The 2010 Dice Hate Me Holiday Gift Guide

The holidays are upon us and tis the season to be gaming! Friends and family will soon be gathered near, and what better way to celebrate than to grab your dice and pour some cocoa? Every year, I always make it a point to have a few games under the tree for others; not only do they make great and unique gifts, but after they’re unwrapped you get to play them. Bonus! The blessing and curse of giving games as gifts is variety. There are a lot of games out there to choose from, and pairing the right box with the correct beloved can sometimes be trying. Worry not, gentle readers – use the Dice Hate Me Holiday Game Guide to aid you in your... Read More

Alien Frontiers: The Best of All Worlds

As a lover and collector of so many games, it is sometimes difficult to decide whether a game is intriguing or entertaining simply because it offers players something unique. Alien Frontiers is one of those games that transcends doubt. The game is unique, to be sure, but after the first few rounds something rare and magical happens: there is a feeling of exhilaration, followed closely by the growing sense that all the pieces are quickly falling into place. Smiles spread as players soon realize that they are in the presence of something truly special, and something very great. It doesn’t happen often – gaining your first victory point... 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

Launch Pad: In Space, No One Can Hear You Whimper

From 1957 until the early 70s, the national super powers of the United States and the Soviet Union were pitted together in a heated head-to-head race for space. In their quest to reach the cosmos, each nation recruited top technicians and harvested vast resources, all while trying their best to protect their budding rockets from spies and saboteurs. Launch Pad is a lot like that, except this time imagine that JFK strapped on a rocket pack, flew over to Kruschev’s pad and booted him right in the kremlins. In Launch Pad the objective is simple: use resource cards to build cool spaceships, send them through quality control, and then roll ’em... Read More

Chrononauts – Fourth-Dimensional Fun

What would you do if you had access to a time machine? Would you use it for the (supposed) betterment of mankind, preventing the assassination of a national hero, or guaranteeing the demise of a horrible dictator? Or would you travel to the future, steal a sports almanac, and return to the past to put a bet down on the Red Sox in the World Series? You can do all those things and more in Chrononauts – provided other time-travelling mischief-makers mucking about the timeline don’t get in your way. In Chrononauts, you take on the role of a time traveller who has access to key points along a timestream – represented by a grid of... Read More

The Game Crafter – Personal Boardgame Production Made Possible

Gather around, youngsters, as I craft you a tale of days of legend. Many, many eons ago – about 30 years, give or take – if an adventurer wandered into a hobby establishment, they might find strange and wondrous treasures locked inside small, plastic bags or unmarked cardboard receptacles. As it turns out, these treasures were board and card games from small, independent publishers, often printed on inexpensive stock, heavy in theme and playability, and low on cost. These small rebels were fighting against the giant mainstays – the Parker Brothers and Milton Bradley – and generating a gaming renaissance that paved the way... Read More

Alien Frontiers: The First Transport is Away!

Last month on Dice Hate Me, I published an interview with Clever Mojo Games‘ owner and publisher W. David MacKenzie and board game designer Tory Niemann about their upcoming strategy game Alien Frontiers. I recently spoke with MacKenzie about the status of production, availability schedule and advanced buzz for the game. Clever Mojo Games expects to receive the full shipment of Alien Frontiers from the printer by October 12th. Kickstarter backers and customers who have pre-ordered the game should begin receiving their copies by the end of October. Although it is too late to contribute to the Alien Frontiers‘ Kickstarter campaign and... Read More

Alien Frontiers: A New World for Game Publishing

One of the biggest challenges for boardgame creators is getting that great idea from their minds to inside the stores so it can be put on the table. Traditionally, options have been limited: shop the game concept around to various large publishers in the hope that they will provide funding or self-publish a very small print run in the hopes of raising enough to support another edition. Recently, however, fledgling designers and publishers have found another alternative online – crowdfunding. In this process, creators release their idea into the wilds of the internet, requesting backers for the project who donate anywhere from $5 to $1,000... Read More