Speaking of Origins, on FlamesRising.com my interview with Andy Looney of Looney Labs has been posted. We talked about how he came up with the game Zombie Fluxx and how it differs from regular Fluxx. The article also ran in Sunday's edition of The Parkersburg News. I have some other FlamesRising articles I'm working on, and I will let you know as soon as those are posted.
On Saturday I had the chance to play a second round of "The Magical Land of Yeld" playtest with some of my Parkersburg players. We only had half our group available, but ran through a round of combat and moved the storyline forward in a rather cool direction. Overall the response was really positive and everyone is looking forward to the next session with more players and much more difficult challenges. I will post an actual play report as soon as I get the chance to type it up.
I'm also working on getting friend and new author
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
ajmendento CharCon this year. The guys running the West Virginia gaming convention are always eager to support local artists and authors. Which also reminds me of another bit of news: The CharCon staff is running an open call for artists for this year's CharCon program. If you are interested, check out the CharCon web site for details on how to throw your hat in the ring. Thats it for now, be back later with more news and updates.
ME
However, there apparently are no gaming stores in West Virginia participating in the event. None. Not a single one listed on the Free RPG Day vendor list, and after several phone calls this week to friends and businesses in different parts of the state, apparently not even one or two that flew under the radar.
West Virginia has had a sad reputation for gaming stores, so this isn't that surprising, but still really disappointing. You can't get this stuff anywhere but through brick and mortar stores that paid the $90-a-case fee to participate, and even if you want to go to Ohio you have to go to Columbus or Cincinnati to find a shop.
I would gladly devote column space to Free RPG Day, but I'm not going to tell someone to drive to Cincinnati or Pittsburgh for free quickstart rules.
Its a shame. The few businesses here locally that would have sold RPGs have gone out of business. Most were combination comic book/game shops, where the games were really secondary. If it wasn't White Wolf or Wizards of the Coast or Munchkin, you probably weren't going to find it anywhere around here.
So that is the state of affairs. Free RPG Day is in its second year, but still out of reach for most people here in the Mid-Ohio Valley. Its hard to get people excited about gaming when there are so few options on where to go.
ME
- Mood:
disappointed
A New York apartment that was designed to be a giant mystery game for the occupants.
The link was yoinked from the Stuff to Watch thread at Story-Games.com.
ME
Myself and the family went to Columbus this weekend to visit my brother and his wife. We went to COSI, which I've never been to, and it was pretty cool. We ended up not having as much time as we wanted, but got to see some pretty neat stuff all the same. I will post a couple pictures when I get the chance later.
My wife gave me my Father's Day gift before we left for Columbus. One was a Borders gift card that I used to buy minis (I have an addiction) and this:
That's right, Kobolds Ate My Baby! Super Delux Edition. I think its pretty cool she got this for me, but she is very quick to point out that I asked her for this book.
All in all, good weekend and good Father's Day.
ME
A buddy of mine and fellow gamer is getting married tomorrow, and in about 20 minutes I'm heading off to the rehearsal dinner. I picked up my tux today and man, we are gonna look sharp.
We had a bachelor party for him a couple of weekends ago, and being a bunch of geeks and good Christian boys, it was a very un-bachelor party.
In fact, the highlight of a night filled with one of our cool friends playing guitar and the groom-to-be playing HeroClix with our less-cool friends (I sat out cause I was nursing a beer and a headache, but eagerly watched the four-way carnage unfold) was when all of us took turns filling the various roles in Rock Band on the xBox. Let me just say, I suck on the drums, and got us booted offstage thanks to my crappy playing during a rendition of "Don't Fear the Reaper." I later redeemed myself with, if I do say so myself, some rock-a-licious vocals on Bon Jovi's "Dead or Alive" and a spirited attempt at the Beastie Boys' "Sabotage."
During a lull in the festivities a couple of us old married guys took it upon ourselves to give some advice to my buddy. One tidbit was to get her gaming, lest she end his gaming. Of course I don't think he has anything to fear. He and his soon-to-be wife have several times played board and card games with me and my non-gamer wife, including "Settlers of Catan," "Dread Pirate" and "Guillotine." In fact, about two years ago for Christmas she bought him almost all of the expansions for "Killer Bunnies." That there my friends is what we call "a keeper."
So though I am a little sad to be saying goodbye to my single friend, I am eagerly looking forward to hugging my married friends tomorrow afternoon. It'll be fun to have another married couple to throw dice and sling cards with.
God Bless, Evan, and much happiness.
ME
![[info]](http://stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
jake_richmond linked to a recent story in the Oregonian about indie game designers holding a convention-within-a-convention at Gamestorm. Jake, who has created and published games such as Panty Explosion and Classroom Deathmatch under the Aratashi Games banner, was interviewed along with PE co-creator Matt Schlotte, as was Christian Griffen (chgriffen), creator of the very cool Beast Hunters game. The article is actually a really nice story about indie games, and Jake and Christian represent the industry very well. Give it a read.
ME
My review of the Looney Labs' card game "Fluxx" ran in Sunday's edition of The Parkersburg News, and since then has been posted on BGG.com where you can find the full review. A quick and unusual card game, Fluxx is one of those great filler or party games you can pull out with almost any group of people and start playing right away. I'm eager to eventually see some of the Fluxx spin-off games, like Eco Fluxx and, yes, Zombie Fluxx. Looney Labs also usually has a great convention presence, so I'm hoping to hook up with some of those people at this year's Origins in Columbus, Ohio (which I didn't manage to do while I was there last year).
Also, for those interested, here is an updated link to my board and card game reviews that have been posted on BGG.com. So far there are 33 of them, and again, this doesn't include any role-playing game reviews I've done, or those couple of board and card game reviews that never got posted. It also doesn't include my articles about companies or preview stories, just the actual reviews.
So, if you get some free time, feel free to peruse my offerings and give me a thumbs-up on the reviews you like or find useful, and check out the rest of Board Game Geek while you're there.
ME
Just a couple of quick extra comments, and I hope to post more later, I am really getting into WoW TCG these days, which is crazy because I cannot stand Upper Deck's Vs. card game, on which WoW TCG is based. Somehow the system feels really wrong to me when it is a bunch of superheroes, but using it to simulate different fantasy factions and races and the use of Heroes just scratches an itch for me.
Plus I'm one of those geeks that doesn't play WoW, but is always reading stuff about it, making screenshots my desktop background and listening to podcasts where people talk about the joys of grinding different zones. Yeah, I'm that pitiful.
ME
The Christmas Wars
I tend to like my Christmas with a bit of an edge. No, not like Santa slasher films, but more like Scrooged's "The Night the Reindeer Died" starring Lee Majors.
With that in mind, I recently downloaded The Christmas Wars, a $5 .PDF from DriveThruRPG.com. Published by Team Frog, The Christmas Wars is a miniatures wargame that pits the forces of Santa against the forces of Scrooge. Though I am still going through the material and learning the game, it seems pretty solid, and has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek feel. I especially like the flamethrower snowmen, called Frosty's Fire Eaters, and the fact Scrooge uses Ninjas to fight Santa's troops. Ninjas rock.
The game includes a cutout Santa's Workshop you can build and paper miniatures to represent the different forces. Just print them on cardstock, cut them out and you are ready to play. There also are suggestions on how to use those little porcelain Christmas towns as terrain for the game. Awesome.
Spirit of the Season
If you've checked out my blog recently, you've probably caught my plugs for this free .PDF setting/adventure book for Spirit of the Century and Truth & Justice. Spirit of the Season features Nick Saint and his loyal Reindeer Men (and women) as they fight evil forces bent on ruining the holiday and the lives of those around them.
Though initially I was a little disappointed the game was more pulp than supers (which now makes sense, considering it is designed for both games, and SotC is a pulp game), I've really enjoyed reading the back stories of the characters, the creative villains, and thinking of all the possible ways I could use this book in a game. The pulp conversion rules for T&J give a new twist to that game, and for a free product it looks beautiful, in fact better than some products I've paid for.
The guys with Evil Hat Productions and Atomic Sock Monkey Press (the latter now falling under the former's banner) say they likely will expand the book into an actual print product for next year, with more artwork and full color cover. Considering what they managed to put out in about a month,,, I can't wait to see what they come up with for the finished product.
You can download Spirit of the Season for free from DriveThruRPG (does require you to register with the site) or directly from Evil Hat. And if you don't have Spirit of the Century or Truth & Justice, both games make great holiday presents or impulse buys! Happy Holidays!
ME
drivingblindand chadu. It’s the Most Wonderful Time Of The Year... For EVIL!
The miserly villain Doctor Scrooge hides behind legal technicalities as he steals from the pockets of the impoverished... explorer-gone-mad Jacques Frost preys upon the peoples of the north with his resurrected prehistoric murder monsters... the immortal Baroness Blackheart quests for the Elixir of Life, threatening to destroy all foundations of happiness for mankind...
... and it’s up to Nick Saint -— Codename: Secret Santa! -— his Reindeer Men, and you to save the holidays from their vile clutches!
Spirit of the Season is a holiday treat from the minds of Evil Hat Productions and Atomic Sock Monkey Press. Featuring characters and new rules compatible with both Spirit of the Century and Truth & Justice, Spirit of the Season is your ticket to two-fisted holiday pulp adventure!
One word. Two syllables.
Awesome.
No word yet on when this will be out, only soon. Personally, I can't wait. I LOVE holiday-themed games, and with them using two of my favorite rpg's, I have a feeling I will be begging people to play this with me again and again.
drivingblind also posted some really cool artwork here for the game. Let me add a word and a couple more syllables. Freakin' awesome.ME
This week they are holding a Thanksgivaway event, allowing people to download free copies of dozens of games and supplements. There is a different selection each day, and I gotta be honest, they are giving away some very cool games. These aren't games no one has heard of or supplements for out-of-print products. I grabbed several yesterday and was very impressed, as several were products I've wanted to check out for a while now.
So head over to RPGNow.com and register for an account (it's free as well). While you are there check out some of the other games and supplements they have available. A lot of them are $5 or less and are rather cool. I bought some of Chad Underkoffler's PDQ games, most notably "Monkey, Ninja, Pirate, Robot: The Roleplaying Game," which by the way will be offered free today! And yes,
chadu, I still hope to do a review of MNPR:TRPG, probably in a podcast. It's just that good.Anyway, check it out. You can even scroll ahead and see what other products will be free each day this week, and the giveaway begins about 10 a.m. each day.
ME
- Location:Columbus, Ohio
- Mood:
impressed
I wanted to touch base and let everyone know about a handful of previews for upcoming or recently-released games that are out there for your to enjoy. In no particular order:
Colonial Gothic by Rogue Games
I'm pretty psyched about this one. Set to release in August, Colonial Gothic is a game of supernatural horror set in the early days of the American Revolution and the 13 colonies. On Rogue Games' Colonial Gothic site you can find images of several pages, as well as blank character sheets, a design journal and some other interesting bits.
Og: Unearthed Edition by Firefly Games
A game of caveman survival where communication is just one of the hurdles you must overcome. The .PDF version of the game is already for sale and they are taking pre-orders for print copies, which will be available in August. On the Firefly Games Web site they have .PDF files available, including a preview of the first several pages of the game (not alot of game info, but does give you a feel for the setting) and a very cool design journal by the author.
Witch Girls Adventures by Channel M Live
I happened to catch the preview link on the Livejournal Indie RPG group and was glad I did. The .PDF Quick Character Creator has several pages of a comic strip to introduce the Witch Girls game (which is based off a comic book series) and several pages of character design you easily could run an adventure with. Based off the preview, the game has a very cool Harry Potter/Wynx Club/W.I.T.C.H. feel to it, and I am looking forward to the final product's release in October.
ME
First, today marks the release of Spider-Man 3. Though I won't be among the first to see the film, I am hoping to catch it Sunday with a bunch of friends. I was a big fan of the original Venom storyline in the Spider-Man comics, and in fact found the villain much more creepy in his early days. I collected Secret Wars when the black costume/symbiot first appeared, and loved Spidey in the black threads. When Venom first came on the scene, he looked just like black costume Spider-Man, with one major exception: He could smile through the mask. That alone sent shivers through me and made him one of the creepiest Spidey-villains to date. Only later did he go all pointy teeth and slobbering tongue, and for me it just didn't have the same effect.
Regardless, it will be fun to see him and Sandman on the big screen.
Another event is Free Comic Book Day on Saturday. Our local comic book stores tend to be a little on the stingy side when it comes to handing out the books, usually with each person only being allowed to choose one (out of about 15 titles) and sometimes a random piece of swag, like a HeroClix promo piece (this year it is Batman). Still, it is an excuse for me to head out to the stores and I try to buy something at each place, just to make it worth their while. I'm still trying to decide which title(s) I will try to pick up this year. "Pirate versus Ninja" has me really intrigued, mostly just because pirates and ninjas rock.
After I hit the stores, I will be heading to the library with some friends to do a little roleplaying. I am hoping to run Truth & Justice in honor of the comic-themed weekend. We may also try to get in some character creation/actual play on Spirit of the Century.
Saturday night myself and a friend will be trying out some two-player games, including Firefly Games' "Monster Island." What could be more comic book than giant monsters fighting for no good reason? We'll probably follow that up with some HeroClix or HorrorClix. My buddy bought the Hellboy HorrorClix Action Pack, and since I have the giant sized HorrorClix Cthulhu, we might just have an end-of-the-world throwdown to cap off the night.
All in all, it is going to be a heck of a weekend. I will tell you guys more after it all goes down.
Also, there will be a review of Hidden City Games' collectible throwing game "Clout Fantasy" in Sunday's Parkersburg News. I will talk a bit more about this game after the review has a chance to run.
Until then true believers...
ME
- Location:@ work
One of the hardest parts of doing game reviews is finding the time to play. With a full-time job, family responsibilities and other factors, time is often at a premium. Add in the schedules of other players, and it is a miracle we ever manage to have a gaming night.
This Saturday my wife and I plan to sit down with another couple and throw some dice. A small group, but four people is enough to play most of the games sitting in my queue. At best we may be able to get in 2-3 games in an evening, since these will be ones we are all just learning. But still, that will at least get me started on reviews for those products.
So what do I do with my games when I'm not playing? Well, for starters I usually spend a fair amount of time going through the pieces and components, reading the rules and sometimes even looking at other players' session reports online. I also look for errata online and do research on product cost and expansions, if any. I try to get a feel for the game before I play it, and sometimes, depending on the game, I may run through some practice sessions by myself. One night in October, shortly before Halloween, my family took a trip without me, and on the one night I had the house completely to myself, not a single member of my gaming group was available to play. So I spent the night fighting hoards of undead in a solo game of Zombies!!! by Twilight Creations. Though I'm pretty sure the game never was intended for solo play, I learned alot about the mechanics and how tough it is to actually fight the shambling hoard, and I was able to later use that information when playing with a group. Plus, it was a fun way to spend a spooky October evening.
But nothing beats playing with other people. It is, after all, why I love this hobby. I want to have those shared moments, the conversation in-between turns, the bragging rights from a perfectly executed move or the head-slapping groan of agony when I screw something up. I want to talk about the games, analyze them and lovingly take them apart and put them back together again.
In other words, I want to play.
Sunday's review, which hasn't been written yet, likely will be on Atlas Games' wonderful storytelling card game "Once Upon A Time." Atlas Games was one of the first companies to start sending me products to review, and I have had a soft spot in my heart ever since. I had the opportunity to interview one of Atlas Games' designers, Jeff Tidball, at Origins last year. Jeff has created such games as "Cthulhu 500," a card game about a stock car race to the end of the world, and "Pieces of Eight," a very clever and fun coin combat game where your stack of doubloons represents your pirate ship and all its abilities. Though I didn't get the chance to use the interview in a story like I wanted, I hope to type up my notes and write a mini-story about my talk to post here on my blog. I actually have several interviews from last year's convention that I hope to post online in the coming month.
So keep reading and in the meantime check out some of my old reviews posted on BoardGameGeek.com under the handle merb101. Comments and feedback, as always, are welcome.
ME
My name is Michael Erb, and I am a journalist and game reviewer in Parkersburg, W.Va., mostly doing reviews of card and board games and now branching into some roleplaying games reviews. I've been gaming in one form or another for more than 20 years, but in recent years have gotten more into card and board games. I write a weekly column for The Parkersburg News and Sentinel, and hope to continue playing and reviewing great games that appeal to a wide audience.
At the behest of some friends, I have finally decided to start a blog of my own. My hope is to periodically update this blog with what reviews are upcoming, games I am currently playing, a wishlist of games I would love to play/review and some of my views on the industry. I may also post some interviews I've done with some people in the games industry as well as some other games enthusiasts I've met along the way.
Simply put, this is all about a hobby I love, and I hope that using this blog to promote and expand my other works will allow me to grow as both a gamer and as a reviewer.
Be sure to check out my weekly review at www.newsandsentinel.com under Local Columns, and my past reviews posted at www.boardgamegeek.com under the handle merb101.
Questions and comments can be posted here or sent via e-mail to me at merb101ATgmail.com.
ME
- Location:The Parkersburg News newsroom
- Mood: cheerful
