Guardians of Eden

 

There’s a werewolf fighting a dinosaur. I’ll say that again in case you didn’t quite catch it or see the images, there is a werewolf fighting a dinosaur. And that’s all we really know about Guardians of Eden, well maybe a little bit more.

Modiphius Announce Achtung! Cthulhu Board Game

Christmas Day isn’t the usual time to be making a major new game’s announcement. You’re too full of roast turkey and fig pudding to digest that Modiphius have announced an Achtung! Cthulhu board game by one the designers of Arkham Horror, it’s enough to make you miss the Queen’s speech.

Yomi's Gate, the plastic fantastic

 

Board Games are made of cardboard, those are the rules right? It’s even in the name; board games, as in cardboard games? Well that’s just old fashioned thinking because these days you can make a game out of anything, and if you have access to a laser cutter even better.

Yomi’s Gate is board game based on the old struggle of feuding Japanese clans where every single component is made from laser cut acrylic and it makes a unique sight.

12 Realms is coming like a Ghost Town

12 Realms is fast approaching living up to its name. Four Realms where included in the base game, four more in Ancestor’s Legacy and now one more is available in the latest 12 Realms Expansion Ghost Town.

V-Commandos sneak onto Kickstarter

Did you ever play Commandos on the PC? It was a complex strategy game where the aim was to complete your mission using a team of highly specialised Commandoes from a broad spectrum of allied World War II forces, and it was ridiculously difficult.

If you have played Commandos then you’ll get what V-Commandos is doing because it is recreating the same form of game play but in tabletop form.

Conan Hyborian Quests Launch Gameplay Video

 

Things are moving fast on the new tactical miniatures game Conan: Hyborian Quests. The project is due to hit Kickstarter early in 2015 and to tease you more than a muscled man in a loin cloth is a video of the game in action.

Recorded at Essen Spiel 2014, the video gives a very in depth run through of the mechanics of the game but is still an early prototype, so the pretty miniatures we've been seeing on the Conan Facebook page aren't to be seen.

Epic Death Review

Epic Death starts off in a fairly typical Dungeons and Dragons inspired manner; send your team of adventurers off on heroic quests to gain shiny loot. Nothing to write home about really, but then Epic Death flips the world on its head and states that only those heroes that die in an epic manner are deserving of fame and glory and so you must send your band of champions to their death against the biggest, baddest and most one sided fights possible.

The Witcher Adventure Game, Let's Play and Short Review

 

We're trying something a little different on Polyhedron Collider today, The WItcher Adventure Game was released as a boxed board game last week but a fully digital version was also released on Steam and iOS here we play through a short version of the game and give a quick round up of our thoughts.

A shiny new Firefly Board Game

As if one shiny board game and card game wasn’t enough, browncoats will be pleased to know that Toy Vault Inc has released details of their upcoming Firefly Board game Firefly: Fistful of Credits.

Housing Crisis Review

Update: We may have reviewed it almost 3 years ago, but housing crisis has made it onto Kickstarter - you can go back it here

Original article: I must admit, when I first played Housing Crisis I hated it; a dull theme, a cash in on the micro game craze and a strategy that plays like tic tac toe but with numbers rather than noughts and crosses. It really did not win me over. I was ready to give up on the game and write a scathing review when I tried the game with a different player, a software engineer with a more analytical mind and the entire thing clicked.

Interview: Mike Langlois on Fireteam Zero

 

Cthulhu and World War II is an odd mix when you think about it. The horrors of war are bad enough and then our twisted imagination decides that it’s not scary enough and that we need some otherworldly beings added to the mix. It’s a recipe that has succeeded in many genres with obvious seeds in the Hellboy comics and movies and the popularity of the Achtung! Cthulhu role playing game. Emergent Games have already had success with Fireteam Zero, a tactical miniatures game that blends Lovecraftian horror with an alternative World War II but are heading back to Kickstarter for a slightly different reason to usual so I spoke to Mike Langlois from Emergent Games about Fireteam Zero’s return.

Peteresen Games bring Theomachy to English

To me one of the great opportunities for Kickstarter is to bring games that already exist to new markets. MAGE Company did it this year with Höyük, bringing a popular print and play game into a published game. There’s a whole world of board games that us in the English speaking world haven’t even played and so to bring the card game Teomachie to the world Historical Games Factory and Petersen Games are heading to Kickstarter to make an English version of the card drafting game.

Interview: Andrew Sheerin on The Hen Commandments

Usually the most controversial thing that happens in the board gaming world is the forums on Board Game Geek getting upset that their latest board game needs a mobile phone app but eight years ago Terror Bull Games courted genuine controversy when they decided to make a board game about the War on Terror. Now Terror Bull Games are back with The Hen Commandments a game where you take spiritual guidance from a chicken.

Demonslayer: Siege of Mt. Kunlun Review

 

Since Dominion first hit the scene there have been a lot of deck builders. The concept of steadily building and optimising your deck of cards over the course of a single game has proven a very strong game mechanic, whether it be the primary or as a secondary system in a game. When a new deck building game hits the market it’s got to be something different, something fresh in regards to theme, mechanics and implementation. Demon Slayer: Siege of Mt. Kunlun promises something unique in its theme, based upon Chinese mythology it has something western audiences haven’t seen before.

Interview: Wylliam Judd on Friends and Foes

Friends and Foes is heading towards its final few days on Kickstarter but it’s not too late to get the lowdown on the game. So I sparked up a conversation with Wylliam Judd, the designer of Friends and Foes, and we talked about the game’s development, finding the right artist and bringing MOBA elements to board games.

Mind the Gap - MIND: The Fall of Paradise hits Kickstarter

 

I was about to start this piece of news by talking about my favourite science fiction novel, where the AI overruns mankind and cripples its entire infrastructure. Then I realised this happens at the end of the book and is kind of a huge spoiler so let’s not go there. The reason I was thinking all this is because MIND: The Fall of Paradise is a board game that simulates this cataclysmic event. One player takes on the control of the power hungry AI and the rest of the players are the rebellious humans attempting to spoil its nefarious plots.

I can haz Smash Up expansion

Smash Up really is a game that could go on creating expansions forever. So far we’ve seen a whole host of new factions, from cult movie and horror icons to internet funnies such as pirates vs ninjas vs dinosaurs armed with rocket launchers. I really am surprised with not seen fantasy heroes and space marines yet but give them time. Smash Up’s latest expansion sits very much in the internet meme category and its favourite colour is pink as Alderac announce Pretty Pretty Smash Up.

Friends and Foes on Kickstarter

 

Friends and Foes is evoking a fantasy version of Galactic Arena, the science fiction gladiatorial combat game that we previewed a couple of months back. Galactic Arena had its issues (the biggest of all was a poorly written rulebook) but Friends and Foes appears to sideswipe these with logical card driven actions and a more straightforward ruleset. In Friends and Foes you’ll team up with a like thinking group of fantasy archetypes to kick the magic wielding, armour wearing snot out of another team of fantasy archetypes.

Warhammer 40,000 Conquest Review

 

Warhammer 40k Conquest is a solid card game that works well with its theme but is currently lacking in card variety.

 
Since the release of Rogue Trader, the Warhammer 40,000 universe has spread across multiple games, rules iterations and media. From the original tabletop miniature games, to board games, video games, books and even ropey films. In Warhammer 40,000 Conquest The Card Game (to give it its full name) the grim dark future of the 41st millennium has been recreated in a customisable card game (and not for the first time I might add) but can a deck of cards truly capture the iconic characters and epic conflict of the setting?

Game of Thrones The Card Game 2nd edition and an LCG Overhaul

Wednesday was Fantasy Flight Games’ LCG State of the Union address. This is where the company communicates with its LCG players and talks the current state of the game catalogue, tournaments and gives news on upcoming changes and events. The big news out of the event was a second edition of A Game of Thrones the Card Game and a change to the legality of LCG cards that can be used competitively.

Raid and Trade launches on Kickstarter

 

MAGE Company’s latest game Raid and Trade has just hit Kickstarter, and it’s already going strong.

Imaginary Games from Film and TV That I Want To Be Real

At this year’s Gen Con, Mayfair games did something a little different.  While raising money for charity Mayfair games made a real version of the board game Cones of Dunshire, from the TV show Parks and Recreation. The original TV version is a complex mess of a game, but Mayfair where able to pull together a reasonably coherent game and there are even rumours of a physical version being released in 2015.

This got me thinking what over imaginary games from film and TV would make great games in the real world. So here are five of my favourites, some of which are actually real!

Interview: Tina Engström on Privateers!

Update: Privateers has relaunched and the new project can be found here

Privateers! is a modular scenario driven board game of pirate adventures with a good deal of fantasy and otherworldly horror thrown into the mix. Try to imagine Arkham Horror on the high seas with the options to play competitively, cooperatively or as teams. This is Myling Games’ first board game and first Kickstarter.

I had the pleasure of interviewing the game’s designer and artist Tina Engström about the game, its development and a certain Disney ride turned film.

Magic: The Gathering Strategy Board Game announced

At this weekend’s International Spieltage (or Essen as most people call it) Wizards of The Coast officially announced the Magic: The Gathering Strategy Board Game.

Lords of War returns to Kickstarter

 Lords of War, the amazingly tactical two player card game, has returned to Kickstarter with Magic and Monsters, a new dual deck of Orcs and Dwarves but this time kitted out with new abilities.

Eternity Wars re-launches on Kickstarter

Eternity War, a 2 player card game inspired by real-time strategy games such as Command & Conquer and Warcraft, has re-launched on Kickstarter.

Rocket Race Review

The year is 1898 and the only valuable piece of real estate to conquer in the name of Queen Victoria and the mighty British Empire is the moon. So it has fallen upon you, the League of Adventure, to put down your cup of tea and build a rocket to the moon. Rocket Race is a card game form Triple Ace Games where the aim of the game is to build the first rocket to the moon, the Queen herself that wave the chequered flag.

Conan the Barbarian is Coming to Your Tabletop

Between the time when the oceans drank Atlantis and the rise of the sons of Aryas, there was an age undreamed of. And unto this, Conan, destined to wear the jeweled crown of Aquilonia upon a troubled brow. It is I, his chronicler, who alone can tell thee of his saga. Let me tell you of the days of high adventure! 

It’s good news for fans of Conan the Barbarian as we have two snippets of news relating to the hero of Cimmeria and the world of Hyboria.

Historical Games Factory Interview

The other week, while browsing the upcoming Essen releases on Board Game Geek, I stumbled upon some amazing artwork for a game called Heroes by Historical Games Factory. I wanted to know more about this new game and about this Polish games company that I’ve never heard of before. Instead of doing what any normal person would and partake in a bit of google sleuthing I thought I’d go straight to the source and started talking to Piotr from Historical Games Factory about who they are and their new games.

There’s a physical version of Hearthstone (sort of)

Those cheeky Chinese have done it again and created a physical version of the online CCG sensation Hearthstone.  Since first released by Blizzard card gamers have been asking if Hearthstone will come to a physical version, hoping for a replacement for the now defunct World of Warcraft TCG but most people who have played Hearthstone agree that it just wouldn’t work as a physical game.

Tash-Kalar new version and Everfrost expansion

I like Tash-Kalar. It’s an interesting and unique abstract game that involves laying down tokens in patterns to release giant monsters into a gladiatorial battlefield. I really like Tash-Kalar buy apparently Z-Man Games doesn’t like me.

Chess 2: The Sequel Review

How do you improve on chess? David Sirlin, the designer of fighting card game Yomi and the man who famously balanced Streetfighter 2, reckons he knows a thing or two about improving games and so has made Chess 2 the game the promises to take Chess to the next level.

King Down Preview

King Down is the prequel to Chess, well in the narrative sense at least (Chaturanga is the real prequel) but that’s not a very good description of what this Kickstarter game is all about. A better way to explain it would be that King Down is a card driven battle game that takes a lot of its ideas from Chess but mixes them up in interesting ways.

PlayMe wonders onto Kickstarter

PlayMe, a dice game for 2 to 6 players based on Alice in Wonderland, is now on Kickstarter.

Mage Company Collider

  Mage Company, the Greek game developers behind games such as 12 Realms and Höyük, have given us a massive information dump so we’re running a special news round up with news on Höyük's release, 12 Realms expansions and their latest and upcoming Kickstarter projects.

Tabletop Towns returns to Kickstarter with Hab Cubes

 

Tabletop Towns, the creators of cheap but great looking cardboard terrain, have returned to Kickstarter with a set of science fiction habitation units.

Galactic Arena Preview

 

Storyception Games are beginning their journey on a very ambitious project because Galactic Arena is intended to be the first in a series of five games from the Greek developers that explore the world of galactic conflict that is The Apocalypse Universe. Characters will move between RPGs, tactical board games, dice games and card games.  With such lofty goals it’s important that the first game in such a series hits the ground running and provides a compelling universe that players want to return to. Does Galactic Arena achieve this? The answer is; almost.

The Spoils The Basic Box of Awesomeness Review

 

There’s going to be a lot of tip toeing around in this review because it's hard to talk about The Spoils without mentioning the M word. It’s the elephant in the room because The Spoils takes so much of its DNA from another more popular collectible card game I’m going to try and avoid drawing comparisons until the very end.

Eminence: Xander's Tales has hit Kickstarter

 

Eminence: Xander’s Tale, the card collecting video game we featured a few months back, has hit Kickstarter. Influenced by the triple triad card game from Final Fantasy VIII, Eminence blends the card battling and collecting features of trading cards games and mixes them with an exploration reminiscent of Pokémon and 8 bit Zelda titles.

Warband Review

The armies of darkness are gathering and you and all the other fantasy races have to put aside your petty differences to face a common foe. Unfortunately old habits die hard and even though you are united to fight off the armies of the enemy you’re going to do your best to prove that your fantasy race is the best at kicking out the evil invaders. In Warband you act as the leader of your typical fantasy race and your job is to fight back the Darkness and gain prestige for your race by defeating armies, getting your troops into cushy captain positions and gathering intelligence on the enemy’s forces.

[redacted] Preview

Can I interest you in a Ferrero Rocher? [redacted] is a game of spies and bluffing about to hit Kickstarter. The ambassador is holding one hell of a party but you’re not interested idle chit-chat and hazelnut chocolates, you’re here to get the top secret dossier out of the building.

GCT Studios announce Rise of the Kage

GCT Studios, creators of the beautiful looking Bushido miniatures game, have announced their very first boardgame in the form of Rise of the Kage. Designed for 2 to 4 players, Rise of the Kage will see players working cooperatively as a team of ninja attempting to take down the Takashi clan.

Your Kickstarter is Rubbish

 

At this very moment there are over 150 active tabletop gaming projects on Kickstarter. 150! That means you need to make your project stand out. I get to look at loads of Kickstarter projects and there’s nothing worse than looking at a project and knowing that it isn’t going to fund. The game itself could be absolutely awesome but if your Kickstarter project is terrible then its chances of funding are severely reduced.

Now I’m not pretending to be some form of Kickstarter expert here, and I can’t promise you millions, jet skis and Kickstarter success but I do see the same mistakes happen over and over again.  Here are the top 8 mistakes I keep seeing and what you can do to fix them (I couldn’t think of two more and no number 7 won’t shock you).

Emergence Event rules emerge

Megacon Games, purveyors of the Mercs miniatures game, have released the work in progress rules for their upcoming space exploration game Emergence Event.

The Space Wolves coming to Warhammer 40,000 Conquest

Warhammer 40,000 Conquest hasn’t been released yet but Fantasy Flight Games has already announced details on the first card pack for the game. Not only does it release details of the Vikings in power armour that are the Space Wolves but it also gives strong hints about how deck construction will work in the game.

Terrene Odyssey Interview

In this interview with Chris Solis from CGC Games, we talk about his current Kickstarter project for Terrene Odyssey, a customisable card game influenced by the random battles in Japanese RPG video games.

Battlefront Miniatures Interview

 

At the UK Games Expo 2014 I spoke with Joaquin Meier Battlefront miniatures where we spoke about Dust Tactics, Firefly, upcoming games from their partnership with Gale Force Nine and I make a horrible faux pas about Dust Warfare.

Prodos Games Interview

At the UK Games Expo 2014 I spoke to Rob from Prodos Games about Warzone Resurrection, the Alien vs Predator board and miniatures game and an upcoming super-secret project.

Unfortunately we had some problems with the sound, we’ve done our best to try and edit it out but there are still some issue which I apologise for.

Stock up on Lemsip: Pandemic Legacy is coming

We all kind of knew it was true, what with the rumours and wild speculation floating around the internet, but Z-Man games have officially announced that Pandemic Legacy is coming.

JRPG combat card game Terrene Odyssey coming to Kickstarter

For years I’ve been wondering why there aren’t more games based around the combat from Japanese RPG videogames. There are loads of games influenced by JRPGs but none of them have ever managed to capture that Final Fantasy combat feel, which is odd when you consider it’s such a mechanical system and a popular genre. Well upcoming Kickstarter game Terrene Odyssey is just that, a card game that duplicates JRPG battles