There are Monopoly variants of pretty much every other thing in existence, so why not The Legend of Zelda? Nintendo’s mainstay fantasy series is lending its branding to this new version of Monopoly, despite the economic system of Hyrule likely being incompatible with the fanciful capitalism of this Depression-era game. But whatever, everyone knows how to play Monopoly, even if finishing a game (and doing it without burning bridges) is much harder. You can get ZeldaMonopoly on September 15 for $39.99, but be sure to buy it from Gamestop; like videogames, Gamestop really wants you buy from them, so their version will offer a Hyrule map lithograph and an exclusive Ocarina game piece. Read more…
Wil Wheaton has sure gone places, moving away from Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s Wesley Crusher to become a geek icon. He co-created Tabletop, a web series about board games, with fellow geek icon Felicia Day. Each episode features Wheaton playing a different tabletop game with various guests, explaining the game, testing it out, and having a good time. After two seasons running on Geek and Sundry with funding from Google, Tabletop is striking out on its own. Wheaton is crowdfunding a third season to take full control and stabilize the show: producing more episodes, increasing production values, and releasing episodes more consistently. As with most crowdfunding ventures, there are plenty of rewards, ranging from a digital high-five to an exclusive episode to signed board games. Wheaton is asking for $500,000 for 15 episodes, but if the campaign hits $750,000, they’ll make 20; if $1 million is raised, the team will launch a brand-new show about RPGs (such as Dungeons & Dragons). The campaign has already hit $400,000 in only a few days, so that last idea is entirely possible! Read more…
In Parks and Recreation‘s latest season, accountant Ben Wyatt is unemployed for a week between jobs and comes up with a ridiculously complicated board game called The Cones of Dunshire. It was actually produced for the show based on the script by Mayfair Games, who makes The Settlers of Catan, which this game is trying to evoke. I loved the joke because it reminded me of times when I’d have to try and explain other complicated board games like Arkham Horror to neophytes and watching their eyes glaze over — or times when I felt the same way trying to understand someone else’s board game. Apparently the numerous rules have been ironed out somewhat, as the game will be staged at GenCon this summer in Indianapolis. Mayfair notes that it will be “big and festive and probably for charity,” hoping that Adam Scott, the actor who plays Ben, can make it there for “his” game. I’d just like to figure out how the hell it’s actually played, because nothing he said in the episode made sense. Read more…
After several years of not playing many board games, I got back into them in college. Since then, I’ve been trying out some new ones, but certain board games are classics, like Risk. There’s a new variant edition coming out soon: Risk: Mass Effect Galaxy at War Edition. This Mass Effect-flavored game has you taking control of one of three factions with their own win conditions to fight the Reapers, the main bad guys of the series. The game is available for pre-order for $50 and might be worth picking up if you want a new version of Risk or if you’re a fan of the game. Read more…
I have a bit of a soft spot when it comes to board games. Recently, I banded together with a group of friends for a weekly game and while we’ve no shortage to choose from, my friends are always in the market for more. With HBO’s second season of Game of Thrones around the corner, this little gem caught my eye. Fantasy Flight’s A Game of Thrones the Board Game. Read more…
What did geeks play before Dungeons & Dragons? Well for this geek and his nerdy buds our board game of choice back in the day was Risk! Oh sure in games like Monopoly you could become the next Rockefeller — and games like Battleship let you destroy an entire navy. However Risk! appealed to our inner Napoleon who was intent on world conquest. Of course it’s with a bit of irony that the game was in fact invented by a Frenchman: In 1957 film director Albert Lamorisse released La Conquête du Monde (The Conquest of the World), in France. Shown above is a new re-release of the 1959 version of the game which came to the United States thanks to Parker Brothers. Read more…
Posted by John Martone on May 27, 2009 in Videogames
If you’re like me, you secretly hate all of your friends, but only secretly. If they ever found out you hated them, you’d go, “no I don’t,” and then buy them some ice cream. Well, if you’ve ever wanted to know about the kind of games to make them start secretly hating you too, then you’re in luck. Read more…
In this article New York based artists Nick Kent gives us a riveting world tour of all things Rube Goldberg:
I was browsing Japanese DVDs at a bookstore the other day when between the anime and live concert discs I spotted strange wooden contraptions on the covers of a pair of DVDs.
