Awesome Level 9000—A Double-Take Review (Plus a Video!)

Welcome to Theology Of Games' very first Double-Take Video Review! We're still going to do the written review, but we're experimenting with some video reviews and previews. Yes, we know this video is raw—and we made lots of mistakes and have lots of things to learn. But we're going to get better! So check after the jump for the written and video review...

Awesome Level 9000 is an expansion for the hit "shufflebuilding" game Smash Up. You can read our review of that game right here.

The Components

4 new Factions: 20 cards in each Faction (Plants, Steampunk, Bears, and Ghosts)

VP tokens

8 New Base cards

16 original Base cards with updated graphics.

The Setup and Gameplay

This expansion doesn't really add any new mechanisms, so if you want to see how to play the game, just check the review of the original at the link above.

The Factions

Ghosts

These guys get stronger as your hand gets smaller. So there are a number of cards that allow you to discard cards or get rid of cards, and then others that give you VPs if your hand is small enough.

Bears

The Bears will just eat your face off. They're not complex, and there's not much nuance. There's just face-eating bears that will eat your face off and then poop out your face. Ewwww....

Plants

The plants want to overwhelm you—with both their numbers and their ability to stay out on the table. And the longer they're out there, the worse it is for their opponents. Better grab the weed killer...

Steampunk

The Steampunks are all about playing actions on bases and then triggering effects or talents that let you move your own minions to those bases with actions on them, or move your opponents' away from there. And they have that cool locomotive-helicopter thing!

The Verdict, and Recommendations

Jeremiah—If you love Smash Up!, you'll love this expansion; it's more of the same with enough twists and additions to tell that it wasn't just phoned in.

Firestone—It's a great expansion. It adds more of the stuff you want from the base game, and then throws in some cool extras—all for a low $20 price point!

Jeremiah—I'm so happy AEG added VP tokens, the pen and paper thing was reminiscent of playing 5 Crowns or Hearts or something. Even with my snazzy scorekeeper app it felt like I didn't have everything I needed in the box. It was an oversight in the base set, but they were awesome enough to correct it!

Firestone—Well, the lack of VPs in the base game felt like more than an oversight to me—there's no way VP trackers didn't come up in playtesting. So it just felt like they were being cheap at the expense of gameplay. But they included them here, and they're awesome. All is forgiven!

Another great and unexpected addition is the updated Bases! The font size is now larger, so it's easier to read from across the table. Both this and the VP chits are things AEG didn't have to do, but the fact that they did is really, really great. It shows a company willing to admit mistakes, listen to their customers, and go the extra mile to make it right. I love that.

Jeremiah—I'm a fan of all the new factions with maybe the exception of the Ghosts. Mechanically it's a very cool concept that ties into the theme very well!—It's the theme for me that doesn't jive; it's very non-threatening but. Meh...it's still Ghosts.

Firestone—I don't mind the Ghosts as much as Jeremiah. But maybe that's just because one of the factions in the base game is Zombies, and those are way creepier than the Ghosts.

I really like the Bear and Steampunk factions. The Plants are just okay to me because...well, they're plants. It's hard for me to get excited about plants.

Jeremiah—The plants I thought were cool, they remind me of Little Shop of Horrors, or even better that awesome BBC miniseries of Day of the Triffids! B-film making at its finest!

Firestone—My biggest problem with the base game is unchanged here, so it's still a problem: You spend a ton of time reading cards... I have to read my cards, and then when I get ready to play a card I need to read other cards on the table. And then when I play a card I need to read it aloud to the table. And then when it's the next person's turn, they go through the same thing. It's not at all a dealbreaker for me, and it hasn't kept me from playing the game with my 8-year-old. But it's probably the #1 thing that keeps it from getting played in my game group.

Jeremiah Final Verdict—I'm a big fan if the Smash Up franchise, the shuffle building technique is ingenious, and I learned and can teach the game in about 2 minutes! I love that AL9K offers more options and a little more depth, but doesn't make wholesale fundamental changes to the game, you can pick it up add it to your base set and know the different card abilities in about 30 seconds!

Firestone Final Verdict—This game has definitely grown on me. I thought it was fine when I played in my game group, but it's really shined for me as I've played with my oldest. This expansion is a great addition, and as I said before, it adds just what this game needed in an affordable package. And I agree with Jeremiah: no new major rules craziness means you just open the box and you're ready to seamlessly add to the base game and play! And play you should!

Sooo?

Put It On the Table! You may not bring it out for the young kids because of the Ghosts and all the reading. But it's a fun, light game for gamers, great family game, and the learning curve is fast for casual players!

Thanks for reading! And now...feel free to watch! Here's the video review. Remember: First attempt! But feel free to offer constructive criticism...and subscribe to the YouTube channel! Thanks!

Oh, don't forget! You can get Awesome Level 9000 on Amazon here!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRAnTMZO7gg&w=560&h=315]

Kickstarter Weekly—July 25, 2013

Hey everyone! Welcome to yet another installment of Kickstarter Weekly! There are a lot of projects on Kickstarter asking for your hard-earned dollar—some are good, some are great, and others... We write this piece every week to let you know which ones we're excited about and hopefully give you some useful information along the way!

Let's get started -

Pack of Heroes - Adventureland Games

Set in an alternate vintage comic book universe (that totally doesn't exist) Pack of Heroes is a 2-player head-to-head card game battle. Using your heroes and their abilities the goal is basic: Defeat your opponent! If nothing else this game looks super stylized and has awesome fake retro art! $20 gets you a copy of the game and all unlocked stretch goals. They've already funded so every backer will push them onward toward those stretch goals. Plus there are some sweet add-ons including T-shirts and action figures! You can find the campaign here.

Pigpen - Island Officials

We told you about this one last week, but wanted to remind you to check out our interview with designer Kevin Kulp, and developer Jason Tagmire RIGHT HERE! This is an inexpensive family game that we think you'll enjoy! Our Double-Take Review is on its way too! Check out the campaign here!

Byzantio - LudiCreations

This 4-player board game takes places in a realm that finds itself without an emperor, and no heir apparent. As one of the noble houses you will try to gain control of the throne. The 4-player game is said to take only an hour (and that includes teaching the game!). They've already funded within the first 2 days and are on their way to knocking over stretch goals! You can still get in on the early bird funding price of $38 to have it shipped to the US and EU. Check out the campaign here!

Privateer - Ensignia Games

Well you know I (Jeremiah) especially have a soft spot for pirate games, and this one looks like a winner! Claiming lots of player interaction and shifting circumstances that keep all players involved even while players are not taking their turn, the goal is to increase your captain's infamy by way of buying, selling, and stealing cargo and goods. You can get in on a few early bird levels—right now the lowest level is $43. Check out the campaign right here.

Shuriken - Awesome Enterprise

This modular tile board game boasts a battle between 2-5 ninja clans and 250 plastic ninja miniatures. Along with the modular boards comes the possibilities of special scenarios and unique setups to increase replayability! This one is a bit pricey, coming in at $75 for the game, but all those pieces parts will quickly run up the cost of a game like this! You can check out the campaign here.

Congrats!

VivaJava: The Coffee Game: The Dice Game - Dice Hate Me Game

A big congrats to the folks at Dice Hate Me for crushing the campaign for VJTCGTDG! They managed to unlock 5 stretch goals in the process, which means Angry Dice are on the way! Be on the look out for this fun dice roller, and we'll be sure to check in with designer TC Petty III and Chris Kirkman of Dice Hate Me to keep you up to date on all things VJTCGTDG!

Thanks so much for reading, and check back tomorrow for an special installment of Kickstarter Weekly as we feature nothing but games powered by Game Salute! Yes, they have that many games in the pipeline that we're giving them their very own post! So, don't miss it!

As always we ask that you subscribe to the blog over on the right. And you can find us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and now on YouTube!

Sooie!! An Interview with Pigpen Dev Team Kevin Kulp & Jason Tagmire

Today we're once again joined by our good friend Jason Tagmire. You may know him as the guy who designed Pixel Lincoln and Maximum Throwdown, but today he’s wearing a different hat: developer of a new game by Kevin Kulp, titled PigPen. And look! He’s brought along designer Kevin to talk about PigPen, and the roles that each have had in preparing the game to get it to market.

Jason, Kevin, thanks for joining us today!

So first of all, tell us about PigPen!

JASON: PigPen is a family friendly card game about pig-penning and pen-destruction. Each player is a farmer trying to contain his pigs, but his neighbors will do everything they can to prevent it from happening. He puts up a fence; they pull out a saw. Eventually the pigs come out and score points.

Kevin designed and self-published it a few years back and I always thought it deserved a larger audience. With Island Officials, I was able to help it make it to Kickstarter, and hopefully soon enough it will reach that audience.

Kevin, how did you land on a barnyard-competition theme for the game?

KEVIN: While in college and deciding to make a go of commercial game design, I realized I wanted to make board games.  I also realized I would need a diverse offering of game designs.  The family game eluded me it seemed, until walking around Philly one day waiting for an IGDA meeting.  As my mind sometimes doesn't stop thinking design, I really put my mind in to coming up with a family card game.  I had just played "There's a Moose in My House" and it got my mind thinking of its simplicity.  So I started with wanting an animal-based game, then thinking of what would be a simple goal for players; once I settled on pigs and pens the game came together rather quickly.  It also helped that I grew up around working and non-working farms, and had an aunt who loved pigs.

Jason, we know you have a thing for sausage link whips, and meat-based conflict resolution...beyond that, what drew you to this project?

JASON: Initially it was the way that it brought Kevin's family together. I saw them all at a convention selling the game and I was there alone showing off a game filled with puking turtles made of pixels. It was the complete opposite and something that I wanted to accomplish personally. My kids were very young at the time, but it stuck in my mind.

Once I played the game, it was closer to what I was doing than you would think. Silly sayings, meat references, etc... but behind that a really fun little game. With it consisting of just standard sized cards, it was a great candidate for the tabletop side of Island Officials.

Beyond your own titles, what recently released/upcoming games are you excited about this year?

KEVIN: Oddville, actually just picked it up. I got to play it at Metatopia and really loved how much game they packed into a small package.  There are games that really get my mind going toward design, and this was one of them. I love how the game mechanics work together. I can't wait to play this at my local gaming group.

JASON: There have been a few things on Kickstarter lately that I've been excited about. Council of Verona is a wonderful little gem of a game. The Agents looks like my kind of game and I'm really itching to try the print-and-play. Outside of Kickstarter I want AEG's Trains, more Smash Up factions, and Cube Quest from Gamewright.

Jason, you’ve been the designer on several titles recently; tell us about the difference between developing vs. designing?

Developing a game is really interesting. It's very different from designing in that it's less emotional. You are less tied to the things that you creatively fell in love with, and more willing to make changes that will better the game.

With Pigpen it has been a lot of clarifying rules and card types, testing out variations in the numbers on the cards, and seeing what breaks the game or makes it too long, too short, too easy, too hard...etc. These are things that I also do when designing, but it's nice to be limited to those roles for once. I'm able to focus on fine tuning the game without having to be the everyman that I am when designing.

So, how did you guys meet?

KEVIN: When I was college my game design professor pushed us all towards to IGDA meetings as part of our education.  It was in going to the meetings that I was introduced to Jason by Ryan Morrison (Island Officials). Jason was one of the only (that I knew of at the time) who was working on board games.  I remember having a discussion about what to do to start and Jason went down a list of sites and places to check out. From there we would see each other at IGDA meetings and really got to know each other through another friend and designer, Alex Strang.

JASON: I think the first time might have been at Too Many Games about 3-4 years ago. Kevin had his self-published copy of Pigpen for sale and his whole family behind the booth (which was really nice to see at a video game convention). We chatted for a little while and eventually ended up seeing each other around a lot more after that.

Is there a Mad Max-related card in the game—perhaps a Master Blaster...?

JASON: We probably don't want to give kids nightmares. Or adults. Or me.

Kevin, did you approach Jason about coming on board as developer? How has the game changed/improved due to having a developer?

KEVIN: I never asked him to publish my games, it was more of showing and telling him my vision for the games.

Alex Strang and Jason had started a monthly game night where I was going and we would pull out our game designs. Game designers, myself included, like challenges, and Jason or Alex challenged me to complete one full game in a month. My first month I made two games, one of which might be published by Island Officials next year. In particular, when it came to Pigpen, we played it one-on-one at a game night over at Alex Strang's house. We played, then I explained where I wanted the game to go, my vision and such.  From there the conversations started and Jason informed me Island Officials wanted to publish the game and possibly more.

When it comes to having him as a developer, the game has only gotten better.  He helped streamline the game and put a focus on continuity in gameplay. His experience of having some successful projects under his belt really came through in the final development phase of the game before kickstarting it this week.

Guys, tell us what is unique about PigPen when compared to other family style card games.

KEVIN: The humor and theme really set the game apart. I know playing it with my children they are always checking out the pigs, picking favorites, and always laughing at what they can do in the game. They love picking on me and doing their best to make sure I don't get the pigs. I saw this in playtests with adults also. Before Jason took up development I had it at Metatopia and this epic game occurred between two couples who had a great time playing the game. There was so much laughter and silliness in that game, that it convinced other players to sign up to play the game, the next day.

JASON: It brings out the life of the family. Many family style games are a little stiff, and Pigpen is the complete opposite. When your quiet little sister takes a hammer to your brick wall, sending your pig right into her fort of a pen...you can only laugh about it (and hopefully destroy that fort). Kevin also took the approach that this game should be enjoyable for all ages. The child/adult line is a very hard line to blur and Kevin did a great job with it.

Kevin, do you have any plans to expand the game, or will we find out more about that as stretch goals are met within the Kickstarter campaign?

KEVIN: There is one expansion already on the Kickstarter with the UFO. I can't say yet, but have another one we'll be adding to the Kickstarter soon. I have more ideas for the game, and depending on how well the game succeeds I'm sure we'll see the ideas coming out over the next couple of months.

Jason, how are your many other projects coming along? Anything new you can share with us at this time?

JASON: Pixel Lincoln is out! Haha, it's been a long time coming and finally in the hands of the Kickstarter backers and working its way to stores. It's been really awesome chatting with everyone about the game and the feedback I've gotten is very positive. So, I'm working on more Pixel Lincoln stuff. I've been communicating with Game Salute about how to get more cards out there on a regular basis and I should have some news about that soon at the all-new PixelLincoln.com.

Also working on a few other projects, but nothing that's far enough along that it would be interesting. I should have some prototypes at GenCon along with the release of Maximum Throwdown there. Can't wait.

Kevin, we get to see your lovely family at the end of the Kickstarter video for the game; are they all gamers too? Or is PigPen an attempt to bring them to the table?

KEVIN: I will have to admit they are more digital gamers right now; they love Minecraft, Terreria and Roblox.  I'm slowly breaking that down and exposing them to board games all the time. And having children is a great excuse to convince the wife those game purchases are for the family and not me. ;)  They of course get excited with any game I make and always ask me what my next game is.  Lately with Redakai being on sale everywhere I picked up a couple starters and we are playing that; also Jason introduced me to the Mega Man CCG from a decade ago and the kids have shown interest in that one.  Also Ticket to Ride and Bang is a big favorite for everyone, including my wife.

5 Questions - 5 Words (to answer them)

Who did actually let the dogs out?

KEVIN: John Moller's mind-altering pancakes.

JASON: My allergies.

Let’s say you are Old MacDonald, and you could have one science fiction based piece of machinery... So as the song goes: “And on his farm he had a....?”

KEVIN: Thermonuclear powered diamond blade chainsaw.

JASON: Flux Capacitor.

Your reaction to hearing there will be new Star Wars films?

KEVIN: Joss Whedon commits fanboy sin.

JASON: Childlike excitement.

The Green Goblin, or the Hobgoblin?

KEVIN: Green, he made the money.

JASON: Hobgoblin's got style.

Favorite iOS app?

KEVIN: What is this IOS thing?

JASON: Super Hexagon.

Thanks so much for joining us, guys!

We've received prototype review copies of the game and will be posting our extensive Double-Take Review of the game soon! But until then you can check out the Kickstarter campaign for more information. 

Don't forget to subscribe to TOG over on the right! And look for us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!

Thanks for reading!

Epic Death—A Preview

By Jeremiah “You only live twice: Once when you're born And once when you look death in the face.”  ― Ian Fleming, You Only Live Twice

And thrice when you get brought back to life by a resurrect card...

Today we're looking at a prototype of the card game Epic Death, from Waits in Graves; the game was successfully Kickstarted by Springboard—Game Salute's Kickstarter juggernaut.

Let's talk about how the game plays...

The Components

Cards... Lots of them.

20x Adventurer Cards—These are flavorful, but un-unique, otherwise—no one adventurer has any special abilities or stats.

57x Loot Cards—This is one of two ways you score points. Again there are no abilities or bonuses given through collecting these cards.

38x Fate Cards—These cards make up your player hand, and basically allow you to increase your chances of completing a quest, or decrease the chances of your opponents completing quests on their turns. Speaking of Quests...

40x Quest Cards—These are split into two types: Quests (ordinary run of the mill quests) and Epic Quests!

16 Six-Sided Dice—I had to use my own for the preview version but they say these are going to be epic in the final version!

The Setup

Each player selects five adventures—unless you're playing a 5-player game then you select four, because you know...math. Separate the Epic, and Regular Quest cards, placing the stack of Regular Quests on top of the Epic Quest cards; this makes the Quest deck. Then deal a line of 5 Quest cards out from the Quest deck.  Shuffle up the Loot cards and Fate cards separately to make the Loot and Fate decks, and then deal out 5 Fate cards to each player.

The Gameplay

On a player's turn he or she selects a Quest from the lineup, and then players can play Fate cards on the active player's company, starting with Death/Resurrection cards and proceeding to "before dice are rolled" cards—before the active player rolls the dice—and then "after dice are rolled" cards—after the dice are...well I think you get it. Let's break those down a little bit:

Death/Resurrection cards—These cards are assigned to a specific adventurer; a Death card results in that adventurer being killed if the quest is failed. A Resurrection card will result in bringing a deceased adventurer back into the game if the Quest is successfully defeated.

Other Fate cards—The majority of Fate cards that are played before or after the dice are rolled either add or subtract the amount of dice rolled for the quest. Or force a player to re-roll after they've been rolled.

After the Fate cards have been played, the active player rolls the dice (starting with 10, and then +/- by the modifiers of the Fate cards). If they are victorious, they collect the reward, which typically consists of Loot cards and Fate cards. If they fail, then the Quest card is placed under one of the adventurers, exposing the bottom of the Quest card and the "Fail" points attributed to the card. If there is a Death card on an adventurer, that adventurer gains the "Fail" points and is killed (turned face down).

How do you defeat a Quest? Each Quest has a type and number of victories required to defeat it. A trivial victory is any die showing 4 and up, a mighty victory is 5 and up, and an exalted victory is a die showing 6. So a Quest requiring 4 mighty victories requires 4 of the 10 dice you're rolling to show a 5 or 6. Rewards and Fail points are scaled appropriately for the type of Quest and victories needed to defeat it.

Loot cards gained by defeating Quests are assigned to your adventurers by playing them under the adventurer cards showing the "Epic" score on the top of the Loot cards.

The Epic Quest Phase—Once you've gone through the regular quests the Epic Quests will populate the line up and will shake things up! Defeating an Epic Quest will still reward you with some Loot and Fate cards. But if a player fails an epic quest, they kill off a hero and gain the Epic score on the Quest card (placing it the same way you do a Loot card). Once an adventurer is killed off you can no longer place loot (points!) or quest cards (fail or points) on them.

End Game

Once one player's adventurers are all dead, the game is over, and the score is tallied. Players only count the scores of those adventurers who have met glorious, "epic," or maybe not-so-epic death in battle. Whoever has the most points wins.

My Thoughts

Components—While the copy I reviewed is only in the prototype stages, the artwork is mostly complete. From what I saw it's very well done in the cartoony fantasy style, and looks great. The flavor text is humorous and packed full of  great genre-crossing references!

Gameplay—I enjoyed the change-up halfway through the game—just when the turns seemed a little redundant, the Epic Quests come out and you find yourself actually trying to take dice away from your roll so you can kill off an adventurer and score a bunch of Epic points for your Epic Death! The potential (and I suppose the expectancy) for gang-up situations is huge in this game. Those seem to move the game along well though, so be prepared and bring your thick skin!

Final Thoughts and Recommendations—Munchkin and Gloom had a baby and named it Epic Death. If you know those titles, and you enjoy those titles, then get on the Epic Death bandwagon. The theme is set in a Munchkin-ish comedic fantasy realm where everyone gangs up on everyone else, and the scoring mechanism (i.e. placing points on a character and killing them off to score them) is very reminiscent of Gloom. That being said there is some fun to be had with the randomness of the dice rolls and a good touch of strategy when it comes to deciding if you want to play a fate card on an opponent or keep it to help your chances.

Put It on the Table—If you enjoy a slap-sticky dice-roller with lots of ganging up and a big take-that factor. Just know that this is that kind of game, and if you're into that, you'll love Epic Death—it does that very well! Casual players will be able to grasp the game concepts pretty easily as well, and the flavor and geeky references in the game will hit folks on many levels.

Leave It on the Shelf —You might want to leave this one on the shelf for family game nights, or with a church or youth group. While all of the artwork is stylized and non-threatening, there are a lot of Necromancer, demon-ish type cards in there—what you would expect for a game called Epic Death—so you might want to have a good look at the cards to determine what settings are appropriate for the game. Younger players might have a tough time tracking the change of strategies midway through the game as well.

Overall: Put It on the Table!

We'd like to thank Game Salute for loaning Jeremiah a prototype of Epic Death, which in no way influenced the review of this game.

Thanks so much for reading; we'd love it if you would subscribe to the blog by adding your email address in the little box over on the right ----->

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A Preview of the Waterdeep Expansion: Scoundrels of Skullport

Wizards of the Coast has given us a sneak peek at the upcoming expansion for the hit worker-placement game Lords Of Waterdeep. It's called Scoundrels of Skullport, and it actually has not one but TWO expansions in it! Plus, how sweet does that cover look?!

This preview talks about only one of the expansions: Skullport.

"Skullport includes a new resource: Corruption. Unlike Adventurers and Gold, having Corruption in your Tavern penalizes you at the end of the game. However, the Buildings, Quests, and Intrigue cards that produce Corruption also offer more plentiful rewards. Thus you must strike a balance between your greed and the potential harm of Corruption at the end of the game.

Each Corruption token in your Tavern at the end of the game is worth negative Victory Points. The exact negative value depends on how much Corruption has been collected throughout the game; the more corrupt you and your fellow Lords are, the more Corruption hurts your score."

This expansion also comes with new Quests, Intrigue Cards, and Buildings.

Once Wizards previews the other expansion, Undermountain, we'll be sure and bring you coverage. Thanks for reading!

Who's The Boss? Contest #3 Winner!

Well, our third giveaway is over. Once again, I went to random.org, plugged the blog's email followers in, and BOOM! So who's the boss? No, it's not Tony Danza, it's...

Nate Rice!! YOU ARE THE BOSS OF ALL THE MONSTERS!

Thanks go out to Brotherwise Games for donating a game to the cause. And thanks so much to all of you for making this 1-year blogiversary so fun and special. We're gearing up for some podcasting and video reviews, so stay tuned!

Qwixx—A Review of the Spiel des Jahres Nominee

qwixxcover

By Firestone There were three games on the nominee list for the German Game of the Year award (or Spiel des Jahres). We reviewed the eventual winner, Hanabi, last week. But what about the others? Well I don't know anyone who owns Augustus, so we might not get to that one for a while. But I did manage to snag a copy of the third nominee—Qwixx. Was this dice-fest deserving of a nomination? Should it have won? Let's find out!

Specs

Designer: Steffan Benndorf

Play time: 15 minutes

Number of players: 2-5

Recommended age: 8 and up—but I've played it a 5-year-old who can hold his own with some coaching.

Components

6 standard 6-sided dice: 2 white, 1 blue, 1 yellow, 1 green, and 1 red.

1 score pad

Rules

Setup

Each person grabs one sheet from the score pad, and then you choose a start player. Easy, innit?!

Gameplay

qwixxscorepad

Before we did into gameplay, I need to explain the scorepad, since that's where the game really happens. As you can see from the image, the numbers move from left to right, with red and yellow going from 2 to 12, and green and blue going from 12 to 2. As the game progresses, you'll be crossing off these numbers. The kicker in this game is that once you cross off a number, you can only move to the right to cross off subsequent numbers. So if you start with a yellow 4, say, you'll never be able to go back and cross off 2 and 3. You can always skip numbers, too, so you could cross off 4, and then 6 in a later turn—but you're never crossing off that 5.

On a person's turn, he or she rolls all of the dice, and announces the sum of the two white dice aloud (or everyone can simply look at those dice...). Everyone in the game can then take that number as a "wild" color and cross off the corresponding number in any available color. It's completely optional. Then the active player can choose one of the white die and pair it with one of the colored die to create a "color number" he or she can use to cross off on the sheet. So the active player will be able to cross off up to two numbers, and each other player will have the option to cross off one number.

If you are unable—or unwilling—to cross off at least one number on your turn, you have to check one of the four boxes on the lower right of the core sheet. These are Failure boxes, and are each worth -5 points at the end of the game.

qwixxdice

If you have at least five numbers already crossed off in a color, you are allowed—any time you roll the correct number–to cross off the rightmost number, and then the lock symbol next to it. This locks that color, and you remove the corresponding color die from the game. The game continues until either two of the colors are locked, or one person fills in all four of their Failure boxes, in which case the game ends immediately.

The scoring based on how many numbers you've crossed off in each color, not the value of the numbers. One is worth 1Vp, two is worth 2 VPs, three is worth 6, four is worth 10, and so on... You add up the positive, subtract five for each Failure, and the winner is the person with the highest score!

The Verdict

Look, there aren't huge, strategic decisions to be made here. It's a filler, and a family game—that's why it was up for the Family Game of the Year Award! I like that there's something to do on everyone's turn—and that he decision on other people's turns is actually important. You can just blindly cross off the number on your pad that matches what was just rolled. But will that limit you when it's your turn, and force you to possibly take a Failure? Small decisions, but decisions nonetheless. Yes, it has dice and luck, but it manages the luck in an interesting way.

My family likes the game quite a bit—even my wife! The boys especially love rolling the dice into my dice tower. The 5-year-old still needs some help making decisions about whether to cross something off, but he's still able to play just fine. And after one game he knew how to start counting up his score and putting the correct number in the correct box.

My gamer friends liked it, too—even the ones who hate dice! It's a filler game that's truly filler length; this will be in my game tub for a long, long time.

If I had one complaint it's that there's only one score pad in the box, when it would clearly fit two. Yes, this would increase the cost, but you're already charging me ~12 for six dice and a score pad—I think you can throw another pad in...

qwixxdicetower

Recommendation

Put It on the Table! This game would work with any group: kids, family, youth group, nongamers, and gamers. It's very cheap, and there's no reason not to have a copy of this at every game night.

The Final Verdict

This has been a hit with every group I've played it with. It's cheap, fast, portable, and fun. Pick up a copy!

Kickstarter Weekly—July 17, 2013

Here we go with another installment of Kickstarter Weekly, we've got lots to talk about so let's give in!

Currently Running!

Frog Flip - Sprocket Games

We gave you a sneak peek at this campaign last week, and the mini game designed by Jason and Claire Kotarski funded within the first 12 hours of the campaign—coincidence? Probably. They're looking to knock over some stretch goals, which will only add to the value of your pledge. Check out our review of the game here. The game costs you a pledge of $14; you can check out the campaign right here.

PigPen - Island Officials

Pigpen is a take-that, family strategy card game for 2-4 players. Players will take turns trying to build their pens, gather pigs within them, and also do what they can to destroy their opponents' pens! Designed by Kevin Kulp, and developed by (friend of the blog) Jason Tagmire, this one looks like another fun family game we are sure to enjoy! Stay tuned for our Double-Take Review of this soon! But in the meantime check out the campaign, and consider placing a $20 pledge to grab a copy of this one.

Incredibrawl - Vision 3 Games

Incredibrawl is subtitled "A chaotic, casual card game," and that is exactly what you'll get with a copy of the game (which is just a pledge of $25!). The game is very well suited for family play or casual play. We just reviewed this game here. They are two-thirds funded with 23 days to go (the campaign ends on Aug. 10, 2013). You can find the campaign here.

Casual Gamer Magazine Year 2

Casual Gamer has become a strong voice in the casual gaming industry, and they've launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund their second year. You can get a PDF subscription for $15 and a print-and-PDF subscription for $25. Check out the full campaign here.

NanoBot Battle Arena - Derpy Games

A fast-paced tile-placement/card game set in the epic battle arena of a petri dish. NanoBot Battle Arena claims to have a one-game (10-15 minute) learning curve and is for 2-4 players. You can take a look at the campaign here, and a pledge of $25 gets you a copy of the game!

This is just cool!

Darkling Plain: An Augmented Reality Miniatures Board Game - Nocturnal Media

Okay, Just watch the video. For $55 you get the full game board, AR app, and some army cards. They have a very high goal to get the game to market, but the game looks pretty well thought out and the AR just looks cool! You can check it out here.

Thanks so much for reading, please don't forget to take our reader polls, and don't forget to subscribe this week for your chance to win a free copy of Boss Monster! And as always look for us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube!

Podcast Poll #2, and Contest #3

We wanted to take a moment and let you know that you can still contribute to the poll we're conducting as we prepare to launch our very own podcast in mere weeks! And you can sound off in our second podcast poll as well! If you have friends who are gamers, and enjoy a good podcast, please share this with them as we've found the feedback here extremely valuable! If you have any other advice, requests, comments, opinions etc, please use the comments section below to sound off! Truly, we appreciate your feedback and your input, and will definitely put it to good use as we make this dream of ours a reality!

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And don't forget to enter to win our third contest as we celebrate our Blogiversary! This week we're giving away a free copy of Boss Monster: The Dungeon Building game! Simply subscribe to the blog and you're entered to win!! (Again this contest is only open to those living in the US and Canada—sorry.)

Thanks, as always, for reading, and thanks for all the feedback! Don't forget to look for us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube!

An Interview With Nightfall Designer David Gregg

Today we’re thrilled to have David Gregg—designer of the hit deck-builder Nightfall—join us for some Q&A. David! Thanks for agreeing to talk to us!

Thanks for having me!

So first, tell us a little about yourself.

I like to take long walks on the beach... I mean >.>

I'm currently 28, married for 10 years with 2 daughters who are both in middle school now. I love technology and Japanese culture, so my hobbies usually revolve around some combination of those two. The company I work for now doesn't have an official IT department, but I basically spend my time doing IT-related things with a large focus on developing in-house Web-based systems. Lately I've been training to run 5K's and have also gotten into racquetball at my local YMCA. We recently moved to a larger home as we plan to foster-to-adopt in the near future, but also want the space now as we started participating in the foreign exchange student program as of last year. I used to be big into MMO's and other video games, but wanted to increase my time spent with the family, so have swapped over to board gaming (with the occasional computer-based game tossed in).

Your bio says, “Having kids brought me to Christ.” Would you mind sharing that story?

My parents never got along as I grew up, and I had developed a strong dislike for my father’s personality. Entering my teens I had decided that whenever I had kids of my own that I would vow to be a better man. (Sorry for the dark story, but you asked, lol...) Anywho, when my girlfriend and I found out we were pregnant, I knew I had to figure out how to be a good dad and assumed I’d find some good pointers in the Bible. Ended up finding much, much more than I had bargained for, reading the whole thing through that year.

How did you get involved with Euro-type games?

I had played your standard Wal-Mart fare of games for years, especially classic card games and chess. Late in high school I got heavily into Magic: The Gathering as well as the Yu-Gi-Oh TCG. Having kids, however, made those too expensive for me. Fortunately someone had the genius to create Dominion AND I was lucky enough to find it. The fact that such a great game existed outside of Wal-Mart got me hunting for where else I mind find great games like that, which led me to BoardGameGeek.

What are your five favorite games right now?

That’s a hard one. I keep a tight rein on my collection—only keeping games that both my family and I enjoy, ensuring they all get played. As for my personal favorites? Guildhall and The Resistance are easily the top 2 right now, with 7 Wonders, King of Tokyo, and Go probably being the ones to round out my top 5.

Does your family play games, or is this just “Dad’s weird hobby...”?

Oh they’re thoroughly converted—well, most of them anyways. My youngest daughter has entered full-on geek-mode, frequently requesting game time. The wife also really enjoys all the family time that gets generated, though prefers lighter games. My eldest daughter is probably the least interested in games, but still humors us from time to time.

So Nightfall. Did the lycanthropic theme drive the mechanics, or vice versa?

Neither actually. I’m a huge fan of fantasy, especially magic, dwarves, elves, etc., and had originally designed the game around that, with the chain mechanic being the way that the players weave their spells. AEG was really wanting to capitalize on the whole vampire/werewolf trend in general media however, so we swapped out the theme.

As a Christian, have you received any flack for the “ghoulish” theme and “sexy vampires” in the game?

Very little actually. Most of my family is too proud that they know a game designer to really fuss over the little details like that, though I have encountered the occasional person who dislikes the theme.

Yours is still one of the only direct-conflict deck-builders out there. What made you decide to go that route?

Even though I really enjoyed the deck-building mechanic introduced by Dominion, I sorely missed all the interaction from my Magic: The Gathering days. That’s when I decided to try my hand at mixing the two.

You and AEG recently announced an Eastern Skies expansion. What can you tell us about that one? What unique thing does it bring to the table?

This is a new base set and will likely be the set I begin recommending as the new starting point. Its complexity is somewhere between Martial Law and Coldest War, so shouldn’t be too hard for new players who have some deckbuilding background. As for the new stuff, this one introduces a new Link mechanic that ties into the existing Chain mechanic as well as new starter minion and a new wound effect. This set also continues the Summon mechanic introduced in Crimson Siege, though the Combat mechanic didn’t make the cut in any of the 24 new order cards.

Are there any other designs kicking around in your head—or even upcoming! Or are you mostly focused on NIghtfall expansions?

I’ve not begun work on any more Nightfall expansions, but have kept busy with new stuff. I have a time-travel-themed co-op I've titled Just In Time, which is mostly ready for publishing and just collecting dust as I wait to hear back from publishers. I’ve posted several images, as well as most of my process of creating it, over on BGG. I’m also working on another card-based game I’m calling Emerging Mystics, where the players are student mages who are learning how to harness magic and learn their first spells. The game uses a Mastermind-like deduction mechanic to generate mana, a puzzle for converting mana to what you need (racing the other players for purchasing priority), and then a scoring system similar to the science cards in 7 Wonders based on how highly you manage to level up the various spells you learn.

It’s time for One-Word Answers! It’s just what it sounds like: Answer these questions with just one word (or a short phrase is acceptable, too...)

Favorite Nightfall card?

Lean-n-mean

Favorite short story?

Cthulhu

What is your “guilty pleasure” band—the one you’d be embarrassed for the world to know you listen to...?

OMG <3 Deadmau5 (or dubstep in general)

Favorite Muppet?

Gonzo!

Favorite Proverb?

Twist: The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom

Thanks for taking time to answer our questions, David! And thank you for reading!

Make sure you sign up to follow the blog, as we're giving away a copy of Boss Monster this week—all you have to do to be eligible is sign up to Follow the blog over on the right----->

(Sorry,the contest is only open to those living in the US and Canada.)