Kickstarter Profiles, Part 1: Dark Horse

Last summer, the name “Kickstarter” began to be whispered in awed, hushed tones after people like David MacKenzie and Daniel Solis had proven that self-publishing through crowd-funding was fresh and feasible. Last fall, Michael Mendes proved that Kickstarter was not just feasible – it was also lucrative as Eminent Domain went supernova, gaining over $48,000 in funds. Since then, board game projects have been popping up in that wild inter-frontier like rabid prairie dogs; some brilliant, some bombs. Regardless of the mix, one thing is abundantly clear: it’s a truly great time for board games, and those who love them. There are several... Read More

The Year of Awesome

Greetings, dear readers, to a brief celebration in honor of Dice Hate Me’s anniversary! It’s been an amazing, wonderfully awesome year, and we are so thankful to our many supporters, peers, and companies for making it possible to live the Dice Hate Me dream. One year ago today, the first game review was posted – an extremely brief look at Red November from Fantasy Flight Games. Seriously, it was so succinct that many of those first few who read it wondered if it qualified as an actual review! Now, a year later, many of you are probably wishing that the reviews around here were half as short as that first one. For better or worse,... Read More

Tequila Sunrise over Clever Mojo Games

Clever Mojo Games (makers of the Dice Hate Me 2010 Game of the Year Alien Frontiers) is on the move! As reported on Dice Hate Me earlier, Clever Mojo has several games in development: the draconian deck-builder Princes of the Dragon Throne, the tile-laying Sunrise City, and the rather quirky, but totally radical Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge. I’ve recently gotten my hands on a prototype of Sunrise City, and some sneak peeks at rules and playtest photos of Swinging Jivecat Voodoo Lounge, so may I present to all you dear readers, a little preview of the mojo ahead. Read More  Read More

A New Frontier for Alien Frontiers

Dice Hate Me has just received news from Clever Mojo Games regarding a new licensing agreement for future editions of Alien Frontiers. Here, directly from Clever Mojo Games owner W. David MacKenzie, is the full scoop: “Clever Mojo Games has signed licensing agreements to bring localized editions of Alien Frontiers to Eastern and Western Europe. Ystari Games will be producing French, German, Spanish, and Italian language versions of Alien Frontiers for distribution in Western Europe and LocWorks will be producing and distributing Polish and Eastern European language versions of Alien Frontiers. Both LocWorks and Ystari expect late 2011 release... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 4 – The One About the 7 Deadly Sins

The State of Games, Episode 4 is good to go! We may be playing around a tiny bit with the format this week, but we’re still here to talk about some subtle controversies; only this time, we’re inviting all of you to look deep inside your gaming souls and seek out the sin within! Read More  Read More

Here There Be More Dragons

Last month on Dice Hate Me, we spilled the beans on the newest project over at Clever Mojo Games – Princes of the Dragon Throne. Now – even though this card-drafting game isn’t due out until the end of 2011 – we’re lucky enough to have the first peek at the new card design, as well as some of the fantastic dragon art from trading-card art afficionado Don Aguillo. Check out the sneak peeks below, as well as a special in-house guide to deciphering the dragon cards. We’re not quite sure what it all means yet, but stay tuned to Dice Hate Me for more peeks behind the scenes in the coming months. As usual, click... Read More

Alien Frontiers Second Printing Delayed

The bad news: The second printing of Alien Frontiers will be delayed by at least two weeks, missing the March 31st shipping date originally announced. The good news: the pre-order period has been extended! Here is the note posted today by Clever Mojo Games head W. David MacKenzie: “Panda Games Mfg just emailed to say that their dice subcontractor has failed to meet their delivery deadline and will not be able to get the dice to Panda’s assembly team before the plant closes down on Jan 29th for the two-week Lunar New Year. This means that Alien Frontiers will not get shipped out of China until late February. We had expected the shipment... Read More

Clever Mojo Games Gets Steamy

It’s been a long time coming, but it looks like Steampunk fans will finally get a meaty boardgame they can call their own. Clever Mojo Games – the makers of Alien Frontiers – is currently working with New Zealand game designer Anthony Henning to produce Arkopolis Engines. No details are available for a specific release date, but the teaser art is looking pretty nifty. I’m a huge fan of Steampunk, so rest assured that there will be plenty more news and previews of Arkopolis Engines over the next year at Dice Hate Me. In other news from Clever Mojo Games, two other projects are currently in production and playtesting. The... Read More

We Have A Winner!

Yes, folks, there is an official winner of the Alien Frontiers Space Crane giveaway! A big congratulations (and three Space Crane Alien Tech cards) goes out to Richard Bliss! Richard is a long-time gamer and champion of the Play-in-Public campaign, in which I have and will continue to participate. Richard is also the creator of a fine boardgaming blog, The Game Whisperer. His most recent post on keeping a boardgaming journal inspired me to start one for the new year, so you all should definitely check out the site. Again, congrats to Richard and many, many thanks to all of you who have entered the contest and continue to support Dice Hate Me!... Read More

Game of the Year Giveaway!

Well, dear readers, as I promised in this week’s Game of the Year announcement, Dice Hate Me is proud to offer a very special holiday giveaway in celebration of our awards. Since Alien Frontiers has been awarded the medal, we figured what better way to commemorate the occasion than to reward one special gamer with a very rare treat: the Space Crane Alien Tech card! That’s right, Dice Hate Me, in conjunction with Clever Mojo Games, is proud to offer not one but three of these rare Alien Tech cards, unavailable for purchase anywhere. The Space Crane card was produced as a promotional for backers of Alien Frontiers on kickstarter.com... Read More