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The State of Games, Episode 39 – The One About Auld Lang Syne

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There is a time and a season for all things – unfortunately, it’s the time on The State of Games for a season of change. This episode marks the first time in 38 episodes where Monkey238 was not seated faithfully in her co-host’s chair. As I announce on the podcast, she is moving onto ballet priorities and time is wickedly short for her. Although the show must go on, we raise our cups and sing a bit of the old refrain: “We two have run about the slopes, and picked the daisies fine; But we’ve wandered many a weary foot, since auld lang syne.”

Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

Unpub 3

Compounded

VivaJava

Fleet (Dice Hate Me Game of the Year)

Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game

Defenders of the Realm

Myrmes

Vegas

Divinare

Anomia

Belle of the Ball

Legacy: Gears of Time

Smash Up (Dice Hate Me review)

DC Deckbuilding Game

Viticulture

Lords of Waterdeep

Vanuatu

Coup

Chicken Caesar

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (The shipment is here! Get your post-holiday orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!


Unpublished Magic – A Guest Interview with John Moller of Cartrunk Ent.

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Dice Hate Me and Go Forth and Game have joined forces to bring you some of the best gaming interviews on the web! That’s right, from time to time here on Dice Hate Me, Tom Gurganus will contribute one of his comprehensive conversations. In this interview, Tom talks with John Moller, head of Cartrunk Entertainment and founder of Unpub – the Unpublished Games Festival! Enjoy the interview and be sure to let us know if there are other designers, artists or gaming insiders that you would like to know more about!

unpub

Tom Gurganus: I am very excited to have John Moller as my guest this time.  John is the founder of Unpub, an organization that assists game designers get their games into a publishable form through playtesting, connecting people, and advice. Unpub.net is a network is game designers, publishers, players, retailers and artists working towards the creation of new and unique table top games that will keep people entertained for generations to come!

Tom: So John, tell us about John Moller.

John Moller: I’m a guy who likes games. I do other things, of course, but they’re not all that relevant. My standard answer is that I do different things for different people. I’m a lighting designer who specializes in theatre and concerts, I’m a voting machine technician for my county, and sometimes I’m a welder. …But none of that is important. For me they’re impediments to getting down to games.

Tom: You have a varied palette of skills.

John: I play as often as I can. When I can’t, I talk about games or I write about games. If I’m not doing one of those three things, I’m probably working.

Tom: What game got you hooked on gaming?

John: That’s a complicated question. I have a LOT of memories of games and playing games, but I don’t remember being a game player. My brothers are like 10 years older than me, so I have early memories of trying Dungeons and Dragons, experimenting with Shogun (now called Ikusa) and playing lots of mass market games like Uno, Monopoly and branded board games for things I loved. I remember playing games with my Grandmother including Tiddly Winks and Uncle Wiggly. There was an older lady, Mrs. James, down the street who I would go play card games with some afternoons. I look back and games were always there….somewhere, but maybe not in the forefront. …until high school when I got into CCGs. I started with Star Trek and tried Star Wars…and then fell into Magic: The Gathering. That put us in the way of seeing other games and finally experimenting. I think my first “real game” was Carcassonne, but the true revelation came with Reiner Knizia’s Lord of the Rings. My inspiration for design came from James Ernest’s Cheapass games line in the early 2000s. It’s been a snowball since then.

Tom: Lord of the Rings. You must have played that with Darrell. He mentioned it as his first ‘real’ game. Uncle Wiggly holds a special place in my heart too.  And my grandmother and her friends were card players so I learned a few card games early, Catch The Five in particular. Cheapass has inspired me too. It’s good model for getting games out there. I wonder why it hasn’t worked for anyone else.  Now let’s talk about Unpub. What is it and where did the idea come from?

TC Petty III, one of the cogs that keeps Unpub going

John: Unpub is short for unpublished games. We are a growing network of designers, players, retailers, publishers and artists. It started out as a single event ( The Unpublished Games Festival) which we’ve run for the last two years, and has grown over the last year into an participant run organization that has held more than 15 events around the country. We are focused on supporting unpublished games primarily by helping them get played, gain feedback and get better. We do that by holding different events like the Unpub, Unpub Minis (held at game shops) ProtoZones (held at conventions) and through our growing play-test at home program. We’re looking at adding other programs in the future.

Where did the idea start?…Well, that’s kind of a long story. It started with the Regional Rio Grande Game Design Contest in October 2010 that was held at the Congress of Gamers. The event was awesome but it was a contest. I loved the interactions, the friendships, and the feedback that weekend created and I thought: “there has to be a way to make this happen again.” So, I said “what made that event work for me?” and created the first Unpub. It was basically people getting together specifically for TC Petty III, one of the cogs that keeps Unpub going play-testing prototypes. I hadn’t heard about Proto-Spiel or Metatopia at that point, so I thought I was creating something new. It was a great event and we decided to do it again the next year. It got bigger…and then… well, we decided to take the act on the road.

Now we’re heading towards our 3rd Unpub (January 19 and 20th) and it promises to be the biggest one yet. We’ve already got some big guns coming to the show this year like Compounded by Darrell Louder (with publisher Dice Hate Me Games,) and the awesome economic game East India Company by Paul Owen which has yet to find a publisher. That’s just two… of what is now more than 40 games that are appearing at Unpub 3 and the list grows every day.

Tom: The ‘getting people together to play-test’ is a key to good game development. I think it is an awesome and sorely needed service. It seems that you’ve touched a nerve. I for one am very glad of it. I think it is a fantastic idea. I saw first hand how valuable it can be at The Escapist Expo. How many games have been ‘unpubbed’?

John: That’s a complicated question. We’ve done a lot different things over the past year from show up and play events, to actual registered events, to simply listing prototypes that are going to be at events (which was a big hit at GenCon and actually helped at least one game find a publisher.) All told, in the past year Unpub has probably had contact with around 130 different games. The number we would quote as actual Unpub Games is probably around 90. To be really considered an Unpub Game, and get the full benefit of everything we provide we want the game to appear at an Unpub Event. So, after around 15 events…roughly 90 games isn’t bad. We’ve been involved at some level with about 13 different publishers as well. All of those numbers continue to grow.

Tom: Ninety games! Thirteen publishers! That’s amazing.  It really shows that the future of the game industry is bright. How many of the Unpub alumni are published or contracted games?

 

John: We’ll claim about 15…but there’s a lot that goes into that number. Some of the games in the program had publishers before they got to us like Salmon Run and Pixel Lincoln, but were able to gain the benefit and the buzz of Unpub to help move them forward. Other games decided to self publish…which is tricky and I don’t recommend. Others have used us to improve and find a publisher like Compounded.  We really serve all three of those strategies. The other side is, we’ve got a group of play-testers that enjoy blind play-testing. We’ve done some work on the side for a one or two publishers connecting games they want play-tested with groups of play-testers. We’re hoping to step up those efforts again.

Tom: The play-testing aspect of Unpub is very intriguing. We’ll come back to that. Is Unpub working like you envisioned it?  What would/will you change?

TC Petty III and the Big Blue Noodle. The Noodle marks the ProtoZone.

John: The great wisdom about starting any business is to go into it with a plan. That’s great wisdom and I absolutely did not follow it. So there’s very little “envisioning” that went on. When this all started I thought it was going to be one event each year. I was really okay with that. I didn’t even anticipate it being a big event. It was just a thing I wanted to do that first year and it was successful enough that there was enough interest in doing a second one. After Unpub2… there were so many voices whispering in my ear that we needed to do more. People wanted this to be more than a one time thing, and people told me they didn’t want to come to Delaware. SO, I put my thinking cap on and said, “well, how does this work?” and then we plowed forward. Strike while the iron is hot is another great piece of wisdom that I did follow.

The initial concept behind the website was an open market where designers could list their games, and publishers could come and find what interested them and then take the next step. It was about making it easier for the designer, making them the draw. We started the list and the Unpub Minis. The minis became more important…so we started holding more of them and working out the details so they can proliferate. I kept hearing people talk to me about getting these things in conventions…which sounds great to me. So we went forward with an idea and got shot down pretty hard. I’m stubborn, so we still moved forward unofficially…because I truly feel that we have to offer has value and has great value at the convention level. Designers with prototypes are marginalized at most conventions. They’ve got to be their own salesman but it’s so hard to connect to the right audience. Putting all the designers with prototypes in one place is a good idea because there is safety in numbers. It let’s people who want that kind of thing find that kind of thing. If a publisher knows they can see Unpublished games at a certain place, they will go there.  At Origins we had 9 different publishers in our area just about every night. Our GenCon area, made possible by Game Salute, higher numbers and more foot traffic. The big cons spawned 6 small fall conventions and some great opportunities leading into next year. But…that wasn’t on our list of things to do when we started.

We’ve also been growing a small program of at home play-testing. Connecting play-testers with games…and providing print and play games that need play-testing.  Bottom line? The initial concept was helping games find publishers, what we are now is a service that seems to be specializing in play-testing and promotion. That’s become our goal: to help make good games great. We do this by doing everything we can to get games played. We continue to find new avenues to do that and make new connections to help it grow.

Tom: It’s really amazing how it has grown. What feedback has been most valuable?

An Unpub Mini at 6 Feet Under

John: Every piece of feedback I’ve heard carries value. As with designing a game, you hear what they’re saying and you try and listen to what they mean. People want more opportunities and we’re working to create more. I have a good group of dedicated people who help me out but the program really thrives and will endure with the realization that’s it’s participant driven. We have the system now if someone says to me “Why don’t you have an Unpub Mini near me…?” I can say: “I will if you’ll help me…” And there’s a place to go with  documentation and guides to make that happen.  We can have Unpub Mini just about anywhere there are game designers and a place with space for people to play games.

Apart from that, we just try to do everything we can to provide people what they need. We are always open to ideas and suggestions. …But, and this is something I do try to stress: We know what Unpub is now. We’re not having contests or starting forums to talk about game design. There are places for that (The Game Crafter and the Board Game Designer’s Forum respectively.) We are about play-testing and promotion. Getting games played and getting people talking about them.

Tom: How many Unpub events are planned for 2013?

John: We’re deep in the planning stages right now for a lot of events. Unpub 3, of course. January 19 and 20th we’ll have the flagship event and we’ll be announcing a lot of 2013 events then. We’ve got some big things in the works…and we’re still trying to set up more. If someone, a person or a store wants to run an Unpub Mini they should contact me. If there’s a convention that wants a Proto-Zone, they should contact me. We’re going to hit the ground running in January. So we’ve got a month (albeit a busy one) to get as many events on the books as we can.

Tom: Any chance of being near Durham?

John: Yes. I’ve had a few discussions and Unpub might be near or in Durham around 3 times next year. We might also be in Brazil…We’re definitely going to be in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Arizona, Michigan, Illinois, Texas, Washington D.C. and Washington State. Hopefully we’ll get to be back at some of the big cons in Ohio and Indiana as well… time will tell.

Tom: Actually I knew there was one being planned. But three! Cool. Because I’ll be participating with at least one game of my own. I’d be glad to help. What are the aspects of a good player?

Josh Tempkin explaining a game.

John: Patience, Attention, Risk, and Malleability. You have to have patience with any new game because you don’t know what’s around the corner. It just doesn’t help to get frustrated with something until you get to the end and it’s over….then you can get frustrated with it. This is why I’m not a good player. Attention is important. I don’t care what game it is, you have to be present – be in the game, in that moment. It’s just better for everyone and it’s a more satisfying experience. Being willing to take risks, particularly in a new game, is key. You want to try everything you can to stretch the game to it’s limits. Someone else is going to try to do that, why not you? Why not now? Don’t worry about hurting a designer’s feelings, you’ll be helping them in the long run. If they don’t realize that…then you’re teaching them another valuable lesson too. Just don’t be mean about it.

Malleability, the one that has people rushing to their dictionaries… is all about agenda dropping. Having a set strategy is great, but don’t be afraid to change mid stream. It’s one of my top player attributes. It doesn’t always win me the game, but I’ve had far greater experiences because of it. I guess the last piece of the puzzle is that the one thing you cannot be in order to be a good player is closed minded. Even if you don’t like “this type” of game. If you sat down to play, give it your all. I’ve had many people say they don’t like a certain type of game only to find a game the exception to the rule…and if you don’t find a game to be your exception, talk to the designer about it. …because you may find what you have to say is important to making a positive change in the game. It’s just good business.

Tom: John, those are fantastic characteristics. I especially like attention. Being in the game and focused on what you are there to do with regards to play-testing is vital to be a good player/play-tester. You mentioned ‘types’ of games. We’ve had zombies, pirates, city building, deck building. What’s the next hot theme in board games?

John: I think what we’re really seeing now is a push towards the vintage of classic video games. Pixel Lincoln, Boss Monster spring to mind…but I know of some other games in pipelines that carry the thematic elements of classic adventure video games. I think we’re at the front of this craze and it’s going to become bigger and then fade away.

I’m not really a prognosticator of trends… We’ll never see the end of Zombie Games, which is sad because I really don’t care for zombie games.But as to what’s next? I couldn’t tell you. I see such a wide variety of games in the Unpub program…I don’t sense any real trends in what people are presenting. …I take that back. Dice. Dice games are really becoming a thing. I’m starting to see a lot of dice games in the Unpub program.

Tom: What game surprised you and how?

John: If we’re talking Unpub games, then it’s got to be VivaJava. When I first encountered it, I had no idea what to expect. I fell asleep listening to the rules! Then playing it, VivaJava just completely blew me away. The level of interaction in the game was so appealing. It was like a cooperative game, but not. You really had to pay attention to other players and their actions, you had to work with people (sometimes unwillingly) you really had to have an idea but be willing to alter your plan. This was a game that really hit on all cylinders for me. It’s no secret, I decided to have the first Unpub because I saw it as a chance to get to play VivaJava again. I needed to show this one to my friends. I had to have other people experience this game. It had to happen and here we are nearly two years later and people all over the world are playing it. I had nothing to do with the game, I don’t think I ever gave any feedback that helped the game… but I feel really proud of everything TC and the Dice Hate Me team has accomplished with it.

Tom: VivaJava is a good game. I’m glad it’s done so well for TC, Cherilyn, and Chris. What is next for you? What else is in the queue?

John: Unpub3. The event is January 19 and 20th in Delaware. We have 40 games currently registered for the event. We’ve just added two panel discussions and we’re in talks to add a third. We’re adding a video demo service to what we offer at the event and we’re going to have a few podcasters and reviewers in the mix as well as a growing number of publishers. We’re in for two huge days of play-testing and networking and I couldn’t be happier about it. I expect we’ll keep adding and changing things to make the event bigger still as we get closer!

Tom: Is there anything else you would like to talk about?

John: Unpub and Unpub3 are specifically where my head is right now, so I don’t have a lot else swimming around there to talk about. I… I think if I were to have one thing I really want people to hear and understand is that we’re a low cost/no cost program that is really driven by participants. If you think “Well, Unpub isn’t near me…” Then it’s your job to contact me and get Unpub near you. I’m not Unpub. I don’t need to be there for an Unpub Mini or an Unpub ProtoZone to happen. I just need passionate people who want this idea to continue and grow and blossom. It’s something that belongs to every designer, every store…anyone who wants game designers to get their games played and their dreams met. That’s what Unpub is…and anyone can be a part of it. We seem really regional, but we’re really trying to break out. If you want us to come near you, we can…with your help. I want people to hear that and know it. That’s…our thing. It’s not a program about us, it’s about everyone who can use it and benefit from it.

Tom: How can people contact you? Are there any links you would like folks to visit?

John: My email is john@cartrunk.net, and I’m on twitter @cartrunkent. If people want to know more they should definitely visit Unpub.net.

Unpub 3 Pictorial Wrap-up

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Hello, dear readers. As many of you may well know, I attended the third annual Unpublished Games Festival in Magnolia, Delaware (more commonly known as Unpub 3) this past weekend. There were over 40 designers present with more than 60 unpublished games in various states – from the nearly-production ready Compounded to the line-art and paper cutout Brewmasters.

What follows is a brief pictorial wrap-up of what I got a chance to see and play over the two days of the fest. Even though I showed up to try out as many games as possible, I was only able to get to about nine different games. What I will say about the games I played though – all of them were fun and excellent creative endeavors. On with the pictures!

Shortly before Unpub 3 kicked off, Compounded designer Darrell Louder and I learned that Compounded had been fully funded on Kickstarter! Since the first Unpub was the official birthplace of Compounded, it was a very happy anniversary present, indeed.

Darrell ran a ton of Compounded demos during Unpub, gathering lots of positive feedback. Here, the incorrigible Patrick Nickell of Crash Games finally gets to play a full game and is obviously enjoying it.

One of the first games I tried out was Charlie Hoopes’ AtataT. In the game, you alternate placing colored planks between numbered tiles that may match numbers held secret in your hand. When you connect two of your numbers with a contiguous line of planks – regardless of color – you collect the planks as points. It’s a really easy concept and very fun to play; a nice throwback to some of the parlor games of the 50s and 60s.

VivaJava designer TC Petty III was on hand to demo three different games, one of which may look a bit familiar. Here he shows off the lighter sequel to VivaJavaVivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game. This dice-based game is geared for 2 to 4 players, and utilizes 15 different custom dice of two different types. The variability of the game is off the charts, with tons of interchangeable Research power discs to give players all sorts of ways to score points, manipulate the dice and blend their way to victory!

Constant readers of Dice Hate Me will no doubt recognize this not-so-little gem – it’s Fred MacKenzie’s Princes of the Dragon Throne! I didn’t get a chance to play it, but I’ve played the version that was shown at Unpub and it’s truly awesome. Look for it on Kickstarter later this year.

One of the best games I played at Unpub was Garrett Herdter’s Rolling for Amusement. In this press-your-luck dice game, players are trying to build the best amusement parks from multi-purpose cards in their hand. The cards can be used as points when parks are built, as unique abilities that allow manipulation of the dice, as offensive abilities that can make other players’ builds more difficult and as future plans that add a persistent affect from round to round. I’ll have more about the game – and some quotes from Garrett – in the next State of Games podcast (that’s Garrett in plaid).

Some of you may recognize Paul Owen from other pictorial updates on Dice Hate Me, most notably from this past year’s World Boardgaming Championship round-up. At the WBC, we had the pleasure of playing his nautical pick-up-and-deliver economic board game, East India Company. Paul was on hand at Unpub 3 with a spiffy new prototype and some streamlined gameplay. I was lucky enough to get a chance to play once again and the improvements to the game are outstanding. This one is shaping up to be great, and it will be one to watch in the next few months as Paul continues to playtest and improve on an already award-winning build.

Another of TC Petty’s designs hit the table – Club Zen, co-designed by Luke Winters. This quirky worker placement Euro gathers a group of players at a 7-day relaxation spa. The goal – to be the most relaxed spa guest at the end of the week. During the game, players amass emotional and work stress and must figure out the best way to relieve that stress through the magic of buffets, massages, night clubs and with the occasional help of sometimes-strange locals and workers that pop up around the spa, like the Hot Dog Man and the Local Child. I had a blast playing this one and even though the scoring needs some work, I can’t wait until I can try it out again.

Patrick Nickell had one of Crash Games’ upcoming titles at the show – Rancheros, designed by Nickell. Here, geek extraordinaire Matt Morgan demonstrates the best livestock wrangling techniques with his handy worker gloves.

Matthew O’Malley’s Knot Dice is a beautifully-crafted game system that utilizes custom dice that create intricate Celtic knots. The base game involves rolling the dice and then taking turns placing the dice in such a way to connect everything and completely close off the knot using the most dice possible. It’s a lot of fun and produces a truly beautiful piece of art when the game is over.

A staple of Unpub at this point is Josh Tempkin’s Wartime. We’ve talked about Wartime on previous State of Games podcasts about WBC, but essentially it’s a real-time tactical warfare game that is guaranteed to make your blood pressure spike!

Our friend Ben Rosset – designer of Mars Needs Mechanics – was in attendance with two of his newest game builds: Brewmasters and Brewmasters The Card Game. The original brewmasters is a worker placement, resource management game where players manage beer microbreweries, researching new and tasty beer recipes and producing them for an eager public. It’s pretty deep and definitely thinky, but it’s also a whole lot of fun. I didn’t get a chance to play the card version, but word on the street is that it’s fast and a lot of fun, as well, so I’ll have to keep an eye on both as Ben continues to develop the games.

Bryan Fischer of Nevermore Games and designer Mike Swiryn were at Unpub 3 to play and test out States After the Fall. Many of you have heard mention of States on Dice Hate Me and the podcast, and it’s definitely a favorite. Nevermore Games has officially signed the game and will be bringing it to Kickstarter later this year. It’s going to be massive and awesome, so stay tuned as we learn more about production development.

Idea machine Daniel Solis made the drive up to Delaware with me to show off his Victorian party card-drafting game, Belle of the Ball. Daniel was a real demo machine, cranking out 30 playtests over the course of the two-day event. Many people walked away saying it was their favorite of the show, and Daniel got a ton of great feedback that he’s sure to use to hone Belle to a finely-crafted final project.

Well, that wraps it up for this recap of Unpub 3. It was an amazing show, and a real success for the Unpub program. I look forward to Unpub 4 next year at this time at the same venue and with new games to discover and test!

The State of Games, Episode 40 – The One About Unpub 3

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It’s still a solo gig here on the ol’ State of Games, but I continue to get a little help from my friends. This time it’s not just Darrell Louder and TC Petty III – I went all the Delaware to gather a whole slew of game designers, players and publishers for a massive podcast party at Unpub 3!

Links to important people and things mentioned on the podcast:

Unpub 3

Compounded

Daniel Solis (Belle of the Ball)

Paul Owen (East India Company)

Ben Rosset (Brewmasters)

Garrett Herdter (Rolling for Amusement)

AJ Porfirio (Hostage Negotiator)

Scott King

Patrick Nickell (Rancheros, Paydirt)

Matthew O’Malley (Knot Dice)

 

A pictorial recap of Unpub 3, including sneak peeks at VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game, Club Zen and more!

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (The shipment is here! Get your post-holiday orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

Prezcon Pictorial Wrap-up

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Hello, dear readers – it’s been awhile! But I’m back, and I intend to stay. Today, I’d like to share a few pictures from this past weekend’s venture to Charlottesville, Virginia to Prezcon, an annual gaming convention that features board and card game tournaments, much like at the World Boardgaming Championships in Lancaster in August. Prezcon is a little bit smaller than the WBC, but has the same relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, so it was the perfect place to kick back and unwind after the long – but wonderful – Compounded Kickstarter campaign. Enjoy the pics and mini-reviews, and happy gaming!

The main gaming hall is always full of interesting games and gamers, new and old. Sanctioned scheduled or tournament games are easy to locate by the large table markers, like that for Carcassonne in the foreground.

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Old school gaming abounds.

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One of the biggest tournaments was the one for Puerto Rico. There was a lot of head scratching and stern faces for a few hours.

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One of the great things about Prezcon, as well as the WBC, is that it’s a great atmosphere for gamers of all ages, and lots of families show up to compete and have fun.

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This is the hall  just outside of the main gaming area, and typically where we hang out, sewing mischief and mayhem.

skyline skyline2

And here’s Mischief and Mayhem – otherwise known as Darrell Louder and TC Petty III – playing our first game of the con, Skyline. Skyline was a dice game given free to all backers of Ground Floor by Tasty Minstrel Games. I had been wanting to get it to the table for awhile, and it was a good, light start to the weekend. The game itself doesn’t rock my world, but the components are excellent, and it would be a great game for families and gateway gamers.

glory1 glory2 romedemands

Another game I had been wanting to get to the table since the Kickstarter campaign was Glory to Rome. TC brought along his Black Box edition so we made this our second game of the con. The game is gorgeous, and the wait was worth it – I absolutely loved it. I enjoy card games where the cards have multiple uses as it forces you to make tough and interesting decisions from start to finish. The lead/follow mechanic present in Puerto Rico/San Juan is here, as well, which means that there is really no downtime when it’s not your turn. We enjoyed Glory to Rome so much that we played it on the second day, as well.

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We took a break and shifted our venue to the main gaming hall for some hot dinosaur action in Triassic Terror. Eagle & Gryphon sent me an advance copy to try out, and I’m really glad we were able to get it to the table at the con. In the game, players grow their herds of dinosaurs and migrate to other environments, hoping to be the dominant species. Players can also take actions that allow them to control predators like the T-Rex, Velociraptors and Pteradactyl. It’s primarily area control and role selection, and it was pretty fun and balanced. In our game, TC trailed for most of the game, but was able to come back strong in the final round for an exciting, last-minute win. Triassic Terror is on Kickstarter right now – check it out!

fleet

No con would be complete without Fleet. Have you played Fleet yet? It’s so good.

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Clyde Wright and Emily Pace joined us later in the evening and we knew we wanted to play something lively and social. So, we broke out Space Cadets, thinking it would be easy to get into. Wow, were we wrong. This “family game” has a 30+ page rulebook with different rules for each station on the ship. The stations are constructed like mini games – for instance, I was  at the Helm, guiding the ship around with programmed movements like Robo Rally, while TC took on the weaponry, which played like a dexterity game. Overall, it took us well over an hour to get started, and even then we’re pretty sure we played just about everything wrong. But we had a good time, and that’s the important thing. I look forward to playing this again soon, but this time I’m going to make sure we all know how to play before it hits the table.

brewmasters2 brewmasters3

On the second day, designer Benjamin Rossett showed up with a revised prototype of his new game, Brewmasters. I had a chance to play Brewmasters at Unpub in January, and I really enjoyed it. Ben had been working hard with more playtests and revisions since then, so we all sat down for a four-player game to see how it had improved. The answer? A lot. The game was full of big, meaningful decisions, and there were even more choices in how to upgrade your brewery and crank out those specialty brews. TC ended up crushing us at the end of year three, and we surmised that it was because his fruit/hops farm was a tad overpowered. We spent quite a bit of time talking about tweaks, ways to increase variety within the game, allowing more players access to special recipes and just generally how to make Brewmasters an even more awesome experience. Playtesting and giving feedback is sometimes a lot of hard work, but it’s also a fun and rewarding part of this great hobby.

moderngaming

A portrait of modern boardgaming.

coup

Paul Owen – designer of East India Company and an all-around great guy – joined us all for dinner where we broke out Coup. Neither Paul nor Ben profess to be social gamers, so they were a little out of their element in this down-and-dirty cutthroat affair. However, they held their own and Ben even pulled out a surprise win in the second game. I mentioned Coup when I first played it at Unpub in January, and you can hear more about it on Episode 40 of The State of Games and the upcoming Episode 42 that drops this week. It’s worth checking out because this game is awesome. Easily one of my favorite new games of 2013 and quickly supplanting The Resistance as the go-to social experience for 6 or fewer players.

pitchcar1 pitchcar3 pitchcar4 pitchcar5

Ah, Pitchcar. Words cannot describe my joy and love for this game. Darrell and TC both brought sets, so we combined them to create a massive track on Saturday night, which drew a huge crowd of onlookers. The insane track created some interesting bottlenecks, and the stragglers ended up being lapped by the last lap. But, all eight players had an amazing time, and we’re pretty sure massive Pitchcar is going to be an annual Prezcon tradition.

bacon

Nothing says late-night fun like bacon and a spinner.

vjd

And speaking of late-night fun, we wound down the evening in the wee hours by playing back-to-back games of TC’s latest build of VivaJava Dice. The game is coming along wonderfully, and the prototype is a work of art in itself. The gameplay is pretty unique, especially for a dice game, and there is so much variety and expandability built into the system. Both games played smoothly and tight, but we all agreed that even though the core essence of VivaJava was there, a little bit of the social element needs to be injected. We brainstormed some solutions and TC has ran with a couple of ideas that I believe are going to make this already special game truly a unique and wonderful experience. I love development!

belle

Sunday was spent winding down the weekend with another play of Brewmasters and a relaxing game of Daniel Solis’s Belle of the Ball. Belle is really coming along great – it’s easy and quick to play, and I really think that it’s going to appeal to a wide range of gamers. A variety of advanced variants to bring more strategy for less casual gamers are in the works, so Belle is really blossoming into a beauty.

And that about does it for Prezcon 2013. If you’ve never attended this convention, I would highly recommend it – a great venue full of great people and great games. Happy gaming, and see you all at Prezcon 2014!

 

The State of Games, Episode 42 – The One About Prezcon

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The usual trio (me, Darrell Louder and TC Petty III) hit the road and pick up a fourth voice – that of game designer Benjamin Rosset. We manage to cram in a ton of gaming at a laid-back Virginia con that all of you should plan to attend next year, and the years beyond.

Links to important people and things mentioned on the podcast:

vjdTC Petty III’s open beta test of VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game (you can help playtest openly!)

Triassic Terror

Pitchcar

Space Cadets

Glory to Rome

Skyline

Belle of the Ball

Coup

Roll Through the Ages

Fleet

Compounded

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (The shipment is here! Get your pre-orders in!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Get your spring orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

The State of Games, Episode 43 – The One About 20 Questions

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This podcast is a little break from the recent norm, as I give usual co-hosts Darrell Louder and TC Petty III a tiny break (but they’ll be back!) and bring on some new knuckleheads in a fun and different Q&A format – turned on its quirky nogging. So sit back and enjoy some banter with two of the gaming industry’s nicest guys ever, Matt Riddle and Ben Pinchback.

 

Links to important people and things mentioned on the podcast:

GrandCon

Origins

Myrmes

Fleet (and the Dice Hate Me Game of the Year Awards)

Medici

X-Wing

VivaJava

Kemet

Trajan

Manhattan Project

Glory to Rome

Compounded

AND DON’T FORGET THE CONTEST!

That’s right, dear listeners – toward the beginning of the podcast, there are instructions to enter for a chance to win ANY Dice Hate Me Games title and exclusive expansion. You can choose from Carnival and The Sideshow (all sold out, and only available from DHMG), VivaJava and the Geekspansion, or The Great Heartland Hauling Co. with the 5-player Badlands expansion. And all you have to do is leave a comment on this post! Be sure to do it before 11:59 p.m. on Saturday, April 20 and you could win the game and exclusive expansion of your choice!

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (The shipment is here! Order now!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Get your spring orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

The State of Games, Episode 44 – The One About Crossovers

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A little disclaimer: This podcast is insanely long, but you get two great podcasts, all for the price of one! This time around, Darrell, TC and I invite Dan Patriss and Tom Gurganus of The Geek All-Stars to come over to Dice Hate Me HQ for a little round-table discussion of all things superhero. What was originally planned as a nice, breezy bit of podcast crossover time turned out to be an epic and passionate discourse on one of our favorite topics. We had a blast – I know you will, too! Just be sure to stay hydrated and find a comfortable chair.

 

Podcast segments, start times, and links to important things mentioned:

euphoriaKICKSTARTER GAMES (starts at 3:15)

Guardians Chronicles

A Study in Emerald

Galaxy Defenders

Galactic Strike Force

Euphoria

Princes of the Dragon Throne

 

SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER DISCUSSION (starts at 55:50)

Iron Man 3

Man of Steel

ironman3The Wolverine

Pacific Rim

Lone Ranger

World War Z

Elysium

Kiss of the Damned

PLUS, Superhero movie speculation:

Hawk and Dove

The Wonder Twins

Ant Man (Comic-Con test footage)

Blue Beetle

X-Force

The Flash

Guardians of the Galaxy

Justice Society

Nexus

Nightwing

 

flashSUPERHERO CARD GAME SHOWDOWN (starts 112:44):

Sentinels of the Multiverse

DC: Deck-Building Game

Marvel Legendary

 

CLOSING NOTES, INCLUDING CONTEST WINNERS (145.19)

Send your name, your shipping address, and the Dice Hate Me Games title you would like to receive to chris@dicehateme.com!

Lisa Scodari

Eric Selander

Steve Behnke

AND DON’T FORGET!

Mark your calendars for June 12-16 – that’s Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio. Dice Hate Me Games will be there in full force, with designers TC Petty III, Darrell Louder and Jason Kotarski! Come on by booth #809, say hello, and be sure to pick up a copy of VivaJava: The Coffee Game, The Great Heartland Hauling Co. or Carnival (the last remaining copies of the first printing!) - each game comes with their limited expansion, only available at Origins! We’ll also be offering demos of Compounded, Belle of the Ball and Brew Crafters, so plan on having a great time at booth #809. We’ll see you there!

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (The shipment is here! Order now!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Get your spring orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!


The State of Games, Episode 47 – The One About Origins 2013

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It’s the most wonderful time of the year! That’s right – con season. And con season officially kicks off whenever Origins Game Fair rolls around in Columbus, Ohio. This year was even bigger and better than last year; the crowds were up, the games were plentiful, and the Dice Hate Me Games booth was totally rocking. Come on in and check out all the hip happenings at our summer home away from home.


Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

Origins Game Fair

Princes of the Dragon Throne

VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game

DC Deck-Building Game

Elder Sign

The New Science

Fleet

Ace Detective

Augustus

Bruges

Terra Mystica

King of Tokyo

Pirates of the Spanish Main

Brew Crafters

Maximum Throwdown

Masters of Commerce

Quicksilver

Duck! Duck! Go!

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (The shipment is here! Order now!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Get your summer orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

Origins Game Fair 2013 – A Pictorial Recap

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Hello, dear readers! It’s hard to believe that a year has passed since the last Origins Game Fair, but here we are with more fun experiences and lots of great happenings both at the con and in the time between. The Dice Hate Me Games booth grew from one game to four, and so did the Dice Hate Me Games family. Running a booth at a major con is hard work, but we also got a chance to have some fun and hang with great board game enthusiasts in the off hours. As is the usual custom, I tried to document as much as I could in pictorial fashion, and so I present to you a smattering of the awesome happenings over the five days of the con. Enjoy, and I hope to see all of you at next year’s Origins!

1

We were lucky enough to secure the same booth location as last year, which translated to lots of great traffic – and meeting lots of great people! Here you can see, from left to right, Darrell Louder, Christopher Badell from Greater Than Games, Shawn Purtell and TC Petty III helping to set up the bigger and better Dice Hate Me Games booth.

coffeedicecloseup

Photo by Scott King.

Did someone say VivaJava Dice? So pretty. We were lucky enough to get some prototypes of VivaJava Dice before Origins, and lots of people got a chance to check them out at the Dice Hate Me Games booth. VivaJava Dice hits Kickstarter on Friday, June 21st!

2

After setting up the booth, Darrell Louder, Shawn Purtell, TC Petty III and I were able to secure a table and break out Glory To Rome, despite the fact that an electrical transformer fire had shut down half the convention center. We weren’t concerned – after all, Rome Demanded Beauty!

3

Later on the first night, after the booth was completely set up, we were able to rope Chris Copac and Eric Leath into a five-player game of Ben Rossett’s Brew Crafters. TC wanted to test drive the single-player Urbion, so we shared duties in our brewery. Beer was brewed, fun was had – it was an awesome time.

4

A panorama of cross aisle 1 showing our position next to Z-Man games, the Catalyst Games Lab booth and Asmodee – the darling of the con.

5

Speaking of Asmodee, I managed to snag one of a handful of copies of the Spiel des Jahres nominated Augustus on Thursday. Having a vendor badge and getting into the exhibitor’s hall early does have its perks.

6

The Lucky Dice daily competition was back in full force at the Dice Hate Me Games booth and this is our daily winner with a score of 90. That score would remain unchallenged for the duration of the con – no 105 perfect score this year!

7

After the first day, we all headed over to BD’s Mongolian Wok for an Origins tradition. Here, The Great Heartland Hauling Co. designer Jason Kotarski shows our hostesses how to play his newest game, Frog Flip!

8

After our belly-busting dinner, we broke open my copy of Augustus and had a blast! This game, often called Roman Bingo, is a lot of fun – easy to learn, easy to play and filled with both “woohoo” and “holy crap” moments, as any great game should.

9

Matt Riddle and Ben Pinchback of Fleet fame taunted us from one table over – every time we yelled “Ave Caesar!” in Augustus, they’d counter with a loud “CAYLUS!” one table over as they played, well, Caylus. I still think we had more fun!

10

Everyone’s standing around a table, flinging discs and screaming at each other – yup, must be another game of Masters of Commerce! And it was awesome, as always.

11

He scores! Hands down, the most sought after promo of the con was the Space Penguin for King of Tokyo from Iello. You had to demo the game in open gaming and beat all the competitors in order to get the penguin. Shawn Purtell managed to do it, and he only had to intimidate three 10-year-olds to win!

12

Jim Dietz from Jolly Roger Games had final copies of Richard Launius’s Pirates vs. Dinosaurs for sale at their booth. The game looks amazing, and the components are really nice.

13

Dineeples? Yes, please.

15

Here, Eric Leath tries to run off with the ginormous Ogre that Steve Jackson Games’ own Phil Reed was showing off. Check out the video below for a little unboxing action – and an official statement from Phil on the future of Car Wars!


Sign me up on day one of that Kickstarter.

16

Who needs the new hotness at Origins? Certainly not us. Shawn and Darrell managed to swing us all a great package deal on some out of print Pirates of the Spanish Main, so we had a huge fleet battle at the Bar on 2. Here, Jason Kotarski shows off his sweet ship-building skills.

18

Dan Patriss prepares to unload a devastating broadside!


Yup, told ya.

19

The majestic fleet from our five-player throwdown.

29

And speaking of throwdowns, here we check out Jason Tagmire’s Maximum Throwdown, released at GenCon by AEG! This game is all about flicking cards to cover up other cards, denying players the special abilities on whichever symbols are covered. It’s pretty awesome, and a wonderful bar game.

20

Ah, the Plague Bin. It wouldn’t be Origins without a bucket of dice laced with virus.

21

There weren’t a ton of costumes this year (Dragon*Con will more than make up for that), but this Daredevil outfit was pretty nifty. It didn’t hurt that the guy was about 7 feet tall.

23

Saturday night at the show featured our 2nd annual Carnival tournament! Our reigning champion Debbie, at left, returned to defend her title…

24

… but 12-year-old wunderkind Maya also came back, seeking retribution for getting knocked out during the semifinals in one of the most epic games of Carnival ever played.

25

Maya trounced her competition in the opening round and moved on to face the champ, Debbie, in the semifinals. It was a nailbiter, and several turns passed where either opponent could have won the game with a single card.

26

Maya squeaked out the win in the semifinal and faced off against Michael in the final game. A lucky turn one triple three roll by Michael set him up for an early victory and the odds were too great for Maya to recover.

27

The scamp versus the new champ!

28

An amazing experience, as always. Thank you to everyone who came out to compete! Come back next year and see if you can survive against Maya – she’ll be even more fired up for that title, then!

30

TC Petty III facilitates a relaxing playtest of his Club Zen with Ben Pinchback, Matt Riddle and Kings of Air & Steam designer Scott Almes.

It just wouldn’t be Origins without Time’s Up: Title Recall – and we played a ton of it. For our third game of Time’s Up, we decided to get a little free form and dive straight into round two of the game without playing round one. For those not familiar, that means you can only say one word and then have to pantomime the rest. This is a bit of the genius of Jason Kotarski, who clearly missed his calling as a mime.

31

Michael Coe of Gamelyn Games brought samples of his Fantasy Meeples. They’re awesome! The Kickstarter campaign just wrapped up, but he’ll have plenty more to sell once they’re produced.

34

The Break from Reality booth looked really good, and the demo tables for Damage Report and Disaster Looms was always packed.

33

The Asmodée booth, where you basically stand there, mouth agape, and say to yourself “I want that… and that… and that…”

38

It’s the Duke of Dice, himself – Richard Launius! It’s always a pleasure to see Richard, and his enthusiasm and spirit is unparalleled. Richard was good enough to sign a copy of his newest release, Ace Detective. It looks like Wolverine is about to gut me to steal it!

36

Last night of the con, so we settled on a theme for the games – racing. We tried out Quicksilver, a zeppelin racing game from Split 2nd Games. The jury is still out on this one as we played half the game scratching our heads as to why we weren’t travelling very far or very fast – then discovered that the six-sided dice in the game only max out at 4 pips! I’ll be playing this one again with that in mind for better strategy and much more efficient hand management to get those boosts to go faster.

37

What better way to wrap up the con than with ducks? Jacki Purtell just had to have Duck! Duck! Go! and we’re glad she convinced Shawn to pick up a copy. This game is pretty adorable and actually pretty fun. It’s simple to play and hilarious to watch as rubber duckies turn in what seems like random directions, bonking into each other in a race to be the first to the drain.

angrydicecloseup

Photo by Scott King.

That about wraps it up for Origins 2013! Thank you to everyone who came out to the Dice Hate Me Games booth – it was wonderful to meet everyone and see familiar faces from Origins 2012. Be sure to make plans for Origins 2014 – we’ll see you there!

The State of Games, Episode 48 – The One About the Brothers MacKenzie

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We manage to pull off an amazing feat on this episode of The State of Games – we coaxed Fred and David MacKenzie out of hiding! Trust us, it’s sort of like snagging an interview with JD Salinger. Two of them! We had a lot of fun on this podcast, and we think you’ll all enjoy hearing about the amazing projects that Clever Mojo Games has coming in the next few months.


Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

princescoverOrigins Game Fair

Princes of the Dragon Throne

VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game

Alien Frontiers

King’s Forge

Magnum Opus

Oubliette

Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge

Sunrise City

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (The shipment is here! Order now!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Get your summer orders in!)

Carnival (It’s here, and ready for you to enjoy!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

The State of Games, Episode 50 – The One About GenCon 2013

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I’m sure most of you dear readers need no introduction to the marvel and spectacle of the greatest of North American gaming cons, GenCon in Indianapolis. For the second year in a row, the Dice Hate Me crew journeyed to the big show and had an absolute blast spending way too much money and getting in demos and long plays of some of the best and brightest of the boardgaming world.


Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

gravwellTrains

Spryium

Hot Rod Creeps

Gravwell

Maximum Throwdown

Eldritch Horror

Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge

Belle of the Ball

Brew Crafters

Compounded

Monsters & Maidens

Robinson Crusoe

Rite of Passage

Frog Flip

Rampage

Fantasy Frontier

Pay Dirt

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (All copies have been hauled away – but we’re hoping to get more!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Almost sold out!)

Carnival (Currently sold out – but we’re hoping to get more!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

The Dice Hate Me GenCon 2013 Pictorial Wrap-Up

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Hello dear readers! The summer’s biggest North American show just wrapped up in Indianapolis and it was, in many ways, better than the previous year. Many pundits were grumbling about the lack of “showcase” releases at the show, but I ended up nabbing three times as many games this year as last, and have – so far – been disappointed with none. Of course, there were a slew of titles only available for demo at the con – their releases are slated for that even bigger show in Essen, Germany – but even those demos made the price of admission worth every penny.

Without further ado, here are a few pics of the people, games and talking points from my experience at the con. Enjoy!

1

Thursday, 9:50 a.m. The masses converge on the Exhibit Hall, chomping at the bit to nab their favorite titles before many of them inevitably sold out. I love social media at GenCon – I posted this pic on Twitter minutes before the gates opened up and game designer Grant Rodiek noticed the location, turned around and I was right behind him!

2

You can’t navigate the Exhibit Hall at GenCon on the first day without a plan, and I certainly had one. I mapped out the optimal route from the first stall I figured might sell out (Gale Force Nine with Firefly), all the way over to the other side of the hall where I could grab up some Game Salute titles I knew would be available. After 50 minutes of the best dash and grab of my con-going career, this was my haul (I also picked up a few other titles over the course of the con – probably spending way too much in the process!)

3

With my must-have titles secured, I began a much more leisurely stroll through the Exhibit Hall to check out demos. Here you can see a prototype of the buzz-worthy Sentinels Tactics game from Greater Than Games.

4

Ships ahoy! Ares Games had a great demo area for Sails of Glory, and everyone seemed to be having an awesome time. I’m really looking forward to trying out this game since the Wings of Glory system is so good.

5

It’s The Duke – biggified!

6

Stay on target… stay on target… The Fantasy Flight Games sales area and demo booths were slammed for the duration of the con, and for good reason: This X-Wing trench run demo table was absolutely stunning!

7

After making a few rounds in the Exhibit Hall, I had a couple of meetings to attend to, then it was off to Hall D and the purple tables – home to the Grand Gaming Academy’s demo area. This was to be the central base station for the Dice Hate Me crew during the con. We ran several demos of Compounded, VivaJava, Brew Crafters and, seen here, Belle of the Ball with Brian Frahm, Fred MacKenzie and The Great Heartland Hauling co. designer Jason Kotarski and his wife Lisa!

8

Speaking of VivaJava, here’s a full eight-player demo being supervised by TC Petty III. Everyone had a great time, but as you can see some were slightly more enthusiastic – and, probably, a bit more caffeinated – than others.

9

Stand back – I’m going to try science! Designer Darrell Louder ran several demos of Compounded during GenCon, either converting players to the joys of chemistry or fueling their deeply-rooted love of science.

10

More Dice Hate  Me Games love in Hall D! Here, John Bowker puts the hammer down in one of many games of The Great Heartland Hauling Co. played during GenCon.

11

More trucking in The Great Heartland Hauling Co.

12

The upcoming Dice Hate Me Games title Belle of the Ball also got a lot of demo love at GenCon. Everyone seemed to love calling out the somewhat-crazy but always-amusing guest names while inviting people to their parties. Even the manliest of contestanst couldn’t resist getting into character while shouting “Announcing Underpants Underdaria!”

13

I opened Friday with one more pass through the Exhibit Hall before a few meetings later in the day. The number one demo on my list was the upcoming Rampage by Asmodee. This demo was probably the most-packed of all in the hall, so I never got a chance to try my hand at the game – but from watching others I know that this is going to be a huge hit when it’s released this fall.

14

Kaiju Big Battle! Here, two monsters in Rampage face off with fisticuffs amongst the growing rubble in the city. This version of Rampage was oversized, which made observing the carnage much easier. In the game, players control a monster with variable powers and can try to knock over buildings with cars, their claws/tails/heads, by jumping and stomping, and even by blowing on the buildings! After buildings are damaged, meeples scatter from the wreckage – only to be later gobbled up for points!

15

My second-most anticipated demo of the con was for Fantasy Flight Games’ Eldritch Horror. This, too, was packed with gamers waiting to try it out so I never got a chance to get in there. But from the look of it – and from Darrell Louder’s demo experience (shared in the latest episode of The State of Games), I know I’m going to love every mythos-battling minute of it.

16

Traveling the globe to stop the machinations of the Great Old Ones in Eldritch Horror.

17

This is Corey Young’s Gravwell, at the Cryptozoic booth. Remember that name because you’ll be hearing a lot more about in the next few months. I got in a quick demo of this unique, quick-playing and fun title and immediately bought it. It was, hands down, the surprise of the show, and, quite possibly, my favorite game of the con.

18

Back to Hall D to try out Gamelyn Games’ Fantasy Frontier. This tile-laying, resource-management game of battling Zeppelins was a ton of fun, and will be hitting Kickstarter on Sept. 2. I highly recommend you all check it out.

19

More Zeppelin madness in Fantasy Frontier! Here you can see the world grow as the Zeppelins fan out and explore the world.

20

Next on the agenda was Tory Niemann’s Pay Dirt from Crash Games. Tory is best known for the amazingly awesome Alien Frontiers. Pay Dirt was a big departure from AF, but it was still a lot of fun. There was some confusion about how to place your workers on the dirt processing line, but Crash Games’ owner Patrick Nickell is working hard to make sure the final design flows smoothly.

21

Belle of the Ball gets some more love from game enthusiast Annisa Jones and her husband Mike. They both loved the two-player experience!

22

Friday night was busy, busy busy. I ventured over to the ticketed AEG Board Game Night to grab my swag box and demo some games. The area was packed to the brim with enthusiastic gamers and loads of AEG volunteers.

23

Here, Dan Patriss of The Geek All-Stars, designer Fred MacKenzie, Craig Vollman and I are taught Trains by demo master Ken Grazier. This heavily tweaked deckbuilder drew a lot of buzz before the con and I really enjoyed the game – and I’m not saying that just because I won both games we all played!

24

Some of you may not know it yet, but that’s a nice hand. The design of Trains is super clean and the gameplay is very easy to pick up. Overall, Trains was the perfect title to release at GenCon, and many attendees got a chance to throw some cards and lay some track during the show.

25

Ah, run – it’s Great Balloon Cthulhu!

26

No con – at least from this point forward – would be complete without a little Angry Dice action. We all gathered at Loughmiller’s after hours for an Angry Dice throwdown… fueled, of course, by cocktails!

27

Saturday was slammed, but I got a chance to stop by the Indie Boards & Cards demo room to check out the swanky painted firemen miniatures for Flashpoint.

28

I got a chance to try out Rite of Passage by Matt Loomis. This is a fast-playing and unique economic/bluffing game with a fair bit of social play. Naturally, I loved it. Matt is currently seeking a publisher and I don’t think he’ll have much trouble. However, if anyone out there is interested in checking it out, I highly recommend it!

29

Joe Pinchback gets set to school all of us while designer Matt Loomis looks on in Rite of Passage.

30

Hey, look – it’s Gravwell again! Dan Patriss and I got a chance to play Gravwell with JP and Colin of Snakes & Lattes at the Dice Tower Dinner on Saturday night. They loved it, of course, and we got to meet two of the coolest cats at the con.

31

After the Dice Tower dinner, I ran back to Hall D to get in on a demo of one of my favorite games of all time – Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge from Clever Mojo Games. I settled in to school Clever Mojo Games’ founder David MacKenzie, Adam O’Brien, David Sanhueza and Tiffany Bahn on the finer art of being hip and totally awesome (I won). Man, I love this game.

32

Saturday night was rounded out with a late-night play of Spyrium. This was one of the most talked-about games of the show and with good reason. Although I was nodding off a bit during the first part of the game, I rallied about halfway through to come in a very close second with Ben Rosset. I didn’t end up buying a copy of this during the con, but I’m almost wishing I had now.

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I really don’t know how to caption this photo – I’m just so proud I captured the moment on camera.

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DOOOOOM! The Cryptozoic team had their newly-acquired title The Doom That Came to Atlantic City on display in the booth. There were no demos, but it was cool to see the game getting some love after all the Kickstarter controversy.

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This was Sunday in the Exhibit Hall. It was just as packed as any of the other days. GenCon is pretty amazing like that.

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Cthulhu Wars! All the minis were on display and they looked fantastic. I didn’t back this game – and it’s likely that I can’t afford the price point even after it’s released – but the sheer size and amazing detail had the mini gamer in me shrieking with delight.

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More delightful madness at the Cthulhu Wars table.

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If there was one unicorn at GenCon that had been eluding me for a couple of years, it was Cryptozoic’s Hot Rod Creeps. I saw it last year and wanted to demo it more than almost any other game. Well, this year I got my chance – and it was everything I hoped that it would be.

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Hot Rod Creeps is crazy, chaotic, plays fast and is a ton of fun. It really captures the essence of the 60s and 70s Rat Fink culture both in art and game play. I managed to snag a copy just before the Exhibit Hall closed on Sunday for a great deal. Now to find some more weirdos to race against me!

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Unbeknownst to many, Cryptozoic had managed to print out a version of the DC Deckbuilding Game expansion and we got a sneak peek at some of the new art and hero cards. People were swarming the table for a closer look and from what I saw, I’m excited for the release!

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GenCon is often filled with a cast of characters, and Tasty Minstrel Games’ founder Michael Mindes is certainly one of them. TMG sold a truckload of Dungeon Roll at GenCon this year, partly because of the buzz TMG built before the con and partly because of Mindes walking around with a giant treasure chest on his head.

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And speaking of Mindes, if any of you were on the fence about Angry Dice, this guy’s expression should say it all. He was enthralled. You will be, too. Look for me at GenCon 2014 and bring your Angry Dice – I expect an Angry Dice throwdown challenge every second of the con!

See you all next year!
Chris

The Crowded Table – Shmoecon Edition!

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shmoebadgeHello, dear Shmoes! Some of you that follow @dicehateme on Twitter or listen to The State of Games and The Geek All-Stars podcasts have heard mysterious mentions of Shmoes and Shmoecon over the past few weeks. What exactly is a Shmoe and what does it have to do with a con? Well, a Shmoe is just a regular gamer who wants to play games with other Shmoes – so if you love playing games, you’re already a Shmoe! More specific to our gaming group here in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill area, the Shmoes came together for the first official time this past weekend at Shmoecon 0.5. Some Shmoes were invited to a local con while other Shmoes were left out. So, we did what any sensible Shmoes would do – we held our own con in the hotel lobby!

Over the course of five days, we Shmoes played a lot of games, got little sleep, and generally had a great time. The following is a breakdown of the games I personally played and a few brief words about some of the more memorable games to hit the tables. Enjoy!

Games played at the con: 

  • Black Spy
  • Gravwell
  • Belle of the Ball
  • Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small
  • Nothing Personal
  • Copycat
  • Downfall of Pompeii
  • Lords of Waterdeep with Scoundrels of Skullport expansion
  • DC: Deckbuilding Game
  • Castle Dice
  • Compounded
  • Holiday Wars: Slugfest
  • VivaJava
  • Nefarious
  • Hot Rod Creeps
  • Firefly
  • Last Will
  • Trollstigen
Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small

agricolaWhen this two-player version of Agricola was introduced to the gaming world last year, I was a bit skeptical. The game promised rich and fulfilling Euro-style gameplay in under thirty minutes – certainly a tall order. Having played Agricola: ACBS three times over the course of Shmoecon I can say, definitively, that it delivers on all promises – plus, there are animeeples! Agricola: ACBS basically distills all the fun bits of big brother Agricola into a tiny package that plays fast, easy and yet surprisingly deep. It is certainly one of the best two-player games I’ve had the pleasure of playing, and it makes me want to check out Le Havre: The Inland Port as soon as possible.

Impression score: 6 out of 6

Nothing Personal

nothingpersonalI first had the pleasure of trying out Nothing Personal with co-designer Tom Vasel at last year’s GenCon, but that first game was a bit of a blur, I underestimated some Influence cards, and ended up in last place. Fast-forward a year later and my second play on day two of Shmoecon was much more successful. I parlayed some wisely-played Influence cards and a fair bit of my typical social play into a strong win against three other gangsters. The game felt smooth, fluid and was a lot of fun. And then a funny thing happened the next day in a five-player bout – the fun just wasn’t there for the majority of the table. There was a bit of a runaway leader while half the table languished, unable to influence useful gangsters turn after turn. The consensus at the table was the number of players – for now, I can’t recommend the five-player experience until I investigate with more plays. In the end, though, I did have fun rescuing my personal gangster from jail three times in the last game – no cell can contain me!

Impression score: 5 out of 6

Copycat

copycatThis late 2012 darling from popular designer Friedemann Friese has been all the buzz lately – and that buzz continued at Shmoecon where it hit the table on multiple occasions. I gave it a go on day two and was pleasantly surprised, especially because a large part of the game involves collecting cards from a constantly-shifting draft line in order to customize and build your decks. Those who’ve been around for a bit know that deck-building just ain’t my thing, but when you combine that often-overused mechanic with solid worker placement I’m suddenly all ears. After my initial play I won’t immediately say that the game is completely balanced nor entirely gripping, but I did feel fairly comfortable during that first play and made a strong showing despite hanging onto my strategy by a thread. Would I personally buy Copycat? Probably not. But I certainly wouldn’t turn down another game if asked to play.

Impression score: 4 out of 6

Downfall of Pompeii

pompeiiThis recent reprinted classic was the second game I snagged during my mad buying spree on the first day of GenCon. Having played it three times at Shmoecon I can safely say that it was worth every penny and bit of effort to nab at the big show. The game plays quickly over two stages: Stage one has players playing cards from their hands to place people (Pompeeples?) in various buildings around Pompeii. At some point during stage one, Vesuvius starts to rumble and Omen cards start popping up. That’s when the real fun starts. Any player drawing an Omen card gets to choose one Pompeeple of any other player and toss the piece into the little plastic volcano on the edge of the board. Making screaming noises while doing so is optional – but highly recommended. The second stage of the game occurs when Vesuvius erupts. Players now take turns drawing lava tiles from a bag and using actions to move their little Pompeeples out the city as quickly as they can. It’s total chaos, with Pompeeples running for their lives and players cackling gleefully as they place lava tiles down in their paths, sealing fates and taking names. In other words, it’s totally awesome fun – all in about 30 to 40 minutes. I can’t recommend this game enough.

Impression score: 6 out of 6

Lords of Waterdeep (with Scoundrels of Skullport expansion)

waterdeepA few Shmoes sat down on the third day of the con to give Lords of Waterdeep a go with the Scoundrels of Skullport (and Undermountain expansions) in tow. This would mark the fourth time I had tried out the game with the new expansions and it just keeps getting better. The Undermountain portion of the new expansion box is the more subtle of the two; each expansion module includes a new board for worker placement and Undermountain’s seems a tad underwhelming, at first. Where Undermountain more than makes up for it is in the massive new quests, interesting Intrigue cards and extremely useful buildings. The Scoundrels of Skullport module ups the ante even more. The Scoundrels’ side board includes spaces with untold riches like taking two warriors and two rogues, or two of any kind of adventurer. However, the riches have a steep price – players must also begin collecting corruption tokens, which are worth a negative amount at the end of the game depending on the amount of tokens taken collectively by all the players throughout the game. The addition of the corruption track – and the ridiculously-tempting action spaces, buildings, Quests and Intrigue cards that come with the module – truly elevate Lords of Waterdeep into serious Euro territory, and should make more hardcore gamers sit up and contemplate corrupting their purist sensibilities in the world of D&D.

Impression score: 5 out of 6

Firefly

fireflyShmoecon would mark the fourth time I had the pleasure of getting Firefly to the table since GenCon – a feat I never would have predicted given the game’s scope and length. Having completed four full games of Firefly, I can say that I’ve seen most of the what the game has to offer and can think of only one word to describe the whole experience: Shiny. At its heart, Firefly is most comparable to a theme-rich, pick-up-and-deliver game: Players take on the roles of captains piloting their very own Firefly class ship, traveling the ‘Verse hiring crew, taking on jobs and constantly dodging the Alliance and Reavers. The game is heavily card driven and there are cards for everything – jobs, crew, items, ship upgrades, and even movement through the ‘Verse. Typically clocking in at around 3 hours of playtime with a fair deal of randomness thrown in, it’s not for the faint of heart nor those with a short attention span. But for those gamers willing to put in the time and relish in the rich story that develops from game to game, Firefly is well worth exploring.

Impression score: 6 out of 6

Last Will

lastwillOn my first time trying to lose my inheritance in Last Will last year, I couldn’t help but feel a bit underwhelmed – after all, I felt hamstrung by card draws, the drafting order and the lack of any sort of money-losing engine whatsoever. It probably didn’t help that fellow Shmoe Adam O. managed to lose his entire fortune by about round five before I had even thrown a lavish party to trash my newly-bought mansion on Easy Street. I loved the concept of the game, however, so I decided to give it another chance – and I’m so glad that I did. The first time around, my brain had a hard time reversing the typical inclination to make as much money as possible in a Euro – this time, however, something clicked into place and I started seeing all the sweet, money-losing possibilities in front of me. In the end, I decided to eat and drink myself into oblivion, hiring two cooks, eating out every night and visiting my local gentlemen’s club as often as possible. I wasn’t exactly in striking distance of the win by the time we wrapped, but I felt like I could have a shot the next time we play, which I hope is very, very soon. It’s easier for me to see now why Last Will was on the short list of best games of 2012. I may just have to plunk down some hard-earned cash for my own copy before too long, proving that playing this game isn’t the only way to blow through your inheritance.

Impression score: 5 out of 6

The State of Games, Episode 52 – The One About Beer

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Yep, beer. We has it. Come and gets it.


Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

 

A very excited GenCon goer who happened upon a Brew Crafters playtest. Beer and cardboard has that effect on people.

A very excited GenCon goer who happened upon a Brew Crafters playtest. Beer and cardboard has that effect on people.

Fordham/Old Dominion Brewing

Alien Uprising

Larceny

Brew Crafters

Belle of the Ball

Firefly: The Board Game

Lords of Waterdeep

Agricola

Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small

Gravwell

Nothing Personal

Copycat

Downfall of Pompeii

Lords of Waterdeep and Scoundrels of Skullport

Castle Dice

Compounded

Holiday Wars: Slugfest

VivaJava

Nefarious

Hot Rod Creeps

Last Will

Trollstigen

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (All copies have been hauled away – but we’re hoping to get more!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Almost sold out!)

Carnival (Currently sold out – but we’re hoping to get more!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!


The State of Games, Episode 53 – The One About The Germans

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Ah, October. The best time of the year. Fall leaves, decorative gourds as far as the eye can see, cool temperatures… oh, and board games. Lots and lots of board games. Especially if you happen to be in Germany. Essen, to be exact. You see, that’s where the world’s largest board game convention is held each year – and it is awesome.


Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

BrewCraftersPromoW. Eric Martin’s Spiel 2013 Preview on BoardGameGeek

24-hour Boardgame Marathon at Gamer’s Armory in Cary, NC

The Unpub

Brew Crafters

Belle of the Ball

Firefly: The Board Game

Lords of Waterdeep

Agricola

Downfall of Pompeii

Compounded

VivaJava

Nefarious

Gauntlet of Fools

Rare Elements Gaming Coins

Metal Dragon Coins

Monsters & Maidens

Keep the Crown

Trains

Tier auf Tier

Pickomino

Eminent Domain

Targi

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

Compounded (It’s here! Get your pre-orders in!)

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (All copies have been hauled away – but we’re hoping to get more!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Almost sold out!)

Carnival (Currently sold out – but we’re hoping to get more!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

The State of Games, Episode 55 – The One About BGGCon 2013

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We love gaming conventions, and thankfully con season wasn’t over quite yet as thousands of geeks gathered in the Big D for BGGCon 2013. Origins and GenCon are great, but you’ll never find a more concentrated collection of hardcore board game enthusiasts than here – and we attended! And now we’re going to tell you all about what you missed. You’re welcome.


Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

eldritchboxThe Unpub

Brew Crafters

Dreaming Spires

VivaJava

Scoville

Coin Age

HeroQuest

Roll Through the Ages: The Iron Age

Bang! The Dice Game

One Night Ultimate Werewolf

PathFinder: Rise of the Rune Lord

Eldritch Horror

Lords of Waterdeep (iOS)

Compounded

Rampage

Going, Going, Gone

Belle of the Ball

PitchCar

Luchador! Wrestling Dice Game

The Capitals

Steam Park

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

Compounded (It’s here! Get your pre-orders in!)

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (All copies have been hauled away – but we’re hoping to get more!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Almost sold out!)

Carnival (Currently sold out – but we’re hoping to get more!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

The State of Games, Episode 58 – The One About Unpub 4

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stateofgameslogonewIt seems like just yesterday that I was heading up to Delaware for the second annual Unpublished Games Festival. That was way back when VivaJava was launching on Kickstarter, I didn’t even know that The Great Heartland Hauling Co. or Jason Kotarski existed just yet, and Compounded was still unofficially signed – but still kicking total butt in play testing. Dice Hate Me Games and Unpub has come a long way in these last couple of years. But as Darrell, TC and I settled in for Unpub 4 this past weekend, one thing remained unchanged: The event is still a big pile of awesome.

Links to important things mentioned on the podcast:

newbedfordcomponentsThe Unpub

The Dice Hate Me 54-Card Challenge

The Dice Hate Me 54-Card Challenge Finalists

TC Petty III’s Designer Ego

Ad Magic

Scoville

Tiny Epic Kingdoms

Fleet: Arctic Bounty

Coconuts

Games mentioned that are registered in the Unpub database:

  • New Bedford
  • Brew Crafters
  • Diner
  • Don’t Get Eated
  • Fantasy Fantasy
  • Human Resources
  • Lagoon
  • Lesser Evil
  • Nantucket
  • Ohalo
  • Pie Factory
  • Rolling For Amusement
  • Scoville
  • Seven7s
  • Sunset Shuffle
  • The Beat on the Street
  • The Lucky Penny Diner
  • The Wombat Game
  • World Shapers
  • Xenon Profitier

THE OFFICIAL WINNERS OF THE DICE HATE ME 54-CARD CHALLENGE

Grand prize winner – Diner by Matthew O’Malley!

Second place winner – Easy Breezy Travel Agency by J. Alex Kevern

Third place winner(s) – The Fittest by Graham Russell; Isle of Trains by Dan Keltner & Seth Jaffee

Stay tuned for a post profiling the winning games, including interviews with the designers!

FINALLY, PICS FROM UNPUB!

 IMG_0002The calm before the storm – all the busy bees setting up the Unpub venue the night before the festivities began.

IMG_0003

Obviously the coolest kids in the room. Friends of Unpub, designers and volunteers from left to right: Daniel Solis, Shawn Purtell, Stephanie Straw, Adam O’Brien and Tiffany Bahnsen

IMG_0005

The hustle and bustle of designers in the fully-operational Unpub testing area on Saturday. It was chicken and dumplings time.

IMG_0006

Stephanie Straw points to what could only be poop on the board during Matt Wolfe’s demo of The Wombat Game.

IMG_0007

TC Petty III makes a play for the dice in Matt Riddle and Ben Pinchback’s totally awesome Monster Truck Mayhem.

IMG_0001

Testing of Unpub games extended outside the venue. Here, Tiffany, TC and Daniel debate how best to not get eated in TC’s new design Don’t Get Eated.

IMG_0008 There was also lots and lots of testing of the Dice Hate Me 54-Card Challenge finalists. Here, Stephanie explains to Darrell that she will kill him if he takes her smoothie ingredients in Benjamin Chhoa’s Frozen Fruit Frenzy.

IMG_0009

Darrell and Stephanie test out Nathaniel Levan’s Human Resources. Look, it’s a cubicle.

IMG_0010

The publisher’s-eye view of Unpub on Sunday morning during the Publishers & Pancakes panel. There was also scrapple. Mmmm scrapple.

IMG_0011

Sunday morning started off with a test of Josh Tempkin’s dice game about choices, Lesser Evil. 

IMG_0012

A.J. Porfirio of Van Ryder Games (far right) joined me for the post-apocalyptic survival game, Salvation Road from MVP Boardgames. I don’t want to brag, but we totally won. Ok, yeah I’ll brag.

IMG_0013

If you’d like to draw attention to your prototypes, it never hurts to use very large bullets as game pieces. Here you can see weapons of mass distraction at use in Marcel Perro & Kurt Evans’ For Greed or Glory.

IMG_0014

Pointing, excitement, cards… pie. This photo has it all. Bryan Fischer of Nevermore Games (left) shows off his 54-card marvel, Pie Factory to me, Ben Rosset of Brew Crafters fame and Nevermore’s John Sizemore. Look for Pie Factory to don a Dice Hate Me Games label later this spring on Kickstarter!

IMG_0015

Speaking of Ben Rosset, he’s always a busy guy, churning out amazing new prototypes. Here he shows the always-gracious Paul Owen and Stephanie how to craft the liter beers in Brew Crafters Lite.

IMG_0016

As if Brew Crafters Lite wasn’t lite enough, Ben also created Brew Crafters Travel Card Game – another masterpiece of 54-card design. Here, Scott King is showing Brad Smoley the finer points of good card play. Get it, points? He’s pointing AND scoring points? *drops mic*

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

Compounded (It’s here! Get your pre-orders in!)

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (All copies have been hauled away – but we’re hoping to get more!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Almost sold out!)

Carnival (Currently sold out – but we’re hoping to get more!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

 

PrezCon 2014 Pictorial Wrap-up

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Hello, dear readers! It’s that time of the year again – time to recap some adventures at one of my favorite “local” gaming conventions, PrezCon in Charlottesville, Virginia. The structure of the convention is similar to that of the World Boardgaming Championships, with week-long gaming competitions for everything from Ticket to Ride to Hammer of the Scots. I arrived at the convention a bit later than previous years but with still enough time to get in some quality gaming and meet up with friends old and new. And, so, I prevent a brief pictorial overview of the festivities – enjoy, and consider coming out next year to what we’re fast coming to call the “annual Dice Hate Me summit!”

vivajava

TC Petty III and Darrell Louder arrived at the con a full day before the rest of us and constantly taunted us with pics of all the fun they were having without us. One of the first sights that TC encountered when he stepped through the door was a group playing VivaJava – which is always a very cool thing to behold. (Photo by TC Petty III)

steampark

The taunts – too numerous to post in this article – continued until it reached it’s crescendo: Darrell and TC playing Steam Park, the game that has alluded my grasp since its release earlier this year. Some day, Steam Park… some day. (Photo by TC Petty III)

euphoria1

We arrived late Friday night and jumped right into gaming with our first selection, Euphoria, by Stonemaier Games. It was to be my first play of the dystopian dynamo, and I was joined by TC Petty III, Paul Owen, Dan Patriss, Darrell Louder and Stephanie Straw. As you can see from the picture, there is lots of beer and a fair amount of confusion and commotion in the faux utopian future.

euphoria2

As you can see from this aerial, Euphoria has a LOT going on. Players use dice representing workers to manage their supplies of oranges, energy, water and “bliss” to accomplish objectives. The main twist of the game is managing the workforce, balancing their happiness with their mentality – if you’re not careful, your workers will start to wise up to the totalitarian environment and abandon their posts. Most involved with the game really enjoyed it, but the jury is still out for me on this one. It was, however, probably the most talked-about game during the convention, so I look forward to my next play to see if the future looks bright for this title.

coup

The night was getting late by the time Euphoria wrapped up – and late night gaming often means we break out the fan-favorite Coup. We had a couple of gamers new to Coup in Stephanie and Dan, and they quickly learned exactly how sneaky and cutthroat this game – and this gaming crew – can often be.

coupstraw

One game down and Dan Patriss was already learning the political ropes – and having a blast admidst the lies and deceit.

auction

We started out Saturday morning with something completely different – the PrezCon live auction. We thought we’d check out the goodies up for grabs in this long-standing PrezCon tradition and quickly found out that there are some hardcore collectors at the con.

auctionhaul1

auctionhaul2

Amongst our group, I was the only one that walked away with a fairly large haul, and all of my winnings were of the retro variety. I am always on the lookout for classic games, particularly those from the 3M Bookshelf Series of the 60s, and this auction did not disappoint. I enjoy adding them to my collection not only for their uniquity, but also because of their retro design aesthetics – much of which I incorporate into some of the designs for modern Dice Hate Me Games titles.

bohnanza

Having skipped breakfast, we all grew weary after the first half of the auction and decided to break for lunch – whereupon we decided to have some beans. As in Bohnanza. As in Würfel Bohnanza, the dice-based variant of the classic card game. Instead of gathering sets of beans with cards, players have cards with variable sets they must complete in order to collect those valuable thalers. One great benefit of the game is that players can complete sets during another player’s turn rolling the dice, which keeps everyone involved and engaged throughout. We all agreed that this one was a favorite.

 firewall

After lunch, we broke out a couple of lighter fillers until more players could make it to the table. Here we are trying out Firewall, a game that Dan Patriss and I had reviewed previously on The Geek All-Stars. It’s a very quick dice game where players are trying to construct data packets to the mainframe, all while building firewalls to block out the other players. It’s fast, enjoyable, and the custom dice are nicely done. It’ll be hitting Kickstarter with a project reboot soon.

cardline

Darrell had bought Cardline – one of the variant games in the Timeline series from Asmodée – so we broke it out for a quick 8-player game. The game operates similarly to Timeline in that you have to guess where in the line a particular card might go depending on a set variable. In this case, we chose to try and figure out the average lifespan of a given animal. It was just as fun as the other games in the Timeline series, and it felt a bit as though Timeline and Fauna had a little baby together.

eated1

Next up was a vigorous and enjoyable playtest of TC Petty III’s Don’t Get Eated. In this game, the players are all animals trying their best not to be devoured by dangerous critters in the forest. In the end, players want to be the last animal standing, but during the game they may have to band together from time to time in order to defeat the nasty predators that would make meals of them all.

EatedSmoley

Here, TC explains how we’re all probably going to die. Look for more on this future Dice Hate Me Games release in the coming months! (Photo by Brad Smoley)

concept

Asmodée had a booth at PrezCon in the vendor area and I couldn’t resist the look of one of their newest offerings, Concept.

conceptpetty

Concept plays like a sort of visual charades. Players are broken up into two-person teams. On a team’s turn, those players draw a card and choose one of nine “concepts” to convey through the use of several icons on the game board. The team places plastic markers on the main concept and a number of sub-concepts to try and get the other players to guess what they’re going for. If the team succeeds, the members gain one point each, while the player who guessed correctly gains a two-point token. The concepts range from the easy – a bumblebee or a bat – to incredibly difficult – the phrase “beat around the bush” or “Justin Bieber”. (Photo by TC Petty III)

ConceptSmoley

Here, Darrell, Stephanie and TC can only help but laugh at their next concept – “clowns” – which managed to stump everyone at the table. (Photo by Brad Smoley)

Digital Camera

Here, Darrell uses some sort of hipster device to take a picture of all of us gathered around the table during Concept. (Photo by Darrell Louder)

compounded

Next, a few of us tested out the top secret expansion prototype for Compounded! Despite all the finger-pointing, the test went really well.

compoundedpetty

I would tell you more about the expansion, but then I’d have to kill you (with radiation. That’s a clue). (Photo by TC Petty III)

homebrewers

After dinner – and a couple of beers – it was evident that we needed to continue the imbibing theme with a playtest of Ben Rosset’s newest offering, Homebrewers. Set in the gaming universe of the upcoming Dice Hate Me Games’ release Brew Crafters, Homebrewers is a prequel of sorts where players take on the roles of amateur brewing enthusiasts making beer in their basements. The core mechanics of Homebrewers are quite different than that of Brew Crafters – players begin their turns by simultaneously rolling three dice covered in custom actions from gathering ingredients to brewing their newest recipes to cleaning equipment. Cleaning equipment is very important, as each player needs to manage their “skunk meter” in order to avoid churning out a less-than-desirable concoction. 

homebrewerspetty

Here, I try to console Stephanie as she worries about TC skunking yet another homebrewed batch. Homebrewers is filled with a  great semi-cooperative environment that never leaves a player with any downtime or a lack of adequate actions on each turn. Everyone at the table really enjoyed this first play of the game, and I look forward to seeing the game develop as Ben works his designer magic. (Photo by TC Petty III)

builders

Our PrezCon trip wrapped up with a play of another title I picked up at the Asmodée booth – The Builders. The game plays exactly as you would expect from the title, with each player drafting workers of varying skills which they then pay to work on constructing buildings for more money and victory points. It’s a simple concept with a good depth of play for so few components. I wasn’t completely enamored after my first play, but it intrigues me enough that I want to give it another go – and that’s always a very good thing.

That wraps it up for this year’s PrezCon. You can delve deeper into our adventures at PrezCon on the next Geek All-Stars podcast where Dan and I will be joined by Stephanie, Darrell and TC. I’m already looking forward to next year’s event, and everyone involved vowed to make some time to come to the show even earlier to fit in more games, more gab and more good times. We hope to see you there!

The State of Games, Episode 62 – The One About Emergent Gameplay

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stateofgameslogonewIn the last State of Games, we three podcasters talked about all sorts of things from one end of boardgaming to another. During that intelligent melee TC brought up some points on emergent gameplay, while Darrell and I were left scratching our heads wondering what the heck he was talking about. Since that part fostered generous discussion amongst you, dear listeners, we decided to dig a little deeper. And, so, here we are. Enjoy!

lifeboatLinks to important things mentioned on the podcast:

The Rabbit Kickstarter!

The Unpub Network

The Dice Hate Me 54-Card Challenge

The Dice Hate Me 54-Card Challenge Finalists

No Thanks

Pairs

Dominion

Lifeboat

SaltCON

The Ion Awards

Something From Nothing

The Mensa Select Awards

 

ALSO, OUR KICKSTARTER ALL STARS:

Compounded (It’s here! Get your orders in!)

The Great Heartland Hauling Co. (All copies have been hauled away – but we’re hoping to get more!)

VivaJava: The Coffee Game (Almost sold out!)

Carnival (Currently sold out – but we’re hoping to get more!)

 

And, finally:

The Dice Hate Me Games Newsletter! Sign up for the best in behind-the-scenes goodness from our hearts to yours.

Like what you hear? Subscribe to the State of Games podcast RSS feed!

 

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