If you want to learn to speak Russian or Maori, apparently you can learn it using the material from Buratino. You can also, at the same time, have as much fun as the people in this video appear to be having.

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Chopper is a board game from, and about, an Australian serial killer (Chopper Read) who unabashedly trades in on his exploits for fame and money. Exploits which include blowtorching people, chopping their toes off with boltcutters, first degree murder, torture, intentionally maiming, drug abuse, gang warfare, and cutting off his own ears.

You might think that someone like that would try to go straight by lecturing to people not to follow in his footsteps or exhibiting some remorse. But no. Instead, he is hailed as a folk hero, since some of his victims were themselves criminals, and he revels in selling books and movies about his life. And claims to regret nothing.

So you can, if you want to send your money to the likes of one such as this, buy his game for $80 AUD. Or you could, if it wasn’t already sold out. It’s a roll and move game, but it also comes with a copy of Shocking Roulette (an electronic doodad into which up to four people can place a finger and which then randomly shocks one of them).

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Lost: The Game is the board game aimed at fans of the TV show, probably die hard fans of the TV show.

It has hexes to be explored, various missions and player powers, and dice-based combat. The powers and events are haphazardly mixed together, some too easy and some too hard, just the way mainstream game designers like ‘em. In the end, you have to chase down other characters and convert them to your team, unless someone can fulfill their original character’s mission before this happens. The components are supposedly substandard.

Still, it seems to be a cut above the usual trivia or roll and move games you get from most TV shows. The game is full of the LOST theme and might entertain you until the next episode arrives. And it comes in a nifty tin box.

(info)

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Weird U.S. is a series of travel guides from two guys who decided that the normal travel guides just didn’t cut it. They’ve got Weird books for dozens of states and regions, for the U.S., and sequels.

They’ve also got a Weird U.S. board game, as well as a general expansion and a NJ expansion (I think NJ was the first in the Weird series of books). BGG reviewers are pretty unhappy with the game, and say that it comes with an electronic doodad that is fairly useless, the spinner doesn’t work, and the game is fairly uninteresting.

(info)

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The Judge Dredd RPG is being rereleased by Mongoose Publishing as an alternative setting for Traveller. Of course, you can play a Judge—with your own Lawmaster bike and Lawgiver weapon—enforcing the laws and protecting the 360 million citizens of Mega-City One, but that’s just too easy. I’ll take my chances playing the Perp.

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