Gary Games has announced a June store date for the Return of the Fallen expansion. Return of the Fallen is the first expansion for the hit deck-building game Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer. The expansion will add 65 new cards to the Center Deck, the new Fate mechanic, and adds expanded gameplay for 1-6 players when added to the base set. With deck-building card games gaining more traction and additional titles in 2011, Gary Games is looking to get a head start on what appears to be an expanding market in the near future.
Rio Grande Games has released their first newsletter of 2011 and has some great news for us gamers. Here is the latest information about what we can expect in 2011:
Dominion continues to grow in popularity and size: by the end of 2010, we had sold over one million copies of Dominion in its various langauges and expansions. And, we have two more expansions and another promo card planned for this year.
In 2011, we plan to begin releasing our line of new designer games. These are the result of several design contests we have sponsored in the past few years and our attempt to encourage new game design in the US. Of course, we will continue to support our existing game lines and partnerships with new products. For example, this spring we will release Dominion: Cornucopia, Carcassonne: 10 year edition, Carcassonne Dice game, and Carcassonne translucent follower pack (with rules for their special use). We are also very close to completing Arctic Scavengers, our second deck-building game. In the next few months we will release Rails of New England, Heavens of Olymous, Cavemen, Airlines: Europe (Alan Moon's latest take on Airlines/Union Pacific), Carcassonne: the Castle Falcon expansion, Carcassonne: City 2 (same insides as Carcassonne: the City, but in a cardboard box), Those Pesky Garden Gnomes, Rattlebones, Credit Mobilier, Mogul, Monster Factory, and several others.
So what does Olivia Munn choking a chicken have to do with board and card game news you ask? Well, nothing really, I just wanted to get your attention and until I come up with a nice Critical Gamers news picture, randomness will have to do for now. It's been a few weeks since we have done a Newsapalooza post, so there is some catching up to do. Let's do this!
While attending PAX East '11 this weekend in downtown Boston, I was fortunate enough to sit down with Lorien Green, the filmmaker for the board gaming documentary "Going Cardboard". We both have roots in the video gaming industry and shortly discovered we had both worked at the same company! She had left the company only a few months before I started there. While having something in common like that can help break the ice, there was no doubt in my mind that Lorien would have been just as friendly had that connection been missing. She was undoubtedly enthusiastic about her project, the status of the gaming industry, and her experiences throughout the film making process. For some background about Lorien and the documentary, I suggest visiting her Hustream video, which can be found here - Introducing Going Cardboard: A Board Game Documentary.
Having fought the deciding battle and finding out that it led to my team's victory in my absence, I now had time to think about my experience with Warparty. First and foremost, it was fun! It was balanced, extremely well-polished, and fast paced. I had enjoyed a two hour game session and left wanting to play longer. There were multiple strategies and races that I had yet to experience. The inflation component of the resource and purchase structure was a great way to force action and strategic thinking. I would have liked to experience another one of the races like the Dwarves and tried out the research component or gone dungeon diving with my heroes to see what kinds of treasure I could uncover. Even better, I would have had a massive battle in the middle of the map for the precious +3 resources as the rest of the map is occupied. I left wanting more and now I understood why the guys came back to play again.
The showdown was about to begin. Man's forces were split into two armies, as were mine. I was not in a good spot as Man was able to collect more resources per turn and would soon have a stronger army if we continued the standoff. All that stood in the way of a massive clash was a mountain range, but a move had to be made and I had to make it soon.
Designer Chris Taylor has busted down the walls here at VPG yet again, and has brought forth the solitaire, fantasy States of SiegeTM game, Legions of Darkness. Until reinforcements can arrive, you must survive the relentless attacks from ghastly creatures and monsters for three days and two nights.
Besieged on all sides by dark legions, with limited supplies and even fewer defenders to man the walls of Highmoor Castle, you must make many wise decisions. Strategize how to marshal your heroes, where to plan your attacks, what spells to cast, and which deadly traps to build at your castle.
Pitted against hordes of undead skeletal riders, giant armored orcs, and even the fearsome dragons, can you withstand the siege? Defend your castle and survive the Legions of Darkness!
For all the details and to order Legions of Darkness -
At Victory Point Games
Last episode (found here), I had shown up at the Holiday Inn hotel in Mansfield, MA where Total Confusion XXV was being held. There were a lot of people playing a lot of games all over the place, from pen & paper RPGs, to all out mini Wargames, to popular Euro and Ameritrash. Everyone was having a great time, myself included. While perusing the scene, I came across an unmanned table with what appeared to be a prototype map. I read the flyer and check out the map as Larry Bogucki approached and began to explain the game of Warparty. He explained to me that it is a combination of RTS, RPG, and Wargame that pits teams of opposing armies against each other in order to capture the enemy capital. I signed myself up for a demonstration play and continued to examine the convention while I waited for the assigned play time.
Mansions of Madness is an all-new board game designed by Corey Konieczka (Battlestar Galactica and Runewars), based on the beloved Cthulhu Mythos of H.P. Lovecraft. Every game tells an engrossing new story and presents a deep mystery to solve. The game contains 32 detailed plastic figures, over 300 cards, over 200 tokens, nearly 70 puzzle tiles and much more. Check out the trailer video from Fantasy Flight Games and order your copy today!
Editor's note - This game is in high demand so expect to see a lot of stores with back orders.
In a tucked away little corner of Mansfield, Massachusetts stands a modest looking Holiday Inn hotel. However, from Thursday February 24th to Sunday the 27th, the inside of the hotel was anything but modest. It was at this hotel and at this time that the Total Confusion XXV convention was held. Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the entire duration, but was fortunate enough to get to spend my Saturday there. The convention was great, with about a couple hundred gamers coming together for friendship and for a weekend of RPGs, miniatures, eurogames, ameritrash, war games, panels and tourneys. Unless you were in the bathroom, then a game session was taking place with intensely focused faces. Also, for a industry that thrives on competition, there really couldn't be a friendlier group of people.
Gary Games Announced June Date for Ascension:Return of the Fallen
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