Print And Play Gaming: My New Passion

Okay, passion may be a bit of a strong word, but I am certainly getting a kick out of it. It's not exactly new to me either.

I have been playing them in dribs and drabs for sometime, but the effort that it took to actually produce some of them didn't seem worth it in the return that you got from gameplay. Don't get me wrong, these are free print and play games that we are talking about but, free shouldn't mean poor quality.

For clarity though, I'm not using quality as a measure of a games aesthetics, but rather the quality of the game overall. Has it been well thought out? Do the mechanics work? Does the game still have bugs? These are all things I consider when weighing up whether or not to print out a print and play project.

As well as quality, design is also a big consideration when I'm looking at a print and play project. I don't think that anyone wants to be sitting there printing and trimming reams of paper / card and, preparing specialised components (I certainly don't).

So when designing a game, keeping it brief and the use of common components (such as standard D6 etc) are big pluses in the print and play arena. They are big considerations for me at least. Also as I plan to start reviewing the print and play games that I play, it seems only fair to have a set of common considerations to measure them by. Factors that I think matter to the player.

Another Break

The 13th of the month and, only just getting the first post in.. Oh dear.

In fairness it was pretty much unavoidable though. All the rabid running around of the past month or so (both in and out of work) took it's toll, and facing absolute burn-out I took some downtime.

In truth, I am still physically pretty exhausted but I have enough steam about me to carry on (not to mention the fact that doing nothing drives me up the wall, being "somewhat" of a workaholic) and, am ready to take my blogging to task.. Although it'll likely be a couple of days yet before I provide any real updates, as work beckons, and lengthy shifts loom on the horizon.

Briefly though, my immediate plans for blogging are:

• An update and run down on last months achievements (we did good!).
• Print and play gaming: my new passion.
• Feature Abandon: Knightmare Re-run (It wasn't popular, it had to go).
• Print And Been Playing: A new feature, replacing Knightmare Re-Run. A review section for the print and play games that I have been playing, with a positive bias towards free print and play games.

Hope to see you all there! :0).

Alchemy's Workbench #14: One More Panic!

After posting up my variants in the pipeline for Castle Panic I was suddenly struck with a bolt of inspiration that I think could really work!

Instead of the standard circular attack area, this variant uses a grid and the grand daddy of all tower defense games, Missile Command, as it's theme. The "missiles" will all be programmed to move in a very D&D adventure system style (in order to home in on towers). The deck of cards that the players draw from will also be replaced.

Instead of Swordsmen, Knights and, Archers, the deck will be largely populated by letters and numbers, which are referenced on the grid to hit incoming missiles in the style of Battleships. There will also be a few cards that substitute for any letter, any number, any letter or any number, as well as other special effects cards.

I'm still mulling this one over at the moment but it's fast falling into place. It's also far enough detached from the original game that it might even be permissible to offer as a print and play game right here! :0). 

$195 For A FREE Game? What The Hell!

Quite often I will take a flick through Board Game Geek and the web in general to see what's happening on the Print and Play front. There are a lot of great games out there for literally nothing more than your time and effort.. And obviously a little toner and card stock.

That's not always the case though as this shocker has shown me!

Dungeon Plungin' came up on my Print and Play radar a long time ago as a freebie, so imagine my shock when I found someone retailing it for $195! Make that $235 if you want to go "Deluxe".. And for deluxe, read some components mounted on chipboard. Hardly deluxe in my book. Other than that you're looking at shelling out all that money on card stock, but no matter which way you look at it, this mark up is a disgrace!

I mean, given the current value of the USD ($195 is roughly worth £121.69) let me put that into context for you. For less I could buy any one of the following dungeon crawls (with frankly vastly superior production values):

Dungeonquest (£49.95)

Descent 2nd Edition (£63.00)

Super Dungeon Explore (£74.99)

Hell, I could even find a copy of Warhammer Quest for that kind of money! Warhammer Quest of course not being freely available right here. Now tell me what part of this game being sold at such a ridiculously high price doesn't scream of all kinds of wrong!?

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 #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?

More Light Strategy: Numerix

After my recent post on Super 3 by MB Games I felt the urge to break out and post up another great light strategy I picked up at the UK Games Expo a couple of years back, Numerix by Tied to a Kite (who are coincidently a great bunch of guys).

No need to write up the rules for this one though as they are freely available from the designers website, along with a printable board.

Definitely worth checking out. It's free at any rate, so what have you got to lose?

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!