Season’s Gaming

Ho Ho Ho. Tis the season and all that other festive cheer type clap trap. Apologies in advance for any bizarre digressions or odd spelling mistakes, assorted grammatically challenged gibberish or codswallop to follow. I’m typing this during a momentarily joyful break between twelve hour shifts and all the other fun that comes to somebody working in a toy store at this time of year.

So yes as this might be the last chance to post something this side of the big day I thought I’d compile a hastily shuffled together gift guide and part wish list.

So without any further dilly dallying lets get on with it shall we?

Stocking Fillers

Got a gamer in the family or planning on converting someone near and dear to the cause? Then these are some inexpensive and great little games to pop into a stocking.

Stak Bots – I recently covered this in a review but I really cannot recommend this one enough, its a simple but great little card game to challenge your tactics and befuddle your opponents. Me and the kids are loving this and the apps pretty cool too. You can pick this up direct from the website HERE. And don’t forget the Kickstarter for the expansion is still running on Kickstarter HERE 

Lords Of War – Another Blighty born creation and at pocket money prices. This is another firm Who Dares Rolls family favorite. Battle your nearest and dearest head to head with fantasy armies. All beautifully illustrated by Steve Cox.

There are currently two sets available either is a great buy or better still grab both and mix it up. Grab them direct from Black Box HERE. And that’s not all, the third pack Templars V’s Undead has just been funded on Kickstarter and there is still time to grab yourself a copy and help push this on to those funding goals. Go HERE and pledge it up.

Sushi Go – Its another card game, this time out you are making Sushi and going… Good clean and simple fun, simulate stuffing your face with cold fish without the urge to retch. It is better than I’m selling it really.

Skull & Roses – Sort of liars dice with beer mats. Absolutely worse case scenario you still have some very nice coasters. Hmm still not doing these much justice.

Mascarade – More cards. Great party game this. Plays up to 13 and very easy to teach. Bluff your opponents and lie and cheat and then switch cards about and confuse yourself. Much hilarity will follow.

Coup – Similar in feel to Mascarade you get two cards and then lie and cheat and bluff your opponents to what you are actually holding. Recently reissued by indie games its a neat little micro card game and a lot of fun.

I reviewed it earlier in the year if you want something a bit deeper to get your teeth into.

BIG BOXES OF GOODNESS

So if your looking for something a bit bigger these are some great games or stuff that I have on my wish list.

Fantasy Flight hit the Cthulhu mythos again with Arkham Horror 2.0 – I love a big brash Ameritrash game and Fantasy Flight are the masters of this sort of stuff. Who doesn’t want to battle Lovecraft’s beasties across the globe. Waiting patiently to get my hands on this and give it a spin.

This one is one big heavy box of goodness. You could warm a mansion with the amount of wood in this box. Part Euro but with a fantasy theme. I’ve played this and have to say its pretty damn special, it looks terrifying once set up on a table and most sane people run screaming from what looks like a complex and brain numbing mass of tokens and pieces. But in actual fact its very intuitive and within a round or two you will pick up all you need and have a riot. Very elegant design and a lot of fun. Suspect Santa might pull a muscle trying to get this down my chimney.

This has been getting some pretty good word of mouth. Part RPG with a good dash of deck builder. It sounds interesting and something I think I could happily while away a few hours playing. If this doesn’t hit my stocking this year it is something I will be seeking out.

Pilot a star ship with your buddies and roll lots of dice. Ever wanted to be Captain Kirk then this will do it for you. Plays two teams of 4-8 people as you each control various stations on your ships bridge and desperately roll dice whilst attempting to outwit the opposition. This sounds a big pile of fun. And it has lots of dice whats not to love?

Party Games

So you’ve stuffed yourself with poultry and spuds what better than to settle down with your nearest and dearest and play games. Here’s some alternatives to the usual options.

This is a lot of fun, it does help if you have a group who are going to fully embrace taking things the wrong way. Its basically Chinese whispers with wipe clean note pads. A guaranteed highly amusing evenings entertainment.

Stop I know. Its Trivial Pursuit and I’ll be the first to admit that its had its day. But this is a clever and fun variation on the old guy. You get sets of poker chips and can bet against the other players getting answers correct or wrong and use you winnings to buy those horrible geography and science answers. Its much faster than a normal game and actually quite a lot of fun.

Packed with some surreal and wonderful art. This game plays best if you know the people your playing with. Pick a card and tell a story or give a clue and then everyone has to try and guess what card it was that inspired you. Its very easy to teach and play. But really comes into its own with a group of close friends.

This is really just the tip of the ice berg – This year alone has seen literally hundreds of brilliant games released. I’ll be putting up my picks and thoughts soon. This is such a cool time to be gaming there are just oodles of great stuff out there now and a heap of amazing stuff due next year. Wishing you all a great Christmas and hoping you get a chance to spend some quality time around a table with your nearest and dearest.

Keep rolling those dice.