Skip to main content

Posts

Our Latest Article..

Divinus Board Game Review - Lucky Duck Games

Demigods eh? You think every thing is going well and life is nice and quiet, then all of a sudden you're reminded that you've actually got to go and prove yourself and show how powerful you are in order to ascend to some kind of Pantheon type thing. Well, in Divinus you need to. Now, I don't want you to cringe when I mention this game, but Divinus from Lucky Duck Games seems to have crawled from the same evolutionary pool as Charterstone. Now that might be enough to have some of you wince slightly but hang fire. I'm very aware that not everyone had the best time from that game and time has seen it as more an experiment in gameplay than a direction to forge ahead with. What if I said that Divinus also seems to have inherited its mother's love of Carcassonne. Does that make you feel any better? I hope so. I really do.  Divinus is another entry in the application based games that Lucky Duck Games are quietly and regularly producing from their studios. They seem to have

Crypt X Kickstarter Preview - Inside The Box Board Games - A Sideways Glance

I look up from the notepad in front of me, catching the eyes of my partner across the room. They have a slightly furrowed brow and a look of confusion on their face. "That's like the third time you've made a strange noise while you've been looking through those cards, what are you doing?" they say. "I'm up to my eyes in Egypt just now, important things going on" I reply, smiling.  "You're an arse. I want you to know this," they respond, before shaking their head and turning back to the television.  This hasn't been the first time this exchange has happened you understand, because since I delved into the envelope that Inside The Box Board Games sent me, I've been making a mixture of noises between frustration and jubilation as I've gone through the preview sample puzzles for Crypt X.  Earlier, I was sitting on the floor, with a collection of playing card size illustrations spread in front of me, a finest

Sensor Ghosts Kickstarter Preview - A Sideways Glance

You've escaped the space station, dodging killer viruses and a computer system intent on your death. You're on you way home to Earth, but there's a catch (well, more than one to be honest, none of which is good for your situation). Home doesn't want you back given the scary space virus that wiped out all your crew mates from the station. The only way you can get back is to negotiate an asteroid field, grab a sample of the virus and get it back to earth without getting vapourised in the process. Easier said than done given your scanner is on the blink thanks to the malevolent computer which is intent on killing you. The game itself is a puzzle game. The route back to Earth is littered with danger. Some sectors of space may contain asteroids or other obstructions. You might get lucky and the sector is clear of anything nasty or you may reach a boost, which gives you an extra push along your current path (sounds good, but it can be fatal). As you traverse

Empty Space Explorers Kickstarter Preview - A Sideways Glance

I used to own a small book of constellations when I was a younger trainee, because alignment with the stars and planets often helped with power of magic and spells. One of my old lecturers would speak of using the inner mind to connect fully with power of the universe. Most of us however knew that the only power that old fool possessed was the amount of dried dragon breath that was swilling round in their veins. It was one of the many things that drove me from magic and into the path I occupy now. I've always had a funny relationship with learning and being taught since that time, preferring to find things out myself, instead of relying on the wisdom of others without understanding the topic in hand, hence the book on constellations.  The stars, and the planets that surround them are a fascinating playground with no age restrictions on the the audience, and while sci-fi fiction would add on numerous threats to make space interesting, usually space is interesting enough with

Funding My Media Empire With a River of Cardboard Money..

How do you make money in an industry where the media coverage has grown from bedrooms and garages and dining tables to recognised names and logos and brands. From passionate individuals starting with a hope and a cheery tone and a 'Hey Everyone', to trying to make their way in the cardboard world financially viable? Where access to creating content has never really been easier, where everyone is making something, whether it be a public thought on Social Media or a video of their dog doing a cat impression. We are at the peak of free content, the height of unsolicited opinion, and yet these people who have a decent following, are asking for us to continue to help them. How dare they, and yet why not? It helps to look at our video game cousins, where early coverage in the mid 80's consisted of absolutely no internet, but monthly magazines, filled with adverts for games and services, which helped to supplement the income of the sales of the publication itself. It was run by

Bellum of Mutants and Men Board Game Kickstarter Preview - A Sideways Glance

In an age of gaming where some games not only rely on one, but multiple rule books, all with fiddly explanations and play through examples, it's always refreshing to see a game that shouts and claims complexity, and at the same time condenses it into a ten page rule book that fits comfortably into the palm of our hand. This is what people like me like to see when they have been asked to write a few lines on our first thoughts of a game. That the first barrier to entry is potentially a very small one, which means getting to the table doesn't involve a huge amount of careful planning. Which takes us to Bellum of Mutants and Men, where the Sapient Kingdom face off against the Gobalos in a naming convention I can only guess is to avoid some kind of potential copyright claim against Van Hammock Games. A monochromatic tale of protecting your keep from the opposing forces, where resources are quite literally your hand of cards and you play out the tale on a cloth board which

Gladiatores: Blood for Roses Kickstarter Preview - A Sideways Glance

The crowd are baying for blood. They want a show and if you want to fight in front of Emperor Caesar in Rome you better give them one and be the last gladiator standing in the arena. Sweat runs into your eyes, your swords feel heavy in your hands and the taste of blood is in your mouth. Lucius Felix is advancing towards you, sword and shield in hand. Gladiatores: Blood For Roses is a tactical combat game for 2-5 players, pitting combatants against each other in the arena. The goal is to win favour during the event and be the last gladiator standing to win the most acclaim. Straight away, the game does a great job of emulating the combat of multiple fighters in the arena. Your hand of cards represents your stamina. The hand is made up of either attack, defense or effect cards and on each players turn they have the chance of attacking another gladiator by selecting a target and playing an attack card.  Each attack card will list the card requirements from the defendi

Adventure Mart Kickstarter Preview - DigiSprite - A Sideways Glance

Every Time a Dungeon Quest becomes available an Adventure Mart from the greedy T-Corp appears, in order to capitalise on those adventurers out to seek their own version of fortune and glory. DigiSprite are bringing you the chance to run one of your own Adventure Marts so you can buy in stock, bring on staff and build a loyal customer base with the view of earn as much money as possible and all under the eye of your Dragon CEO. This is the second game that DigiSprite are looking to fund through Kickstarter after their first successful attempt for Doomsday Bots, the tower climbing, robot boss fighting card game which was successfully fulfilled last year. After a successful campaign on the crowdfunding platform, there is always a choice to either release something of a similar size, or upgrade and try for the next level up to see if that bigger title will work. It's interesting to see that  DigiSprite have decided to go for the latter in order to build on their previous success.

The Old Hellfire Club Kickstarter Preview - A Sideways Glance

'Aye! I said scuffling my way through what must have the best part of at least forty men, all armed with rapiers and skilled in the art of shuffling people off their mortal coil..' 'Ah, I think you'll find it was a group of urchins that were only armed with germs and the foulest of language'  'I think you'll find Madam, that there were at least twenty of them!!' 'I think you know that actually, you were chased down the street crying by an angry seamstress wielding a loaf of bread. You cried sir, and then ran into a lamp post.'  And this is pretty much how The Old Hellfire Club plays, a collection of tales and stretches of the truth, more akin to messages on the sides of buses, but this time you can call people on their fabrications and steal their drinking gin pennies while having a jolly good time while the nonsense progresses.  For those who are concerned about their ability to tell a tale as old time, do not fret nor

Solar Storm Kickstarter Preview - A Sideways Glance

In space no one can hear you apply sun screen.. Apologies for the frankly dreadful attempt to start off a first thoughts piece for Dranda Games and their game Solar Storm. A disaster averting sun spot of an adventure where factor 50 isn't going to cut it and winding down the window to let in a breeze might just cause slight chafing or actually third degree burns. Though bad intros aside, what we have here is mixture of card game and resource management with a theme that places you in red alert, trying to avoid an impending disaster as you attempt to restart your stalled spaceship as it crashes towards the sun. The ship is represented by a 3 x 3 grid of cards with the energy core in the centre, awaiting patiently for the other surrounding cards to divert power to it so you can get the hell out of there and save your burning soul. Each card has three spaces to represent potential damage as well as information on what resources are required in order to both repair and send

Dan Hughes First Impressions (Without Unboxing) (NOT A REVIEW)

In what can be said as a strange direction in the industry, I was recently sent a review copy of the latest version of Dan Hughes by Jude & Dilisio Games LLC which as you know has been on release for some time. Well I would probably say escaped rather than released, I wouldn't say sent, it was kind of a case of the local courier dropping a rather Hughish box outside the office where I work, ran the doorbell and dashed off in his van, laughing heartily, with a very familiar acting voice indeed.  In these situations, I normally have to answer joking questions from my boss, like 'What have you got delivered now for goodness sake?'   'Is this another wizard outfit'  'How come I'm obviously paying you too much money?' In this case the boss had nothing to say, and truth be told it was almost embarrassing to have such a large parcel in the office. Not as embarrassing as trying to get the box tied to the car, driving 20 miles per hour down the mot

Related Podcasts