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Android: Netrunner review

By on November 16, 2012 with 3 Comments

Once upon a time, I played inordinate amounts of Magic: the Gathering. I played it so much that information about anything other than Magic: the Gathering could do little more than skitter across the surface of my overheated, addicted brain. Nevertheless I was dimly aware that there were other collectible card games available for those poor, benighted souls who couldn’t cope with the munificence of Magic: the Gathering. It was all very sad, but they had to have something to play, I supposed.

This is why, when Fantasy Flight Games released Android: Netrunner, I had absolutely no idea that it was in fact a Living Card Game version of one of those limp, feeble Magic: the Gathering wannabees. But now I have purged all traces of that overwhelming monstrosity from my mind, body and game collection, and am shriven and ready to look again at the Collectible Card Game format with fresh eyes. And good job too. Because it turns out Andriod: Netrunner is neither limp, nor feeble, but really rather good.

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Cracked LCD- Mage Wars in Review

By on November 15, 2012 with 1 Comment

When I first opened the Mage Wars box, I thought I was in for it. The signs were bad. It’s a game from a first time publisher and a first time designer.  Worrisomely generic, Magic card-style artwork and terrible fonts didn’t endear me to the product at all. The rulebook was filled to bursting with esoteric keywords, extensive descriptions of multiple turn phases, complicated examples of play, and callout boxes galore explaining exceptions, situations, and subsystem mechanics. It looked like a hot mess, a kitchen sink kind of game. It felt like the kind of game that in the past I’ve found myself regretting that I requested a review copy.

The first session- well, at least the first half- was a slow motion disaster of hesitant cardplay and shot-in-the-dark tactical board play. But before all of that, I had to sort out the 322 spell cards and make two decks for two of the game’s dueling mages, putting all of the cards into these adorable binders that represent the players’ spellbooks. With the prep work done- and a head full of rules and a quarter-remembered glossary of status effects and special abilities- we stumbled. Lots of “can I do this?” and “I don’t think that’s right”. Rulebook consultations precluded by “hang on, let me check”. All of those speedbumps weren’t nearly the chokepoint that flipping through the spellbooks during play was. This is a card game where you get to look at your entire deck- no hoping for a topdeck draw. Hope you remembered what every card does!

But when it all starts to come together and the opacity of words like quickcasting and magebinding fades away, Mage Wars eventually reveals itself as one of the top games of 2012. Continue Reading…

Dungeon! Review

By on November 9, 2012 with 1 Comment

I can vividly remember the first time I saw a copy of Dungeon! Visiting some of my Dad’s friends who had a son a year or two older than me, he pulled a copy out from under his bed and suggested we play. I was gobsmacked, not only because I’d unwittingly stumbled into the company of a fellow geek in the making, but because up until that point I’d only ever considered Dungeons & Dragons as a role-playing franchise. The idea that it could extend to a board game seemed stunningly innovative to my young self.

But it seemed to cover the bases well, with a recognisable premise of heroes venturing into a multi-level dungeon to kill monsters and collect treasure, with danger and reward increasing the deeper you went. And the monsters and magic and treasure that I encountered that afternoon were all bona fide dungeons and dragons exports. So we played, and played, and played again. I was amazed that the considerable complexities of the role-playing game could be boiled down so simply and effectively.

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Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures Game Review

By on November 2, 2012 with 4 Comments

Star Wars X-Wing Miniatures game box shot

It is Christmas day, 1980, and I am six years old. I go running through the house, rich with the smells of festive cooking, past beaming adults, trailing behind me a full stocking, to sit on my Gran’s bed and open my presents. Tearing feverishly at the brightly coloured paper, I hope against hope that my hearts desire is nestled inside. And it is: Luke, Han and Leia come tumbling out onto the duvet in all their plastic glory and I am filled with the glee that only a child on Christmas morning can know.

In years since I have lost interest in Star Wars. Long before the prequels, without fanfare or particular reason I simply started to find Tolkien and Star Trek more interesting. As an adult, I left behind my childish things. Even the nostalgia worn thin: when I sat and watched A New Hope with my daughter recently, I consumed it like any other fun family action film. But when I opened a box and found the detailed, hand painted X-Wing miniatures inside for one moment, one brief flicker in time, I was back on that bed again, surrounded by the garish confetti of Christmas paper, trying to still my beating heart. Continue Reading…

Cracked LCD- Dungeon! in Review

By on November 1, 2012 with 2 Comments

 

The first hobby game I ever bought was TSR’s Dungeon!, a game that’s seen a couple of editions over the years including a newly released one from Wizards of the Coast. I was six or seven and on vacation with my mom and dad at Hilton Head, South Carolina. Some family friends and their two kids were with us, and we wound up in a game shop at some point. I saw Dungeon! and had to have it. The parents thought it’d be a good idea to get us something to do in the hotel room, and that’s probably about where my birth as a game player occurred. I can still vividly remember playing the game and thinking how weird the monsters were- classic freakout D&D monsters like black puddings and such. Continue Reading…

Cracked LCD- Barnes’ Best, 2000-2009

By on October 25, 2012 with 19 Comments

At last, Barnes’ Best comes to the most recent decade for a survey of the games that are my favorites from the era. Not necessarily the most popular or most innovative- Barnes’ Best is about selecting my personal picks and for 2000-2009, I found myself somewhat surprised by how easy it was to slate my ten picks. I had thought that I would need to do a top 20 or possibly split the decade into two five year periods, but in the end it wasn’t necessary. The cream rose to the top, leaving behind worthy runners-up.

Reflecting on the decade in games that was 2000-2009, it was truly an amazing time for the hobby. The foundations laid in the 1990s on the internet blossomed into full fruition, and the result was that once obscure games that had fallen out of print were in demand, gamers who thought they were living in isolation found people to play with, and production values reached all-time highs. Thinking back on games like Twilight Imperium 3rd edition and Heroscape, these were the games of our dreams, games that weren’t possible in the earlier eras of the hobby. Lots of bona fide classics came out of this period, and many new gamers were effecitively raised in the strongest, broadest, and most diverse era the gaming hobby has ever experienced.  2000-2009 is arguably gaming’s greatest generation. Continue Reading…

Bioshock: Infinite Board Game!

By on October 19, 2012 with 3 Comments

 

Well hot damn. I didn’t expect this. Plaid Hat Games, the guys that do Summoner Wars and the upcoming Mice & Mystics, announced today that they’re doing a Bioshock: Infinite board game. CRAZY. As if I weren’t already excited about the video game.

I’ve been a big supporter of Colby Dauch and Plaid Hat Games from day one, I’m very excited to see them snag a big license like this and I’m very interested to see how this turns out.  Sounds like it’s going to be  a conflict game, not a character-driven on. That’s likely a smart move, and it could stand to expand the world of the game in an interesting way. Here’s an edited version of what Colby had to say about it:

Plaid Hat Games is making a board game based on the upcoming video game Bioshock Infinite.  The board game is going to be called Bioshock Infinite: The Siege of Columbia.  The game is going to come packed with 52 miniatures, featuring 11 different unique sculpts.  One such sculpt has already been previewed in an article from Irrational Games, as they will be packing one in every collector’s edition of the video game. 

Speaking of cool, this board game is going to be totally rad.  It was designed by Isaac Vega. We’ll tell you more about it in the upcoming months.  We don’t have a release date yet but we are shooting for around the same time as the video game. Continue Reading…

Descent 2nd Edition Conversion Kit Review

By on October 19, 2012 with 2 Comments

Descent 2nd Edition Conversion Kit Box

The original Descent, Fantasy Flight Games’ behemoth tactical dungeon crawler, divided opinion like a sword divides a mewling goblin. Some people loved its combination of old school role playing with board game strategy, others loathed its over-bloated expansion range, confusing rules and gargantuan play time. So when a vastly streamlined second edition came out earlier this year most gamers were delighted. Except for first edition owners who suddenly had their valuable games rendered worthless and were understandably annoyed. To soothe their fevered brows, there is now a conversion kit so they can get some use out of their old investments.

There seems to be wide confusion over what this expansion actually does. It is categorically not the sort of conversion kit that will allow you to use your first edition Descent game to play the second edition rules. The differences between the two editions are too comprehensive for that. No, to use this you need a copy of second edition, and the purpose of this kit is to simply to allow the use of heroes and monsters from the old edition in the new one. No other components, no scenarios or tokens or board sections, just heroes and monsters. And that means it should be of interest to anyone who owns a copy of the second edition, regardless of whether they have older material lying around.

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Cracked LCD- Games as Art, Antiques, and Collectibles?

By on October 18, 2012 with 2 Comments

I am totally slacking off this week, but it will not- nor will it ever be- a week without a Cracked LCD. But rather than write up a new article, I thought I’d do a little cross-promotion (read: shilling) of some freelance games writing that I do elsewhere that some of you may not be aware of. Since 2008, I’ve worked in a couple of content-creating capacities with WorthPoint.com, a site that covers the world of art, antiques, and collectibles. Everything from comics to depression glass and all of that grandma-like stuff. Eventually, the editor in chief there said “hey, you know about games…why don’t you write about them for us?” And so it was. Wanna see what I did there? Continue Reading…

More Neuroshima Hex. Oh Hell Yeah

By on October 16, 2012 with 5 Comments

You may remember me saying that I feel Neuroshima Hex is the best boardgame port to iOS devices, like, ever. It’s made the physical game obsolete. It remains in my regular rotation and I try to get a few games in per week. I do so love me some Hex.

There’s a new army in town and its name is the Steel Police. Watch the vid for a taste. The 2.3 update also includes support for iPhone 5 and iOS 6 and “improved AI” which I hope isn’t the case because the Hard level kicks my teeth in on a regular basis.

Full Price list is as follows:
Neuroshima Hex $2.99 (normally $4.99)
The Bundle of Five Armies $3,99 (normally 7,99)
New York army $0.99 (normally $1.99)
Neojungle army $0.99 (normally $1.99)
Smart army $0.99 (normally $1.99)
Vegas army $0.99 (normally $1.99)
new Steel Police army $0.99 (normally $1.99)

Worth every penny.

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