Sign up for the Gnome Stew blog’s email list for a chance to win DriveThruRPG gift certificates and two RPG ebooks.

Select PDFs from Kenzer & Co. are on sale for 15-30% off.

For the next week everything at Noble Knight Games is at least 10% off. (Well maybe a little less than a week. I think they sent me the email yesterday.)

Scallywags from Gamewright will be debuting at Origins Game Fair in a beginner-level tournament. Prizes will include copies of the game before it’s available in stores.

Avalon Games’ e-book products will be half-off on May 21st.

Everything for sale on Chaosium’s website is 30% off through the 28th.

On Amazon, LEGO Ramses Return is available for only $3.11 and Qwirkle for $17.94.

Father Geek is giving away Dark Horse from Knight Works.

Thanks, Mail Carrier is giving away Classic Battleship Movie Edition and a KRE-O Battleship Combat Chopper set from Hasbro.

My Four Monkeys is giving away Distraction from ThinkFun.

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Crowdfunding has become a major trend in the tabletop games industry. It’s allowed both startup and established game-makers to produce products that otherwise they could not have. And it’s given consumers a forum for voicing their opinions and voting with their dollars before resources are committed to manufacturing.

Discovering what projects are out there, however, has become an increasingly difficult process as the numbers have increased. Many of you, I know, looked forward to our weekly Kickstarter roundup, and some expressed disappointment when it recently lapsed. To be honest, maintaining it takes a lot of work. But we love the games!

So now we’re proud to announce the relaunch of our comprehensive list of all Kickstarter and Indiegogo game projects. We’re going to keep it on its own page (see up top where it says “Kickstarter“), to make it easier to access at any time. Check it out. I think you’ll like all the added features. You can now search the table, as well as sort by project name, dollars raised, percent funded, or closing date. You can even export the data or download a spreadsheet with more information.

If you like it, tell your friends.

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Come visit our Play page and join us in a game of Off Your Rocker. Guess our quirks for a chance to win a copy of the game. Plus, figuring out what’s wrong with us has been a lot of fun!

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Thanks to Stratus Games, one of our readers is going to win a copy of Off Your Rocker!

Talk to the pawns at our swanky new Play page and diagnose which quirky condition they are suffering from.

You: What did you do today?
The Pawns: I built a ship in a bottle and really got in to it.

You: How do you feel?
The Pawns: Not so great. I’m feeling a bit stuffed up right now.

You: What is your biggest fear?
The Pawns: Recycling!

You: I diagnose … that you think you are trapped in a bottle!

The Pawns: Hooray! You’ve won a game!

Come into the Play page, have some fun with us and win a copy of Off Your Rocker!

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Strange combination, I know, but here’s the story… Heroes in the Dark is a nonprofit organization who’s mission is to produce audio versions of classic comic books for the enjoyment of the blind and visually impaired. As part of an awareness and fundraising campaign—the funds are needed for a recording studio—Heroes in the Dark is running a Cthulhu-themed, roleplaying scenario design competition. Prizes for the winning scenarios include small cash awards and copies of the Cthulhu Dark RPG. But more importantly, the scenarios will be included in Horrors in the Dark, a Lovecraftian art and game book, which the organization is producing to help fund the studio.

Heroes in the Dark intends to finance Horrors in the Dark as a Kickstarter project, with sponsors at a certain level earning spots on the judging panel for the contest. The Kickstarter part of this project, however, has not yet launched.

So that takes care of Cthulhu, the blind, and comics. The Titanic comes in through the involvement of Pelgrane Press, who has not only authorized Trail of Cthulhu scenarios as part of the competition, but has also committed to donate all proceeds from the sale of its own new adventure, RMS Titanic: The Millionaire’s Special, to the Heroes in the Dark cause.

Frankly, I probably would have mentioned a Cthulhu Titanic scenario anyway. Check out this teaser!

The mummy of Hettunaway, Priestess of Amun-Ra, is being shipped to New York and donated to the Metropolitan Museum of Art by its owner, Jefferson Shaw. Legend has it that those who look upon her face are doomed.

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Starlit Citadel’s anniversary sale includes 374 board games at significant discount.

For 10% off and free shipping on most orders over $25 at HasbroToyShop.com, use coupon code “MIFYIK4″.

GMT Games is offering 40% off four games from Operational Studies Group.

Days of Wonder is going to give an iPad and some games to the winner of the 30 millionth game played online at the company’s website.

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Many of you may be familiarwith The Spiel, a gaming podcast run by Stephen Conway and David Coleson. If you’re not, it’s worth checking out.

Anyway, The Spiel guys just posted this wonderful trailer for a documentary they’ve been working on called “Made for Play: Board Games & Modern Industry.” The documentary is about how our favorite games are made, from the idea stage to final production.

I couldn’t be more excited. I love the Spiel, and I think this is a great step for Stephen and David.

Here’s the trailer.

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In 2011 board games raised $2 million on Kickstarter. 2012 is building up fast with $1.5 million already and some monster games on the way. Look out here comes Zpocalypse, already over the $120k mark and Ogre from Steve Jackson Games setting the new record for a Kickstarter board game at $187k and still three more weeks to go.

At the beginning of the year I predicted that the top 10 all-time board game projects would all be above $100k by the end of 2012. At the rate we are going, it is only going to take six months.

Ogre is going to hit the $250k by they are done. Things are getting exciting.

Be sure to check out my Funding the Dream on Kickstarter Podcast for more on these great projects.

All projects new to the list for this week are in bold.

Read the rest of this entry »

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Some of you may have already seen Google’s announcement about Project Glass, a set of glasses that would overlay digital data over the real world.

My first thought about these glasses was about how they could be used in board games, RPGs, etc…

OK, I lie. My first thought was, “ME WANT NOW!”

That’s besides the point.

Think about it. Game masters for a RPG could keep data safely hidden from players while still having full view of the gaming area. Board gamers could keep track of everything from counters, money, victory points, board conditions, player aids, etc… CCG players could keep their card list, good card combos, and more without relying on sheets of notes. The possibilities are virtually endless.

Of course this all depends on if these glasses actually hit the market, and if there’s an open development platform for them.

We can dream, right?

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Chronicles of Skin is a game that plays havoc with our categories. Born of RPGs, the game has players making up the story of two ancient civilizations and the war between them. To serve as prompts for that story, though, Chronicles of Skin includes a deck of 72 symbol cards. And to turn those in to a story, players act as Scribes (inventing locations), Others (creating characters), and Artists (drawing the events).

Party game? Card game? Story game?

Chronicles of Skin, how dare you avoid simple categorization. I label you a story-drawing game, so there!

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