Somewhere in the early ‘80s my mother bought me Quintillions as a Christmas present. She did so at a craft show, buying it from Kate Jones, the creative mind and driving force behind Kadon Games and the GamePuzzles website*. My puzzle and gaming mind was immediately hooked.

“You’d love her booth,” my mother said. “It’s nothing but puzzles and games.”

A year or so later I found Jones at the Maryland Renaissance Faire. (This was before she built her permanent RennFaire building.) I spent so much time at her booth I seriously annoyed the people I’d gone to the Faire with. So many games. So many puzzles.

[caption id="attachment_252942" align="aligncenter" width="600"] My Quintillions box, which is older than some of my Meeple Mountain colleagues.[/caption]

Years later, when my wife and I started doing craft shows, I ran into Jones again. Quintillions was still on the table, as well as some puzzles I recognized. What impressed me the most, however, was that there were so many new and different puzzles and games on display. She never stopped dreaming up new challenges.

Waitaminite…Didn’t You Already Write About Pentominoes?

Astute readers will be quick to point out that I…

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No ‘Mids

Looney Labs has released a series of smaller box games featuring their Pyramids. Some feature games from their Pyramid Arcade, while Nomids is a new game. While they refer to Nomids as an expansion to Pyramid Arcade, it really isn’t. If you own Pyramid Arcade you already have all the components necessary to play Nomids. 

If not, there’s a lot of Pyramids in this small box (30, to be precise, or 10 sets of Pyramid trios of a single color) and that means a lot of gaming possibilities.

[caption id="attachment_164602" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Pyramids and the Lightning Die of Nomids[/caption]

The object behind Nomids is hidden in the name: No ‘Mids, or No (Pyra)Mids. Your aim is to end your turn with No Pyramids in front of you.

Let’s take a look at how this all plays out, shall we?

Playing the Game

Players begin by selecting three Pyramids, one of each size (Small, Medium, and Large), each in a different color. With 10 different colors of Pyramids to choose from, this isn’t hard to do.

The remaining Pyramids are left to the…

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Purchase Aroma: https://organicaromas.com/products/aroma-a-game-of-essence

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Now, don’t get me wrong. You may have read the title of this article and thought I was going to straight dunk on a whole swath of digital games. And you’re damn right I am. But for the sake of argument, let’s take a look at some of the reasons why this style of digital play has become popular.

Why Are Physics-Driven Game Systems Popular? And Also, Uh, What Are They Again?

Depending on how much of a nerd you are, you may be familiar with the idea of a physics engine. If you aren’t, I’ll sum it up for you as quick as I can: video games need rules to tell them how objects interact. If this sword is dropped, what happens? If you crash into this wall, what happens? If you throw a wheel of cheese at this child, what happens? The physics engine is responsible for setting the rules…

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I love board games of all sorts. Deck building, roll and move, area control, and light card games are some of my favorites, but in general I’ll play just about anything. However board game apps don’t generally appeal to me. They’re flashy and fun, but I play board games for the people, which is probably one reason I’m personally not a fan of solitaire gaming. However there’s a subgenre of board games that mixes the digital and the analog in clever and innovative ways, leveraging technology while still giving me a hands on experience with my friends and family. I’ve previously covered two superb examples in this group: Dropmix from Hasbro and Beasts of Balance from Sensible Object. I’m really excited to show off a new addition to this crew: Blinks from Move 38. Let’s dive in and see what the fuss is about.

Blinks Overview

Before we dive into the game system, let’s introduce you to a Blink, the star of the show. A single Blink is a hexagonal plastic piece with a plastic shell, a soft rubber top, lights, and a single game.

Each Blink contains not only the instructions for its own game, but also the ability to teach…

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Let me explain.

I first learned about Andy Looney’s pyramid pieces decades ago when I read the snippet of a short story that he wrote. In that story, he described people playing a game called Icehouse. The game was played with colored pyramids on the floor of a subway station and progressed without specific turns. Intrigued, I asked around for more information on Icehouse, but in those pre-Internet days, I came up with nothing.

A Brief History of the Pyramids

[caption id="attachment_22461" align="aligncenter" width="500"] The Pyramids[/caption]

As it turned out, I wasn’t the only person who was curious about the Icehouse game. Many of Looney’s friends wanted to know more about the pyramids and, more specifically, how to play the game. Andy’s lifelong friend, John Cooper, came to Looney’s rescue by devising rules for the original Icehouse game. Looney’s NASA co-worker Kristin Wunderlich then convinced him to start a company to publish the game.

…

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Pyramid Arcade is a monster collection of boards, dice, cards, and pyramids. It is the result of over 25 years worth of work from Andy Looney, the man behind not only the Pyramid games, but Fluxx and Chrononauts. Inside the box you’ll find everything you need to play all 22 games written up in the 80-page rule book. Don’t let the length put you off, though — most games are only a page or two long and can be learned in as many minutes.

[avatar user="tfranklin" size="thumbnail" align="right" /]Hi, I’m Avatar Tom and I’ll be poking my head in to make the occasional comment or observation. For instance, in the rule book, Andy Looney, the man who created the Pyramids and the majority of these games, calls Pyramid Arcade his “magnum opus.” I think that’s an accurate statement.

[caption id="attachment_22378" align="aligncenter" width="500"] There's a lot gaming options waiting for you inside the Pyramid Arcade box.[/caption]

[mks_toggle title="To learn more about these components, what they’re called and how they’re used, click here to read more. To dive right into the games, read on!" state="close"]

There is a lot to, um, unbox here, so let me explain…

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Funkoverse Strategy Game is a new release from Funko Games that pits teams of beloved fictional characters against each other in a light tactical miniatures game. I know what you’re saying:

Wait, Funko? The company that makes those giant-headed collectible dolls with beady black eyes that pierce your soul and empty your wallet? They made a game? 

Yup, that’s the one. We have reached a level of board game exposure that even companies like Funko can capitalize on the gaming phenomenon. I was certainly skeptical, until I heard that they had snagged Prospero Hall as the designers. In case you’ve missed it, Prospero Hall is a design team that has been knocking it out of the park lately with well-received hits like Villainous, Horrified, Jaws, PUSH, and Bob Ross: The Art of Chill, amongst others.

Okay, Funko. You have my attention. Proceed.

When I heard about the game, I was curious to see what exactly a Funkoverse game would involve, given the vast array of fandoms that Funko Pop have licensed for their collectible dolls. Sure enough the news came out soon that the interchangeable starting sets would be the DC Universe, Harry Potter, and The Golden Girls.

Wait, what? You lost me again. The Golden Girls? One of…

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A Review of the Primal Punk RPG and the Conclusion of its Epic Adventure Campaign

DeGenesis

Several months ago, we wrote a First Take on the critically acclaimed primal punk role-playing game, DeGenesis: Rebirth. This beautifully designed new edition of DeGenesis, published by SIXMOREVODKA, is an easy to understand RPG system wrapped in an incredibly dense post-apocalyptic world. If you are looking for a Mad Max setting of wild, tribal warriors and corrupted technology this is the game for you. The themes depicted are definitely mature but the level of detail put into this chaotic world back up the need for these themes.

If you are unfamiliar with the mechanics of DeGenesis, it’s actually very light and simple. The system, called KatharSys, is a comparative dice pool rolled against a difficulty class to accomplish tasks. Each character has six attributes. Six skills are associated with each attribute. The scores for the attributes and skills are determined through point-buy at character creation. The attribute score combined with the skill score determine the Action Number which is the number of six-sided dice rolled to attempt that task. Each die that scores above 3 is a success. Depending on the difficulty a varying number…

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This year, Catalyst Game Labs is releasing a new edition: Shadowrun Sixth World. In addition to being the sixth edition of the game, the Sixth World is the term used to describe the Shadowrun setting, an era in which magic has returned to the world, humanity has evolved to include multiple fantastic races such as elves and trolls, and technology is so far beyond our modern day standards that firing a gun with your mind is nothing special.

If this sounds like fun to you - and it should - you’ll likely be wondering how to get started. While the full rulebook won’t be released…

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So, grab your crushed velvet bag of ten-siders as we sink our teeth into Vampire: the Masquerade.

Backstory

Vampire: the Masquerade began as the brain child of Mark Rein-Hagen, a game designer who had co-developed a previous game called Ars Magica at his company Lion Rampant. It was a very unique look at using magic to manipulate the world of medieval Europe and had a decent following including a fanzine called White Wolf (after Michael Moorcock’s Elric series). The two brothers behind White Wolf became friends with the team at Lion Rampant and eventually both…

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So, grab that Crown Royal bag full of Infinity Stones as we pry the lid off of Marvel Super Heroes!

Secret Origins

Marvel Super Heroes was first published in 1984 as Marvel Super Heroes: The Heroic Role-Playing Game It was a simple game, designed by game design luminary Jeff Grubb, to allow players to assume the roles of some of Marvel’s famous heroes. This version became known as the “Basic Set” when Marvel Super Heroes Advanced Set, which was published in 1986, expanded the power levels of characters and added rules for campaign level play. Finally, in 1991, the Revised Set was published, reconciling the two previous sets, clarifying some rules, and updating the roster of available heroes.

All versions of the game come with some great accessories. The first are maps. Each boxed set comes with a poster-sized, street-level, map of a portion of Marvel’s silver-aged New York City. This is great for those street-level campaigns where…

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This series of articles will focus on the great (and not-so great) tabletop role-playing games of yesteryear. Re-visiting retro RPGs can be an interesting way to spend a game night because there’s no way it can be done in a vacuum. We go back and play these games for the nostalgia factor but we always bring our current events, beliefs, and values with us. These inform how we view the roles we play in these games and the games, in turn, can inform us about the history behind the games we love today.

So, grab your Crown Royal bag full of dice and put on your black leather jacket and mirrored shades as we dive into our first Retro RPG!

Cyberpunk 2020 Introduction

In the past few years, we have seen a resurgence of the cyberpunk genre. A new Blade Runner movie, two streaming video series (Altered Carbon and Electric Dreams), a popular card game (Netrunner), and the Deus Ex video game series have all enjoyed at least moderate success. Now, with Ready Player One about to be released to theaters, it is time to wonder why cyberpunk is making a comeback. Some might argue that there are certain themes in this genre…

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