Every time I hear the name of the local game store I discovered recently, I get a flashback to high school, when a friend of mine made up a little ditty about the popular videogame Dance Dance Revolution.
"Dance. Dance. Re-vo-LU-shun!"
"Board. Game. Re-vo-LU-shun!"
There are several reasons I've come to like Boardgame Revolution over some of the game stores closer to my apartment:
1. Atmosphere
Boardgame Revolution is CLEAN. It's quite the novelty compared to the poorly-lit stores that smell vaguely of sweat, cigarettes, and loneliness which I have had to suffer for the last few years.
The bathroom is one of the better public restrooms I have been in, quite the step up from another store that... well, let's just say that I'm always worried that I would get both herpes AND pregnant from that "restroom."
I have yet to enter BR without being greeted by a store employee and asked if I need help finding anything.
The staff seems quite knowledgable about the selection of games, which I appreciate in a game store staff.
The gamers with whom I have associated there did not smell bad, nor were they... overly enthusiastic about winning.
In general, it's just very pleasant there, with a nice, relaxed atmosphere inviting everyone to have fun.
2. Variety
Boardgame Revolution has been striving hard to get a tournament scene going for multiple enjoyable games: BattleCON, Call of Cthulhu, Game of Thrones, and even the recently-released Android: Netrunner. I can stop by every Saturday afternoon (which is a GREAT time for me) and play a bunch of the games that I love.
Yesterday, not only did I get in several games of BattleCON, one of my all-time favorite games, but I was introduced to Sentinels of the Multiverse. It was a delightful cooperative game where the players take on the roles of themed superheroes trying to stop a super villain controlled by the game's AI. I'll probably write up a review soon.
3. Focus
Boardgame Revolution sells boardgames. That's it. It doesn't sell boardgames AND comics, or boardgames AND videogames, or boardgames AND miniatures AND painting/hobby supplies. It's just boardgames.
I really like that. It's just... so pure. Now, I understand why other game stores can't be as focus; there isn't actually a ton of money to be had as a brick-and-mortar game vendor these days. The boardgame INDUSTRY may be doing well, but a lot of that money is going to online distributors. So supplementing a store's income with other products makes plenty of sense.
Boardgame Revolution doesn't have to do that. They get away with this by renting boardgames. It's genius! You pay a portion of the game's price tag and can take home the rental copy. You can try out the game with your friends, see if you like it, see if they like it, and if everyone's down, you can buy the game at a discount. I mean, it's usually discounted anyway, because BR is awesome like that, but it will be further discounted by the rental price. Why aren't more stores doing this?
BASICALLY, I really like this store and hope to be able to play there on at least a semi-weekly basis. If you're in the area, I'd recommend checking it out. It's at 411 E 1400 S in Orem, UT. They're theoretically open from noon to 7pm M-F and 10am-7pm Saturday, but they hold regular card tournaments on Wednesdays starting at 7pm, so who knows how late they tend to actually stay open? I myself was there until about 7:20pm yesterday.
Showing posts with label BattleCON. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BattleCON. Show all posts
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Print and Play Games
I have recently discovered a phenomenon that has opened up a whole new world of game design for me: print-and-play games. I had no idea such things existed! But there are tons of them. Heck, there is a podcast by a guy with a soothing British accent devoted solely to reviewing print-and-play games.
Nearly all of these games are free to download. The few exceptions are things like rules for miniature war games. They might charge you a few bucks for the fifty-page pdf document that explains how to play the game.
Anyway, print-and-play games are exactly what they sound like: you download the pdf, print it out, cut out and assemble the pieces, and you're ready to play! Admittedly, this is more time and effort than it takes to prepare a game off the shelf. You can't just buy it, take it home, and play it. But on the plus side, it's free. So there's that.
Another potential downside to print-and-play games, though, is the fact that they're self-produced. This is not an inherently bad thing. There are many game designers out there who have developed and produced fine games. But games published professionally have to get past a "gate keeper." A professional saw the game and was willing to spend money--a lot of money--to produce and sell the game. This same professional has probably seen dozens or hundreds of OTHER games that were rejected for various reasons.
Print-and-play games do not have to get past any gate keeper. There is no one to stand up and say, "Actually, this game isn't very good because of X, Y, and Z. You may want to work on these issues." Which is not to say that they're bad. It's just that they MIGHT be bad.
Still, being able to acquire a new game to play for the low-low price of some ink, card stock paper, and an hour or two cutting and assembling seems like a pretty darn good deal to me.
Boardgamegeek.com has an entire section devoted to print-and-play games. Some of the more popular ones include Aether Captains (a dice-based game of zeppelin combat in a steampunk world), BattleCON (although only four of the dozen or so characters are available in the free print-and-play version), Pocket Civ, Elemental Clash, TactDecks, and Zombie in My Pocket (which, in fact, became so popular that Cambridge Game Factory decided to help the designer fine-tune it for multiplayer and publish it professionally).
Having discovered this amazing new world of design space, I have begun work on two of my own print-and-play games. Neither is terribly good, but I think they're interesting and unique. I'll probably discuss them in further detail when they've been developed further. For now, I'll say that one is called Dream Shift, and involves battling nightmares in a constantly shifting dream world in order to symbolically overcome your fears, guilt, grief, and loneliness. The other game, which is similar mechanically to Dream Shift, is called Dungeon Shift. It's a fairly standard dungeon crawler for one player, wherein the player must utilize the tools and weapons he or she finds to traverse through a dungeon full of pits, traps, locked doors, and monsters great and small.
I am really excited about both games, and am considering making a whole line of print-and-play games using the shift mechanic, with various tweaks. I am also really intrigued by the whole print-and-play genre of games, and anticipate buying a rotary paper cutter of some sort in the semi-near future to facilitate fast, even cutting of various cards, tiles, and tokens.
Whee! Free games!
Nearly all of these games are free to download. The few exceptions are things like rules for miniature war games. They might charge you a few bucks for the fifty-page pdf document that explains how to play the game.
Anyway, print-and-play games are exactly what they sound like: you download the pdf, print it out, cut out and assemble the pieces, and you're ready to play! Admittedly, this is more time and effort than it takes to prepare a game off the shelf. You can't just buy it, take it home, and play it. But on the plus side, it's free. So there's that.
Another potential downside to print-and-play games, though, is the fact that they're self-produced. This is not an inherently bad thing. There are many game designers out there who have developed and produced fine games. But games published professionally have to get past a "gate keeper." A professional saw the game and was willing to spend money--a lot of money--to produce and sell the game. This same professional has probably seen dozens or hundreds of OTHER games that were rejected for various reasons.
Print-and-play games do not have to get past any gate keeper. There is no one to stand up and say, "Actually, this game isn't very good because of X, Y, and Z. You may want to work on these issues." Which is not to say that they're bad. It's just that they MIGHT be bad.
Still, being able to acquire a new game to play for the low-low price of some ink, card stock paper, and an hour or two cutting and assembling seems like a pretty darn good deal to me.
Boardgamegeek.com has an entire section devoted to print-and-play games. Some of the more popular ones include Aether Captains (a dice-based game of zeppelin combat in a steampunk world), BattleCON (although only four of the dozen or so characters are available in the free print-and-play version), Pocket Civ, Elemental Clash, TactDecks, and Zombie in My Pocket (which, in fact, became so popular that Cambridge Game Factory decided to help the designer fine-tune it for multiplayer and publish it professionally).
Having discovered this amazing new world of design space, I have begun work on two of my own print-and-play games. Neither is terribly good, but I think they're interesting and unique. I'll probably discuss them in further detail when they've been developed further. For now, I'll say that one is called Dream Shift, and involves battling nightmares in a constantly shifting dream world in order to symbolically overcome your fears, guilt, grief, and loneliness. The other game, which is similar mechanically to Dream Shift, is called Dungeon Shift. It's a fairly standard dungeon crawler for one player, wherein the player must utilize the tools and weapons he or she finds to traverse through a dungeon full of pits, traps, locked doors, and monsters great and small.
I am really excited about both games, and am considering making a whole line of print-and-play games using the shift mechanic, with various tweaks. I am also really intrigued by the whole print-and-play genre of games, and anticipate buying a rotary paper cutter of some sort in the semi-near future to facilitate fast, even cutting of various cards, tiles, and tokens.
Whee! Free games!
Thursday, March 17, 2011
BattleCON!
Sounds like a good name for a game convention, right? It's actually the title of an interesting fighting game that may or may not be coming out this year. (I think it's short for Battle Connection.)
The game is based on good ol' 2D fighting games like Smash Bros. (which is technically 3D, but the mechanics of the game only utilize 2D space), Mortal Combat, Soul Caliber, etc.
Each player fights with a chosen character and that character's corresponding pre-constructed deck. Attacks and defensive moves are made by creating "attack pairs." Each character has his or her own unique style, which, combined with basic moves such as Strike or Drive, create a move. Each character can combine at least three unique styles with the seven basic moves to create a wide variety of attacks and blocks.
(I was totally going to copy and paste a cool image from the BattleCON website, but it doesn't want to load. Sigh.)
I'd go into more detail about the game, but an excellent write-up can already be found here.
What I really wanted to talk about was the fact that the game might NOT get published. That would make me very sad. The designer is producing the game himself, and has already calculated the cost required. He has a print company lined up to produce the cards and such, he just needs to be able to pay them! Here's where you can help. KickStarter.com provides ordinary people like you and I the chance to pledge money to projects such as this. Those who pledge thirty dollars or more will receive a copy of BattleCON, as well as one of three promotional characters who will not initially be available in stores. Which basically means you're preordering the game. Those who pledge forty dollars or more will receive BattleCON and all three promotional characters. Which basically means you're preordering the deluxe edition of the game. There are additional prizes for larger pledges.
You don't have to pay the money right away, and if the project does not reach its goal of $6000 by April 21, you don't have to pay anything at all. If the project does reach the target amount, then your Amazon account will be charged and you will be sent prizes according to the amount you pledged.
More information about BattleCON and its KickStarter project can be found here.
Help support the cause! Let's make this cool fighting game a reality!
The game is based on good ol' 2D fighting games like Smash Bros. (which is technically 3D, but the mechanics of the game only utilize 2D space), Mortal Combat, Soul Caliber, etc.
Each player fights with a chosen character and that character's corresponding pre-constructed deck. Attacks and defensive moves are made by creating "attack pairs." Each character has his or her own unique style, which, combined with basic moves such as Strike or Drive, create a move. Each character can combine at least three unique styles with the seven basic moves to create a wide variety of attacks and blocks.
(I was totally going to copy and paste a cool image from the BattleCON website, but it doesn't want to load. Sigh.)
I'd go into more detail about the game, but an excellent write-up can already be found here.
What I really wanted to talk about was the fact that the game might NOT get published. That would make me very sad. The designer is producing the game himself, and has already calculated the cost required. He has a print company lined up to produce the cards and such, he just needs to be able to pay them! Here's where you can help. KickStarter.com provides ordinary people like you and I the chance to pledge money to projects such as this. Those who pledge thirty dollars or more will receive a copy of BattleCON, as well as one of three promotional characters who will not initially be available in stores. Which basically means you're preordering the game. Those who pledge forty dollars or more will receive BattleCON and all three promotional characters. Which basically means you're preordering the deluxe edition of the game. There are additional prizes for larger pledges.
You don't have to pay the money right away, and if the project does not reach its goal of $6000 by April 21, you don't have to pay anything at all. If the project does reach the target amount, then your Amazon account will be charged and you will be sent prizes according to the amount you pledged.
More information about BattleCON and its KickStarter project can be found here.
Help support the cause! Let's make this cool fighting game a reality!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)