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Monthly Archives: December 2013

Lamp Light Games Announces Relaunch of Space Junk on Kickstarter

30 Monday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Game News, Board Games, Kickstarter, News

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Board Games, Club Fantasci, Kickstarter, Lamp Light Games, Relaunch, Space Junk

 

Space Junk

Lamp Light Games announces the Relaunch of Space Junk on Kickstarter. Read on for more info!

Use all manner of Space Junk to Build, Laugh and Smash your way to victory in this fun easy to learn game!

I would say the most innovative part of Space Junk is building your ship. There are other games that use ship building as a mechanic, but use a generic set of parts with multiples of the same part. So the players will have some of the same items as each other.

 

*In Space Junk every item is unique, you will never have even one item the same as another player.

Space Junk is a game set in the future where the players are contestants on the hit reality TV show, Space Junk. The object of the game is to win the big fat cash prize, by being the player who earns the most Fame throughout the course of the game.

The game is played over six rounds each consisting of 3 phases: Move, Attack, and Search. You earn fame points by: Completing orbital laps around the earth, successfully attacking other players, and by collecting various junk items.

During the movement phase you move your ship around the board scoring points for each lap completed.

In the attack phase you launch an attack on another player scoring 3 points for each successful hit.

In the search phase players draw new junk cards and redesign their ships for the next round. After six rounds players add the fame points on all the junk cards they have collected to what they gained throughout the game, and whoever has the highest total wins!

“A friend and I playtested Space Junk at Gen Con 2013. Over four days we played well over a dozen new games. Out of all of them, Space Junk is the one we can’t stop talking about. Like most really good games, it has a few simple mechanics that support many strategies for winning and has high replayability. Beyond that, it was just super fun. We spent two hours laughing and having a great time. That is the highest praise you can give any game.”

~ Matthew Daugherty

Check out the Kickstarter page here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/112392540/space-junk-relaunch

Also stay tuned for a review from Club Fantasci in the very near future!

 

Win a copy of 1775 Rebellion from Academy Games!

29 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Games, News

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

1775 Rebellion, Academy Games, Board Games, Club Fantasci, David Lowry, Give Away, Register, Win

1775 Rebellion

And the winner is…….

Alex Pualani

Congratulations to Alex Pualani! You have won the copy of 1775 Rebellion from Academy Games! We hope you enjoy it!

Club Fantasci wants to give you a chance to win this amazing game from Academy Games!

The contest runs starting 12:00am Dec 30th, 2013 till 11:59pm Jan 31st, 2014. Good luck!

Register here:   http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/share-code/YWQxZjkyYmVlOTE4ODE2YTUzZWM4Nzg4NTJjOWFhOjM=/

The year is 1775. The American colonies are outraged over new taxes imposed upon them by Great Britain. They begin to stockpile arms and organize militia. On April 18th, militia members ambush a column of 700 British Redcoats ordered to seize stockpiled arms. 273 British soldiers are killed or wounded before they reach safety in Boston.

The American Revolution has begun!

Now you and your friends command the armies of the British Redcoats, English Loyalist, German Hessians, American Regulars, Patriots, French Regulars and Native Americans to decide the fate of the Americas. Players from each faction cooperate to gain control of key towns and forts. Share the fun in this light and fast paced multi-player game!

– See more at: http://academygames.com/games/birth-of-america/1775-rebellion#sthash.50C9g4Sm.dpuf

 

Congratulations to Alex Pualani! You have won the copy of 1775 Rebellion from Academy Games! We hope you enjoy it!

Academy Games Announces Fief – France 1429 on Kickstarter

29 Sunday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Games, Kickstarter, News

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Tags

1429, Academy Games, Area Control, Board Games, Club Fantasci, Fief, France, Kickstarter, Player Diplomacy, Resource Building

 

Fief - France 1429

Academy Games goes Medieval!

Academy Games, the publishers of ‘1775 – Rebellion’, ‘Freedom: The Underground Railroad’, and the award-winning Conflict of Heroes series, is launching a new Kick Starter!

‘Fief – France 1429‘ is a game of dynastic ambition, where players assume the roles of nobles in the 15th century Kingdom of France. Each player strives to become the most powerful ruling force in the kingdom by gaining control of Fief and Bishopric territories. In turn, they acquire Royal and Ecclesiastical (church) titles which give their families influence in elections for the next Pope and King. Players strengthen their positions by negotiating marriage alliances between their families, setting the stage for love, treachery and deceit!

Fief is a French language board game classic and is being re-introduced by Academy Games in English with updated rules, cards and map board. This edition includes additional components, which enhances game play.

Fief - France 1429

Game Type: Player Diplomacy, Area Control, Resource Building

Players: 3-6

Age: 12+

Playing Time: 2-3 hrs

Check out the Kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/617871702/fief-france-1429

 

 

 

 

 

Minion Games Announces a New Kickstarter for Ravenous: Biohazard Level 5!

21 Saturday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Uncategorized

≈ 2 Comments

Tags

Board Games, Club Fantasci, James Mathe, Kickstarter, Lovecraft, Minion Games, Ravenous: Biohazard Level 5, zombies

Ravenous: Biohazard Level 5

Minion Games has launched many successful Kickstarters in the past so here is a new one that may be great to get behind and takes two of the most used themes in gaming and combines them which hasn’t been done to my knowledge.

Ravenous: Biohazard Level 5 is a Lovecraft inspired zombie collectible card game that allows players to defend with survivors and attack with zombies.

Ravenous: Biohazard Level 5 is the first and only 100% original zombie and survivor collectible card game. The game is designed to allow the player to use all Ravenous 5 cards as both a traditional Collectible Card Game (CCG) and as an Expandable Card Game (ECG). There are story driven expansions that tour across North America and to the other continents, with characters and zombies unique to the Ravenous 5 world. Players can choose from 9 ½ factions that have their own unique strengths and weaknesses. The first Starter set will include four of the factions including:

  •  Civilian, which heals and defends
  •  Military, which deals damage and destruction
  •  Corporate, which plays counters and interference
  •   Occult, with esoteric rites that allow you to power up your zombie attacks

The video for this game is not up on Kickstarter yet but should be soon so get this one on your radar and please share your thoughts!

Check out the Kickstarter here: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/626732152/ravenous-biohazard-level-5

Catalyst Game Labs Announces the Shadowrun Introductory Box Set Being Split Into Two Great Box Sets!

18 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Gaming News, News

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Beginner Box Set, Catalyst Game Labs, Club Fantasci, Role-Playing Games, RPG, Runner's Toolkit Alphaware, Shadowrun

Shadowrun Beginner Box

As part of the Year of Shadowrun, Catalyst Game Labs announced a Shadowrun Introductory Box Set, which would be the first ever “starter” box for Shadowrun. Unfortunately, as happens to us sometimes, our passion got the better of us, and right as we were ready to send it to print we realized it was trying too hard to do too many things.

Ultimately we came to the conclusion that regardless of how well put together the overall box was, the following elements would damage its ability to achieve its goals of bringing in new players while providing a plethora of useful tools for existing players:

The price point was too high for an “introductory” item;

There was too much information for new players to absorb;

Existing players would potentially have too much material that was not as useful to them, which would lessen the perceived value

After numerous discussions that included talks with retailers and distributor in our industry, we’ve thus determined that the best way to solve the issues above was to create two new items:

Shadowrun Beginner Box Set ($19.99)

Shadowrun Runner’s Toolkit: Alphaware ($59.99)

Shadowrun Took Kit Alphaware This split allows both boxes to focus on a single primary objective, as opposed to the jack-of-all-trades syndrome plaguing the initial box.

The Beginner Box is 100% about new players, providing an easy-on-the-wallet quick taste of Shadowrun, making the barrier of entry into the game lower than it’s ever been.

Meanwhile the Runner’s Toolkit: Alphaware can focus on helping existing players obtain a variety of useful tools for easing into multiple adventures of Shadowrun, Fifth Edition, while also acting as the perfect bridge product for new players between the Beginner Box and Shadowrun, Fifth Edition.

Note that because we previously conducted a solicitation of the Introductory Box Set, we felt the only way to eliminate as much confusion as possible was to completely discontinue that name. And the use of the Runner’s Toolkittitle with the Alphaware suffix sets up the eventual publication of Runner’s Toolkit: Betaware, the Shadowrun, Fifth Edition version of the spectacularly sellingShadowrun, Fourth Edition Runner’s Toolkit.

Finally, to help maximize retailer (and ultimately the community’s) understanding of this change, we’ve pushed both items back to spring releases to ensure a full 4-month solicitation cycle.

Thanks for your understanding and we hope you’re enjoying the return of Shadowrun as much as we are! – Catalyst Team

Win a Copy of “Dread Curse” by Smirk & Dagger Games!

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Game News, Board Games, News

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

Board Games, Card Games, Club Fantasci, David Lowry, Dread Curse, Give Away, Pirates, Smirk & Dagger Games

Dread Curse

Club Fantasci wants to give you a Christmas present! Enter here to win the new game “Dread Curse” from Smirk & Dagger Games and see if ye luck holds out this holiday season!

DREAD CURSE

Game Design: Stuart Sisk

Illustrations: Lindsay Look

Players: 3-8

Ages: 14 and Up

Playing Time: 45min.

 

Contents

8 Oversize Pirate cards

3 Oversize Reference cards

54 Pirate’s Code ‘screw’ cards

60 Doubloon tokens

Large Cloth Bag

MSRP: $29.99

Dread Curse“Before ye lies a sack of 60 golden doubloons.
Draw yer share from the bag, then steal what more ye may to amass the most valuable stash of treasure ye can. Each round, players reveal coins from their hidden cache to win the captaincy or one of the other
seven crew assignments, each with a unique talent for prying coins from the hands of their shipmates.
Take all ye deserve, but no more than prudence allows… for the treasure be curst! To end the game with a coin bearing a Black Spot
be death itself. Best line someone else’s pocket with it, lest ye find yer pirating days at an end.

A light, casual game with role selection, variable powers, “take that” cards and a monkey. Pair that with piratey talk and the ability to seat 8 players and still hold to roughly 45 minutes – and you’ve got a push-your-luck game that’d do any pirate proud.” – Smirk & Dagger Games

Enter to win here: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/ad1f922/

 

 

 

 

Gale Force 9 Games Announces New Firefly The Game – Pirates & Bounty Hunters Expansion!

17 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Game News, Board Games, News

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Board Games, Club Fantasci, David Lowry, Firefly, Firefly The Game, Gale Force 9 Games, GF9, Joss Whedon, Pirates & Bounty Hunters

Firefly The Game - Pirates & Bounty Hunters

Gale Force Nine has announced the release of Firefly: The Game – Pirates & Bounty Hunters, the first full expansion for its popular Firefly board game, in March.
Pirates & Bounty Hunters introduces a lot of player-vs-player interaction to the game.  Players can raid rivals’ ships cargo with piracy jobs, or hunt down wanted fugitives (or other players’ crew) for bounties.  The expansion also includes new Supply and Story cards, two new Leaders, the new Bounty deck, and two new ships.  MSRP is set at $29.99.

Since the launch at Gen Con, Firefly: The Game has sold over 30,000 copies and is currently in its third printing. GF9 plans a UK printing, as well foreign language translations in the next year.  The first Game Booster Firefly: The Game–Breaking Atmo, will release this month (see “‘Firefly: Breakin’ Atmo’“).

Firefly The Game - Pirates & Bounty Hunters

Tricked-Out Hero by Prolific Games on Kickstarter

13 Friday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Game News, Board Games, Kickstarter

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Club Fantasci, David Lowry, Dungeon Crawl, Game, Kickstarter, Prolific Games, Trick Taking, Tricked-Out Hero

Tricked-Out Hero

Tricked-Out Hero by Prolific Games is a tricking taking meets dungeon crawl experience where the hero must trick themselves out to delve deeper in the dungeon and power up your skills! Be careful that you don’t power up the monsters your are battling instead! Do you have what it takes to take on the dungeon and denizens that lurk inside?

https://d2pq0u4uni88oo.cloudfront.net/projects/656395/video-321135-h264_high.mp4

There are only 20 days left to back this project so go check it out now! http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/804370134/tricked-out-hero

Board Games and The Cult of the New

11 Wednesday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Board Game Blogs, Board Games, News, Uncategorized

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Board Game Geek, Board Game Publishers, Board Games, Branding, Club Fantasci, Cult of the New, David Lowry, Marketing, Social Media

Club Fantasci

I think about this topic a lot and I think most people refer “Cult of the New” to the people who buy games and feed the machine with the 50 new Kickstarters this week from every board game publisher ever. There are so many new games coming out that it is very, very difficult to keep up with and truly a lot of them are not “instant classics” so they won’t be around long on anyones “must have” list anyway.

One of the things that disturbs me is the way publishers tend to ignore what they have already put out in favor of constantly having to put out a new game and keeping that excitement going. Yes it is exciting to put out a new game and have new product to talk about but really, all the time when you haven’t even begun to maximize the sale of your current products? What about the first 3 games you put out? Once the Kickstarter was done the publishers basically stopped talking their product. At the clip the board game industry is growing and the amount of new people discovering games and the hobby, publishers are doing themselves a disservice by not promoting your whole game library constantly. Just because a publisher has a new product doesn’t mean you forget about the old. Old being completely relative here as it maybe only 12 months old before it is basically forgotten.

Once the review cycle seems to end for a new game, you rarely see any promotion on a game. The publishers I guess don’t feel a need to keep promoting to potential new customers or maybe they think the distributor is supposed to do this? I am not sure.

I wrote a blog for the music/entertainment industry called “Creating a “Buzz,” It’s Your Responsibility” because so often people seem to miss the whole point of marketing, branding and selling. As the publisher it is no one’s but yours to sell your games. You can’t rely on Board Game Geek to be your only source of marketing as good as it is or the reviewers. There is so much new content on their everyday, it can be very easy for your game to be lost in the information vortex.

I can only assume the reason you went through all the trouble and hard work of putting out a game that you want to sell as many copies as possible for as long as possible. Yes, I know there are a few that don’t really care as I have talked with them. They just wanted to put out a game and hope people liked it. They had no desire to create a career of do the work of promoting the game itself. So if it is true that you want to sell as many games as possible, that means you commit to promoting for the life of the game.

In the excitement of putting out a new game, we kind of get addicted to having something new to promote and all the excitement that surrounds it. When we don’t have anything new coming out, we feel as if we are falling behind everyone else and possibly feel pressure to have new product all the time. Musicians do this all the time. They record 17 CD’s but only sold about 300 copies of each. They feel like their music is old but yet no one has heard it so it was fresh to the rest of the world and instead of focusing on a dedicated marketing and social media campaign, they rely on new music to have something to talk about. This is just throwing money down the drain constantly. Don’t do this with your board games. Work the plan and keep your games out there for new people to discover all the time. There is a reason that Ticket to Ride keeps selling. They are great games with a ton of work put in by Alan Moon at every convention possible and working it, working it, working it. Having your games listed on your site is not enough. That isn’t actively promoting or selling, that is passively promoting and selling.

Focus on great games, not quantity of games. How many Kickstarters have come out that you still want a year after they have come and gone?

Tom Vasel of The Dice Tower also talks about this in his “Board Game Breakfast” video (19:16) released on Monday.

As a business owner, don’t be a “Cult of the New” company. Be a “Cult of the Quality” company. Put out great games, developing a serious marketing campaign and a long term social media campaign for the long term on all of your games and sell more games!

The Obligatory Club Fantasci Christmas Board Game List

10 Tuesday Dec 2013

Posted by David Lowry in Ameritrash, Board Game Blogs, Board Games, News, Uncategorized

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

Archipelago, Asmodee Games, Bezier Games, Board Games, Catalyst Game Labs, Caverna: The Cave Farmers, Chris Dupuis, Christian T. Peterson, Christmas List, Christophe Boelinger, Club Fantasci, Corey Konieczka, Eldritch Horror, Fantasy Flight Games, Forbidden Desert, Gamewright Games, Helge Ostertag, Iello Games, Jens Drogemuller, King of Tokyo, Lords of Waterdeep, Matt Leacock, Nikki Valens, Peter Lee, Richard Garfield, Richard Launius, Rodney Thompson, Scoundrels of Skullport, Suburbia, Takenoko, Ted Alspach, Terra Mystica, The Duke, Twilight Imperium 3rd Ed., Uwe Rosenberg, Wizards of the Coast, Z-Man Games

Hello and Merry Christmas to everyone! When I decided to do a Christmas List (which seems like a must for every board game blogger) I decided I didn’t just want to do a list of MY wants. I wanted to enlist the help of a few friends on our Google+ board game group who all submitted their top 10 wish list so I could get a good round about of games that would fit any type of gamer as much as possible as we all have very specific likes and dislikes in games. I also felt this was a great exercise in learning which board game publishers really put out a product that people want beyond the typical hot game of the week bru ha ha that quickly passes for most games.

The list is comprised of the games (which ended up being 12 not 10) that were the most wished for on the post. The first two games got the most votes, the rest all received the same amount of votes and are in alphabetical order. I am not including any thoughts on this list as I feel the strength of the list is in the wanting of the games for the collections of other serious gamers.

So without further ado, the Top 12 Club Fantasci Board Game Wish List!

1. Archipelago

Archipelago

Publisher: Asmodee Games

Designer: Christophe Boelinger

Players: 2 – 4

Age: 14 to Adult

Game Time: 30 – 240 minutes

MSRP: $89.99

Each player takes on the role of an explorer and their team, mandated by a European nation to discover, colonize and profit from the archipelagos. These missions are supposed to happen diplomatically, by answering the needs of the local population as much as the regular demands from the continent. Archipelago combines exploration, resource management, optimization, cooperation, strategy, negotiation, corruption, commerce, suspicion, alliances and betrayals, even a hint of investigation! – Asmodee Games

2. Terra Mystica

Terra Mystica

Publisher: Z-Man Games

Designer: Jens Drogemuller, Helge Ostertag

Players: 2 – 5

Age: 12 to Adult

Game Time: 100 minutes

MSRP: $79.99

Terra Mystica is a strategy game with a simple game principle and very little luck involved:

You govern one of 14 factions trying to transform the landscape on the game board in your favor in order to build your structures. On the one hand, proximity to other players limits your options for further expansion, on the other hand though; it provides some benefits during the game. This conflict is the source of Terra Mystica’s appeal.

The 14 artfully designed factions, each having unique special abilities, as well as the exchangeable bonus cards allow for a large number of possible game plays that constantly keep this game entertaining!- Z-Man Games

3. Caverna: The Cave Farmers

Caverna: The Cave Farmers

Publisher: Lookout Games

Designer: Uwe Rosenberg

Players: 1 – 7 

Age: 12 to Adult

Game Time: 120 minutes

MSRP: Not Available

Caverna: The Cave Farmers is a worker-placement game at heart, with a focus on farming. In the game, you are the bearded leader of a small dwarf family that lives in a little cave in the mountains. You begin the game with a farmer and his spouse, and each member of the farming family represents an action that the player can take each turn. Together, you cultivate the forest in front of your cave and dig deeper into the mountain. You furnish the caves as dwellings for your offspring as well as working spaces for small enterprises.

It’s up to you how much ore you want to mine. You will need it to forge weapons that allow you to go on expeditions to gain bonus items and actions. While digging through the mountain, you may come across water sources and find ore and ruby mines that help you increase your wealth. Right in front of your cave, you can increase your wealth even further with agriculture: You can cut down the forest to sow fields and fence in pastures to hold your animals. You can also expand your family while running your ever-growing farm. In the end, the player with the most efficiently developed home board wins.

You can also play the solo variant of this game to familiarize yourself with the 48 different furnishing tiles for your cave. – Lookout Games

4. Eldritch Horror

Eldritch Horror

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

Designer: Corey Konieczka, Richard Launius, Nikki Valens

Players: 1 – 8

Age: 14 to Adult

Game Time: 180 minutes

MSRP: $59.95

Across the globe, ancient evil is stirring. Now, you and your trusted circle of colleagues must travel around the world, working against all odds to hold back the approaching horror. Foul monsters, brutal encounters, and obscure mysteries will take you to your limit and beyond. All the while, you and your fellow investigators must unravel the otherworldy mysteries scattered around the globe in order to push back the gathering mayhem that threatens to overwhelm humanity. The end draws near! Do you have the courage to prevent global destruction?

Eldritch Horror is a cooperative game of terror and adventure in which one to eight players take the roles of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an Ancient One – that is, an elder being intent on destroying our world. Each Ancient One comes with its own unique decks of Mystery and Research cards, which draw you deeper into the lore surrounding each loathsome creature. Discover the true name of Azathoth or battle Cthulhu on the high seas.

While the tasks on these Mystery cards (along with the locations of otherworldly gates, menacing monsters, and helpful clues) will often inform both your travel plans and the dangers you confront, you can find adventure anywhere in the world…even where you least expect it. It is during the Encounter Phase of each turn that players resolve combat or, alternatively, build their investigators’ personal stories by reading an encounter narrative from one of several types of Encounter cards. You might go head to head with a monster in Istanbul or find yourself in a tough spot with the crime syndicate in a major city. Maybe you will embark on an expedition to the Pyramids or research a clue you uncover in the unnamed wilderness. You may even find your way through a gate and explore a dimension beyond time and space.

Should you fail an encounter, the cost is steep. If you are fortunate, you will merely incur physical or mental trauma. However, you might also be compelled to take a Condition card, which represents a specific injury or restriction gained throughout your journey, such as a Leg Injury or Amnesia. You could find yourself getting in over your head to acquire assets and receive a Debt condition – or maybe you’ll owe a favor to something far more insidious than a debt collector, and enter into a Dark Pact! Whatever your condition, you would be wise to find a resolution with haste; many conditions have a “reckoning effect” which, if triggered, ensure a much more sinister fate.

All the while, the arrival of the Ancient One approaches. Its malign influence is manifested in Eldritch Horror as you draw Mythos Cards, which govern the appearance of otherworldly gates, fearsome monsters, and other ominous elements. Mythos cards keep your investigators under pressure, introducing new threats, even as the arrival of the Great Old One draws nearer! Since the investigators draw a new Mythos card each round, they’re certain to have their hands full battling foul creatures and following up on strange rumors, even as they work to solve their three all-important mysteries.

With twelve unique investigators, two hundred-fifty tokens, and over three hundred cards, Eldritch Horror presents an epic, world-spanning adventure with each and every game. – Fantasy Flight Games

5. Forbidden Desert

Forbidden Desert

Publisher: Gamewright Games

Designer: Matt Leacock

Players: 2 – 5

Age: 10 to Adult

Game Time: 45 minutes

MSRP: Not Available

Gear up for a thrilling adventure to recover a legendary flying machine buried deep in the ruins of an ancient desert city. You’ll need to coordinate with your teammates and use every available resource if you hope to survive the scorching heat and relentless sandstorm. Find the flying machine and escape before you all become permanent artifacts of the forbidden desert!

In Forbidden Desert, a thematic sequel to Forbidden Island, players take on the roles of brave adventurers who must throw caution to the wind and survive both blistering heat and blustering sand in order to recover a legendary flying machine buried under an ancient desert city. While featuring cooperative gameplay similar to Forbidden Island, Forbidden Desert is a fresh new game based around an innovative set of mechanisms, such as an ever-shifting board, individual resource management, and a unique method for locating the flying machine parts.

6. King of Tokyo

King of Tokyo

Publisher: Iello Games

Designer: Richard Garfield

Players: 2 – 6

Age: 8 to Adult

Game Time: 30 minutes

MSRP: $39.99

Slap around your enemies and become the King of Tokyo!

Play mutant monsters, gigantic robots and other monstrous creatures, joyfully whack your opponents, rampage the city and become the one and only King of Tokyo!

Combine your dice to gather energy, heal your monster or just slap others. Spend your energy to trigger permanent or one-shot special powers: second head, body armor, nova death ray…

Stop at nothing to become the King of Tokyo… but that’s when the real trouble begins for you! – Iello Games

7. Lords of Waterdeep

Lords of Waterdeep

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

Designer: Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson

Players: 2 – 5

Age: 12 to Adult

Game Time: 60 minutes

MSRP: $49.99

Waterdeep, the City of Splendors—the most resplendent jewel in the Forgotten Realms, and a den of political intrigue and shady back-alley dealings.

In this game, the players are powerful lords vying for control of this great city. Its treasures and resources are ripe for the taking, and that which cannot be gained

through trickery and negotiation must be taken by force!

Lords of Waterdeep is a strategy board game for 2-5 players. You take on the role of one of the masked Lords

of Waterdeep, secret rulers of the city. Through your agents, you recruit adventurers to go on quests on your behalf, earning rewards and increasing your influence over the city.

Expand the city by purchasing new buildings that open up new actions on the board, and hinder—or help—the other lords by playing Intrigue cards to enact your carefully laid plans. – Wizards of the Coast

8. Lords of Waterdeep: Skullport Expansion

Lords of Waterdeep: Scoundrels of Skullport

Publisher: Wizards of the Coast

Designer: Chris Dupuis, Peter Lee, Rodney Thompson

Players: 2 – 5

Age: 12 to Adult

Game Time: 60 minutes

MSRP: $39.99

Scoundrels of Skullport adds brand new content for the award-winning, bestselling board game, Lords of Waterdeep. It’s not one, but two, complete expansions: the sprawling dungeon of Undermountain and the criminal haven of Skullport.

Each thrilling location has unique characteristics and offers new play options, including new Lords, Buildings, Intrigue and Quest cards.

Owners of Lords of Waterdeep can use one or both of these new subterranean locations to add depth to their game experience. There’s also a new faction, the Gray Hands, so now a sixth player can join in the fun! – Wizards of the Coast

9. Suburbia

Suburbia

Publisher: Bezier Games

Designer: Ted Alspach

Players: 1 – 4

Age: 8 to Adult

Game Time: 90 minutes

MSRP: $59.99

Plan, build, and develop a small town into a major metropolis. Use hex-shaped building tiles to add residential, commercial, civic, and industrial areas, as well as special points of interest that provide benefits and take advantage of the resources of nearby towns. Your goal is to have your borough thrive and end up with a greater population than any of your opponents.

Suburbia is a tile-laying game in which each player tries to build up an economic engine and infrastructure that will be initially self-sufficient, and eventually become both profitable and encourage population growth. As your town grows, you’ll modify both your income and your reputation. As your income increases, you’ll have more cash on hand to purchase better and more valuable buildings, such as an international airport or a high rise office building. As your reputation increases, you’ll gain more and more population (and the winner at the end of the game is the player with the largest population).

During each game, players compete for several unique goals that offer an additional population boost – and the buildings available in each game vary, so you’ll never play the same game twice! – Bezier Games

10. Takenoko

Takenoko

Publisher: Asmodee Games

Designer: Ted Alspach

Players: 2 – 4

Age: 8 to Adult

Game Time: 45 minutes

MSRP: $49.99

The Giant Panda and the Gardener

The players take the role of courtesans of the Nippon emperor and take on the role of caring for his Giant Panda by growing a bamboo plantation.

Their mission: to farm parcels of land, irrigate them, and grow green, yellow or pink bamboo. In turn, they see what the weather brings and perform two actions from among those offered to them: get a new plot of land or irrigation channel, grow bamboo, feed the panda or draw an objective card.

The game ends when a player has completed 7 to 9 objectives (depending on the number of players). The player who gets the best score by adding the total value of their completed objective wins the game. – Asmodee Games

11. The Duke

The Duke

Publisher: Catalyst Game Labs

Designer: Jeremy Holcomb, Stephen McLaughlin

Players: 2

Age: 13 to Adult

Game Time: 30 minutes

MSRP: Not Available

The politics of the high court are elegant, shadowy and subtle. Not so in the outlying duchies. Rival dukes contend for unclaimed lands far from the king’s reach, and possession is the law in these lands. Use your forces to capture enemy troops before you lose the chance to claim the land for yourself.

In The Duke, players move their troop tiles around the board and flip them over after each move. Each tile’s side shows a dierent movement pattern. If you end your movement in a square occupied by an opponent’s tile, you capture it. Capture your opponent’s Duke to win! – Catalyst Game Labs

12. Twilight Imperium 3rd Ed.

Twilight Imperium 3rd Ed.

Publisher: Fantasy Flight Games

Designer: Christian T. Peterson

Players: 3 – 6

Age: 12 to Adult

Game Time: 360 minutes

MSRP: $89.95

Twilight Imperium Third Edition is an epic empire-building game of interstellar conflict, trade, and struggle for power. Players take the roles of ancient galactic civilizations, each seeking to seize the imperial throne via warfare, diplomacy, and technological progression. With geomorphic board tiles, exquisite plastic miniatures, hundreds of cards, and introducing a rich set of strategic dimensions that allows each player to refocus their game-plan, the original designer Christian T. Petersen has seamlessly incorporated the better qualities of other recently popular games to improve on the game-play of the original TI, making it at once perfectly well-rounded and pleasantly familiar to experienced gamers.

TI3 is played by at least three players who belong to ten possible alien races, each with their own advantages and quirks. The ‘designer notes’ in the rulebook candidly and humbly acknowledge the inspiration for some of the improvements to the original game. The strategic game-play borrows the governing element from ‘Puerto Rico’ to involve players in an iteratively complex and yet fast-paced game experience with very little downtime. The game map, basic player progress and overall victory are dynamically determined in almost exactly the same way as they are by imaginative players of ‘Settlers of Catan’, while the “Command” system cleverly improves on the ‘oil’ logistical mechanism of ‘Attack’ to both manage turn-based activity and limit the size of armies, uniquely enabling weakened players to bounce back if they play their cards right. – Board Game Geek

Thank you to all who contributed to this list and for all your wisdom over the past year in our group! Ryan LaFlamme (www.thecardboardrepublic.com,) Craig Browser, Scott Hill, Alex Paulani, Jeromy French, Casey Harmon, Joe Mitchell, Michael Juneau, Brian Casey, Chris Goff, Neil Robinson, Jon Weber, Chris Shields, Jeff Horvat, Joshua Jackson, Zen L, Adam Day, Michelle Ross and Nate Parker.

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Club Fantasci
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Welcome to Club Fantasci, the book club taking the stigma out of speculative fiction. We want to ...

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The Night Circus The Night Circus
by Erin Morgenstern

The Way of Shadows The Way of Shadows
by Brent Weeks
Start date: September 1, 2012



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