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SCREAMIN’ STEEN’S PICK OF THE WEEK—Race to the Galaxy!

Oh, baby—where have you been? Rumors were all about a new setting/new edition, but after months the golden oldie is back much the same as before. One of the first ‘card-Euros’, and one of the best, though I’m still trying to figure out one some of those little marks on the cards mean.

‘Consulting Detective’ keeps selling, and I love this game. It’s simple: You get all kind of bits of this in that you might have seen lying about at 221B Baker Street. You sort through it to try to solve cases, in a Holmesian way. Dude…you get to thumb through Victorian newspapers looking for clues. Screamin’ Steen puts on his deer-stalkin’ cap for this one.

Waa…that was almost a game of the week, but what about ‘Grogs’ for the fine Ars Magica RPG. What the hell…I don’t know…and I like it better that way. * ‘Discworld Ankh-Moorpork’ is back, after having fallen through the cracks for a week or two. I don’t know how it plays, but hey…Discworld, come on… For extra credit, from what previous great fantasy city does Ankh-Moorpork rise. I’ll give you a hint: Ask the two rogues encountered by Rincewind at the beginning of the very first of the Discworld books. Give you answer to Ralph, here at the store, and insist that he tell me.

Speaking of stocking boo-boos, we also welcome back: ‘War of the Roses; Lancaster vs York’. It’s a big fellow, one of the many wannabe Kingmakers, and you think that I would have noticed the absence. Bah. * ‘Zen Garden’ looks like a relaxing little tile game, while ‘Steam Craft’ looks like an RPG blast. And how about ‘Atomic-Age Cthulhu’. Cool. I wonder if it includes mutant monsters, you know, with Godzilla raging through Tokyo brawling with Cthulhu over the fate of mankind. Screamin’ Steen really let’s loose over that one.

SCREAMIN’ STEEN’S PICK OF THE WEEK—Dresden Files

First, read the books. The RPG works a lot better if you know the characters from the many novels since the characters from the books have annotated the rules in the guise of themselves being handed an RPG about their lives. I doubt that I’ll ever play the game, but I could spend hours reading snarky old Harry ranting on about his portrayal in the rules.

‘Seasons’ is back, after a little between-print run problem, offering one of the season’s best new Euros, while Galaxy Trucker adds the rather self-explanatory ‘Another Big Expansion’. I love the idea of Galaxy Trucker. You start with a frantic, timed build-your-spaceship phase, followed by a general launching of the heaps, and consequent gradual disintegration (as well as other sorts of ‘construction flaw unveilings’) until whatever’s left shambles back home with, maybe, some cargo.

‘String Railway’ is back, offering a yarn alternative to the traditional railgame crayon (check it out to see what I mean). * ‘Merchants & Marauders’ gives us maybe the best “yar, yar” pirate game around, while ‘Golden Mechanical Soldiers’ and ‘Maiden Princess of the Cherry Blossoms’ have come to us hand in hand for Cardfight Vanguard. * And, last, ‘Wereshark’, a figure from Reaper Minatures, which is the latest addition to the hominid Shark figures that, accountably, have proliferated on our miniature hooks.

LAUGHIN’ STEEN’S PICK OF THE WEEK—Munchkin!

Because, well, why the hell not? Them little buggers pretty much own the store, and I think that they’ve finally covered every conceivable genre. Silly game-play, goofy art, out-of-control-power-gaming-RPG/GM/nightmare—grab your beer, mead, or mountain dew, and try not to rupture yourself laughing.

‘Knights of Ten’ came in, offering up an interesting-looking little card game, and ‘Castle of the Devil’ is back. Castle had a nice little run, and then slowed down. It’s a Mafia riff (you all have role cards; no one knows who has what; and the game is all about sorting it out), setting all the players in a rockin’ carriage careening through stormy night. There are two sides; everyone is one or the other; the trick is in figuring out who you can trust and who you can’t. Fun.

Oh, boy—‘Ra’ is back, my all-time favorite auction game. I love the Egyptian Chrome and the cut-off bidding rule that knocks out Mr. (or Ms.) I’ll-go-last-and-scoop-up-everything-cheap. But what I like best is that I’ve never quite figured out the scoring system, so I spend the whole game wondering what the hell is going on, and am always a bit surprised by the outcome. * Oh, and ‘Ricochet Robots’ is back, and, uh, sorry about that. It just kind of fell through the cracks for a week or two.

‘Meeple Monthly! Meeple Monthly!’ Sure, it’s not a lot different than Game Trade Magazine, but it’s a hell of a funnier name. * Speaking of funny names—Aerakallis, Vampire Mermaid. Uh, Ariel’s goth cousin, maybe? And how about the ‘Pyg Burrowers’ and ‘Razor Boars’, running about Privateer’s Hordes battlefield. Squealing, no doubt.

Paizo has released batch of new material, and…and I saved this for last: ‘Princess Bride: Storming the Castle’ is back. Yeah, I liked the movie, but, hey, someone’s got to explain this to me. And, last, well—once upon a time a remarkable book appeared offering a Savage Worlds setting in a grotesquely illustrated microbial world. Yes—Low Life. And now, we have ‘Whole Hole Vol 1: Keister Island’. Screamin’ Steen lets out a howl and insists that we all should have a copy on our shelves, though it does sound more as though it belongs in a shabby video store in the room behind the curtain.

Innovation picks up its second expansion with ‘Figures in the Sand’, adding to that nice little sleeper. * ‘Against the Dark’ adds a little more medieval Europe info to Ars Magica. * And ‘2 de Mayo’ is back. It’s a curious little thing, half wargame, half Euro, and fits the two-player bill as well. Check it out.

‘Iron Kingdom’ is back, offering a little roleplaying to go along with the Warmachine ‘jackin’ around’. * ‘Fool’s Fortune’ offers up a pretty little card game that is getting some pretty nice reviews. Might be worth a look. * And the big one—the one that might have pushed Myrmes off the top—‘Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calender’ which includes working clockwork as part of the Euro mechanics. Cool.

Well, what do have? Let’s get back into this. Android Netrunner picks up its second expansion with ‘Trace Amount’. It’s been nice to see this great old nineties game thriving. Cool. * ‘Antike Duellum’ is out, offering a two player Antike—a really good game that didn’t really sell for us–which means, I guess, that I don’t know what the hell I’m doing by bringing in this version. Dammit—just give it a try; it’s one of many games we have that, though perfectly good, for some reason, just haven’t sold for us.

‘Wilderness’… Well, now, once upon a time there was a little gem called ‘Outdoor Survival’, the game of being dropped in the middle of nowhere and having to bumble your way back to civilization. It landed on many worst of lists, but had two redeeming features. The wilderness map was a godsend to early D&D players, and the game rules included the gem that you lose when your character is ‘rendered not survived’. Well, Wilderness, seems to have done it right, this time.

Mage Knight picks up the expansion ‘Lost Legion’, while Troyes (see above concerning unappreciated good games on our shelves) gains the ‘Ladies of Troyes’. * And, last, I give you ‘Ginkgopolis’, which I will just let lie, because, really, don’t you kinda just want to look that one up yourself? Go to Boardgamegeek. Really. There’s not a thing here that I can say that would beat the info there. I recommend it to anyone intrigued by the little half-witted jests that I throw out here. Give them a laugh, and then go get some real info.

As in, what five games would you want with you (and your companions, I presume) if all of you were stranded on a desert island.  My five would be:
Chess, Go, Agricola, the old Avalon Hill Civilization, and my homebrewed RPG ‘The City’.

How about you?  Email us your list (manager@gamesofberkeley.com), attn. Brian, and we’ll…add them up, I suppose, just to see what we would have if we all squeezed together onto that itty bitty little island.

Can’t be gloomy about this:  ‘Unhappy Homes’ and  ‘Unwelcome Guests’  have both returned for the great card game Gloom, the favorite of all you frowny faces out there. * Fans of Fiasco:  ‘Durance’ is out, from the same designer. * And ‘Biblios’ is back.  A nice-looking little game.  Slipped through the cracks; ran out for a bit.  Staff seized me, carried me about the store, tarred me up a bit, and tossed me back down into my basement pen.  I took that as a recommendation.

‘Quarriors!’ in it’s many incarnations is back, and I trust that I’ve got a decent supply.  It’s just about the only ‘toss-a-handful-of-dice’ game that has ever appealed to me (well, that and Chupacabra; Survive the Night, which, I guess is really more a speed and dexterity game).  Give it a try and let me know. * Oh, and I’ve got to push my personal favorite:  ‘Agricola’ the game peasants and poverty in the 16^th century, which could easily be the best game out there (see above).

Munchkin!…no, eh, everyone knows about Munchkin.

I’ll go with Chicken Caeser!

A fine game of old Rome, with senators and their factions scheming and plotting for power, while tending to their empire and its borders–all set in a chicken coop. Hmmm. Foghorn Leghorn would be proud. And, standing in for Carthage and Hannibal: Sunday dinner.’

‘Netrunner’ is back, and I should have enough through Christmas. It’s a re-launch of the best CCG of the nineties—yeah, Magic, I’m talking to you—which suffered the fate of most of Magic’s competitors: belly up in the vast, fetid swamp of wannabes. With Fantasy Flight, it’s thriving in its second go-round. * Speaking of Fantasy Flight, ‘Game of Thrones Card Game’ is out, offering pretty pictures from the TV series (read the books). I also stocked up on ‘Mansions of Madness’, ‘Red November’, and ‘Merchants of Venus’—the last an oldie that seems a little goldier than I had thought.

Let’s see: I took a shot on ‘Spartacus’. I was going to pass, given that I rarely give a second look to media tie-ins, but customers and some of the staff explained that it has a fine pedigree, good designers, and is actually quite a nice little game. The same thing happened with Riskish version of Lord of the Rings. I thought it was bunk, but the odd scattering of armies at the start of the game, purely by happenstance, created a surprisingly challenging game.

Scored a few ‘Zombie Dice’ from Steve Jackson. I’ve had the Devil’s own time getting a hold of. I had one distributor who received a supply out of the blue, announced it, and they were gone in two hours. I didn’t even get the notice until the next day. Sheesh. Steve, old buddy, what the hell is goin’ on? But thanks for ‘Munchkin Deluxe’. Good to have that one back for the Holiday Season. (Or is that Christmas? There’s been a lot of guff over that in the last few years, but, really, you Christians out there: Do you really want a lot of non-believers going around tossing your savior’s name around to describe their jolly plum-pudding fun-n-games? Isn’t it sacrilegious, or something. It seems to me that you should leave ‘Happy Holidays’ to the heathen, and hold ‘Christmas’ to a more sacred standard among your fellow believers).

Back for Christmas: ‘Where the Deep One’s Are’—the charming classic of a little boy and his magical voyage to an island of marvelous monsters, all of them Elder, if you will; and ‘Clifford the Big Red God’—see above. * ‘Ghost Stories’ came back after a little printing vacation, offering up the most Hong Kong of the newish co-op games, while ‘Space Alert’ offers a ‘live action’ CD to whip along its players. * The marvelous ‘Once Upon A Time’ has returned in bigger, cuter, and more kid-friendly packaging.

You would think that Cthulhu Gloom is enough, and even kind of redundant, but now along comes ‘Unpleasant Dreams’ to drag players even farther down. * Cutthroat Caverns, from the quite appropriately named Smirk n’ Dagger Games, offers up the ‘Fresh Meat’ expansion, which comes in the Really Big Box, that could hold everyone of the previous releases. * And, though a nearly dare not say, the Reaper release: ‘Pirate Lord and Cabin Boy’. OK; now I’ll step away quietly.

‘Epic Spell Wars of the Battle Wizards’ is back, and I don’t think I need to say more than that. * ‘3012’ may take a little more chatter: Think Dominion, with a post apocalypse setting, and little scout cards instead of puny gold cards to start with. Little piles of allies and treasures to chose from. Eh—give it a try. * And ‘Hot Rod Creeps’ which, for a ‘new’ game, has a faded old box that looks like it was printed before I was born. Hmmm. Darrell, we may have words over this one.

‘Zombie State: Diplomacy of the Dead’ is just such a cool idea: Standard ol’ diplomacy-and-backstab, take-over-the-world kind of game, except you have a rising plague of Zombies crashing the party. Ya know, like, ‘Germany, I would help with your backstab of Italy, but I’ve got zombies eating the citizens of Paris.’ Sounds like a real ‘beer-y’ kind of game. * ‘Iron Kingdoms RPG’ has been something of a hit for us. I underestimated how interested you folks were in seeing the world after you climbed out of them steam jacks.

‘We Didn’t Playtest This At All’ is back, with it’s sequel, ‘We Didn’t Playtest This Either’, and the new addition ‘We Didn’t Playtest This: Legacies’. But…come on guys. Legacies? You can do better than that. * ‘Wooly Bully’, my favorite sheepherding/Carcassonne variant, is back, as is both the ‘Ticket to Ride Asia Map Collection’ and the wonderful game of Sushi preparation—‘Wasabi’ (which has always sounded like some that would be fun to shout when walking into a crowded room). * Oh, and I got a clutch of Reapers: ‘Mariel Twinspar, Female Pirate’, ‘Mousling Bartender and Wench’, and ‘Jock, Chick, and Nerd’ (3 pack). … I’m afraid that I just can’t help but to picture the scene…no, it’s making my brain hurt.

You’ve seen this one before, and it’s called Resistance. This is the fantasy version, but, interestingly, is compatible with the original.

Ooo…back from vacation, and few weeks of catching up. Let’s see what we have… ‘Jungle Speed Raving Rabbids’. What more can I say? * More prosaically, ‘Deadlands: The Last Sons’ comes walking in down the center of the street at high noon. * ‘Super Dungeon Explorer’ is back, and a goofier game I don’t believe I have ever seen. * And, what the hell—the ‘Large 4 Way Rubber Box Bands’. You heard me, and they are just what they sound like—big ol’ four-armed rubber bands to wrap around your game box. Holds it shut. Keeps it from spilling shit. Kinda useful, really.

‘Biblios’ from the high end of the Euro world; too cool-looking to not have. * ‘Four Taverns’ is back from the rowdy, low, Red Dragon Inn end of the spectrum. * I would be reading, right now, Osprey’s ‘European Medieval Tactics’ (2) (I’ve drooled over (1)) if it had come in.

A new edition of ‘Runequest’ (6th) is back in. Hey, it all started around here; I figure a lot of you old-timers (like me) want to check out the latest. * And the ‘Dying Earth’ RPG is rising from the dead to consider the red, swollen sun of the last days of Earth. It contains (besides the literary model of the D&D magic system) one of the coolest reward mechanics—advancement for talking like a Jack Vance character. It is as though Cugel were the god we all bow down before.

‘Level 7’ is back, offering up the intro to Privateers new game setting. Grim-looking to me, but then I’m getting old. * ‘Elfenland is the ultimate gamer’s game for gamer’s kids. For the tykes, little boot meeples wander around through a smurffy little land; for the gamer, it’s a calculation puzzle of hitting every city and ending in the right place, all in three rounds. Nifty. * ‘Felix: the Cat in the Sack’ is one of my rare forays into kid’s games (though Brian likes it enough for the adult section). But Brian’s real pick is ‘Famiglia’, which he claims replaces the wonderful, sick, up-against-the-wall, Family Business. * And, best for last: I restocked the Cthulhu knit ski mask. And it is better than you think. Screamin’s Steen says, grab this baby and hit the slopes.

’Smash Up’ from Alderac offers up a little genre-clashing fun—Zombies vs Space Aliens, and other such odd mixes—while ‘FlowerFall’ introduces a flutter mechanic, wherein you play your cards by letting them drop from above as you try to form the biggest patch of blooms. Try that one after a few beers.

‘Castle Panic’ is back, allowing players to once again cut down the baddies as they try to tear down your city walls. * ‘Road to Enlightenment’ looks like an interesting one, but…if you pick it up, let me know what you think. * ‘Dragon Rage’…I don’t know; kind of old-looking; but you get a cool-looking city, guards to maneuver, heroes to place, and here comes the dragon, or some other bogie. It just sounds like too much fun.

Pig-in-a-poke: Lad ran in ranting about Pokemon ‘Dragon Vault’; ye gotta have it he says. I do. Now, come back and buy it. * A new ‘Carcassonne’ sorta. It looks just like old Carcassonne, but includes the ‘River’ tiles, and runs about five bucks more than its older twin. And a new publisher—Z-man instead of Rio. Jay, that’s gotta hurt. * And the boys of KODT are back, and it looks like Dave is going to give B.A. a little GMing help. Nothing can go wrong with that, I suppose.

Long, long ago
‘Panzer’ is out from GMT, along with two expansions, for those of you who dig little cardboard counter tanks, while ‘Bloody April’ covers the grim stretch of the air war in WWI when new pilots had a three week life expectancy. * ‘Glory to Rome Black Box’ dropped in, finnnnnnnnnnally (really, a bit of a wait). The original version had/has a cartoony Saturday morning look, though it played like the bastard brother of Race for the Galaxy. This new version gives you fussy sorts a more fusty version. * The ‘Arc’ card game has arrived, which is good, given that the designer has been known to hang around the store. Check it out; if you have any questions or problems, show up on Tuesday night and holler his name until he pops up to answer your questions.

Z-Man checks in with a couple of new Euros: ‘Atlantis Rising’ offers a cool little co-op with you and your fellow Atlantians working together to sort out the issues of your homeland, even while the damned island is disappearing under your feet; and ‘Battle Beyond Space’, which…no, I saw this one at GAMA. It’s a free-for-all between massive space fleets (nice bits) tangling it up in an asteroid field—survivor says it a little better than victor. * ‘Ugg-tect’. Wasn’t sure about this one, but get this: The game comes with a lot of little blocks and bits that teams of players have to agree on assembling. The trick is, language is limited to grunts and pointing. Gotta be a great party/drinking game. And it includes an inflatable spiked club for those moments of greatest exasperation.

SCREAMIN’ STEEN’S PICK OF THE WEEK…well, do I really have to stretch this out—
Android: Netrunner!

They were tearing each other apart at Gencon for this re-launch of the best of the nineties CCGs. Screamin’ Steen says, check it out, while they last…

‘Panzer’ is out from GMT, along with two expansions, for those of you who dig little cardboard counter tanks, while ‘Bloody April’ covers the grim stretch of the air war in WWI when new pilots had a three week life expectancy. * ‘Glory to Rome Black Box’ dropped in, finnnnnnnnnnally (really, a bit of a wait). The original version had/has a cartoony Saturday morning look, though it played like the bastard brother of Race for the Galaxy. This new version gives you fussy sorts a more fusty version. * The ‘Arc’ card game has arrived, which is good, given that the designer has been known to hang around the store. It’s non collectible card with time traveling!

Z-Man checks in with a couple of new Euros: ‘Atlantis Rising’ offers a cool little co-op with you and your fellow Atlantians working together to sort out the issues of your homeland, even while the damned island is disappearing under your feet; and ‘Battle Beyond Space’, which…no, I saw this one at GAMA. It’s a free-for-all between massive space fleets (nice bits) tangling it up in an asteroid field—survivor says it a little better than victor. * ‘Ugg-tect’. Wasn’t sure about this one, but get this: The game comes with a lot of little blocks and bits that teams of players have to agree on assembling. The trick is, language is limited to grunts and pointing. Gotta be a great party/drinking game. And it includes an inflatable spiked club for those moments of greatest exasperation.

SCREAMIN’ STEEN’S PICK OF THE WEEK—Village!

Spiel des Jahres 2012 Kennerspiel winner, with a nice twist on the standard Euro, which allows your little family of peasants to age out and die. Something else to for you to keep in mind

‘Werewolves of Miller’s Hollow 10th Anniversary Ed’ offers up everything from the original version of one of the best of the mafia games, with all the components goosed up and nicely dandified. * ‘Descent 2nd Ed’ is back, and seems to be catching folks fancy, as is the venerable ‘Lord of the Rings’ co-op game (you know, you’re them hobbit dudes, all playin’ against dark lord game…).

What’s not to like about ‘Red November’—goblins in a leaky sub. Not all of you get out, but you all have to work together so some of you can. What could go wrong? * Dungeon Crawl Classics is still selling gangbusters, along with the modules. For a taste of what to expect, be sure to check out Mr. Seventies-retro on the back cover. * ‘Pistache’ is out with a 2nd ed, and, you know, there are certainly are a lot of those 2nd ed, nowadays.

‘Captain’s Log #45’ is a new one, while the wonderful-looking ‘Furstenfeld’ is a bit of an oldie. Brian told me that the designer is cool, and that there are a lot of beer drinkers around here (as in, it’s a Euro game of beer brewing). But, for me, the cover sold it—a cartoon statue of a rather round, Bavarian-looking sort who seems to have somewhat over-imbibed on his fine product.

I suppose that I should have started with this one, but ‘Dominion:
Dark Ages’ turned up at our door adding a somewhat grubbier element to the game. And, my favorite (though they are somewhat long of tooth), Knights of the Dinner Table, issue 190, off to Garycon for a little road mischief.