In this latest guest post, Samuel Webb, an experienced news reporter and copywriter based in Coventry, discusses why some X-Wing Miniatures fans are unhappy with the company that they claim is ruining this beloved Star Wars tabletop skirmish game.
The apocalypse has finally come. After the breakdown of society, survivors have formed gangs of motorheads, that scour the wasteland for rare and very precious petrol reserves. Their vehicles are highly tricked-out, finely tuned, heavily reinforced and equipped with a wide range of weapons. They will stop at nothing, which is exactly why a small number of the surviving rich elite have organised deadly races, where the gangs are pitted against each other to be the first to reach the finishing line and claim their prize - or be the last survivor in the arena of these Gaslands: Refuelled by Mike Hutchinson from Osprey Games.
Let's have a little fun and see if we can somehow classify the people we play board games with. Don't worry, the article is tongue-in-cheek. I'm not trying to label people in a certain way. We're all unique and different and we change over time. Yet, I do reckon you will probably see yourself or one of your board game friends in one of the groupings in this article. Oh, and by the way, we're all gamers - whatever games we like to play. We're all here to have fun.
Feudal Japan is in turmoil. Warring clans are roaming the land to claim territories and gain influence and power, while vying for the favour of the spirits, the Kami, whose support will help cement the superiority over the enemies. As clans form alliances and recruit legendary monsters to bolster their armies' ranks, everyone prepares for multiple battles which will change the face of Japan. Yet, territories are often held only fleetingly as alliances are betrayed and powers shift. It is up to you to use your cunning and strategic planning to come out the victor in Rising Sun by CMON.
A hook, as per the dictionary definition, is something that draws you in. In games, a hook can be a number of different things. Often it is something visually exciting, such as beautiful illustrations, amazingly detailed miniatures, realistic resources or some sort of physical component that is integral to gameplay. Hooks can also be an interesting theme, an exciting gameplay mechanism or even the background story behind how a game was made. Certain awards or even the price of a game can be a hook too. Ultimately it's about finding something that grabs your attention and gets you to take a closer look.
I am not sure if you've come across this before, but you may have heard some people on a podcast or in a tabletop games review video talk about a game being overproduced. Often the term is used in a negative way, implying that a game includes unnecessary components and therefore is more expensive than it needs to be. However, different people seem to apply this term to different games in different ways, so I wanted to look at it a bit more closely and see whether we can investigate what overproduced actually means and whether it is indeed a bad thing.
You're on the phone to the real estate agent talking about this great piece of land near a school and park, which would be ideal to develop into modern housing. At the same time, you see an email from a small local business owner who is interested in renting one of the units in your newly built office complex. Things are going really well for your growing empire, but you also realize that property prices are at an all-time high. The big crash isn't far away now - you can feel it. It will be crucial to sell everything at the right moment and make the most profit. However, if you leave it too long, you'll lose it all and destroy your chance of becoming the greatest magnate in history.
Inspired by a recent video from Jamey Stegmaier talking about "overproduced" games (see here: https://youtu.be/PxRpL-JQMfI), I thought I'd share my thoughts on the topic. Please watch Jamey's video first, so you know what the word "overproduced" means in the context of his video and my article. The topic is quite broad, and I won't be able cover every aspect, but instead I'll discuss a select few areas that I think can help focus everyone's thoughts on the subject and allow you to be more constructive in your feedback to publishers.
Let me start by wishing you a Happy New Year. I hope you enjoyed the holidays and had a chance to relax and recharge. Now that 2019, it's time to look ahead at my most anticipated games of the coming year. The list happens to consist purely of Kickstarter projects, because that is how I buy most of my games these days, but as the year goes on I will of course keep an eye other releases as well. The list is sorted in expected delivery order, rather than alphabetically or anything else. So here goes.
Tabletop games can be quite expensive, so it makes sense to protect your investment and make sure game components last a long time. That way, when you have enjoyed your game for a while, you can easily resell it in mint condition, recouping close to the original purchase price, which you can then re-invest in a new game.
