TOG Joins the Extra-Life Gaming Marathon!

Every once in a while an opportunity comes along to be a part of something bigger than ourselves, and to reach out and help those who are in desperate need. And sometimes that opportunity takes the form of something we also love to do. So we're very pleased to announce that Theology of Games has joined the Extra-Life gaming marathon that will take place on November 2nd!

What is this? A gaming marathon? How does that help others? We're glad you asked... Read on!

Here are the basics -

1 - Sign up. You can either join a team, or create your own.

2 - Tell people what you're doing.

3 - Send them links to your team page and kindly ask for their sponsorship.

4 -  Play games from 8:00 am Nov. 2 - 8:00 am Nov 3.

ALL of the proceeds go to the Children's Miracle Network Hospital of your choice. The hospital I (Jeremiah) am supporting is Akron Children's Hospital. I live about 5 minutes from this hospital, and we have been blessed to have such a great and top notch medical facility nearby to help us care for our boys.

Here are some more details about Team TOG -

We (and when I say we, I mean Jeremiah) will be playing games at the Root Cafe, 852 Bath Rd. Cuyahoga Falls, OH, 44223. If you want to join us and be a part of the team, GREAT! If you just want to come and play for a few hours, GREAT! Or if you just want to support our efforts financially, GREAT! Karolyn at the Root has been gracious enough to make the venue available to us for the full 24 hours. I plan to schedule out the day with different events; we'll Skype in game designers to chat about the games we're playing, and all sorts of fun stuff! Plus we'll have a great supply of food and caffeinated beverages to keep us going! We'll have more details available as they get worked out!

If you'd like to join us or support us you can find our team page right here!

Thanks so much for reading, we'll be sending out updates about the event on all of our social media outlets, so make sure you check us out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube! And don't forget, we're podcasters now too!

Kickstarter Weekly—Sept. 12, 2013

This is me blogging from my sickbed today. I called off from my day job, but Firestone said I had to still write the Kickstarter Weekly piece so he could go to the Tosche station and pick up some power converters... Ok, that may be a complete exaggeration. Anyway, I may be laid up for the day, but the Kickstarter machine is still churning along, so let's just in and see what's happening.

Featured Campaign -

Codinca - Game Salute

In this game for 2-4 players, you'll use the 4 elements - Earth, Fire, Air and Water to block and create patterns. It looks like one of those easy to learn, hard to master abstracts that is accessible to all ages! They're offering a spiffy deluxe version with carved stones for tiles, and a velvet bag for carrying them. But there's only 5 left, so jump on it if you want in!

A pledge of $39 will get you a copy of the game, and a pledge of $99 will get you the sweet deluxe version. You can check it all out, right here!

Alien Uprising - Mr. B. Games

An interesting co-op game for 1-5 players, as you team up and take on the roles of the crew of a crashed spacecraft. The goal is to survive, repair your ship and escape before the alien inhabitants of the planet you've crashed on overtake you.

Mr. B. Games has already hit $60k in funding and have unlocked a mess of stretch goals. $45 get's you copy of the core game, but if you want all the stretch goals you'll have to bump up to an $85 pledge.

The campaign ends Oct. 2 and you can see it, right here!

404: Law Not Found - 3DTotal Games

A nifty looking futuristic game that has players competing as robots that have gone haywire and now have the prime directives of: Improvise Science, Destroy War, and Hide Breathing. Looks like a fun medium weight strategy board game.

You can grab a copy for a pledge of 28 pounds (about $44 USD) and that includes free shipping to the US and EU. The campaign ends on Oct. 9 and you can check it out, right here.

Off Our Beaten Path

Standing in the Stars: The Peter Mayhew Story - W. Ryan Ziegler

Many folks may not know this, but the man behind the mask, Peter Mayhew known best as Chewbacca, is in need of knee replacements, yes, both of them. He's getting specially designed artificial knees that had to be custom made for his 7' 3" frame. In the meantime the Mayhew family is chronicling this most real of adventures as Peter moves from Wheelchair to Wookie. The video for this campaign will leave you a little saddened as we see the gentle giant virtually crippled by his failing knees.

You can help the production of this documentary with a pledge as low as $5, and there are some cool incentives to pledge more (including the chance to be a guest at the Mayhew Family Ranch as the bid farewell to Peter's wheelchair, for a pledge of $10,000!) you can check out the campaign, right here.

How Did We Miss This?

We Didn't Playtest This Pasted on Theme at All! - Asmadi Games

Asmadi ran a special 5 day campaign for this, looking to raise $3,000 and they managed to gain $9,000. The idea is that if they ran a longer campaign the game wouldn't hit the market until next year, but with the shorter time span they're projecting the game to hit shelves before Christmas! This newest version of WDPTAA will have zombies, of course, as well as time travel, elves and other such geekery. I for one love the mindless chaos of the series so I'll be on the look out for this one soon! Congrats, Asmadi!

An Interview With Warfields Designer Chris Green

Today we have the pleasure of talking with Chris Green from Menaveth Games. He’s got a Kickstarter campaign running for his new design, WarFields. Chris, why don’t you tell us a little about yourself.

Thanks Scott for giving me this opportunity to talk about myself and WarFields.

I've been playing games for as long as I can remember. Some of the first games I played were on the Apple II. As I grew up, there was always a game console in the house. I must have logged hundreds of hours for each game we owned.

After high school, I went to school and studied graphic design and digital media, graduating in 2011. I married my beautiful wife in 2009 and our first child was born in 2012. Now I buy my own games and look forward to when my son can beat me.

How were you first introduced to modern board games?

I was at my best friend's wedding, and while us groomsmen were waiting for the time of the wedding, someone randomly pulled out Settlers of Catan. We had about an hour to kill so we all starting playing. I had never played before so I just stood and watched. The game looked like a lot of fun and I really wished at that moment I could have joined in. I had played video games that had similar game mechanics, such as resource gathering and building, and loved those games. I knew I would love Settlers the moment I'd get a chance to play. I wondered at that moment what other games like this I had been missing out on. I then got the chance to play Dominion with a few friends and was instantly hooked to board games.

I wish I could say I have a huge game collection, but I don't. But don't count me out just yet! I'm still working on it!

So how does a graphic designer become a board game designer?

It took a long time to figure out what I was passionate about...

I've always loved to draw. I was fascinated by comic books and manga, not for the story, but for the pictures. I'd try to draw that style and thought I'd be an animator when I grew up. I took a class in high school on web design and was first exposed to Photoshop 6.0. I loved the creative freedom that it brings, and decided to go to college to study design.

When I started playing Minecraft, I didn't play it to "beat the game," I played it to create. When I learned people could create adventure maps (adventure maps being a created story and adventure that could be downloaded and played by other Minecraft users) I jumped all over that. When I had made about five different adventure maps, I realized this is what I enjoy doing the most: creating games.

I dabbled in a few video game engines, but creating a video game is a ton of work for one person. So I went for a simpler route just to get my feet wet. I created a Chess adaptation with achievement cards. The game was called Rooked! I had so much fun making the cards and play-testing the game, I decided to go big and started working on WarFields.

WarFields—at first blush—sounds similar to some other card-based tactical games, such as Summoner Wars. So what makes WarFields unique in this genre?

I would be dishonest if I didn't say the games are strikingly similar. I was aware Summoner Wars existed, but I created WarFields without the knowledge of how to play Summoner Wars. Even with that, there are great differences between the games.

The way combat is done in Summoner Wars is that you roll a die for a hit or miss, basically. In WarFields, combat is taken to a whole new level. First you have choice. Most characters have two types of attacks of variable strength and ailments. One attack is usually stronger, but the weaker attack costs less. That’s just for the attacking side. For the defender, each character has a Defense number and a Health number. The attack hits the defending character's defense first. If the character withstands the attack, no damage is done to the health. But the offense may have more characters to attack.

In Summoner Wars, you have a small deck you can burn through pretty quickly. In WarFields, both players draw from the same deck, leaving no room for a distinct advantage. The deck is also 90 cards. In all of the rounds I've played we left cards in the draw deck, making each game unique. There is also no deck-building or card-burning. Everything is driven by gold.

Gold is collected by workers and selling cards. The more workers you have in play, the more you have to work with each turn. At the beginning of each turn, you'll collect the gold from your workers and have the option to sell one card from your hand. Gold is then used to recruit characters into your army, used in their attacks, or used for powerful scrolls.

Where did you come up with the idea for WarFields?

I started out with the idea of fields. I wanted characters to have a starting position that was separated from the standard combat zone. So I started with four fields, but quickly learned that wouldn't work if I wanted ranged attacks. So six fields became the standard.

At the same time I was making that decision, I chose the theme of Fantasy for several reasons. The first is I love the fantasy genre. My favorite movie is Lord of the Rings and my favorite game is Skyrim. The second reason is that it is well received by the gaming community.

Once I had made those two decisions, the ideas about characters, attacks, power ups, and every other idea just flowed naturally out of that.

What is you favorite mechanism in the game?

My favorite mechanic is the fields. There are six fields in the game and that opens up a wide variety of bonuses and obstacles for each game. But the reason I like it the most, is because the opening fields are separated so you and your opponent start out far away from each other. What makes that even better is, when characters are played they still have the ability to move, and even attack, in the same turn.

What’s your favorite Character in the game, and why?

My favorite character would have to be... the Summoner and Necromancer. I know I'm supposed to pick just one, but both these characters open the door to more than just human characters in your army. The Summoners can add beast creatures, and the Necromancer can add undead characters. These two characters are also balanced so that neither is better in any way. So I can't choose just one, but I can choose these two.

Any expansion ideas kicking around in your head?

Absolutely. I had so many ideas for different cards, there was no way I could throw them all into one game. Since this is a game where the owner of the game decides how they want to play, and since so many other cards could be made in the future, adding expansions to make the game their own is a must.

What are your three favorite games right now?

My three favorite games right now are Settlers of Catan, Dominion, and Skyrim. You didn't say they had to be board games. :P

Here’s the 5 Questions with 1-Word Answers section!

Favorite board game designer?

Donald Vaccarino

Favorite beverage?

Mountain Dew

Favorite science fiction show ever?

Firefly

What’s the best book you’ve read in the last year?

Ender's Game

Band you’re ashamed to admit you like?

Caramell

Chris, thanks so much for talking with us. And thank you for reading! Make sure you check out the Kickstarter campaign for WarFields.

Carcassonne Around the World!

Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools. - Napoleon Bonaparte

Some may say that it's impossible to catch up with the popularity of the likes of Monopoly and Settlers of Catan, but Carcassonne is doing its best to pump out fresh versions, expansions, and editions of the game until the market is oversaturated. Hans im Gluck, publisher of Carcassonne, announced the franchise's next step toward that end.

Carcassonne: Sudsee will be released on October 21 of this year, as the franchise continues its trip around the world. Some would say it's impossible to build the French city in such places as North America, or...I don't know...a tropical island? But those are the words of fools!

Sudsee will keep "the familiar tile-laying gameplay of the original Carcassonne, with players adding a tile to the playing area each round and optionally placing a token on the tile to claim ownership of...something. Instead of the familiar cities, roads and farms, however, players in Carcassonne: Südsee use their meeples to gather bananas, shellfish and fish, then ship those goods to traders in exchange for points."

Can't get enough Carcassonne? Want to see it in more places? You're in luck, because this is being touted as the first in a series dubbed "Carcassonne Around the World".

What do you think? Will you pick up the newest iteration of the tile placing classic? Is it necessary?

Hanabi Gets the Deluxe Treatment

by Firestone Even though it's only September, Hanabi is on my short-list for Game of the Year. So what could make this Spiel Des Jahres winner even better? A DELUXE EDITION.

Designer Antoine Bauza teased a pic on Twitter that revealed a deluxe edition of the game is in the...works. (See what I did there?)

This one will feature tiles instead of cards. Matthias Wagner of Abacusspiele has dropped some details.

The material will be similar to the bakelite used in Hive.

The tiles will be thick enough to stand up and stack (32x25x15mm).

They'll be engraved.

I love the idea of being able to stack these, turn them sideways, move some forward or backward, or group them. The maneuverability of the tiles is much better than the cards.  But the price of this beauty will be $90, so I'll likely just be sticking to my $10 copy.

Will you be picking this up once it's out?

Thanks for reading!

Kickstarter Weekly—Sept. 5, 2013

It's a shortened week with the holiday, but that doesn't mean things aren't happening over on Kickstarter. What should you be checking out? Here's a few suggestions!

Warfields - Menaveth Games

We'll be playing and reviewing this one soon. Looks like a fun 2-player battle, that is easy to learn and quick to play. The funding goal for this one is really high ($22,500!) when compared to other games that are mostly card based.

You can get a copy of the game for a $25 pledge. And you can see the full campaign here!

(And we're going to have an interview with designer Chris Green next week!)

Septikon - Hobby World USA

This game just looks cool! Another 2-player game with a hint toward tower defense. We're hoping to get our hands on this game soon, and we'll let you know when that happens.

Until then you can check out the campaign here. And a $60 pledge gets you your very own copy of the game.

Battle Merchants - Minion Games

Pirates! Well. Okay, not really, but the one guy on the cover looks like it. Battle Merchants is actually an economics game in which players are constructing and selling weapons in a warfare ridden land.

You can snag a copy for $48, and find the full campaign here.

Sangoku - Game Salute

What Kickstarter Weekly post would be complete without a title from Game Salute? A Japanese-themed game by Mike Elliot of Thunderstone fame, Sangoku is a card game pitting players against each other to rule the three realms. Interestingly enough, this game is described as a "poker-style game." Hmmm.

A pledge of $35 will get you your own copy, and you can check out the full campaign right here!

Thanks so much for reading, let us know if you're backing any of these, and if we missed anything cool!

We'd love it if you liked us on Facebook, followed us on Twitter and Instagram, and subscribed to our YouTube channel, and to the blog by signing up over on the right!

Have a great weekend!

Top Promoter—A Double-Take Preview (With Video!)

"I'm gonna knock you out! Momma said, knock you out!" -LL Cool J

Today we're taking  a look at Top Promoter, a card and dice game that takes place in the world of competitive boxing. The game is designed for 2-5 players, and plays fairly quickly.

Players take to the table as promoters, trying to earn the most money by placing their fighters in bouts that they will hopefully win.

The Components

Cards—There are 5 nearly identical decks of 15 fighters and 5 action cards. We say nearly identical, because while all the boxers have the same name, each one has a different popularity value. This will make sense very shortly.

Dice—The final version will feature 7 dice per player color. We had prototypes that had just a handful of red and white.

Locations—More cards featuring cities/venues for the bouts.

The Gameplay

The game starts by putting locations into play—one fewer than there are players. And the number of locations used in the game is scaled depending on the number of players in the game. (Because once they run out,the game is over.) Players then shuffle their decks and draw five cards.

Players then select a boxer from their hand and place it face down in front of them. Simultaneously they reveal their chosen boxer, and whoever has the most popular boxer chooses a location to place their boxer. Each location can take six boxers (three bouts, consisting of two boxers each: the low card, mid card and main event). You want to get your boxer into the main event because it pays more money. But once a fighter is put into a bout other players must match the weight class of that boxer. And you, of course, cannot pit your own fighters against themselves.

Once a location is filled (whether others are or not) you resolve the bouts at that location, pay out the prize money, discard all the boxers there, as well as the location card, and replace it with a new one from the location deck.

Bouts are resolved by rolling dice. Each boxer has a dice value printed on their card indicating how many dice you roll for them, and if that boxer is capable of a knock out. If they're able to KO a boxer, there are three different rolls that will accomplish that. A boxer with a 3 on his card needs to roll three-of-a-kind, a boxer with a 4 needs to roll a straight, and a 5 requires a full house roll. Players take the appropriate amount of dice and roll them, then compare highest to highest. If one player rolls a 5 as their highest and the other rolls a 3 as their highest, that's it: The fight is over and the player who rolled a 5 wins. If there is a tie you go to the next highest and compare, and so on.

There are action cards that can affect the payouts, or cause a fighter to forfeit, or move a bout into the main event slot, and so forth.

And that is pretty much the game. You choose boxers, try to maneuver them into the best bouts to get the best payouts, and then let them duke it out. Whoever has the most money when the locations run out is the Top Promoter!

The Verdict

Jeremiah—We can't really comment on the components for the game, since we were playing prototypes with tiddly-winks for money, and generic dice. I will say that the artwork in the form that we saw it in was nice, bright and colorful, and I enjoyed the cartoonish nature of it!

Firestone—Yeah, I liked the artwork, too—each fighter was unique and colorful and evocative.

Jeremiah—I really enjoyed half of the game. There are some great decision-making moments and strategic maneuvering to try and get your boxers into the best bout and then ratchet up the payouts with the special action cards to try and make a big score. I found this part of the game enjoyable and fun!

Firestone—Yeah, that was definitely the best part. You really had to think about when to play your special cards, because the moment a location was full, it was "scored," so you had to try and figure out if a location would score and you should play that card now or risk another go-around when you might be able to get yourself in an even better position to utilize a card.

Jeremiah—The bouts are where the whole thing fell apart for me. I don't mind dice AT ALL; I love dice, I own a lot of dice. But the bout mechanic is just too shallow for me. I can't get over the Risk-like feel of it. It doesn't matter what you do or how you jockey for position, you get, one, single, solitary roll to try and roll the highest number. Ugh. Yahtzee even gives you 2 re-rolls.

Firestone—Dice-disliker here... But even so, I like games that do interesting things with dice. THIS DOESN'T DO THAT. All that maneuvering and it comes down to one dice roll?! Aaargh! And there are ways to get more dice for your big rolls, but no way to change them or affect them in any way. So even if I manage to roll six dice to your two, if you roll a 6 and I roll all 5's, I LOSE! I understand that's kinda thematic, as sometimes the underdog does beat the big dog (Buster Douglas!), but...ugh.

Jeremiah Final Thoughts—I'm holding out hope that there will be an expansion that will add cards that allow you to tweak the dice, or alter them in some way that will make the bouts a little less of a flip of the coin. Time will tell. I have to say that until they do come up with some expansion or fix, Keep This On the Shelf.

Firestone Final Thoughts—There was some potential here, but it's been wasted with a terrible, terrible bout-resolution mechanism. I agree with Jeremiah: Keep This On the Shelf.

Thanks for reading, and feel free to watch the video review below. Have a great weekend! [youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a51_OHjoF6g&w=560&h=315]

Z-Man to Reprint Ricochet Robots—AKA: Box Of Headaches

Do you like puzzles? And headaches?! Well we have some good news for you!

Z-Man Games has announced they're reprinting the classic puzzler Ricochet Robots. Four boards are randomly placed down, and four robots are placed on the boards. Once a robot starts to move, it will keep moving until it hits a wall or another robot. You're trying to get certain robots to certain random targets in the fewest number of moves. With a reported 1500 different board configurations, no two games will ever be the same.

I (Firestone) have played this game only once. You know how you joke about game being "brain-burning" or that it's so dense it gives you a headache? This game seriously gave me a headache.

But some people I know (Hi William!) really love this game, and are terrific at it. Their brains are wired differently than mine...

Here's what comes in the box:

8 two-sided boards

1 centerpiece

5 robots

5 Start space markers

17 Target chips

1 sand timer

1 rulebook

Z-Man's site lists this as "Currently in production" with a Fall release window.

Have you played this? Are you looking forward to it?

Abstract Distraction—A Review of Yinsh

By Firestone A few months back I reviewed Zertz, which is part of Project Gipf—a group of highly regarded abstract games by designer Kris Burn. In today's review we set our sights on perhaps the most accessible game in this series: Yinsh.

The Goal

Be the first player to collect three Rings from the board.

The Components

5 white bakelite Rings

5 black bakelite Rings

51 round bakelite Markers, that each fit inside of the rings—with white on one side and black on the other.

1 Game board

The Setup

Each person places his or her five rings on any intersection of the board—only one ring can ever occupy an intersection.

The Gameplay

The board consists of a hexagonal grid, with lines intersecting with one another. On your turn you do one thing: Place a round Marker into one of your Rings with your color (black or white) facing up, and then move the Ring along any line you're connected to for as long as you'd like, or until you hit another Ring, or until you pass over any Markers—at which point you place the Ring on the next intersection after the last Marker you pass over. Every marker you passed over is now flipped to its opposite side—black to white and white to black. This is not optional.

Once there are five Markers of a color in a row on the board, that player removes a Ring from the board and places it on the space provided along that player's edge. Once you've managed to remove three Rings, you win.

And that's it!

The Verdict

I'm not a huge fan of abstracts, but for some reason these games in Project Gipf just grab me. They have simple rules, but deep gameplay. They have beautiful bits. They each feel different. And finally, I'm terrible at them.

Yinsh is the game I pull out when someone wants to play an abstract from my collection—well, Yinsh or Ingenious...but we're talking about Yinsh today! My 9-year-old played this when he was 8, and had no problem picking it up and doing well.

One of my favorite things about this is how the game balances itself with a sort of catch-up mechanism. When you remove a Ring, you're one step closer to winning, but you're also now more restricted in your options on the board, because you have fewer pieces to work with. Now, of course, this doesn't always mean the person behind will now catch up, but it makes it slightly easier to do so, and I like that.

There are also subtle ways to mess with your opponent. You can "trap" his Rings by placing your Rings where he wants to go, or make it so his only move with a Ring will benefit you by flipping Markers to your side.

The Final Verdict

One of the barriers to abstracts is that they often seem daunting to new players, Someone new to Yinsh might not dominate right away, but something about the gameplay, aesthetics, and simple rules makes this a great entry point for someone new to abstracts. And as someone who's not new to them, I still really enjoy this too. It's a great addition to Project Gipf, and any collection.

Thanks for reading!

Michael Coe Founder of Gamelyn Games - an Interview

We’re very excited today to have a chat with Michael Coe, founder of Gamelyn Games, and designer of Dungeon Heroes, about the newest title scheduled for release from Gamelyn Games, Fantasy Frontier!

Michael, thanks for chatting with us!

So, tell us a little of the Gamelyn Games story; how did you arrive on the gaming scene?

Gamelyn Games is a rapidly growing games and toys company based out of Arizona. My wife Brittany and I started Gamelyn Games shorty after I transitioned out of Crash Games, the publishing company I had previously founded with Patrick Nickell. Brittany and I are both family focused individuals and we actually just started a family of our own! We truly share a passion for providing families and friends with awesome games and toys. We both grew up as gamers and little inventors and I’ve had a burning passion all my life to create games and share my ancient ideas… yes, I’m getting old, so we set out to make our dreams come true!

We’ve started to hear the buzz coming out of Gencon about Fantasy Frontier, but for those who don’t know the game, can you give us a quick overview?

Absolutely! Fantasy Frontier is a 2-4 player euro game that delivers an epic airship experience! Players compete for victory points by creating geographic patterns, building settlements and through aerial combat. The game boasts a synergetic package of tile placement, pattern recognition, worker placement and resource gathering.

What inspired the creation and design of Fantasy Frontier?

It all started when I was about 5 years old with The Adventures of Teddy Ruxpin! I say that jokingly but maybe there is some truth to it. I did absolutely love the airship toy and I had the whole crew! I’d be lying if I didn’t say that ever since then I had an affinity for airships. It seems every time one showed up in a new video game that game quickly became my favorite; Mario Bros. 3, Final Fantasy 2, Chrono Trigger, Warcraft 2 and many others.

In addition to my love for airships, I love map making. I began playing D&D at eleven and once I had a turn at being the DM I was hooked. I would create my own worlds vast with adventure. I’d spend hours creating maps of the worlds and their key areas and then bring them to the table for players to explore.

Fantasy Frontier is a product of my dreams to create a game of airships and cartography!

What is the “hook” for Fantasy Frontier? That is to say, what one thing about the game sets it apart from other games?

The emphasis on map making from atop a fantastic airship sets Fantasy Frontier apart! Also, the theme; as much as people have been calling it steampunk (and I take no offense to that) it is actually high-fantasy. Naomi Robinson has done a magnificent job capturing that theme.

Lastly, the integration and execution of a euro game with optional take-that elements.

Like so many indie (and established) game publishers, you’re funding this title through Kickstarter; you’ve also had plenty of success in the past bringing games to market through crowd funding. What bit of advice would you give an up-and-comer looking to kickstart a project?

Create a complete project plan that includes a pre-production schedule, marketing strategies, a production schedule, and a post-production plan. Do your research about Kickstarter, taxes, production and shipping costs, marketing costs etc. Sound overwhelming? It can be, but remember a wall is built one brick at a time.

Your BGG bio says you’re also a professional actor! Whoah! Do you still act, or are you just making games for a living?

I haven’t acted in some time, but I still love it! I plan to return to acting once I am able to make games full time. I work an average of 80-100 hours a week between my day job and Gamelyn Games. Once I can cut out my day job, I’d love to return to acting.

Hypothetically speaking, if you were trying to impress someone at a party or social gathering while talking about your acting career, whose name would you drop when listing off folks you’ve worked with?

Kathy Bates, Kate Mara, Gregory Smith, Chris Pratt… I’ve been very blessed to have worked with some really awesome and really talented people in the acting industry.

What are some of your favorite games to play right now? and why?

Board Games: Chess, Carcassonne, and Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small. I really enjoy many others but these are recent visitors to the game table. Chess for the epitome in strategy and tactics that it is, Carcassonne for capturing medieval landlording in an approachable package, and Agricola All Creatures… for the breeding…lol =D

Video Games: Legend of Zelda (NES), Adventures of Link (NES) and Pilot Wings (SNES)… why? Because it they make me feel like a kid again alright, you want the truth? There it is!

Word on the street has it that Eric Vale, of Dragon Ball Z fame, will be doing (or has done by now) the voice work for the Kickstarter video of Fantasy Frontier. Any other cool surprises you can tell us about coming during the campaign?

The coolness of Eric Vale doing Fantasy Frontier is a hard act to follow. I am working on some fun ideas for the campaign stretch goals but can’t let the cat out of the bag quite yet.

We’ve had some conversations offline about the review we wrote for Dungeon Heroes. We wanted again to thank you for understanding our point of view. We’re also very curious if there are any plans for the future of Dungeon Heroes? Dungeon Heroes has a very bright future! The game has been received tremendously and the stores can’t keep it on the shelf. This is all fuel for the 4 player version I am currently working on. I’m also exploring additional expansions to the current 2 player system. So, lots of good stuff in development. Dungeon Heroes lends itself well to expandability and my well of creativity for it is deep.

So what does “down time” look like for the Coe family? Or do you get much of that? I make time for “down time” because that is the time I get with my wife and daughter, the two most meaningful aspects of my life. We spend time going to the park, the mall, going out for dinner and even sometimes the arcade, Jolene (my daughter, 10 months old) loves going out and meeting other kids and seeing the wonderful world we live in. We also spend good quality time at home just relaxing and playing with Jolene, teaching her new things. She just took her first two steps the other day! Good times!

Okay...5 Questions/5 Words (or very short phrases) to answer them! Aaaand GO!

• Favorite dirigible? Ooo… that’s tough… I’m going to cop out and say that I love them all equally. They are all my babies after all. =)

• Favorite urban legend you wish was actually true? LOL! I don’t wish any were true! That’s just macabre! There are lots of fairy tales I wish were true though.

• Best part of an Oreo—Cookie or Stuffing? The 10 year old me would have said the stuffing, but the current me has grown an appreciation for the synergy that the stuffing and cookie have together.

• Favorite toy when you were a kid? Wow, that’s a hard question. I was big into toys as a kid, but I think I loved my Ninja Turtles and Jurassic Park collections the most.

• Name of your first RPG character? Jolene, a Paladin in D&D advanced 2nd edition. Also, the name of my mother and now my daughter. ROFL… wow I’m a geek, bad!

Michael, thanks so much for taking some time for us, and congratulations on all of your success so far!

For more information on Fantasy Frontier you can follow this link RIGHT HERE to the Kickstarter campaign, or visit www.GamelynGames.com.

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