PSP #172: Board Gaming with Marvel Dice Masters, Shadows Over Camelot: The Card Game, and Kickstarter; Then Game Clubbing with Heavenly Sword

In today's episode, I talk about more Marvel Dice Masters, having played a few more games, now using tournament rules, teaching the game to a few more people as well, and then talk about Shadows Over Camelot: The Card Game, a decent, simplified implementation of the board game, but not at all a replacement. After that, I go over a few Kickstarter projects and then get depressed as Game Club continues with more Heavenly Sword. Anyway, if you want to be extra cool, you should seriously check out Frontburnr, register, and join our lovely little party. And, if you're feeling extra generous, donate a little money or subscribe to show your support for the site and show(s), it's not free to host the site, the show; to make and record videos, and everything in between. You can also support the site by shopping at Amazon. Cheers, and have a lovely rest of the day.

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Kickstarter Picks for the Week of May 05, 2014

What is this post all about? Well, it should pretty straightforward, but, if there's any confusion, this is where I'll be talking about a handful of Kickstarter projects each week, focusing on a few projects that recently launched and a few projects that are about to end. Will I be focusing only on projects in need of funding? No. I will simply be focusing on projects that interest me, regardless of whether they've only raised $5 or raised ten times that of their original goal. Anyway, I think it's about time I got to the actual projects, eh.

• Recently Launched

Evolution

• Ends Mon, Jun 16 2014 10:59 PM CDT.

Evolution is a dynamic card game that involves, you guess it, evolution! As stated last week (and made evident by the fact I always have a deck of playing cards in my left back pants pocket), I love card games, and a card game where you create your own species, evolving 'em as the game progresses, doing your best to survive and score the most points sounds awesome. Evolution is definitely worth checking out--even if you only go to check out the beautiful art on each card--and I wouldn't be surprised to see Evolution reach quite a few of their stretch goals.

More Kickstarter picks can be seen with a little bit of clickage.

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PSP #171: Board Gaming with Marvel Dice Masters, The Downfall of Pompeii, Cthulhu Dice, BANG!, and The Resistance

In today's episode, I talk about the best game night in quite a while thanks to good games, good people, and a very welcome new face (and voice). The games discussed include Marvel Dice Masters--expect more on this in the near future--The Downfall of Pompeii--I need to buy my own copy already--Cthulhu Dice, BANG!, and The Resistance. Anyway, if you want to be extra cool, you should seriously check out Frontburnr, register, and join our lovely little party. And, if you're feeling extra generous, donate a little money or subscribe to show your support for the site and show(s), it's not free to host the site, the show; to make and record videos, and everything in between. You can also support the site by shopping at Amazon. Cheers, and have a lovely rest of the day.

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A temporary solution for those unable to find a Marvel Dice Masters Starter Set

I know the hunt well and feel a bit bad for finding a copy when the game only popped up on my radar a few days before release--I was shopping at Target, figured I'd look for the hell of it and, to my surprise, they had three copies(!)--but, if you really want to play Marvel Dice Masters and couldn't snag a copy of the Starter Set, WizKids has a temporary solution for y'all. (Do not spend a ridiculous amount of money on eBay or the like for a copy!)

What's the temporary solution? Well, WizKids has provided a PDF so y'all can print out proxy cards [of the Basic Action cards] and special instructions that will allow players to use regular ol' D-6s in place of the Basic Action and Sidekick dice. Y'all will still need character cards in order to play, but everything from the Starter Set that you can't get elsewhere is available with this PDF, so, as I said before, if you really want to play Marvel Dice Masters, use this temporary solution now and pick up a Starter Set when they're back in stock in a month or two; there's no need to spend a small fortune for it right now.

Marvel Dice Masters: Avengers vs. X-Men Announcement! (WizKids)

Deal of the Day: Xbox One exclusives for $39.99 each

Today only, you can pick up one of three (or all three) Xbox One exclusives for $39.99 each on Amazon: Forza Motorsport 5, Ryse: Son of Rome, and Dead Rising 3. Now I know Forza 5 gets a lot of crap for its microtransactions, but, as someone who put a few dozen hours into the game, I never once paid anything more than the initial price of admission and never felt like I was missing out or that I needed to spend more money to get the full experience. On a similar note, Ryse is a game that may not be great, but it's a very solid game with great visuals, a surprisingly good story, and fun multiplayer; I enjoyed my entire time with Ryse and hope y'all don't let some early negativity keep you from giving the game a shot.

Forza 5 and Ryse are good games, but Dead Rising 3 is a great game. I know not everyone liked the first two games and I understand why--the save system was awful; the partner A.I. was beyond stupid; and the gameplay was pretty damn terrible, especially when you had a gun in your hand--but Dead Rising 3 fixes so many of those problems, delivering a Dead Rising game with a, "Save Anywhere" system, partner A.I. that is actually helpful, and legitimately fun gameplay, even when shooting one of a handful of guns. Dead Rising 3 may not be the most amazing game ever made, but it's a lot of fun and one of my favorite games of 2013.

• Dead Rising 3
• Forza Motorsport 5
• Ryse: Son of Rome

Kickstarter Pick: Simple System Table-Top Roleplaying Game System

I so wanted to call this, "Pickstarter," thinking I'm clever and funny, realizing seconds later that I'm actually stupid and as far from funny as one gets, but that's not why I'm here; I'm here to talk about the Simple System Table-Top Roleplaying Game System, a recently launched Kickstarter project that has grown quite a bit since I first backed it--I may be remembering wrong, but I'm pretty sure I was one of the first few to back the project. So what is Simple System Table-Top Roleplaying Game System? Well, the name is kind of straightforward...

I can't speak with any authority about tapletop roleplaying games because I've never played one, but I've always been interested in trying one out; however, there's always been an invisible wall heading my attempts to do so, not to mention the difficulty of finding the right people--someone willing to teach anything and everything--who all happen to have the same days and hours free for playing--I've been trying to get something going for a few years now with no success. On top of scheduling and all that jazz, there is something daunting about the actual roleplaying system; it may be simple, but it sure as hell isn't inviting or seemingly accessible. This is where Simple System comes into play.

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PSP #170: Board Gaming with The Resistance, Scallywags, and Flick Wars; Then Game Clubbing with Heavenly Sword

In today's episode, I start off talking about C2E2, going on many tangents while I do it, then jump straight into board games, talking about The Resistance, Scallywags, and a game currently doing the ol' Kickstarter thing: Flick Wars (check it out if you would be so kind; it's a fun little game made for those who enjoy dexterity games). After that, I get to the Heavenly Sword Game Club and y'all may be surprised by what I have to say; though, that's all I'll say about what I had to say on the actual show...just sayin'. Anyway, if you want to be extra cool, you should seriously check out Frontburnr, register, and join our lovely little party. And, if you're feeling extra generous, donate a little money or subscribe to show your support for the site and show(s), it's not free to host the site, the show; to make and record videos, and everything in between. You can also support the site by shopping at Amazon. Cheers, and have a lovely rest of the day.

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Kickstarter Picks for the Week of April 28, 2014

What is this post all about? Well, it should pretty straightforward, but, if there's any confusion, this is where I'll be talking about a handful of Kickstarter projects each week, focusing on a few projects that recently launched and a few projects that are about to end. Will I be focusing only on projects in need of funding? No. I will simply be focusing on projects that interest me, regardless of whether they've only raised $5 or raised ten times that of their original goal. Anyway, I think it's about time I got to the actual projects, eh.

• Recently Launched

gofindit - a sensory outdoor treasure hunt card game

• Ends Mon, Jun 9 2014 10:00 AM CDT.

I love cards and love simple games--I do enjoy longer, heavier games too, but there's nothing wrong with a bit of simplicity every now and again--so gofindit immediately grabbed my attention, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of y'all skipped this game based off the image above; if that's you, well, I'm sorry for your loss. Anyway, gofindit is the very definition of simple as the gameplay consists of getting a specified number of cards, then finding objects in the real world that reflect what cards you have in your hand--e.g., if one of your cards says, "Heavy," you may go and find a rock or a paperweight; I bet a lost a few when I said, "Finding objects in the real world..." Yes, gofindit uses the real world and that may annoy some people, but that's what I love about it; you can play the game indoors or outdoors, but I have to imagine it would be much more fun outdoors and I can't help but love a game that encourages getting a little sun and fresh air (and getting up out of that seat)--if you've seen my pale ass in person, you know I need this more than anyone--so, if any of that sounds interesting to you, check out gofindit and pledge a little something-something while you're at it!

More Kickstarter picks can be seen with a little bit of clickage.

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Ending Soon: Forces of Evil -- Dungeon Building Game

Kickstarter projects are starting and ending every single day and, well, one post a week just isn't enough--for those interested in the happenings of Kickstarter, at least--so now I'll be posting little pieces about individual projects as they near the end, especially if they're greatly in need of funding, or if they happen to launch just after the weekly wrap-up. And, with all that said, let's talk about a little game called Forces of Evil.

There are only about six hours and change left until Forces of Evil's Kickstarter campaign ends and, let's not beat around the bush, there's about a 99% chance of it not succeeding; however, that doesn't mean y'all shouldn't check it out and, maybe with a bit of feedback and some extra work, Forces of Evil will return for round 2, ready to kick bubble gum and chew ass--wait, I think I did that wrong.

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Tabletop Tales: Going down with SOS Titantic

I knew how this story would end and, even then, I couldn't rewrite history; the Titanic was going down, twas only a matter of how many people I could save before the massive ship was lying on the ocean floor.

This, is SOS Titanic.

My name was Reginald Lee and I was the lookout. I had my strengths--I could draw up to six passenger cards and started with more action cards than anyone else--but I also had my weaknesses--if I ever failed to rescue a passenger, I was not allowed to take an Action card like everyone else. I thought I was ready, but one look at my face--eyes angled downwards, half covered in shadow under my brown flat hat--and it's almost as if I had already given up before it even started.

Twas 11:40pm when I first saw the iceberg and, already, I knew it wasn't about prevention, but rescue. I started out feeling ok--I knew I had a few chances before the first deck was completely flooded--but that soon changed when I drew three passengers and couldn't save any of them--goodbye one chance--and then, a minute later, I depleted the passenger pile--another chance lost. Just like that, I lost two chances and one more would cause the first deck to flood. It only took fifteen seconds for that last chance to disappear as I found myself with another group of passengers I couldn't save. And then the first deck was gone.

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