Rick is joined by Joe Sweeney, of StoryWeaver Games. Together they talk about role playing games, what it’s like to be a gaming publisher, breaking into the gaming business, and how to help the bush fires in Australia.
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Let’s Level Up provides gaming tutorials, reviews, and play sessions. In episode 1 of the podcast Rick lays out our mission statement to subscribers.
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Stack and AttackQuick Notes: Designer: Jeremy Burnham Year: 2013 Players: 2-4 Ages: 8+ |
In Stack and Attack you play a neanderthal in an age where technology doesn’t quite exist. Down on your luck you decide to look to the heavens and build a monument that the Gods can not ignore. You head to the quarry and grab stones of all shapes and sizes and being to stack them on top on another. After a bit of work you realize your neighbors all had the same idea, and the Gods will only show favor onto one. It is time to stack faster and if needed throw stones at their towers to buy you some more time.
Stack and Attack plays 2-4 players, but is probably best with 3. It is a great casual game that at it’s core is a deck building game within a race. There are two different types of stones flat and round. Within those there is three different sizes small, medium, and big. Each rock has a different cost to play/buy, an attack rating and a defense rating. On your turn you have 4 action points you can use to buy additional stones, stack stones, or throw a stone at your enemies tower. If successful the entire tower can potentially come down, if they defend you have just given them another stone to use for their tower.
Stack and Attack’s kickstarter is live now and has a pretty modest goal of $6,000. These are essentially printing costs to cover the first true run of the game.
This video is brought to you by collaborating with www.2d6.org. If you are interested in contributing to this project all you need to do is:
LarcenyQuick Notes: Designer: William Smith Year: 2013 Players: 3+ Ages: 8+ |
What makes this game fun is not the components or even the great wit William Smith, the games lead designer, provides as flavor text on the cards – it’s the fact that it promotes creative thinking in a fun way. When we played Larceny we did it for several hours continuing to laugh about situations that occurred in previous rounds. It is a game that will be extremely accessible to many types of gamers. Take a look at our preview and let us know what you think!Larceny is a party game featured around creative story telling.
It plays 3 or more players and plays a lot like similar games in the genre such as Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity. Larceny provides a more creative and engaging player experience than most other games in it’s genre. The variant game play modes are a lot of fun, although players should be warned that prolonged exposure to Larceny could lead you to talking like a 20’s mobster for the foreseeable future.
Larceny’s kickstarter starts today, (August 28th, 2013), and has a pretty modest goal of $15,000. This will cover all production costs, printing, final art design, etc…
This video is brought to you by collaborating with www.2d6.org. If you are interested in contributing to this project all you need to do is:
You may have noticed the lack of Kickstarter spotlights in the past couple weeks, the reason for that is a bit complicated but it comes down to a few factors.
I have looked for a few hours here or there but haven’t found any KS campaigns that have really ‘WOWED’ me. I am not saying they aren’t out there and I would be more than happy to get recommendations as to which ones to look at. I don’t want to have a weekly piece on the site when I would, potentially, forced to pick the best worst game that is out there currently. That is not something I want to do, and not something I will ever subject you to reading.
I have had an insanely busy work load the past few weeks that has distracted me a bit from this page, sorry, I will definitely try to keep things updated better. Our Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter pages are getting content every few days – sometimes I forget – sorry. I want to be able to provide a seamless experience between all of the social platforms while still being able to create meaningful content.
In recent weeks you may have felt a great disturbance in the force, like the sound of $122,874 being raised at the promise of a neat game where Cthulhu meets Monopoly only to have the publisher mismanage the funds to the point where the project has been scrapped. Yes that’s right, The Doom That Came to Atlantic City’s kickstarter campaign has been abruptly cancelled after the publishing company The Forking Path essentially blew all of the money.
It is important to note that the actual game designers Keith Baker and Lee Moyer are not at fault, they simply created the game and do not have the resources to publish the game – essentially print the game, create the figures, and package everything for the shelf. This was actually the pair’s second at bat with this game, it was first to be published by Z-Man Games, although it was cancelled due to some internal reorganization at Z-Man. It is my opinion that Erik Chevalier the man running things at The Forking Path is directly responsible for the funds and the eventual cancellation of the project, only after the designers pursued legal council and forced TFP to come clean on the state of the project. The game has also had its share of legal problems for looking and playing a little too much like Monopoly. There is actually a really long thread about the entire history of this project that tends to paint Erik in a very negative light, probably rightfully so. Check it out here.
That being said, I am a little leery to recommend games that are not a sure thing. I will say that there will be more spotlights because I am passionate enough about gaming to not let this one Jaws moment scare me out of the water completely. I only want to do my homework on the designer / publisher of a project before I jump into bed – or worse get someone else to – on a project because it has shiny minis.
Rick sits down with Tox from Crits Happen and play SolForge. Check out the games and be sure you let Tox know that he is a cheater! 😉