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Games News! 21/10/13

Paul: Ah yes, the games news chair. Easier to slip into than I first thought and… still warm? OH HELLO, I didn’t see you all there. Come in. Have some linguini.

Things are a little bit quieter on the games news front this week, no doubt because the industry as a whole is taking a deep breath and preparing to exhale all its most exciting announcements at Spiel 2013, that grandest of board gaming fairs, only four days hence. Still, I’ve spent my day grabbing every publisher in turn and shaking them until something exciting fell out. Here’s what I picked up off the floor. A respectful nod must also be given to both the exhaustive BGG News blog and also the fine Meople’s Magazine, both of whom we’ve turned to for help with our news.

So, let’s start with a very nice story indeed.

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra is a two-player game based on the Mr. Jack game system – that is, the game is an asymmetric affair in which one player wants to reveal which suspect token on the game board represents the opponent, with both players taking turns moving all of the suspects to alternately reveal and hide information. That said, the game differs in a number of ways from Mr. Jack. In more detail…

In Le Fantôme de l’Opéra, eight suspect tokens stand in the ten rooms of the Opéra Garnier. Each suspect has a reason to drive the opera singer La Carlotta away from the production, and at the start of the game one of the suspects is randomly determined to be the true identity of the Phantom player. The other player is the Investigator, and he wants to discover the Phantom’s identity; if he does so before La Carlotta flees the Opéra Garnier, then he wins. Otherwise, he loses. (To balance play between newcomers and experience players La Carlotta’s starting position can changed.)

Get ready to enter the poor and dreary Whitechapel district in London 1888 – the scene of the mysterious Jack the Ripper murders – with its crowded and smelly alleys, hawkers, shouting merchants, dirty children covered in rags who run through the crowd and beg for money, and prostitutes – called “the wretched” – on every street corner.

The board game Letters from Whitechapel, which plays in 90-150 minutes, takes the players right there. One player plays Jack the Ripper, and his goal is to take five victims before being caught. The other players are police detectives who must cooperate to catch Jack the Ripper before the end of the game. The game board represents the Whitechapel area at the time of Jack the Ripper and is marked with 199 numbered circles linked together by dotted lines. During play, Jack the Ripper, the Policemen, and the Wretched are moved along the dotted lines that represent Whitechapel’s streets. Jack the Ripper moves stealthily between numbered circles, while policemen move on their patrols between crossings, and the Wretched wander alone between the numbered circles.

Halloween is close, now. Can you feel it? The sticky breath on the back of your neck? The bony hand on your thigh when all the lights are out? Getting higher… and higher…

Following on from Matt’s suggestion of Werewolf last week, Paul and Quinns are offering a couple more creepy gaming suggestions. Including one board game of a real life monster.

Happy Halloween, everybody. Stay safe.

DreadBall: The Futuristic Sports Game is the hyper-kinetic sci-fi sports game of unparalleled speed and ferocity – a fast, fun and tactical miniature sports board game written by Jake Thornton and created by Mantic Games.

Two coaches compete for victory with teams of beautiful miniatures on a stunning sci-fi pitch. The game is easy to learn, yet challenging, with carefully orchestrated plays and counter attacks hinging on positioning and the mercy of the dice gods.

Created by the finest sculptors, artists and game designers, DreadBall: The Futuristic Sports Game is the first in a series of visually stunning sci-fi sports games, to be supported with expansions introducing new teams and exciting new game play, building on the already impressive 84-page full-colour A4 rulebook.

[Everybody, please give a warm welcome to Matt Drake of stellar review site Drake’s Flames. Matt’s going to be dropping by from time to time with reviews of giddier board games than we usually cover- think miniatures, dice and prolonged whooping.

In other words, it’s his job to make sure SU&SD doesn’t disappear up its own bottom. Take it away, Matt!]

In the future, sporting events will be part displays of athletic prowess and part gladiator death matches. You will be able to watch your favorite player dodge past the defense to score a magnificent shot on the goal, and then you can watch your OTHER favorite player grab that first guy by the scrotum and throw him like a frisbee. This sport of the future will be called DreadBall, and it will be awesome.

Quinns: Morning, everbody! Are you well? You will be after reading this week’s instalment of the news, featuring no less than SIX games, every one of which sets my table-gaming soul quivering like a jelly. As always, our news is hand-stolen mostly from the excellent BGG News blog, as well as Meople’s Magazine. A fine internet periodical.

Let’s kick off with the story that Quantum (above) will be arriving in shops very, very soon. What we have here is an elegant-sounding sci-fi game where every die is one player’s ship, and the number of pips it shows is its speed, power and building ability. Very slick! And Fun Forge have draped the thing in lip-smacking artwork.

Your quiet little 16th century village has suddenly become infested with some very unfriendly werewolves…can you and the other villagers find them before they devour everyone?

Ultimate Werewolf: Ultimate Edition is the ultimate party game for anywhere from 5 to 68 players of all ages. Each player has an agenda: as a villager, hunt down the werewolves; as a werewolf, convince the other villagers that you’re innocent, while secretly dining on those same villagers each night. Dozens of special roles are available to help both the villagers and the werewolves achieve their goals while thwarting their opponents.

Kotaku Article: Top 5 Friendships-Ruiners

Quinns: This month I gave Kotaku a powerful gift. The top 5 board games to play if you want to leave your friendships as cold and laced with poison as old scorpion shells. It starts like this…

“One piece of trivia orbits modern board gaming like a dark, sexy star. Someone who doesn’t really play them will always have heard from their friend, who heard it from another friend, that something like Game of Thrones or Battlestar Galactica is mean it ruins friendships.

“But Game of Thrones? Battlestar Galactica? These are games where the backstabbing and twists of the knife are expected. If you really want to test your friendships, these are the games you should be playing.”

…and rapidly moves on to the five games I think should be handled with care. I’d recommend you all go and peruse my warnings, before it’s too late.

The Opener: Ultimate Werewolf & Chilli Con Carne

With Halloween just around the corner (or, as we call it here in England, “All Hallow’s Ween”), we’re very proud to present part 1 of our spooktacular gaming suggestions! Neatly reviewed in time for you to place and receive your order in time for the sexiest night of the year. Or was that Pancake Tuesday?

Anyway, to begin with, what could be simpler, safer or spookier than an evening of Ultimate Werewolf? Just you, a big pot of chilli, and between 4 and 60 of your closest friends.

Games News! 21/10/13

Le Fantôme de l’Opéra

Letters from Whitechapel

The Halloween Special, 2013

DreadBall

Review: DreadBall

Games News! 14/10/13

Ultimate Werewolf

Kotaku Article: Top 5 Friendships-Ruiners

The Opener: Ultimate Werewolf & Chilli Con Carne

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