Kickstarter is looking for a Games Content Strategist to work at its office in Brooklyn, evaluating games projects, writing about them, and promoting them through various online outlets.. The company is also looking for a Games Intern for a 3 month research project. There’ll be a lot of detail work online and either previous academic study of games or 3-4 years of professional experience with games is required.

Recruiter Aardvark Swift is searching for a Marketing Manager to work at The Pokemon Company in London. The successful applicant will familiar with media for 4-14 year olds across Europe.

Steamforged Games (Guild Ball, Dark Souls) is looking to fill two positions: Commercial Brand Coordinator and Retail Support Manager, both in Tukwila, Washington. The former will focus on marketing, the latter on retailer account management.

Esdevium Games, part of the Asmodee Group in the U.K., has openings for a Finance Manager, an HR Officer, and a Sales and Customer Service Account Handler. The last of those is about sales to the hobby channel.

University Games, located in the Mission area of San Francisco, needs someone to fill the dual role of Receptionist and Office Manager.

The Stars Group is working to develop a state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence that could learn to play a variety of games. Toward that end, the company is recruiting for a Poker AI Research Engineer and a Graduate Poker AI Research Engineer.

Cubicle 7 needs an Office Assistant in Swindon, U.K. to help with customer service, order handling, and administrative tasks.

Tabletop Tycoon (Game Salute, Myriad Games, Ship Naked) is staffing up in Londonderry, New Hampshire. The company has job openings for an Account Manager, an Assistant Account Manager, full and part-time Fulfillment Staff, and a General Manager. The Account Manager and Assistant Account Manager will be responsible for sales and logistics for Ship Naked. Fulfillment Staff will handle packing and shipping. The General Manager, who will run everything, is expected on-site 7:00 AM-7:00 PM.

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Steamforged Games is releasing a boardgame based on the incredibly difficult computer game Dark Souls franchise. The boardgame (late April, $120) plays 1-4 heroes versus the game. If one hero dies during the battles, the entire scene resets, forcing the players to learn the strategy behind the boss attacks and work together to win. Taking elements from all three computer games, Dark Souls comes with 27 miniatures, nine double-sided play area tiles, and four hero character boards.

Expansions for Dark Souls are planned that will incorporate different elements. Some will add new heroes and antagonists, some may have a large collection of bosses and minions, while others may simply have an expansion with only one or two additions to the game. Pricing and availability (and details as to what’s in them) are sketchy at this point, but the people I spoke with are looking at 12-18 months from now at price points anywhere from $35 to $80, depending on the amount of content.

Also new from Steamforged is a realignment of their Guild Ball property. The 2-player Kick Off! Starter Set just came back into print ($70). Kick Off! comes with 12 colored one-piece miniatures ready for painting, a fantastically large board, and tons of bits, measuring tools, and dice. The wall of blister packs are still going to be offered, but Steamforged is going to start releasing larger collection packs of plastic miniatures for additional guilds (teams) in the game world at a price point to be determined.

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I’m a big fan of Guildball, though I know it can bit a bit tough to get into the game with all the products out there for the game. Steamforged has made it a whole lot easier now with their Kick-Off! 2-Player boxed set. Hitting shelves in November, it contains everything you need to get starting playing Guildball, and at a great price. For $70 you get:

• Kick Off! Rulebook
• Guild Ball Core Rulebook
• Captain’s Handbook
• 3’x3′ Double-Sided Board of the Guild Ball Pitch
• 12 Pre-Assembled Colored Plastic Models
• Player Character Cards
• 128 Game Tokens
• Measuring Tools and Templates
• Guild Ball Dice

You’ll be getting the Brewers and Masons in this pack, two teams I haven’t had the opportunity to give a shot yet.

This looks like it’ll be the best, and most inexpensive, ways to get involved with a really fantastic game.

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This one has taken me a bit to get written, mostly because I needed the time to get it to the table…and the table needed to be cleared off enough to have space.

Of course with most miniatures game, the miniatures need to be assembled before play. Guildball minis are excellent, finely detailed, and a bit of a pain to get assembled. Tiny pieces along with dynamic figure poses proved a challenge for me, as I’m not the best at getting these things together. One I did get them finished, I patted myself on the back and got to work learning the rules.

The rulebook is a gorgeous, full color book full of amazing art, world lore, and the rules of the game. This is both really awesome, and my one complaint about the game. The rules are sprinkled in with all the extra fiction, and at times I found myself just wanting the rules compiled without all the extras. It’s a minor gripe, but one just the same.

As far as the game goes, I was pleasantly surprised how uncomplicated it was. It’s not Dreadball level of ease, but it’s certainly a lot better than other miniatures sports games. Once you have the flow of the game down, it’s a breeze to play the game. That doesn’t make the game any less deep. There’s plenty here to satisfy both miniatures gamers and sports gamers. The sheer amount of teams and their miniatures already released is amazing, and there’s more on the way soon for Season 2.

There’s a lot of things to buy here, so you’re not going to hop into this game inexpensively, but everything I’ve seen so far is a worthwhile investment. The only thing I don’t have is a pitch, and I’m going to make sure I get one for future plays.

Steamforged Games is a fairly new company, but they’re already proven they’re a strong contender in the hobby. I can’t recommend the game to everyone, but if you’re a miniatures fan, a sports fan, or someone who’s looking to get into sports miniatures games, you can’t go wrong with Guildball. It’s a blast, and is quickly becoming one of my favorites, possibly knocking Dreadball from it’s high throne on my shelf.

The Guildhall rulebook, Butcher and Fisherman teams, and appropriate token/template sets were provided free for review by Steamforged Games.

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I know we usually do nice Crowdfunding Highlights, but this is a project that I’m overly excited about. I’m sure many Souls fans out there are too, seeing as the game is already a good amount past its funding goal.

Finally we have some details about the game, and I’m really digging the “fast setup, long reveal” that adds a level of exploration and tension to the game. Everything is looking really great, and I’m really looking forward to how much of the extras are unlocked. I’m hoping most, and it’s looking like that may be the case.

There’s only two pledge levels for the campaign: one for consumers, and one for retailers. They’re currently priced at around $113 and $283 respectively. With the game being funded already, you’re guaranteeing yourself a copy of the game. Also, you’ll get every last goodie that’s unlocked with either level, so the more the game makes the more you’re going to get.

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Steamforged Games has just posted this announcement on their Facebook page.

Steamforged Games is proud to announce we will be working with Bandai Namco Entertainment, developing an exciting board game for the Dark Souls universe.

As Dark Souls fans, we could not be more excited to be given the honour of developing a board game that embraces everything that makes Dark Souls the deep, compelling game experience that it is.

The Dark Souls board game will be launched on Kickstarter during April 2016.

This is huge news for fans of the Dark Souls series. Here’s to hoping the board game will be as hard and soul crushing as its video game brethren.

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For those not familiar with Steamforged Games’ Guildball, I’ll have a review of if posted in a few weeks. The Medieval Football game has a new team being released during Salute in April. The Hunters will bring a whole new style of play to Guildball, and from the sneak peak, the models look like they’ll be pretty amazing.

I’m still in the process of learning the rules and the ins and outs of the current teams I have, Butchers and Fishermen, but I should have a great grasp of things before the Hunters are released.

Just what I need. Another awesome miniatures game to sink my time into!

Keep an eye out for my Guildball review soon. I’ll make sure I get a good look into the Hunters once they’re released, too.

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