Crazy Creatures of Dr. Gloom—Review

"For what we are about to see next, we must enter quietly into the realm of genius." ~Dr. Frederick Frankenstein—pronounced "Fronkensteen." Mad scientists, or just misunderstood? Either way, Dr. Gloom has created a machine that brings to life creatures from imagination—or nightmare—which will help him be king of the mad scientists. Or something. It doesn't matter. All you need to know is that The Crazy Creatures of Dr. Gloom is a neat little card game from designer Michael Schacht. It follows the same pattern of so many of his designs: simple, interesting choices. This one is particularly good for families.

Components

48 Creature Cards in 4 different colored "suits"—or, monsters—numbered 1 through 6, and there are two of each of those numbers. In addition to the color differences, the monsters are different types, so they're easy to distinguish.

4 Monster Machine cards—one in each of the colors. These are double-sided with a "+" symbol on one side, and a "-" symbol on the other.

These cards come in a nice, embossed tin that makes it portable, but also able to stand up to being transported. (Some of my card game boxes are getting worn out over time; that's unlikely to happen here.)

Gameplay

Setup

• First you place each of the four Monster Machines on the table—with the "+" side up.
• Then you shuffle up all of the Creature Cards and deal them out to the players—the number depends on the number of people playing.
• You also create an 8-card deck of extra creatures that is set aside—and then later played exclusively on Dad!
• Pick a start player.

You'll play a number of rounds equal the the number of players, and each round plays exactly the same: on your turn you'll either play one card or pass. The first card played on any of the machines can be of any value. From that point on, any cards played have to follow the current "rule" of the Monster Machine: equal to or lower than the previously played card if the Machine is on the "-" side, and equal to or higher than the previously played card if the Machine is on the "+" side.

The 5 and 1 cards are special. They have a "mutation symbol" on them. So while you can play a 1 on a 1, or a 5 on a 5, you can also "wrap around"—again, depending on the Monster Machine's orientation at the time. So if it's on the "+" side, and there's a 5 down, you can play a 1 on top of it—or a 1 on a 5 in the case of the "-" side. This kind of...unsticks the machine if it's maxed out at the highest or lowest number, and there's no way to flip the symbol. So how do you flip the symbol on the Monster Machine?

If you play an identical card on top of another card, you get to choose one of two options:

• Flip one of the Monster Machines to the other side (it doesn't have to be the same machine you just played a card onto).
• Force someone (usually Dad!) to draw one of the cards from the extra stack of monsters you put aside at the beginning of the game. This is a way to slow down someone who seems to be winning, or who is about to end the round by going out. Once that stack of 8 is gone, you have to flip a machine.

So players either play a card, or pass if they're unable to play a card. It could be that you pass on this turn and then, because of cards played after you, you're able to jump back in. The round ends if everyone passes because they're unable to play onto one of the machines, or if someone plays the last card from his or her hand—in which case, everyone else gets one final turn to play a card, if possible.

Each Creature Card has 0, 1, or 2 skulls on the top, which represent penalty points. (1's and 6's have no points. 2's and 5's have one. And 3's and 4's have two.) Everyone who didn't go out adds up the penalty points that remain on their cards. If someone happens to have no Creature Cards left, that person subtracts 3 penalty points from their score. Then you play another round just like the last, until you've played as many rounds as there are players. Whoever ends up with the fewest penalty points wins.

Recommendations

Family Game? Definitely! I can't tell you how much I love that my 5-year-old can play this. And there's enough fun play that the 8-year-old loves playing, too. It's squarely in the small realm of games my whole family can—and likes to—play.

Youth Group Game? Under the Right Circumstances! Maybe preteen or junior highers, but I'm not sure senior highers would like this.

Gamer’s Game? Nope! It's a filler, but not one I'd bring to game night. It's not like there's anything to dislike here, it's just that there are deeper fillers out there, and my game group would rather play those.

The Verdict

As a family game—which is how I'll be playing this 99% of the time—it gets an enthusiastic thumbs up. My kids like it. My wife likes it. I like playing it with my kids and my wife—everybody wins! Plus it gives them a chance to gang up on Dad and hand him extra Creature cards. And who doesn't like that?! Besides me, of course.

Thanks to Stronghold Games for providing a review copy of Crazy Creatures of Dr. Gloom, which did not in any way affect my opinion of the game. You can get the Crazy Creatures of Dr Gloom on Amazon here.

And thanks to you for reading!

In the Jungle—An Interview with the Foxtrot Games Team

Today we have the distinct pleasure of chatting with the brains behind Foxtrot Games, and the creators of Relic Expedition, Randy Hoyt and Tyler Segel.

Guys, thanks so much for taking some time for us today!

First off, can you tell us a little bit about yourselves, and how Foxtrot Games came to be? RH: My name's Randy Hoyt, and I work professionally as a Web developer and a technology educator. I teach Web development for a startup called Treehouse. I live in Orlando, Florida, with my wife and two boys, ages 6 and 1.

TS: I’m Tyler Segel. I am the Creative Director and co-owner of Factory North, a graphic design studio in Portland, Oregon. I enjoy playing board games with my wife and our friends, going to Timbers soccer games, and camping in the Pacific Northwest.

We have a family reunion every summer, and Randy and I always bring a few board games from our collections. Last summer, we struggled to convince the rest of our family to play games with us. We realized that there was a gap in the market for a game that was easy to learn and had a relatively short play time, but still had enough strategy to hold the interest of Randy and me. We brainstormed quite a bit during that weekend, and then Randy took off with our idea and came up with some solid mechanics. Being in the creative field, it was really important to me that the game looked good. There are so many fun games out there that just look slapped together. I really appreciate when game designers pay attention to those little details.

How did you first get into board gaming? What game sealed the deal for you as a gamer?

RH: I've been playing board games and card games for as long as I can remember. Every year at Christmas we would get a new family board game: games like Clue, Life, and Yahtzee. I would often play games by myself, physically moving around the table each turn and playing each player separately. I remember doing that with an old copy of Risk I found at my grandma's house; I still have that copy. I still love playing cards, the combinations of suits and ranks, plus the possibilities for amazing artwork on the face cards.

I took a bit of a break from board games during and shortly after college, but I'd have to credit two games with bringing me back into it. The first was Texas Hold 'Em. I couldn't believe that people were watching others play cards on television, and I had a lot of poker nights. And then Settlers of Catan. That was my first Euro-style game, I suppose, and I've since been playing the new ones as they come out.

TS: I grew up playing games like Monopoly here and there with my family, but I first got hooked on Euro-style games about 6 or 7 years ago. I was hanging out with some friends, and someone brought Settlers of Catan. I was immediately drawn to the mechanics and strategy of the game. There was so much going on and it was so interesting. That game really opened the door for me to board games.

Have you ever gone on an expedition of your own? Or are you both just big fans of Indiana Jones?

TS: I can’t say I’ve ever been on an expedition. I liked Indiana Jones when I was a kid, and I really thought that the jungle theme was fun and accessible for our game. I’ve always been intrigued by vintage comics, and I had seen some with a jungle theme that I had in mind for our game. There’s something about that aesthetic that really attracted me.

RH: I actually never really got into Indiana Jones; The Empire Strikes Back and Back to the Future are my favorite movies from the '80s. Space travel and time travel appeal to me more than hacking my way through a jungle with a machete. I probably wouldn't make it one day on a real relic expedition!

Take us through the design process of Relic Expedition; were there any games that influenced or inspired your design?

RH: In that initial brainstorming session at the family reunion Tyler mentioned, we came up with most of the concepts in the final game: the expanding jungle board, the backpack constraint, the wild animals, the geographic features. (We had lots of other ideas that I felt needed to be pushed off to future expansions, such as roles with special abilities as in Pandemic.) We knew there would be collectible treasures but hadn't really worked out how someone would win. I didn't want the sheer quantity of treasures collected to matter; I wanted something more subtle than that. My love of playing cards, with their two attributes (rank and suit), came through here, I think, and I gave each treasure two different attributes (color and symbol). We talk about set collection at our house a lot, both the game mechanic and the psychological principle. Having that as the core mechanic for victory really appealed to me.

I made a few different prototypes. The first was made out of cardstock and pieces cannibalized from other games. I played that with widely different rules a dozen times over two weeks, about one game a day. It was a fun process of seeing what was working and what was still lacking. I'll give you one example. In the first few games, players had to get all the way back to the basecamp board in the middle to win, and players would explore different parts of the jungle independently. I added helicopter clearings to jungle tiles for the sixth game; they really worked with the theme and really helped both of those issues.

After about a dozen games, I had a decent idea of how many tiles, animals, supplies, and treasures would make the game work best. I ordered wooden hexagon tiles from some craft Web site, and lots of game pieces from The Game Crafter, and then I cut out the tile boards from the cardboard of an Amazon shipping box. I shipped Tyler the first prototype to play—

TS: I'm the younger brother. I get his hand-me-downs.

RH: — Yeah, Tyler got the hand-me-down prototype. There were still lots of small modifications to the pieces and the mechanics. I played with the number of supplies, the amount of dense jungle, and lots of other things, swapping out pieces and changing stickers and what-not.

TS: I started by researching and referencing illustrations and digging through tons of vintage jungle comics to find the look that I wanted. After that, it just became a matter of incorporating that look into the game from a functional perspective—figuring out how to illustrate all of the pieces of the game to keep gameplay running smoothly, while keeping the aesthetic that I wanted. I feel like we achieved a good balance of everything looking good but still serving a function.

I had fun designing the animeeples. I thought it would add more to the game to have animal-shaped figures as opposed to wood blocks with stickers or cardboard.

What is it about Relic Expedition that sets it apart from other games in the genre?

TS: I think the main thing that sets it apart is its accessibility. I play board games with a lot of people, and usually at least one person in the group is playing a game for the first time. If a game is difficult to learn, it’s not very fun the first time around for the person learning it. I think Relic Expedition is easy enough to get the hang of that it is fun that first time you play it, and it just keeps getting more interesting as your understanding and strategy develop. I also like that it plays in less than an hour and that you can play it with just two people. There’s not many games out there like that.

RH: Yeah, with so many games, the first few times through feel like trial runs or practice rounds while new players learn the rules. But with Relic Expedition, the tougher strategic choices really start once you have a full backpack. This gives new players a few turns to get oriented and to understand the mechanics, and then they can fully participate and enjoy that first game.

A lot of people comment that the game is like Carcassonne because the board is made by laying out tiles, with that board having a different shape each game. But it's quite different in Relic Expedition because your explorer is actually moving from tile to tile, revealing new tiles as he explores. I'm really happy with how well the variable board mechanic and the explorer theme work together.

Give us your top three games of all time, and why you like them so much.

RH:

• 7 Wonders: Simultaneous action, multiple approaches for victory points, lots of depth packed into a one-hour game.

• Tamsk: Abstract game with timers that you move.

• Yahtzee: Managing probability and risk; reconsidering your strategy with each roll.

• BONUS: Relic Expedition: Great theme, easy to learn, lots of replayability. I think it's now the game I've played the most number of times in my life.

TS:

• Through the Ages: Civilization building game. There’s a lot of depth in trying to balance so many moving parts.

• Pandemic: Working together to save the world! The cooperative mechanic is my favorite part about the game.

• Citadels: Fun 2-4 player card game. It has a really fun balance of strategy and luck and super-fast game play.

Gaming is great—and we enjoy it thoroughly—but what matters most to you outside of gaming? Or is life just another big game we’re all trying to win?

TS: What matters most to me is to enjoy my life with the people I care about and create experiences with them. Gaming fits into this because it is a way to connect with my friends and family. I appreciate the opportunity to unplug, turn of the TV, and use our imaginations.

RH: Well, I do believe life is a game, an asymmetrical game where players start from different places and have different objectives—with skills and objectives changing multiple times throughout the game! I think playing tabletop games teaches you (on a small scale) many of the skills you need to be successful in life: managing resources, recognizing patterns, planning ahead, and cooperating or negotiating with others.

But for me, games are primarily about spending time with family and friends. I see making a game as a serious responsibility and a great honor. It's almost magical or religious, taking unrelated bits of wood and cardboard and transforming them into something that brings laughter and joy to people I've never met. I have been so inspired by some of the feedback reviewers have been publishing over the last couple of weeks. One player said to me in an email, "The game has made my children and friends very happy. Not sure what more you can ask for out of a game or of life."

Ok, now it’s time for the 1 word questions! Not that the questions are only one word, but that the answers should only be 1 word (or phrase)!

Oreo or Hydrox?

RH: Oreo

TS: Oreo

Galadriel or Arwen?

RH: Galadriel

TS: Arwen

Heads or Tails?

RH: Heads

TS: Heads

Favorite Batman Villain?

RH: Riddler

TS: Penguin

K.I.T.T. or the General Lee?

RH: K.I.T.T.

TS: General Lee

We would like to thank Randy and Tyler for taking the time to answer our questions and share a little more about Relic Expedition with us! Their campaign is about 65% funded, so head on over and consider backing it!

We have also been supplied with P&P prototypes of the game and will be posting our reviews of the game shortly, so stay tuned for that!

Thanks for reading and don't forget to check out our Facebook and Twitter accounts for more fun and information!

More Smash Up, X-Wing Tiles, and Free Stuff from Mayfair!

Alderac has officially unofficially announced today that there will be yet another expansion for the hit Paul Peterson title Smash Up, releasing in August. It will feature 4 new factions taking on the same format as Awesome Level 9000. With a few twists. From Alderac's Facebook page: There have already been a lot of questions about more Smash Up, so we'll let you know there is another set of 4 factions coming in August! For the first time, this set has an overall theme running through the factions. Each is distinct, with its own focus mechanically and visually, but there is a common thread that runs through all of them. Speculate away! We interviewed designer Paul Peterson a few months ago, you can check out our interview and see if he left any clues for us on this third expansion...

Fantasy Flight has announced that they are releasing a Tile/Battlefield kit for their X-Wing Miniatures game. The set comes with 12 tiles each measuring a square foot, and featuring iconic locations in the Star Wars Universe. They look slick, and appear to offer a great, and FLAT, surface to hold your battles on! Check out the photo we've included. And you can see the official info on Fantasy Flight's site here.

And finally the deadline is quickly approaching to enter Mayfair's giveaway for a prototype copy of the new Catan expansion Explorers & Pirates! Go follow this link to enter; it's easy!

Thanks as always for reading, and please don't forget to sign up for TOG via email, or RSS feed! And for even more fun do the Facebook and Twitter things!

Reverse Charades—A Double Take Review

Ugh. Do we really need another charades game?

Yes. Yes we do.

Reverse charades is like charades...in reverse. Instead of one person trying to get multiple people to guess a word or phrase, Reverse Charades is multiple people trying to get one person to guess a word or phrase. And it's a ton of fun.

Components

• 1 timer

• 360 double-sided cards

• 1  set of rules—the easiest, simplest rules card we've seen in a long time.

Gameplay

Players are divided into teams of at least 3 or more players. When it's a team's turn they choose someone to be the lone guesser and the rest of the entire team takes the stage! The other team then holds the cards and reveals one at a time so only the actors can see them, and then the zaniness commences! The team of actors has to act out as many of the clues as they can, scoring a point for each card they get the guesser to correctly guess. The one strict rule in the game is that you can not make a sound, you can't mouth words to another actor, or to the guesser. But you are certainly allowed to use objects, and people as objects, to get the guesser to shout out the word(s) on the card!

Play continues until a point goal is reached, or until everyone is laughing too hard and can't go on any further!

Recommendations -

• Parties/large gathering
• Youth events
• Team-building exercises

Jeremiah—We really enjoyed playing this game; we had some teenagers over and I busted it out—what a hoot! It takes about 45 seconds to explain, and we had some great laughs.

Firestone—I played it with our adult small group from church—4 vs. 4, Guys vs. Girls. When I told them the premise, they were interested. When we got done playing, they wanted to know where they could buy their own copies...

Jeremiah—If there's one downside to the game it's that it requires a larger group (at least 6 people or more) to get a game going. And that's not much of a downside, it's just the nature of how the game works. Anything less and it's just plain old Charades.

Firestone—My one complaint is that the two sides of the cards are identical. They should at least be different colors so we can easily track which words we've run through. I can't believe no one thought of that. It's my only complaint, and I can just put used ones upside-down. But come on, guys! :)

Jeremiah—I love that there are a ton of words/cards included, I'm very interested in checking out the expansions. (Especially the holiday edition! I think this would be a great game for a Christmas party!) I will say that the best and most fun clues were ones that required a team effort. Things like clothesline, assembly line, etc.

Firestone—Yeah, some of the words didn't lend themselves well to the group doing anything together ("Moustache," for instance). It was much funnier when the words did, and the majority of the words were that way. I fear I will never be able to wipe clean the mental image of the guys acting out "Baby Powder"... *shudder*

Jeremiah—The concept is such a simple twist on (what I feel is) something that is kind of worn out. But that twist makes it about a million times more fun than the original. We found that folks who wouldn't normally feel comfortable playing charades in a traditional format—getting up by themselves and feeling singled out—jumped right up when there were other victims involved in the public ridicule!

Firestone—Being alone up there giving clues can be terrifying. Being in a group somehow makes it way easier. One of the quietest people in the group dove right in and was hamming it up.

Jeremiah Final Thoughts - We had a TON of fun playing this game! It definitely takes a party atmosphere to get it going; it's not your typical Board Game Night type of game. This is a top-notch party game, a very well done spin on something that has been public domain for some time. Reverse Charades will be a part of my party game collection and find its way out to many parties and large gatherings!

Firestone Final Thoughts—This is definitely going to every party with me for the foreseeable future. Everyone had a blast, and we laughed A LOT. If you're sick of Apples To Apples and Scattergories, give Reverse Charades a try; you won't be disappointed—unless you're at the bottom of "Dog Pile." Ouch!

Thanks to Gryphon Games for providing review copies; this in no way affected our opinions on the game.

Thanks to you for reading!

Daybreak—Fantasy Flight Expands Battlestar Galactica

Fantasy Flight has just announced a huge expansion to their epic board game iteration of Battlestar Galactica. Daybreak seemingly brings the game full circle and concludes the series as the gameplay focuses on the twilight of Galactica, and the growing plight of both Humans and Cylons. From Fantasy Flight:

The Daybreak expansion for Battlestar Galactica: The Board Game brings humanity’s plight to its gripping climax! With two supplemental game boards and hundreds of cards and tokens, Daybreak invites players to undertake desperate missions, struggle under the constant threat of mutiny, and bargain with Cylon Leaders driven by motives of their own.

Daybreak includes:

• 1 Demetrius Game Board, 1 Rebel Basestar Game Board, 2 overlays, and 1 rulebook
• 12 Character Sheets and plastic Character Stands
• 27 new tokens and markers
• 129 new cards
• 8 plastic figures

You can find all the info here.

Find all things BSG board game on Amazon here.

I'm (Jeremiah) hoping to get my hands on this expansion soon. I've been a big fan of the base game for some time now (read my review of it here). Have you kept up with the other 2 expansions for the game? Have a favorite? Share it here! Have a favorite Battlestar memory or moment? Share it here! We all miss the series too!

Thanks for reading; we truly appreciate it! For more up-to-the-moment news and fun check us out on Facebook and Twitter!

Grail Games!

I have a list of a few "grail games"—games I really want get, but that are hard-to-find or out-of-print. One of the games on that list is Mississippi Queen: The Black Rose. It's an expansion for Mississippi Queen—itself a hard-to-find game—which is about racing paddle-boats down the legendary river. I've had the base game for years, but I often heard that it was MUCH better with the REALLY hard-to-find expansion. So I never ended up playing it. Well, a few weeks ago I was able to trade for the base game and the expansion. I can't wait to try it out with the family. Now I'm off in search of the next game on my list: The Magic Labyrinth...

What are some of your grail games?

Sheeeeep! In Spaaaaaaaace!

Stephen Buonocore of Stronghold Games has announced Space Sheep, a real-time, customizable, cooperative game with a possible traitor in the midst. We're still many months out from availability, but here's the press release:

"In Space Sheep!, you are Defenders in the Strategic Sheep Command (SSC) of the Lambda sector. A new race, known only as 'Wolf,' has been found. Their message is clear: total annihilation of Sheepkind. The Flock Commander and the most elite Defenders are ordered into the latest 'Shepherd' class ships with the mission of recovering all SpaceSheep, and returning them to their Home Systems via the complex hyperspace network. Unfortunately, SSC intelligence has determined that there could be members of Wolf in Sheep Commanders' uniform secretly working against you. The Defenders only have limited time and resources to bring the SpaceSheep and Shepherd ships back home, thwarting the evil Wolf plans.

For 1 to 8 players, Space Sheep! is extremely customizable, making each play experience different. Players choose the number of Systems in play (to change game complexity), the number of Tactics cards to use (changes game difficulty), the strength of the Wolf (changes game difficulty), from 0 to 3 Allegiance Cards to use (cooperation vs. competition), and the Direction Cards to use (creates variability in the game).

Tactics Cards are your resources used to move the Spacesheep and Shepherds between the Systems or for defense. The sandtimer is managed by one player, who must flip the timer over before it runs out, but ensuring that enough defense is in place, or a Wolf attack occurs forcing players to lose more cards.

'Space Sheep! is unlike other real-time and cooperative games,' said Stephen Buonocore, President of Stronghold Games. 'Anthony Rubbo has designed a puzzle-solving game that is very customizable and very scalable. By adding traitors, there is an amazing degree of tension for advanced players.' "

This sounds fun; we can't wait to try it out!

And speaking of Stronghold Games, we'll soon have reviews of the trick-taking game Little Devils, and The Crazy Creatures of Dr. Gloom—both from Stronghold. Stay tuned, and thanks for reading!

What You Missed...

News! Reviews! Poohs! We had a cram-packed week here on the blog. First we brought you news that Z-Man Games is reprinting an old Alan Moon trick-taking game: Black Spy. And Z-Man also revealed that the anticipated game Terra Mystica will come out May 1.

We had two interviews: first was Jason Tagmire of Pixel Lincoln fame, sharing about upcoming projects. And then we interviewed Shane Steely and Jared Tinney, designers of Walk The Plank.

We also discussed some of the odd choices of the Origins Awards. And Tom Vasel gave us some behind-the-scenes info on the nomination process (in the comments).

We had a Double-Take Review of I'm The Boss: The Card Game—and we had wildly different experiences with it.

THEN, we talked about the newly announced deluxe expansion for Star Wars The Card Game—with wookies!

And finally (whew!) we talked about a bunch of new Kickstarter projects—including the new Gryphon Game Francis Drake.

Thanks for reading! We'll have more for you next week; have a great weekend!

Kickstarter Weekly—A New Look

There has been such an increasing amount of activity on Kickstarter over the past few weeks, that we've decided to put a newer spin on our Kickstarter Weekly features. You'll still get them on Thursdays, but instead of piecing them out we're going to feature several projects, and give some news about them as we go. So welcome to the new Kickstarter Weekly here at TOG! Our first project this week is from Eagle Games: Francis Drake, a game designed by Peter Hawes, puts players in the heart of Spain's new world as they sail the Caribbean, buying, selling, trading, and raiding ports for goods to return home with and sell for profits! The gameplay looks well-thought-out, and there are some customized aspects, giving it a higher replayability factor. The board and components look gorgeous as well!

The campaign has 32 days left and they've already blown past the funding goal, so it shouldn't be long before the stretch goals start getting knocked off. The only downside is the game is a little pricey, but if you've got your eye on a few other titles from the Eagle/Gryphon catalog, they've thrown together some really nice bundle packages.  Check out the campaign here, and consider getting in and helping them reach the stretch goals!

Our next campaign is Paradise Fallen from Crash Games, a card-management game game set in a modern post-apocalyptic island setting. Crash Games plans on setting up an entire series of games, using this title as a launching point, to create a deeper universe for games and expansions to live in. Players control tribes trying to survive while placing obstacles in the paths of the other tribes. You'll strive to survive, find food, and and explore the fallen paradise.

You can grab a copy of the game for a $25 pledge, and there are again some nice bundles available for higher price points. The campaign has 27 days left and is still $10,000 short of their funding goal, so they've got a ways to go before it funds—let alone hitting stretch goals. I'm loving the artwork so far, and they've come up with some great outrigger canoe meeples as well! (What meeples will they come up with next!?) If card management, and post-apocalyptic island survival are your thing(s) then head on over and check out the campaign here.

Up next is Teramyyd: Earthsphere a steam-punky, monster-fighting sky pirate, questing game.  I (Jeremiah) am very intrigued by this game. The game appears to have multiple scenarios for players to embark on, and within those scenarios lie different quests to complete on their way to victory. Let's not forget the cool sky pirates flying machines that you can upgrade and add to while trying to defeat sky monsters!

IO Worlds has blown past their funding goal by $40,000 with 32 days remaining on the campaign. And have already unlocked a new baddie and a new ship as the first two stretch goals. And the 3rd one looks way cool too! The bad news is, all of the early bird pledge levels have been devoured! So it will take a pledge of $75 to snag a copy of the game, but as the stretch goals pile up, the box you get will be stuffed with more and more cool little miniatures! You can check the campaign out for yourself, right here.

If you haven't done so, your window of opportunity is closing to get in on the Pixel Lincoln: Bicycle Playing Card campaign! There are two inexpensive options for jumping on board, a $10 pledge will get you a 21-card expansion for Pixel Lincoln the deck building game. Or a $12 pledge will get you a deck of PL playing cards! There's just 5 days left, so best hurry on over!

And finally we want to extend a congratulations to Days of Wonder who CRUSHED their campaign to bring Small World 2 to the tablet realm (including PCs through Steam, android and iPad). They blew past their $150,000 goal, pulling in almost $400,000! This unlocked ALL of their stretch goals! Congrats to DoW, and the over 7,000 folks who backed the campaign!

Have you backed any of these projects? We'd love to hear what pushed you off the fence, and what you're excited about!

Thanks for reading TOG! Please tell your friends about us, and don't forget to check us out over on Facebook and Twitter, and don't forget to sign up on the right to receive TOG via email!

Terra Mystica Drops May 1!

Z-Man Games just announced on their Facebook page that the highly anticipated Terra Mystica is in the warehouse, and will be in stores on May 1. Here's the publisher's description... "In the land of Terra Mystica dwell 14 different peoples in seven landscapes, and each group is bound to its own home environment, so to develop and grow, they must terraform neighboring landscapes into their home environments in competition with the other groups.

Terra Mystica is a game with very little luck that rewards strategic planning. Each player governs one of the 14 groups. With subtlety and craft, the player must attempt to rule as great an area as possible and to develop that group's skills. There are also four religious cults in which you can progress. To do all that, each group has special skills and abilities.

Taking turns, the players execute their actions on the resources they have at their disposal. Different buildings allow players to develop different resources. Dwellings allow for more workers. Trading houses allow players to make money. Strongholds unlock a group's special ability, and temples allow you to develop religion and your terraforming and seafaring skills. Buildings can be upgraded: Dwellings can be developed into trading houses; trading houses can be developed into strongholds or temples; one temple can be upgraded to become a sanctuary. Each group must also develop its terraforming skill and its skill with boats to use the rivers. The groups in question, along with their home landscape, are:

• Desert (Fakirs, Nomads)
• Plains (Halflings, Cultists)
• Swamp (Alchemists, Darklings)
• Lake (Mermaids, Swarmlings)
• Forest (Witches, Auren)
• Mountain (Dwarves, Engineers)
• Solitude (Giants, Chaos Magicians)

Proximity to other groups is a double-edged sword in Terra Mystica. Being close to other groups gives you extra power, but it also means that expanding is more difficult..."

My all accounts this is a heavy, gamer's game—so not something you'll want to pull out with your nongamer friends over for dinner and looking for something to play. Still, can't wait to try this one out. Thanks for reading!