I had a blast playing “Family Business” during the International TableTop Day event at Game Masters…though I admit, it helped to have some patient teachers. “Family Business” is an elimination game, through and through. You’ll receive a mob of gangsters and it’ll be your job to make sure that your family is the last one standing. To do that, you’ll have to avoid being placed on the hit list…it’s tougher than it sounds. Before we take a quick look at the game, I’d like to offer a special thank you to Jason, Charity, Barry, Joseph, and Kaleem (participants in the above-mentioned event) for taking the time to bring this game to my attention.
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There’s nothing like a good dungeon crawler to get the adrenaline pumping and in this case, “Quest of Dungeons” doesn’t disappoint. Similar to games like “Dungeons of Dredmor”, you’ll be tasked with clearing out enemies and leveling up your character in a turn-based creepy-esque environment. Your ultimate goal will be to find and defeat the evil lord who has (somehow) stolen all the light and trapped it inside a magical lantern…we can’t allow that, now can we? Before we get started with the review, I’d like to thank David Amador, the game’s sole creator, for providing me with a press copy.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t do anything special for International TableTop Day, which was held on April 5, 2014. So, I did the only thing a respectable (ha!) games journalist would do…grab my camera and head down to Game Masters, a local gaming / hobby shop located in Pittsburgh. I’m not much of a people person and I had never before gone to an event of this scale, but I was determined to walk away with a story to write about. It turned out that I was gifted with much more…the feeling of comradery. We were all there for a reason: we enjoy tabletop gaming. It was great to meet such fine people and I hope to run into all of them again in the future.
My time with “Imagine Earth’s” demo has been a joy…though it’s admittedly been a year since I’ve last touched it. With this game’s recent addition to Steam’s Early Access library (available May, 2014) and launch on Indiegogo, I figured now would be a good time to dive back in and see what’s new. As I expected, “Imagine Earth” doesn’t disappoint. It’s still the same game (part puzzle, part city/world sim), but I can’t help but be entranced by its depth and new features.
Seriously, who doesn’t love a cute bunny or three? Being an animal lover myself, I can’t just walk out of a pet store without first visiting these furry little bundles of joy. “All Bunnies Eat Carrots“, a card game currently seeking your help on Kickstarter, features more bunnies than you’ll know what to do with. It’s a two to four player family-friendly game that tasks players with collecting bunnies and seeing to their needs. Each bunny has its own needs and point values, giving the game a strategic spin. The first player to see to the needs of three bunnies effectively ends the game and all players will proceed to compare point values to see who wins…it all sounds both easy and fun to boot!
It’s been a while since I’ve loaded this little baby up and I can’t believe I had almost forgotten how much fun it could be. Released in late 2006, “Sid Meier’s Railroads” puts you in charge of your very own railway company. I’m not going to bother reviewing it due to its age and time constraints, but I will say that it’s still worth playing today if you enjoy business sims. It also helps if you’ve religiously watched “Thomas the Tank Engine” as a child.
I’ve been so engrossed with the “Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game” that I almost let this one slip by. This would have been bad, seeing as how I can recite almost every “Star Trek” episode by heart, whether it be “Enterprise”, “TOS, “TNG”, “DS9”, or “Voyager” (come to Quark’s, Quark’s is fun, come right now, don’t walk – run!). Yeah, I’m kind of a nerd that way. At any rate, I was extremely surprised to learn just how similar these two products are…that is, “Star Trek: Attack Wing” and the aforementioned “Star Wars” game. I almost didn’t have to look at the manual…almost. With that being said, let’s take a quick look at what comes in the box and how the game is played before I share my final thoughts on the matter.
Konnichiwa, fellow travelers! We’re here today to take a quick look at “Tokaido”, a game I recently picked up on a whim. It looked pretty enough based on the pictures I browsed and promised to be family-friendly to boot. The premise is simple enough: each player takes on the role of a traveler who is making their way across the “East Sea Road”, a famous and popular road (of the “Edo” period) located in Japan. Players will be able to visit a variety of different places with the intent on earning the most victory points by the game’s end. The kicker is that there’s no going backwards…think “Candy Land” but with a Japanese theme and juiced up on steroids. After spending some time with the game, I discovered that it delivers all of the above and more.
“Hive” is probably one of my favorite board games to play…it’s simple, elegant, but still maintains a strategic depth that I can get behind. It’s sort of like “Chess”, minus the board and with bug pieces instead of your classic medieval characters. When I discovered the video game adaptation on Steam’s “coming soon” list, I jumped at the chance to review it. To that end, I’d like to quickly thank the folks at BlueLine Game Studios for providing me with a free press copy. It’s important to note that the below review is reflective of the PC version (the XBox version released in 2013).
It’s been well over ten years since I’ve last played this little gem. It’s not because I didn’t want to, mind you, but because my newer PCs tended to not be compatible with the game. I finally discovered a process via the wonderful world of Internets that allowed me to run “Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance” on a 64-bit machine. I’m not going to bother reviewing the game at this point…chances are that if you haven’t played it by now, you never will. As such, this article will serve as a house for all of the gameplay videos I intend to publish in the near future. Follow me won’t you, and revel in this wonderful nostalgia!
Ever dreamt of owning your own creative agency? That is, hire employees, manage your money, complete projects, and deal with random events as they occur? If the answer is yes, then you’re in luck! “Creative Clash”, a fast-paced card game that will be launching soon on Kickstarter (as of 3/13/14), promises exactly that. In this case, players will be competing to complete their own individual “ego” goals before the others do. Before I get ahead of myself though, I’d like to thank principal and creative director Ryan Smoker for reaching out and providing me with a prototype copy. It’s important to stress that prototypes are often not reflective of the final version, making everything featured in this article (including the rules) subject to change.
I’m so over this cold weather. Mother Nature hasn’t exactly been kind to Pittsburgh…sixty degrees one day only to be followed by minus ten degrees with wind chill warnings and four inches of snow the next. What better way to celebrate and welcome Spring than with “Lawn Battleship”, a game that is currently seeking your support on Kickstarter. As the name suggests, you’ll be taking the idea of the classic board game outside. The catch is that you’ll be using water filled Bocce balls and various ship signs attached to metal pegs in the ground. Easy to play and family friendly, this game promises a good time out in the sun…something I think us Pittsburghers could desperately use at this point.
Well…this certainly takes me back. I can’t tell you the last time I was actually inside an arcade, save for our visit to “Dave & Busters” last month. “Arcradecraft”, a game currently seeking your help on Steam’s Greenlight program, puts you in the role of an owner of an arcade joint circa 1980. It’ll be your job to purchase arcade machines and keep the numbers in the green, as it were. “Arcradecraft” first appeared on XBox Live back in January of 2013, having received positive reviews. It only made sense (at least to me) to bring this type of simulator to the PC…I’m glad the developers agree. Speaking of which, I’d like to quickly thank Matthew Leigh, the Founder of Firebase Industries Ltd., for providing me with an early Beta build of the game.
In the mood for some intense, arcade-shooter action? “Meltdown”, a game currently on Steam’s Early Access program, just might be the ticket. It features both single and online cross-platform co-op (up to four players), three character classes (specialist, medic, soldier), thirty randomly generated levels, three boss battles, and wave-attack arena challenges. Players will also be able to collect loot and level up their character, giving them more of a chance for when they reach the later levels. The game is also available for Android, for those of you not able to game regularly on a Windows or Mac-based system.
Desura is chalk full of free games lately, “Edge of Dawn” being one of them. I tried to like it, but I had a hard time seeing just where it was I was supposed to go. Oh, don’t get me wrong, it has plenty of potential. It’s very eerie and the parts that were visible had a wonderful ambience. All of that is mute though if the developer fails to direct the player in the right direction via subtle gameplay cues. Perhaps you might have better luck figuring out where to go and how to avoid being killed?
A few more free games popped up on Desura, so I figured I’d check at least one of them out before I head off to do “Dad” things. “An Apparently Normal Room” was made by the same folks who created “Insert Title Here” and other similar games also free on Desura. How did it hold up? Watch the below gameplay videos to find out!