Alchemy Bytes #32: WINNING!

Following on from previous posting on the excellent Castle Panic, I decided to have a look over the Fireside Games website to see what else they might have to wet my gaming whistle.

Then I found this. A free print-and-play game of Sheenisms! WINNING!! A free game that I just had to share.

Although I do notice that Fireside Games have made yet another typographical screw-up (which is becoming something of a theme), labeling the web page as "Fireside Games - Bloodsuckers Card Game". Another one of their fine products, but nothing to do with Charlie Sheen.. I hope.

Still, typo's or no typo's, the products are still great, and that's the main thing. :0).

Alchemy Bytes #31: More From The Tabletop

Highlight of the episode: Accidental "Nerd Rage".

Alchemy Bytes #30: Castle Panic In Action

Alchemy Bytes hits the big 3-0 in style, showcasing one of my latest purchases. Now how does that look for fun!?

Alchemy Bytes #29: Even More Catan!

Although I would be one of the first to admit that I am no fan of Catan ( I haven't even sat down to a game yet), I have developed a thick and fast appreciation of Wil Wheaton's Tabletop, as I am sure you are all becoming more than aware of with my recent posts.

As much as I am really digging the videos on this great channel, this one did leave me a little flat. It certainly wasn't for the best efforts of the guests though. Catan just doesn't seem to be all that interesting. An opinion that I know that other people also share.

There has to be a reason Catan is so popular though. I just don't see it!

So what do you guys think? Catan, yay or nah?

Alchemy Bytes #28: Wood You Like Fries With That?

With all the recent talk of The Settlers of Catan that seems to be going around, I really couldn't not post this could I? ;0).

Alchemy Bytes #27: Bringing Munchkin To The Tabletop

Well after getting pretty much hooked on Tabletop from the word go, I decided to skip ahead a few episodes to Munckin.. Which in itself is kind of a Munchkinny (being a real word) thing to do.

Having seen the interaction over a game of Small World, a relatively friendly game, I knew that the banter over such a cut-throat game like Munchkin was going to turn Tabletop all the way up to 11, and verge on the brutal. Brutal in a good way though. That is the nature of the game after all.

Kill the monsters, steal the treasure, stab your buddy!

Alchemy Bytes #26: WHEATON!!

Following a suggestion passed over a game of Dominion in my local gaming store, I decided to give Tabletop a whirl. I have to say, well worth a look, and I don't think that I recommend it highly enough.

Previously I have always thought of Tom Vasel, and The Dice Tower as my go to place for gaming info on Youtube. To be fair to Tom, he does put out good quality material on a regular basis, and if I am looking into a game that I may want to add to my own shelf, I'll probably still go there.

That said though, having now been exposed to the Tabletop, I find The Dice Tower somewhat laking. Wil Wheaton is a great showman, and his guests really seem to be having a blast. He's genuinely passionate about gaming and, the banter around the table rings far truer than the comparatively dry and clinical style of Tom Vasel. Speaking for seasoned gamers, I think that we can all agree that when a session really gets going, that inner-child evident in those gathered around the Tabletop in the video above is what really comes out.

Alchemy Bytes #25: Kickstarters

Check out more from Shannon Wheeler and Too Much Coffee Man here.

Alchemy Bytes #24: Old School Vampires

Following on from my last vampiric posting... Bloody Twilighters!

Alchemy Bytes #23: Shadows Over Camelot: The Card Game - Video Review

Following on from my recent post I found this stellar video that gives a good overview of how to play the Shadows Over Camelot Card Game but, however leaves me with one question still unanswered, just how on earth is a game with such a strong focus on interaction supposed to play solo?

Alchemy Bytes #22: STAY ALIVE!

 

Ever wondered just how well you'd handle the zombie apocalypse? Well now you can find out!

The very talented Jerry Teleha is premiering his debut play-by-post solo adventure, Campus Chaos over at his new blog. Every post gives you the chance to vote on the course the story will take as you assume the role of Officer Mickey, a lone officer charged with the security at the local gaming convention.

Will you succeed in the gamers at the convention, whose knowledge of zombie B-Movies may be your only hope or, will it be case of every officer for themselves when hell literally breaks out in Toledo!?

As if frat boys weren't bad enough at the best of times! Check it out, cast your vote and, above all, STAY ALIVE!

Alchemy Bytes #21: Warrior Dice

This awesome little game is one that I have been wanting to post for a while but, through a combination of a lack of time to look for it and, not being 100% sure what it was called, it's taken a while but, I'm sure you'll think it's worth it.

So, for your gaming pleasure, I present you with Warrior Dice from the wonderful folks over at Warpspawn Games.

Not just an awesome freebie but, one that is easily customized and, I love customization! Why not take a look over the system and design a champion of your very own.

Surely I am not the only one thinking Jedi with all this talk of force points. ;0).

Alchemy Bytes #20: Tuck In!

Whilst not the greatest problem ever faced by gamers, safe card storage seems to be one that comes up quite often. Especially with the advent of games like Dominion.

These games involve a LOT of shuffling, which in turn leads to a lot of wear and tear on the game.  You almost certainly have to sleeve up every card (which close to doubles the cost of the game to do it right), which then leaves you with the problem of trying to fit your game comfortably back into the plastic inlay. Believe me, it's not going to happen.

So now what you really need to do is invest in tuck boxes, yet another hidden cost but, one I can help you virtually eliminate! Okay, not me but, Craig P. Forbes has just the website for you.

He has designed a virtual template that allows you to print off as many custom tuck boxes as you need at only the cost of some decent card stock and the ink in your printer. Way cheaper than the shops and, if you're feeling artistic, you could always print a design on the back of the template to really capture the contents of the tuck box.

If you're tucking away Dominion: Seaside, why not print a Pirate Ship on the back? Using the template to create a tuck box for your latest Magic: The Gathering deck, why not throw in a mana symbol or, piece of fantasy art?

Alchemy Bytes #19: Deeper Delvings

It's great to see that Deeper Delvings has started posing again. Although, they have made it clear that the recent spate of posts isn't a "comeback", it is nice to see what's been going on behind the scenes, so to speak.

In particular, I am quite taken by the most recent posting concerning speeding up character generation in Tunnels and Trolls. Not that character generation isn't already pretty swift but, looking across several blogs at the moment this and, "The Silver Standard" would appear to be the hot topics.

Talk about timing! Over the past week or so I have been formulating ideas on what I consider my "advanced" Tunnels and Trolls rules.. Okay, they're not all that advanced but, I do seem to be working in another direction on this one, creating rules that give a great deal of customization but require a heavier investment in time.

Still, I would have to say that this article is exactly what a lot of players have been looking for of late and, probably for some time.

Definitely a blog well worth checking out.

Alchemy Bytes #18: Dungeon Words

With all my recent talk of random dungeon generation, it seems like a great time to share this great little freebie that I dug up a month or so ago.

Finding it was purely a matter of chance (as your finding it here may well be too) and, I am yet to have the opportunity to use it but from the outset it looks great and I really look forward to breaking it out.. I mentioned that this great product was free too right?

Of course anything anyway associated with Risus: The Anything RPG, the author, Tim Ballew has not limited himself to the confines of a cramped dungeonscape. Why not take the show on the road WilderWords or, into the Weird West with WestWords?

If you have a few minutes to spare, why not check the Risus Monkey out here.

Alchemy Bytes #17: Solo Dungeoneer

A blog that has recently caught my eye is Solo Dungeoneer, which I came across by chance when looking over one of my regular reads, The Lone Delver.

Whilst the blog still lacks a lot in the way of content at the moment, the pace of posting has picked up recently and what has been written is simply put, great! In particular, the authors work on streamlining the Mythic system is quite impressive and, when compared to the source material, is a vast improvement and far more user friendly.

Also of note has to be the authors work on taking Tunnels and Trolls in new and interesting directions.

Well worth a read if you have a few minutes to spare.

Alchemy Bytes #16: Judge Dredd

With the recent release of Dredd 3D it seems like a perfect time to share this great little find with you all.

Whilst it is far from being officially licensed, it is a cracking fan effort that for print and play gamers and, carries a disclaimer much to that effect.

If you like what you see, why not check out some of the other excellent games over at Warp Spawn Games? It's all pretty good stuff!

Alchemy Bytes #15: Headless Hollow

One of the biggest problems with being a modern day gamer is the sheer volume of games that are available and, subsequently the sheer volume of games that most of us end up owning.

How is that a problem?

Well, with so many games on your shelf, how can you be expected to remember the rules to every last one of them? You can't really. Especially with how complex some modern releases are (not that old Avalon Hill was anything like simple!)

So when you want to break out that game that you've not played for a few months one of the first things that you have to do is sit down and have a flick through that rule book.

Which has to be in all honesty one of my pet peaves.

There is a solution at hand however. I had seen it suggested before that the thing to do was to create quick cheat sheets to include with your game that would remind you of all the key rules and, get you up and running straight out of the box. In fact a lot of newer games do include similar reference sheets that do just that. So it was an idea well received by many of the major publishers.

But what about your older games or, the newer ones that haven't followed this pattern? Do you really have to sit there and type up your own reference sheets?

Not if you can find it over at the Headless Hollow you don't. Whilst they may not have every game ever printed covered, they do have a fine range of cheat sheets and rules summaries for you to download, currently supporting (and listed here as there was no way in hell that they'd all fit into the limited space given for labels by Blogger):

#0-9

7 Wonders

A

Advanced Space Crusade, The Adventurers, Age of Conan: The Strategy Boardgame, Agricola, Android, Arcana, Archeology: The Card Game, Arena Maximus, Arkham Horror, AT 43, Ave Caesar.

B

Babel, Battle Ball, Battlecars, Battle for Armageddon, Battl Khaos, Battlelore, Battle Masters, Battleship Galaxies, Battles of Westros, Battlestar Galactica, Beowulf: The Movie Boardgame, Betrayal at House on the Hill, Black Beard, Blood Bowl, Blood Bowl: Team Manager, Blue Moon, Blue Moon City, Britannia, Broadsides and Boarding Parties, Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

C

City of Thieves, Call of Cthulhu: The Collectible Card Game, Call of the Cthulhu: The Card Game, Camelot, Catan: The Card Game, Cave Troll, Chaos in the Old World, Chaos Marauders, Citadels, Civilization: The Board Game, Claustrophobia, Cleopatra and the Society of Architects, Cold War: CIA vs KGB, Colossal Arena, Colloseum, Commands and Colors: Ancients, Condottiere, Conquest of Nerath, Conquest of Planet Earth, Conquest of the Empire, Cosmic Encounter, Curse of the Mummys Tomb, Cutthroat Caverns, Cyclades.

D

Dark World, Descent: Journeys in the Dark 1st Edition, Descent: Road to Legend, Descent: Journeys in the Dark 2nd Edition, Doom: The Board Game, Doom of the Eldar, Dracula, Drakon, Dreadfleet, Dream Blade, Duel in the Dark, Dungeons and Dragons: The Fantasy Adventure Boardgame, Dungeons and Dragons: Castle Ravenloft Boardgame, Dungeonquest, Dungeon Twister, Dust Tactics.

E

Earth Reborn, Endeavor, The End of the Triumvirate, Warhammer: Epic 40,000, Escape from Atlantis, Escape from Colditz.

F

Fire and Axe, Formula D, Fortune and Glory, The Fury of Dracula.

G

Galactic Emperor, The Game of Thrones: The Board Game, The Game of Thrones: The Card Game, Gears of War, Ghost Stories, Gloom, Guillotine.

H

Hammer of the Scots, Hannibal, Hellas, HeroQuest, Heroes Incorporated, Heroscape, Horus Heresy, Hour of Glory, Hybrid.

I

Iliad, Il Principe, Incan Gold, Incursion, Invasion from Outer Space, Isla Dorada.

J

Jamaica, Jambo, Judge Dredd.

K

L

Last Night on Earth: The Zombie Game, The Legend of Robin Hood, Letter of Marque, The Lord of the Rings, The Lord of the Rings: Card Game, The Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation, Lords of Waterdeep, Lost Cities.

M

Maharaja, Mall of Horror, Man O' War, Mansions of Madness, Mare Nostrum, Marvel Heroes, Memoir '44, Merchants and Marauders, Mesopotamia, Middle-Earth Quest, Minotaur Lords, Monsters Menace America, Monsterpocalypse: Collectible Miniatures Game, Mordheim, Mutant Chronicles, Mutant Chronicles: Siege of the Citadel, Mystery of the Abbey.

N

Necromunda, Neuroshima Hex, Nexus Ops, Ninjato.

O

Odin's Ravens, Okko.

P

Pandemic, Pirate's Cove, Prophecy, Puerto Rico.

Q

R

Rattus, Red November, Rex, Road Kill Rally, Rogue Trooper, Rune Age, Runebound, Runebound: Sands of Al-Kalim, Runewars, Rush N Crush.

S

Saboteur, San Juan, Scarab Lords, Shadows Over Camelot, Shazamm, Silk Road, Small World, Space Crusade, Space Hulk, Space Hulk: Death Angel, Star Craft: The Board Game, Star Wars: The Queens Gambit, Summoner Wars.

T

Tales of the Arabian Nights, Talisman, Tannhauser, Thebes, Thunder Road, Ticket to Ride, Tide of Iron, A Touch of Evil, Traders of Carthage.

U

V

W

Warhammer: Fantasy Roleplay, Warhammer: Invasion, Warhammer Quest, Warlock: The game of Dueling Wizards, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, War of the Ring, Warrior Knights, Wings of War, Witch of Salem, Wiz-War, World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game, Wreckage.

X

Y

Z

  Zanziar, Zombies!!!, Zombie Plague.

On The Cards: Sunday 19th August

Another week of blogging nearly up and, what a week it's been.

Not only have we reached our 1,000 page view goal but, also set ourselves the new (and very ambitious goal) of 1,000,000 page views!

I know a lot of people who read that post probably sat there in disbelief for a moment or two before thinking to themselves, something along the lines of "it'll never happen".

I really believe that it can be done though. Not only can but, will be done.

Over the past couple of months we have grown substantially, going from attracting only a handful of readers everyday, to the point where we now pull in on average 40+ viewers nearly each and every day!

This figure is still growing too! So it may take a while but, 1,000,000 page views is going to happen.

I want to take this opportunity to again send out a big thank you to everyone who has popped by and made this possible, with special thanks to everyone who has shared our content with the web. There's nothing quite like Googling your work and seeing that it has spread like wildfire. :0).

So whatever next from our bag of tricks?

Well, I will be continuing with our regular features that have proved to be very popular on the world wide web including Alchemy Bytes, DMotivational and, our conversion of new material for the Diablo II Fast Play RPG. Also we'll be continuing with our new features The Aladdin's Cave and Fluxx Up's.

I also have a few other things in the works that I hope I can start rolling out over the coming week, including a new Tunnels and Trolls type with a rather original approach to combat and, many more things to boot.

Alchemy Bytes #14: Dungeon Command

Another interesting insight into the world of gaming from Tom Vasel and Sam Healey over at the Dice Tower.

This time they take a look at a game that has certainly caught my eye and, promises to have a great deal of potential. I strongly suspect I will be picking up a copy at any rate. I also however suspect that this could very quickly become another expensive collection to maintain.

With each of the two box sets currently available costing over £30 each and, the realistic necessity being that you need both to play a decent game it's not cheap off the bat. Then take into account that there at least two further planned expansions in the works at Wizards and, we start getting into the realms of downright expensive!

Since this is Wizards as well, it isn't unrealistic to expect that they will go down the route of releasing booster packs that will probably set you back about £10 a time.

For that kind of money I could build a 40k army!

Dungeon Command does have certain advantages over Warhammer though. Chiefly the fact that the miniatures you buy here come painted and assembled. Also however, each miniature also comes with cards that allow you to use it in any of the Dungeons and Dragons Adventure System games that you may already own (Castle Ravenloft, Wrath of Ashardalon, The Legend of Drizzt).

So if you do happen to own any of those you're not just getting a new game but an expansion for your old game to boot, which makes the £30 a box price much easier to justify and accept.

In conclusion, I would say that this game would make a great buy for any fan of the now out of production Dungeons and Dragons Miniatures Game but, be warned, keeping up with this one isn't going to be cheap!