Expanding Space – An Alien Frontiers: Factions Preview

When I first interviewed David MacKenzie of Clever Mojo Games back in July of last year, I wasn’t quite sure what to make of the Alien Frontiers and Kickstarter phenomenons. I knew that I was fascinated with how a small company could create such a big buzz in such a short time, and so down the rabbit hole I plummeted. After playing and loving Alien Frontiers, naming it the Dice Hate Me Game of the Year for 2010, and getting to know David, his brother Fred, and the amazing things that Clever Mojo Games has been up to in the past year, I can safely say that it has been a great trip… and it’s far from over. Clever Mojo –... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 14 – The One About The Kickstarter Experience

Have you ever prepared for a recital, or warmed up for a big game and had so many butterflies flitting about in your stomach that you thought you’d probably end up barfing on the ump or the entire first row? That’s kinda what it feels like right before you hit the GO button on your very first Kickstarter project. Thankfully for Monkey238 and me, those jitters disappeared real quick when all of you wonderful people made our dreams come true in just 17 short hours. Read More  Read More

Spies Like Us: A Confusion Review

When I left for Origins In June, Monkey238 doled out a dossier filled with details of two missions: have fun and don’t spend a lot of money. I chose to accept the missions; one proved a resounding success, the other was failed miserably as I walked through the door with twice as many games as I had brought along. All was soon forgiven, however, when she spotted Confusion: Espionage and Deception in the Cold War. As it turns out, nothing can make this monkey’s attention turn from overspending to oh-let’s-play like the promise of some quality detente. But with the most excellent Cold War: CIA vs KGB and the masterpiece Twilight Struggle already... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 12 – The One About Stronghold Games

Shhhh… someone out there is watching, and listening. We can’t give away too much about Episode 12 of The State of Games except to warn you that it seems as though someone is on the line. Who? We can’t say, but if you listen to the podcast, you’ll see what we mean. Just do yourself a favor – pretend it never happened. You’re safer that way. Read More  Read More

A Sweet Science: An Interview with JAB Designer Gavan Brown

For generations, “the sweet science” has always referred to the manly art of fisticuffs; you know, boxing. When I was but a wee lad, I heard the term and immediately imagined a man in a big, white lab coat mixing up ice cream flavors in the lab – such are the machinations of the five-year-old mind. Regardless, for many years of my youth, whenever I would draw I would draw ice cream. Lots and lots of ice cream. Looking back now on all those drawings of ice cream cones, I guess I truly associated art with my personal “sweet science.” All of this is to say that I now have the perfect storm of interpersonal connections*... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 11 – The One About the Last Game On Earth

The State of Games, Episode 11 is fully stocked with bottled water, shotgun shells and plenty of spam and beans. There’s no apocalypse that we can’t handle as long as we can also bring along dice, cards, several hundred board games… wait, there’s not room for all of that? What’s a couple of well-prepared gamers to do? Read More  Read More

For Your Future Amusement

Yowza, yowza, step right up, watch yer step! Dice Hate Me has an important announcement to make! Granted, the cat’s been out of the bag for over a week now, but I figured we could use a little something official on the site just for matter of record. For those who haven’t heard, Dice Hate Me is going beyond just playing games – we’re now in the business of designing, producing and publishing games. The first game to come out of our stables is Carnival, a set-collecting card game that integrates dice in a unique and fun way. Carnival was conceived by Monkey238 in a little over an hour – yes, an hour – and I recognized... Read More

Alien Frontiers Factions and More!

Greetings, dear readers. I have a whole ton of Alien Frontiers news headed your way from Clever Mojo Games today. Enjoy! First up: Artist Mark Maxwell has officially signed with Clever Mojo to produce art for the first expansion to Alien Frontiers – Factions. The Factions expansion has an expected release date of March 1, 2012, and (as of this post) will include 8 Factions boards, representing various organizations with special powers vying for control of the surface of the alien planet. Also included will be 8 new Alien Tech cards, a deck of Agenda cards which will grant points depending on certain end-game scenarios, as well as dice and... Read More

The State of Games, Episode 10 – The One About Origins

The State of Games, Episode 10 is geared up and ready for gaming – convention style! I’ll bet all you board gamers and grognards know what we’re talking about with the title of this one, and it ain’t about Darwin (although he was a clue in a game of Time’s Up this past week). So grab your dice bag and jump on board, because it’s convention time! Read More  Read More

Origins Game Fair 2011: Day 4

I’m sad to say that there was no great Banana Quest on Day 4 of Origins (in fact, we didn’t even eat until 4 p.m.), but there was plenty of good, old-fashioned boardgaming and spending quality time with some new friends. The day started late after some unexpected, but very nice sleep time, but we made the best of our last full day. And now, the day in pictures. Observing a demo of Engage, by Table Tactics. It was a fascinating diceless system that I'd like to take a closer look at soon. Marc Specter thought the prototype of Sunrise City could use more Godzilla attacks. After a long late lunch at Barley's (surprise), we hung... Read More