Giving Up Board Games...

By Firestone So Saturday was International TableTop Day, and as I sat there in the 4th hour of my game of Exodus: Proxima Centauri, it hit me: This is boring. Do this. Draw that. Roll a crapload of dice. ROLL ANOTHER 1, WHEN I REALLY NEEDED ANYTHING OTHER THAN A 1. Attack. Be attacked. Lose by 2 VPs. What's the point?

So I went home, talked to my wife about it, and decided I'm going to quit boardgaming. Forever. I'm selling my collection—pennies on the dollar, so make me an offer. I also talked to Jeremiah about it, and he's been thinking the same thing. It's all just so much...fluff.

So we're starting a new blog. We hope you'll come check us out, and thanks for reading our inane posts over the last 9 months. We truly appreciate it.

And you should seriously think about giving up board games—or should we say, "bored games..."

Easter...

But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they went to the tomb, taking the spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb, but when they went in they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men stood by them in dazzling apparel. And as they were frightened and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen. Remember how he told you, while he was still in Galilee (Luke 24:1-6 ESV)."

Today is International TableTop Day!

The popular Wil Weaton-hosted YouTube board game show, TableTop, has declared today TableTop Day. That's just an excuse to play games all day, but there are some corporate sponsors for the day, who have partnered with some game stores for giveaways and promos. For instance, some stores will be getting promo cards for The Resistance that have the science fiction spy images along with the words Merlin and Assassin on them, so you can easily add those roles to the original game. I'll (Firestone) be joining in on the fun with some guys from my game group. You should, too. You can go here to find out if your Friendly Local game Store is hosting an event. And then go down for a few hours and support this day of gaming! Or just play some games at home with your family!

Have a great Easter weekend!

Move Over Monopoly—Catan in the Classroom

- by Jeremiah

For years, math, stats, and economics teachers have been trotting out the Monopoly board in their classrooms to help give students some hands-on, applicable life lessons. While the game is horrible, the idea is sound. From the get-go, gaming with my children has been chock full of teachable moments; at their current ages those lessons have been more about sportsmanship, being gracious while winning or losing, and learning to operate within the rules (or NOT cheating). As they grow older you can bet the lessons at the game table will grow with them.

A middle-school history teacher in Franklin, MA, has gone Euro with this concept in his classes. Teaching the struggles of early civilizations, and the conflict that can arise over scarce resources through The Settlers of Catan. A recent article in a local paper featuring the teacher and his students has caught the attention of Mayfair Games, and has gained some traction across the gaming community.

From the article:

“We can’t bring them back to Mesopotamia, Egypt or Greece, but this (Catan) brings it alive,” Brady said. “One student was so frustrated because he was winning at one point, and the other kids froze him out and wouldn’t trade with him. He said flat out, ‘I now understand why people go to war.’ ”

This is yet another step in not only promoting a great hobby, but also in breaking new ground in teaching future generations. So let's have a discussion here about it! What games do you think should end up in the classroom? and Why? We would LOVE to hear your thoughts. And who knows...you just might inspire someone to break new ground in their classroom, too!

Thanks for reading, and leave your suggestions in the comments!

Pixel Lincoln Challenge!

We're starting the week off with a sort of Kickstarter-ish bit of info for you—that includes a cool challenge. Jason Tagmire, designer of the eagerly anticipated Pixel Lincoln card game, has designed a Pixel Lincoln Bicycle deck (which is currently in the midst of a Kickstarter campaign), and has also issued a challenge to YOU.

They're looking for some folks to design a game around the theme of the deck—could be a trick-taking game, set, building, solitaire anything. You may have always thought, "Hey, it would be cool to design my own card game." Well this is your chance to get your feet wet. And then dry them off and design a game. There's a whole lot more information over on the Kickstarter page for the campaign; you can follow this link for the details!

Thanks for reading, and we appreciate all the social media love! Look us up on Facebook and Twitter!

Here's a look at the spiffy deck!

Come on Ride the Trains!

Alderac Entertainment Group, which has recently been dominating our posts, is at it again with some big news today. This coming summer they will be releasing the long-awaited US edition of Trains. Trains was a surprise Essen success—selling out on the first day—and gamers have been clamoring for another printing ever since! From the AEG Website: "This English edition of Trains, designed by Hisashi Hayashi, features updated graphics, artwork, and streamlined card abilities. With extensive replay value, Trains is one game you won’t want to leave the station without!"

They've also posted the complete rulebook for your reading pleasure.

Thanks for reading our blog, we love it when you tell your friends, families, heck...even your enemies about us! Don't forget the Facebooky, Twitter things!

Hot Off the Press!

Just minutes ago Alderac Entertainment Group posted this picture of Paul Peterson's new Awesome Level 9ooo expansion for Smash Up. It's an ACTUAL box that is making its way to store for International TableTop day later this month! Follow all the linky text above to find our complete coverage! And enjoy oooing, and aaahing over the photo!

Dungeon Roll Is On a Roll!

Well, with only six days left, Tasty Minstrel Games is absolutely crushing their Dungeon Roll Kickstarter campaign. The original goal was $15,000, but they're currently sitting at just under $132,000! They've unlocked lots of stretch goals, and are close to yet another—the Dwarf Berserker. The game is only $15 shipped, which is really reasonable. In fact, I know some people who just couldn't say no to that price, and made this the first Kickstarter project they've backed. Check out the campaign for yourself. Check back tomorrow when we'll have a double dose of Kickstarter Weekly news. Thanks for reading!

Star Trek Gets in on the Space-Combat Fun!

Trekkers rejoice! Whether you're in the Star Trek or the Star Wars fan club, now you'll have a chance to fly through space and blast your friends into space-bits. Thanks to the popularity of Fantasy Flight's Star Wars: X-Wing Miniatures Game, WizKids has licensed the movement system for the Star Trek universe. In an announcement this morning, WizKids revelaed that Star Trek: Attack Wing will come with prepainted miniatures, and will look practically identical in mechanics to the Star Wars game—including movement wheels and unique pilots to attach to each ship. They expect a GenCon release late this summer. If you're unfamiliar with the Star Wars game, you can check out our review to get an idea of the mechanics.

As always, thanks for reading!

Smash Up: Awesome Level 9000 Release Date

Alderac Entertainment Group issued an update to their fans concerning the eagerly awaited release of Awesome Level 9000—the first expansion to last year's smash hit Smash Up! It looks like fans will just barely get their hands on the new cards by the end of this month, with a final and full release hitting in early April. From the Alderac FaceBook page -

We're giving mad props to Aldrac for actually keeping their fans posted with solid details about the release date for this title. Now we don't have to pester our local favorite game store with scads of phone calls asking if it's arrived yet.

We chatted with Smash Up designer Paul Peterson about AL9K, you can read that full interview here.

And as always you can find us on Facebook and Twitter!

Thanks for reading!