Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Games. Show all posts

Monday, May 21, 2012

Kittens In A Blender Review

Ever wondered what would happen if numerous colorful kitties were allowed to freely roam around a kitchen stocked with nothing but boxes and killer blenders? 

Yeah, I never did either. But apparently SOMEONE did...namely the designers over at Closet Nerd. Why else would they create the amazingly fun, quick and easy-to-learn card game of Kittens in a Blender for us to play? (Other than the fact that some of the proceeds goes towards helping out various No-Kill Cat Shelters.)


While Kittens in a Blender takes about 30 minutes for a full game, the rules are easy enough to learn in about 5 minutes. It's good for 2-4 players, though if you want to do a Team Game, you can fit up to 8 cat saving/blending players. The game requires only about a 2nd grade reading level, so young gamers can get in on the kitten craziness too!

So what exactly is this game about? All about saving YOUR kittens, while strategically...not caring...about your opponent's feline fates. You start the game by pulling out the rules and the 2 oversized cards; "The Blender" and "The Box". These each go into one of the sides of the box, and the blank table space in-between them is "The Counter".

There are four different colors of Kitten cards; Yellow, Green, Red and Blue. Each color has 16 different Kittens, and each player pick which color they want to save. These cards will all be randomly shuffled into the deck. Every kitten of your color that you manage to save is a positive Kitten Point, whereas all the kittens of your color that get blended count as negative Kitten Points.


Of course, players need to have a way to move their adorable kittens around...or move the kittens of other players. The "Dog In The Kitchen" makes every player pass their current hand to the right. The other 3 cards shown are "Kittens On The Move", which lets you move any kitten/kittens as many times as shown on the card.
So, if you use the "Kittens On The Move 3" card, you can move 1 of your kittens from the Blender to the Box (2 moves) and another of your kittens from the Blender to the Counter (1 move). Or, if you prefer being evil, you could move 3 opponents kittens from the Counter to the Blender (3 moves).


Want to move massive quantities of kittens? Use "Kittens In The Box", "Kittens In The Blender" or "Kittens On The Counter" to move all kittens from your chosen location to the one on the card. Want to be evil again? Play the "These Kittens In The Blender" card to move all kittens of one color from the safety of the Counter and Box to the Blender.


Now, you're probably wondering when you will actually be able to blend all these kittens...or, if you're a good person, save them. That's where these two cards come in! When an orange Blend card is played, every kitten currently in the Blender is blended and put under the Blend card. Likewise, all kittens on the Counter are moved into the now-empty Blender, and all kittens in the Box are saved by placing them under the Box card.
But what if you don't want all those kittens to meet a horribly-blended doom? Well, then hopefully you have the blue Blend/Pulse card! This can work the same as a normal Blend, or can be used to stop a Blend when played immediately. Both of these cards are kept face up in front of you after playing them. In case there is a tie in regards to the Kitten Points, the person with the most Blend or Blend/Pulse cards is the winner.

All in all, this is an excellent game for beginners, or those who only need a quick bit of entertainment. With a $10 price tag, a quick learning curve, and wonderfully bright cards...this game is destined to find a place in the hearts of gamers everywhere alongside Fluxx and Chrononauts.

As always, we stock this game here at Dragon's Den. Be sure to come in for a demo!

-Stasi "Dengirl" King



Friday, April 13, 2012

Games Workshop New Paint Line

As many of you probably know by now, our friends at Games Workshop released their newest products, which contains 145 separate paints, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive paint lines on the gaming/hobby market today. These are hardly your "run of the mill" paints though...In fact they seem to not only be a higher quality than GW's previous paints, but are also created with a step-by-step painting process in mind. This makes them great for beginners and enthusiasts alike, especially considering their price hasn't changed at all!

Today, I'm going to show you every one of the different types of paints, a short description of the uses for the different groups AND a link to a nice conversion list for the old vs new colors they kept.

First up are the Bases. As you might expect, these 34 colors are made for base coating your miniatures. They contain a higher than normal amount of pigment, making the first layer a very nice solid color. As any painter knows, in addition to having a clean, smooth prime coat, one of the most important steps to painting your miniatures is to have a even and colorful base coat.

 
Next up, we have the Shades. There are 12 of these, and they are made for going over the base coats. Very similar to the previous Washes, they help to add detail and definition to the primary color, while also making a darker hue wherever you decide to apply it.
Beginners: remember to use sparingly until you get the hang of it, as this medium is made to pool into any spots or recesses that your miniature has.

Now comes the Layers, which are by far the most expansive of the line, and the core of what the other paints were designed around. Consisting of no fewer than 70 paints, these are different than either inks or washes as they are typically used for making very nice mid-tones and transitions. Although they overlay other colors, there is enough pigment that by watering them down slightly, they could be used directly onto your miniature.
Beginners: Due to the huge amount of color spectrum available as Layers, you shouldn't have to mix paints nearly as much as you previously had to.

The Dry paints are new to the line, never having been made before. There are 15 of these, and they are sure to help overcome any of your dry brushing problems. Using an entirely novel formulation, they are very thick (almost paste-like) in consistency. Thus, Dry paints will bond to your miniature's raised surface, making it much easier to create large-area highlights.

For the Glaze, Texture and Technical paints, I took a single picture, as there are fewer of them.
The 6 Texture paints (top) are essentially for basing your miniatures. No longer will you have to mix glue or sand into your paints, as these have both coarse and fine grit in them. They also dry very quickly, so you can add many colors if you so choose.
We now have 4 Glaze paints (right) which can be used for more even blending of colors, or adding that much more depth to a small area. They are extremely watery, but the color goes a long way.
Lastly, there are 4 Technical items (left). These are different than the others, in that they are used during miniature preparation or completion rather than during painting. Thus, they are not really "paints" per se, but are still part of the new line.
Beginners: After applying Texture to your bases, try using a light Dry coat to really bring out the detail. Careful use of the proper Glaze can help decrease the sharpness of highlights, and a good way to get rid of the gloss leftover from some Technical paints is to use a quick spray of Matte.
 

Now, the rumors of certain paints being re-used under different names is true. The chart for this can be found on page 128 of White Dwarf #387, which also has various painting techniques, upcoming miniatures, a look at the Citadel painting guide, and other cool articles and pictures.

But...if you don't have a hobby store near you and want to know the conversions, simply follow this link to the official GW chart;
http://www.games-workshop.com/MEDIA_CustomProductCatalog/m2320032a_Citadel_Conversion_Chart

That's all for today, everyone. I am getting in some Reaper miniatures on Monday though, so I will try to do a follow-up post showing the various steps I followed for using these new paints. Be sure to check on Twitter and Facebook for new posts!

Monday, December 12, 2011

Risk Legacy Game Number 1

So last night be sat down and played our first game of Risk Legacy.  It was really different and fantastic at the same time.  So we had 5 players and we began the game with only one person who had played this version before... and only once at that.  Let me break down some of the points so that you might get an idea of some of the differences in this version then to regular Risk.  As Stasi  wrote a product review and had some great pictures, I'm going to write this more from the play side... but add in some pictures too!

First we took a look at the factions, picked the one and wrote our names on the back.  The factions give the play a specific bonus (or a choice of two possible ones at the beginning) that can affect the game.  We were also each given a single Star Token, and a Scar card that can be used once to alter the board... PERMANENTLY! So I ended up with Khan Industry and the Scar card "Bunker."  Matter of fact, I was the only one who played a Scar card in this first game.

Play started out with a bunch of territory expansion, and only a little combat.  But by the fourth round several HQs had changed hands, and mine was under attack, which prompted the bunker Scar card!  I was able to pull off a quick surge and capture a second HQ and purchase a Star giving me 4 Stars at the end of the turn, which oddly enough was the end of the round as well.  As I was the first to gain the 4 necessary Stars, I ended the game.  Now, when we start next, I get a Missile Token rather than a starting Star!

The coolest part of the game is what happens at the end.  Not only do you have some permanent changes to the board with Scar cards, BUT you also get to change the board at the end of the game.  The winner gets several choices; name a continent, name a major city are two.  I chose to name a major city.  If you held on and were not eliminated (which was everyone else) you have other options. For example, you can add a resource to a card for a province you control or name a minor city.  We had 2 players  name minor cities and 2 add a resource to a card.  All of these change how the game will be played next time.

I'm so excited to play again!  I'm hoping to play with the same group and see if we can give some of the new players a little more time to grasp the tactics.  Here is who we had play the first game:

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks
Alex Sherman
Dave Steltenkamp
Amanda Cowen
Stasi "Dengirl" King

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks

Saturday, October 22, 2011

New League Starting - Map Campaign

 Do you enjoy Warhammer Fantasy? Do you want to try something new or different? Then stop in and chat with Stan about his next plans for Wednesday nights. 
 
Not able to stop in??? Then check out what he has to say below!

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We will be starting a map campaign for those who still wish to compete.

Choose your army carefully, sharpen your weapons and put forth your overall champion.

We will be working with a couple of experimental rules that I have come up with. I'll be posting them up soon for your review and opinions.

Map campaign rules will be fairly simple, but I will work on getting a full representation that will be on display at the Den.

Now again for the questions... Do we wish for a moving map campaign with armies moving around the board vying for control or a abstract depiction that represents wins/loses?

My thoughts are a 3 army representation, each week you will pick the movements of your armies and as they interact on the map, battles will erupt. Each army can move 1 space per week, conquering the space the land on if unoccupied, fighting the inhabitants if occupied.

We can either fight to the end, with each person having a stronghold that can be taken and thereby destroying that army or we can have a set time limit that will count each space as victory points and tally it at the end of the campaign season.

There will be various key locations that could be worth more points or could give you key advantages while you hold them. Expect these to be hotly contested locations.

Thoughts? Comments? Do you want me to flesh this out or to think of something else? 
 
Stan

Tuesday, August 9, 2011

Gen Con 2011 The Best 4 Days of Gaming

Welcome back from the "BEST 4 DAYS OF GAMING" also know as Gen Con!

So we got back from Gen Con last night, and it was a fantastic show! We had a chance to try many different games, check out product that is not released just yet, and see all the greatest product that could be seen.  We are going to share some pictures, share some stories, and give some insight into some games.  To make life easy, I'm breaking it down by vendor so you can see the different areas you'd like more info about.  So if you are ready to read on and want to learn more, continue through the trip to Gen Con 2011!

Wizards of the Coast:

There is a lot to talk about with WotC. They had a great booth set up as a ruined castle, and a live action D&D event behind it.  The booth was amazing as was the D&D Mega Adventure that was set up through out Gen Con with QR Codes.  The players got into trying to find the codes and earn points for their faction.  All of this was for the soon to be released Neverwinter campaign setting.  Away from the booth you show the two locations for all the events: The Sagamore Ball Room and the TCG Hall.  At the TCG hall you had so many Magic events, it was almost overwhelming, with the highlight being Nationals!  So many players going in and between events, it was incredible to see.  Upstairs in the Sagamore there was Dungeons and Dragons. It was not just the RPG though, they also had 3 Dragon Ante, all the board games, and the D&D National event as well.A big announcement was for the Lords of Waterdeep board game which is a Euro style board game set in the Dungeons and Dragons world.



Wizkids:

What can I say about Wizkids other then WOW! The new Star Trek game that involves fleets of Federation and Klingon ships looks amazing.  The price point at first looked a bit high, until you started to count up all the ships you got in the base game.  We would love to get a copy of this game a give it a try to get the Trek fans into a great looking ship to ship minis game.  Another game that they had out was Quarriors! Quarriors is a fantastic game involving dice that is similar to the deck building games.  We had such a blast playing this game, that I had to buy a copy for myself then and there.  It played fast and had the option of adding new abilities to the dice without having to make all new dice.  We will be demoing this game soon and getting players excited to try a new type of game.  I really can't talk about Wizkids without mentioning the Heroclix.  They had a number of great items out for sale including Heroclix, Street Fight, and Gears of War... BUT the items that had people looking were the painted pieces (not on bases) of The Lord of the Rings and Pathfinder.  They all looked great!  Check back as more information becomes available we will be writing more.



AEG:

We had the opportunity to go over and talk with the people at AEG as well as attending their Big Game Night.  I would have liked a little more structure to the big game night and maybe in an area that was a little quieter so that we could really check out the games.  We did have a chance to play Ninja, which is a very secretive board game involving Ninjas and guards set in the L5R world..  It was a blast! We will have a copy in this week and will be running some demo games to give players a chance to check it out.  We also got a chance to see Thunderstone, Parthenon, and Legend of the 5 Rings CCG.  AEG has a bunch of really great games out now and if you are looking to give something new a try, they would make a great choice.

Gary Games:

Gary Games is the publisher of the game Ascension.  This is a great deck building game that was created by a number of Magic players who were looking for another game to play between Magic.  The same design group also created Redakai, but we can talk about that later.  I had a chance to play in a tournament for Ascension, but sadly came in second in my pod, so did not advance.  They also had a number of great promo cards that you could pick up at their booth.  We also had a chance to discuss the Dragon's Den becoming a part of the Game Day program that they run, so hopefully we will be a part of the next one which is coming up soon.  

Fantasy Flight Games: 



Well the big announcement here was that Fantasy Flight Games picked up the rights for Star Wars.  To show case this, they had several games on display and were running demo games of several of them.  Star Wars X-Wing looked fantastic! It is a miniatures ship to ship combat game that takes a few elements from Wings of War.  Instead of a deck of cards for movement, each ship has a disk that you pick your movement from and place face down next to the ship (for that hidden movement similar to Wings of War).  They used different templates then for movement and attacks.  They kept some of the flavor with the weapons and abilities on the different star fighters, but we only got to see the X-Wing and Tie Fighter.  They also did a new card game for the Star Wars universe, but we did not get a chance to demo that game.  Some other items of note at the booth would be their release of the Gears of War board game and the new revised edition of Dust Tactics. 

Plaid Hat:

Plaid Hat is the maker of Summoner Wars.They have a new starter box that will be coming out in a month or so... or maybe we will have several copies in a few days! We had the chance to demo the game with them at Gen Con, and they allowed us to get a few copies while we were there.  The new starter has new factions, which if I remember correctly is an addition 6 new factions.  It also has a double board so that it is a little easier to play on and see your side of the board.


I hope that you have found some new information or got to experience some of the Gen Con trip from the write up.  We will be adding more information over the week and get some other impressions so you can hear about some other games and events.  There will always be more to add about Gen Con, but I think this is long enough, so watch for the next post soon.

Sean "Striderlotr" Banks