Nightvault

Nightvault board game is a standalone expansion to the game Shadespire produced by Games Workshop.  Set in the same world as the first this sequel builds upon the first, adding magic, and new types of gameplay, including multi-player matches.

Like Shadespire Nightvault is a small skirmish game of hex based, card-driven minature combat. Each team has a unique set of cards and play styles with various strengths and weaknesses. Ranging from the three character squad of the Stormsire's Cursebreakers  to the seven Thorns of the Briar Queen. This set pits the three durable spell casters against an incorporeal swarm of undead that can overwhelm your foes and even travel through occupied hexes!

All of the models are push fit and easy to assemble. The Thorns of the Briar Queen come in a pastel green while the Stormsire's Cursebreakers come in a deep blue, meaning that if you don't have the time or skills to paint your figures, they still look respectable. With these sprues there is also two double sided boards for variation and the cards and tokens required to play the game.

If you already own Shadespire you can combine both sets for even more customisation. Games Workshop have announced that like the first game, there will be the option of buying another six war bands separately. I am sure all of these will boast some new magical prowess as well as new races, cards and tactics. 

The set is coming out this Saturday! 

Anna

All images are from the Warhammer Community Website.

Warhammer 40,000: Kill Team

Warhammer 40,000 Kill Team is at heart a smaller scale Skirmish version of the hit table top game of Warhammer 40,000. Games range from 20 minutes to an hour and teams can be assembled from most miniatures in the Warhammer range.This means that a small force of say ten old space marines on ebay for £6.99 will give you a decent starting force for the game. Alternatively, if you go to your local hobby shop there will probably be a small squad of men waiting for you boxed for a reasonable price.

The game play itself is solid and consistent with the larger game, with very slight rpg elements and a levelling system. It is a game that works perfectly to balance its appeal between both veteran 40k players with thousands of miniatures to new players who lack the funds or time to ever play larger scale miniatures war games.

It is the little things that add to the game. Falling off of ledges, the backgrounds of your team members and the scouting phase, in which players secretly plant explosives or take a couple of shots at the games start. This adds to the games immersion making it perfect for much more narrative games, like hostage situations, or a raid on the spaceport to steal technology. The possibilities for setting up a narrative are only limited by your imagination.

Overall, the game doesn't add much that is new. If you are a hardcore 40k player then you may have been expecting more. Currently Games Workshops shares are through the roof, so you would think they would be willing to take more risks. I am hoping that the new Rogue Trader box set brings more depth to the game. Like with their releases of Necromunda and Blood Bowl, it feels as if you only are buying a shell of a game. With the other two games the campaign rules came in supplements and the content is leaked slowly to those who care. Without a doubt the game is beautiful, the models are fantastic and the box sets are affordable. It is easy to play and it is no trouble fitting 5-10 models in a bag or carry case and setting up anywhere.  

After the fifteen games I have had so far there has been a great variant of missions and the tactical options feel much greater than in Warhammer 40,000. There will always be at heart a lot of luck as it is a game fuelled by dice, but through clever positioning and the right called movements, you can win against the odds. The new alternating turn sequence, I feel, is something that they should have implemented in the new Warhammer 40,000 rules. It makes the turns far more tactical and brutal and prevents one lucky turn ending the game early.  

In a weekend you could easily play a whole campaign with a nice narrative throughout, actions changing the way the game progresses. As the games are so short and the rules so simple, it is the perfect game for lighthearted skirmish fun. I would expect that in time, like Warhammer Underworlds, we shall see a wide plethora of box sets and rule books coming out. The core book misses out demons and yet grey Knights have a weapon that has a rule effecting them, there are also no Sisters of Battle or Inquisition present.  Perhaps they will be kind and release these rules for free, like the renegade Knight codex for 40k or the recent Chaos Cultist rules for Necromunda, but we shall see.

It is a very enjoyable game and a great entry level play for new gamers and veterans alike. Certainly worth a play if you haven't checked out this type of gaming before or like me you tire of the imbalance of the larger games of Warhammer 40,000 and Age of Sigmar.


Anna

All images are from the Warhammer Community Website.

Patchwork

Last week the popular game by Uwe Rosenberg, Patchwork, came to the IOS and Android and I have been playing it quite a lot. I know nothing beats an actual physical game, and the only things that hold me back from buying up all the games I enjoy are money and space! Seriously, some games are HUGE and I live in a teeny place where my walls are mostly stacked boardgames. But buying this game as an app was a great idea and totally justified as I see it as sampling a game before committing to buy. Also, sometimes it can be nice to curl up in bed with a game and play under the snuggly duvet. Shut The Box used to be a bed favourite as the rolling dice is contained in the box, but I'm not sure if the neighbours appreciated the constant dice rolling noise and the wooden slabs being flicked over.

Patchwork is a relatively simple game to play, and like many games it has a greater depth to it that emerges the more you play. The game had a few bugs on the initial download but these have been rectified and it plays smoothly now. The game emulates the tradition of patchwork quilting in the USA, where generations of families diligently work on creating beautiful patchwork quilts to pass on down. Now you can try your dab hand at it without the pain of stabbing your fingers with the needle. 

In this two player game, you compete to create the most attractive and high scoring quilt. The game fuses elements of puzzle-solving, time management, spatial control and strategy. At the start you are given a 9x9 grid to make your quilt on and are given five buttons. Buttons are the currency of the game, and the victory points. Buttons are worth one point and any leftover holes on your quilt are worth minus two points. To make a nice attractive quilt it must have minimal holes, I am still working on that part.

The score is kept by a time track on a separate board, which not only keeps track of the points but it gives you little perks to make the game even more interesting. Another interesting thing to note is the mechanism of the time track. After each turn the player who is behind or on top of their opponent's token goes first. So you could end up taking consecutive turns, if you play your *buttons* right!  

At the start of each turn players are given the option to choose from three of the available patches to buy and sew onto their board, or players can select the Pass option by sliding the button at the bottom of the screen. This allows you to move your time token one space in front of your opponent, then collect one button from the bank for each space moved. A good way to stock up on buttons when you are low. 

Each patch for sale is worth a certain amount of buttons and takes a certain amount of time to sew. Both of these are shown on the patch. Some of the more bizarre shaped patches display buttons too.

Once you have purchased a lovely patch, you can flip it diagonally and horizontally to make it fit nicely, but patches cannot overlap each other. Make sure you flip them using the buttons on the screen and not manually flipping them with your fingers, that did not go well! Once you are happy where you have placed your patch you sew it in and gain points for covering up holes. Sometimes life does not hand you buttons and you find you cannot afford any of the patches, if this happens then you select Pass and collect some buttons for your next turn.

Remember that time track and it's little perks? There are five 1x1 patches on the time track, whoever passes a patch first claims it and may place it on their board to fill a gap in the quilt. If you are anything like me, there will be a few holes on the quilt! Those awkward shaped patches that display buttons on them come in handy here too. On the time track there are buttons placed on the route, and when you move past a button on the track you receive as many buttons as you have on your quilt from the bank. It is raining buttons! Happy day. This button downpour happens to both players, regardless of whoever passes it first. 

There is also a bonus incentive for the first player to create a 7x7 quilted area. I am yet to do this as I tend to pick up the more abstract patches with the buttons.

This is a really fun, light and engaging game for two players who enjoy a little strategy and buttons. I look forward to playing a physical copy and holding all of the buttons in my greedy paws. 

  

Panic Lab; Living up to it's name!

Sometimes I like to play lovely calm games like Tokaido and chill out, but sometimes I like to be toppled over and play games that get me all panicky and excited. Panic Lab definitely falls into the latter category. At the laboratory there has been an incident and all the amoebas have escaped, you must find them quickly before the other scientists (players). To do this, you shuffle the 25 square tiles and arrange them into a big circle. A randomly selected player rolls the four dice to determine which amoeba you must find first, then everyone plays simultaneously and the madness begins!

The dice represent the Shape of the amoeba, the Pattern of the amoeba, the Colour of the amoeba and the Labs. The Lab die shows which lab the amoeba escaped from and which direction it went, players start from there and have to identify the correct amoeba by touching it. If the correct one is found then that player gets a token. The winner is the first player to collect five tokens.

There are a few twists to the game, of course. These slippery little suckers can escape through air vents! If you come across a vent whilst tracking an amoeba then you must skip all squares until you reach the next vent. If you reach the third vent, you must ignore all tiles until you return to the first vent and then continue the search. That has not happened to us yet, they usually get caught after one vent or get mutated.

What is that, you ask? Mutated? Yes, that is exactly what you wanted to hear. What on earth are these scientists playing at, leaving hazardous mutation rooms open for anyone to waltz in? Amoebas can change colour, shape or pattern by passing through these squares. The delicate little amoebas will not survive four mutation rooms in a row, though, if that happens then they vanish. That does not mean the round is over, as the player who touches the last mutation room the little dude slithered through will win the token. This is when the game really kicks off and lives up to it's name of Panic, ensuing a frenzied hunt for the constantly changing amoebas against the greedy eyes of your opponents.     

For those of you with younger children or for the faint-hearted, there is the option of simplifying the game by removing the air vents and mutation rooms, making the game less frenetic. 

The amoebas are cute and colourful, even if they do put years on me. The components all fit neatly in an attractive little tin, so we tend to take it on holiday and end up playing it on the floor of the hotel room or a coffee table. Panic Lab is for 2 - 10 players, age 8+ and the gameplay can last for 10 -30 minutes depending on how many players you have. The set-up time is is short, and it is not a complicated game to learn. Throw in the bonus that it is an inexpensive game, and enjoyable too. A game of quick-thinking, good reflexes and very alert eyes!

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

      

Happy New Year!

I am a little late to the greetings and salutations party, but I would like to say Happy New Year to all of my readers. I trust you all had a merry time and got to play as many games as you could handle. I also wanted to say a big Thank You to everyone who reads my little blog, to everyone who has been involved in posts and interviews and to all the people who have supported it and encouraged me since I plucked up the courage to create it, you are all brilliant!

Whilst I settle into a new year and a new life, full of fresh plans and the unknown, I thought I would share with you all some images of the games that I received for Christmas and my birthday - because sharing is caring, and I am way too excited about them all to be quiet about it :)

I am now the proud owner of the Ticket To Ride expansion India & Switzerland! A shiny new double-sided board with India on one side and Switzerland on the other. Towards the end of last year I found myself playing Ticket To Ride quite a lot, I even printed off some fan-made expansions that are available online to use, like the Emerald City and the London Tube map. There are many expansions of this game, all offering a variety of twists on the classic game that delight and engage. The route formations are different but there are also little extra bonuses in each game that keep you on your toes.

Due to my fondness of Forbidden Island I was given Forbidden Desert, it's thematic sequel, set in what appears to be the ruins of a steampunk-esque world in the heart of the burning desert. Players work together as adventurers trekking out to the desert to unearth a legendary flying machine that is buried under the ruins of the city. As time moves on the board changes; perils such as sandstorms and lack of water arise. With resource management, utilising your role's special skills and fast-thinking you can find the flying machine before you are buried under the vast heavy sand. We failed miserably on the first try as I died of thirst, but the second time we were victorious!

Ever since I played Waggle Dance at the board games cafe, Thirsty Meeple, I have yearned for it. This euro-style worker placement game has such a fun theme! Worker bees - what could be more efficient than that? Buzzing around making their honey. The goal of the game is to be the first one to make the most honeycombs. There are different options to choose from every round, you choose where to place your bees in order to optimise your results. Bees could be collecting nectar, making bee babies, expanding the hive...oh so many choices!

Ah, the gentle and scenic Tokaido is finally mine! Players take on the roles of travellers who are journeying across the East Sea Road, using their unique qualities to help them progress on their travels. On the road you may choose to linger at the hot springs, you may encounter a friendly stranger, or purchase a special souvenir, or perhaps gaze at the outstanding views. The most successful and well-travelled person wins the game, and the calm nature of the game makes everyone feel really chilled (even if they are losing).

One of my favourite set collecting and trading games is Jaipur, I discovered it on Board Game Arena last year. Players act as merchants trying to out-do each other through trading, selling and buying. The game has elements of risk and luck, as you wait with bated breath to see what the card deck has in store for you at the market. Will it be the sought-after and expensive diamonds or will it be plain old cloth? Using clever tactics you can still achieve greatness, even if you are stuck with cloth!

So those were my fabulous games of the season, and I intend to play them a lot more over the cold months to come. 

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

    

Breakneck Blitz

I have been absent from blogging for a bit as life has been rather crazy this month. Aside from the usual work, I have been involved in the artwork design and play testing of Breakneck Blitz; a new game by British Briefs that was Kickstarted in August. I created guest artwork for a few characters and many arena maps, using my favourite techniques of lino-cutting and watercolours for the characters, and pen and digital colour for the arenas. As I type this, Breakneck Blitz arenas are scattered all over my place, I have been playing it a lot to make sure the obstacle placement works. Masquerading as a freelance artist can be rewarding, especially when you get given an exciting brief to work from such as this. This was my first venture into game illustration and I hope I will do more in the future, as combining my love for drawing and gaming was so much fun.

Two of the many arenas available, Ginger Dread design (Left) and Retro Rumble (Right)

Breakneck Blitz is played on a square grid, players draw out their movement line for the character they select and try to outlast their opponent in the arena. The game is rather like a futuristic gladiator arena combined with Rollerball. Players act as Blitzers, which are cybernetically-enhanced skaters, and they face each other off in an endurance skate to the death, keeping skating whilst throwing a few tricks out there to impede their opponents. It was inspired by old school Roller Derby. In the 1930s it was more of an endurance skate, but it was still just as vicious, if not more!

A selection of some of the Blitzers. My little dude, Axolotl Trouble, is hiding in there.

Each Blitzer has three special abilities that can be used only once. These abilities vary and could be a boost in speed, turning 90 degrees, causing an explosion behind your opponent, escaping death, jumping etc. The list goes on! The special moves are vital as movement on the grid is not straighforward when your opponent is trying to trap you.

To start, players agree on a starting point and draw a line up to one grid in length, at opposite ends of the arena. The first player then moves into any of the eight neighbouring points on the grid, then their opponent makes a move. Players may move up, down, left or right from their starting move and then may choose to move to any point within their trajectory. You build up speed by gradually moving two or more points at a time, and slow down at the same rate. If you hit any walls, obstacles, each other's lines or your own lines then you are out of the game. Of course, some of these end game scenarios can be prevented if your Blitzer has certain special abilities that allow you to rapidly increase speed, brake abruptly or cheat death!

After playing obscene amounts of my arena maps, I ended up developing a few strategies to outlast my opponents. Holding back on using your special abilities unless it is an emergency (I'm heading straight towards a wall - argh!) and not heading directly towards my opponent but allowing them to chase me were good moves. That is probably something I would do in real life too, skate away from the danger! This game requires a fair amount of strategy and second guessing your opponent's moves, as well as picking the character with skills you know you will utilise effectively. The All-star move, which is a wild card, is a nice all-rounder.

The original game artwork is slick and it looks pretty cool. It has a 1980s/early 1990s nostalgic feel to it, especially with Blitzers like 'Basket Casey' paying homage to The Breakfast Club. Several different artists (including meeee, shameless gloating wheeeee!) were involved in character and arena creation, but the game was designed and implemented by the man behind British Briefs, Lewis Terry. It is an enjoyable and intense game that can be played quickly or be drawn out into a longer and more epic fight if you get a number of people involved, as it can take up to eight players. You can play in teams or as individuals, and things can get very heated quickly! Breakneck Blitz was available as a print and play on Kickstarter, it has just been sent out to all the backers but it will be available to purchase online in the near future. In the meantime, come to my place - I have printed out and laminated nearly every arena available!

Thanks for reading

Marisa xx

                     

Ninja Bowling by Odd Hackwelder

I always get excited when a package arrives at the door, it is going to be something I kickstarted or something shiny from Amazon. Yesterday it was Ninja Bowling by Hacko Games, and I dived straight in for some good old fashioned bowling fun - with a twist. Ninja Bowling is a dexterity card game, picture traditional bowling pins being decimated by ninja throwing stars and you have got the idea. It is easier than actual bowling for me, and there is no need to wear the musky rental shoes. 

The game was designed and published by Odd Hackwelder, the man who created Monster 55 and M80, an assortment of fun and light card games that are simple to learn but also challenging (in a good way!) if you are a little clumsy and slow to react like me. 

To begin, players set up six pins in a triangle formation, almost like they would be set up in a alley. Players then take it in turns to throw three stars at their opponents pins. When you throw the stars, your hand can not go past the front of your own pins. If a star lands on a pin, or multiple pins, then those pins are swept to the side and removed. After one round, count up the pins that were knocked out and whoever got the most gets a Spare card. If your stars managed to touch all of the pins then you get a Strike card. In the two player game, if a player gets a Spare and then wins the next round too then their Spare becomes a Strike! The winner is the player who gets three Strikes. 

The two versions I ordered were the two player version and the mini multi player version. The two player version is a normal playing card size and the mini version is for two - six players. The mini version is very similar to the normal one, with the exceptions that you are collecting your opponent's cards when you achieve a Spare or a Strike and you may target any player during your turn. 

The game is simple to pick up, easy to assemble and quite fun. It gets a bit competitive as you hurl the stars across the table at each other. It was looking good for me at one point as I had two Strikes and my swinging wrist action seemed unusually coordinated. But, alas, victory was swiped from me as I threw some stars too hard and they slid off the table. I had polished it earlier in the day, I blame my loss on that.

I imagine a ninja would go bowling this way, but would they wear the rental shoes that squeak awkwardly and unstealthily when you trip up trying to administer an under-arm bowling action?         

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

Button Men

As much as I adore epic table top games with great components and a playing time that absorbs you fully for an hour or two, I will always have a special place in my heart for engaging yet brief games, such as Button Men. 

Designed by James Ernest and released by Cheapass Games in 1999, this wonderful little combat dice game was one of my first experiences into the world of table top games. The game play is as simple as you want it to be, and like many dice rolling games it is short but it can be prolonged if you do as I do, and turn it into a tournament of fighters!

Button Men is a game for two players who take turns rolling their dice in order to capture each other's dice. The game was originally sold as two packs of 2.25" pin back buttons (that is badges, to all you folk from the UK), but now you can download the character's cards here for printing. The characters, or fighters, all have names, unique numbers relating to their die attacks and a little bio which usually concludes with 'and she likes to beat people up'. Essentially, the fighters are rather like street fighters or prize fighters, busting each other up for the glory.

Before the game commences players select which fighter they wish to use and collect the dice equipped to that fighter. Some fighters have the 'X' symbol, which means you can choose any die between d4 and d20 to use. Players start by rolling all of their dice, then arranging them in a row in numeric order. The person who rolls the lowest number goes first. A good game for low rollers like me. 

There are two moves you can choose from during your turn, a power attack or a skill attack. A power attack allows you to use a die of your own to capture a single die of your opponent's that is equal to or less than the number you rolled on your die. A skill attack allows you to use several of your dice to capture one of your opponents, with this attack your dice must add up exactly to the value of the die you capture. I must say, this game has really helped my poor maths skills! Once you have captured a die it is taken out of the game and into your possession, then the die you used to capture it is re-rolled and placed back into the game. This process is alternated between players until one player has had all of their dice captured. After each round you add up your score to see who has won, each captured dice is worth its size in points and each of your own dice remaining is worth half its size. The first player to win three rounds is the champion!

Just to heat things up a bit and add some extra carnage, there are some special dice rules that were introduced in various expansion packs. I tend to play with speed dice and poison dice in games, they are less complicated than some of the others and quite useful. You can use one speed die to capture any number of your opponents dice, as long as the value of your speed dice adds up exactly to the captured dice. Poison dice are tricksy as they worth negative points at the end, if you keep it you must subtract its full value from your score and if you capture it then you subtract half of the value. I like to pick a lurid green colour die to represent my poison.

This intense little game becomes so addictive, and the more you play the more strategies you discover. I would always try to take out my opponents high numbers using my rolled high numbers but I have learnt that it is worth leaving your high rolls as they are, unless your opponent can use a Skill attack to combine dice! I love seeing a stupidly low number on a d20 and capturing it with a d4 - how very satisfying. Another great thing about this inexpensive game (it is by Cheapass Games, after all) is that it is really compact, you only need a handful of buttons and an assortment of dice. I have taken this to hotels and on long journeys without any fuss, just be careful rolling. you do not want to lose dice on the train! It is also available as an app on the iphone, and it makes a pleasing dice roll sound. 

Button Men is fast, furious, cheap and fun. There are loads of fighters to choose from by various popular artists and there are several expansions, even a cute Sailor Moon one. It really is an excellent duelling game that keeps me occupied for a while.

Thanks for reading

Marisa xx

        

         

Top Ten of the Two Hundred

Last month I completed the 200 different games challenge, it was intense but so much fun. It was great to go through all of the unplayed games in my home and explore new ones. August seemed to be the longest month, which was good because we had a lot of ground to cover. Here is my round-up of the top ten games from this challenge.

1. Imperial Settlers

A Fantastic civilisation building card game for 1 - 4 players. Players are settling in to a new world, erecting buildings, gathering resources and maybe even trading with other factions. Imperial Settlers is totally addictive and hugely enjoyable, every different faction has unique abilities and with the added bonus of the expansion pack Why Can't We Be Friends things get even crazier. Everyone must play this game!

2. Five Tribes

This is a very unique game for 2 - 4 players that blends elements of worker placement, area control, bidding, set collecting and strategy; all wrapped up in a beautifully designed package that is Arabian themed. There are so many different ways to score points in this game that you cannot judge who the winner will be until the scoring sheet comes out at the end.

3. Splendor

A card drafting and set collecting game for 2 - 4 players that is so shiny! You take on the role of a merchant trying to acquire gem mines, transportation and shops in order to boost your prestige and attract attention from wealthy nobles. I do love this kind of genre, collecting and saving up my gems in order to purchase pricier items; a buyer's paradise!

4. Waggle Dance

A worker placement and dice rolling game for 2 - 4 players, with different stages involved in each round, and it is all about making the most honey in your hive. You may build up your hive, lay eggs to be hatched into more worker bees, collect various kinds of nectar, then return the nectar to the hive and make the honey. I have never had so many dice to roll in a game before, my little hands were bulging with them! A great game, one I need for my collection. Oh, Santa...

5. Arcadia Quest

This is a miniatures fantasy campaign-based game. Players control a guild of three heroes throughout each scenario, battling against Monsters and each other, whilst completing quests. It is so much fun and probably my favourite game of this genre that I have played so far, those damn cute heroes and their special abilities make it extra cool. The added bonus is that when a hero dies they can return to the game after resting and pick up a Death Curse for the next Scenario. This is good for me to have heroes that resurrect as mine die constantly! 

6. Machi Koro

A city building and dice rolling game that is completely addictive and very simple to learn. Players take on the role of Mayor and take it in turns to develop their small cities, choosing which landmark to build carefully, what will help you reap profits and what will hinder your opponents? This game is a good one to introduce to people who are new to table top games.

7. Tokaido

I consider this game to be my relaxing and soothing hour, it is great to play after a tough day as I find it very calming. Players are travelling across the 'East Sea Road' and taking in the sights, the smells and the entire experience of the journey. Each character has unique qualities and you can use these to your advantage to gain extra points. Whether it is meeting new people, visiting a spa, earning money at the farm or purchasing lavish souvenirs; you can leisurely stroll across the road or pick up the pace. This game plays really smoothly and is rather serene.

8. Cartagena 2: The Pirate's Nest

This is very similar to my beloved Cartagena, players are racing their escaped pirates to the safe haven of a Pirate's Nest in Tortuga, but who will get there first? This time there are two islands to get through and instead of moving pieces backwards to gain extra cards, you must move your opponents pieces forwards. Oh dear, this is tricksy! But it is jolly good, me hearty.

9. Bohnanza

A fantastic card trading and set collecting game for 3 - 5 players. Players earn coins by planting fields of beans and harvesting them, whilst trading with others. You may plant a maximum of three fields and cannot rearrange the order of cards in your hand. Trading comes in useful when you have to lay a bean and your fields are full of beans that do not match the one in your hand! This game has been widely recommended to me and I can see why, it is very absorbing and engaging.

10. Mai-Star

This is a strategic card game with a Japanese Geisha theme. Players are competing to be the most powerful and popular Geisha by attracting guests, preferably wealthy ones, and by increasing their stature and skills through the means of advertisements. This impresses the guests and slowly you can build a higher rank of clientèle, whilst sneakily sabotaging your opponent's chances. This attractive and exciting game is unpredictable and brutal at times, you never know what is coming your way. Play it, and see what I mean!

So, those games were my absolute top picks of the challenge. I did enjoy many more but I fear listing every one of them would send you all to sleep. Perhaps one day I shall do it, one cold autumnal evening I will wrap up in a blanket and plough through the long list in intricate detail. Perhaps.

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

                  

Interview with Brotherwise Games

In my early ventures into table top gaming last year I was introduced to Boss Monster; a dungeon-building card game that oozes references to 8-bit video games and other pop culture gems. Boss Monster was created by Brotherwise Games; an independent game publishers that was founded and brought to life by two brothers in the US, Chris and Johnny O'Neal. It was their mutual love of games that spurred them to their company and Boss Monster, perfecting it over time and then releasing it to be kickstarted back in 2013. I was fortunate enough to get my first interview for Tabletop Stop with the lovely guys at Brotherwise Games, and here it is! 

What were some of your first favourite board games?

We have very varied tastes, but we both got our start in gaming with D&D and some of the more fantasy-focused board games. Most of Chris's formative years were spent playing strategy games like Risk and Axis and Allies. Johnny was a big fan of HeroQuest and started playing Magic when he was in middle school.

What are some of your favourite games now?
 
Now we're quite partial to games like Seven Wonders, War of the Rings, Smallworld, and Ascension. But really we'll play just about anything. A friend recently introduced us to micro-games like Deep Sea Adventure. Loved 'em!


Your love of board games and video games led you both to creating Boss Monster. What things inspired you the most to create it?

Boss Monster evolved out of a very different game idea than what it currently looks like, so it had a LOT of influences. Originally a bidding game focused on popularity, it merged with another idea that used cards to build classic D&D-looking dungeon maps - thus the fantasy theme. After lots of play testing, and numerous failed attempts, Johnny finally hit on the bidding mechanic that currently drives the game: the construction of a dungeon with rooms that lure in particular heroes. As that game took form, Chris noticed the visual similarity to the old side-scrolling video games that we had loved so much as kids. After some more failed attempts at nailing the theme, Boss Monster morphed into its final form, a mix of retro gaming nostalgia and popular nerd culture. We could write a book listing all the nods and easter eggs in the game, but really it's more fun for our fans to find them on their own.

What did you find most challenging when setting up Brotherwise Games?

Setting up a gaming company is pretty easy, you just file with the Secretary of State and off you go. Getting a gaming company up and running is tough. The hardest thing was probably getting those first distributors to agree to carry Boss Monster and sell it to their retail customers. There was a lot of mistrust of Kickstarted games, and we had to offer a lot of reassurances and data suggesting that we were a good bet. After those first distributors got on board, the rest followed very quickly as stores began asking for Boss Monster.

The Kickstarter campaign for Boss Monster was a massive success, did you anticipate that it would be so popular?

Nope! We were very hopeful we'd make enough to produce a tiny print run of the game and be able to cross that particular goal off our bucket lists. We knew the game was fun and compelling, but we had no idea how big it would be, either on Kickstarter or in stores. We're so happy it was, however!


How important is Kickstarter in your business?

It's very possible that Boss Monster expansions going forward won't be launched on Kickstarter, but we absolutely have Kickstarter to thank for where we currently are as a business. Boss Monster NEVER would have happened without Kickstarter, and the same goes for Brotherwise Games. As family men who both had full-time jobs, we had put as much development money into Boss Monster as were able. We needed those Kickstarter backers to make our idea a reality. But the value of Kickstarter goes beyond those original starter funds. We also see the publicity boost that Kickstarter gives as a real boon to any game trying to get noticed on the market. For the new, non-Boss Monster titles that Brotherwise launches, Kickstarter (or some form of crowdfunding) is likely to be important tool in our toolkit.

Do you guys have a favourite Boss character in the game?

Chris is pretty partial to Cerebellus. Johnny loves the "cover" Bosses, King Croak and Porkus.

Brotherwise Games gives off the family unity vibe, do you believe that board games help bring families and friends together?

Without a doubt. In fact, we have to think that the huge growth that tabletop games have seen of the last five years reflects an overall tightness and comfort with the family unit. Families are playing together more than ever before. Different generations are hanging out more than they have in the last 20 years. Tabletop games offer a social experience like none other, certainly it's a far cry from the more anonymous virtual networks that video games create (not that that's bad, mind you). We LOVE hearing that families, partners, and friends are coming together over a night of Boss Monster.

Brotherwise Games

Torrance, CA

Thanks, guys! You can check out Brotherwise Games by clicking here

Thanks for reading!

Marisa xx

200 Games in One Month!

On a whim, I have set a personal goal of playing 200 different games this month. It is quite a feat, even though my household holds around 150 games. The collection includes a wide array of tabletop games, from brief and fast-paced games like Brawl and Button Men to more lengthy and heavier games such as Shogun and Zombicide. We are in the tenth day of the month and I have played eighty different games so far, that leaves 21 days to cram in 120 more games. This is achievable! On top of the challenge, I have still been playing my favourite games multiple times. Although they do not count as part of the 200, a girl can't limit herself.  

Visiting Draughts, Marquee Models and friend's houses for board gaming sessions has given me a plethora of new games to discover and indulge in. The games that have had the biggest impact on me so far have been Imperial Settlers and Mysterium. I raved about Imperial Settlers in my last blog post, since then it has been purchased and played profusely. I think I may be a bit obsessed. 

Mysterium's Box and Imperial Settlers in play.

Mysterium is a unique game, it is a co-operative game of deduction with a murder mystery and paranormal theme. One player acts as the silent ghost, using illustrated cards to help the other players who are acting as mediums. The cards allow the mediums to decipher who killed the ghost hundreds of years ago, how they killed them and discover the location of where the slaughter took place. The mediums may converse together and analyse the cards, it is a rather social game! To play this we gathered around a table like we were present for am actual seance, all we needed was the ambience of a darkened room with flickering candles and the wind howling outside. But, alas, it was the morning and a very fine sunny day with sunlight streaming in, and the only howling was my stomach as I had eaten an inadequate breakfast.  

Get Lucky, Hare and Tortise, Drakon (1st Edition) and Fast Flowing Forest Fellas:
Four of the games I have played so far today.

The 200 Games challenge is allowing me to access more games, break out of my comfort zone and learn lots of new strategies. I recommend setting yourselves a challenge such as this, blitz through your own collection, dust the cobwebs off of that ancient game you have lurking in the cabinet and give it some play!

Thanks for reading. If you would like to catch up on my crazy challenge more then follow me on Twitter https://twitter.com/tabletopstop

Marisa xx