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jessm Jess: Tokaido is one of my favorite games (you can see me gush about it in my review). The release of it's next expansion "Matsuri" is planned for Q4 as a MSRP of $25.00 and I can't wait! Matsuri are traditional festivals held in Japan. I particularly love the Sakura Matsuri which celebrate cherry blossoms, but how do these festivals figure into the game? I chatted with the super awesome Antoine Bauza, Designer of Tokaido, to get his point of view on the upcoming xpack and tried not to geek out all over him. Continue reading →

andysmAndrew: Yesterday, we posted the first half of our interview with Boyan Radakovich.  In March of 2014, Mr. Radakovich's company, the Gamesmith, ran a successful Kickstarter for a game called Pirate Den –a game which backers are still waiting for.  Today, over a year later, backers will finally get answers to some of their most pressing questions, such as where the Kickstarter funds are now, as well as when and how Boyan intends to fulfill his obligation to them.

f5c0e66a09130fd3306e2daf38e5bef3_original  Continue reading →

andysm Andrew:  There are probably plenty of people even within the board game community who don't know the name Boyan Radakovich.  However, nearly all of us are familiar with his most successful project – Boyan is a producer of the phenomenally popular and hugely entertaining Tabletop (hosted by Wil Wheaton, King of the Geeks.  You should watch it, it's amazing).

However, Mr. Radakovich's success as a game designer and producer have recently been shadowed by the events surrounding his last Kickstarter campaign for a game called Pirate Den – events which have left some sincerely angry with him and that have potentially left an impression on his standing within the board game community at large.  His detractors are quick to attack his integrity as a businessman, while at least one major member of the gaming community has come to his defense.

So which is it?  Is Boyan Radakovich a charlatan, who failed to uphold his obligations to his backers?  Or is he as much a victim of circumstance as they are, trapped between the uncontrollable forces of the industry rarely glimpsed by consumers?

The answer, as usual, is rarely so simple.

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jessmJessica: Geek Girl Brunch is an awesome once-a-month meetup group here in NYC.  Geeky girls from all over the city come together to celebrate geek culture, enjoy each other's company, and have a great time!  They do lots of really cool themed meetups and everyone is always so awesome!

I've gone to a whole bunch of them and always have tons of fun!  When I heard one was board game themed, I knew we just *had* to go.  And bring cameras!  And presents!

We headed over to The Uncommons (THE game café in Manhattan) and had ourselves a fantastic day of gaming with these incredibly fun ladies!  We even managed to raffle off some of our favorite games!  It was a good time all around.

Also, this was the first time I ever interviewed someone on camera, so I was a teensie bit nervous (I even forgot the mic! Derp).  But everyone was super cool, so it turned out fine!

Thanks again to Geek Girl Brunch for letting us come hang out and for being awesome in general.

Are you an awesome, geeky, nerdy, or just plain friendly girl who is looking for a fun, safe meetup group in NYC?  Then totally check out http://geekgirlbrunch.com/ for more geeky, girly goodness!  We'll see you there!

andysmAndrew: Stephen Buonocore, president of Stronghold Games, sat with us for a few minutes at Dreamation and talked about his massively successful Space Cadets kickstarter campaign and the strategy behind Stronghold's continued efforts to put out quality games.

Stronghold puts out some of our favorite games, including Survive: Escape from Atlantis, Space Cadets: Dice Duel, and the extremely fun Among The Stars.

andysmAndrew: We got to hang out with Scott Ostrander, designer of Dungeon Dwellers, and walk through his game!  Dungeon Dwellers is a cooperative deck-driven dungeon delve for 2-5 players.  Each character has a deck of cards which give them different action sets.  The dungeons and monsters are also represented by decks of cards, so that you never quite know what you'll face as you push forward toward the boss.  It looked really neat!

If Dungeon Dwellers sounds like your cup of tea (tankard of ale?), then you can pick it up right here!

jessmJess: The Board Games For Troops Overseas Kickstarter, by Jeremiah Culp, is a project to create 3 board game libraries for soldiers stationed overseas, especially lower income, restricted service members who might not have access to other sources of entertainment.

This Kickstarter caught our eye because it was such a simple and wonderful idea. Board game libraries are a source of years of entertainment and provide people ways to connect. The Kickstarter had a small goal of $1,000 and with that money so many of our soldiers lives can be enriched by board gamey goodness. Jeremiah agreed to chat with us about the project to give a little more insight on how the campaign formed and why it is so important.

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Andrew: Gil Hova, the mind behind Prolix and Battle Merchants, has a new game up on Kickstarter.  Bad Medicine, a really fun party game about made-up maladies, ridiculous drugs, and hilarious side-effects, is currently ripping it up on KS, having reached several stretch goals and been pegged as a Kickstarter Staff Favorite.

We've playtested Bad Medicine several times, and every time it was a blast.  Players will draw up cards which feature different drug names, effects, and side-effects, and then desperately pitch to the assembled players why their drug is the best cure of what ails us, and why the side-effects don't matter.  Depending on the number of players in this party game, it is entirely likely you will be pitching a drug completely blind, drawing cards as you speak, making for some truly hilarious combinations and on-the-fly improvisations.

You can see our interview with Gil (who is a great guy) here, and then head on over to his Kickstarter page to back Bad Medicine!

andysmAndrew: Cryptozoic Entertainment, makers of the awesomely fun Epic Spell Wars, DC Comics Deckbuilding Game, and Adventure Time Card Wars (among many other awesome licensed games) has been running a monster of a Kickstarter campaign for its newest and possibly most ambitious project yet, the officially licensed Ghostbusters board game.

This 1-4 player co-op game will allow players to take on the roll of classic characters from the franchise (not just the famous four) as they bust ghosts and save New York!  Cryptozoic was awesome enough to sit with us for a few minutes and talk about the highs and lows of running such an intense Kickstarter, as well as all the cool stuff in store for Ghostbuster fans!

With 13 days to go and over $750,000 in pledged funds, the Ghostbusters game is getting the all-star treatment it deserves from Cryptozoic.  We are incredibly excited about it, and really looking forward to getting in on the bustin' action!  Check out their link below!

http://kck.st/1z3rcNs

andysmAndrew: Roll For It! is one of my favorite little dice-chucking set-collection games, in which players take turns rolling dice and matching them up to score cards, trying to be the first to complete each card for victory points.  It's sublimely simple and absolutely fun; the perfect light game to play while chatting.  When we stopped by the Calliope Games booth at NYTF, we were lucky enough to actually meet the man himself; from out of the sea of marketing folk emerged Chris Leder, designer of Roll For It! and Trainmaker (among other games)!

Chris was really fun to talk to, and I got to ask him where his inspiration for Roll For It! came from.  I was not expecting the 'dogs' bit.