Space For More: An Interview With Empires of the Void Designer Ryan Laukat

Space… the well-trod frontier – at least in board games. There’s good reason for that, though: Space is awesome, as are many quality, space-based games. One space epic in particular has developed quite a buzz recently online – Empires of the Void, designed and illustrated by veteran board game artist Ryan Laukat. Ryan is responsible for quite a bit of art in Dominion, as well as Alf Seegert’s trollish masterpieces, Bridge Troll and Trollhalla. Ryan’s unique art style lends a fun flair to a genre that can sometimes feel a bit staid. In order for us to know more about Empires of the Void and the inspiration to... Read More

Dice Hate Me Anniversary Giveaway Reminder!

Dice Hate Me is about to celebrate its anniversary on June 1st, and we want to share the love with all of you! As mentioned on the last The State of Games podcast, Gryphon&Eagle Games has graciously offered up Through the Ages for one lucky Dice Hate Me fan. Here are the details: We want pictures. Fun and creative pictures. Game-related pictures! Get whimsical, get crazy, surprise us! We’ll pick our five favorite pictures and then randomly draw a winner which will be announced in a special anniversary post on June 1st. You can send your pictures to podcast@dicehateme.com or post the pictures to the wall on the Dice Hate Me Facebook page.... Read More

The French Revelation: A Troyes Revue

And the Freeples say: Vive la France! In the past few years, the realms of boardgaming have traditionally been broken down into two main categories: “Ameritrash” — which typically includes those games with lots of plastic sculpted miniatures used to bash the crap out your opponent, along with tons of shiny dice — and “Euro” games, which usually include a dazzling array of choices in which to stoically quell the machinations of your opponent with feathered subtleties like influence, victory points, wooden cubes and meeples. Pearl Games has chosen to walk the insane path of including flavors from both realms in one box with their first... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 8 – The One About Not Playing With Yourself

The State of Games, Episode 8 is open and ready for business! Don’t worry, the title doesn’t mean what you think it means. Or maybe it does? We have no idea what goes on inside those crazy minds of yours. But you can find out what goes on inside our crazy minds – just take a listen to our mad ramblings! Read More  Read More

Strokes of Art: Fresco and Pastiche

Time to paint in some happy little trees... As Big Daddy Kane once said: “Reviewing ain’t easy.” Ok, so I’m taking some artistic license with his lyrics, but I figure that’s ok since today’s boardgaming topic is art – or, more specifically, games about art. Many of us reviewers could be content with just playing a few games and then sharing our thoughts, but that can get boring – both for us, and you, dear readers. And so, it was with great internal fanfare that I came up with the bright idea of pitting two art-themed boardgames against each other: Fresco and Pastiche. I soon found out after playing them both that choosing... Read More

Inside the Big Top: An Interview with Artipia Games

I would bet that when most people think of board games, the circus is not exactly the first image that pops to mind. Artipia Games is setting out to change that with their upcoming fall release, Drum Roll. After watching the progression of game design and art direction on BoardGameGeek for several months, I felt that it was time to have a chat with game co-designer Konstantinos Kokkinis and find out the big deal under the big top. Just to give us all a better understanding of Drum Roll, can you provide a brief summary of gameplay and key mechanics? During the game, the players give 3 shows. For each of these shows they have 5-7 turns of preparation.... Read More

The Crowded Table: April/May Edition

So many games, so little time… to review them all! Yes, the past couple of months have seen a flurry of new games enter the Dice Hate Me library and, subsequently, our gaming table. I’ll be ramping up the review schedule a bit this summer, but cranking out two or three reviews a week right now is just not a practical goal. And, so, I offer up the next best thing: some brief impressions on a notable few that we’ve encountered, many of which will be getting the full Dice Hate Me treatment in the weeks ahead. Castle Panic Not too good... In this hybrid co-op, you and up to five other brave souls must defend the castle against a relentless,... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 7 – The One Rated PG-13

The State of Games, Episode 7 is way in, man. It’s, like, so in that it’s far out, you know what I’m saying? No? Well, open your ears and expand your mind, because we’ve got some heavy dope to throw your way. But don’t let the title fool you, this stuff is super groovy for the whole family. 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

Game Overboard – A Hagoth: Builder of Ships Review

Game selection can be a curious thing. Quite often I’ll spend a good half hour or so in my local game store, pulling boxes from shelves and seeing what interests me. Quite likely I’ll bring a game up to the counter that was referred by a friend, or mentioned in a recent review, or it’s just the new hotness. And then there are the quirky ones – you know, the ones that inexplicably call to you from the shelf. You have no idea what might lurk inside, but suddenly there’s a cute panda, or a zeppelin, or a buff, shirtless man hauling lumber by the seashore. Yeah, that’s Hagoth: Builder of Ships. I bought the quirk. And now you get the... Read More