» Card Games
Monday, August 8, 2005
And then Mattel got into it: Hot Wheels CCG
The Hot Wheels Acceleracers CCG has slick introductory videos and a Cartoon Network series backing it up. Can a Barbie CCG be far behind? Oh God no. Or oh God yes, I can’t quite deci — no, that’s a lie, a Barbie CCG would be horrifying de facto. I just wonder why it took this long for Mattel to smell blood in the water - not that I think this is exactly gonna be the next Yu Gi Oh or anything.
Friday, August 5, 2005
Sabertooth announces Penny Arcade CCG, geek culture implodes under own weight of self-reference
I am actually looking forward to this. I love the strip, and it looks like the creators have been deeply involved in creating the cards and artwork. It looks like the Penny Arcade CCG is designed around some Vs.-esque system where you can take any two decks from however many licenses they can get, and make them fight each other. That idea makes my doom-sense tingle a bit, but the theme of fighting in an epic, ridiculous way out of context for no reason suits the Penny Arcade theme to a T. No release date that I can find; I will follow up on this at Gen Con. [UPDATE: apparently the game is not collectible in any conventional sense, but will be compatible with future games which may be... so Sabertooth is going ahead and calling this one a CCG. *sigh* Load gun, aim at foot, pull trigger.]
Friday, July 15, 2005
WizKids announces their first CCG
I don’t know, do you think they can handle such a commercial type of game, with such high production values? High Stakes Drifter is a CCG due in November, which “uses a betting and bluffing system similar to Hold ‘Em where players challenge each other based on Skills, Smarts, and Luck.” Right, because the Hold ‘Em trend won’t be over in five minutes. No siree. I give ‘em credit, though, they are lining up lots of not-obviously-bad designs and appear generally serious about survival as a company. PDF press release here, full text after the jump.
While we’re talking about WK, though: 1) we never talked about the official death of Mage Knight, and still don’t have anything to add except that, um, now I guess we’ve talked about it; 2) if you haven’t watched any of the animated Rocketmen “webisodes,” don’t, unless you want your brain to hurt. That is all.
Read More…
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
Because bangin’ and gangsta rap resonate with so many gamers
These guys announced a while ago and I didn’t comment on it… largely because I found myself speechless. I still am, but here: the STREET WARriorS CCG Official Site. The publisher, Lethal Entertainment, is a new company comprising several Pro-Tour Magic players. Of particular high quality is this paragraph here.
I’m not even opening comments on this one. Let’s… let’s just leave it alone.
Tuesday, May 31, 2005
Let’s Kill again, like we did last summer
If, like us, you’ve been doing the casual-gaming thing for a while, you might remember a cute little card game called Let’s Kill, which not only did the stick-figure thing years before Kingdom of Loathing, but managed to be a funny game about serial killers and still be actually funny. Well, Atlas Games is doing a new edition, with all (or at least some) new stick-figure art. We really did play this back in the day, and the gameplay really did hold up. Really. And it’s by the same folks who do LARP chess. So, you know, fear it.
Saturday, May 28, 2005
Topps bringing “Yo Mama” to Blockbuster first
We’ve known for a while that we have the Wayans brothers to thank for the frightening concept of The Dozens CCG, which Topps plans to release just after the weekend (June 1). Now ICv2 reports that the “ancestor-insulting game” will be exclusive to Blockbuster stores until the beginning of August. No additional information has been released about the hardness level of the gum to be packaged with the game.
Thursday, May 12, 2005
Decipher kills two games, deep-freezes WARS until Hollywood calls
“MegaMan and .hack will be taken out of production and no further products will be released for either line. … WARS TCG will be put on hiatus to give the property a chance to develop to its fullest potential. While this is very disappointing to all of us here at Decipher, given the current state of the TCG market we feel it is necessary. Decipher is in negotiations with potential partners in Hollywood that could lead to WARS becoming a much more substantial property than it is currently.” Don’t know if I should laugh or cry. How does a game “property” “develop” while it’s out of print… unless it was never really game-focused at all?
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
Kingdom of Loathing card game for Gen Con
They have no web page up for it, nor even a permalink to their news post (so we’ve quoted it after the jump), but APE Games (you know, Big Top and Anathema?) has this forum page for Dungeons of Loathing, a card game based on the Web’s #1 threat to corporate productivity, the Kingdom of Loathing RPG. Like the famed Web game on which it is based, DoL will feature original, if crude, artwork by creator Jick, and gaming satire that is actually, seriously, no-kidding funny. (And I don’t think anything is funny.) Available this fall in faithful and glorious black and white. At least I assume so.
Monday, April 25, 2005
We’re gonna need a lot more black cloth
I’m embarrassed to say I like the pun. Yes, Ninja Burger 2: Sumo-Size Me! continues the honorable tradition of ninja fast food delivery, adding 72 cards to the original game (not that one. The card game, silly). The expansion promises new missions (”I’m delivering it where?“), Fortune cards, Menu Items, and other ninja goodness. For your $16.95, you’ll also get a side order of ninja money tokens, though it’s unclear whether they’ll double as shuriken. Steve Jackson Games shipped the expansion on Saturday, so the unseen delivery warriors should be in place at your local store soon.
Wednesday, April 6, 2005
Hecatomb site (and logotype) rapidly improving
So there’s some interesting stuff to read there now. Including this “first small hit of game information”: “When you attack with your abominations and your opponent is foolish (or devilish) enough not to block them, the abominations reap souls from that player. Be the first to reap 20 souls, and you win!” Er… yeah. While I’m aware that there is more to Hecatomb’s design than running a search and replace on the Magic quick start rules, the latter concept does amuse me. What if Star Sisterz had gone this way? “Be the first to make 20 poorly-dressed, non-Limited-Too-wearing younger girls cry…”
Monday, April 4, 2005
Sword and Skull Playtest Report, plus sort of some news
This interview with Sword & Skull designer Mike Elliott leads off with a note on one of those missing Wizards CCGs - a Xiaolin Showdown license - and goes on to explain some of the numerous ways in which S&S is like Monopoly but less sucky. I mean, how many times have you glided your top hat past Park Place and thought, “this is okay, but I wish I got to fight pirates”? Your wish was not in vain, sir.
I won’t repeat Elliott’s specific claims - my 3-player test on Friday night basically confirmed them all. We did have one player who seemed to want the game to be over sooner than it was, although she ended up winning (maybe because she was the only one goal-oriented enough to want the game to end). S&S can suffer from a bit of Talisman Syndrome - wander around the board trying to build some stat up, have random things happen to you that knock you down, lather, rinse, repeat. But you do get some ways to ameliorate the grip of luck, and frankly, just staggering around trying to get your friend back for stealing your gold last time is pretty fun. Our game ran a little under two hours.
So: light and frothy by contemporary AH standards, not the grind Monopoly can be, all the “advanced” stuff that Elliott goes on about doesn’t drag it down (but doesn’t end up being all that salient either), and we liked it. We recommend that you rechristen your Pirate and Officer figures as Giant Dwarf and Nancy-Boy, respectively.
Monday, March 21, 2005
Hecatomb card art and gameplay photos… um… that will chill you to your very soul. Yeah.
So here’s some more Hecatombage for ya, including lots of card art and a number of actual cards, some of which are stacked in such a way as to give one vague ideas about the rules. The art’s well done, and now that it’s been explained to me that the idea is to “take black from M:tG and make it the whole game,” I am less bothered by the theming. The “ooh, scary” stuff is not to my taste, but then, I’m not 15. I’m a little let down that the transparency of the cards isn’t being used in a very wide-ranging way, but I guess there’s no other way to do a tournament-ready game. The kids, they like their nice consistent card backs.
In case you can’t tell, I’m warming up to Hecatomb pretty quickly. I hope they explore some of the possibilities of the other Magic colors, and what would happen to them if they were exploded out into games of their own. I’d be interested to see a hardcore strategic battle of arcane knowledge and control based on blue, or a slam-bang flamefest based on red. Good old red. Nothing beats red.
Tuesday, March 15, 2005
Before you die, you see the pentagon
If only it were true. I mean, if I knew I only had seven days to live, you can be damn sure I’d give ol’ Rumsfeld a little sump’in sump’in when I saw him. But, um, my actual point: I typed in www.wizards.com/hecatomb/ on a whim, and look what I got. Adorable. Every spooky graphic design cliche of the last ten years in one convenient bookmark.
You know, a lot about this game looks dumb so far, but show attendees are actually saying this could be what Wizards needs right now - namely, a fantasy-themed card game that people interested in Magic can get into on the ground floor, without having to study obsessively and/or draft for twelve months before they catch on. So, I’m willing to believe it might be okay. But damn, I’m not optimistic about the graphics so far.
WotC maybe sort of announces Narnia tie-in CCG
Brace yourselves for some actual reporting: a random source at GAMA tells us WotC will be doing a CCG in the second half of the year to tie in with the Chronicles of Narnia movies. According to the same source, this brings WotC’s total for new CCGs coming out this year to a staggering six. This right after WotC told retailers that, out of 157 CCGs made in the history of the hobby, only twelve have lasted longer than four years. (Way to toss more bodies on the pile, Wizards!)
Friday, February 4, 2005
Duel Masters Trade Day: Beefy card swapping
The latest promo event announced for the Duel Masters TCG, the game with some of the most entertaining (and longest) expansion set titles, is the Duel Masters Trade Day on March 5th. Yes, this means Duel Masters fans will gather at participating stores to swap cards, and undoubtedly engage in some card slinging. Yes, the 15 exclusive cards that will be found in McDonald’s Happy Meals are sure to be exchanged numerous times, as the Trade Day seems designed to draw attention to them. No, you can’t have fries with that, as the Trade Day is taking place at game stores, not the restaurant chain. That would’ve been quite a promo event, though rather greasy.
Read More…
Tuesday, January 25, 2005
The fine line between stupid and awesome has just been erased for good
“Topps has scheduled The Dozens, the collectible card game created by the Wayans brothers and based on the ancestor-insulting contests popular in urban neighborhoods, for late April or early May.”
Wednesday, January 12, 2005
Mike’s self-important year-end editorial: Do Market Research Or Die
Okay. We all know about the highest-profile product-launch disaster of the year. Let’s talk briefly about another launch, that of the Call of Cthulhu CCG. It went well, right? Sure it did. Well, except for that month or so when it wasn’t so easy for retailers to get starter decks. Before that month, the game had a level of enthusiasm behind it (at our local store, at least) that hadn’t been seen behind a new CCG in years. After that month, though? Virtually no starter deck sales to new players.
Could this have been avoided? Yes, if Fantasy Flight had known how many starters they should really have printed. But could anyone have known that? Yes, if retailers had preordered the product in quantities that reflected how excited their customers would actually be. But can retailers know that with any precision? Sometimes they can. Other times, they have to rely on the pre-release promotion efforts of game publishers.
How good are those efforts? Let’s just say that FFG’s promo work for CoC CCG was about good enough to make most retailers say, “ehh… I guess I’ll order a box.” In short, not good enough.
Publishers need more. They need to come to the battlefield armed with real knowledge about the people who will buy the game, how much they spend on games, what else they play, how old they are. They need to show retailers that they have a plan for the game’s success… which means they must in fact have that plan. Finally, they need a product that will have those buyers and will make that plan possible.
How do publishers get these things? By doing market research.
Read More…
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Because kids aren’t fleeing the CCG trend fast enough
Now Wizards is telling parents they are good for you. “The release quotes Dr. Helen Boehm, psychologist and author of Fearless Parenting for the New Millenium [sic] and The Official Guide to the Right Toys, who describes how the interactive, constructive play of trading card games can help build relationships and live-long [sic] strategic thinking skills.” (True to form, WotC has not yet made this press release available online.)
A periodic hour of awesome with editors Allan and Mike. Subscribe!
You are currently browsing the archives for the Card Games category.
-
Recent Reviews Secrets of Morocco
(Chaosium)
Secrets of Los Angeles
(Chaosium)
Where the Deep Ones Are
(Atlas Games)
Secrets of San Francisco
(Chaosium)
Character Codex
(Goodman Games)
Malleus Monstrorum
(Chaosium)
The Shadow Out of Tim
(Darkest of the Hillside Thickets)
Stunning Eldritch Tales
(Pelgrane Press)
Ticket to Ride: The Card Game
(Days of Wonder)
D&D 4e Player's Handbook
(Wizards of the Coast)
Movie: Hellboy 2 - The Golden Army
(Universal Pictures)
Trail of Cthulhu
(Pelgrane Press)
Battue: Storm of the Horse Lords
(Red Juggernaut)
More...
Categories
- Board Games (276)
- Card Games (215)
- Computer and Console Games (111)
- Contests (16)
- Conventions (131)
- D20 (259)
- Dungeons & Dragons (258)
- Features (17)
- Game Design (10)
- Gamebooks (33)
- Industry (322)
- Interviews (20)
- LARP (13)
- Miniatures Games (247)
- OgreCave (418)
- Playtest Reports (17)
- Reviews (84)
- Roleplaying Games (576)
- Uncategorized (568)
Archives
- December 2008
- November 2008
- October 2008
- September 2008
- August 2008
- July 2008
- June 2008
- May 2008
- April 2008
- March 2008
- February 2008
- January 2008
- December 2007
- November 2007
- October 2007
- September 2007
- August 2007
- July 2007
- June 2007
- May 2007
- April 2007
- March 2007
- February 2007
- January 2007
- December 2006
- November 2006
- October 2006
- September 2006
- August 2006
- July 2006
- June 2006
- May 2006
- April 2006
- March 2006
- February 2006
- January 2006
- December 2005
- November 2005
- October 2005
- September 2005
- August 2005
- July 2005
- June 2005
- May 2005
- April 2005
- March 2005
- February 2005
- January 2005
- December 2004
- November 2004
- October 2004
- September 2004
- August 2004
- July 2004
- June 2004
- May 2004
- April 2004
- March 2004
- February 2004
- January 2004
- December 2003
- November 2003
- October 2003
- September 2003
- August 2003
- July 2003
- June 2003
- May 2003
- April 2003
- March 2003
- February 2003
- January 2003
- December 2002
- November 2002
- October 2002
- September 2002
- August 2002
- July 2002
- June 2002
- May 2002
- April 2002
- March 2002
- February 2002
- January 2002
- December 2001
- November 2001
- October 2001
- September 2001
- August 2001
- July 2001
- June 2001
- May 2001
- April 2001
- March 2001
- February 2001
- November 2000
- September 2000
Back to the