World of Warcraft Deck Building Game Coming Spring 2012!

Originally posted on IcV2 - http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/21633.html

Cryptozoic Entertainment has announced the Spring 2012 release of Clash of Champions, a new deck-building game that will feature the characters and themes from the hugely popular World of Warcraft MMORPG. Cryptozoic, which publishes the popular World of Warcraft Trading Card Game, has expanded its license by creating a deck-building game, and Cryptozoic's President Cory Jones promises "to put our own spin" on the mechanics of the new deck-building game.

Clash of Champions will include over 400 game cards, and will have a suggested retail price of $45.00. The new game will accommodate from two-to-four players, who begin the game with a small pool of cards that is expanded throughout the game play.

Clash of Champions adds a role-playing element to the deck-building mechanics by allowing players to customize their iconic World of Warcraft characters with special abilities that help them fight off monsters and collect treasures.

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Crazy Holiday Blow Out Sale at Eagle and Gryphon Games

Puerto Rico PC game for $2 USD??? Yeah its a crazy blow out sale alright. Go check out the amazing deals they have going.

Eagle and Gryphon Games Sale

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Newsapalooza - Critical Gamers 11.20.11

Free copy of Cargo Noir courtesy of Days of Wonder

Days of Wonder is giving away a free copy of Cargo Noir for anyone who spends more than $50USD in their webstore before Nov. 22. Time is running out on this deal, so get it while it's hot!!

At Days of Wonder

First Expansion for "For the Crown" Available from Victory Point Games

Victory Point Games has released the first expansion for their deck-building game For the Crown, entitled Cover of Night. The expansion comes with 40 new cards including a new sovereign to throw at your opponent!

At For the Crown: Cover of Night

Kickstarter Projects Galore!!

I can't even begin to explain how great Kickstarter has been to the industry and there doesn't look to be any slowing down on this trend. I won't go into explanation for each of these, but please check them all out and support your independent and small publishers!

Kings of Air and Steam from Tasty Minstrel Games
DiceAFARI from Stratus Games
Zong Shi from Gryphon Games
Pizza Theory from Gryphon Games

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide - RPGs

Tonight's Critical Gamer's 2011 Gift Guide is going to focus on RPGs, the old pen and paper staple. The Gary Gygax inspired, culture changing, hated by old religious ladies around the globe, RPGs. No reason to fiddle around, so let's get right to it!

Dresden Files

I pretty much think the picture covers it, but I'll give you a quick synopsis anyways. Voted as the Best Game and Best New Game for the 2011 ENnies, Dresden Files takes players into Jim Butcher's mythical universe. Using the Fantastic Adventures in Tabletop Entertainment (FATE) system, DF is published by Evil Hat Productions. While also having very popular books and TV show, it's not hard to get into the universe that Jim has put together. Mix that possibility of playing a human, psychics, werewolf, Knights of the Sword,or a White Court Vampire with the FATE system and you have an award winning mix that has everyone excited.

Warhammer 40K: Black Crusade

Deathwatch is the 4th installment of core rules in the Warhammer 40K line and it doesn't disappoint. Not only does it take the established rules from the existing installments, but lets you play Chaos characters, either human Disciples of Chaos or Chaos Space Marines. One of the interesting mechanics in Deathwatch is that characters have a looming end above their heads. They will either accrue enough infamy (set by the GM) to become a Daemon Prince or hit 100 corruption and become a Chaos Spawn, either way that character is finished. I like that aspect as it forces action, no more sitting around in bars waiting for something to happen.

Pathfinder

Ever Paizo Publishing brought Pathfinder to the scene in 2009, it's had a stellar run. Looking to expand upon the D&D; Revised 3rd Edition ruleset using the Open Game License, Pathfinder is meant to be backwards compatible with 3.5. If you have a friend or family member who enjoys D&D; and hasn't played Pathfinder, then this is a must have. In addition they are releasing Bestiaries and Adventure Paths, which only help to expand an already solid and fun system.

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2011 Holiday Gift Guide - Expansions

One of the best ways for publishers to capitalize on a successful franchise is by creating expansions. Not only does the creative property and lore already exist, but the game mechanics do too. This helps save time and money for the publisher and this is usually reflected in the price to the consumers. Not only that but as consumers we get the ability to continue playing the games we love by keeping things fresh and new. To that end we are going to start out the 2011 Holiday Gift Guide by listing some of our favorite or most anticipated expansions for this year.

Continue reading: "2011 Holiday Gift Guide - Expansions"

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Warparty Available on Kickstarter!

If you have been around Critical Gamers in the last month or so, you might have seen a post for Warparty, an independent title out of Connecticut, and if you haven't seen it, then you need to! (here) In that link are additional links to a 4 part write up about my experience playing the game during Total Con back in March. I am excited to tell you all that Warparty is available for funding on Kickstarter. I'm a little late to the bandwagon, but there are still 32 days left and it is almost halfway to its goal. There is plenty of information about the title on my write up and on the Kickstarter page, so make sure you read about it! It is a fantastic mix of town building, resource management, rpg, exploration, and head to head battles. Go watch the video and support this project!

At Warparty

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Gen Con to See Four More Years of True Dungeon

Recent news out of the Gen Con camp, the True Dungeon groundhog saw his shadow, which means four more years of True Dungeon! Great news for all you Gen Con fans. Here is the official press release -

After a record-setting show in Indianapolis
this August with almost 120,000 turnstile attendance, Gen Con LLC is
building huge plans for the next four years of Gen Con along with True
Adventures, Ltd. Gen Con Indy 2012 is not only the 45th anniversary of North
America¹s largest game convention, it will also be the 10th year of True
Dungeon. Long-term planning together between the two companies has yielded
an unprecedented four-year agreement. True Dungeon is slated to run at Gen
Con Indy through 2015! In a strategic move, True Dungeon will, for the first
time, be hosted entirely within the Indiana Convention Center, directly in
the heart of Gen Con.

True Dungeon allows players to experience a role-playing game adventure
within a life-size, walk through dungeon environment. True Dungeon's goal is
to transport you into another world for a few hours. There you will find out
how well YOU stack up against the adventure. You will find out how well you
respond to the challenges that are laid before you, while experiencing
classic gaming moments from your past. True Dungeon is created by True
Adventures, Ltd., a Carbondale, IL based company founded and led by CEO Jeff
Martin. For more details, visit www.truedungeon.com

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Free Small World Expansion Links Base Game and Underground

From the official press release -

Small World fans have been clamoring for a smooth mechanism to connect
Small World to the Underground, so with a little help from the Gnomes, we
started drilling!

Small World Tunnels enables 2- to 6-player games in various board
combinations. It will debut at Essen Spiel in Germany, October 20-23,
where Small World users can pick it up for free at the Days of Wonder
booth (Hall H, #1268).

According to the product page (here) the expansion requires both the base game and the Underground expansion to use and essentially is a link between the two. Regardless, pretty cool to be able to extend the playing field.

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Newsapalooza - Critical Gamers 9.26.11

There are a few pieces of news for me to share to you, so I figured another Newsapalooza was in order despite the fact that we had one 4 days ago as my last post. I'm going to get right into it, so here we go!

As seen on ICv2 - http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/21110.html

Mayfair Games will release Era of Darkness, a new expansion for the Rivals of Catan card game that was released last year, on November 17th. The Era of Darkness Expansion, which requires Rivals of Catan to play, takes two players 45-60 minutes and will retail for $12.00. The Expansion contains three 30-card expansions, Almanac, and rules book.

In addition, Mayfair Games has announced Jan 18, 2012 street dates for the second expansion to Age of Steam (California 2090) and Giza - the Great Pyramid. Stay tuned for more information on those when it becomes available.

Days of Wonder has announced Memoir '44 Campaign Book Volume 2 is now available featuring 46 new scenarios in 11 unique campaigns. Pretty sweet to see a book update to follow all the awesomeness that has been the free to play online title. Check out the book 2 product page.

At Memoir '44 Campaign Book Volume 2

Tasty Minstrel games is teaming up with Toys for Tots to make donations to help out less fortunate children have a merry Christmas/holiday this winter. All you have to do to help out is like their facebook page and the donation amount will depend upon the number of likes they have. So not only do you get to like a kick ass upcoming publisher, you get to assist in donating money to kids. Win/Win if you ask me.

Also, Eminent Domain, Belfort, Homesteaders 2nd Edition, and Martian Dice have begun to be shipped out for Kickstarter and pre-orders.

At Tasty Minstrel Games

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Newsapalooza - Critical Gamers 9.22.11

Victory Point Games has announced an expansion for their TC Tennis title. Dubbed World Class Women, the expansion will add 24 of the finest women tennis players in the world, including Billy Jean King and Martina Navratilova.

Z-Man games has released issue 31 of their newsletter here - http://www.zmangames.com/newsletter/Issue%2031.pdf. Featured in this issue is Ninjato, Earth Reborn, and Lords of Scotland.

WizKids and Icarus Studio have announced an addition to HeroClix Online with the Marvel Infinity Challenge which introduces 30 new figures and a new map. Overall the Infinity Challenge will add over 50 unique figures and 178 total new figures over the course of their additions. Head to the website for more details - http://hco.heroclix.com/

Ares Games, who recently picked up the Wings of War distribution in North America after Fantasy Flight Games finished their license, has announced a new line of World War I planes. These are the first WWI planes to be released worldwide and include two extra-large models in the long range bombers Caproni CA.3 and Gotha G.V.

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Mayfair Games Opens a Europe Distributor and Release Test of Fire

Couple of pieces of news out of Mayfair Games recently. They have opened a GmbH in Germany that will run distribution throughout Europe starting in November; great piece of news for the Euros. Also they have announced the release of Test of Fire Bull Run 1861.

From the official announcement -

Let Mayfair Games' new board game transport you back in time to July 21st, 1861 to take command as the raw, untried armies of the North and South as they clash in the first battle of the American Civil War!

Will you take the part of Confederate General Beauregard and defend Virginia or the part of Union General McDowell and reunite the nation? Simple game mechanics center on a system where command opportunities are determined by dice and action cards, eloquently portraying the frustrations of command. Suitable for ages 10+, this 2 player game can be completed in under an hour, allowing you to play- and replay the first battle of the American Civil War again and again.

At Test of Fire Bull Run 1861

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Quarriors! Expansion Slated for November

As seen on ICv2 - http://www.icv2.com/articles/news/21034.html

WizKids has announced the November release of Rise of the Demons, an expansion for its innovative Quarriors! Dice-Building Game (see "WizKids Launches Dice Building Game"). Rise of the Demons features 20 new custom dice and 19 new cards. Designed by Mike Elliott and Eric Lang, this "corrupted" expansion for 2-4 players (ages 14 and up) combines innovative corruption mechanisms with the introduction of Demonic Overlords, Basic Corrupted Quiddity, and Corruption Spells.

Players can attempt to flood their opponents' bags with corrupted dice to slow their progress, or they can hoard their resources to purchase Demonic Overlords from the Wilds. Do you have what it takes to overcome corruption, or will you succumb to the demons? The choice in Rise of the Demons is yours.

Critical Gamers Staff at Permalink

Ticket to Ride Asia is Available for Pre-order

Days of Wonder is now accepting pre-orders for the latest expansion to the Ticket to Ride series, which has been generally accepted to be one of the top board games ever produced. Ticket to Ride: Asia is going to be great for two reasons: first, it is a long awaited addition to the analog version of the series, although technically the Alvin & Dexter expansion came out this year. However if you only include true board based expansions, then the last official release would be the Nordic expansion in 2007. Since then Days of Wonder has been more focused on bringing the title into the digital space with Xbox LIVE Arcade version in 2008 and the iPad version released last May. Second, on the back side of the map will include a second map which will be a printing of François Valentyne's, one of the contest winners, submission called Legendary Asia. So not only is this a long awaited addition, you get double your money's worth. Priced at $30 USD, you can't ask for a better value.

At Ticket to Ride: Asia

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Stratus Games Now Available at Major Retailers

Great news for Stratus Games as both Barnes and Noble Booksellers and Target have picked up distribution of a few of SGs titles. B&N; patrons can now purchase Launch Pad and purveyors of Target will be able to pick up a copy of Gold Mine. It's nice to see these games being available for the masses. Hopefully the will understand the value of the products, make their purchases (holiday or whatever reason) and help Stratus Games produce additional great products like their latest upcoming title Eruption, which just so happens to have a contest for right now! Check it out!

At Eruption Giveaway Contest

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