June 30, 2011
Fantasy Flight has released it's first expansion for Mansions of Madness called Seasons of the Witch. Seasons is not your typical expansion in that it uses FFG's Print on Demand system, not to be confused with Print and Play, where players purchase the expansion and then the order for print is entered. This helps FFG's overhead of having to produce a significant amount and hope they can sell through. The quality received is not going to be compromised and players should still see the quality we expect from FFG. The expansion contains the following:
- Three double-sided reference sheets
- Two Keeper Action cards
- Five Event cards
- Three Objective cards
- 37 Clue and Exploration cards
- 11 Lock and Obstacle cards
Here is the teaser text from the official product page -
A bright young Miskatonic University student has disappeared, having checked in to an infamous Arkham boarding house to study its reported supernatural properties. Now, as the celebration Walpurgis Eve approaches, you and your fellow investigators are tasked with venturing into the decaying Witch House and solving a mystery that has plagued Arkham for generations. But are you prepared to face the horrors that await you?
I am personally a big fan of Mansions of Madness (you can read my review here - Mansions of Madness - It's a Madhouse with a Few Squeaky Floorboards) and am looking forward to this expansion, if anything to produce more variety for the awesome fans who create user generated scenarios.
At Seasons of the Witch
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 27, 2011
In the wake of the Conquest of Nerath release, details about the next Dungeons & Dragons are beginning to leak out. First we know it is going to be called The Legend of Drizzt and will be based around the adventures of Drizzt Do'Urden from R.A. Salvatore's best selling Forgotten Realms series. We also know that LoD will be compatible with both the Castle Ravenloft and Wrath of Ashardalon titles and should be available this October. What we don't know is what other heroes will be available beside the legendary drow ranger, but we have speculation based off hints -
- Wulfgar - A human barbarian
- Catti-Brie - A human who has been known as both being proficient with archery and spell casting in different books
- Regis - A halfling rogue
Even without the hints of such prominent supporting heroes, having such a strong story behind the game will undoubtedly increase anticipation for release. If Wizards of the Coast can find ways to incorporate and engross players into the story while playing and keep with the solid mechanics that has made Ravenloft and Ashardalon successful, then I expect a runaway hit that will stand out from their existing lineup. We will just have to wait until October to find out.
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 25, 2011
Can't say I am very surprised about this announcement considering the success of Nightfall and the reception to Martial Law, the first expansion. Alderac Entertainment Group is not stopping this train any time soon and I can't say I blame them. Here is the official announcement -
Cities have fallen, cities have stood, but outside of those protections, humans must face the creatures of darkness on their own terms. In the lawless countryside of Nightfall, the beast within can wreak havoc like never before.
Nightfall: Blood Country is a stand-alone expansion to the competitive deck building game Nightfall. Blood Country brings you a complete all-new set of cards with special powers, and features new vampires, werewolves, hunters and ghouls. Blood Country also introduces innovative uses for your wounds, creating new effects beyond those just on the card!
- All new cards for Nightfall
- Innovative new card effects change the game like never before
- Fully compatible with existing Nightfall sets
- Amazing art shows more of the world of Nightfall
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 24, 2011
There is no question about it, the deck building genre is very hot right now, so it comes to no surprise that even Victory Point Games is trying to get in on the action. However, it should also come as no surprise that they are immediately trying to break the mold as VPG is known for taking risks and thinking outside the box. For the Crown is their third installment of the Casual Cards line, but the first in the deck building category. The difference is that they have mixed it with Chess-like gameplay. Victory will require planning, strategy, militaristic maneuvers, and tactics. Not only is it their most recent release, it's also $5 USD off right now.
At For the Crown
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 22, 2011
Jack the Ripper. Everyone knows the name, everyone knows about what occurred during those tense nights in 1888 in the district of Whitechapel. Not everyone knows about the cat and mouse game that occurred between the Ripper and the police of Scotland Yard. This meta game is what At Letters From Whitechapel from Nexus Games is all about. One player plays Jack and secretly tries to move about Whitechapel while the other players control the police trying to trace Jack's movement, pinpoint his hideout and make an arrest before he makes it back. This game has a fairly mature theme so please take consideration when playing with a younger audience but it is listed as 14+ by Nexus Games. This 2-6 player title takes about 90 minutes to setup and play. Stay tuned to Critical Gamers for a full review on Letters From Whitechapel in near future.
At Letters From Whitechapel
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 21, 2011
Gary Games will be attending Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, this week and they will be bringing with them the next offering. Titled Ascension: Return of the Fallen, the game will be the first expansion in their highly successful Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer line. RotF is designed to be a 2 player standalone game or to expand the base game for up to 6 players. The game will be available at the convention on June 24th or on their website on the 29th for 29.99 USD which will include 120 cards (65 all new center cards), 30 deluxe honor tokens, a storage tray, and instruction booklet. Also according to the release announcement from Gary Games, the expansion release should follow the release of the iOS versions (iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch), so expect those to be available in the next few days as well. Return of the Fallen should also find it's way onto the Apple platform sometime later this year.
At Ascension: Return of the Fallen
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 20, 2011
Courtesy of the Catan Newswire released today -
The Struggle for Catan™ is now available at your local retailer. This is a fast-paced game between the 2-4 factions developing newly settled Catan.
Manage your resources to build settlements, cities, city expansions, knights, and roads that generate victory points or special abilities. While your settlements, cities, and city expansions remain yours, valuable roads and knights change hands. Varied expensive city expansions give you additional victory points and lasting advantages, so they're generally key to victory. As in The Settlers of Catan® board game, you win by being the first to acquire and play 10 victory points.
The Struggle for Catan™ is the perfect way for 2-4 players to swiftly and casually explore, settle, trade, and build on the beautiful and ever-changing island of Catan.
Ages: 10+
Players: 2-4
Playing Time: 45-60 minutes
Designer: Klaus Teuber
Art: Michael Menzel
At The Struggle for Catan
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 19, 2011
City Square Off is a recent release from Gamewright that was showcased during the New York Toy Fair back in February. Designed by Ted Cheatham, City Square Off is a spacial recognition, tile placement, and puzzle game (ala Tetris) that puts 2 players against each other to plan and build their city in the most efficient manner possible. Each game takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes with very little setup required and is meant for ages 8+, however I think with a little guidance a 6 year old could grasp the concepts. Critical Gamers would like to extend a special thank you to Gamewright for providing the copy we used to review this game.
Continue reading: "Review: City Square Off - If You Build It, Fun Will Come"
Critical Gamers Staff
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RoboArena is a currently in development "Top Down Tactical Turn Based Casual Strategy Multiplayer Action Game", or TDTTBCSMAG for short, for the iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad by Bravado Waffle Studios. Imagine the classic RoboRally mixed with X-Com and RoboSport where players program moves for a robot or team of robots to complete the level objectives. The game will come with both single player and multiplayer modes. The single player mode consists of 30 levels of robot destroying, puzzle solving challenges as the player attempts to escape from the evil robot factory. Multiplayer is made up of a variety of different game modes like free-for-all, capture the flag, and Robo Hunt. There are already plans for an expansion so there will be plenty of content to enjoy. Also as another added bonus, if they can fund up to $2000 USD on their kickstarter campaign, they will also release a limited first edition board game version for backers. Pretty sweet deal.
At RoboArena
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 17, 2011
In advance of GenCon 2011 in Indianapolis, Indiana, Alderac Entertainment Group has announced what has now become one of Critical Gamers most anticipated board games of 2011. Ninja: Legend of the Scorpion Clan marks is set in the Legend of the Five Rings and marks a major milestone in the L5R property. This game looks and sounds amazing and instead of trying to paraphrase the awesomeness, we'll just let the announcement prove it to you -
The game centers around one very dangerous night at a castle in the provinces of the Lion Clan. Honorable Lion samurai stand vigilant watch around the castle, protecting it from harm. The Scorpion Clan sends one well trained ninja to infiltrate the castle for nefarious purposes... it may be to assassinate an imperial guest under the Lion's protection, or poison the well, or steal the daimyo's war plans for the coming season. Whatever the goal, the ninja has vowed to accomplish it, or die trying. Worse yet for the Lion Clan, the ninja has an accomplice: a traitor among the ranks of the Lion samurai whose true loyalty lies with the Scorpion.
Designed by the prolific Fréderic Moyersoen (Saboteur, Nuns on the Run), Ninja is a game of stealth, bluff, guile, and critical thinking for 2-4 players that has a different setup 2, 3, and 4 player games to create their own set of challenges and benefits. Ninja will have a special preview at GenCon and is expected to hit shelfs in October, which can't come fast enough now.
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 14, 2011
Looking for a good Father's Day gift? A gift to show your Dad how much you appreciate him getting you into all these awesome board games? Well, Columbia Games has provided a solution for you, awesome games at an awesome shipping rate. They are offering flat rate shipping charges until June 19th for any sized order to both US/Canada at $4.99 and International at $9.99. I would think this applies more for the international folks as we know how expensive shipping can be across the pond. Now is your chance to stock up on some games for yourself and treat your Dad to something nice.
At Columbia Games
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 13, 2011
Victory Point Games has just announced the release of The Horror! Pack. A two game package that includes both Forlon: Hope, a Space Hulk-esque space marine vs. alien scenario game, and the unreleased Dawn of the Zeds: The Battle for Farmingdale, an undead themed horror survival solitaire title in the States of Siege line. Dawn of the Zeds is currently only available in The Horror! Pack and is not for sale individually. In addition the pack is a 25% savings over purchasing both titles individually. For more information about these titles and to purchase this awesome deal, head over to the Victory Point Games website.
At The Horror! Pack
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 11, 2011
Dear fans, it has been 4 months since my last newsapalooza and for this I apologize. These last few days in June has been big for newsletters and announcements and in order to get them in, I feel that a newsapalooza is in order. There's lots of news to cover, so we may as well get started.
Continue reading: "Newsapalooza - Critical Gamers 6/11/11"
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 9, 2011
Thanks to some market research by ICv2 (original article) that was released at the end of May, we get a good look into the successes of the analog gaming industry for the early part of 2011. Some general statements from the research points to a nice upswing in sales for a majority of publishers. ICv2 has broken up the lists into multiple categories including separating card games into multiple collectible and a non-collectible to help differentiate the growing deck-building genre. Continue reading for the all of the lists compiled in the research.
Continue reading: "Tabletop Gaming Q1 Best Sellers"
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 8, 2011
Between Legend of the Five Rings, Thunderstone, and Nightfall, Alderac Entertainment Group have done nothing short of making a great name for themselves among gamers. Now AEG is taking it further by looking to support friendly local gaming stores and retailers that have supported them by offering up free swag for their three major titles previously listed. In the next week to 3 weeks, they will be sending a big box of free stuff that will include the following -
- Nightfall- Promo card packs - Lisaveta Florescu and Shadow Seven
- Thunderstone- Promo Pack #2- Guardian of Strength, Stormhold, and Dragon Humanoids
- L5R - War of Honor - Ronin Tile Set
Also included (U.S. and Canada stores only) will be one GENCON PASS which will be redeemable for a 4-day Gencon Badge that will let gamers into one of, if not THE largest, analog gaming convention in the U.S. It is up to the store what they wish to do with it, but expect raffles, giveaways, or other contests.
To find out if a retailer near you qualifies (must be a ranked 1 or higher store) head over to their website and do a quick search - http://www.l5r.com/stores/. If there isn't a store near you, don't fret, as the items will be available on their website a short time after for a nominal fee.
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 5, 2011
Recently announced, Conquest of Nerath is the latest in the successful Dungeons & Dragons line of board games (Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon) from Wizards of the Coast. Conquest takes players out of the dungeons and into some large scale open terrain battles as the Dark Empire of Karkoth march against the League of Nerath. Simultaneously, to the south, the elves of Vailin are in the midst of trouble with the goblin hordes of the Iron Circle. Players will be able to summon together their soldiers, siege engines, dragons and other monsters in attempts to thwart their enemies advances all while scouring dungeons and ruins for the magical artifacts and treasures that will help turn the tide of battle. Grab three of your friends and get ready for an epic battle of these four great powers from the coasts of ancient Vailin to the snow laden Winterbole Forest.
Conquest of Nerath will be available June 21st, 2011 and head over to Amazon to place your pre-order.
At Conquest of Nerath
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 4, 2011
If you are like us at Critical Gamers then finding good deals on awesome games is an important part of keeping our finances and respective spouses, girlfriends, boyfriends, etc., happy. It's almost as if the crew over at Tasty Minstrel Games heard our internal plea for great deals and has set us up with some great bundle deals. They currently have two bundles available that include both the upcoming hits Belfort and Homesteaders at a discounted rate and then they will throw in either Jab or Train of Thought for free. Either deal ends up being just shy of 50% off the MSRP of the titles. The catch is that they will be shipped in August and are only available in limited quantities at this price; after all the cheap bundles have sold, the price will go up. Also while you are there check out Eminent Domain, the highly anticipated deck building game due out in August as well.
At Tasty Minstrel Games
Critical Gamers Staff
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June 2, 2011
In other Fantasy Flight Games news, of which there is no shortage of, an expansion for Talisman called, The Dragon, was announced yesterday. Fantasy Flight must have realized how quick this game is to play that they needed to add even more content! (*sarcasm*) Still, we love playing Talisman regardless of the play time required and are super excited about kicking some dragon tail, go check it out!
At Talisman: The Dragon
Critical Gamers Staff
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The First Mansion of Madness Expansion Available 
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Review: Politics - Unpretenious Package But Packs Plenty of Punch
