Geek Chic is adding a new gamer table model to the company’s lineup. The Vanguard, which Geek Chic describes as having “a design that can blend into both modern and traditional aesthetics”, will run around $3,000-4,000 (depending on options chosen) and be available in sizes up to 6½ feet long. It has the normal dining room table look but also features the recessed Game Vault space and rail system to hold accessories.

In addition to the made-to-order tables, Geek Chic is also offering a ready-made standard Vanguard configuration at $2,500, which will begin shipping in November.

geek-chic-vanguard

Who knew that gaming tables was going to be such a competitive market? The folks at BoardGameTables.com have been making high-end, custom-built wordwork gaming tables for the past year and a half, but they’ve recently launched a massive campaign for a low-cost gaming table. How low? $500 for a 3×5 table. They’re getting the price down to that point in two major ways: the tables are all standardized, so there’s no customization, and they’ll be mass-producing the tables, letting the economies of scale bring the overall price down. The Duchess is $499, $739 with topper to convert it to a normal table.

mistborn board game

A boardgame based on Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn novels is up on Kickstarter! A $50 pledge (plus shipping) gets you a copy of the semi-cooperative game. The game is designed by Kevin Wilson (one of my favorite game designers). Check out Mistborn: House War from Crafty Games.

fortressMiniature wargamer? Laser Dream Works is presenting 3D printer-ready models for historical (17th and 18th Century) terrain. The main item (at $45) is a fortress based on Fort Ticonderoga in New York state. The Vauban Fortress is scales from 28mm to 10mm sizes. Already unlocked: battle-damaged walls, outer fortifications, and Spanish-style turrets. They’re so very close to unlocking a five-pointed fort and a shore battery made of curved walls, but they’re in the final week of the campaign, so act soon!

Summit has an interesting theme: mountain climbing. In the game, you’re racing up (and back down) a mountain, laying down tiles to create trails and hazards. But you don’t want to sprint up the mountain: you’ll have to keep track of your food, oxygen, and health while making sure you’re not overburdened or too slow to ascend and descend. You’ll have to watch the weather, balance your load, and survive the perilous trek. The base game is yours for a pledge of $37 (US, approximate: $49 CAD). Summit also comes with a cooperative/solo expansion, which is available at the $49 level ($64 CAD).

not cah
If Cards Against Humanity is dirty words Apples to Apples, Drawing Without Dignity is potty-mouth Pictionary. This week’s Marketplace Confusion/Parody/Coattail Riding spotlight product is for 17 and up (really? 17?) and it’s pretty much Pictionary where you’re drawing things like “sperm donor”, “yellow snow”, and “carpet muncher”. A $25 pledge gets you a box with 100 cards (5 clues per card), a one-minute timer, a six-sided die, a pad of paper, and four miniature golf pencils. Drawing Without Dignity has a week and a half to go and is nearly a third of the way funded: take a look at the campaign.

Hey, remember last time when we featured an 18-card CAH “expansion” called Bad Apples? You’re probably wondering if they funded. Nope, but it’s because the creator cancelled the funding with just two dollars to go! Well, they went ahead and relaunched the campaign again (the third time), and it still didn’t fund, only getting $500 of the C$750 requested.

  • Comments Off on Crowdfunding Highlights

Geek Chic Dropship TableGeek Chic is launching a line of ready-made game tables. The company says it will not replace or interfere with production of its custom furniture.

Geek Chic has designed the Dropship line to be affordable and easy to ship, yet it maintains many of the quality, solid-wood features of the company’s earlier offerings. Each Dropship gaming table will have a recessed playing surface, replaceable top, and rail-system with cup holders. The Dropship table will be available in Cherry, Maple, or Walnut in square or rectangular configurations for $1,750 and $1,600, respectively.

Shipping begins in July. Preorders are being taken now, however, the company is planning on maintaining a selection in inventory for quick shipment at any time.

Up for auction March 17th at Christie’s in New York is a “very rare Huanghuali waisted rectangular corner-leg games table.” The table dates back to China in the Ming Dynasty (17th century), has a removable top, space for a now-missing Shuanglu board (Chinese Backgammon), and comes with a folding Xiangqi board. The estimated selling price for the table is $500,000-700,000.

Huanghuali Game Table

On the 11th at Christie’s in London is a games table priced at only £15,000-20,000. This one is a “French Ormolu-mounted kingwood boise satine and parquetry games table” from around the turn of the last century.

French Parquetry Game Table

Then on the 18th in London will be auctioned a “Regency brass-inlaid rosewood card table” from 1810 (estimate: £1,000-1,500) and an “Austro-Hungarian silver, gilt-metal, enamel, and mahogany Chess set” again from the turn of the last century (estimate: £12,000-18,000).

Regency game table

Austro Hungarian Silver Mahogany Chess Set

Luxury Board Games

Zontik’s luxury board games and accessories range from the merely expensive (for example, a $120 pair of acrylic dice cups) to the ostentatious (like a $5,900 Cluedo board game) and even the outrageous (such as a $42,000 game table).

  • Comments Off on Luxury Board Games