THE TWO-GUN GEN CON 2016 BOARD GAME COVERAGE NEWS BLOG!
TWO-GUN PIXIE PRESENTS:
What’s the word, Nerd Herd?
So, are you heading out to Gen Con?
Well, Whether or not you’re able to roll out there this year doesn’t change your love of tabletop board games... right? So do we here at Two-Gun Pixie and it’s unfortunate that we will be physically missing it this year...
BUT THAT’S NOT STOPPING US FROM BRINGING YOU SOME GREAT FIRST-HAND REVIEWS & PREVIEWS OF SOME OF THE AWESOME UPCOMING GAMES ABOUT TO HIT THE STORES AND KICKSTARTER!!!
Here’s an overview of the board games being showcased at Gen Con this year or whose sales or Kickstarters coincide with or near Gen Con 2016 that Two-Gun Pixie was sent to review. A few are final version production models others are high-end betas; all were played, tested, and discussed by the Great Grognard and the Twenty-Sided Warriors.
This is a quick look at the games that will be featured in Two-Gun Pixie Presents: Legendary Gaming – Gen Con 2016 Reviews section in the next couple of weeks as well as a word about those games by the publishers themselves...
Agamemnon (Osprey Games – Booth 2663)
None can defy the will of the gods but the gods themselves. Driven by the bloodlust of their king, the Greeks have arrived at the shores of Troy. Some seek power, some seek revenge, while still others seek the great moment in battle that will define their place in history.
Agamemnon is a fast-paced strategy board game in which two players take on the roles of ancient Greek gods during the Trojan War. By tactically deploying warriors to where they're needed across the board, each player may influence the final outcome of the battles famously detailed in Homer's Iliad. Some areas will be decided by the strength of the warriors, others by sheer weight of numbers, and some by the inspiration your heroes provide.
Crazier Eights: Camelot (Self-Published)
Crazier Eights: Camelot is a new version of Crazier Eights, a fantasy card game, that I hope to publish in February 2017. The first player with zero cards in hand wins, and every card will have a unique ability.
Crazier Eights is fantasy card game with excellent artwork, fun characters, and interesting card effects. One deck is enough for 2 -4 players to play the game.
Crazier Eights is somewhat inspired by Crazy Eights. (Crazy Eights is the game UNO is based on). Like Crazy Eights, the main idea is to get rid of all the cards in your hand by taking turns discarding a card of the same suit or rank as the top card of the discard pile. However, in Crazier Eights, players take turns drawing one card, discarding up to one card, and playing up to one card for an effect. Crazier Eights offers a unique deck with two types of cards that do interesting things for the game — assets and events. Events do whatever is stated on them right away and assets do whatever is stated on them as long as they are in play on the table.
The deck has the same ranks as a regular card deck, but they have unique colors and suits — orange (suns), purple (eyes), blue (moons), and green (ankhs).
Deathbot Derby (Royal N. Games)
Long ago, disgruntled fans mourned the cancelation of their favorite robot fighting T.V. show, and took to the underground. Void of caution or regard for public safety, contenders began to build incredible machines of destruction and pit them against each other in one on one death matches. And so was born...
In DeathBot Derby players build their bots using a quick card drafting mechanism and then face off in an ever changing arena. They will have to strategically move and attack their opponent to gain the tactical advantage. The winning DeathBot goes home a champion, and the loser goes back to the scrap heap they came from.
Dwarves In Trouble (Hex Games)
Dwarfs in Trouble is an easy and dynamic non-collectible card game. The participants play the role of dwarf treasure seekers who decided to pay a visit at a dragon’s den while the dragon was away. They managed to get inside. Unfortunately, while they were plundering the treasure, the dragon returns unexpectedly. Certainly, it will not be polite towards anybody caught stealing its possessions. It is a common knowledge that dwarfs tend to be greedy and it would be considered a dishonor to simply throw away the precious stuff. For that reason you need get rid of the treasure in a clever way….
The aim of the game is to dispose of the gold completely or to have the fewest Gold coins the moment the Dragon arrives. As we know, dragons have the sixth sense that helps them localize gold and valuables. The dragon will focus on the most greedy treasure hunters. The arrival of the beast will cause such a confusion that only one dwarf will be able to escape and others will be burnt to ashes.
Escape From Colditz: 75th Anniversary Edition (Osprey Games – Booth 2663)
Originally published in 1973 and designed by Pat Reid, the man who lived through the events of the game, and writer Brian Degas, the writer who made a TV series about Pat, Escape from Colditz is a roll and move style game with some card drafting where you are either a prisoner trying to escape, or a guard trying to keep them in. One player takes the part of the German Guards, whilst the others play "Escape Officers" who are responsible for organizing escape attempts by their team of prisoners. Generally, the winner will be the Escape Officer who achieves the most successful escapes; but it might be the German Forces, if they are able to limit the number of escapes.
Escape from Colditz is often touted as the greatest board game in British history and so when Osprey Games had the opportunity to publish it, they jumped at the chance. Now, 75 years after the events of the game, Osprey is going to release the 75th anniversary edition with a whole new look illustrated by Peter Dennis, who illustrated Brass and A Few Acres of Snow, and additional wooden bits that are replicas of artifacts from Brian’s collection about Pat. The planned release date is October 2016 so we have a ways to go, hopefully they will let us in on the process as they go along. For now, here is the press release from Osprey Games.
Fate Of Akalon: Tribes (Foursight Games)
Fate of Akalon: Tribes is a 2-4 player combat card game set on the dying continent of Akalon. Players control a tribe of fantasy races in a struggle for survival. Each turn a player will play a card to the battlefield and compare combat values. The winner's card goes to their discard pile, the loser's card to that players cemetery. The winner is the first player to send 30 points worth of combat value to their opponent's cemetery. Each race's deck contains unique thematic powers to influence the combat values when played.
Fate of Akalon: Tribes is a quick, thematic card game that surprises with depth of play belying its simple mechanisms.
Let Them Eat Cake (Osprey Games – Booth 2663)
"Liberty! Equality! Eclairs!" The glorious revolution has done away with tyranny! Now you and your friends make up the Revolutionary Committee, overseeing justice throughout the land. Still, now that the queen's gone, it would be a shame to let all that cake go to waste...
Become the first among equals by amassing honor! Become happy by amassing cake! Send your friends' pawns to the guillotine! First to forty cakes wins!
Let Them Eat Cake is a game of committees, coercion, and cake. Elect your friends to positions of power in the hope that they look on your patronage favorably — or denounce them as enemies of the revolution. Alliances and betrayal are all fair game as you try to amass as much cake as you can before the revolution collapses.
Ophidian 2360: Survival of the Fittest (Hack and Slash Games – Booth 2809)
This is a non-collectible expansion to the Ophidian 2350 arena combat game as well as a standalone game that pits futuristic gladiators against each other using unique and thematic mechanisms.
In Ophidian 2360: Survival of the Fittest, each player brings a team of up to four gladiators to the table, along with a customized deck that's driven by the selected gladiators. Gameplay revolves around a momentum-based system that allows the player with the momentum to continue to take actions until they lose momentum, at which point their opponent picks up and continues.
Players use resources to supply their gladiators with equipment and minions (support characters). The crowd gets involved through cheer and also provides an alternate victory condition. Win the crowd, and you win the game!
Shark Island (Lunch Break RPG)
There’s only one way off of Shark Island and the sharks are hungry!
The year is 2046. The American government has fallen and every state is ruled by large corporations who organize slave labor. Many have tried to escape the corporate elite, judges, and executioners, but have failed and were sent to Shark Island.
Shark Island is a man-made maximum security island prison in a contained area off the shores of New York. There have been those who escaped the prison, but they were not able to swim to the New York shores because the shark infested waters around Shark Island have a 100% kill rate. There are many challenges that await; the ocean has unbearable ocean currents, tangled seaweed that’s like quick sand, freezing waters that can cause hypothermia, guards that can shoot prisoners from the guard towers like sitting ducks in the water, and the huge genetically modified man hungry sharks swimming and living in the ocean around the Island. The Sharks are the reason human bones wash up on the hard, rocky shores of New York, some days more than others. Good luck! How well can you swim?
The Robot That Totally Saved Cleveland (Pickaxe Group)
In this card game players take turns attempting to build a robot that will be used to defeat the Evil Dr. Head Case and his Mutant Monsters.
The robots are made up of three cards. A head card, a body card, and a feet card. The cards work together to build robots in fun combinations. As the players build the robots, they can end up with names like "A funky‐right ol'‐pulverizer" or "Mr Electric the‐crushing‐bubble bot". Players also have the option of attaching 1 add‐on card to the robot. The add‐on cards are things like "Lazers for Eyes", "Bulletproof Boots", and "Razor Sharp Dentures".
The Robot That Totally Saved Cleveland is quick and simple to learn. Once the players have a round or two under their belt the game is fun and everyone enjoys building the robots.
There are a few other features to the game like the "Bargain Center" which allows players to grab a "Crumpled" head, or an "As seen on tv" body part to finish out their robot in a pinch. Using the bargain center parts might seem like a disadvantage but be careful. That player might be holding the "Dick Jone's Rust Remover" card which allows them to polish it up and make it shiny and new.
