A Fund-Raiser for the Late Zombies Designer

On March 24, Todd Breitenstein, designer of the board game Zombies!—and its countless sequels and expansions—lost his fight with cancer. The 47-year-old is survived by his wife and three children. US distributor ACD Distribution has announced in a press release that they "will donate all of the profits from sales of all Twilight Creations' games from March 24th through April 12th to the Todd Breitenstein Benefit Fund. In addition, ACD Distribution will match whatever amount is raised in this way as an additional contribution to the fund."

Fox and Chicken—Kickstarter Weekly

Kickstarter seems to have no shortage of fun and interesting new games these days, and some that are innovative spins on classic favorites. Today's Kickstarter Weekly is in the latter category. Michael Fox, who is the host and writer of The Little Metal Dog Show, is also the brains behind this campaign.

Fox and Chicken is a new "slightly more family friendly" version of the old standard, Werewolf—or as some know it Mafia.

Fox and Chicken pits players against each other in the form of a team of Foxes who are out to eat all the chickens at night fall, and in some twisted role of animal kingdom law, the chickens have the power to execute players who they believe may be a fox.

The unique, and fun twist to this is there are a handful of special role cards that give certain chickens and foxes special abilities. These special cards also have a bearing on the entire game, depending on the player's fate.

The project is only a few days in and is already at nearly 40% funded. For US backers the total is roughly $18 to get your own copy.

If you're a fan of the Werewolf/Mafia originals, this looks like a great way to spiff up the old standby and create a new experience with casual gamers, without diving into a completely new set of rules!

Thanks for reading and as always we appreciate your interactions in the comments, and on Facebook and Twitter!

What News From the Shire?

With last year's release of the first film installment of the Hobbit, the world of gaming rejoices—and of course cashes in! There have been several games released over the past several months, as well as a few upcoming that may scratch the itch you have for more Tolkien-based games; here's a short (if not completely inclusive) list of them:

The Lord of the Rings Living Card Game Saga expansions - Fantasy Flight released two Hobbit-centric additions to their smash hit LOTR-LCG: The Hobbit: Over Hill and Under Hill, and The Hobbit: On the Doorstep

The Lord of the Rings Dice Building Game

Wizkids, who brought you the unique spin of dice building vs. deck building in Quarriors, has released (it is available NOW!) The LOTR themed game, and we have it on good word it's more than just a re-theme of Quarriors!

The Hobbit Card Game - An inexpensive, trick-taking game with a Tolkien theme from Fantasy Flight Games and designer Martin Wallace—also available now!

Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of The Ring Deck Building Game -—Cryptozoic, publisher of the World of Warcraft TCG, has thrown their hat into the Tolkien "ring" (see what I did there?) with a deck builder of their own, which is just recently available!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey - Cryptozoic's second go at the genre, this time in board game form, this is expected sometime in the second quarter of 2013.

Sadly we have no review copies of any of these games, but as soon as we do we will post our reviews as soon as we can!

We know there are tons more of titles out there that take place in Middle Earth! We'd love to hear of any diamonds in the rough you've discovered!

Thanks for reading, and for those who were here yesterday, yes, that was an April Fool's day post; we hope you got a good laugh out of it, and if you came here today looking for the latest in crocheting news, we extend our apologies.

Give us a shout in the comments with your favorite Tolkien titles, and hit us up on Facebook and Twitter!

Giving Up Board Games...

By Firestone So Saturday was International TableTop Day, and as I sat there in the 4th hour of my game of Exodus: Proxima Centauri, it hit me: This is boring. Do this. Draw that. Roll a crapload of dice. ROLL ANOTHER 1, WHEN I REALLY NEEDED ANYTHING OTHER THAN A 1. Attack. Be attacked. Lose by 2 VPs. What's the point?

So I went home, talked to my wife about it, and decided I'm going to quit boardgaming. Forever. I'm selling my collection—pennies on the dollar, so make me an offer. I also talked to Jeremiah about it, and he's been thinking the same thing. It's all just so much...fluff.

So we're starting a new blog. We hope you'll come check us out, and thanks for reading our inane posts over the last 9 months. We truly appreciate it.

And you should seriously think about giving up board games—or should we say, "bored games..."

Easter...

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee (Luke 24:1-6 ESV)."

Today is International TableTop Day!

The popular Wil Weaton-hosted YouTube board game show, TableTop, has declared today TableTop Day. That's just an excuse to play games all day, but there are some corporate sponsors for the day, who have partnered with some game stores for giveaways and promos. For instance, some stores will be getting promo cards for The Resistance that have the science fiction spy images along with the words Merlin and Assassin on them, so you can easily add those roles to the original game. I'll (Firestone) be joining in on the fun with some guys from my game group. You should, too. You can go here to find out if your Friendly Local game Store is hosting an event. And then go down for a few hours and support this day of gaming! Or just play some games at home with your family!

Have a great Easter weekend!

What You Missed... What's Coming Up...

This week has been a crazy/busy/fun/hectic week for us here at TOG (and that's both on the site, and in our lives), and we're not done yet! First let's take a quick look back at the week that was...

First, if the question is "ARE YOU ASKING FOR A CHALLENNNNNNGE??" Pixel Lincoln's answer would be "Yes.". As Jason Tagmire has issued a game design challenge!

We brought TWO, yes TWO, Double-Take Reviews! One for the upcoming Emperor's New Clothes (which is still Kickstarting, until Monday. And the second for Jason Kotarski, and Dice Hate Me's, The Great Heartland Hauling Co. We both had awesome things to say about each one; go read all the words!

Mayfair is making an even bigger name for Catan, and now it's showing up in classrooms!

And Thursday we brought you TWO, yes TWO, Kickstarter Weekly Features. Relic Expedition which looks AWESOME (look for an interview with the Foxtrot Games guys soon!). And our good friends over at Game Salute are funding a cool accessory for your sci-fi themed games - Rocket Dice!

And we've asked folks to chime in on our Facebook page and tell us who your favorite A-Team member is!

Today on Good Friday, we take pause to remember the impact of the greatest act of love we have ever known.

As we push forward into the weekend, we will celebrate with friends and family, and maybe even play some games on International TableTop Day tomorrow! (Ok, Scott will for sure!)

Check back with us this weekend as we continue to celebrate!

Thanks so much for reading our posts we hope you find them 3 F's - Fun, Factual, and inFormative!

Good Friday...

Our old history ends with the cross; our new history begins with the resurrection. ~Watchman Nee

Rocket Dice—Bonus Kickstarter Weekly

And I think it's gonna be a long, long time/‘til touch down brings me round again to find/I'm not the man they think I am at home Oh no, no, no, I'm a rocket dice Rocket diiiiice, rolled some snake-eyes and now I am hosed

(With apologies to Sir Elton John)

Game Salute has launched a cool new Kickstarter campaign for Rocket Dice—rocket-shaped dice perfect for any space game. Prices start at $5 for one die of any color, all the way up to $120 for 31 rocket dice and a bunch of Alien Frontiers stuff.

In addition to the "normal" pip dice, you can also get Fudge style, which have two sides with a "+", two sides with a "-" sign, and two blank sides. Or dice with numerals instead of pips. And Game Salute helpfully did the homework on a bunch of spacey games—such as Star Trek Catan and Eclipse—so you'll know just how many Rocket Dice you'll need is you want to replace the dice in those games.

They've already hit their goal, so it will fund. Check them out on Kickstarter. And thanks for reading!

Relic Expedition—Kickstarter Weekly

Today's Kickstarter weekly features a cool-looking game of exploration and adventure.

Relic Expedition is a game that features a variable board that grows as the game progresses. Players are treasure hunters searching for treasure in a deep and vast jungle. The game looks to be packed full of great strategic decisions, lots of variance, and a good mix of surprises.

Relic Expedition will be (should it get founded) the inaugural title for Foxtrot Games, which is a couple of guys who are off to a good start with this one!

The only down side to this Kickstarter is the price tag to get a copy of the game is a tad on the high side at $49. But judging from the images, you're going to get some really quality components!

You can check out the campaign here, including a PDF download of the rule book! Are you backing this? We'd love to hear what pushed you off the fence! Or you still on the fence? Tell us why! Leave it in the comments below! Thanks for reading, and don't forget those Facebook and Twitter things! And we especially appreciate it when you subscribe over on the right!