In Space, No-One Can Here You Scream PEW! PEW!

It's been a while since I paid a trip to my FLGS, mostly because times are hard in
the UK and, gaming (well professionally produced board and card games) has and have become a luxury that can't always be easily justified.

Sometimes though you have to treat yourself, and buying new doesn't have to cost you the earth. There are plenty of great games out there that are inexpensive and, nothing I bought yesterday set me back more than £20. Which when you consider the overall cost of gaming in general is more than reasonable.

The first two items that I picked up were the Rebel vs Imperium and The Brink of War expansions for Race For The Galaxy. Whilst it may seem a little lavish to fork out close to £40 on expansions (for which I could have bought a whole new game), I have been playing a lot of Race For The Galaxy solitaire of late, and getting a lot of enjoyment from doing so. The expansions also bring a lot of new bells and whistles to the party (not to mention close to doubling the number of cards in-play), so if I had to make the choice again; the expansions or a new game; I don't think my decision would be any different...

This isn't to say that I didn't buy a new game however, as sitting in the corner of an alcove on a low-shelf a little box caught my eye. Mag Blast.

Without a doubt, the thing that drew me in was the Kovalic art and, upon seeing the price-tag, I was sold. Even if the game was a bust, less than £20 for a game where every card is a full-color Kavolic piece of art is still a win in my book. I think it must be a Munchkin thing. :0).

As it turned out though, the game was actually great and in the few games that we have played so far, we have had a hell of a lot of fun. I'll review the game in more detail in a coming post but suffice to say I think it's well worth owning and if you ever happen to see a copy in a FLGS of your very own, it's well worth checking out.

Plunder For The Cave #3: Even More From My Friendly Local Gaming Store

On top of my recent thrift store purchases, I have also added a couple of items to my gaming collection courtesy of my friendly local gaming store. Not the huge haul that I picked up last time, but still a couple of solid gold additions.

The first new item is Munchkin: Apocalypse, which I didn't even know existed until I spied it in the new arrivals area in-store, which was a real surprise given that I had been surfing the Munchkin website only two days previous and I saw no sign of it. Although I picked it up without hesitation (and indeed the small pack of bonus cards that have been released for it with, quote-unquote "Radioactive Dice"), I am not entirely convinced by my purchase.

Whilst I like the concept of the release, upon flicking through the cards, I am not entirely convinced that Steve Jackson Games have done it true justice. Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, and the addition of the "Seven Seals" special rule is a nice touch. I just would have liked to have seen greater variety in the beasties and disasters. I mean, how many different ways can you think of (both natural and otherwise) of the world ending?

Flaming Meteor, The Black Hole Machine, Mega Tsunami, Volcanic Eruptions, Kaiju on the Rampage, Solar Flare, Viral Warfare, Rise of the Machines, Nuclear War, Alien Invasion, Another Ice-Age, Zombies... It's a long list. A long list that isn't particularly well represented. Still, being a Munchkin game, there will without a doubt be expansions, so there is still time for all of this to come into play I guess.

My other purchase was a copy of Castle Panic, which has recently come back into production after what seems like an age of unavailability. I have been seeking a copy of this for a while and have on a couple of occasions been met with the frustration of the expansion being available in-store, but with no chance of being able to order in a copy of the base game. So suffice to say that when I saw this in the new arrivals area, I snapped it up in an instance that The Flash would have missed if he had blinked.

Whilst I am yet to have a read through of the rules, I am already loving this game. The die-cut pieces come pre-punched, and according to what I have flicked through in the rules, the game can be played solo, co-operative or, competitively. That's a sizable achievement for such a small box! I can see this game getting a LOT of table time in the years to come.

Plunder For The Cave #2: More Goodies!

In addition to the recent purchase of a rather awesome box of Skeleton Warriors, that I am REALLY looking forward to getting up and running, I also picked up a few other goodies worth noting.

There is a lot of sweet terrain to pick through in my local gaming store but, one small pack had caught my eye a few trips back and the purchase of the Skeleton Warriors gave me the perfect excuse (as if I needed one) to invest in it.

The pack in question contained a staggering 44 assorted gravestones for a meager £8! Throw in a hairy grass mat and that's pretty much a graveyard right there (although I'd like a mausoleum or two as well).

Renedra,who produce these gravestones are the same folks that were able to outfit me with 90 bases for only £5! As far as value to quality ratios go, these folks give you a lot for your money, which is always a good thing and, as far as the actual quality goes, I certainly have no complaints.

On top of all the modeling goodness, I also decided to pick up a copy of the Shadows Over Camelot Card Game by Days of Wonder. As well as the evocative box art, I was also drawn in by the promise that it could be played solitaire.. The fact that my copy came with the free promotional expansion (giving me a couple of extra cards that look like they'll really change the game) also certainly didn't hurt my decision making process in this either.

Although I have only had a chance for a quick flick through the rules, I have to say that I am quite impressed with what I have seen so far. At it's core, it appears to be a fairly basic memory game but, despite the typical Days of Wonder simplicity it actually opens up and encourages (and kinda doesn't work without) fairly deep roleplaying opportunities.

This should be an interesting one to bring to the table but, quite how a game that depends so heavily on roleplay will fair solitaire I really do not know. I sure plan on finding out though, and soon!