The State of Games, Episode 5 – The One About Mansions of Madness

The State of Games, Episode 5 is alive! And this may be our most controversial episode yet – at least amongst the rabid Cthulhu Mythos gamers amongst you. Bear with us, Lovecraftian fiends, we promise you the stars are right to talk of Things Man Was Not Meant to Know… About Mansions of Madness! Read More  Read More

MACE Convention Wrap-up

As many of you dear readers know, I attended a local gaming convention this weekend in Hickory, NC – MACE West, the sister convention to the somewhat-larger MACE held in High Point in November each year. Smaller in no way means that there was less fun to be had, as I and my gaming companions – Michael, Shawn, Scott and Matt – proceeded to play the holy heck out of 11 different games over two and a half days. I was also lucky enough to walk away from the convention with a smorgasboard of gaming goodness; after winning a silent auction, I got great deals on two tickets to Origins Game Fair, as well as the games Infinite City, Mystery... Read More

Where the Games Are

It’s officially Spring Break at Dice Hate Me HQ, and that means that Monkey238 and I are taking a little mini-vacation. We plan to unwind, unplug, and spend four days in analog heaven, getting pampered and, more importantly, playing some games! Before we start our staycation, though, I thought a little preview of what’s up next on the site was probably in order. It’s going to be a busy couple of months, so stick around – we have some great things in store. Trollhalla Some of you may have spotted copies of a box covered in strange, Viking trolls popping up at your favorite local game store. Fear not – this little gem is the newest... Read More

Interview Fu – A Chat with Cookie Fu Designer Brian Kowalski

Brian Kowalski There are inquiring minds here at Dice Hate Me, and whenever there’s a chance to pick a designer’s brain, you can bet the opportunity won’t be missed. Intrigued by the background of Cookie Fu, I sent a few probing questions to Brian Kowalski — the very personable man behind the dice, and founder of game publishing company Blue Kabuto. How did you come about the idea for Cookie Fu? Cookie Fu was actually the result of another game I was working on at the time called “Ramen Raiders”. The game (quest for the ULTIMATE bowl of ramen) was originally planned as a dice game with cards, tokens, and a few... Read More

Dice Hate Me at the Bookstore: The Games Bible

I will happily admit that I’m pretty easy to shop for around the holidays. Any amusing trinket will usually bring me extraordinary glee, especially if it is shiny or has pretty pictures on it. However, when it comes to gifting me games or game-related paraphernalia, the gifter may often find themselves in dangerous territory since, well, I have a lot of stuff. Thus, consider my utter shock and surprise glee when my in-laws presented me with a gaming gift that was both new and incredibly thoughtful – The Games Bible. As I thumbed through the pages after the gift wrap had all been torn asunder, I also began to realize that this little gift... Read More

Inevitable: First Impressions

Inevitable, by Jeremy P. Bushnell and Jonathan A. Leistiko, has a strange pedigree for a board game printed in 2010. It does not consist of flashy, over-produced cards, the rules are not distilled down to a 4-page leaflet, and it is filled with many, highly-geeky and often very obscure references to pop culture, cult films, underground comics, sci-fi and black comedies. It is rough around the edges, there is true grit in the crevices, and it almost feels as though it would be more at home on the top shelf of an independent game store circa 1986. All of this, of course, is a very good thing – for the right group of gamers. I must include... Read More