Wizards of the Coast is nearing the end of a fairly unique experiment—the release of a 10-part, professionally produced campaign designed to take Star Wars Saga characters from level 1 to 20—for free. Yeah…I said free. Gratis. Without cost. No charge…you get the idea. The Dawn of Defiance campaign itself takes place right after the Revenge of the Sith and includes lots of support materials, articles, a campaign outline and even a FAQ. The eighth adventure was just released, with the next two releasing over the course of the next two months. If you’re looking to get a game of Star Wars going, I can’t think of a better way to quick start things.

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Yet another classic board game is headed to polygonal format – Asmodee’s Dungeon Twister is slated to hit the Xbox 360 Arcade “sometime soon.” Asmodee originally announced that the venerable 2-player board game (more of a puzzle game than an adventure game to be honest) was under development by a small, French studio, Hydravision. Since then, no one has heard a peep about the title until a small post on Asmodee’s main website (the link is the Google translate version). To be honest, the graphics that are being shown look good, but very early stage. I think we may have a bit of a wait before we start getting three round scores with our wall walkers…

(hat tip)

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Unlike leaks about movies based on comic books, tidibits about Hasbro’s movies in the works are thrilling no one.

We’ve already known for some time that Ridley Scott is set to direct Monopoly from Universal Pictures. Lately we’ve heard that Ouija is set to be a Pirate’s of the Caribbean type of adventure movie. Still waiting to hear word about the planned Battleship movie.

Now we hear that Etan Cohen (of Tropical Thunder) is set to write, and Kevin Lima (of Enchanted) is set to direct, Candy Land.

And yet, from the online reactions I read, no one seems to be jumping for joy.

Funny thing is, all of these games have previously been made into (bad) movies. Just check IMDB.

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FRED Distribution, which is both a distributor and a publisher, has been very busy with the recent arrival of the first five titles in its Gryphon Games bookshelf series. Those include reissues of Money, Gem Dealer, and High Society by Reiner Knizia; For Sale by Stefan Dorra; and the new dice game by Matt Leacock, Roll Through the Ages. I highly recommend For Sale as a light but challenging auction game with (come to think of it) a timely real-estate theme. And Roll Through the Ages aims to fulfill our desire for a quck-playing, yet serious, civilization-building game.

Not stopping there, FRED has also just announced an arrangement with QWG Games to bring the Dutch company’s products to the US and UK markets—the first of which will be a reprint of Cavum in English.

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The PBS television series Sid the Science Kid is being picked up by Hasbro for its PLAYSKOOL line of toys and games. The show aims to promote exploration, discovery, and science readiness among preschoolers. No word yet on what products are planned by Hasbro.

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Not content with two-dimensional puzzle pictures, Where’s Waldo is to be the subject of three games releasing this summer from Patch Products. The Where’s Waldo? Ahh Ha! series will include Across America, On a Safari, and In My Town. All three will translate the original Where’s Waldo concept to group activities by challenging players to spot specific items from Waldo’s travels in tubes that require “shaking” and “jiggling.” Picking specific pieces out of a jumbled mess? Sounds just like cleaning up the kids playroom!

(hat tip)

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