Hey folks! Birdwatcher, that board game I illustrated and posted about nonstop during its kickstarter, is now up for preorder! If you missed the kickstarter, here’s your chance to get a copy for yourself - literally, if you like, as it includes a solo mode! Zakir, the developer, really thought of everything.
I have an early copy that we used during playtesting in the development period, and it’s super fun to play, with a variety of different modes and difficulty levels and tons of bonus cards you can use to change it up. Check it out!
Expansion Review - Smash Up: It’s Your Fault - another winner by @alderac!
One of the perks of coming back to work in the office after the COVID lockdowns ended was the ability to play games at lunch.
Namely, Smash Up (though we’ve played a bunch of other games as well).
Way back in 2019, I had bought every available Smash Up expansion that I didn’t already have (with one or two exceptions, like Cthulhu and Munchkin, since I don’t want them).
Smash Up: Disney Edition coming soon from @TheOpGames and @alderac ! Will definitely be checking this out.
Why does all of the interesting news happen on days where I’ve already done a post?
On the heels of last year’s (was it only last year? COVID has made time kind of wonky) Smash Up: Marvel Edition, The OP and Alderac Entertainment Group have announced the next collaboration between the two game companies: Smash Up: Disney Edition.
Designed by Paul Peterson, this is another edition co-published…
App Expansion Review - Wingspan: European Expansion
App Expansion Review - Wingspan: European Expansion by @monstercouch @stonemaiergames @elizhargrave
The Wingspan app published by Monster Couch Games has been a wonderful app since it came out in October 2020.
Online play oddities aside, the game has very few bugs that I’m aware of and it’s a brilliant digital adaptation of the boardgame designed by Elizabeth Hargrave and published by Stonemaier Games.
The app even has beautiful renditions of the amazing artwork!
Top 25 Games Played of All Time - 2022 Edition (15-11)
Top 25 #boardgames Played of All time - 2022 Edition (15-11) @wehrlegig @colewehrle @czechgames @alderac @JohnDClair @stonemaiergames @elizhargrave @Capstone_Games
It’s another week so it’s time for another edition of the Top 25 Games Played (by me) of All Time – 2022 edition!
We’ve gone through ten of them so far and so far they have been very cool games!
I don’t really care if you don’t agree with me.
Ok, I do…please come back.
Anyway, there have been some major drops from the 2019 list as well as new additions to it.
Again, lif is slowing me down, but there’s new stuff, lots of new stuff! Will be sharing some more (it’s AMAZING!), but for now I’ll let an artist and board member of nisei just say it in their own words:
While I have been posting intermittently, particularly recently, I think it’s fair to say I haven’t given this blog all that much attention since 2018. Part of that, it must be said, is because I’ve fallen in and out of Netrunner (I’m more in recently - as I’ll mention later). Another part of it is tumblr kind of imploding - I think less and less about tumblr these days, but this is getting off topic - this is a post about something I’ve mentioned in passing, but have yet to dedicate a proper full-on post to: Project Nisei and the continuation of Netrunner
If you’re seeing this blog, you probably already know this, but in late 2018, Android: Netrunner was officially terminated by Fantasy Flight Games - people will always speculate why they weren’t able to renew the Netrunner licence, but the why didn’t matter - a card game many people loved was going to end.
Except not. Because the fans are passionate people, and they weren’t content to just have enjoyed one of the best games ever produced and occasionally play with old collections. They weren’t ready to retire their cards, so a portion of the community (and Netrunner has always had a great community) came together and resolved to not let the game end - first they organised, got together on the social spaces surrounding the game and coordinated, and then, in 2019 not only did they take up running the game (organising competitions and tournaments, balance and ban lists and so on), they then took it upon themselves to produce new cards, to continue the game as a fan-run enterprise, all as volunteers, all at their own expense and effort. They called themselves Project NISIE. There’s a really good article about all they’ve accomplished here (dicebreaker), but I’m sticking with the blog to talk about my one thing - the awesome art of netrunner.
When Nisei began producing these fan-made cards, they tried - and in pretty much every case succeeded - to keep up with the standards set by FFG, for cards - for mechanics in the game, of course, but also for card art. That’s a tall order, both because of the very high quality of FFG Netunner, and because they’re doing this as a voluntary organisation. All the art in this post has been produced for (in some cases by) Nisei - every bit the equal of what came before
To talk about organising Nisei has thus far managed two World Championships for netrunner - I wasn’t really playing the game last year, but this year I took part (and was able to do so due to the unfortunate current situation making the event online-only), and I had a blast! I didn’t even finish in the top half of player (of which there were nearly 300!), but the event, and the practice leading up to it, really got me in the netrunner mood, and I’ll be playing more - and when I play netrunner, I tend to post more here too. I’ll be posting both Nisei cards and FFG cards in future (I’ve already posted some), as long as I can hunt down the pics, but as you can see, they’re all of comparable quality. Long live Netunner! Long live Project NISEI
I really should use this blog more - and after the netrunner world championship (sadly online, but it meant I could play, as it wasn’t a fair chunk of money and holiday needed), I’m pumped enough about netrunner to post again (also someone told me they liked it). I’ve got a lot to write, and a lot to post, but that’s for a day that’s not today. For now, have awesome art, some old and some reasonably new by: Adam Schumpert,Priscilla Kim,Alex Kim, Juan Manuel Tumburus,R J Palmer, and Lorraine Schleter Today’s theme: nasty things the corps are doing, usually to the runner. Cards: Vulcan Coverup, Witness Tampering, Traffic Accident, BOOM!, Enforcing Loyalty, Attitude Adjustment, Freelancer Snatch and Grab
This sexy new print comes in 11x17 and is available through my new cosplay card deck and #pinup book campaign. Take a look and get it while you can :) www.caranicole.club
Hey, remember when they got Tetsuo Hara to do artwork for a card that was part of a special Magic The Gathering card set? Well, here’s the whole thing.
(viaMarrying Mr Darcy P&P Card Game) Because everyone should have a chance to marry Mr. Darcy, Willow and Thatch is giving away a copy of the Marrying Mr. Darcy card game. See the article for how to enter.
“Prisoners confined in jail with nothing to occupy their efforts usually find some way of killing time. The ingenuity shown is often remarkable. To some these means may savor of the childhood, make-believe play, but that charge does not bother the adults who may be guilty of it.
In the county jail the other day a reporter saw an instance. The game was at cards, Seven-up. There were no chips to pass for forfeits–and here the inventive genius came in. Two men had sat vis-a-vis on their cell hammock for hours and until the tally list of games won reached several times across a slip of paper. At the close of one game the winner reached behind him and pulled out a paddle or spanker. ‘Here, take your medicine,’ he called to his opponent, whereupon the latter presented the seat of his trousers for a bastinado of the number of strokes equal to the margin of points by which he had lost the game.
‘Nosy poker’ is similar. In this case the beaten man presents his nose for receiving strikes from the deck of cards. ‘Those two fellows sometimes have noses so red that they look like electric light bulbs,’ commented the jailer.”
~The Spokane press. (Spokane, Wash.), 13 July 1903. Chronicling America. Lib. of Congress.
What’s book history got to do with Magic the Gathering? A lot, actually! From the design of the card backs to key gameplay elements, books permeate the world of Magic.
I recently gave a talk about the artistic and mechanical importance of books in Magic, and what we can learn about the concept of the book as an object through card art. I spoke with artists Heather Hudson, Aaron Miller, Randy Gallegos, and Daniel Ljunggren to get a sense of what sources they used, and how they imagined books fitting into the wider world of MTG.
And it’s here! The Sefirot Kickstarter is now live and will be running until April 24th, though we’ve… already hit the goal!? We’ve got a bunch of neat stretch goals planned next, so stay tuned
@p-kom & I are excited to finally be able to showcase all the things we’ve been quietly working on so far, and to get back to drawing cards again!
Vendetta’s still got plenty of the trappings of the tabletop RPG. The aforementioned frenzy system is one of them, where starvation makes a vampire lose control of themselves, fly into a rage and maybe even snack on a mate. Instead of worrying about a single vampire, however, each player runs a Chicago clan, competing with the others by playing cards that represent their undead powers and abilities in locations they want to control—all so they can gain enough influence to overthrow the current Prince of Chicago.
Do you always fall back on Katakana when you don’t know the Japanese word? Do you struggle to understand all the ways to say 「やばい」? "The game called Haa" and “No Katakana” help you practice speaking dynamic Japanese. Recently these card games have taken Japan by storm, but haven’t quite made it over into the Gaijin stratosphere… until now.
My friend and I bought the game “Your Worst Nightmare” tonight and we decided to pick out 3 fears for all of the losers, as well as 3 for them as a whole
