Your Own Private Idaho: A Kickstarter Quick-Look at Castle Dice

Hello, dear readers – feast your eyes on the very first Dice Hate Me video impression! Why the sudden introduction of video on your favorite written reviews site? Just hit play and everything will become clear. Enjoy, and let me know your thoughts on this grand experiment. Happy gaming! Chris    Read More

Ye Olde Meat and Potatoes – A Lyssan Guest Review

Today on Dice Hate Me, we’re lucky to have a guest review by the most excellent and always helpful Marc Specter. Marc takes a look at Lyssan – a sprawling boardgame that racked up some nice funding last year on Kickstarter, at about the same time as Carnival. So grab ye some mead, dear readers, and dig into this special feast! The arrival of Lyssan is upon us.  As team leader of the group that was privileged to run Lyssan at Origins this year,  I feel it incumbent upon me to provide you, gentle gamer, a preview of your next great game. We play in a time where few games make it to the table more than a few times, and where the new... Read More

A New Kind of Spice – A Rex: Final Days of an Empire Review

“Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.” Leto Atreides, Dune For over 30 years, the board game Dune has often been talked about in hushed awe by a generation of gamers who have heard countless tales of its groundbreaking game play and legendary subject matter. For many, there was no way to prove nor disprove the rumors in these tales, as the game was often harder to find than the legendary cup sought after in the Crusades. Not long ago, Fantasy Flight Games announced that they would rerelease the classic game, but reimagined for the Twilight Imperium universe. Those that had not yet... Read More

The New ‘Burbs – A Kingdom Builder Review

“The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” — Oscar Wilde In all the years spent in this wonderful hobby, I have learned that there are two things that hardcore board game enthusiasts live and die for: Game day, and new board game day. Like most enthusiasts, I am guilty of prowling the forums looking or information on the latest and greatest to be born in cardboard, especially if I find the art or theme intriguing, or if I’ve enjoyed previous works by the designer. And, so, when Kingdom Builder was announced and Queen Games released the generic cover art of a spectacled dude on his horse overlooking... Read More

First-Place Finish: A PitchCar Mini Review

I play my games a quarter mile at a time; and for those ten seconds or less, I’m free. Friday, June 24, Origins 2011: A funny thing happened on the way to the Boardroom. Right outside that gracious hall was a jaunty group of spirited gamers huddled around a long table. They would occasionally hunch over said table, give a little round disc a hearty flick and let out a mighty yawp that I could only assume signified satisfaction. Curious, I drew closer, and soon realized that I was staring down the belly of the beast that has haunted me for many of my gaming years – an agility game. Now, God saw fit to bless me with many talents, but agility... 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 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

Baby, It’s Cold Outside – A Twilight Struggle Review

“Russians don’t take a dump, son, without a plan.” – Admiral Painter, The Hunt For Red October A funny thing happened in the world of board gaming on Dec. 9, 2010; the top-ranked game for the better part of 7 years running on BoardGameGeek was usurped by a very unlikely candidate – Twilight Struggle, a massively strategic, chit-laden, brain-grinding, two-player game about the Cold War, released in 2005. Huh. And this is why I love the board gaming community. This is also why, four hours after learning the news, I walked out of my favorite local game store with Twilight Struggle under my arms and my wife and I proceeded... Read More

Races of Twilight Imperium

Space is an awfully big place. In order to fully reflect that, a space boardgame needs to be appropriately-scaled; hence Twilight Imperium, a game that comes in a box as big as a 1980s Hyundai and takes longer to play than it takes Frodo and Samwise to walk to the slopes of Mordor. Twilight Imperium is not for the attention-deficit crowd, nor is it for the non-committed gamers who would rather fast-deal a set of 5 or 6 card games in an hour. However, for those who few gamers who love a good challenge and are committed to excellence, TI:3 can provide one of the most epic board game experiences anyone is likely to encounter. This weekend, I’m... Read More