New Stack City

In a recent BoardGameGeek News round-up, W. Eric Martin featured a brief tease about Sunrise City – a tile-laying city game currently in production by Clever Mojo Games. Intrigued, and always wanting to know more, I contacted Clever Mojo Games, who graciously got me in touch with game designer Isaias Vallejo. Here is what Isaias had to say about the game, and his experience with W. David MacKenzie and Clever Mojo Games: “The idea for the game is definitely inspired by Sim City. I’m sure everyone can relate to starting up a new city on Easy mode, spending that $10k on laying down a nice city, and then scrapping it after you realize... Read More

Throwing Stars: An Interview with Ninjato Designers Adam West and Dan Schnake

In 2008, CrossCut Games – a company known previously for independently-producing computer games – introduced Galactic Emperor to the boardgaming world, and fans of epic tabletop star sagas fell in love. Not content with resting on success, the guys behind CrossCut Games – Adam West and Dan Schnake – are bringing the art of the silent death to tables everywhere with the summer release of Ninjato. After all, when you want to top epic star sagas in coolness, your best bet is to break out the ninjas. For those not familiar with the theme or concepts of Ninjato, can you provide a brief summary of gameplay and mechanics? Ninjato... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 6 – The One About Alf

The State of Games, Episode 6 has become self-aware! Oh, wait, maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves. To call this episode a bit high-brow would be akin to calling the Grand Canyon a ditch – but believe us, this is a very good thing. So sit back, grab your pipe and smoking jacket, and make room in your brain for a whole lotta data. Read More  Read More

Kickstarting The Road to Canterbury

Attention all fans of 15th century Chaucerian poetry – and really cool games – the Kickstarter campaign for Alf Seegert’s The Road to Canterbury has been launched! The folks at Gryphon Games have 60 days to raise $10,000 to fund printing for this wickedly-intriguing new release. Be sure to check out the official Kickstarter campaign page, and watch the video for more information. Who knows, if you stick around to the very end of the video, you may recognize some familiar names in the production credits… And be sure to check back on Monday for the next episode of The State of Games, as  Monkey238 and I talk in-depth with... Read More

Enter the Fire Dragons!

A few weeks have gone by since there have been any dragons on Dice Hate Me, so here is a quick update on Princes of the Dragon Throne from Clever Mojo Games! First off, artist Don Aguillo has been working furiously on new concept sketches for dragons of Clan Vu’ur (the Fire Dragons), as well as finished art of a very familar-looking Dwarf Lord (patterned after designer W. David MacKenzie), and some preliminary mock-ups of a very gruff troll and some kobold workers. According to W. David MacKenzie, the “The Trolls are a rough and aggressive race but civilized and with just as much diversity as the humans, elves, and dwarves. The Kobolds... Read More

First Look at Dragon Clan Vu’ur

Yep, another week, another great update on Princes of the Dragon Throne from Clever Mojo Games. Last time, we learned that the dragons in this deck-builder are divided into four separate clans, and got some glimpses of the eight dragons of Clan Ma’ji. Now we get our first peek at another clan – Vu’ur! Clever Mojo’s W. David MacKenzie describes the new dragons, and gives a further glimpse into the mechanics of the game: “Hennig’vu’ur is an Emerald Dragon.  Normally a player can hold over two citizens in their tableau from turn to turn and these cards act as a hand extension, allowing a player to utilize... Read More

Dragons of Clan Ma’Ji Get a Makeover

Yowza, yowza, Dice Hate Me has the latest scoop on Princes of the Dragon Throne from Clever Mojo Games! In the last month, artist Don Aguillo has been cranking out new card art, and the design crew at Clever Mojo has been hard at work on a card interface overhaul. You can see the culmination of both in the images below. Along with the visual redesign, the dragons have gotten a little name change, as well. There will be seven dragon clans in Princes of the Dragon Throne and the dragons we have seen so far belong to Clan Ma’ji. Each clan dragon will have a unique name fashioned from the game’s draconic tongue, inspired outside the game... 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

Citizens of Princes of the Dragon Throne

But wait, there’s more Princes of the Dragon Throne! Artist Don Aguillo has been burning the midnight oil, creating card art for two human elders, Lord Mark and Lady Lillian. They look pretty realistic, and they should – they’re modelled from the relatives of a certain Clever Mojo Games compatriot! The human elders will join the ranks of the Citizen Deck, which contains several races. Players can look forward to filling their decks with humans, elves, dwarves, trolls, kobolds and goblins in addition to all the cool dragons. Keep watching Dice Hate Me for more card art and news as the game progresses through development.  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