Christmas Board Game Gift Guide

If you are wondering what to buy a gamer for Christmas, or looking for something new to play after watching the Sound of Music then this list should help.
There are suggestions here for all ages

Stone Age
This is a brilliant worker placement game where players use there cave people to gather resources, expand there village and build huts. It plays equally well with 2-4 players and has some of the best looking components I have seen.
Game play is very easy to learn and although there is a dice mechanic in the game its more about strategic placement of workers than being lucky.

Endeavor
This is a light euro game where players are exploring the new world and setting up trade routes. The board and components of this game are again top notch and the worker placement rules start out slow and build up as the game progresses. Through the use of careful planning and expansion the players can become governors of these new worlds, but can easily loose them in war. This game scales very well for 3-5 players, although there are some unofficial 2 player rules available.

Mow
This is a clever card game that is very easy to play. Players take turns in playing there Cow cards following some simple placement rules. If they cannot place a card they have to pickup the herd. Each cow card has a number of flies and players are trying to have the least number of flies to win the game. It's a quick game to play and will certainly help some younger children with there numbers.

Small World Expansions
These small expansions are perfect stocking fillers for owners of the base game. Each one adds new races and powers to the game. Gypsies are my favorites.


Roll through the Ages
If you like dice games then Roll through the Ages packs a good civilization game into a small box. Players roll a number of dice depending on the size of there civilization. Collecting goods, food and workers. These are then spent to expand and improve there civilization. You have to feed your cities and protect them from disasters while trying to build great monuments. It's a light game that can be expanded with a free online expansion.

Power Grid : Brazil/Spain and Portugal
If you are looking to expand your copy of Power Grid the third map expansion does a great job. This double sided board provides maps for Brazil and Spain.This time it is supplied in a box with enough room to add the previous expansions.

Wits and Wagers
If you are looking for a party game to play with the whole family Wits and Wagers is a good choice. It's a trivia game with a difference. Players write down there answers then bid on which answer they think is right. Knowing the answers helps, but if you think someone else knows the correct answer bid on them. It's a good game that anyone can play and the end conditions can be lengthened or shortened depending on the group.

Dominion
This game won more awards this year than any other. Its a card game that has a huge amount of re playability. Players all start out equal and slowly build up there deck of cards by buying and using cards. It takes a while to start but once you have played a few rounds the game moves along. If you have played any collectible card game in the past you will have no problems other than finding time to play it.

Stone Age Tournament

It's time to use the love hut and send your cave meeples to the quarry but make sure you have enough food.

Stone age is a worker placement game where players are using there tribe to expand and gain victory points. It's a clever game that is simple to play.

We will be using the Yucata site to play the games and full rules can be found here.

First place will win £10 credit, second place £5 credit.

So if you want to join in, reply to the thread on the IGUK forum.

New Releases Round-Up 15th September

Boardgame Round-Up

Castle Panic by Fireside Games is a cooperative game where players must work together to stop the hordes of monsters from destroying the castle. The monsters are repelled using card play, these cards depict the archers and swordsmen defending the castle. It has some colourful components and simple rules which help make it a popular game.

Rio Grande have released a couple of games, the first is a reprint of Carolus Magnus. In this game the players must build castles around a board made from hexagons. To do this they must influence several paladin families. It's a bit of a brain burner game, but after a few plays it makes sense. The components are really nice with hexes making up the board and 200+ wooden cubes and markers.

Burger joint is the next release, it's a 2 player game where the players are competing fast food restaurant owners. Each trying to get more customers and build up there restaurant. It's a game of resource management where you need to be careful how you build up your restaurant.

Meanwhile on the colourful island of Waka-Waka someone has broken one of the oldest relics and angered the gods. Each player is one of those gods and you must send as many of the heathens worshiping the other gods to the ocean while keeping your followers alive. Vineta is a lovely game and with each player having a secret objective it can be a lot of fun.

Sierra Madre Games have two games this week. First up is and expansion for Kriegbot. This zip lock packaged expansions adds new weapons, units and scenarios to the Kriegbot battle game.

Erosion is a card game with maybe the strangest theme I have ever seen. Each player is a mountain that is trying to erode the other players. Whoever has the highest mountain at the end of the game wins.

Such a thing by Valley games is a card based party game. Players take it in turns to place a card describing something. The current player then has to think of something that matches all of the cards played. For example, "It flies", "needs fuel" could be a plane. It's a simple but clever game that was up for the Spiel des Jahres in 1989.

RPG Round-Up

Introducing the new RPGs section this week is Cthulhu 101 - an introductory (yet complete) guide to everything Mythos related by Ken ('Trail of Cthulhu') Hite. Savage Worlds takes us to new realms with Mars, portraying the red planet in the vein of the pulp serials like Barsoom.

Onto more future-based topics, Running wild for Shadowrun presents a detailed overview of the animals, spirits, and other non-metahuman entities that dwell in the Sixth World, while 3:16 Carnage Amongst the Stars is an award-winning Sci-Fi RPG for 2 or more players that has your Space Troopers killing bugs all across the cosmos. Whether that's legal or not, is something for the likes of Judge Dredd, but Mage-City may have it's hands full with Bad Moon Rising with what at first appears to be a simple investigation - but as Narks start going silent the Judges will have to start asking if this is a new threat, or a very old one. On an yet grander scale there's Galaxy at War for the Star Wars RPG, a book covering everything you need to run a military campaign in the Star Wars universe.

From Sci-Fi to fantasy, Troll Lord Games have released the Tainted Lands Box set a complete RPG that contains everything you need to begin adventuring in those necromantically tainted lands. Mongoose bring Scarrport: City of Secrets to the table - new setting featuring new classes, races, magical items, encounters, and a complete city to explore (put out under the 4e GSL). Continuing the 4e theme Wizards of the Coast unleash the eagerly awaited Dungeon Master’s Guide 2, providing more advice and rules for Dungeon Masters of all levels of experience accompanied by Revenge of the Giants, a D&D super-adventure, designed for paragon-level characters that can be played as a stand-alone adventure or serve as the foundation of an entire D&D campaign.

Finally, returning to darker territory we have Night Horrors: Wicked Dead for Vampire: the Requiem a sourcebook focusing on creatures that cause even the vampires to worry. Last stop on the horror train this week is Arkham Detective Tales, four chilling adventures for the respected Trail of Cthulhu RPG.

CCG Round-Up

Not much new on the CCG front this week, but to keep your collection pristine in the mean time, Fantasy Flight Games have released six new sets of card sleeves featuring FFG art from their various games.

(Board game players can protect their cards from wear with the board game card sleeves, available in both US and European standard sizes.)

Miniatures Round-Up

The battle for Gaia rages on with a trio of new recruits for the Anima: Tactics range. The Empire Agent joins Elisabetta Barbados' cause, while Ahriman, Lord of Darkness the elemental twin of the maidens of light steps onto the stage, joined by Bellith, a fiery summoner for hire.

Meanwhile the Federation's fleets are bolstered by the release of Squadron Pack 91, which includes Heavy Cruiser, Dreadnought, Destroyer, Scout and Tug miniatures for your games of Federation Commander. These are classic sculpts in white plastic based on the designs of Franz Joseph. Squadron Booster 91 complements the range with data cards for each ship.

New Release Round Up - 9th September 2009

Boardgame Round-Up

It's a good week for board game releases. Fantasy Flight continue to push out some great games and first up is Ad Astra. It's the first game of a new Designers Collection which will feature original games by bestselling authors. Bruno Faidutti and Serget Laget have put together this light game of space exploration. Players are trying to create the greatest galactic civilization and to do this they must play cards each turn. The interesting mechanic is that all players must choose and play a card simultaneously and are then resolved. Each card then affects all players, but the card player determines the specifics, such as good produced.

The Descent Quest Compendium introduces 16 new quests for you to pit against your team of adventurers. These have been created by a number of award winning designers and promise to add hours of gameplay to an already rich game. Also for Descent are 6 new miniatures to represent the overlords lieutenants.

There are also 2 releases from Z Man games this week. First is Endeavor which was released at Gencon earlier this year. This is a lovely looking game of exploration and civilization. Play starts out in the Mediterranean but moves on to other areas of the world as shipping lanes are opened. It's a mid weight game with some economic mechanics but the game starts out slowly with more options added as the game progresses.

In contrast Order Up is about delivering pizzas. Players must collect the ingredients for the pizza orders then race to deliver them. It's a light family game and part of there KidFun range.

RPG Round-Up

After last week's modest set of releases, the start of September sees a cornucopia of new RPG products, with no time to waste, there's Damnation View, a sourcebook for CthulhuTech covering changes to the setting as well as new equipment and character options and four ready to run storylines. Chaosium release In Search of the Troll Slayer a classic dungeon crawl adventure using the BRP system, as well as Mysteries of the Worm, a collection of twenty tales set in the Cthulhu Mythos by Robert Bloch.

New in for BattleTech is Strategic Operations a rulebook that brings the bigger picture to BattleTech and featuring everything you need to play out the conquest of an entire solar system! Add to that Jihad Hotspots: 3076 which continues the Jihad plotline begun in Blake Ascending and it's nice to see more mechs on the horizon (so to speak). Speaking of mechs, Green Ronin give us Mecha & Manga, a sourcebook that takes Mutants & Masterminds into the world of manga. It includes new character options and new rules to reflect the over- the-top action of a manga setting. At the same time Green Ronin have also released Pocket Ultimate Power, the guide to superpowers in the Mutants & Masterminds RPG, which is back in a handy new pocket sized edition. Continuing the superheroes theme, for Savage Worlds fans we have Dawn of Legends, a complete superhero setting for the Savage Worlds RPG. It includes additional rules and material for better using Savage Worlds as a superhero system.

Mongoose have provided a suite of new titles this week including The Gamemasters Companion for Earthdawn which offers new game mechanics, extended setting material and much more - also The Players Companion for Earthdawn expands on the rules found in the Players Handbook, taking characters from 9th to 15th Circle in their Disciplines. With new character options, background information and more. The 25th anniversary of Paranoia is celebrated by Troubleshooters new rules to ignore, and new missions to be excited by, all dedicated to those staunch defenders of Alpha Complex! Fantasy Craft comes from the creators of Spycraft 2.0 and is a new all-inclusive fantasy roleplaying game containing everything you need to begin adventuring in a world of your own creation. Last from Mongoose but by no means least, a new Judge Dredd roleplaying game, including everything you need to run games set in the 2000 AD comic series.

Paizo continue support for their new Pathfinder RPG with the release of two 1st level adventures: The Bastards of Erebus and Crypt of the Everflame. Cheliax, Empire of Devils is a Pathfinder companion sourcebook which covers the hell-bound nation, its dark capital of Egorian and its shadowy ex-capital of Westcrown.

For GURPS there's the return of Ultra-Tech, including rules for all manner of science fiction equipment for your GURPS 4th edition campaign. Psionic Powers focuses on the powers of the mind for the GURPS rules system, presenting ready to use packages built using the Powers system.

Rounding out this week's releases we have Survivors, a supplement for the Desolation RPG which features a host of new characters options and setting details including three new player- character races, The Encountered Vol. 1 containing over 200 new creatures for the Alpha Omega RPG and finally something for dice fans, a Dice Tower (in Stone Finish) - featuring three internal baffles so your rolls are truly random!

CCG Round-Up

The regular monthly instalment for the King’s Landing expansion for A Game of Thrones has arrived. Tales from the Red Keep is the fourth chapter in the expansion and adds 40 cards to your collection, expanding on the King’s Landing ‘Shadows’ mechanic. On a side note for Game of Thrones fans, Lena Headey has been cast as Queen Cersei in the upcoming TV series.

New Release Round-Up 02 September 2009

Boardgame Round-Up

Fred distribution have released Railways of England and Wales by Martin Wallace. This railway game has two sets of rules as it can be played stand alone or as an expansion to the Railways of the World game. Players vie to be the first railway baron in England using typical railway game mechanics. Its a heavy game but 18xx players should have no problems. If you play Railways of the World its a worthwhile expansion giving you more value and some lovely components.

Musketeers by Gryphon games is a card game where players are trying to retrieve 3 gems for the Queen while the Cardinal and his guards are trying to stop them. It's a quick game that takes about 30 mins to play with some nice artwork.

The Stars are Right by Steve Jackson games is another card game, this time you are a cultist trying to summon the dark ones by aligning the stars and constellations. The cards are placed in a 5 x 5 grid and players must use lesser creatures to flip and swap these cards to align them in order to summon larger and larger creatures. Its a fun filler game that is bursting with Cthulhu Mythos.

RPG Round-Up

This week is fairly light on RPG releases after the recent flurry of pre-and-post Gen Con releases, but there's two welcome titles out, the first is The Vacant Throne from AEG, a source book for the Legend of the Five Rings which details the events and individuals of the Lotus and Samurai eras represented in the L5R CCG.

From White Wolf we have Night Horrors: Wolfsbane, for Werewolf: The Forsaken. What creatures exist that even werewolves fear? A source book featuring 29 monsters that turn the predator into the prey.

Miniatures Round-Up

War at Sea Flank Speed is the second expansion to the excellent Axis & Allies miniatures game, includes battleships, cruisers, submarines & aircrafts allowing battles on huge 30 x 40 battle maps.

CCG Round-Up

New collectors tins for Pokemon this week, including Rayquaza, Garchomp, Charizard! Ancient prophecy the new Yu-Gi-Oh expansions adds to the X-Saber cards and one of the legendary dragons, Ancient Fairy Dragon, resides in Ancient Prophecy.

New Releases Round-Up - August 26th

Boardgame Round-Up

This week we have a selection of board games and expansions. The most eagerly awaited is the Pegasus expansion for Battlestar Galactica. This expansion follows the events in series 2 of the popular TV show and brings along two additional boards depicting Battlestar Pegasus and New Caprica. Also in the box are 7 new characters, plastic base stars and a slew of cards. You can use one or both of the boards to enhance and expand the game to an epic level.

Unleash your cultists and summon your daemons Chaos in the old world is set in Games Workshops popular Warhammer world. Each player takes the role of one of the four chaos gods vying to shape the world in there image. 45 plastic miniatures as well as over 125 cards and 175 tokens help flesh out this game.

Galaxy's Edge is a science fiction conquest game, players can use either peaceful expansion or their military might to colonize the galaxy. But aliens are also looking to expand into the galaxy.

So Grasshopper, it is time for your kung fu exam. Kung Fu is billed as a real time party game. Players play there hit and combination cards in real time to try and beat there opponents.

Aquarius is a reprint with a face lift. This is a cross between a card game and domino's where players take turns to place cards on the table and connect 7 of the same element cards together. Its a light filler game that is easy to learn and quick to play.

The North Wing is another expansion for Looney Bin. The game set in a sanitarium where players try to cure there patients with electro therapy and drugs.

Lungarno is a tile laying game set in the Pisa region. The tiles represent the various districts of the region such as plazas, tower houses and shops. In addition you must use your merchants to improve your income and gain prestige when your works are completed.

RPG Round-Up

New in this week for the acclaimed Burning Empires RPG is Bloodtstained Stars which contains expanded source material for waging war and combating the Vaylen threat in Christopher Moeller’s Iron Empires universe.

Goodman games have released a trio of D&D 4th edition publications including Hero’s Handbook: Eladrin - supplement covering the fae creatures including their history, courts, new character options, items, and even new monsters. Hero’s Handbook: Tiefling focuses on the Tieflings, tainted by the blood of demons these outcasts live a life of struggle. Featuring new character options and equipment. Finally from Goodman the Dungeon Crawl Classics series continues with DC63: The Warbringer’s Son - The Bandit Lord must be brought to justice, but the PC’s fast discover that he is only the servant of a far greater evil. An adventure for 1st level characters.

Palladium Games releases their latest periodical, Rifter #47 with articles covering all of their major games and 12 to Midnight reveals Skinwalker, an adventure for Savage Worlds where the characters are on an investigation around Pinebox, Texas. Can the group catch a murderer who can look like anybody? - and finally for this week a newly revised and expanded edition of Colonial Gothic , which builds upon what has come before and also presents new options and guidelines for running a supernatural historical horror roleplaying game set during the dawn of the American Revolution.

Miniatures Round-Up

Victrix has just released an excellent new Napoleonic range of 28mm hard plastic figures, the Napoleonic British Highlander Flank Company and Center Company, both featuring 52 individual figures.

CCG Round-Up

This week we have the first expansion of the new Celestial Edition Arc for L5R, Path of the Destroyer. This new expansion includes 150+ new cards telling the tale of a heroic samurai in the Emerald Empire.

New Release Round Up - 19th August 2009

Board Games

There are a couple of new games and a couple of reprints this week. First up is Revolution by Steve Jackson games. This is a euro style game of bidding, area control and espionage for 3-4 players. Each player trying to control the city and save it from the oppression of the other players. Martian Rails by Mayfair games takes the Empire Builder franchise to the airless canal covered planet of Mars. The wraparound map of the red planet adds a level of brain burn as players can link up from the other side of the map which adds to this crayon rail game. Arimaa by Z Man Games is a 2 player abstract strategy game. It may look like chess but has 500 more available moves per turn. The makers believe that this makes is harder for a computer to play, so much in fact that they have put up a reward of $10,000 for the first person who can write a program that will beat a selected Arimaa player before 2020.

Reprints this week are RA, a classic auction game set in ancient Egypt. Players bid there limited supply of sun tokens for collections of tiles. This is a simple game to play but can lead to some tense situations. 1960 The Making of the President is set during the famous American elections of that year. Using mechanics similar to Twilight Struggle players try to control areas of America in order to become president.

RPG's

Gen Con Indianapolis is over, but if you didn't get to go, don't worry we still
have plenty of new roleplaying games on offer including Geist: the Sin-Eaters, an RPG from White Wolf where you play a gatekeepers to the Underworld. Wizards of the Coast also has new offerings for D&D with Adventurer's Vault 2 (presenting hundreds of magic items, legendary weapons and artefacts) and Dragon Annual vol 1 (collecting the best Dragon magazine content from the past year).

Creating a bit of a buzz recently is the newly released Shadowrun 20th Anniversary Edition. This special edition of the popular rule book features a new layout for better usability, full colour art throughout and incorporated errata between the hardcovers. Also for Shadowrun is Dawn of the Artifacts: Dusk - the first in a series of interlinked adventures, taking the runners to the far reaches of the globe to recover priceless artefacts.

Green Ronin has a two new items this week including Peril at King's Landing, an adventure for A Song of Ice & Fire where characters travelling to a Tourney get more than hey bargained for. Freeport: The Lost Island brings the popular Freeport line to the True 20 system. In this series of adventures your heroes must brave a dangerous voyage through uncharted waters to a mysterious island.

Finally from Mongoose, a Traveller adventure set in the Third Imperium - a new duke is appointed in the Jewell subsector and tensions with the Zhodani increase...

Miniatures

This week we have the new D&D miniatures, Legendary Evils this 40-figure set includes monsters of various levels and roles, and each booster pack allows a Dungeon Master to run a ready-to-play encounter right out of the box.

CCG's

This week sees the release of the impressive Supreme Victors expansion for Pokemon, over 150 new cards compatible with previous releases.