Who Dares News On 23rd February 2015
Morning and here we are at another week standing on the brink awaiting news of more gaming delights, let me take you by the hand and gently usher you through the twinkly joy of this weeks news and tiptoe gently around the Swamp of Board Game Sorrow awaiting to suck you into its depths that is Kickstarter.
So news then.
Our Hotdog quaffing cousins from across the pond are in danger of suffering from a cardboard drought. In a situation reminiscent of someone suffering a bout of terminal AP during a game of Panamax it seems there’s a huge shipping jam off the West Coast, created by a dispute between the Dockworkers Union and the shipping companies its resulted in over 80 ships bobbing about with no-where to go. Included among this is no doubt all the new Star Wars Imperial Assault mini’s that has caused a disturbance in the force on a similar scale to an announcement that Jar Jar is big bad in the forthcoming movie. .
Toy Vault have given a glimpse at their latest game to feature in their Firefly line A Fistful of Credits here’s the blurb from the release.
a two-to-four-player cooperative game where players step into the boots of Serenity’s crew to pull off a series of dangerous heists and hopefully walk away with their lives and a tidy fortune! The game features three distinct heist scenarios inspired by the episodes Bushwhacked, The Train Job, and Ariel; each with their own highly-detailed board, tokens, and Heist card, which details unique objectives from the show that must be accomplished in order to win.
Players pair up any two of the nine crew members, forming unique teams that work with other players to collect gear, fight, and face both luck and misfortune while racing against the clock to complete the heist. Be careful: triggering an alarm, lollygagging around or sticking your nose in the wrong crate can open up a whole world of ugly – be it Reavers, Alliance, or the sinister Hands of Blue!
This features some pretty cool artwork that would make a great animated show (hint, hint) i’m a bit of a browncoat when it comes to Firefly and so the shiny is drawing me in. Here’s hoping this release goes smoother than their previous offering Out To The Black that found itself hoodwinked into some IP rights issues and distribution delays. They’ve set a March release for this and $60 price tag, i’d need to see more before signing on to this job but color me curious.
Now here’s something that I hope can make a splash when it hits Kickstarter, Sandcastles from YAY Games and designer Andrew Harman. Andrew designed the ghoulishly fun Frankenstein’s Bodies that funded last year on Kickstarter and has gone on to litter body parts and happy surgeons from here to Transylvania. Well his latest departs from all this ghoulishness and opts instead for the unique theme of building sandcastles, I’ve been lucky enough to get my hands on a prototype and whilst the theme may be all sunshine and ice cream’s there is still a hugely satisfying level of mean to some of the game play. This has already resulted in more than one gritty ham sandwich, kicked sand and a grudge or two. I’ll be putting up a review for this in the coming week, fans of fast, simple yet entertainingly naughty games will want to give this a look when it goes live on Kickstarter.
As we are discussing Kickstarter that’s take a quick sneak around its edges for anything tantalizing that you might have missed.
For me a project that has had me returning to it’s page more that once, looks absolutely stunning along with a unique and fascinating theme is Trickerion – Legends of Illusion. Taking its queue from The Prestige this is a game of dueling magicians that see’s you assembling your team, learning more and more intricate magic tricks, getting the components for them and then preparing them in your Workshop. At the end of each turn you put on shows hoping to outdo your opponents and claim the prize as top illusionist.
Go and take a look at the project, its handsome looking game that has some very cool and interesting tweaks on existing systems with a unique and fascinating theme.
Don’t forget its Monday! So that means a new Board Game Hour. Yep for one whole hour twitter stops worrying about the latest celebrity gossip or kitten pics and focuses on our hobby. This is a great place to interact with both designers, podcaster’s and players in informed and enlightening discussion on a variety of topics. Well worth an hour of anyone’s time.
I’ve been known to troll these particular waters so maybe i’ll see you there.
Don’t forget that the UK Games EXPO 2015 tickets are now available. This is the hot ticket for anyone in the UK that has even a passing interest in our hobby, last years show was huge and my favorite board game event I attended last year. This one is looking to top that with a host of big names set to attend and huge amount of stuff to do, see and buy. Keep an eye on the site as tickets for many of the events have already started to sell out, can’t wait for this to come around and hope to see you there.
And finally some self promotion, what delights have we got lined up for you. Coming up this week there are some interesting new articles from Charlie our resident RPG columnist including his recommendations on role playing over the net and a review for The Deep Forest. I’m currently beavering away on some reviews myself including the aforementioned Sandcastles, Imperial Assault and a raft of other games that are too numerous to mention I just need to pull my finger out and get on with them.
Hopefully I can also get some interviews scheduled as we’ve not done any in a while and I do enjoy a good old gasbag. Our little hobby I think you’re agree is showing no signs of letting up and 2015 already looks to be a bumper year.
Keep playing, keep rolling those dice and “Never grow bored of the board”
Mike B
