Online dating service Match.com will be launching a series of game nights as part of the company’s Stir series of in-person events. Match describes the events as “less about strategy and competition and more about laughing and having fun together.” Stir Game Nights will be run at bars and restaurants through the summer and fall.

In fact, two types of events are planned. At Game Night Mashups, facilitators will lead participating singles through the games, while at Game Night Happy Hours, singles will be able to borrow from a library of games to play on their own.

For the Game Nights, Match is partnering with several publishers, including Buffalo Games, Bananagrams, Blue Orange Games, and Wiggity Bang Games.

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When I first heard about Say Bye to the Villains I was immediately interested. It’s a cooperative card game where players take on the role of “Vanquishers” to stop evil villains, all with a brilliant Japanese theme.

First off let me say that this game is beautiful. Everything from the quality of the cards, the artwork,  and the card layout are just top notch. It all adds to the wonderful theme of the game. Second, the game is really easy to learn, and super simple to dive in and play. Every player gets a Vanquisher and a hand of 7 cards. An equal number of villains to the heroes is laid out on the table, with a line of face down situation cards (denoted on their card.) The players now have 10 “hours” to defeat the villains. Every action a Vanquisher takes costs a certain amount of hours. Once they reach 10, they must target a villain to fight. After all the players have targeted a villain, the situation cards from that villain are revealed, stats are calculated, and the battle decided.

There can be several outcomes to the battle. The Vanquisher dies, the villain dies, both the Vanquisher and villain die, or neither die. If all the villains are defeated, it’s a player win.

Simple. Elegant. Enjoyable.

I played with  my kids and they’re already begging to play more so they can try out different Vanquishers.

Seiji Kanai designed the game, who you may also know from the huge hit, Love Letter. The game is put out by Kanai Factory and not super easy to find, but if you do find it I highly recommend you snag it.

A copy of Say Bye to the Villains was provided free for review by Kanai Factory

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Mongoose Traveller ebooks are on sale at DriveThruRPG.

The Roleplayers Chronicle’s Indie RPG Giveaway includes five prize packages, each with multiple RPG products. Packages include fantasy, horror, technology, historical, and heroic.

Other blog giveaways:

• By Mami’s 3 Little Monkeys, a game-of-choice from RoosterFin.
• Also by Stephanie’s Ocean State Reviews, a game-of-choice from RoosterFin.
• By Baby Dash, Vocabulary Chipper Chat.
• By Mom and More, Go Ape! from Patch Products.
• By A Motherhood Experience, World Series of Yahtzee from Hasbro.
• By Home Grown Families, Wordical from Educational Insights.
• By Powered by Mom, Doc McStuffin Matching Game from Wonder Forge.
• By Young at Heart Mommy, Bejeweled Frenzy from Hasbro.
• By Full Time Mama, Mental Blox from Learning Resources.

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Days of Wonder has just announced it’s next big game, and that game is Relic Runners. Due out in September, Relic Runners has players navigating the jungle and temples in search of forgotten treasure. It’ll be a resource management game, with some amazing sounding pieces, including 20 highly-detailed sculpted relics.

For 2-5 players, ages 10+, it takes approximately 40-80 minutes to play. It’ll retail for $60, and I said said before, should hit stores in September.

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The winners of the 2013 Origins Awards, as given out by The Academy of Adventure Gaming Arts & Design at the Origins Game Fair, are:

• Best Game Accessory—Metal Steampunk Dice Set from Q Workshop
• Best Game-Related Publication—Battletech: Weapons Free from Catalyst Game Labs
• Best Historical Miniatures Rules—Flames of War: Open Fire! from Battlefront Miniatures
• Best Historical Miniatures Rules Supplement—Flames of War: Nuts from Battlefront Miniatures
• Best Historical Miniatures Figure or Line—Ancient Greeks from Victrix Ltd
• Best Historical Board Game—Samurai Battles from Zvezda
• Best Traditional Card Game—Doctor Who Card Game from Cubicle 7 Entertainment/Treefrog Games
• Best Collectible Card Game or Expansion—Legend of the 5 Rings: Embers of War from AEG
• Best Miniatures Rules or Expansion—The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Campaign Starter Set from WizKids Games
• Best Miniatures Figure or Line—Marvel HeroClix: Galactic Guardians from WizKids Games
• Best Roleplaying Game—Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Basic Game from Margaret Weis Productions
• Best Roleplaying Supplement or Adventure—Marvel Heroic Roleplaying Civil War Essentials Event Book from Margaret Weis Productions
• Best Family, Party or Children’s Game—Quarriors! Dice Building Game from WizKids Games
• Best Board Game—Lords of Waterdeep from Wizards of the Coast

The Academy also inducted the Munchkin and Dominion games into the the Hall of Fame.

[via Board Game Quest]

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Having just wrote about Hydras, I figured I’d write up my thoughts after having printed out the game and played it. Whoo boy, this is one solid print-and-play title.

The game is very simple. Every turn you play a tile, then draw back up to 4. The goal is to have the most heads on your hydra when the tiles run out. Certain tiles have swords and shields on them. Swords can cut pieces off a hydra, and shields can be played to protect yourself against a sword. There’s also a torch tile that can be used to block placement of tiles that can only be removed by a sword.

The pieces are comical and creepy at the same time, and the play is quick and easy to pick up.

Overall you can’t beat the price (free) for this title, and I think it’s worthy of being published. It’s a great filler game that takes up very little space and provides a ton of fun.

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Yes, it’s Father’s Day. That means daddy gets to do what he wants, and what he wants is to play board games!

Today I’ll be playing Hydras, Survive, King of Tokyo, and Tsuro. Of course these are all games the kids want to play, but beggars can’t be choosers!

What are you playing today?

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The name only has my interest with this one!

Triassic Terror has layers trying to grow and move their herds of dinosaurs over 4 different prehistoric landscapes. Danger is about from meat eating dinos and volcanoes. The player who dominates the most environments will be the winner.

The game is for  2 – 6 players, ages 14+, and plays in around 90 – 120 minutes. It’s designed by Peter Hawes and put out by Eagle Games.

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The Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history has always interested me, and now ZiKo Games has a new game coming out set there.

Players will take control of famous characters like Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, and Cao Cao as they battle for control of China. The game combines strategy, cooperation, and war in this role-playing card game.

Legend of the Three Kingdoms will be out this month for a MSRP of $35.00.

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Rebel Minis has just released a new boxed set of 15mm Necromancer minis meant for use with Mighty Armies. The miniatures are put out by Splintered Light Miniatures, and for $30 you can everything seen above, a total of 29 miniatures.

For those who may not know, Mighty Armies is a simple ruleset for brutal minature combat. Right now the core, fantasy and ancients rules are available, as well as the army books for The Black Sea Pirates and Dark Elves.

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