Cover to Necromunda:Underhive

There is a strange breed of game – a hybrid if you will – that has a small, but loyal following.  These are people who like a little role-playing, a fair amount of stat building and a whole lot of miniature butt-kicking.  Of course I’m referring to fans of Skirmish RPGs (and you thought I was talking about D&D 4E)!

Click here to check out our full survey of Skirmish RPGs!

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Wizards of the Coast has announced that, staring with the 2009 season, all Pro Tour events will be a split format – one half will be constructed and the other half will be limited (draft).  The link features an interview with the head of Magic R&D, Aaron Forsythe, who shares his insights on the change (particularly interesting was how much the viewing of related video and articles played into the decision).  This could be a huge change in the way Magic is played at a competitive level.  Don’t think so?  Take a look at the top 8 finishers for the last few years – there is virtually no overlap in the names on limited events and the names on constructed events (in fact, in 2008 and 2007 there was zero overlap in the two lists).

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Kayak Chaos and Turtlemania are the two latest games from Simply Fun. I met up with company CEO Gail DeGiulio at Gen Con for a demonstration, after which she sent me complimentary copies of each.

Turtlemania is a Mahjong-inspired game with 136 tiles in a variety of colorful patterns. There are no turns in this fast-paced game. It’s essentially a race for players to grab as many tiles in matching pairs as possible. The winner is the player with the most pairs when the stack of tiles is completely cleared. Turtlemania is also a very tactile game and the thick, solid plastic tiles definitely add to the experience. At $49 this is not an inexpensive game, but it’s a great example of what a publisher can accomplish when the focus is on a quality experience for the whole family (10 minute playing time, recommended for ages 6 and up).

As to Kayak Chaos, my family played it just yesterday, and I’m sure the game will see a return to the table many times. This one involves a bit more contemplation, but still works well for the kids and parents both (30 minutes, 2-4 players ages 8 and up). Each person receives a hand of five cards, playing three per turn in an attempt to move a kayak downriver past obstacles and out front of the other players. The first person to the finish line at the end of the race is the winner. Besides the paddle and swerve cards for simple maneuvering, Kayak Chaos incorporates weather-shift cards for sliding river tiles out of alignment, tip-the-kayak cards for rotating river tiles, and whirlpool cards for switching the positions of two adjacent tiles. There’s a bit of strategy involved, but the rules are simple enough to give young players a chance. And with the ability to alter the course of the river around other players’ kayaks, the fun continues throughout the game until the very end.

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For board game players wishing to explore trade in the Far East, Rio Grande Games has brought Batavia to the United States. Originally published by Queen Games in Germany, Batavia draws players’ merchants to outposts around the Indian Ocean, where they can collect a variety of exotic goods, including tea, cotton, porcelain, silk, ginger, nutmeg, and pepper. Ship passage to these destinations is auctioned, with proceeds being distributed to the losing bidders. But travelling the seas with valuable cargo can be risky. And so the game also challenges players with pirates that can disrupt shipping.

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One of the big theories coming out of the sale of BattleLore to Fantasy Flight Games was that it would free up time and resources that could be used to better support the popular Memoir ‘44 game.  Turns out there may be something to that theory – Brumbarr (a member of the very active Memoir ‘44 community) got wind of pre-order information for a new expansion: Mediterranean Theater.  You will notice that the box clearly depicts British forces, leading to quite the wave of excitement over at the geek.  Not much is known about the expansion beyond the description provided for pre-order purchases, though the expansion is expected to ship in the 4th quarter of ‘08.  Given that Days of Wonder didn’t have the expansion avaialble at GenCon (or even hint that it was coming out), one has to wonder what else they have up their sleeve…

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Three recent books from Hero Games include one for Fantasy Hero and two for Champions. The Atlantean Age is a guide to the high fantasy setting of Atlantis. In this place, characters posses powers nearly equal to those of the gods.  Book of the Destroyer details the most powerful villain in the Champions Universe, including a thorough history of his many attempts to take over the world. The Monster Island book is based on the zone of the same name in the Champions Online MMORPG. It describes a Pacific island created by the alien Qularr where “gigantic alien monsters battle one another for supremacy, evil entities search for artifacts of power, and villainous organizations scheme and collaborate.”

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