Gameology Blog - Gamer's Hub Online
𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗛𝗼𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗛𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗻 🎃👻
October is finally upon us and you know what that means… It’s time for all the cafes in your area to start selling 🎃Pumpkin Spice Lattes🎃! Why 🎃Pumpkin Spice Lattes🎃 you ask? HALLOWEEN OF COURSE!!! (Also because who doesn't love warm hot goodness in a mug?!) Gather your friends, dress up like ghosts, ghouls and other weird and wacky things, get the fun size Chocolate Bars out and look at playing these 5 games from the comfort of your own home! (Caution: for those with weak bladders, seat them closest to the bathroom!) 1) Nemesis Lockdown Atmospheric and deeply thematic, this semi-cooperative board game places you as a crew member on a spaceship infested with grotesque, hostile aliens. Great, nothing like hostile aliens to make Halloween more fitting! In the vein of survival horror videogames or film classic Alien, playing Nemesis Lockdown (the first Standalone Expansion for the amazing first game Nemesis) fills you with tension and distrust as you perch on the edge of your seat, fearful an alien might ambush you out of the shadows. But are the aliens really the ones you should be worrying about? Each person will play as a unique character with their own skills, equipment and most crucially, a secret objective. Does your best friend really want you to get out of this ship alive? Or have they been plotting to leave you to die to an alien this whole time? With new expansion and even a Dr Who Spinoff, you'll be playing this until next Halloween! You’ve heard of stage presence—this game has table presence. With its variety of intricately detailed miniatures and its dark, shadowy board, just setting up this game will give you chills. (Even looking at the box makes me uneasy but I’m a baby). Dim the lights, bust out the fog machine and be ready to star in your own Alien movie, because Nemesis Lockdown is tension in a box - click here to view this game! 2) Arkham Horror: The Card Game Get your investigator costumes ready! Looking for a horror game with horror in the title? Look no further then the amazing LCG Arkham Horror The Card Game! If you're a big fan of Deck Builders such as Magic the Gathering and YuGiOh but don't want to keep purchasing different cards when new sets drop, this is the game for you! (Best for 2 but add another core game to play up to 4 players) With a blend of role-playing and traditional card games, you will take on the role of an investigator in the mysterious town of Arkham. Encounter terrifying Lovecraftian mysteries (Think Cthulhu and crazier!) while you play to the strengths of your unique character while grappling with their inner flaws. Thanks to its countless expansions and packs, this infinitely replayable game has the potential to be a core piece in your collection, for monsters and madness that you can play all year round! Click here to view this masterpiece of a game! 3) Betrayal at the House on the Hill Are you missing haunted houses because they keep being demolished? Well, I’ve got a house for you—except it’s actually a board game...and it also comes with a side of betrayal - tasty! Players take on the role of one of six possible characters and explore a haunted mansion, full of 👻ghosts👻 and dark omens, until one of the group secretly betrays everyone. (It's normally the people we don't think it is......but then we know it's them......but when it's not, it just makes the game way more trickier!) (I think you'll need more than a flashlight in this game!🔦) Before Betrayal at the House on the Hill even begins, players will get to design their own haunted mansion using room tiles or build them from scenarios in the book, meaning each game, you and your friends (or family, it's Halloween in the end) will explore a totally new spooky lay-out. If you can get past its mouthful of a title, Betrayal at the House on the Hill is lighter than our previous two entries, while still retaining that spooky atmosphere. Accommodating 3-6 players at a runtime of around one hour (bit longer for first playthrough), this is the perfect Halloween board game for your more reluctant players—or anyone looking for something simpler, but just as spooky - click here to view this spooktacular game! For those Dungeons and Dragons players who want a spooky experience, click here for a version of this game based in BALDURS GATE! 4) Aliens Another Glorious Day in the Corps Wait a minute — isn't this just the same as #1 on the list but actually the theme you wanted it to be? (I know, I know. It's just this game is a huge throwback to one of the best 👾Alien-Like👾 movies of all time!) "In space no one can hear you scream" is the iconic tagline of Ridley Scott's Alien. (Sounds like a challenge Mr Scott!) With the other games on this list, they are all co-operative until a certain point, where as Aliens Another Glorious Day in the Corps is co-op from the get go! You and your friends will take the roll of a specialist Colonial Marine who need to gear up with serious firepower and head into Hadley's Hope to find survivors and answers to why this is all occurring! You will need to work together, keep your cool and stay frosty (but keep warm with your 🎃Pumpkin Spice Lattes🎃!) to fight off relentless Xenomorph ambushes and get out of each scenario alive! With 6 different missions and 2 of them being just being survive missions, it's either kill or be killed! Will you be able to survive the endless waves of Xenomorphs and make it out alive? Will someone in space hear you scream? Click here to find out if you survive! Also, if you really love the Alien universe, they've also started a RPG! Click here to view the RPG Range! This list too spooky? Here is a quick joke to lighten the mood! What do you call an alien with 3 eyes? - An Aliiien! Okay, I'll stop. 5) Psycho Killer A Card Game For Psychos Every single time I say the name of the next game, my brain starts playing the song by Talking Heads on repeat. Sick of Co-Op games? Sick of being the slow one who would get picked off first in a horror movie scenario? Maybe this card game is the game for you! Enter Psycho Killer - A Card Game For Psychos! In Psycho Killer - A Card Game For Psychos, each player is trying to escape from the evil psycho killer (count the amount of times I use the words Psycho and Killer in this entry!) and their vast array of 🗡️weapons🔫 and to be the last one standing! Whoever is bravest will start the game by drawing the first card and whenever a "Psycho Killer" card has been revealed, whoever is holding weapons will take damage (so it's best to pass your cards around so you're not holding them when the Psycho Killer card is played!) The winner is the player with the least amount of injury points and they are the only player to escape the Psycho Killers! Click here to view this Psycho game! Buying Guide In summary, if you’re looking for... A amazing warm cup of goodness? Any cafe around the 31st of October. A thematic experience full of tension? Nemesis Lockdown. A card game with tons of twists? Arkham Horror: The Card Game A thematic experience that doesn’t take 3 hours? Betrayal at the House on the Hill. Something cooperative and story-driven? Aliens Another Glorious Day in the Corps. Halloween-lite and buddy fight? Psycho Killer A Card Game For Psychos. And there we have it! Our top 5 horror board games for Halloween! What do you think? Did we miss anything? Count how many times I reference those tasty Lattes? Let us know in the comments below!
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𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝗧𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲! 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗚𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝗕𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗢𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘀🎬
Board games these days can be truly cinematic. There are boards as big as your dining table, coated in beautiful artwork and littered with enough minis to form a real army (or at least a Hollywood one). But what about board games inspired by the silver screen? Though adaptations—between any forms of media—can be hit-or-miss, we’ve compiled our top 5 board games based on movies. 1) War of the Ring BGG RATING - 10 “Your time will come. You will face the same Evil, and you will defeat it.” – Arwen I don’t think I’m allowed to pick favourites, but if I could, I’d tell you that War of the Ring is the best game on this list. War of the Ring is a wargame inspired by the legendary movie franchise, The Lord of the Rings. The playtime is around 3 hours (much like the films themselves). In this grand strategy game, players take on the role of either the Free People or Sauron and must command their armies across all of Middle-Earth. I read somewhere that the word ‘epic’ is widely overused, but I think War of the Ring is a board game that truly deserves it. The grand scale of the battles in the films? You get that same feeling here—all with just a board, some cards, and hordes of plastic minis. I cannot emphasis this enough—you really feel like you’re reliving the films. Best at 2 players, War of the Ring is a head-to-head intense strategy game, and if I, personally, am going to play any movie-inspired game—hell, any wargame in general—I’m going to choose this one. Check out War of The Ring here! 2) Star Wars: Rebellion BGG RATING - 8 “You don’t need to see any Star Trek games…This is the game you’re looking for.” - Obi-Wan (probably) Similar in weight and complexity as our previous game, Star Wars: Rebellion is a space wargame full of all the familiar characters, ships and units from the long-adored Star Wars films. Taking place during the original trilogy, this 2 player game pits the Empire against the Rebels. Where the Empire needs to scour the galaxy for the rebel base and destroy it, the Rebels must survive long enough and strengthen their reputation with the galaxy’s denizens to cause a full-scale revolt. Think of it as a really big strategic game of hide-and-seek. The minis are a feat to be seen in this game. There are over 150 if you can believe it. As the Empire, you get to control legions of TIE Fighters, Stormtroopers, the Death Star, and as the Rebels you get X-wings, Corellian corvettes, T-47 airspeeders, and so many more. Every iconic silhouette from the battle scenes of the films is represented here. Grand and sweeping just like War of the Ring, Star Wars: Rebellion is a cinematic experience fit for a film series of its status. Check out Star Wars Rebellion here! 3) Dune Imperium BGG RATING - 15 “The Mystery Of Life Isn't A Problem To Solve, But A Reality To Experience.” – Jamis Still on that Sci-Fi train? Want to collect some spice? Don’t have enough Solari? Then Dune Imperium is the game for you! Dune Imperium is based off the 2021 film of the same name and places all the player on the planet of Arrakis (Also known as Dune) as Leaders of one of the Great Houses of the Landsraad. Your goal is to defeat your rivals in combat, wield political influence throughout the planet and form alliances with the 4 major factions (Spacing Guild, Bene Gesserit, The Freman and the Emperor). This game has everything from Deck building to resource management to combat! Everyone starts the game with 2 Agents that can be placed around the game board gathering resources while sometimes spending resources to advance your strategy or even gaining reputation/influence with one of the 4 factions. Once all the agents have been moved or everyone has done all the actions they would like in their turn, it goes to the Combat Phase, where the players who have sent their soldiers to the battlefield to fight for glory! If anyone has 10 Victory Points at the end of combat, the game ends! (Different for "Epic Mode") Thrilling and tense, just like the film itself, Dune Imperium is a solid movie-to-board-game adaptation with tons of expansions! (Best played with 4 players and the expansion Rise of Ix) Check out Dune: Imperium here! 4) Die Hard: The Nakatomi Heist "If This Is Their Idea Of Christmas, I Gotta Be Here For New Year's." - Argyle Die Hard, it’s one of the best action flicks of all time but the big question that gets brought up every holiday season “Is Die Hard a Christmas Movie?”. This adaptation of American action classic, Die Hard, uses the same asymmetrical one-vs-many format to pit John McClane against a group of thieves. While John McClane must save the hostages held in the Nakatomi Plaza high-rise, the thieves must cooperate and work together (as many villains struggle to do) to crack a safe and make off with millions. In many other one-vs-many games, the single player is often the villain, so this reversal of roles puts a fresh spin on the genre. One cool thing is that the board literally unfolds as you play. The game is played across three distinct acts and as you progress through them, you unfold the board more and more. If you’re a die-hard Die Hard fan (or just a movie buff), you’ll appreciate this game’s nods and homage to the film’s most memorable scenes and events. Check out Die Hard Nakatomi Heist here! 5) Ghostbusters “We came! We saw! We kicked its ass!” — Peter Venkman Perhaps you’re still annoyed at the 2016 remake of Ghostbusters. If you are, you can relive the (far superior) original 1984 film with its official board game adaptation. Unlike the other games on this list, Ghostbusters is an episodic adventure game where players are tasked with busting ghosts and banishing them back into the Spirit World. Players choose one of the four main characters from the original film and tackle a different pre-written scenario each time they play. The scenarios vary from 30 minutes to 2 hours in playtime, so there’s something suitable for everyone. Each character has their own unique role and unlock more abilities as they level up and gain experience—much like an RPG. With four different characters and heaps of different scenarios, Ghostbusters is highly replayable (in the same way the movie is rewatchable!). With more than 40 plastic minis and artwork based on the original comic book series, this fully cooperative game is perfect for fans of the original film. Check out Ghostbusters here! Buying Guide In summary.... A truly epic wargame where you can relive The Lord of the Rings? War of the Ring. A sweeping game of space hide-and-seek reenacting Star Wars? Star Wars: Rebellion. Gaining favour with the guilds and collecting all the spice? Dune Imperium. Want to quote John McClane all night? Die Hard: The Nakatomi Heist. Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters! (Had to do it!) And there we have it! Our top movie-inspired board games! What do you think? Did we miss anything? What's your favourite game based on a movie? Let us know in the comments below!
5 Games in 2021 That Everyone Should Add To Their Collection
Despite what anyone says 2021 has been as good a year as most for board games. Here are a select few that we think everyone should add to their collection. Dominant Species Marine A game of struggling to be the Dominant Species in the new post ice age world. In Dominant Species: Marine, players take control of one of four major aquatic-based animal classes — reptiles, fish, cephalopod or crustacean all vying for control for habitats and gather victory points. Through area majority, you will collect card affects to propagate your individual species through speciation, migration and adaptation actions, among others. If you were a fan of the original Dominant Species, this iteration seeks to remove some of the math that made the overhead calculations unbearable for some players. If you’re new to the series and don’t mind a game a bit on the heavy side, then this is a must buy. A more streamlined iteration of an already highly rated series makes this a prime addition to any board gamer’s collection. Check it out here. Coffee Traders For those who looked at Dominant Species and thought that wasn’t heavy enough or asked “Where are the coffee beans and farms?” Do not fret, I am here for you. Coffee Traders is an incredibly heavy and complex game of growing and trading fair trade coffee. If that small description didn’t scare you away then you are in for a treat. In Coffee Traders you must work with your competitors to develop the regions you see fit for the best coffee beans while keeping a watchful eye on the market. Construct buildings to help your Fair Trade coffee plantations thrive while enhancing your network for trading coffee. Coffee Traders is gorgeous, thematic and really makes you feel like you’re organizing your books and keeping a watchful eye on the market. The art in this game is the wonderful kind that has 2 purposes. Firstly, it reels you into the game but more importantly it helps to make the game feel lighter and more accessible than it is despite the hard calculations and deep strategy. Check it out here. Fast & Furious Highway Heist Before you scoff at this game, for which I do not blame you, board games or games in general based on movies are notorious for their incredibly poor interpretations. But let me tell you, this is the exception. Fast & Furious Highway Heist comes with 3 scenarios, recommending you play them in order because the complexity really jumps up. The game implements a dice rolling mechanic that isn’t too random but what makes this game great is the stunts. Just like the movies, you are able to pull off the wildest and wackiest manuevers to beat the bad guys. You can have a partner on the roof of your american muscle car while you use a ramp of previously destroyed cars to fly into a helicopter, and then landing safely in front of an enemy truck to start the next round of mayhem. If that isn’t an all-encompassing description of the Fast and Furious franchise then I don’t know what is. Play with your family and you’ll feel you’re in the movies. Check it out here. Marvel United X-Men Designed by Eric M. Lang and Andrea Chiarvesio, Marvel United X-Men is a fast-paced, cooperative game where players take control of Marvel Super Heroes and band together to thwart the master plans of the most dangerous Villains in the Universe. Each Villain unveils their unique master plan, with cards that trigger different effects, and threats that pose challenges across the locations. Heroes must choose carefully the cards to play from their unique decks, that not only offer different actions and superpowers to use, but also combine with the actions of other Heroes to do the impossible. Build your story line, unite your powers, save the day! Check it out here. Arkwright the Card Game In Arkwright the Card Game, players employ workers in their factories to produce and sell goods. The more workers that have a job, the more goods that can be sold - but be prepared for crises and competitors. If you were a fan of the previous Arkwright but thought it was a bit too heavy and complex, then this is a must buy. The game still retains the joys of organizing your factories and improving your shareholdings but in a streamlined (though simplified) process. If you are not familiar with the original game you are in for a great old time of cut throat dealings and undercutting prices. You build your factories and make your goods but be careful the market fluctuates with the general demand, so the demand may be lower than the value of your current good, lowering your profit. Workers must be paid, and machines need regular maintenance, there are many avenues for loss and this game does not hold your hand. If you’re still interested, I could not recommend a game on this list more. Check it out here.
5 New Games To Checkout This Boxing Day
Marvel United X-Men Designed by Eric M. Lang and Andrea Chiarvesio, Marvel United X-Men is a fast-paced, cooperative game where players take control of Marvel Super Heroes and band together to thwart the master plans of the most dangerous Villains in the Universe. Each Villain unveils their unique master plan, with cards that trigger different effects, and threats that pose challenges across the locations. Heroes must choose carefully the cards to play from their unique decks, that not only offer different actions and superpowers to use, but also combine with the actions of other Heroes to do the impossible. Build your story line, unite your powers, save the day! Check it out here. Never Bring a Knife Your gangs been caught out, there’s an undercover cop amongst your ranks and in the middle of a heist no less! As bullets fly, your job is simple but dangerous, find out who’s who and try not to catch a bullet. In Never Bring a Knife, players must figure out or misdirect other players to either keep their cover or keep the gang alive in this light, quick social deduction game. This game provides a new mechanical approach and a breath of fresh air in the social deduction genre. Check it out here Stockpile Epic Edition A Kickstarter Exclusive edition of a great little game of insider trading. The epic edition includes all content ever made for stockpile, that means all expansions in one great, big, exclusive box. Stockpile is a wonderful game in which players take the roles of stock brokers buying and sellign shares in competing companies. But there’s a twist! Each of you sneaky brokers has an in on different companies, when their value is going up and when its going down. Use this information to bluff and cheat your way to fortune. Check it out here Munchkin Cthulhu A must have for Munchkin fans who’ve survived dungeons, kung fu temples, starships, haunted houses, and super-foes. But can you challenge Cthulhu? Munchkin Cthulhu now features evil of the eldritch kind in thise ode to Lovecraft's Mythos and the horror gaming that surrounds it. Munchkin Cthulhu introduces 4 new classes and a lot of monsters! And as usual, this set can be played as a standalone or combined with older sets for an even wackier experience! Check it out here Kingdomino Origins A new addition to the Kingdomino series, Kingdomino Origins introduces the new concept of FIRE! Regions in your territory will now earn points for the presence of this new element in the form of terrain pieces or Volcano dominos! Kingdomino Origins also introduces cavemen tokens, where players will earn points by collecting resources that will allow cavemen to your territory, and each type of caveman has its own way to give you points. A great new addition to this beloved title, Kingdomino Origins is a welcome game in any board gamers collection. Check it out here
How To Paint Minis - A Beginners Guide
1) Where To Begin The very 1st question we get asked is "What should I paint", The short answer is what do you want to paint? Start Simple but have an end goal in mind. Do you want to paint a character for your new DnD campaign? Then browse the Nolzurs/Deepcuts range from wizkids. Do want to play Warhammer with friends or at a club? Then have a look at the Warhammer starter sets for each of the races. Fancy Kickstarter board game that just arrived? Have another look at the wizkids Miniatures and find some compareable figures to practice on. What ever you choose try to make sure it stays relvant to your end goals and that will keep you engaged and motivated. 2) Preparation Assembling a miniature can be quite a challenge in itself as each manufacturer presents its own problems and solutions. Follow the instructions carefully. Always dry fit the parts together with no glue to make sure they fit and you have the right part. Try to use the right glue for the right job, plastic glue for plastic models and super glue for everything else. If unsure always ask. Good sharp tools will make the clean up stage much easier. The best one to invest in first is a good, flat and sharp pair of clippers to remove the parts from the frame. The flat edge will let you cut close to the model with no damage and if the edge is sharp it will cut rather than tear meaning minimal clean up. After cutting from the frame you will often be left with small bumps that can be cleaned off with a sharp knife. Any moulding lines from the casting process should also be removed at this stage. Avoid "sliding" the flat edge of the blade along the model as that can lead to cutting into the part and leaving flat edges where there should be detail or even leaving divot when it should be flat. Rather hold the knife at 90degrees to the edge and gently "scrape" the edge of the blade along the parts in question reducing risk of damage. If your prefer a safer option The "Mould line remover" product does quite a good job and is significantly safer. Even properly assembled Miniatures can sometimes have gaps in between parts. There are multiple "plastic putty" products available to fix this. Simply water down some with clean water on a palette and use a brush some into the gaps and wipe away excess with a tissue or just your finger. In a pinch even heavily watered down PVA glue will do. Remember to clean your brush thoroughly. Priming a figure to paint is a simple step, most paint ranges include spray can primers in a variety of colours. The colour you choose will ideally be based on the final product, however it can get expensive buying multiple cans. A medium grey colour will work well for many paint schemes. When using a spray can never directly spray the figure as that can pool the paint and fill in some of the details. You want to aim for as thin a coat as possible so start the spray to one side and use a left to right motion waving it over the models. If you are priming more than one model you can blue tack them to a box and spray them all at the same time. Make sure you try to get as much covered as possible but don't over do it you need to keep it thin. If you miss a spot wait for it to dry and give it another go. While it is faster and more effective to use a spray can it's not always practical. If you find you have no good space to spray, a paint on primer is just fine. If you can't find a paint on primer, one intended for an airbrush will work well, use a large brush and start painting it all over, taking care not to let the paint pool too much obscuring detail. Added care in the assembly and priming stages will make the painting process much faster, easier and satisfying. 3) Painting Now you're ready to start painting your miniature. Brands of model paint are a personal preference but what ever you can easily resupply will work best. Most model colours are water based acrylics so are quite translucent, meaning the choice of base colour will alter the finished look. As you gain experience you will find your own way of doing things. A good place to start is the Base, Shade and Highlight method. If, for example, you are painting the red robes of a fire wizard, you would paint on the desired red colour all over the red area, add a darker version of the red to where the shadows would be, and add a lighter red to the very edges and details. When using this method, use a palette to help control the amount of paint you are applying. Anything smooth and flat will do, an old plate from the kitchen, a tile or a cheap 2 dollar water colour palette from an art store will all work well. Always thin the paint with a little water, how much water depends on the paint itself. Using the palette allows you to test for consistency. Too thin and it will look streaky and paint will tend to pool away from what you are painting, too thick and it will go on lumpy. If in doubt, lean on the thinner side. You can easily add a second coat but you cannot take one away. Starting with all your base colours paint the entire model, beginning with the hard to reach areas. Once you have all the base colours down you will have a pretty good idea of what your finished model will look like if you change your mind and want to go for a different colour now is the time. Now for shading, this process can be quite messy and fun. Most model paint companies sell products just for this purpose called either "Wash", "Shade","Ink" or "tones". They are going to be a very thin transparent paint almost like coloured water. You can choose to buy complimentary shades and carefully add it to the areas you and want shaded or simply buy a black or brown and apply it to darken the entire figure. If doing the later you will need to reapply your base colour to all but the darkest areas of the model. The advantage of this method is the shade will clearly define all the details making It much easier to choose where to add your highlights. You can choose if you wish to stop here if you like and the Miniature will still look pretty good. If you choose to add highlights try to think about a single source of light pointed at the miniature. The more exposed the lighter the highlight should be. Less is more at this stage try to keep it as subtle as possible. A good option for a beginner at the highlight stage is a technique called dry brushing. To dry brush your highlights take a medium to large size brush and get some of your highlight colour on the end. Now get some paper towel or tissue and start really working the paint into the bristles. Your objective here is to remove most of the paint without using water. Now gently start wiping the brush back and forth over the model. You should start seeing the hi light colour start catching the edges of the detail. This technique will quickly wear out your brushes however so have a specific brush dedicated to this task. 4) Baseing Decorating the base of your miniature can be as simple or as complex as you like. Board game figures look quite good simply painting the base matte black or carefully cutting away the base and gluing them to clear bases so as to show of the art on the game board underneath. When doing this make sure you buy a superglue intended for glass as that will dry clear unlike normal super glue that will leave a white frosting ruining the effect. If you want to add some interest to the base simply choose a colour you like from the many textured paints available. Add it to the base using a sculpting tool or a small spatula as it will ruin any brush you would use. Unlike normal paint apply it quite thick taking care to avoid your freshly painted miniature. Most texture paints are adhesive too so while it is still wet you can add small objects such as grass tufts, small stones from the garden or even skulls! Once the paint is dry give it a quick dry brush with a lighter complimentary colour again taking care to avoid the figure. If the base itself is quite thick you can clean up the ring with a colour of your choice. This can be a bright colour to signify an in game function, a darker complimentary colour to the base or simply black. Like everything you may not be happy with your first attempts but the more you paint the better you will get. Also often if you think your paint job is bad more often then not it's just simply unfinished and a simple touch up of either the shade or the highlight will dramatically change the finished product. Ask lots of questions! There are many online sources of information available and most people are more than happy to share their knowledge and often if you are struggling with a particular idea there is a simple solution available.
Trendy TCG Primer Vol 2! Flesh & Blood and Digimon TCG
Flesh & Blood TCG There seems to be a new TCG coming out of the wood works every other day, so why should you care about Flesh & Blood? Buckle in, dear reader, and I will tell you. Made from our cousins across the pond, Flesh & Blood is about Heroes (or Villains if that's your kind of thing!) battling each other until someone falls. How this is done, each player chooses a unique hero card and their starting equipment / weapon(s). From there, players take their turns attacking with their hero using their weapons and also action cards from their hand to try to damage the opposing hero health until it reaches zero. If you manage that, you win! Action cards have a cost that is paid by 'pitching' (discarding) other cards from their hand. Of course, some action cards cost more than others, so you'll need to manage your hand to strike effectively. Also, those pitched cards will end up at the bottom of your deck at the end of the round, so don't worry if you are struggling to choose what to pitch, you'll see it again in the late game! It is recommended that you pitch as many cards as you can on your turn, as you can refill your hand later. Your Hero that you pick determines how many cards you will draw up to. There is a lot of interaction when you move to attacking or defending, however I will let you discover that once you sit down with your mates to play and try your best to eliminate them. Interested? What is a better way to start than to pick up some starter decks! Digimon TCG Well, here's another childhood favourite repackaged into a TCG! Digimon Card Game is a quite a new TCG on the block, but comes with own fresh style of gameplay. In Digimon Card Game, you are battling with your favourite Digimon in a 50 card deck. The goal is to remove your opponent's security (a shield so to speak, made up of 5 of their cards face down from their deck) and once that's clear, a final attack to win the game. How this is done is that you are playing Digimon cards from your hand, using a shared resource pool with your opponent. When you pay the cost of a card, you move that resource pool down, and if it reaches below zero, it becomes the opponent's turn. It's like a tug of war where if you use more expensive costed cards, the more resources your opponent will have to resist you. This system is similar to the Chrono Clash System, which you may have found in other Bandai card games. Also, you can choose to run a 5 card deck with Digimon Egg cards that is set aside, which you can hatch these eggs by revealing the top card. These new hatched Digimon can be used to help reduce cost, playing Digimon to the play area. There can only be one Digimon set aside in this new hatched area at any given time. These Digimon Eggs aren't required to play, but add extra strategic options for you. What are you waiting for? Sling those Digimon at your friends and claim dominance as a Digimon Master!
Trendy TCG Primer! Meet The Newest Hits In Trading Card Games
MetaZoo The new hit TCG - MetaZoo - a game that's pretty meta "Not another TCG", you might say. But friend, let me tell you, this one's bringing a lot of flare to the table! 90's nostalgic and fun art-style, dynamic gameplay, and effects that break the 4th wall - what's not to love? Become the epic caster you've always wanted to be, bringing all kinds of Beasties and Auras into battle, but be mindful where you play - the location, as well as all the objects surrounding you, will matter! Is there anything shaped like a Cross near you, is your opponent wearing the colour red, or can you spot a tree in your general vicinity? Yes? I've got great news for you! Or bad ones, depending on what the card says... You'll just have to find out for yourself! Now, the terminology might be a little out there, but once you wrap your head around Pages being cards you play and the difference between Arena and Battleground - you're all set. The objective of the game is pretty simple - reduce your opponent's life count to zero, be it through direct attacks or other card effects. Each turn can be broken down into three comprehensive steps - the caster will begin by drawing cards from their deck and "Awakening" cards in play, then undertaking any number of actions for their turn (be it playing an Aura or conducting an attack on the opponent, you do you!) and lastly ending their turn - some cards will have end-of-turn effects. Sounds straightforward enough? Give MetaZoo a go! MetaZoo: Cryptid Nation brings in the cryptids of North America, with their newest instalment - Nightfall - hitting our shelves soon. Preorder yours today! My Hero Academia CCG Anime fans, rejoice - My Hero Academia CCG brings superheroes from the beloved anime straight to your gaming tables! Join the and the Class 1-A heroes-in-making, show off your superpowers - or Quirks - on the battlefield! Build your 51-card deck around your favourite heroes like All Mighty or Tsuyu Asui, synergising the cards with the character, or pick up a Rival Box with two ready-to-play decks - Izuku Midoriya and Katsugi Bakugo. The gameplay and flavour is designed to reflect the dynamics of the anime and bring about the drama we all grew to love. The game itself is built on an already tried and trialled Jasco’s UniVersus system, which also means it is compatible with other titles within the same engine, such as Mortal Combat and Cowboy Bebop. My Hero Academia CCG is designed to be new player friendly and a great way to introduce the anime fans into the exciting world of collectable card games, but it also offers enough depth of strategy to keep the gaming veterans hooked. Whether you're a big fan of the show, or you're looking to dip your toes into a new card game - My Hero Academia CCG is one to try out! Check it out at Gameology here!
𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 "𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘆𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗮𝘁 𝗮 '𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗱' 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗯𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗼𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝘆"
This list was recommended to us by the winner of one of our 25k like giveaway posts! This list's title gave us such a laugh that we decided that we had to write up a full blog about it! These games have been claimed as notorious destroyers of friendship and betrayals alike! And I’m going to explore why below! 1. Settlers of Catan For many, Settlers of Catan is their gateway board game. It offers a look into what you might be getting yourself into if you continue your journey into the world of board games. In Settlers of Catan, you are going to need to use a combination of strategy and resource management to come out as the winner! Needing to get the right materials to build roads and houses and relying on dice rolls to get these resources and determining how much you can build. On the surface, Settlers of Catan appears to be a nice engine building game that you can share with your friends. Settlers of Catan encourages trading and negotiation between you and the other players, offering trades for resources or even for another player to stay out of your path so you can finish your road. These are not binding contracts and someone will definitely renege on their end of the bargain. This is where you learn who your true friends are. 2. Splendor In Splendor you and your friends take the roles of wealthy Renaissance merchants buying and selling gems to refine into beautiful jewels. As these wealthy merchants you will be using strategy and tactics to get the upper hand and become the most established merchant. To do this you will need to be purchasing development cards and attracting nobles to shop for your jewels. You are trying to ensure that you are being as efficient as possible when crafting your engine and want to be buying cards for as little gems as possible! Though this game is quite simple, don’t let your friends fool you, because in doing so it will leave you left behind! Splendor is in essence, an engine building game, however as the information is mostly open, you can see what other players are going for. So you will have plenty of opportunities to decide whether to make a move to help your engine along, or to cripple one of the other players’. Alternatively, other players will be able to see what you’re going for and could take that emerald card that you needed for your engine. Always keep an eye on everyone around you as you don’t really know what they’re going to do 👀 3. Ticket To Ride You and your friends will be creating train lines across the country in Ticket to Ride. Easy to understand and easy to play! Ticket To Ride is a strategy game about making routes between cities to form connections between the desired destination. Players will need to balance collecting new cards by locking new routes in the board, while also reacting and adapting to what other players are doing. You will need to do this all while deciding how much you are willing to push your luck with additional destinations. Don’t let the accessibility of this game fool you, while playing, your friends can ruin your life. Depending on your strategy you will eventually need to take additional destination cards, but when is the best time to take them? Do you take them early so you have more time to optimise your track? Leaving your plans to be ruined by the actions of other players? Or do you focus on completing your initial destinations and risk your snake friends ruining your chance at gaining extra destinations. 4. Exploding Kittens It’s time to blow yourself up, or your friends up, with kittens. You and your friends will be drawing cards in hopes to not be the one to draw an exploding kitten who via proximity, will explode you too. In Exploding Kittens, players will be rewarded for concentrating, being patient and having a good poker face. Easy to learn, but not so easy to master, players will be challenged to be the last player standing to be crowned the winner. While there is a small bit of luck in drawing the cards that may save you, this game will have your friends trying to send exploding kittens your way. It will have you thinking whether your opponent knows that you know that they don’t have a defuse card left. Or that they know that you think that they think that you know that they don’t have a defuse card left. You’ll never be able to trust your friends again. 5. Fluxx In this game with its rules that are always changing, will you get lucky? The set up for Fluxx is very simple, you shuffle the deck of cards, deal each player three cards and then placing the deck in the center of the play space. The basic rule of the game is to draw a card and then play a card every turn, although it will not stay this way during play! Players can play rule cards to change up the rules! Having the rules changed constantly can either help or hinder you. If you’re close to achieving the end goal and a player changes the rules, it can put you back to square one. If your friends are anything like mine, they will be constantly changing the rules to try to mess with you. You will probably be confused, and you will definitely turn to your friend in absolute disdain as they rip your chances of victory away from you in seconds! And there we have it! Based on the winning entry from Jordan Noyce from our 25K like giveaway! What do you guys think? Let us know in the comments below!
🎮𝚃𝚘𝚙 𝟻 𝚅𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚘 𝙶𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝙱𝚘𝚊𝚛𝚍𝚐𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚜!🎮
Video games are pretty influential! We’re not going to lie and say that they haven’t had an impact on board gaming. Sometimes we want to delve further into our games, so we check out the board game version of our favourite video games too. Sometimes the board game version is something you like more than the original, or just a welcomed addition to the game that you love. Here I’ll cover our top 5 board games based on video game franchises! 1) Fallout Fallout is a post-nuclear adventure board game, based on the hit video game series by Bethesda Softworks of the same name. The world and scenarios inspired by familiar story events from the franchise the board game can be dubbed a faithful adaptation of where it takes influence from. In Fallout you and up to three of your friends will be exploring the wasteland, completing quests, looting ruins and getting into fights with robots, mutants and giant bugs. Players however, are not able to engage in fights with each other, and interactions are limited to trading items and other basic tasks. While there is no direct fighting, players are still competing to be the winner by the end of the game. Players will become the winner by accumulating points gained by completing these quests and agenda cards. That being said, you won’t know what points the other players have gained, so the end game is always a bit of a surprise for everyone! 2) This War of Mine: The Board Game This War of Mine focused on surviving while the city you’re in is under siege. This War of Mine: The Board Game is no different. Adapted from the award-winning video game of the same name. You and up to 5 others, enter this experience as a group of civilians trapped in a conflict-ridden city where you will face hazards and hardships that regularly test the basis of your humanity. During the day phase, players will settle in ruined houses and attempt to care for and manage. You will need to build necessities such as beds and workshops and ensure you have an income of food either by small animal traps or cultivating improvised vegetable gardens. Come nightfall, players will then be tasked to guard your shelter and what little possessions you have gained. Your only real objective is to survive through the warfare of the city. What happens along the way, however, can affect your struggle to make it out alive. Encountering difficult decisions, your choice will mean you will have to deal with the consequences, whatever they are. 3) Small World of Warcraft The mixture of the hyper-competitive family strategy board game Small World and the super popular World of Warcraft come together in the perfect blend, Small World of Warcraft! Set in the fantasy world of Azeroth, where the races of the Alliance and the Horde clash in a world-consuming conflict! In this game, you’ll choose a race from a bunch of different races including elves, giants, rat-men or orcs! Each has its own unique special ability! On each turn you will choose to either use the multiple tiles of your chosen race to occupy adjacent territories to potentially defeat a weaker enemy along the way. Or you will let your race go into decline. After going into decline, at the start of your turn, you will choose a new race! For each territory your race occupies, you will earn a coin! At the end of the game, the player with the most coins will be declared the winner! 4) Plague Inc The Board Game This strategic game of infection, based on the digital game of the same name, has been adapted to a 1-5 player board game full of evolution and extinction. Each player is a deadly disease and you must fight against each other to spread your infection across the world. Players will earn DNA points which can be used alongside evolving trait cards to evolve your pathogen and wreak havoc on the world. You will need to make careful plans and decisions and exploit opportunities created by other player’s choices and actions. Through the collapsing of the world and decisions made by players, only one player will come away with having the ultimate plague. In the world’s current climate, will your game match reality? 5) Hand of Fate: Ordeals Hand of Fate: Ordeals is a deck building game, based on a video game, that takes influence from and is inspired by deck building games. Based on the multi-platform, storytelling deck-builder from Defiant Development. The game has the option to be a competitive adventure, or a cooperative campaign! Each player will choose one of four characters who have been stripped of their memories, skills and equipment. Players will then explore and compete in a randomly generated mini world to gain their strength back and defeat the three bosses! At the end of this adventure, the player who has earned the most acclaim will be crowned victorious! If you are playing the co-op variation instead, then your group will instead have a campaign that you can attempt! And that’s it! Our list of the top 5 board games based on video games! What do you think of our list? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!
🌟𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝟲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟭 - 𝗧𝗼𝗽 𝟱 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗴𝗮𝗺𝗲𝘀🌟
The first six months of 2021 has definitely been a year already, but that hasn’t stopped the board games coming, and as a community, it’s definitely been something that has brought us joy during this time. With games constantly coming out, I’ve gone through and found the crème de la crème. Here I’ll go through our top 5 games to have come out in the first 6 months of 2021! 1) Sleeping Gods Are you ready to start your journey home? In this hit game, Sleeping Gods you and your friends have become lost in a new world. The sky is different, the smell of the sea is different and now you’re trying to make it home. In Sleeping Gods you and your friends will become Sofi Odessa and her crew, lost in a strange world in 1929 on your steamship, the Manticore. During the campaign you must work together to survive, meeting new characters, exploring exotic islands and seeking out the totems of the Gods so you can make it back home. This game has been highly anticipated and hugely popular and we just can’t get enough of it! With it’s beautiful art and fun and interesting campaign, it’s hard not to understand why it’s been so popular. Your choices affect the characters and whether you will be able to make it home. Your journey starts now. 2) Canvas In this beautiful game you’re going to be painting up a storm! You are, of course, competing in an art competition! It’s a super cute concept and it’s full of super cute things! The cover is also a piece of art! Literally, there’s a hook hole in the box so you can hang it on your wall! This light game goes for about 30 minutes and is packed with stunning colours and sweet art pieces. Players will select three art cards and arrange them in any order to score the points based on the visible painting icons. Once all players have made three paintings the game will end. When playing each card, you will need to take into consideration both the artwork and the set of icons that will be used during scoring! Icons will be revealed or hidden based on the way you choose to layer the cards making for an exciting puzzle! 3) Red Rising Enter the futuristic universe, based on the book series by Pierce Brown featuring a dystopian society divided into fourteen castes! You speak for a house attempting to gain followers of all kinds. Your goal in Red Rising is to be the player who earns the most points by the end of the game. To do this you will need to manage your hand of cards and attempt to build up some combos. Each player will start with five cards out of a huge pool of 112 cards! Your main action will have you taking a card from your hand and placing it at one of four locations on the board, this will trigger the card ability that most cards will have. Which could have the ability to earn you bonus points! This dystopian themed game will have players trying to get their house out on top. Through clever combos and a bit of luck, your house could be the one! 4) Cubitos Be fast or be last in the annual Cube Cup! You and your fellow players will be taking on the roles of participants of the Cube Cup - a race of strategy and luck to determine the ultimate Cubitos Champion! Every player has a runner on the track and a support team - which is represented by your dice! Each turn you will roll those dice and use the results to move along the racetrack, buy new dice and use abilities. But if you push your luck too much or you will be left with an undesirable outcome or punished for your greed! Players will need to make sure they’re building up their decks taking into account that you’ll need to rely on some dice rolls! You’ll definitely feel the rush of excitement when you roll something very lucky! With 8 different coloured dice to choose from to add to your support team, each that can give you different abilities, you’ll have a lot of decisions to make! 5) Bloodborne: The Board Game The town of Yharnam is crumbling as a plague that turns people into beasts spreads uncontrollably. As a Hunter, it’s up to you to try to fight through these beasts and try to discover the source to all of this madness. Players will take on the role of Hunters in this campaign-based action adventure. You will have to work together against the game itself to uncover mysteries hidden within the city, and places beyond! Having to think quickly and adapt tactics to overcome enemies that attempt to stand in your way. As is the case with dealing with mighty and horrific villains, death is an almost unavoidable situation, but here, death is not final for a Hunter. If you fall in combat, you are returned to fight again, however battles that have been fought and obstacles that you have endured have returned. Not only that, but as the Blood Moon rises once again, your time is running out! And there we have it! Our Top 5 board games of the first 6 months of 2021! What do you think? Did we miss anything? Let us know in the comments below!
