From the minds of the Alderac Entertainment Group (AEG) comes Thunderstone, a member of the card game/board game hybird genre that’s been gathering steam for the past couple of years. Moe and I talked a good deal about this game on the latest episode of Drunken Gamers Radio and you can feel free to check out our thoughts on the game there. However, I wanted to make sure that you all could read some more details on the game as well as check out some of the video that explains this very fun game in a visual way.

For starters, here’s that video review from the www.boardtodeath.tv website that Moe and I were referencing on the podcast this week. Check it out for a nice overview of the game as well as a look at the visual set up of the cards:

What I find interesting about this style of game is how much it takes what I always hated about the CCG craze of the late 1990′s (the immense cost) and makes a very compelling game out of a simply 300 card base set. Other games, such as the fantastic Dominion, have done this as well and I think it’s a nice compromise between the static board game and CCG. While I miss the excitement of getting that rare kick ass card and the way a CCG could spin the gameworld on it’s head with a new expansion, I don’t miss the hundreds of dollars sucked out of my wallet.

Another thing we didn’t mention on the podcast was just how fantastic the artwork is on these cards. While it makes no real difference in how the game plays, I would be lying if said such things didn’t matter to me. The honest truth is that the artwork on the cards really helps set the vibe of the world of any game and if it sucks, I’m far less likely to take the game seriously. Lame, I know, but true.

It should also be mentioned that Thunderstone has two expansions that are out currently, which Moe and I didn’t have a chance to play. The first is called Wrath of the Elements and introduces some new gameplay elements, namely a bad ass Guardian Lord. This particular card makes it’s way OUT of the dungeon (past Level 1 and to a newly introduced Level 0) where it sits and destroys cards out of your hands until defeated. The next expansion is named Doomgate Legion and features a new den of cultists that, along with the monsters normally found in the dungeon, attacks the heroes. However, the Heroes are aided by the newly introduced Mercenaries that are now part of the Village. Lastly, in February, the latest big box expansion is set to hit, named Dragonspire. This stand alone expansion which seems to be set to introduce a bunch of new concepts, including a Dungeon Board and all new characters.

One more reason why Thunderstone and it’s card game brethren are doing it right is that each expansion can be played alone or with the core set. No set of cards is wasted and that makes each particular set its own “story” that can be connected to the full game if you want. I like this idea as it makes the game a much more interesting game. Do you only want to fight the cultists from the second expansion? Fine, simply use those cards. Do you like certain monster sets and not others? They can be mixed into the game and others left out with little penalty to the game. This gives Thunderstone the potential to not only be a completely new experience each time you play but a one that can be tailored to your likes and dislikes without breaking the game.

Find more information on Thunderstone at AEG’s website here. Or simply go and buy yourself a copy by clicking this link: Thunderstone (AEG) Board Game.

I have only a passing knowledge of the geek god of madness, Cthulhu. I know he’s some sort of HP Lovecraft character and that he’s in every geek game known to man but I’ve never really delved deep into the mythos. With that said, I’ve been more than a little interested in some of the card/board games that have featured the squid faced character that seems to have grabbed the hearts and minds of nerds everywhere.

When Wil Wheaton mentioned on Twitter that Cthulhu Dice was slowly becoming one of his favorite dice games, I took note. Having played very few stand alone dice games, I didn’t really know what to expect but I have been in the mood for something fast paced and fun. What I found was exactly that and in a low cost package to boot.

Created by the ever popular Steve Jackson Games company, Cthulhu Dice comes with a rather large, custom 12-sided die with various symbols on it. This die can be found in a variety of colors, from black to green and shades in-between. It also comes with 18 stones that represent “sanity”. A small fold up rule sheet is also included and it’s all stored in a plastic zip lock bag.

The game is pretty simple. Made for at least 3 folks (although 2 can play an augmented version of the game just fine), each player gets four sanity tokens. The main idea is that everyone is a Cthulhu cultist and each of the players roles the die in order to curse another player of their choice. The various symbols on the die cause players to lose tokens to their opponent, to Cthulhu (repersented by the empty space in the middle of the players, or gain tokens. The last player with any sanity (tokens) left after any turn is the winner.

It’s a very simple with clear rules and the game plays very fast. I like the fact that a clear winner is determined fairly quickly but the game lasts long enough for everyone to feel like they’ve had a chance to play. Another great thing about Cthulhu Dice is that everyone keeps playing right up until the end. Even if a player has no tokens left, they can still attack other players and even earn tokens back with a good die roll. This keeps everyone engaged throughout the play session.

The game can also be played with two players. The game allows for each player to hold two sets of tokens, representing a total of four players in the game. Each player then controls two “teams” and everything proceeds as normal.

Overall, this is a hard one to pass up. It’s fun, easy and fast. Best of all, it checks in at a $5.00 price point. If you’re in the mood for a good party or family game, this one’s for you. Go get it.

I saw this game tonight at a Barnes & Noble as I was searching for culinary inspiration… then I looked a little closer and thought to myself, “This is why labels are problematic.” Now, I’m not one to judge, but I just don’t think there’s a need for name-calling. Unless I don’t like you.

I was at PAX East over the weekend and good times were had by all. MC Wilson has some delightful pajamas, and I may or may not have made out with some of the L4D2 crew. Conjecture abounds.

All of that aside, there were a number of games and tabletop insanity going on at the Boston Convention Center. Here’s some stuff I played and what I thought about it:

Shank: If I was going to pick a game of show, I think this might be it. You’ve got knives, guns, a chainsaw, and some grenades. Your goal is to make a whole bunch of dudes real real dead. That’s pretty much all you need to know going into the game. The combo system is surprisingly deep, and I really hope the game gives you an opportunity to master it. Also, chainsawing dudes is really, really fun.

Breach: Ok, let’s just pretend that the ten minute speech about how this game is “real warfare” didn’t happen. Breach is a team-based multiplayer shooter with persistent experience rewards, fully splodable environments, and some pretty environments. It’s also coming to XBLA for $15. For that price I’ll definitely go for a moderny 1943.

Monday Night Combat: Hey, remember DOTA (Defense of the Ancients)? What if it had a love child with Unreal Tournament? You’d get this thing. Playtime was limited for me, but it looks like something that I’d enjoy. It has a fantastic cartoony feel and plays crazy arcadey. I’ll be interested to see more stuff about this.

I’m going to wreck your shit. Scrabble-style.

I have occasionally gushed about my favorite iPhone applications. A new one has taken hold, with great fervor. It is called Words with Friends.

Words with Friends is Scrabble, with enough small alterations made to avoid a lawsuit. Here’s why it’s awesome on the iPhone. It has a perfectly functional touchscreen interface that zooms out to show the entire board, and it has full-function online multiplayer with (text) chat that works over 3G. Which means I can taunt you shortly after scoring fifty-three points on my first turn.

And I will.

The 3G play and the relaxed timing of the game (you can swap turns and play as you want. Take ten seconds or twenty-four hours between turns) is fantastic, and you can keep twenty games going at a time to make sure you always have a turn ready. The game does do push notifications by default, so turn those off or kiss your battery life goodbye.

In addition to melding with your Twitter/Facebook should you desire, Words with Friends (or arch-nemesises…nemeses? nemesi?…enemies) allows you to create a game with a specific user. Which means that you can search out “Phneri” and watch haplessly as I obliterate your paltry attempts at verbal assaults with what can only be described as a literary crossword masterpiece. You will gaze upon perfection, and weep at the beautiful and terrible…word thingy I have placed before you.

And thus my challenged is issued. Face me in a Scrabble-like game if you dare, and should some brave soul vanquish me in word-based combat, I’ll send them a chicken sandwich or something *

So yeah, hit me up for some crossword-style board game nonsense. There’s also a chess version I may look into. Both are free (if you can tolerate annoying advertising every three turns), but the paid version of Scrabble this unlicensed and therefore lawsuit-free crossword game is $3.00. Highly recommended for board game nerds like me.

*the actual existence of any sandwich-based prize is dubious at best.

2009 has been a pretty big year for The Beatles. Not only did they issue amazingly remastered versions of all their albums, they introduced a whole new audience to their music through The Beatles Rock Band. Right around that same time, they quietly released a game of a different sort: The Beatles Trivial Pursuit, the perfect game for uber fans of the Fab Four…like myself.

Put out by USAopoly, the game follows the standard conventions of Trivial Pursuit, with a few Beatles touches. For example, there are different “zones” a player can land on, such as the “Come Together Zone”. If a player lands in this zone, any other player can enter a showdown where the first person to answer correctly wins the wedge. The “All You Need is Love Zone” allows the player to choose an easy question, no matter what the die gives them. The “Get Back Zone” gives a player the ability to move any other player to any other space on the board. And finally, the biggie. The “Ticket to Ride Zone” gives players a free wedge of their choosing.

The Beatles Trivial Pursuit contains nearly 2,600 questions of varying difficulty. The categories include history, songs, albums & singles, movies, the Beatles in America, on their own (solo careers). The questions can be tough for the casual Beatles fan, but not enough to completely exclude those who aren’t Beatles historians. Questions range from their early days playing in Hamburg to borderline absurd questions about what model of car they drove while on a particular acid trip. (Tip: Mini). But there are enough obvious questions peppered in to keep everyone involved.

The board and pieces are fairly well-made, though I would have appreciated a bit more high-end treatment. You won’t find any metal-cast figures of John, Paul, George, or Ringo as everything here is plastic and fairly cheap. Fortunately, the questions are enjoyable enough and the Beatles-specific Zones are enough to make the $35 package worth it for Beatles fanatics.

Click here to buy.

You may have heard us talk about this awesome board game on Drunken Gamers Radio, or maybe the name sounds familiar to you from the recent news that the game was being translated to both XBLA and the PSN. Either way, it seems that every year, some new and awesome expansion is released for the game from it’s creators, Twilight Creations.

For those not in the know, the game Zombies!!! features a set of tiles that are placed randomly by players to create a gameboard. The board is filled with zombies and players are tasked with getting to he helicopter pad before being killed. Players are allowed to add zombies to the board and play cards in order to screw the other players and make sure only one gets to freedom first. Kind of like the anti Left 4 Dead mentality of zombie survival. Very much every man for himself. It’s a lot of fun and the game has only gotten better with different add on packs that add cool new locations and items. For instance, one of the earlier expansions added a mall so that you can more accurately play through a twisted version of Dawn of the Dead.

The latest, and 8th in the series so far, is called Jailbreak and starts you in a mental ward. From there, it just gets worse as the zombies invade and you have to get your crazy ass to freedom. Highlights of the expansion include 15 more map tiles, 30 new cards and a new “dodge” mechanic to help you survive the zombies in your quest to survive. The cost is $15.00 and is set to go on sale soon!

Check out the website for more information at Twilight Creations Inc.

So I received a gift of awesome recently, in board game form.  What makes this game so awesome, you ask? Well, zombies, of course.  But not just zombies.  Zombies in a mall.

Zombies in the Monroeville Mall.

The premise of the game is as follows: You have an intrepid band of survivors fleeing the zombie holocaust, as does every other player.  Your team consists of the heavy (a big guy who can lift heavy things and grunt), a guy with a gun (being a guy…with a gun…) and a worthless blonde trollop who attracts zombies like Moe to a pile of Little Debbie snack cakes and Rogain.

Yeah, I went there.

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Mad scientists, doomsday devices, minions, money laundering, and theatrical costumes.  Mwahahaha is a game that takes the best parts about being a Bond villain and packs them up neatly into a casual escapist experience.  Not to mention, you sound like a complete fool when speaking it’s name aloud.  Go on, walk into your nearest game store and ask if they carry Mwahahaha.  Everyone’s doing it. (more…)

Attack!  Try screaming it!  ATTACK!  Feels good, doesn’t it?  If the title doesn’t grab you, then there’s no point in reading any further… but I was immediately hooked.  After all, if I had ever made a game, this would have been its name.  And it ends with an exclamation point, so you KNOW it’s going be exciting!  Oh well…

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