Some of you are no doubt under the impression that you’ve played every type of “Rummy” game known to man, and it’s very possible that you have…until now. “Draw Blood”, a “Rummy” style, monster card game, is currently seeking your help on Kickstarter to add some spooky thrills to your otherwise normal “Rummy” game. It plays like “Rummy” in that you’ll be trying to get rid of your cards by playing melds, though you’ll have to keep your monsters alive in order to do so.
Board Games
I’ll give you three guesses as to what genre “Worker Placement”, a board game that’ll be launching on Kickstarter in November 2013, falls under. I’m honestly surprised that after all this time, no one hasn’t scooped up the name already. Like “Cargo Noir” and “Lords of Waterdeep”, “Worker Placement” tasks players with making the most out of the resources that you’ve been given by assigning them to various parts of the game board. In this case, each player is running a temp agency designed to help place workers into varying jobs. Those who do it the most efficiently will make the most money and win the game! Before we take a sneak peek at what makes this game tick, I’d like to thank Mark MacKinnon from Dyskami Publishing Company for reaching out and providing me with a prototype copy. As with all prototypes, it’s important to stress that they aren’t usually representative of the final product making the below content subject to change.
It’s that time of year again…at least in our household. With last year’s DGA Awards being an overall success, we decided to sit down again this year to hash out our favorite board games of 2013. Like last year, it’s important to stress that Dad’s Gaming Addiction is a quote unquote “small, one-man show” that simply doesn’t have access to all of the games released in 2013…both my closet and girlfriend seem to appreciate this fact, even if I don’t. As such, we’ll be listing only the games that we own and played throughout the year.
The residents of “Blackwood” may want to consider taking an extended vacation, at least until the vampires and vampire hunters are done with the place. In this exciting and thematic game for two to four players, both factions will be fighting for control over key locations throughout the small, peaceful town of “Blackwood”. Will the vampires drain the entire town dry, or will the vampire hunters be successful in fending off these powerful beasts? That’s up to you. Before we get started with the review, I’d like to thank Justin and Anne-Marie De Witt, the co-owners of Fireside Games, for providing me with a free press copy.
I’ve admittedly spent hours at the arcade wrecking cars as a child, but there’s something to be said for causing others crash and burn in your very own dining room. “Vehicle Vendetta”, a fast-paced card game currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, promises exactly that. Road rage might be frowned upon in real life, but here, all bets are off. Will you have what it takes to come out ahead and drive past the competition?
As bloody as movies like “Gladiator” and games like “Chivalry: Medieval Warfare” are, I find myself oddly drawn to them…there’s just something about a good, old-fashioned last man standing brawl that gets the adrenaline pumping. When I was a kid, I’d spend hours at the arcade playing “WWF Royal Rumble” for that very reason. “ETA: Enter The Arena”, a game currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, is a competitive card game that takes place during the days of the Roman Empire. Each player will be given a set of cards and will be aiming to not only beat their opponents silly, but do it with “style”. Before we take a look at this current Kickstarter project (as of 9/30/13), I’d like to thank Jonathan Oberto from Promethean Games Inc. for providing me with a press copy. It’s important to stress that because the game is still in the Kickstarter stage, that the components featured below may or may not be fully representative of the final product.
I’m not exactly what you would call, the “camping type”. My idea of camping out involves being in the living room with my laptop when my wi-fi temporarily slows down. Why? Because…bugs, snakes, forest fires, UFOs, Slenderman, Elmer Fudd, and more importantly, bears. Luckily, games like “Bears!” exist to help me safely face my fears, one die roll at a time. In this particular fast-paced dice rolling game, players will be trying to pair up dice in order to score the most points. This is assuming of course that they can avoid being Chewbacca’s dinner in the first place. Before we stock up on the bear repellent, I’d like to thank Justin and Anne-Marie De Witt, the co-owners of Fireside Games, for providing me with a free press copy.
I’m going to go on record in the here and now and say that “Castle Panic” is a huge hit in our house. We just love teaming up against hordes of orcs, goblins, and trolls…even if we don’t always succeed. Fireside Games, the maker of the aforementioned game, recently released a new cooperative experience for gamers to sink their teeth into. This time however, players will be doing everything they can not to let the antagonists in this game sink their teeth into them…you guessed it, zombies! The setting? A remote cabin surrounded by acres and acres of trees. Will you and your teammates be able to hold out long enough to assemble the radio pieces and make it out alive? Before we get started, I’d like to thank Justin and Anne-Marie De Witt, the co-owners of Fireside Games, for providing me with a free review copy.
I for one am finally glad to see a Star Wars game that doesn’t involve that imbecile, Jar Jar Binks…though there’s always expansion sets. In “Star Wars: The Card Game”, players will be taking on the role of either the Light Side or the Dark Side of the Force. Will you lead Luke Skywalker and company to victory, or will you guide Darth Vader’s hand as he Force chokes all who oppose him?
“Star Trek Deck Building Game: The Original Series”, the next game from Bandai in the series, finally made its way into my household. I’d tell you to buckle your seatbelts, but for some reason they did away with those in the twenty-third century. I just chalked it up to William Shatner’s love for flinging himself across the bridge during a ship battle while conveniently ripping his tunic in the process. At any rate, this game will give players a ship, some equipment, and a very basic crew compliment. It’ll be your job to grow that crew compliment and form an unstoppable deck, capable of completing missions and events as they come up in order to reach your point goal. Let’s take a quick moment to check out the components and briefly see how the game is played before warping into the review.
If there’s one area that I’ve always wanted to improve upon, it would have to be my health. I’ve recently lost twenty pounds through diet and exercise, but the latter is always a struggle. I don’t know about you, but I find exercise to be very, very boring. I’m the type that needs to be engaged intellectually as my brain rarely ever just switches off. Imagine my surprise when I discovered “Strength Stack 52”, a card game of sorts that promotes fitness. Before we take a look at this current Kickstarter project, I’d like to quickly thank Michael Volkin for reaching out and providing me with a press copy. It’s important to note that because the game is currently seeking funding through Kickstarter (as of 9/17/13), that my copy may or may not be fully representative of the final product.
Ahhhh, the caveman days…such simpler times. All we ever had to ever worry about was starting fires, inventing the wheel, and keeping those darned “Fruity Pebbles” away from Barney. Simple is exactly what “Stack & Attack” shoots for, setting its sights on audiences who love strategic games wrapped around casual themes. In this particular instance, “Stack & Attack” is a casual deck-builder game that tasks players with building a rock tower. Players will be endeavouring to build their own towers while at the same time, attempting to impede the progress of their opponents’ towers. Before we start throwing rocks at one another, I’d like to thank Chris Finlayson for reaching out to me and providing me with a free preview copy. It’s important to note that the game will be launching soon on Kickstarter (as of 9/7/13), so it goes without saying that the pictures and rules included in this article are subject to change.
“Walk the Plank!”, a game that blew its Kickstarter goal out of the water earlier this year (2013), features both dumb pirates and Davy Jones’ locker…you can see where this is headed. In this quick card game for three to five players, players will be trying to push and shove other pirate crews off of the plank and to their doom while trying to safeguard their own. Before we take a quick look at the components and how the game is played, I’d like to quickly thank the folks at Mayday Games for providing me with a press copy. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because I covered their recent Kickstarter success, “Click Clack Lumberjack”.
“Sheepie Sleepy”, a family-friendly board game for up to four players, is currently seeking your help on Kickstarter. “Sheepie Sleepy” tasks players with rolling dice and moving sheep around the board in an attempt to get as far as possible. The dice themselves include symbols for coffee, sleeping, sheep, and earplugs…some of which you’ll want to roll while others will end up setting you back. The game promises easy to learn rules and mechanics, making it fun and accessible for your entire family.
“Jenga” was created in the early 1970’s by one Leslie Scott, whose focus at the time was coming up with games that she could play with her family. “Jenga” also means “to build” in Swahili (your history lesson for today). For those of you who have never played this game before, you have now chance to play the game at casino daisy and win real cash, that’s exactly what you’ll be doing…though you’ll be deconstructing and possibly wrecking things in the process. For the benefit of those who have never had the fortune of playing “Jenga”, allow me to quickly outline the components and rules before launching into the review. It’s worth noting that there are a few different versions of “Jenga” on the market, so the content featured below may differ slightly from what you might see in your travels.
I never thought I’d see a match-3 game appear in board game form…but lo and behold, I saw “Bejeweled” sitting there on Kmart’s board game shelf. I must admit that I had my reservations…most board game adaptations of video games and vice versa usually don’t fare well for one reason or another. I’m personally not someone who is into match-3 games, though I do take exception to games like “Puzzle Quest” that implement similar mechanics but are a bit more involved. Jen, on the other hand, loves her some match-3 games. I quickly scoped out the price tag of fifteen bucks and figured, why not?