates of the Caribbean. All we know at this point is that it will be for 2-4 players, should be available this summer, and the same artist that did Dungeoneer will do the cover (Thomas Denmark,
Knizia’s Samurai board game available for PCs
Holy crap, Homestar! One of Reiner Knizia’s most subtle and acclaimed board game designs is available for the PC or Mac, playable in single player mode against an AI or against other humans online. This implementation looks gorgeous and well worth the shareware fee.
Rio Grande Keeps Up the Good Work
Rio Grande Games has just posted their latest newsletter. This month’s releases include Paris, Paris, a game about the effect of Parisian tourism on the economy, and Traders and Builders, the new Carcassonne expansion. Next month will see Amon-Re, a new Reiner Knizia design, and Bean Trader, the Bohnanza board
Checkers + Icehouse = Magic
After a slightly longer than usual hiatus, Invisible City Productions is back with a new free game of the month, a Checkers variant called Sorcerer’s Apprentice. The game uses a standard Checkers set plus some Icehouse pieces to create a contest in which pieces gain special abilities as the game
Area game company issues clever press release
Cheapass’ new press release about their 2003 “Year In Space” release schedule has drawn a mixed critical response, ranging from “a bold step forward in press releasing” to “too clever for its own good.” But, really, how clever is good for you? The critics are silent on that one. Its
The Latest from Rio Grande
Rio Grande Games has just released a new newsletter listing the numerous titles that ran out of stock during the holiday rush along with a few forthcoming games of interest. Later this month, we should see Leo Colovini’s Clans; in February, we’ll get Bean Trader, a board game version of
Cave Troll surfaces to defend lair
No, Peter Jackson hasn’t resurrected the beast from the first Lord of the Rings movie. I’m talking about Cave Troll, the latest board game design from Tom Jolly, by way of Fantasy Flight Games. For the curious types out there, FFG has posted the Cave Troll rules, but the gist