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
DHMG Just Keeps On Truckin’
Alright, it’s time to load up and put the hammer down, ’cause Dice Hate Me Games has another great game headed your way! We’re proud to announce that game designer Jason Kotarski will be joining the DHMG family with his crafty cubes and cards game, The Great Heartland Hauling Co. In The Great Heartland Hauling Co. players take on the role of medium haul Midwest truck drivers doing their best to make a living by hauling goods for big suppliers. Players truck to various locations around America’s Heartland, picking up and dropping off goods using matching cards from their hands. Most locations have native goods that require... Read More
Venture Cardboard – A Kickstarter Quick-look at Ground Floor
There are certain things in life that instantly and easily lend themselves to interpretation and adaptation in a board game. Farming, naturally. War, racing, and buying/trading on the stock market are practically games already. But until recently, one of the only recourses an entrepreneurial zealot had at the game table was to roll dice and move a little Scottie past Go. Enter crowdfunding; suddenly, games about business and start-ups became not only viable, but incredibly meta, making funding such entrepreneurial ventures possible. Startup Fever hit Kickstarter last spring and found gangbuster sales, while Briefcase tore through Indiegogo earlier... Read More
Feeding Frenzy – A Kickstarter Quick-look at My Happy Farm
When I first joined the ranks of the hardcore gamers lo so many years ago, if someone had asked me what the most prolific theme in gaming would be in 20 years my answer would not have been farming. War, maybe. Space travel, most certainly. But raising pigs, picking radishes/squash/bok choy, and figuring out the best price I could get out of my bundle of hay at the county market would not have been the first things that popped to mind. And, yet, here we are, in the future, and farming is everywhere. I can’t fully explain the allure, and robots do most of the harvesting these days, but we all flock to farm-themed games like a murder of crows... 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
Fowl Play – A Kickstarter Quick-Look at Chicken Caesar
In December of 2010, a strange image appeared on the front page of BoardGameGeek – a stone facade, covered in spattered blood, with the looming shadow of what could only be a rooster. Words, etched into the stone, read “Chicken Caesar.” I knew immediately that, regardless of the content, it was imperative that I experience what this game had to offer. I followed the progress of Chicken Caesar for well over a year of its development, patiently waiting for a possible release date or at least a chance to get in the game. That opportunity finally presented itself at PrezCon 2012 in Charlottesville, Virginia. And, so, I adjusted my... 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
Sunrise City’s Bright Future
Marc Specter approached me a few weeks ago about writing a review for Sunrise City. To be fair, I wasn’t sure I should run a review of Sunrise City on Dice Hate Me because of my intimate involvement – after all, I was one of the playtesters and the graphic designer for the game. However, I couldn’t not give Sunrise City the attention it’s due, and so I present to you an alternate view of the game, from outside the production circle. I hope you dear readers take it to heart, as I truly believe that this is a wonderful game that many will enjoy. Happy gaming! – Chris In these days of the anti-hero, it is very easy to... Read More
Bid High, Win Low – A Guest Review of The Speicherstadt
Hello, Dice Hate Me fans! It’s Josh from Board Game Reviews by Josh. With Chris’ time being invested in VivaJava at the moment, I volunteered to help keep the reviews coming! Whereas our writing styles are a bit different, hopefully I’ll provide the kind of high quality review you’ve come to expect. Without further ado, let’s take a look at The Speicherstadt. Read More Read More
Dice Hate Me Game of the Year Awards 2011
Wow, what a year for boardgaming – and for Dice Hate Me! There has been a plethora of wonderful games released this year, and Monkey238 and I have been lucky enough to play more than our fair share. At last count, we have learned and played more than 115 new games in 2011 – that’s an average of one game every three days! Last year around this time, I mentioned that 2010 had been a great year for independent success stories, and 2011 has quadrupled that success. This has truly been the year of Kickstarter, and we would definitely know – Carnival was a part of it! Because of the wonderful resources of fans, supporters and... Read More
