Every year, the team at Stone Blade Entertainment has expanded their award-winning Ascension deckbuilding game with a new base set meant to be both a complete standalone experience as well as a supplement to existing sets. Last year’s large set, Storm of Souls, introduced the concepts of trophy monsters and events to the base Ascension experience. Trophy monsters are still around for this year’s set, Rise of Vigil, but events have been supplanted by another type of card that exists in the deck without actually taking up slots in the center row: treasure. READ MORE
One of the first games I purchased at my then-new FLGS was Tsuro, a simple tile-laying game that challenged players to not fall off the edge of the board as the ever-winding path they laid in front of their pawn took numerous twists and turns. It supports up to eight players, has zero text, has a pleasing aesthetic, and barely takes more than fifteen minutes regardless of the number of people involved. As such, it is less of a game and more of a palette cleanser between actual games. With no real strategy other than “don’t commit suicide until you can no longer avoid it,” it is one of those titles that I really couldn’t talk about in this space without maybe dedicating a column to multiple quick-bite games… unless I had an ulterior reason to bring it up, like now. READ MORE
Beyond its solid cooperative mechanics and modular gameplay, what really makes Sentinels of the Multiverse a great experience is the way the guys at Greater Then Games incorporate classic comic book tropes into its design. Where the base set covered a lot of Silver Age basics, Rook City touched on the “grim and gritty” era and Infernal Relics addressed mystical forces, the latest expansion brings one of the most classic comic themes: time travel and alternate realities. Aptly named Shattered Timelines, this new package of environments, villains and heroes will warp your experience in interesting ways. READ MORE
In one of my very first Unplugged columns (and again a couple of years ago), I mentioned Cheapass Games, the quirky brainchild of James Ernest that published several bare-bones board and card games back in the late ’90s and early 2000s. The company went into a self-described hibernation for several years, but came back in late 2012 with a Kickstarter for a deluxe version of one of its most popular original games, Unexploded Cow. While a free print-and-play version of this and other titles are still available on the company’s website, the deluxe edition includes features like cardboard money and quality cardstock, not to mention an actual box. READ MORE
And so, a mere four months after the system’s launch, a new major retail-release title has finally been delivered for the Wii U (no thanks to Ubisoft). Is Lego City: Undercover worth the interminable wait? Fortunately, yes. READ MORE
