» Card Games
Friday, March 12, 2010
Accumulated things we should mention
Sleep is Death, a two-player game for PC and Mac in which one player acts like they’re playing a basic point-and-click RPG, and the other has 30 seconds per turn to arrange the world’s graphics around them to make it seem like they are. Yes, they get to prepare some of the graphics. Yes, this is as simple and completely awesome as it sounds. Stupid cheap, too.
Iconica, a gorgeous indie card game being sold on Etsy. The linked post is subtitled “Not Just Another Pretty Face,” but frankly doesn’t make much of a case for that; the game seems like it might be a little samey and tough to learn, and the world-building seems pretty generic. But oh, that design. I’m also interested in Etsy as a venue for sales of actual independent games, as opposed to just crafts based on video games.
Deathwatch, the third core Warhammer 40K roleplaying game, has been announced. I only bring it up because I keep seeing threads about it and thinking, “that’s a bit harsh, it seems like the system has plenty of support and I don’t know why anyone would think it was dyi– OH WAIT”
Thursday, February 25, 2010
PAX East on final approach, and selling out fast
One month from tomorrow, on March 26, PAX East, the second location for the Penny Arcade Expo, will hit Boston, MA full force. The new show, a spinoff of the original PAX in Seattle (dubbed “PAX Prime” by many), had already sold out of full-show passes over three weeks ago, and with only a few hundred single day passes currently left for Friday and Sunday – well, if you were on the fence about going, you’d better commit or forget. This inaugural show’s official schedule just went up yesterday, adding to the considerable excitement that resulted two weeks ago when Wil Wheaton was announced as PAX East’s keynote speaker. If you can’t make it out to Boston, OgreCave will have a representative at the show in the form of Lee Valentine, frequent Cave dweller and one of our staff writers. Actually, he’ll be there whether you attend or not, so… yeah.
Friday, February 12, 2010
OgreCave review – Thunderstone
Before I head off to DunDraCon for the weekend, I’ve posted Lee’s latest review. This time, Lee has provided us with his thoughts on Thunderstone by Alderac Entertainment Group. This new card game is a deck-construction title along the lines of Dominion, and hopes to tap into that game’s large fanbase. Have a look, or browse through our other reviews for more gaming recommendations.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Wizards not planning to renew Star Wars license
Earlier today, Wizards of the Coast made an announcement on the company’s message board confirming what has been rumored for a while now: when the Star Wars license comes up for renewal this May, Wizards will not seek to renew it. In the announcement, Greg Yahn, WotC’s Director of Marketing, states “We had a long and fantastic run, but with the economic downturn, we have made the tough decision to discontinue our Star Wars lines.” WotC products for the Star Wars Miniatures Game and Star Wars Roleplaying Game will be available through August, with multiple new releases scheduled through April. Wizards had first taken over the Star Wars license from Decipher back in 2002, starting with WotC’s version of the Star Wars CCG.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
OgreCave review – Summoner Wars
Lee has provided us with another review to add to the Cave’s stockpile today. This time, we hear all about Summoner Wars, a card-based wargame from Plaid Hat Games. How does it compare to other wargame choices you’ve tried over the years? You won’t know until you read it.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
OgreCave’s Christmas Gift Guide 2009, part 4
This is it – Christmas looms on the horizon, just one day away. But say you’ve forgotten to get a gift for someone, a fellow gamer, and there’s no time to get to the stores anymore. Fear not, for the Cave dwellers have compiled one more list of gift suggestions in our OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2009. This fourth and final list provides An Aetheric Guide for Christmas, our traditionally last-minute PDF/downloadable product list. Just read through the list, select a few pre-screened OgreCave recommendations, and download your gifts as needed. You don’t have to risk wading through last-minute shoppers – they’ll be like a pack of sugarplum-crazed elves by now.
Here’s wishing you a safe, happy holiday season, from the staff of OgreCave. Seasons greetings!
Sunday, December 13, 2009
OgreCave’s Christmas Gift Guide 2009, part 3
If you plan to give gifts this holiday season – or better yet, receive them – you’ve surely been perusing local stores and forming a list. The Cave dwellers have done the same, in the third section of our OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2009. This portion, the Twelve Boxes for Christmas, focuses on board games, in the hope of guiding some of your big-ticket expenses toward enjoyable gaming choices.
All that remains is our traditionally last-minute PDF/downloadable product list. We’ll be sure to drop it down your chimney when you’re least expecting it. … No, that’s not a euphemism for anything! Sheesh!
Thursday, December 10, 2009
AEG’s Thunderstone, Infinite City get lost in transit
Getting a product to market can be problematic in any industry, but the game industry gets more than its share of complications. Today AEG revealed that its shipper, currently in the throes of cutbacks, has misplaced Thunderstone and Infinite City, which were due to arrive last month. Todd Rowland, AEG’s Senior Brand Manager, summarized the chain of events in a forum post. Here’s the relevant bit:
The shipment of Thunderstone and Infinite City has been lost. It was due to arrive in Mid November and we have been told it was “in transit” or clearing customs for 3 weeks. Yesterday the shipper admitted they could not find it and after a long night of waking people up we have located the missing shipment. For some reason it had been diverted to Charleston SC and will not arrive until next week. To make matters worse it has been flagged for customs check and that will take an additional number of days.
Rowland goes on to admit it seems unlikely either game will reach stores before Christmas, but hopes gamers will consider them a “great way to ring in the New Year.” More precise release dates will be announced once AEG has a delivery date.
I remember when Godlike arrived in the states from being printed in China, and then the container remained locked down in customs for a month. This was extra frustrating for the publisher, as the warehouse it was to be stored at and distributed from was literally right across the street from the customs office. But darn it, those games sure look suspicious – better double and triple check them for contraband.
Saturday, December 5, 2009
Beware of lurking ninja
Today is the Day of the Ninja, December 5th, and we nearly failed our Spot check. We didn’t manage to get a Games of the Ninja mini-feature put together this year (feel free to check out last year’s page, though), partly because we couldn’t think of any new ninja-related games we’re dying to play. So, here’s the question: if you were to celebrate the stealthy assassins today – and who wouldn’t? – what game(s) would you be throwing down with?
Friday, December 4, 2009
OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2009, part 1
If you haven’t noticed the holiday decorations yet, you just aren’t paying attention – around here, it started showing up Halloween morning. It seems like folks are anxious to get back to celebrating the season, and retailers are ready to receive the droves of gift givers. Don’t let the anxiety get to you, though – you’ve got the first part of our OgreCave Christmas Gift Guide 2009 on hand to help. In this first section, Twelve Stocking Stuffer Games, the Cave dwellers have selected a solid group of inexpensive gift goodies for a variety of interests, from casual gamer to hardcore.
We’ll have the rest of our ninth annual guide up in the days ahead, so be sure to check our lists, check them twice. Being naughty or nice isn’t a factor – we don’t judge.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Free trick-taking double-feature
In case you haven’t been keeping an eye on Invisible City lately, you might want to check their free games page. They’ve just released a pair of trick-taking games for your amusement: Hidden Rules, a Mao-inspired affair in which different players know different rules to the game, but nobody knows everything; and Birthday Party, Cheesecake, Jelly Bean, Boom!, which puts a simple yet distinctive twist on the venerable form. Sometimes it’s nice to take a break from the complicated stuff and just play cards; this is a good excuse.
Friday, October 9, 2009
Small World, Dominion place high on Games 100 list
Even though GAMES Magazine has yet to make it’s annual GAMES 100 list officially available, the magazine’s long-time partner Funagain Games has the list. According to the list, the Game of the Year for 2010 is Small World by Days of Wonder (which we’ve reviewed, here). Other notable games were listed as well, such as Dominion and Dominion: Intrigue (Rio Grande) as Best Family Strategy Game; the harbor-management title Le Havre (Lookout Games) as Best Advanced Strategy Game; and the exploration-themed Amerigo (daVinci Games) for Best Family Card Game. Of course, most of the runners-up and nominees included in the list are also great fun for the right game group, so peruse the list and see how many you already play.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Warhammer Invasion will LCG you so hard, spit’ll fly outta your mouth
If you follow us on Twitter you already know I find the new Warhammer Invasion card game quite pleasing. I didn’t say why, however: basically it’s a non-collectible card game that delivers cracking good basic CCG play with some innovations around things that old-timers like me take for granted (like when to apply damage). You needn’t fear the sometimes-odd way that GW presents Warhammer content – it’s presented here in what amounts to FFG house style and is a very approachable intro to WH fantasy stuff. Also, all the promo FFG’s been doing calls it a two-player game, but our three-player game was great (although longer than the two-player, which is exceedingly quick and brutal) and I bet four works too.
In a way, Invasion is the first real test of the Living Card Game concept. It hasn’t had a past life in starters and boosters to prime the pump for the boxed version. It’s going to have to live or die on what it is out of that big square box. I guess it’s not much of a surprise that this more controlled and packaged experience plays great.
But then there are those chapter packs, yeah? Or Battle Packs or whatever. Three have been announced already and the core game is still just on its way to stores. And elsewhere it’s announced that these three are just the first half of a cycle of six. Um… guys? Some of us like being off of the new-cards treadmill? The total cost of ownership of the game is still going to be dramatically lower than that of a CCG, but come on. Pace, or the perception thereof, will need to be managed carefully if the LCG concept is going to win back recession-sensitive gamers who look back fondly on CCG-style gameplay.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
PAX 2009 – Gaming News Updates uploaded
We’ve got a trio of OgreCave Gaming News Update podcast episodes just posted from our trip up to Seattle for PAX, the Penny Arcade Expo 2009. First up, our bi-weekly update mentions a few PAX highlights (though this will be nothing compared to our upcoming PAX ‘09 Audio Report episode). Then we have an interview with Will Schoonover of Steve Jackson Games, who tells us all about the current state of things for the company, and describes the upcoming Nanuk in full detail. Finally, we had a chat with Matt Forbeck about his Guild Wars novel, all the other projects he has a hand in these days, and his thoughts on PAX, the industry, and bygone companies. Have a listen, let us know what you think, and be sure to check back for more.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Live at PAX 2009: Munchkinless in Seattle
Okay, admittedly I haven’t searched that hard yet – I’m still getting the lay of the land around here at PAX 2009. But near as I can tell, Steve Jackson Games has decided to add challenge to an event here which I find oddly compelling: the PAX ‘09 Photo Scavenger Hunt. The event combines the ease of digital cameras with the time sink of searching the entire show for random things to be in a picture with, and so, I approve (I like how the list is constructed partly just to mess with certain people – for example, “someone with a media badge”). The added Munchkin challenge? A photo with the Munchkin mascot is on the scavenger hunt list, and I haven’t seen the sneaky dungeon-looting rascal anywhere. I’ve heard reported sightings, yes, but haven’t laid eyes on him myself. I’ve seen plenty of folks playing Munchkin Quest and having a grand time of it, but haven’t seen the weapon-wielding maniac. Perhaps he’s just shy…
He’s around here somewhere. I’ll have to offer my thanks to the big lug and Paul at SJ Games for helping me sort something out. Yes, I owe the Munchkin mascot a favor – how the hell did this happen…?
Sunday, August 16, 2009
This Just In from Sunday afternoon at Gen Con 2009!
It’s Sunday, the final day of Gen Con 2009. To go out on a high note, Ryan Macklin has recorded the final ’09 episode of This Just In… From GenCon! from the show floor. The Sunday 3pm show has multiple guests from Pirate Jenny – Emily Care Boss of Black & Green Games, Danielle Lewon of Cream Alien Games, Anna Kreider of Tasty Bacon Games, Michelle Mishko, and Willow Palecek from The Forge. As promised, OgreCave has the show notes, so here’s the final write-up for this year:
- Convention goers have been excited about Pirate Jenny. The indie RPG landscape has evolved, and titles are more spread out between The Forge, Pirate Jenny, and such.
- Arm dragons are neat.
- Fear of the recession affecting customer turnout has been replaced by relief.
- Penny For My Thoughts is very nearly sold out.
- Kagematsu – the RPG nearly sold out the first day.
- Willow won a Shadowfist CCG tournament.
- RPGirl, a zine on women gamers.
- The community of RPGBloggers.com, and two great tastes could go great together.
The OgreCave crew extends its thanks to Ryan and all his co-hosts and guests for a cool series of TJI shows this year. We’ll be happy to watch your back again in the future. We’ll also have to corner you for an interview or podcast appearance, so don’t wander off.
OgreCave reviews – Timestreams & Candyman
A pair of new reviews are up today. First is Dennis’ look at Timestreams from Bucephalus Games, a new card game that pits different eras of history against each other. Then I’ve thrown in my review of Run For Your Life, Candyman! from Smirk & Dagger. For my money, it’s the only way to revisit the dreaded childhood game Candy Land, and far more enjoyable, too. It seemed only fitting to post this now, since S&D’s sequel game Shootin’ Ladders has just hit Gen Con.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
This just in from Saturday morning at Gen Con 2009
Allan isn’t doing this one, dammit! LOVE ME.
Show notes for the Saturday 11am This Just In… From GenCon! episode are as follows:
- A Penny For My Thoughts
- Complete ENnie results. Congratulations to All Games Considered and a whole lot of other winners.
- That ENnies Twitter account. Twitter is a real thing for gamers, folks – holdouts might want to reconsider.
- Geek Chic. Look, it’s linked again!
- The Pathfinder line. Told you it’d be a theme.
- Geist: the Sin-Eaters, the big White Wolf release.
- MWP’s Supernatural RPG.
- Dresden Files RPG, amidst general discussion of licensed games.
- Pelgrane Press, purveyors of
PailTrail of Cthulhu. - The Pirate Jenny booth.
- Ye olde Forge booth, and the more linkable retail source IPR.
- Serial Homicide Unit
- Zombie Cinema
- Tales of the Fisherman’s Wife
- Principia and How to Host a Dungeon
- Revolution! and The Stars Are Right
- At-Will, an intriguing site devoted to D&D 4e.
- Smirk and Dagger, at the show with their new one Shootin’ Ladders, thematic sequel to Run For Your Life, Candyman!
- Jess Hartley on how to schmooze Gen Con.
- Apparently the Hite Trifecta is actually a quintuple: Greg Stolze’s Grim War [linked now, thanks Hobbes], and The Antarctic Express are also at the show. That’s on top of Rough Magicks for Trail of Cthulhu, The Day After Ragnarok for Hero 6 as well as Savage Worlds, and Cthulhu 101.
All OgreCave tourists and visitors are directed to the information booth. See you again this afternoon, if not sooner.
Friday, August 14, 2009
This Just In from 5 pm Friday at Gen Con 2009
Gen Con 2009 rages on, and the Friday evening episode of This Just In… From GenCon! is online for all to hear. OgreCave is helping out with some show notes, so here’s the lowdown for the Friday 5pm show, with co-host Sean Nittner from Narrative Control, and guests Will Hindmarch & Jeff Tidball from GamePlaywright.net:
- Much love is expressed toward Things We Think About Games (some of it sordid).
- Putting faces to names: Clark & Amanda Valentine of The Dresden Files RPG; Joe MacDonald of Ribbon Drive; John Wick.
- @RyanMacklin offers love for Twitter, and for retweeters @fredhicks, @GamerTraveler (Daniel Perez), and @CUnderkoffler
- The vote: chairs.
- Gorilla Games’ Who Would Win, over at booth #403.
- Another Pirate Jenny shout-out, next to the t-shirts and corsets.
- More talk of Geek Chic, and how the company is working to bring the game table back into the family room.
We’ll keep the notes going tomorrow. If you’re new to OgreCave, come on in and sit a spell. We have reviews, interviews, daily news, podcasts, and other neat stuff.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Dominion wins 2009 Diana Jones Award
Huzzah and congratulations. My game group played three consecutive games just last night; I’m pretty sure that’s a record for us. Dominion beat out multiple big-name nominees, which are listed over here.
Other news coming in via Twitter: lots of people hate lots of airlines.
Monday, August 10, 2009
My next band is called Stardust Overdrive: Yu-Gi-Oh rolls on
Yu-Gi-Oh sets TCG lifetime sales record at 22.5 billion cards. Thing about TCGs is once they have enough momentum, they don’t seem to ever stop rolling, ever. It’s like comics: there will always be people who act like comics collectors, even though neither the paper drives of the 40s that made Golden Age comics rare nor the 90s Image boom are ever going to happen again. It might perenially shrink like a radioactive half-life, but it will always be with us.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
The Stars Are (nearly) Right
Steve Jackson Games has let the world know The Stars Are Right is nearly here. This Cthulhu-themed game of strategic card positioning – and manipulating said positions with the requisite minions or Elder Gods – should be arriving in stores early September, though it will get some major exposure at Gen Con next week as well. I had a glimpse of the original German version, Die Sterne Stehen Richtig, when a friend brought it to DunDraCon in February, and played the translated SJ Games version at GTS in April. My initial thoughts: The Stars Are Right is a fun, deceptively deep strategy game most gamers will enjoy and Cthulhu gamers will love. And I’m not very good at it… yet.
Smith and Tinker steps to the (gold-plated) plate with Nanovor
When Jordan Weisman first announced his new company Smith and Tinker, he stated its mission as being to create toys, games, and other real-world media that leverage networks in order “to compete with the dynamic and exciting world of the internet.” Further, they foregrounded two maxims: “There is nothing on the planet more entertaining than other people; There is no one on the planet more creative than the audience.” Since then, he’s announced a new MechWarrior video game project that looks awesome, but certainly sounds more like that thing they said they were competing with… and now there’s Nanovor, a new collectible game aimed at kids.
It starts as a downloadable PC game, and then there are some gift cards that get you in-game cash; but then there’s this little hand-held mini-Gameboy thingy that plugs into a USB port on your PC, presumably downloads “cards” or what have you, and possibly plugs into other thingies to play competitively. Price tag on the device, as part of a starter kit: $60.
Okay, why? It seems like you get a decent device for the money, but every kid in the target market already has a DS. This thing isn’t visibly delivering anything it can’t do. If I’m S&T, I can certainly understand not wanting to pay Nintendo’s licensing fee, nor wanting my game’s public perception to sink into a morass of ordinary cross-media Pokemon-esques. But as a player, or the parent of one, who’s apparently going to have to pay for even more stuff on top of the $60? In This Economy™? No dice.
Maybe the free-to-start PC game will do better on its own, but irrespective of the merits of the game (which I haven’t actually played yet), I’m not seeing S&T’s alleged dream manifested in this product. Even if that dream is just “stay in the black.” And that makes me sad.
Monday, August 3, 2009
Ku-Mighty, latest collectible game from Richard Garfield
Magic: The Gathering designer Richard Garfield has taken the plunge into collectible game design once more with Ku-Mighty, a new game from Ultimate Gaming Hideout. According to the press release, the game will use “cards and figures as elements of gameplay” in a system designed to play through in 20 minutes for ages 10+. The background story of “an epic tale set in the not too distant future weaving the entirety of human history in a fantastic pop Sci-Fi tale” (whew!) is planned to fuel not only the game, but an animated series as well. When we hear more, we’ll let you know.
Read More…
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Decipher embezzler sentenced to six years
Decipher was once a major force in the tabletop game industry, with nearly 100 employees and some of the most popular CCGs and RPGs on the market. It didn’t last, though, due primarily to a massive amount of embezzlement. The embezzlement lawsuit against Rick Eddleman, former VP of Finance for Decipher, has continued, and now a verdict has been reached. Eddleman, who has been convicted of stealing $8.9 million from Decipher over a ten year period, has been sentenced to 36 years in prison, of which he will actually serve just over 6 years. Upon release, Eddleman has been ordered to pay $910,000 to Decipher, but since Eddleman hasn’t accumulated any obvious signs of wealth that could be repossessed, repayment will take time. WKTR News out of Norfolk, VA has video interviews with both Decipher CEO Warren Holland (Eddleman’s brother-in-law) and now-convicted embezzler Rick Eddleman.
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