Zimby Mojo - Zimbies, Zombies, And Cannibals Jim Felli makes weird games. First he hit us with Shadows of Malice, an open ended fantasy RPG coop that left much to the imagination. And now Zimby Mojo - a game where players take on the role of shamans forming temporary alliances and burying nasty little blades into each other's backs. From the perspective of someone who loves Cave Evil and Legend of the Cipher, weird is great. Zimby Mojo self-declares as a co-opportunistic game. We've seen semi-cooperative elements before in designs such as 07/10/2016
Jim Felli makes weird games. First he hit us with Shadows of Malice, an open ended fantasy RPG coop that left much to the imagination. And now Zimby Mojo - a game where players take on the role of shamans forming temporary alliances and burying nasty little blades into each other's backs. From the perspective of someone who loves Cave Evil and Legend of the Cipher, weird is great. Zimby Mojo self-declares as a co-opportunistic game. We've seen semi-cooperative elements before in designs such as
Raf Reviews - Cuba Libre 90 miles off the coast of Key West sits an enigmatic little island. To some Americans, talk of Cuba conjures up images of white sands, mojitos, and classic American cars cruising through idyllic Spanish-Colonial streets. To others it’s a reminder of the Cold War, of a time we sat on the brink of nuclear war. And finally, to a small group of people it is still a reminder of revolution, of conflict, and of flight. Never mind that it’s not actually possible, the first time I posted a picture of 07/07/2016
90 miles off the coast of Key West sits an enigmatic little island. To some Americans, talk of Cuba conjures up images of white sands, mojitos, and classic American cars cruising through idyllic Spanish-Colonial streets. To others it’s a reminder of the Cold War, of a time we sat on the brink of nuclear war. And finally, to a small group of people it is still a reminder of revolution, of conflict, and of flight. Never mind that it’s not actually possible, the first time I posted a picture of
Calvin's Corner - Scythe I don't like eurogames. Lack of narrative cohesion (Only one worker can go to market? ...seriously?) means consequences often feel abstracted: 'That one time I scored a huge bonus tile' has nothing on 'That time I blew up your entire fleet with a last-ditch superweapon.' There's also that old nugget about player interaction. Simply put: I like when stories happen in games. Eurogames tend to put a lot of layers between me and the narrative. I therefore dislike eurogames. Scythe is a eurogame 07/05/2016
I don't like eurogames. Lack of narrative cohesion (Only one worker can go to market? ...seriously?) means consequences often feel abstracted: 'That one time I scored a huge bonus tile' has nothing on 'That time I blew up your entire fleet with a last-ditch superweapon.' There's also that old nugget about player interaction. Simply put: I like when stories happen in games. Eurogames tend to put a lot of layers between me and the narrative. I therefore dislike eurogames. Scythe is a eurogame
Raf Reviews - Guild Ball Painting Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the 07/01/2016
Every now and then I walk past the rows of miniatures at the FLGS and wonder about them. I like assembling and painting them, but committing to a game not called X-Wing has been tough because most of them haven’t appealed to me thematically. Enter Guild Ball, a miniature take on medieval mud ball. Mud ball is kind of like soccer. Except the rules were loose and people could get beaten up. Guild Ball pushes that to an extreme in a fantasy soccer-battle game that’s got me hooked. This is the
Conventions are Awesome There was a moment during Geekway where I wasn’t playing any games. I’d sat down next to some friends while they wrapped up a game - I too had just come off playing something. I’d stayed up until 4 AM planting beans by way of dice, and was contemplating getting away from everything to take a nap. Looking around in my exhausted state, I was struck by what an amazing experience a gaming con is. I was surrounded by people who had taken entire days away from the rest of their lives to revel in 05/25/2016
There was a moment during Geekway where I wasn’t playing any games. I’d sat down next to some friends while they wrapped up a game - I too had just come off playing something. I’d stayed up until 4 AM planting beans by way of dice, and was contemplating getting away from everything to take a nap. Looking around in my exhausted state, I was struck by what an amazing experience a gaming con is. I was surrounded by people who had taken entire days away from the rest of their lives to revel in
Calvin's Corner - The Magic Circle: how to lie to your friends and kill them. Board games are magical. Nowhere else can we spend an afternoon as a 14th century French noble before turning into astronauts harvesting alien crystals and topping it all off as spies in a science fiction future. Part of this magic is the ability of games to transport us to wonderful places, not just in our imaginations but also emotionally. We can spend entire gaming sessions scheming, lying, and backstabbing our closest friends - then laugh about it together over dinner. At the gaming table, 05/24/2016
Board games are magical. Nowhere else can we spend an afternoon as a 14th century French noble before turning into astronauts harvesting alien crystals and topping it all off as spies in a science fiction future. Part of this magic is the ability of games to transport us to wonderful places, not just in our imaginations but also emotionally. We can spend entire gaming sessions scheming, lying, and backstabbing our closest friends - then laugh about it together over dinner. At the gaming table,
Cardboard Combat - XCOM vs Level 7: Invasion There are thousands of games out there - which deserve to grace your table? Welcome to Cardboard Combat, where games get dinged and dented by our hosts in order to see if they’re right for your group! Today on Cardboard Combat, two co-op games about alien invasion: VS If two games fight, are they in fact boxing? CALVIN: What’s your favorite alien invasion movie? Please don’t say The Avengers. RAF: The Aveng-uhhhh. That’s a tough question. Honestly, there are a lot of really good ones but 05/16/2016
There are thousands of games out there - which deserve to grace your table? Welcome to Cardboard Combat, where games get dinged and dented by our hosts in order to see if they’re right for your group! Today on Cardboard Combat, two co-op games about alien invasion: VS If two games fight, are they in fact boxing? CALVIN: What’s your favorite alien invasion movie? Please don’t say The Avengers. RAF: The Aveng-uhhhh. That’s a tough question. Honestly, there are a lot of really good ones but
Raf reviews - Tak "Tak is the best sort of game: simple in its rules, complex in its strategy.” These are the words Kvothe uses to describe Tak in The Wise Man’s Fear. At the time, Patrick Rothfuss hadn’t actually made the game of Tak so it was pretty easy to describe a beautiful brilliant game. It’s much harder to actually make one. Fortunately, Patrick and James Ernest have done just that; Tak is an excellent game. Tak in action. I am neither an abstract aficionado nor a Kingkiller Chronicles superfan. It’s 05/01/2016
"Tak is the best sort of game: simple in its rules, complex in its strategy.” These are the words Kvothe uses to describe Tak in The Wise Man’s Fear. At the time, Patrick Rothfuss hadn’t actually made the game of Tak so it was pretty easy to describe a beautiful brilliant game. It’s much harder to actually make one. Fortunately, Patrick and James Ernest have done just that; Tak is an excellent game. Tak in action. I am neither an abstract aficionado nor a Kingkiller Chronicles superfan. It’s
