Triple Review: H.M.S. Dolores, Millions of Dollars AND Gentleman’s Deal!
At the time of writing H.M.S. Dolores looks like it has some European stock availability, but Millions of Dollars and Gentleman's Deal aren't yet broadly available for purchase. If you want these games and can't find them, simply call your friendly local game shop (or your friendly regional game shop) and put in an order.
A Hot Time in Texas: Paul’s very particular picks of BGGCon
GAMES NEWS! 20/11/16
Fantasy Flight has announced the next big box expansion for the superb Android: Netrunner, and it's Netrunner Legacy.
The copywriting on the announcement page for Netrunner: Terminal Directive is a bit of a nightmare, but basically anyone who owns a Netrunner core set and the Terminal Directive expansion will be able to play through a narrative campaign of runners vs. corporations. Sealed packs of never-before-seen cards will be opened one after another as a cyberpunk murder mystery plays out, and players will apply new stickers to their faction's sheet as they win or lose games.
Going into this expansion blind sounds like a delight. Not only do you get the surprise of adding brand new cards to your deck, you then get to surprise your opponent as you unleash them mid-game!
Review: Vinhos Deluxe Edition
It takes a lot to excite me these days, but Vinhos Deluxe Edition managed it. Contained in this box is nothing less than a torrent of beautifully-illustrated tokens, a board that’s positively threatening in scale, and a fat, clean manual written with wit. It even has nice fonts! In a board game!
But it takes very little to make me nervous, and Vinhos Deluxe did that too. The rules that make sense, like buying vineyards or aging wines, contrast fiercely with the more arcane regions of the board, where players claim score multipliers or manoeuvre their action-selectors.
Any inference you want to draw from the header image of this article is correct. This game’s a beast to play, it’s tougher to teach, and it’s even harder to review.
Obviously, I couldn’t be more excited.
Podcast #49: A Dream Home and an Ill Moon
Games discussed in this cast include the bucolic visions of Dream Home and Cottage Garden. We've got two spritely deck-building games, Harry Potter: Hogwarts Battle and Aeon's End. We've also got two interesting spins on existing classics, 4 Gods being a wild interpretation of Carcassonne, and Mythos Tales as a Lovecraftian sequel to Consulting Detective.
Enjoy, everybody. And credit to Peter Dringautzki for the podcast image, with his beautiful photo of Cottage Garden!
GAMES NEWS! 14/11/16
ALSO I guess I found a scratch and sniff board game and now I feel funny. Let me tell you about The Perfumer.
Review: Conan
If you will it, we now have a selection of associated retailers who are more than happy to take your pre-order! And huge thanks to Vancouver's Valkyrie Western Martial Arts gym for their support. If you're in Vancouver why not try a class?
Have a great weekend, everybody. Do it for Crom.
Review: Both of Cash ‘n Guns’ expansions!
And so! Here's a brief explanation of the base game in case you're unfamiliar: Cash 'n Guns is a party game about dividing the loot from a heist. You all play one of the ne'er-do-wells involved in the heist, each armed with a foam weapon, and you're trying to end up with the most loot. Every round loot cards are dealt onto the table, the players pick a live or fake bullet which they play face down, and then point their foam gun at another player. They then have the choice to duck out of the round, avoiding injury but missing out on loot or staying in and risking injury but also potentially being part of the loot-sharing. There's also a godfather role which can move around between players and does things like giving that player the ability to tell someone to shoot at someone else.
You can imagine that the foam guns help with the role-play and people get really into the theatricality, pretending they're in Reservoir Dogs or attempting accents. (I don't do accents because I know my limits. Cockney ends up somewhere in the West Country, Welsh is somewhere between Indian and Northern Irish, and Russian is some kind of pan-European road trip as the sentence goes along.)
GAMES NEWS! 07/11/16
Quinns: paul why are you welcoming me i am always here-
Paul: I was welcoming them! Our readers! Quick, let’s get going, I’m writing my parts of this in a café that’s playing weird dance music at 1pm. I don’t know why it wants to be a club, but also a place that serves French toast. Anyway MONSTERHEARTS 2.
Quinns: HERE COMES MONSTERHEARTS 2!
🎵 Let’s have awkward sex again, like we did last summer 🎶
Review: Alchemists
Paul: Quinns, it’s okay. You can confess and be absolved. Our world is one that still has room for forgiveness. Come and tell-
Quinns: I might have accidentally fed one of my students a pint of poison.
Paul: Ah. It’s all right. You’re not the first person-
Quinns: Also I misled an adventurer and sold them a flask of soup instead of a healing potion, then I published an academic theory that I knew was a lie.
Paul: Right yes well. The thing is-
Quinns: But worst of all, I forgot how funny Czech Games’ board games can be.
Paul: Quinns, I am so excited to write this review that I have got cracker crumbs all over my keyboard. Let’s go.








