Review: Dog Eat Dog

Review: dog eat dog

Brendan: Dog Eat Dog is one of those rare games we come across that do not necessarily have ‘fun’ as the end goal but, like Freedom: The Underground Railroad, try to impart some wisdom on their way through your life. It is thoughtful and intelligent and just a little uncomfortable. It’s a game with a point to make and it makes it worryingly well. If I were to describe it using SUSD’s internal style guide, “Rulez, Regulationz and Ztuff” I would call it an indie RPG about the colonisation of an island and the resultant back ‘n’ forth between ‘native’ and ‘occupier’. But since I already burned my style guide when it suggested I use ‘paragraphz’, I will have to settle for this description:

Dog Eat Dog should be taught in schools.

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The Magic Position

The Magic Position

Quinns: Morning everybody! This week the entire board game industry is rammed into Essen’s convention centre, so the only news story we have is of a new collectible Magic: The Gathering board game! It looks an awful lot like Heroscape but less interesting. Mike said it best: “Monochromatic miniatures, poor terrain, and absolutely no chance that a dinosaur will eat a robot while an army man watches.”

If you’re interested in the details then Board Game Geek has already uploaded a comprehensive Essen preview video, but I’m unconvinced. I want to revisit Magic: The Gathering like I want to revisit puberty.

Speaking of which, as we don’t have any more news this week why don’t I share my sad story of playing Magic when I was a kid? Take a seat. Or if you’re at work, slide your wheely chair a little closer to your PC, creating a calming snugness between your thighs and your desk. It’s almost like being in bed.

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Black Fleet

Black Fleet

Pirates, merchants, and even the occasional captain of a Navy ship all seek glory and fortune on the Caribbean seas!

In the easy-to-play, tactical card-driven board game Black Fleet, you’re in command of three different types of ships: your merchant ship earns you doubloons by conveying goods from one port to another, your pirate ship by attacking and stealing goods from merchants and burying them on islands, and the Navy ships by sinking your opponents’ pirate ships. With your (not-always-honestly-won) money, you’ll improve your ships by buying advancement cards, giving you powerful additional abilities.

Outwit your opponents with fortune cards and combos, earn money faster than they do, and pay the ransom for the governor’s daughter to win the game!

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Zombie 15′

Zombie 15'

15 Minutes to Survive! Zombie 15’ is a new, innovative, frantic game in which players try to defeat zombies… and time! In a world where everyone above 18 has turn into blood- thirsty, flesh-hungry zombies, most youngsters unfortunately served as meat to quell their elder’s appetite… As a little group of survivors, you must unite and cooperate to escape the relentless horde of undead.

Run across town to find shelter or food, hold a strategic position, meet with new survivors and discover the truth about this terrible and mysterious disease!

Easy rules but real choices, to be made as quick as possible if you don’t want to get overwhelmed by zombies!

A team of 15-year-old teenagers, a 15-minute soundtrack to give each game its tempo, a 15-scenario, progressive campaign, and much more than just 15 zombies…

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Subdivision

Subdivision

Subdivision mimics the city-building feel of Bézier Games’ Suburbia, but differs in scope as now each player has been allocated a specific area in which to create the best possible subdivision, filling it with residential, commercial, industrial, civic, and luxury zones, while balancing various improvements to the area, including roads, schools, parks, sidewalks, and lakes. By the end of the game, each player will have created a unique, custom neighborhood with areas that interact with each other, hoping to outscore the competition by having the best subdivision.

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Sheriff of Nottingham

Sheriff of Nottingham

The Sheriff of Nottingham is a fun and engaging game for all where each player will have the chance to step into the shoes of the Sheriff himself! Other players, acting as Merchants will attempt to bring their goods into the city for profit. Beware though, while many may act as honest merchants, there is always the possibility of contraband being smuggled into the city!

Experience Nottingham in a whole new way! Declare your goods, deal with the Sheriff and secure victory in a fun-filled and exciting adventure!

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Dog Eat Dog

Dog Eat Dog

Dog Eat Dog is a game of colonialism and its consequences. As a group, you work together to describe one of the hundreds of small islands in the Pacific Ocean, defining the customs of the natives and the mores of the outsiders arriving to claim it. One player then assumes the role of the Occupation force, playing their capable military, their quisling government, and whatever jaded tourists and shrewd businessmen are interested in a not quite pacified territory. All the others play individual Natives, each trying in their own ways to come to terms with the new regime. The game begins when the war ends. Through a series of scenes, you play out the inevitably conflicted relationship between the two parties, deciding what the colonizers do to maintain control, which natives assimilate and which run amok, and who ends up owning the island in the end. The game will come in the form of a book, with the full rules, author’s notes that explain the design process, and a brief historical overview of colonization in the Pacific.

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Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

Dungeons & Dragons (5th Edition)

The first Dungeons & Dragons game was played back when Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson chose to personalize the massive battles of their fantasy wargames with the exploits of individual heroes. This inspiration became the first fantasy roleplaying game, in which players are characters in an ongoing fantasy story. This new kind of game has become immensely popular over the years, and D&D has grown to include many new ways to vividly experience worlds of heroic fantasy.

The core of D&D is storytelling. You and your friends tell a story together, guiding your heroes through quests for treasure, battles with deadly foes, daring rescues, courtly intrigue, and much more. You can also explore the world of Dungeons & Dragons through any of the novels written by its fantasy authors, as well as engaging board games and immersive video games. All of these stories are part of D&D.

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Podcast #22: The OctoberCast

Halloween is upon us! That wonderful time of the year where bumps are forcibly inserted into the night, and we can bookend our podcast with creaky door sound effects. In this horrifying installment we discuss the gore-flecked teenagers of Zombie 15′, the forbidden pouches of Sheriff of Nottingham, the… uh… terrifying suburbs and sidewalks of … Read more

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