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EPISODE 17

IS THAT A MEEPLE IN YOUR POCKET!

Not Just Another Gaming Podcast - Host: Jim Reed - Jeff Scott - Matt McHale

 review In this episode:

We review the board game documentary GOING CARDBOARD as well as interview documentarian and creator LORIEN GREEN! www.boardgamemovie.com

It's a triple feature Game Spotlight: Rex Final Days Of An Empire - Eclipse - Capo (working title)

Also we take a look at Tumblin' Dice, Ultimate Werewolf, Crokinole, and  The Resistance.

We tell some tabletop horror stories in a new segment called Gaming Disasters!

Out Of The Box: Our top 5 comic book story arcs.

And of course much, much more!

(We had a bunch of problems with this episdoe. First we lost close to 30 minutes of the show and had to re-record most of the Gaming Spotlights. Then, we kept having some strange interference and feedback. So you may hear some choppy edits due to getting rid of an annoying buzzing sound in a couple of places. And of course, the show didn't post right which is why I'm doing this Show Notes post. Thanks for listening!!!)

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By: MATTHEW McHALE

Quarriors is a so called dice building game. The game comes with 130 quaint custom 6 sided dice that are quite nice. None of the dice are your standard 1 to 6 on them with pips or numbers. There are three main types of dice quiddity, spells and creatures.

Quarriors is a game that was not much on my radar for 2011. After the first couple of times I played it, it quickly became one of my favorite games. Is it a complex game? No. Is it a long game? No. Is it a deeply strategic game? No. Will you quaff over every turn? No. Does it have a serious theme? Again no, but the real question is, Is it fun? And for me yes Quarriors is quite fun. I have no qualms about it. Some may quarrel that the game it too random, but it’s a dice game so let’s not quibble over that.

The game is for up to 4 players that can sit in a quadrangle (I know I really stretched for that Q). All players will start with the same number of basic dice. On each players turn 6 dice are pulled from their dice bag. Most of these dice will get you quiddity (used like money). Get enough quiddity and you will qualify to buy more dice. You can buy spells or creatures. Creatures are used to attack other player’s creatures and have them quake with fear. Creatures also are how you score. Each different creature die has a number of glory points (victory points) associated with them. You score if your creatures are still out in front of you at the start of your turn. Spells unusually do not score you points but can be used in a number of way to crush you enemies or quell plans they may have to crush you. You are trying to get a number of glory points that depends on the number players in your quest to win.

I will end this quirky review by quietly saying I love this game. When I want to just play a light fun game Quarriors can quench my thirst.

Quarriors:

Designed By: Mike Elliot & Eric M. Lang

Published : 2011 - WizKids

# of Players: 2-4 ; Playing Time: 30min ; Mfg Suggested Age: 14 and up

Expanded By: Rise of The Demons (Available now) & Quarmageddon (Out June 2012)

Website: www.quarriors.com

EPISODE 16

Totally Confusing!

Not Just Another Gaming Podcast - Host: Jim Reed - Jeff Scott - Matt McHale

In this episode:

Total Con 26! We talk about about our awesome weekend at the convention.

We discuss games played such as Rex, Capo, Cosmic Encounter, 1st Edition AD&D, Ultimate Werewolf, and more!

Plus lots of other awesomeness!

I talk about a custom scenario for the D&D adventure boardgames - Here is the Link to Nick Gauthiers articles on Examiner.com http://www.examiner.com/hobby-games-in-new-york/d-d-adventure-system-board-games-combining-components-building-a-campaign-1 and a link to the article on my game here - http://www.examiner.com/hobby-games-in-new-york/d-d-adventure-system-board-games-not-just-another-combining-components-article



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BY: JIM REED

"So what do you do for fun?"
"Well, I'm into a lot of things but I really enjoy spending time playing board games."
"Oh we also play games once in a while. We love Uno. Have you ever heard of Apples to Apples?"
"Um, Yes."
"We usually get a night in every few months. How often do you play?"
"I guess about 2 or 3 nights a week."
"What? Man, I don't like Uno that much. Guess you play Monopoly a lot?"
"Not really."

You know where this is going. You know how many times you've engaged in this conversation. Sometimes it just ends there and sometimes you're ask to give some games you like. You always know the next line after that. No matter what list of games you say, the response is always the same.
"Never heard of those."

How many friends or family members just don't get it? How many would you like to see understand why you love board games? Sure, the best thing to do is set up a time to invite them over and play some games with them. If there's just to much deference in schedules or the distance is too far, maybe you can recommend a few games for them to try, or better yet get them one for a gift.

Well, now there's another way to introduce people into this wonderful world of board gaming. It's a fabulous documentary by Lorien Green called "Going Cardboard".

Going Cardboard does an excellent job showing how the Perception of the world of gaming is very much like those who are always on the opposite side of that conversation from you. Then, the documentary shows why that perception should be shattered as the influence of the "German style" games have began a phenomenal transformation of the gaming world in the United States.

Yes, sorry for those of you in other countries but this Documentary does focus more on the American influenced side of gaming.

Am I convinced that this Documentary will transform all viewers into gamers, well no, it hasn't been out long enough to make such a bold claim, but I think that the process of which the film shows off such a great variety and styles of games and gamers, can and will change the misconceptions of the hobby. I believe it can influence many people just by the films superb showcasing of the things I just mentioned.

Now, looking at the other side, those already into the hobby, what will this film do for them? Well, it's very insightful into the inner working of publishers, the challenges of designers, and the thoughts of the average gamer. Wither you're well schooled in the hobby or a casual fan, you will find something new. Oh yea, and it's pretty darn entertaining too.

Just for good measure, the Film comes with a free game called "Shootout", designed by one of the most well known designers in the industry, Reiner Knizia.

Every gamer should own at least one copy of this documentary. Hats off to Lorien Green and her tremendous effort in getting this film made an to her loving passion of this great gaming hobby industry.

For more information on the wonderful film, please visit boardgamemovie.com

The Dice Tower podcast is the flagship podcast of The Dice Tower network.

 Jim, Jeff, and Matt join Tom Vasel, and Eric Summerer for episode 247 of The Dice Tower.

This show was recorded live from Total Con 26 in Mansfield Ma. We discuss many of the great game experiences and exciting moments from the convention, as well as talk about what we like the most about gaming conventions.

http://audio.funagain.com/thedicetower/TDT247-TheDiceTower-Episode247.mp3

EPISODE 14

MEMORABLE MOMENTS AND HOMELESS PEOPLE!

Not Just Another Gaming Podcast - Host: Jim Reed - Jeff Scott - Matt McHale

In this episode:

It's Our 1 Year Anniversary Episode! We celebrate by bringing you an extra jammed packed episode!

Games!Games!Games! We spotlight Stronghold Games Core Worlds.

We take a look at and review Plaid Hat Games - Dungeon Run, North Star Games - Crappy Birthday, Victory Point Games - Zulus On The Rampart, Greater Than Games - Sentinels of the Multiverse, and Firesdie Games - Castle Panic-Wizards Tower expansion.

We continue our CONTEST!!! Win free admission and swag to Total Confusion 26!  We have an all new way to enter so listen and find out how! Find more info at www.totalcon.com

In our Quick Hits segment, we'll tell you about our trip to Geoff Engelsteins "Post Christmas Game Day", talk Pathfinder comics, and give some initial thoughts on Wizards of the Coast's announcement of a new Dungeons and Dragons system.

All three of us give our top gaming moments from 2011!

And we have a special interview with All Things Fun! owner Ed Evans on how 2011 went for him as a Local Friendly Game Store owner.

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By: Jim Reed

So I've played the game a few times myself but now it was time for me to teach it to a few new players. 
I start taking the cards from the box.  
I line up the Sector cards and Galactic cards then place the round marker.

I begin to describe how the game is played over 10 rounds in which we will be drafting unit and tactic cards and conquering worlds for energy. I explain how we'll be using 1 deck every two rounds and that the decks get increasingly more powerful cards in them and harder to conquer worlds, as we move further toward round 10. I Tell them how rounds 9 and 10 will contain the Core Worlds as well as some cards that will just supply Empire points at a high energy cost. 

"Now, you probably want to know how you draft these cards." I tell them.

" Picture a triangle. At the top is energy. You start with some that is being generated from your home planet. You'll need to spend it to draft tactics and units into your decks. You will also need energy to Deploy units from your hand to your War zone and to play the tactics cards you've drafted. The third point of the triangle is the planets. You'll be using the units in your War zone to conquer planets. The planets, will in turn generate more energy."

After that brief description we go over what the different cards look like a what symbols mean what. This is where I talk about how the planets will show a fleet strength and / or ground strength number on them and that's at least how many of each you will need to conquer them.  
"Yes." I answer.
"The units will show how much fleet and / or ground strength they provide."
I explain how once the units are used for an invasion, the go back into their decks to be later redeployed.

Finally, I tell them now that they know everything they can do, that each thing will cost an action.
"We each get a set number of actions per round as listed on the sector cards."
"Remember that playing tactics cards does cost the energy they require, but does not cost an action unless they state that they do."

At this point I ask if there are any questions about what I've said. To my surprise there are none.  In fact, one of the new players ( I'll call him Pear Face) says how simple it has been to learn. Pear Face says that he thought it was going to be much more complex than this.

With that, I randomly hand them their factions and we pick a start player.

"If you look at your starting decks," I tell them.
"You'll notice you start with some basic grunts and snub fighters. When you Conquer a world you can "tuck" one of these if it participated in the battle. This gets these weaker units out of your deck if you'd like but they still count toward final scoring."

The starting tactics cards are also self explanatory (some can add fleet strength to a battle, some ground strength, some let you acquire more energy).
"Each faction has one hero that is unique. Make sure to look at yours and read its ability. (again - self explanatory) Finally, put your starting planet in front of you, you'll see that it has an ability of its own. Some planets will. This one is the same for all of us and it lets you discard two cards during the Energy phase to give you more energy."

Now we shuffle, draw our hands, set our action and energy, and two of us play a tactics card that cost no energy to play but provides us with more energy.

Next I lay out the tableau of cards from the current Galactic deck in the center of the table. We spend a few moments describing what all the cards abilities are. Next, we begin the game.

Fast forward 3 hours.
(oh, that's not because the game took 3 hours, we ordered food that showed up halfway through.)

Yes, I won. But only by 1 Empire point, it was that close!

Looking over at Pear face I ask, "So, what do you think?" and this was his answer.

He smiled and said that he was right about one thing. That the game was simple to learn and that the rules were not complex at all. But he couldn't believe how deep and strategic the game play actually was. He felt the pressure from every single decision he made. He relished the intense management of his resources where he knew that to optimize his deck, this management ability was crucial. He said there were times he thought about splashing water in his face as he wanted to be so careful with every last precious action he had. AP? Yea, a bit. Especially being his first time. But it wasn't because he couldn't decide what to do, it was because he had such great options he couldn't decide what not to do. He wanted to draft every awesome unit card that came out. The robots, the Heroes, the powerful Cruisers. He wanted to conquer all the planets to boost his energy production, supply Empire points, and provide special abilities.

I look over at another one of the new players. I ask what her opinion is.

She tells us how she has played almost all the deck building games, and that some of the familiarities are here. Such as the fact that it's not all about just buying everything you can. You need to pay attention to what's going in your deck. It's even especially important in this game because of how the Core Worlds provide bonus points based on card types that are in your final deck. On the other end however, she says that this game felt less like a deck building game than any others she had played. The theme helped make it feel like I was actually building up and ordering an army rather than just a collection of cards that let me get more cards.

During all this talk, the final player had been placing all of his cards back in their respective piles, and my cards, and the other players cards. I knew there was another game he had brought and was probably eager to get to playing it. As I started to ask what his opinion of the game was I grabbed the box to put the game back in. As it turned out, he wasn't to happy with me. Nope, he didn't want me to put the game away. He didn't want to play the game he had brought. He had been setting Core Worlds back up to play again.

Turns out, we played two more times that night.

out of 10