WizKids has made some big team-ups lately, and they're still going. They've announced that they have now made a partnership with Hasbro. That means miniatures and other products for such lines as My L
WizKids has made some big team-ups lately, and they're still going. They've announced that they have now made a partnership with Hasbro. That means miniatures and other products for such lines as My Little Pony, G.I. Joe, and Transformers. They don't say exactly what form these miniatures will take, though.
From the announcement:
WizKids, the industry leader in high quality pre-painted & unpainted miniatures and established board games, announced a new licensing partnership with Hasbro today with the addition of beloved properties G.I. Joe, My Little Pony and Transformers to WizKids’ extensive line of miniatures.
Fans can expect to see their favorite characters first appear later this year in both pre-painted and unpainted formats.
“Much of the WizKids team has grown up with these cherished brands and are thrilled to be bringing them to life with the high definition sculpting processes that our customers have come to love,” said Justin Ziran, president of WizKids.
My Little Pony and Transformers products will be available throughout North America.
The first big adventure pack is now available for the Tails of Equestria RPG. Something is causing ponies to turn into little statuettes and you're the only ones that can help. Picking up where the st
The first big adventure pack is now available for the Tails of Equestria RPG. Something is causing ponies to turn into little statuettes and you're the only ones that can help. Picking up where the starter adventure in the Tails of Equestria handbook left off, Curse of the Statuettes is sure to keep you on your... umm... ponies don't have toes so... hooves? Find out what happened to the Mane 6 and stop this evil curse!
From the announcement:
Equestria is in trouble and it needs your help!
All over Equestria ponies have started to turn into figurine versions of themselves. Nopony knows why, nopony knows when and to make it all worse, nopony knows where the Mane Six have gone! It looks like it’s up to you to travel to distant lands, overcome terrifying danger and save Equestria, neigh the world!
Tails of Equestria explores the Badlands with The curse of the Statuettes adventure, perfect for Level 1-3 pony characters. Players will need to find ways to befriend or outfox the many ponies and creatures they will meet. Creatures such as the Roc, a mythical bird that uses its massive size and slate-like feathers to intimidate anypony who gets in its way or the greedy Dr Caballeron, caring more for wealth than for than good of ponykind!
Take Tails of Equestria to the badlands with The Curse of the Statuettes adventure set, for level 1-3 ponies.
Well, I did my Thanksgiving grocery shopping. It's... well, I'm having 2 Thanksgivings, so there's that. Turkeys, dressing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuff to make glazed carrots, rolls (from scratch)
Well, I did my Thanksgiving grocery shopping. It's... well, I'm having 2 Thanksgivings, so there's that. Turkeys, dressing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, stuff to make glazed carrots, rolls (from scratch), and a couple pumpkin pies. Because, you know, if anything's worth doing, it's worth doing right.
But that's for Thursday and Friday. For right now, we've got reviews. So let's get to it.
Today we have: Robots Love Ice Cream, Acquire, Bloodborne: The Card Game, The Arrival, Trick of the Rails, Great Western Trail, 7 Wonders Duel: Pantheon, Inis, Fabled Fruit, Ticket to Ride: Rails & Sails, CO-OP: The Co-op Card Game, Star Trek: Ascendancy, Terraforming Mars, Hit Z Road, Hocus, Ta-Da!, Legends Untold, and Ominoes.
Acquire has been around since the sixties and has been reprinted several times. This latest version (2016) changes a few things but keep s the basic game play and feel of this classic game.
TtR: R&S is a card drafting and set collection game in which you build train and boat routes by matching the color of the cards you have drafted to the color of the routes on the board. It supports two to four players and clocks in at about 30 minutes per player. Ticket to Ride players, that is NOT a typo….
The first mission of the Co-Op base game sees your cooperative in debt and on the brink of getting forced into a MondoMart take over. Based on the difficulty level and the number of players, you have a set number of days to get out of debt and make enough money to pay the rent and keep the dream alive. You are not alone though, you form a crack-pot team of hippies (who totally get the vibe of the place, man) and bizzies (who know what it means to earn a dollar) to get the co-op back on its feet again.
Star Trek: Ascendancy is a 4x game of galactic exploration and conquest. If you aren’t familiar with the genre, 4x stands for: eXplore, eXpand, eXploit and eXterminate. It’s a style of game that has been around for a long time and garnered many fans.
Players will start off the game as a fledgling civilization of one of the 3 Star Trek powerhouses: Federation, Klingon or Romulan. Armed with just their home world, some tech, and a few ships, players will explore the galaxy, seeking to extend their reach.
Each player controls a corporation interested in transforming Mars so that large numbers of humans can thrive in residence. As the environment changes, players win by accumulating accolades for doing the most to bring new life to the planet. The end of the game arrives when the temperature, oxygen and presence of water are sufficient enough for more permanent settlement.
Hit Z Road is a 1-4 player game of resource and risk management set in a zombie-filled America. Each player is trying to guide their group of survivors to the relative safety of California. Along the way you’ll accumulate Victory Points by killing zombies, collecting valuable resources, and ensuring members of your party are still alive to enjoy that zombie-free West Coast weather. There’s also a strong possibility that one or more will succumb to the walking dead so whoever is still alive at the end and has the most VPs is the winner.
Hocus is a hand management card game for two to five players. Players are wizards in a card game tournament, each with their own spell book, trying to win the most points in pots. The player with the most points when someone hits 25 points is the winner.
Just because magic allows you to break the rules of nature itself, doesn’t mean there aren’t rules to magic. Order and procedure must be followed in this talent show.
First things first, you gather 6 spell dice and matching colored cup. To be victorious, you must cast 6 spells before anyone else over a series of rounds.
Legends Untold attempts to recreate the classic dungeon crawl; gather a party, tool up and head into the dark uncharted depths in search of riches, glory and most likely a grisly death. What makes Legends Untold stand apart from the plethora of miniature games and RPGs is that Legends Untold is played out entirely with cards and builds a sprawling dungeon map as you play.
Ominoes is a really simple concept, roll some dice and place those dice on the board. The aim of the game is to match up your dice symbols, get fourof a kind and the dice are removed scoring you points, the first player to 15 points wins. Four sides of the dice represent the four player icons the other two are wild cards, that also allow you to move dice and reroll dice already in play.
From my experience, every gamer out there has a game that they've been working on in their head. Some even make it to written notes or even a prototype form, but they don't tend to get much further th
From my experience, every gamer out there has a game that they've been working on in their head. Some even make it to written notes or even a prototype form, but they don't tend to get much further than that. Well, if you really do want to try and take the plunge into publishing your game, Hasbro and Indiegogo are willing to help via their Crowdfunding Game Challenge.
From now until May 15th, game designers are encouraged to submit their ideas for games on the Hasbro Gaming Lab website. From there, there will be several rounds of prototyping and playing the games. Out of the ones submitted, five will be chosen as finalists and get an Indiegogo campaign with guidance by Hasbro and Indiegogo. The winner of the overall contest will get $25k and a trip to Hasbro with the opportunity to make their game.
So get your ideas submitted. The 15th of May will be here before you expect it.
I mentioned earlier that today's a big day for news. It would seem that it is going to be one of the biggest of recent memory. First we had Warmachine/Hordes MkIII. There's the Rum & Bones Kickstarter
I mentioned earlier that today's a big day for news. It would seem that it is going to be one of the biggest of recent memory. First we had Warmachine/Hordes MkIII. There's the Rum & Bones Kickstarter. There's the Ghostbusters II Kickstarter. Now something huge, Hasbro has announced a new President in charge of Wizards of the Coast.
Chris Cocks 1 2013
That person is Chris Cocks, who previously had worked with Microsoft for 8 years. Before that he worked with LeapFrog. He's an avid fan of the brand, having been a player of Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons, so it'll be interesting to see what direction he takes the company in.
"We are incredibly thankful to Greg for the tremendous contributions he has made to Hasbro, especially during his time leading Wizards of the Coast," said John Frascotti, President, Hasbro Brands. "Today, thanks to Greg's commitment and passion, Wizards of the Coast's brands are stronger than ever. Though MAGIC: THE GATHERING was introduced more than 20 years ago, it is more relevant and popular today than it's ever been, with a record number of people around the world playing the game and participating in MAGIC organized play events. We're very excited to welcome Chris to the Wizards of the Coast family," said Frascotti. "As an avid fan and player with extensive digital experience, I'm confident Chris is the right person to help us build on the tremendous momentum around our brands and take the franchise to the next level by delivering exciting new experiences to our growing and passionate fan base around the world."
Hey everyone,I hope you made it through Black Friday alright. I had Thanksgiving 2: Thank Harder here at the bear den. Made myself another turkey and side-dishes and enjoyed a relaxing day. Then I got
Hey everyone, I hope you made it through Black Friday alright. I had Thanksgiving 2: Thank Harder here at the bear den. Made myself another turkey and side-dishes and enjoyed a relaxing day. Then I got out my stock pot and made about a gallon of turkey stock with the bones. I'll be good for turkey soup for the next year, I'd say.
But that's as may be, it's time for some reviews. Let's get into it.
Today we have articles on: Magic the Gathering Arena of the Planeswalkers, Dirty Tactics Toolbox for Pathfinder, Battle Foam P.A.C.K Molle Accessories, Mafia de Cuba, Porta Nigra, Risk: Star Wars 2015 Edition, Flip City, Xia: Legends of the Drift System, and Doomtown Reloaded.
In this Flip Through Matt takes a look at the Dirty Tactics Toolbox. It's full of fowl play that rounds out several character ideas, some of which were quite surprising. Come watch and see if there is anything for your Pathfinder character.
Time for a look at the P.A.C.K. Molle Accessories from Battle Foam, a range of additional pouches and bags that allow you to customise your army bag to create the perfect storage and transport solution for your army. Each of these accessories is designed to attach to the outside of Battle Foam bags that use the molle system, which include the P.A.C.K 432 and P.A.C.K 720 which we previously reviewed.
"The Resistance" are sacred words around these parts, as in "Werewolf". These games of lying and double-dealing have defined Shut Up & Sit Down. The thought of a brand new new hidden role game entering the genre is almost unthinkable!
Until today. Mafia de Cuba doesn't just look good. It feels good. It sounds good. It smells tolerable. Of course we had to check it out.
Porta Nigra! It's a new eurogame, all about the famous Nigras that live within the mossy depths of the Porta dimension.
...Ok, so maybe we're not entirely clear on what a "Porta Nigra" is. But by god, that won't stop us from reviewing this hype-filled new release.
And let's have a big round of applause for our Gold Club members for letting Paul and Quinns work together again! Unlike Romans, those plane tickets don't grow on trees.
Risk: Star Wars is based on events from Return of the Jedi. If you’ve lived under a rock for thirty years and have never seen the movie, get thee to a RedBox right now because 1) you’re missing a great film and, 2) this game makes little sense if you haven’t seen the movie.
Risk simulates the three-pronged battle that marks the end of Return of the Jedi. On one front, the Rebels are on Endor, trying to take down the shield generator that’s protecting the Death Star so that their comrades up above can blow it to bits. On another front, Luke Skywalker is fighting to redeem his father, Darth Vader, while the Emperor and Vader are trying to turn Luke to the dark side. On the third battlefront, Rebel ships are fighting Imperial ships, waiting for those shields to come down so they can destroy the Death Star. It’s beautiful chaos.
Another review, another small box game to make my hands feel like giant hands. Flip City is a game that I’ve been intrigued about for a while. I do have a regular gaming group but for the most part I play short, competitive games with my husband. We like deck builders, we like games with city building themes, and we like an occasional push your luck element. The game also has a nifty little feature; each card can be upgraded or ‘flipped’, changing its attributes and allowing you to improve your own deck. On paper, this is right up our metaphorical alley.
Formerly known as Design Town, Flip City is a light push-your-luck deck building game for 1-4 players, from Chih Fan Chen and Tasty Minstrel Games. The goal of the game is to create the most awesome city by buying and upgrading buildings, stacking your deck and eventually hitting a victory point target.
Today we are going to be looking at Xia: Legends of the Drift System, published by Far off Games. In this sci-fi game, players are starship captains setting out to make their mark in the universe. Xia promises a fully open world game where players can earn their fame as they so desire. Did first time designer Cody Miller succeed? Let’s find out!
Xia: Legends of the Drift System is an open world, adventure and exploration game for 3-5 players that takes about 90-120 minutes to play. In our experience, Xia plays best with 3 players.
Doomtown Reloaded is a remake of the Deadlands Doomtown, a collectible card game from many years ago. AEG have released this two to four player game as an expandable card game, which simply means you buy expansions in known packs of cards rather than random booster packs, similar to the LCG system.
Doomtown Reloaded is all about control, to win the game you need to gain more control points than your opponent has influence. This mostly means building locations and getting your dudes to hold them, or take them off your opponent and this all leads to a chess-like game of moving your dudes around the town of Gomorra and calling out the opposition into shootouts.
It's usually the subsidiaries of Hasbro that we talk about here on TGN, as opposed to the releases from the company, itself, but I figure this is one you'll want to know about. Hasbro is releasing a n
It's usually the subsidiaries of Hasbro that we talk about here on TGN, as opposed to the releases from the company, itself, but I figure this is one you'll want to know about. Hasbro is releasing a new version of Risk, with a distinctly Star Wars twist to it. This isn't like the prequel Star Wars Risk (that I actually have at home), but focuses more on the events of The Return of the Jedi.
The fight takes place across three theaters, as befits the events in the movie. You have the space battle outside the 2nd Death Star, the fight taking place on the Forest Moon of Endor, and, of course, the lightsaber duel between Luke and Vader. Where will you place each of your pieces during these attacks? How will you allocate your resources?
The box comes with
* 3 Game Boards representing the three places the attacks are happening * 20 X-wing Minis * 16 Y-Wing minis * 15 B-Wing minis * 56 TIE Fighter minis * 6 Rebel Fleet Markers * 1 Millennium Falcon token * 1 Executor token * 4 Hit tokens * 9 Stormtrooper tokens * 1 Rebel Strike Strike Team tokens, * 30 Empire order cards * 30 Rebel order cards * 5 dice
Hasbro and DreamWorks Animation appear to be in talks about a possible merger.Now that would open up a lot of possibilities for products.SourceFrom the report:Hasbro is in merger talks with DreamWorks
Hasbro and DreamWorks Animation appear to be in talks about a possible merger. Now that would open up a lot of possibilities for products.
Hasbro is in merger talks with DreamWorks Animation, according to Deadline. If it happens, the combined company would be run by DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg. Hasbro is the much larger company of the two, however, at least measured by market cap. Hasbro is worth $7.22 billion, vs. DreamWorks’ $1.91 billion.
Katzenberg has shown a desire to diversify into areas where Hasbro is strong, such as television and consumer products; and for Hasbro, DreamWorks Animation could provide a stronger Hollywood presence and a source of fresh IP for its toys.
Talks have gotten as far as site visits, according to the report, with Hasbro management and board visiting DreamWorks on separate occasions over the last few weeks.
Valuation may be a problem in completing a deal, as DreamWorks is reportedly seeking a valuation based on its value in January; the company’s stock has been buffeted this year after a weak set of releases including Return of the Guardians, Turbo, and Mr. Peabody & Sherman.
DreamWorks has also been in talks with Softbank and Alibaba about strategic relationships as well, so the Hasbro deal may just be part of DreamWorks’ option-exploring; but if the goes forward, it would create a new kind of company, with a strong presence in both consumer products, including toys and games (including Wizards of the Coast), and entertainment.
Alliance Distributors have posted details of a new Risk game titled Risk Legacy in which player decisions carry over from game to game. Most game details are available in a PDF sell sheet (PDF link) f
When you play a game of Risk, it gets personal. Always. But the game was never a casualty of your wars. Until now.
How will you shape your world? In Risk Legacy, every game you play will change every future game. Defend a territory, weaken an opponent, or upgrade a faction: a decision you make in Game 1 could come back to haunt you in Game 10. The risks you take in Risk Legacy are not like those in any other board game. You and your opponents will shape how your world evolves — its history, its cities, even its factions — and how they fight. You don't forget past betrayals — and neither does the game.
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