GAMES NEWS! 23/09/19

Ava: Welcome to the news, my greedy little fact-hounds. You’ve arrived to find me waist deep in an ethical quagmire. My news-galoshes are brimming with nuanced political mithering. How troubling.

Last week we reported on the alleged union-busting of Kickstarter, and stood in solidarity with the unionised workers. Obviously we still do. But this week sees the biggest glut of exciting-looking kickstarters I’ve seen in months, and it feels cruel to punish the creators of those projects for picking the platform as this skulduggery emerges.

Former Kickstarter worker Clarissa Redwine had a strong twitter thread about the escalation of the fired workers resistance into a federal complaint, and has highlighted that they aren’t asking creators to boycott, and so it follows they aren’t asking potential backers to snub those creators (or asking media folk to steer folk away).

We’ll keep on monitoring the situation, and if you do back any of these tasty looking projects, you may want to think about how you can communicate to Kickstarter your feelings on the situation, and your solidarity with the workers.

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Podcast #97: Meeting Your Shadow Self and Other Excitements

Fans of our award-winning board game podcast should know that the pod-apult is armed and ready. Contained in today’s payload are impressions of the party game Stay Cool (02:45), the excellent Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid (09:01), the frighteningly intense Letter Jam (21:42), the adorable Welcome to Dino World (29:22), the heavy roll’n’write Rome and Roll (38:19) and the world’s first “boxed megagame”, Vampire: The Masquerade – Blood Feud (43:28). Finally, following on from team SU&SD having recently discovered the joy of using pencils to write on paper, we’ve just now learned about BOOKS! Specifically, the book Top 10 Games You Can Play In Your Head, By Yourself (49:35). Enjoy, everybody.

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Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid

Power Rangers: Heroes of the Grid gives each player the chance to take the role of a Power Ranger, the heroes of Angel Grove who defend the earth against the evil Rita Repulsa and her nefarious minions. Each Ranger comes with a unique combat deck representing their special skills and fighting style. From the Red Ranger’s leadership karate skills, to the Yellow Ranger’s Sabertooth ferocity, to the Blue Ranger’s tactical mind, each ranger brings a unique set of skills to the table. You need to use your powers well if you intend to save Angel Grove!

In each game, you need to protect four combat zones that are being targeted by the evil Rita Repulsa. Each round, enemy forces deploy onto these zones and cause chaos among the populace. Who knows what sort of strange monsters Rita has cooked up for the Rangers this time?

During play, Rangers must manage their actions and coordinate their defenses, moving to the locations under the most threat and doing battle with enemies. Finding time to rest and recover between engagements as they prepare to defeat the mastermind behind this plot.

During battle, each Ranger and each enemy in the location participate in the combat sequence. Enemy cards represent enemy actions and health. Rangers can attack these cards to disrupt their attacks. Each minion card the rangers defeat removes one minion figure from that location. Monsters are much deadlier foes with a variety of special attacks that you’ll need to deal with and defeat before you send them packing! A Ranger’s combat deck represents their health, with each card played and blow sustained slowly whittling away at their options. They’ll need to find time to rest or power-up at the Command Center if they want to stay fresh for the next fight!

As the Rangers defeat enemies and progress through the game, they’ll unlock Zord cards which provide them unique abilities and special actions they can perform. Eventually they’ll be able to unleash the full power of the mighty Megazord!

Each game reaches its climax with a confrontation with the enemy Master, a devastatingly powerful foe who must be thwarted if the Rangers wish to save the city! Do you have what it takes?

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Games News! 20/08/18

Paul: What’s that in the sky, soaring above us?! Is it a bird? A plane? Is it the GAMES NEWS, descending down upon us to… No, it is a bird. Oh no. It’s dead. Quinns, the bird is dead.

Quinns: That’s OK, I was just on my way to bury this copy of Risk. We’ll pop the bird in the box.

Paul: OK, but hurry back! There’s a news story in the Games News’ news about the Dune games that will soon be news?

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