Ghoulish Games - Ultimate Werewolf

GHOULISH GAMES is a mini-series of posts where I spotlight a board or roleplaying game I feel is perfect for October and Halloween. This series will be posted every Monday.

Ultimate Werewolf is a party card game published by Bezier Games and designed by Ted Alspach. It's based upon Andrew Plotkin's lycanthropic-themed reinvention of Dimitry Davidoff's social game Mafia. The game can be played with 6 to 75 players of all ages, making it one of the best games to pull off the shelf at a Halloween party or a family get together.

The game's rules are pretty simple. At the beginning of the game, each player is dealt a particular card by the moderator. This card give each player a particular role within the game, with certain roles having special powers or requirements within the game. The game itself is then played in two phases, the Night phase and the Day phase.

During the Night phase, players with certain roles wake up and perform a special action. The Werewolves wake up and select one other player at the table to devour, the Seer wakes up and discovers whether a player is a werewolf or something else, the Witch wakes up and can either save or kill another player once each per game, and so on.

Once every role with a special ability or action has performed it, the Night phase ends and the Day phase begins. During the Day phase, the players wake up and learn who was killed by the werewolves. Afterwords, they discuss among each other who they believe is a werewolf and eventually vote on someone to execute at the end of the phase.  Once this has happened, another Night phase begins and the everything starts again.

The game ends when either all the werewolves have been killed (meaning those aligned with the Villagers have won), or only the werewolves are left alive (meaning they have won).

Ultimate Werewolf, as the name implies, is the ultimate version of Werewolf. The game has 40 unique roles, different scenarios you can use to liven up your game, 78 fully illustrated cards, a useful pad which makes the moderator's task of tracking the different roles within the game much easier, and a comprehensive game guide. Ted really knocked it out of the park with this one.

I only have two major criticisms of Ultimate Werewolf, and they are the same criticisms I have with normal Werewolf. First, you need a good moderator to have a good game. A crappy moderator can ruin a session of Werewolf unbelievably fast. The second one is that the really isn't a game per say, but more of a social event with some rules. While that's not a bad thing, it might turn away those who are looking for something with a little more structure or mechanics.

With that being said, I still feel like Werewolf /Ultimate Werewolf is one of the best party games out there, especially if you have a large group of players. Also, the theme makes it perfect for a Halloween party. Just turn out the lights, set up some candles,and have some fun with your friends.

A Magical Conspiracy

Dangerous, yet fun, mysteries await those who open
these packs

Conspiracy is a Magic: The Gathering set released last June by Wizards of the Coast. Unlike normal sets, Conspiracy was designed specifically to be drafted.

Ever since I started playing Magic again last year, I've fallen in love with the draft format and really wanted to give Conspiracy a try. Thankfully, I finally got the chance to play it last Friday at my local game store and I thought I'd give my thoughts and opinions about it here.

While I'd like to start off with the elements and ideas that make Conspiracy an interesting and unique draft format, I feel like I should explain who drafting works first.

Drafting is a "limited" format where each player is given three Magic packs. Roughly six to eight players will sit around a table, pick up the first pack when everyone's ready, and open it. They will look through the cards, pick one they want, then pass the rest to their left. This continues until all the cards in that pack have been selected.

They will repeat this process with the remaining packs, expect they will pass the contents of the second pack to the right instead. Once all the cards from all the packs have been divided among the players, they will take said cards and build a deck out of at least 40 of them and play a few matches with those decks.

Now that you know how to draft, let's talk about how Conspiracy is different and why that's cool.

Just look at that draft value!

Although the majority of the cards featured in Conspiracy are reprints from previous sets of Magic, 65 of the 210 cards in the set are brand new, with several of those cards actually possessing abilities that affect the draft while it's happening. These cards (which are mostly artifacts) do things like add a new booster pack from any set of Magic to the draft, draft multiple cards from a single pack, look at any one unopened pack that's in the draft or a pack currently not being looked at by a player, and find out what cards other people have drafted.

These "meta-draft" cards really add a cool element to the draft itself, making it more than just picking and passing cards. Think about what it would be like to draft a Lore Keeper and get to add a pack of Modern Masters, Future Sight, or Revised to the draft? That would be insane and possibly lead to some really memorable draft game experiences later during actual play, not to mention the financial value you might walk away with.

The second element that makes Conspiracy awesome is that games are played with multiple people instead of the usual 1 vs.1 affairs. Because it was designed with this in mind, Conspiracy introduces a new type of card and several new keyword abilities.

"Conspiracies" are a new card type that start off in the command zone and either begin face up or face down at the beginning of the game. These conspiracies have special abilities that give you come neat, little tricks like getting to automatically go first, giving you an extra mulligan, allow you to only run a minimum of 35 cards instead of 40, or allow every land in your deck to tap for any type of mana (as long as you run every card in your pull).

The conspiracies that start face down are called "hidden agendas" and require you to name a specific card before you start playing. When that card is played, the hidden agenda is flipped up and activates. These hidden agendas can do things like give target creature haste, have it come in with a +1/+1 counter, give it the ability to table said creature for any color of mana, allow you to copy an instant or sorcery, etc.

Would you like to Ancestral Recall
or Time Walk?

The several new keyword abilities are Dethrone, Parley, and Will of the Council. Dethrone is an ability made for more aggressive strategies, giving creatures with the ability a +1/+1 counter each time they attack the player with the most life or is tied for the most life. Parley has everyone reveal the top card of their decks, does something for every nonland card revealed this way, and allows the players to draw that card. Finally, Will of the Council offers everyone two options they must vote on, with the option that receives the most votes or happens to be tied for the most votes activating.

Both the conspiracies and these new keywords really shake up the actual gameplay, creating tough decisions or weird moments at the table. You might have that one player who's going the Dethrone strategy, but is actively trying to lose life as well so they aren't on top and can keep getting his triggers, or the other person using a lot of parley cards so she can gain a lot of mana and creatures, but also filtering her deck so her spells still get some effect.

The meta-draft cards add a cool extra layer to the drafting experience, the conspiracies were an excellent addition, and the new keywords make multiplayer games much more exciting and intriguing.

However, I do have a small handful of complaints. First, I don't like how drawing your entire deck and losing because of that is such a real possibility. This mostly is due to the multiplayer format, how long these games tend to last, and the size of most normal draft decks. Because of this, you might actually want to break from the normal assumption and run a 45 card deck just to be safe.

Also, due to the fact that the majority of the cards are reprints, the flavor of the set really doesn't come through all that well. Conspiracy is a set that takes place upon the plane of Fiora, which seems to take a lot of influence from Italy during the Renaissance Era. While the new cards definitely show this, I wish we could have gotten at least some new art for some of the reprinted cards that depicted this flavor a lot better. However, I am something of a Vorthos when it comes to Magic lore, so this is more of a personal nitpick than a legitimate criticism.

Finally, due to the added mechanics that effect the draft and the multiplayer nature of the subsequent games, I would never through a new Magic player into a Conspiracy draft. We had some new players within our drafting pod who had never done this before, which caused our pod to move incredibly slowly and a few accidents occurred during the draft as well. This is definitely a set and format meant for more experienced players who know what they're doing and have drafted a couple of times before.

Even with these problems and issues, Conspiracy is probably one of my favorite draft environments yet. I've only manage to draft the set once, but I would eagerly jump at the chance to do it again. I'd love to see the conspiracies make their way into numerous different cubes, along with the meta-draft cards, and the new keywords could really liven up any game of Commander. I highly recommend Conspiracy to anyone who's an avid drafter and would love something fresh and new to try.

Rule of Three: Introducing New Players to Tabletop Games

Me teaching people to play Betrayal at House on the Hill.

Introducing new players to the wonderful world of tabletop games can be a difficult task at times. You want to help the hobby grow and be more diverse, but you're not sure how to exactly do that. Which games do I use to do this? Should I come on strong, or be more subtle? Will the people who I'm trying to bring into the fold even be interested in the games I've selected? These are all questions that can rear their ugly heads when attempting to do this. 

With that in mind, I thought I'd take some time and express some simple ticks that I've picked up over the years for introducing people to the hobby. While this particular Rule of Three will focus on board games specifically, you can use these tips for introducing people to roleplaying games as well. Maybe I'll approach roleplaying games specifically in a future post. 

#1. Utilize Simple, Gateway or Cooperative Games

When introducing new people to board games, resist the urge to pull down the big box 4x game that will take six to eight hours to play. The game might be really cool and have a great amount of strategic depth, but none of that will matter if the person you are trying to introduce to the game is overwhelmed by it and scared off. Instead, grab the games with simple rules that are easy to understand and grasp. Games like Ticket to Ride or Splendor are perfect for this because the rules are relatively easy to learn, the amount of choices you have to make are small, and don't overstay their welcome, 

Alternatively, you could also use a simple cooperative game as well, like Forbidden Island or Pandemic. The great thing about cooperative games is that you can say "learn as we play" and actually mean it because everyone is working together instead of trying to be the sole winner. Also, its likely the new player has never experienced a cooperative board game before, so you get to show them something cool and interesting about the hobby right from the get go. 

#2. Take the Player's Preferences Into Account

While you're pulling down the different games you're contemplating using to introduce particular people, you should also take into account that person's taste in genre and media. Maybe they're a big fantasy nut, so you might grab Small World instead of Settlers of Catan. What if they love kaiju movies? Well, time to pull out King of Tokyo or Rampage. Are they a Trekker? I guess it's a good thing you picked up Star Trek Catan a few years ago. 

The reasons for doing this are pretty obvious. People are generally more likely to be engaged in something they already find interesting, so using a board game with such a theme gives you a automatic hook for that particular person. 

#3. Try to Make the Experience Less Intimidating

When attempting to bring someone new into the gaming fold, do your best to make the situation as open and welcoming as possible. While it might not seem like it to us, this hobby can be a little intimidating, especially when you consider the sheer amount of games that exist out there and the perception that many people have about our community.

Make sure the situation has a relaxed mood, showing that everyone is hear to have a good time playing some cards and chucking some dice. Remind the new player its alright to ask questions about the game, and please be patient with them when they do so. Finally, make sure the more veteran players understand what your'e trying to do and exude friendliness as well.

Do you have your own tips or tricks for introducing new players to board games and gaming in general? What are they? Mention them in the comments below because I'd love to hear about them.

Stuff You Should Check Out: Tabletop Deathmatch 2nd Season

Tabletop Deathmatch's set has definitely got a better set designer.

Sometimes, I wonder about Texas and it's weird bi-polar weather conditions. One day, it's warm and feels like Spring has come early. Then the next day, it's freaking sleeting outside and cold as the 8th layer of the Nine Hells. Because of this, I've been stuck inside all day, wrapped within a cocoon of sheets and blankets, watching the entire 1st season of Tabletop Deathmatch.

Tabletop Deathmatch is a competition-based webseries sponsored by Cards Against Humanity where sixteen tabletop games compete for a chance to receive a first printing and a spot at Gen Con. Although a little dry, Tabletop Deathmatch is pretty interesting from an amateur game designer perspective, getting to hear what these industry insiders think, learn about some pretty cool games, and shows the hard work these people put into this hobby and how dedicated they are.

I highly recommend checking out the 1st season on Youtube. Each episode is roughly 15 minutes or so and will only take you about a couple of hours to watch them all. However, that's not why I'm writing this post.

Last week, Cards Against Humanity launched the 2nd season of Tabletop Deathmatch, releasing the first two episodes, which you can find HERE. They've changed up the formula for each episode, only have 8 contestants this time alone, and seem to have gotten a bigger production budget. I personally miss hearing the judges opinions in each episode, but its nice seeing a cool animation explaining each game and hearing actual comments from people who have played the games.

If you're interested in amateur game design and watching a solidly made competition webseries, I'd suggest giving Tabletop Deathmatch  look.

Wizard of the Coast Announces Magic Origins!

Last year, Wizards of the Coast announced they would be making some major changes to the Magic: The Gathering (specifically the release of new sets and the standard set rotation schedule). Part of that announcement was the retirement of the Core sets, with Magic Core 2016 being the last one. 

Well, between the quarterfinals and semifinals of Pro Tour Fate Reforged, Wizards announced Magic Origins (a.k.a, M16). The set will hit store shelves on July 17, will contain 272 cards, will follow the origin stories of several Planeswalkers (Jace Beleran, Liliania Chandra, Gideon, etc.), and feature two new mechanics. 

Back when Wizards announced the forthcoming changes to Magic: The Gathering's set structure, they also hinted that M16 would do something special so the Core sets would go out with a bang. Looks like they're living up to that promise. I'm really interested in seeing these new mechanics, see how they integrate the Planeswalker origins into the mechanics, and what cards will be reprinted. This will be especially interesting since Modern Masters 2015 will be released the previous month, and rumor has it some Modern staples will be included here as well. 

Jace Beleran, Then & Now

Going Commander: Decision, Decisions

Magic: The Gathering has evolved since Alpha hit the store shelves back in 1993. That's to be expected from a card game that's lasted over two decades and seems to be more popular than ever. While the continually growing & changing mechanics are the most obvious signs of the game's evolution, the different formats that have developed over time are as well. While each are interesting in their own way, I want to talk about one specific format today: Commander 

Previously known as "Elder Dragon Highlander" (EDH for short), Commander is primarily a casual format where players construct a 100 singleton (no more than one copy of any given card) deck that has a legendary creature (or specific planeswalkers) that acts as a "commander". When building your deck, you can only use cards who match the color identity of your commander. For example, you could only use Red & Blue cards if your commander was Niv-Mizzet, the Firemind. 

I was introduced to Commander last year after I made my return to Magic. At first, I wasn't the biggest fan of it, feeling like it bred douchebaggery at every turn, especially since most Commander games have multiple participants. However, as time went on and I "played" (i.e., forced to play) more Commander games with different decks, I grew to enjoy it. It can be a blast when you're playing with a decently sized group, with players wealing, dealing, & backstabbing throughout the game. 

Since I've started enjoying Commander more and more, I figure it's finally time for me to build my own deck so I can stop borrowing a particular friend's decks. I know I want to build a deck around a specific theme, trying my hardest to stay with that theme throughout most of the cards. After some brainstorming, I've narrowed my options down to three concepts. Now, I just need to figure out which to keep and which to put back on the top of my library (a little Magic humor for ya). 

The first, and probably easiest concept for me to build, is a Red/White Aggro deck called the Boros Legion. The deck would use either Argus Kos, Wojeck Veteran or Tajic, Blade of the Legion as the commander. The reason why this would be the easiest deck for me to build is because I already own a lot of the cards that I'd probably put into it, also I'm pretty good at running Red/White Aggro decks. Also, the cards I don't have are pretty cheap, with most being under $2. 

The second concept would be a very different kind of deck. This one would be a Blue/Black Faeries deck called Oona's Dark Court. Obviously the commander would be Oona, Queen of the Fae, and it would probably focus on screwing my opponents over at each and every turn. While the cards are rather inexpensive, most are from Lorwyn & Shadowmoor, rather old blocks, so I'll have to track them down first. 

The final concept would be a Black/Green Treefolk deck entitled the Dark Heart of the Forest. I'd probably end up using Sapling of Colfenor as my commander. This one would probably be more about the flavor than what's actually good, and it'd have the same problem that Oona's Dark Court would have. 

Most likely, I'll end up making the Boros Legion for now due to the previously stated factors. However, I'm going to try and collect the cards I'll need for the other two and slowly piecemeal them over time because I'd like to have a few Commander decks to change things up every now and again. 

Do any of you play Commander? What's your current Commander deck if you do? Do you have a cool name for your Commander deck? I'd love to know. 

Go Fund It!: Epic PvP: Fantasy

One of my favorite card games is AEG's Smash up, a game where each player takes two faction decks (like "Ninjas" & "Dinosaurs"), shuffle them together (creating "Ninja Dinosaurs"), and tries to gain the most victory points by playing their cards on specific bases. The game's simple to learn and incredibly fun to play.

Epic PvP: Fantasy is a card game designed by Luke Peterschmidt and Ryan Miller. The game utilizes a similar mechanic to Smash Up, with each player taking a race deck and a class deck, shuffling them together, and uses this new deck to fight your friends and family. This game looks incredibly fun, especially if you like cool card games. Although it's already reached its goal, give this Kickstarter a look and give them some money if you like what you see.

Fun Times With Magic: The Gathering, Part Two

May Garruk watch over us all, making sure we draw well and play by the
rules

Last Friday, I attended the Fate Reforged prerelease event at my local game store, Halflings' Hideaway. As I mentioned in my previous post, this was my first prerelease event for Magic: The Gathering since I started playing again. I thought I would write a post about my experience at the event, some of the more interesting moments I had, and whether attending a prerelease event like this is worth it (here's a hint: it totally is if you like playing Magic).

Like every Friday night, the store held their usual Friday Night Magic tournaments. Since I had some time to kill until the prerelease started at midnight, I decided to participate in the Standard tournament. I had two decks that I could have used, a Blue/White Control deck and a Red/White Aggro deck. Due to the latter deck working more smoothly than the former one, I decided to use it instead.

I managed to win my first match pretty easily due to the player being rather new to the game, but I decided to give him some advice afterwords. The second match was much more arduous, going up against a Black/White midrange deck run by a friend. She won the first bout, but the second one was much more tense. I managed to get her down to 2 life and I would have won if I had drawn just one of my burn spells. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The third match wasn't as tense, going up against one of my most hated decks: Mono White that gains life at an insanely fast rate. You can probably figure out how that one went.

Just look at that value!

Once the Standard tournament was over and everyone was ready, the prerelease began and everyone was handed a small box labelled with the insignia of their chosen clan. Originally, I was going to pick Temur (Green/Red/Blue) due to my love of big creatures and burn spells, but I ultimately decided to go with Jeskai (Blue/Red/White) to try something different. I'm also glad I made that choice because one of my packs had a certain colorless planeswalker that everyone wanted to pull: Ugin, The Spirit Dragon. I was one of four people who ended up pulling an Ugin, and I believe I was the only one to pull him from their normal packs (not the special promo packs we received afterwords).

Having pulled such a powerful card, I made it my goal to play him at least once before the night is over. Thankfully, I managed to do just that and pull off his ultimate and win my first game with only a few rounds to go. Unfortunately, I think the sheer amount of luck unbalanced something in the Universe, so I ended up drawing incredibly crappy hands the rest of the night and getting horrible luck, so I only won the one match. However, due to the structure of the tournament where you one a pack for each game you won, I did manage to get an additional pack of Fate Reforged.

It was nearly 5:30 in the morning when the tournament finally ended. Due to being incredibly hungry, a friend and I decided to the nearest IHOP, which is 30 minutes away. However, it was totally worth it, even if it meant I wouldn't be home until 7 or so. Once I made it back, I quickly sorted out my new cards before passing out.

In the end, I definitely had fun at the prerelease and I can't wait for the next one for Dragons of Tarkir. These events are totally worth it if you enjoy playing Magic: The Gathering. Not only do you get the chance to nab some cards before they're even released, but you also get to spend the night playing with them. What's not to love about that?

Fun Times With Magic: The Gathering, Part One

Tonight, I'll be attending the Fate Reforged prerelease at my FLGS (Halflings' Hideaway). Fate Reforged is the second set in the Khans of Tarkir block for Magic: The Gathering. This will actually be my first prerelease event, having never attended one during my relatively short time with the game several years ago. Due to the presence of a FLGS nearby and new friends who are entrenched in the nearly 23 year old game, I've found myself playing again.

Like most Magic players, I can remember when I discovered the game. Back in 2005, after playing numerous other trading card games, I finally decided to give the industry juggernaut a try after watching some kids play it during lunch time at school. They had just released a new block, Ravnica: City of Guilds, and I purchased one of the four intro decks (Dimir Intrigues, the Blue/Black intro deck) and a few boosters. I enjoyed the game immensely, trying out different colors and ideas, having a blast with my friends. 

Unfortunately, I stopped playing shortly after Coldsnap, focusing on other games (mostly D&D). I had a short resurgence during the Scars of Mirrodin block due to a friend purchasing a deck builder's toolkit for me, but that didn't last long because I didn't have anyone to play with and I believe the only store near me that ran an Friday Night Magic (FNM) had shut its doors shortly before that. 

However, that all changed last year when Halflings' Hideaway opened. I resisted the urge to get back into the game for the longest time, but that didn't last very long. I finally caved, picking up another deck builder's toolkit and slowly started piecing together a Green/Red standard deck. 

I had to relearn the game, due to the new mechanics of the current sets (Theros & Khans), learn how to properly build a deck, and I started going to FNM on a regular basis. I didn't win many matches at first and I made a lot of obvious mistakes, but I've slowly gotten better over the past few months. Heck, I actually managed to place 4th in one of the standard tournaments, which is definitely an accomplishment in my book. 

Now, I can definitely count myself as a Magic fan. I enjoy cracking new packs, building new decks, playing against my friends, and learning more about the game and its history. I still make some mistakes and I'm definitely not the best player, but I have fun and that's all that matters really. 

So, if you're in the East Texas area and happen to be a Magic player, drop by Halflings' Hideaway this evening for FNM and the prerelease event at Midnight. There should still be some slots open, and it's only $25 bucks for a couple of packs and some fun times playing a fun game.

Those who are interested in hearing about my experiences with the Fate Reforged prerelease can read about them in Part Two.

Tinkering With Party Games

Sometimes, I like to tinker with my board & card games. Occasionally, I do it to fix a rule I feel ruins my ability to have fun with the game. However, I mostly do this to see what the game would be like if you switched something out or swapped one theme for another. I find party & social games are the easiest to do this with.

Since this is the holiday season and I figure people will be playing a lot of games this Wednesday night, I thought I'd post two of my favorites. I'm sure I'm not the first person to come up with these, but I thought I'd post them anyway. Have fun with them, and feel free to post your own experimentation with the subject in the comments below. 

APPLES AGAINST HUMANITY

Do you play Apples to Apples and Cards Against Humanity a lot? So much so that you've seen a lot of the card combinations and want to liven things up a little? Try mixing the two together! You can either replace the black cards in Cards Against Humanity with the green cards from Apples to Apples, or you can switch out CAH's white cards with A2A's red cards. You might be surprised how well the two work together. Especially if you own the Apples to Apples Party Box 

THE RESISTANCE: ALIENS AMONG US

Like The Resistance, but want to see what the game might be like with a different theme? Maybe one a little reminiscent of John Carpenter's The Thing? Try this variant I've been toying around with. When dealing out loyalty cards, only include one traitor into the initial allotment. This traitor is a shapeshifting alien that possesses the ability to assimilate and corrupt other players. 

Take the remaining traitor cards and place them at the center of the table. During the phase where everyone closes their eyes, the Alien replaces a number of players' cards with the traitor cards, "assimilating" them. Once this is finished, everyone moves the card in front of them a little (as you would in One Night Ultimate Werewolf), and each player takes one final look at their cards. The game plays out as normal, using the same rules as The Resistance. However, to get the most out of this variant, the players should really embrace the horror of the situation, sowing paranoia throughout the game. 

Marvel Dice Masters: Initial Impressions

Recently, my local FLGS jumped onto the Marvel Dice Masters bandwagon after a generous customer donated a large number of cards and dice to the store for people to learn how to play. Being a comic book fan and a lover of dice-based games, I found myself tempted by the new shiny. Eventually, the temptation broke through and I decided to give it a whirl.

Designed by Mike Elliot and Eric Lang, Marvel Dice Masters is a collectible dice building game. Its very similar to Elliot and Lang's previous outing Quarriors, but obviously switches out the fantasy theme for a super hero one. Some of you might be asking a perfectly legitimate question: "What's a dice building game?" Well, I'll tell you. A dice building game is similar to a deck building game, but players purchase and draft dice instead of cards.

At the beginning of the game, each player will be given a bag containing eight white dice inside it. These dice are known as your "Sidekicks" and can be used to bolster your offensive & defensive capabilities or purchase better dice later in the game. On your turn, you will reach into your bag and pull out four dice. You may roll these dice no more than twice each turn. After rolling your dice, you can field any dice showing characters, spend energy to purchase other dice, or use any other ability you possess. After spending your dice, you place them in the used pile and place them back into your bag once its empty. That's pretty much the basic mechanic.

However, Marvel Dice Masters does possess a decent amount of depth to it. Like a deck building game, you have to decide which dice your going to purchase, how many of those dice will you get, and when should you pick them up. There's also the decision of which heroes or villains to bring into the game with you and how they interact with each other. For example, you might decide to bring Angel & Falcon with you to the table because they both enhance your sidekicks and work well with each other. You might also throw Psylocke in there too to knock out your opponents characters, preventing them from attacking or defending on their next turn.

Combat also adds another layer of strategy to the game. During your turn, you can attack or defend with any sidekick or character you have fielded. If you block a character and never character dies, they return to the field zone. If they did die, they are KO'ed and move to the prep zone where you get to roll them with your four dice next turn. If the character slips through your opponent's defenses and deals damage to your opponent's life total (either 20 or 15), they are moved to the used pile. The first person to knock their opponent to 0 life wins the game. Sounds easy enough, but you have to think about your actions. Do you swing all out, dealing a devastating blow to your opponent's life total, but leave yourself open to an equally devastating attack? Maybe you hold back some of your characters, dealing less damage but keeping yourself better protected. Which characters do you attack with and which do you leave behind to defend? Decisions, decisions.

Hopefully you've picked up on it by now, but I absolutely love Marvel Dice Masters. I love how simple it simple the rules are, but still possess some tactical depth. I love the cool looking dice and the art on the cards looks awesome. Finally, the theme really does come out while you're playing the game. I love constructing a team of superheroes, seeing how they work together and all the different powers fit each character they're assigned to. My only real complaint is the bags packaged with the starter set are atrocious and I'd advise picking up a cheap dice bag with your purchase. You might want to pick up one of the player mats as well, just so you remember where everything is supposed to be on the table and it makes keeping your life total much easier.

I also don't mind the collectible element either. I know some people avoid collectible games like the plague, seeing them as nothing more than a money sink. I understand that sentiment and I'm sympathetic towards it. Hell, its one of the reasons why I stopped playing Magic: The Gathering years ago (although I recently got back into it). However, the starter sets give you enough to play some smaller games of it and the booster packs are only 99 cents. If that isn't a deal, I don't know what is.

Marvel Dice Masters definitely has my seal of approval. If you like dice games, super heroes, and were a big fan of Quarriors, you will most likely dig this game. If you're looking for a game with some easy to learn rules but some strategic depth, you'll like it too. The starter sets are about $15 and I feel they're definitely worth it.

Three Games to Play on Halloween

Halloween is my favorite holiday. Christmas is great and all, but the horror fan living inside of me has to love the one day of the year where I can fly that weird flag high without being judged for stupid reasons. While I usually celebrate the season by watching numerous horror movies, I like to play some horror-themed board games as well.

With that in mind, I thought I'd post a list of board games you can play today to celebrate the holiday. Remember, these are based on my own tastes and opinions, so don't feel bad if your favorite game isn't on the list or if you disagree with one of my choices. Feel free to make your own list of suggestions and leave it in the comments below.

DEAD OF WINTER

Check it out HERE!

Designed by Jonathan Gilmour & Isaac Vega, Dead of Winter is a psychological horror game where each player controls a group of survivors working together to survive a world overrun by flesh-eating zombies during the dead of winter (hence the game's name). While you are mostly working together, everyone also has a secret goal they're trying to achieve that could possibly conflict with the group's overall goal. Zombie games are a dime a dozen, so you really have to do something cool or interesting to really stand out among the horde. Thankfully, Dead of Winter does exactly that due to the tension it manages to build due to the traitor-like mechanic and the stories that bloom during play.

ELDRITCH HORROR

Check it out HERE!

Eldritch Horror is a Cthulhu Mythos-themed cooperative game designed by Corey Konieczka & Nikki Valens. Like its older sibling Arkham Horror, the game has the players take on the role of globetrotting investigators working to solve mysteries, gather clues, and protect the world from an elder being intent on destroying our world. Some of you might be wondering why I didn't put Arkham Horror on this list. The answer is very simple: I enjoy Eldritch Horror more. Its not as bloated, its not as long, and I prefer the global scale over the focus on the town of Arkham. However, if you want that longer experience, consider Arkham Horror a honorable mention. 

FURY OF DRACULA

Check it out HERE!

Designed by Stephen Hand & Kevin Wislon, Fury of Dracula is a semi-cooperative deduction game where one player assumes the role of Count Dracula while the others play vampire hunters attempting to slay him. The player playing Dracula utilizes a deck of location cards to secretly move across Europe while the others try to locate him using the limited amount of information they have. Fury of Dracula is incredibly thematic, with the board looking like something from the nineteenth century its fun trying to piece together the mystery of where Dracula is and what kind of horrors has he left in his wake.

A Saturday Night at the Hideaway

Sorry for the past few days of silence. I had all my wisdom teeth removed Monday and I've spent the last few days relaxing, eating A LOT of yogurt, and sleeping. I had planned to post this on Monday or Wednesday, but that obviously didn't happen. Since I'm feeling better today, I thought I'd go ahead and do it today.

Now, on with the show.

On a regular basis, my friends and I make the incredibly short trek (well, for most of us anyway) to our local FLGS (Halflings Hideaway Games). Usually, this is due to me running the next session of one of my campaigns. However, due to the collapse of my recent Pathfinder game, the past few Saturdays have mostly consisted of my group playing random board or card games into the wee hours of the night. This time was no different.

Blurry Cellphone Images for the Win!

When we arrived, one of the store's owners was playing Cover Your Assets with her child and two other customers (one of which happened to share the same name as me. Some confusion ensued). Once they were finished, we quickly gathered a few people and played a game of 7 Wonders. Although I have a few friends who are absolutely in love with this game, I had never played it before. While it took a few rounds to really get the hang of it, 7 Wonders was a lot of fun and possessed a great amount of depth. No wonder it won the Spiel des Jahres in 2011.

Afterwords, my group decided to make the drive to Pizza Hut to get some late lunch. Since we had a fun time playing with him and wanted to repay him for teaching us how to play 7 Wonders, we brought the other Cody along. While eating eating some pizza and cheesesticks (except Scott, who likes to be the odd man out and get pasta for some reason. Weirdo), we chatted about comic book movies and gaming. You know, as you do. 

David & Scott look excited to be building train routes!

Once we returned to the shop, we cracked out Other Cody's copy of Ticket to Ride. Neither David or Scott had played it before, so I was excited to introduce them to joy of the building trains across North America (its more interesting than it sounds). Due to the streamlined nature of the rules, both of them seemed to grasp it rather fast and had fun. That's two more people converted to the Ticket to Ride fandom. 

After taking a quick break to player a few shorter games (like Kittens in a Blender and Sushi Go!), we finished off the night with one final game of 7 Wonders. Unlike the first game, we decided to use some of the expansions. Now that we all knew the rules, the game moved at a much quicker pace. 

Lee pointing out another player's leader.

All in all, it was a pretty fun night. 

The Metamorphosis of Magic: The Gathering

Since its no secret that I love card games, it should come as no surprise that I'm a Magic: The Gathering fan (at least, a casual one). While I don't enter tournaments or keep up with the game as vigorously as some people I know, I enjoying building different decks and playing matches with friends & family. 

Wizards of the Coast made an announcement about the game today, an announcement that promises some big changes to the game and its release structure. Due to some problems associated with the current release format, Wizards plans to change the three-set block format to a two-set block one, be doing away with the Core blocks, and modifying how long a block is available for Standard play. While these changes won't affect casual players like myself, it will probably have major ramifications for those who regularly participate in competitions. 

If you'd like to read the full article, click HERE. Although this is just an opinion, and things could change after this new direction comes into play, I feel like this will be good for the brand. It should be much easier to manage blocks containing two different sets, allow them to explore new ideas and worlds more often, and keep the game feeling fresh.

What about you? How do you feel about this major change to Magic? Are you excited, or nervous? Leave your answers in the comments below. 

Card Wars: First Impressions

It's time to decide who will be the Dweeb and who will be the Cool Guy.

In my opinion, Adventure Time is one of the best television shows of the past four years. I absolutely love its sense of humor, its interesting characters, and its surprisingly well written stories.  I've seen almost every episode, have read most of the comics (which are excellent by the way and you should definitely check them out), and I've played some of the video games (which are less excellent).

Now that you know that crucial bit of context, it shouldn't be any surprise that I've been dying to try out Card Wars. Published by Cryptozoic Entertainment, Card Wars is a collectible card game based on the game Finn and Jake played in the third season episode of the same name.Unfortunately, since I'm kind of broke at the moment, I haven't had the chance to pick up one of the collector's packs.

While visiting my FLGS this past Saturday, I finally got the chance to try the game out using the BMO vs Lady Rainicorn Collector's Pack. Since I enjoy talking about these experiences and I figure there are others who might want to know how good the game is, I thought I'd give my first impressions of it.

Card Wars' rules are very simple and easy to learn. Before starting the game, you choose one of the two decks packaged with the specific collector's pack you purchased, place four larger cards called "lanes" before you, and receive 25 hit points. On your turn, you draw one card and receive two "moves". These moves are spent to either play the different types of cards (Buildings, Creatures, and Spells) or spent to draw an additional card. When playing Creatures, you place them onto one of the open lanes set before you.

Card Wars' Set-Up. Sorry for the somewhat blurry image. Blame my phone.

After spending all your available moves and playing the cards you wish to play, you enter the Combat Phase. During this phase, each Creature you control attacks the lane directly across from it. If there is another creature there, they fight and deal damage to each other. If the lane is empty, the damage is dealt directly to the opposing player instead. Like with most games, the player who manages to drop their opponent down to 0 hit points wins.

At first glance, Card Wars appears to be a very simplistic game. However, there is a surprising amount of depth hidden within the rules. Throughout each deck, there are a number of Creatures that possess unique abilities that activate once they've been "flooped", which is this games version of tapping. Combining these with your Buildings and Spells offers a nice bit of strategy without making the game complicated. I definitely tip my hat to Cryptozoic for finding a nice balance in that department.

While I loved the rules, there were a few things about the game that rubbed me the wrong way. I personally wasn't too fond of the little chips used to track damage dealt to Creatures. They were annoying to add and remove to the cards and I feel like you could easily use differently sized dice to achieve this. I also was a little disappointed that a lot of the creatures were recycled with only minor changes in art. This game is supposed to be based on Adventure Time, a world where almost anything can happen. I just feel they could have been a little more creative than that.

However, those are mostly nitpicks and I'm sure the second complaint will be fixed as more expansions for the game get released. Card Wars is a fun card game that's simple to learn, but has enough depth to allow some cool strategies to be formed and gives the game some definite longevity. I'm definitely going to pick up one of the collector's packs as soon as possible.

Three Casual Games That Everyone Should Play

On a semi-regular basis, my gaming group and I like to travel down to our local FLGS (Halflings Hideaway) and have a different kind of game night. Instead of playing some Pathfinder or whatever roleplaying game we just so happen to be playing at the time, we decide to take a break and crack out a few board/card games.

Most of the night generally consists of long bouts of Munchkin, Settlers of Catan, Cthulhu Fluxx, Dixit, and Chez Cthulhu. However, we usually try to play a few casual, light-hearted games in between those bigger ones to give ourselves a breather and a moment to collect ourselves. 

The following are three casual games that I honestly love and believe everyone should play at least once. They're easy to learn, play relatively quickly, and act as great palate-cleansers. Most of these should also be easy to find and on the cheaper side (with one exception). Since I like all of these games equally, I'll present them in alphabetical order: 

1. Get Bit!

((Product Page))

Get Bit! is a card game designed by Dave Chalker. Each player is attempting to escape a hungry shark who would love to take a big bite out of you. Throughout the game, you play cards to determine how fast you are swimming. The fastest swimmer move his miniature to the front, the slowest swimmer falls to the back, and those who play matching cards don't move at all. The final swimmer alive wins the game. The game is incredibly simple, but has a nice visual aspect and trying to predict what cards your opponents have and will play is really fun. The only downside is that its a little on the expensive side for a quick, casual game (roughly $25).

2. Love Letter

((Product Page))

Published by AEG, Love Letter is a card game where you take on the role of one of the many suitors to the lovely princess of a small kingdom. Hoping to give her a number of letters to show her your love, you must prevent the other suitors from beating you to the punch. You do so by playing cards, which have their own special abilities. The person with the most points when the deck runs out or the last person remaining in the game wins the round and receives a token of affection. The number of tokens required to win is based on the number of people playing. Love Letter is a very simple game that actually has some depth to it. While playing, you are also trying to determine what cards your opponents have so you can raise your own chances of being the winner. It's really good if you're playing with individuals who possess really good poker faces. 

3. Zombie Dice

((Product Page))

Steve Jackson Games has published a few products that could have easily made it onto this list. However, I can only choose one. After thinking about it for a few moments, I decided I had to give the spot to Zombie Dice. As the name implies, Zombie Dice is a dice game where you take a cup full of multicolored dice, shake it vigorously, and pull three of them out and roll them. Each die has three symbols engraved onto them: a brain, a blast, and a set of footprints. Your goal is to roll as many brains as possible. However, you should be careful because if you get three blasts, you loose all the brains you've earned that turn. You can also choose to roll additional dice, but you have to include dice that landed on the footprint symbol with the new grouping. The player who earns thirteen brains wins the game. Like the other games, Zombie Dice is really simple to learn as well as really fun to play. 

Question Time: What are some of your favorite casual games?

Pathfinder Adventure Card Game: First Impressions

I'm the one you can barely see. Handsome bloke, aren't I?

Last year, Paizo released the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game onto the world. I've been dying to play it since I first heard about it. However, due to my usual status as someone who doesn't even have a penny to his name, I haven't had the ability to shell out the sixty or so bucks for the Rise of the Runelords Base Set.

Thankfully, while visiting my local FLGS (Halflings Hideaway) with three friends, I had the opportunity to finally give this card game a try and I'm happy to say that it was definitely worth the wait.

For those of you who haven't played the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game, I'll give you an overview of the rules. The cooperative card game allows you to play a somewhat abstract version of a regular Pathfinder adventure. Each player has a specific character (I played Valeros the iconic fighter) which is defined by a small deck of cards that represent the character's weapons, armor, items, allies, spells, etc. During the adventure, your character can go to different locations and "explore" them, fighting monsters and collecting items. Winning the game requires you to defeat the main villain of the adventure before a certain amount of rounds occur.

Our group played the Brigadoom adventure and we unfortunately failed to find and defeat the wily Jubrayl Vhiski (who actually was a NPC in my Heroes of Sandpoint campaign). Even though our group didn't complete the adventure, I at least had a fun time playing the game. The rules are actually pretty easy to grasp while allowing for some interesting strategy. For example, my character had the ability to "recharge" weapon cards, allowing me to place them onto the bottom of my deck instead of discarding them, which is nice when most of the weapons you have grant bonuses when you discard them.

I also generally love cooperative games where I actually get to work with the people sitting around me, trying to complete some goal. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing competitive games just as much as the next guy (Munchkin is one of my favorite board games for a reason). However, I enjoy being able to team up with other players and combine our efforts so we have a better chance of succeeding.

The only thing that did annoy me was how long it took us to set up the game. I usually like to play games that can be set up rather quickly so we can either play more games throughout the night or multiple sessions of the same game. Its one of the reasons I'm rather fond of card games like Fluxx or Love Letter. However, the long set up time might have more to due with the fact that most of the people at that table were new to the game and the owner of said game had to explain the rules to us than anything else.

I honestly really enjoyed playing the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. The rules were easy to understand, the game allowed for a lot of strategy between players, and has a lot of replace value due to the cards and the fact that you can modify the base set with expansions. While the game's base set has a rather hefty price tag, I think it would definitely be worth it in the end and its going on my list of things to buy once I have a steady source of income.