Friday Rules - 18.04.2014
News
Game of the Week – FATE. FATE is a wonderful tabletop roleplaying system enabling group of players to create memorable adventures in any setting that they can imagine. With a heavy emphasis on character, and with rules that are easy to get to grips with, FATE is brilliant for new and experienced role-players alike, with the only limits being your imagination! Its simple yet flexible system has been used as the basis for roleplaying games as popular and diverse as Spirit of the Century,Dresden Files and Diaspora. The new FATE CORE rulebook provides everything you need to start playing, while the quick-start FATE Accelerated can have you generating characters and having fun in minutes. A wide variety of pre-written settings and adventures are available in the fantastic Fate Worlds books giving you everything you need to start enjoying this rich and rewarding game. For a great overview of the FATE system, check out this informative video from Kurt Wiegel.
I’ve Got This Game Inside Me, See? Thoughts From A Game Designer. Last month at our Gaming at the Gate event we were very honoured to have Andrew Harman bring along a prototype of his new game, Frankenstein’s Bodies. While chatting with Andrew, we asked if he would be interested in sharing his experiences of developing a new game with the readers of Friday Rules. A few days later, we received the following from Andrew in an e-mail:
At some time or other I think every gamer has that feeling. An idea forming in your head. For me it felt like indigestion and being itchy on the inside. It had to come out – but how? Where do you begin? I hadn’t a clue. But when I met Martin Wallace a few years back at UK Games Expo – well it started to make a bit of sense. It was just before he released ‘A Few Acres of Snow’ and he was there demoing it. At first glance it looked finished. But looking closer I saw there were small crossings out on the cards and bits of new text stuck carefully over changes. It was excellent to see – a game almost ready. It was only on the journey home I realised that if Martin can fiddle with cardboard then perhaps I too could have a bit of a go. After all, games have got to come from somewhere, right?With huge gusto I launched into designing a game, I got ideas and rules and a board and populated it with undead creatures coming out at unsuspecting college kids and after far too long I realised it was pants. The lovely mechanism for moving zombies around had seemed like a good idea but it played with all the excitement of arranging paperclips in perfect hexagons. No ‘Zombie Campus’ sucked. Hmmm, maybe there was more to this game design stuff than I thought.That game sits in the naughty corner. But it taught me a hell of a lot.Thanks so much to Andrew for sharing his thoughts. We’re really glad that his initial experience of Zombie Campus didn’t dishearten him too much, as we had a great time with Frankenstein’s Bodies, and are very excited about bringing our own prototype copy to future game events. Watch this space for more news about the game soon!
When D&D Was Controversial. It may seem hard to believe now, but like rock music and comics before it, Dungeons & Dragons was once seen as a dangerous influence on the young. A brilliant article from BBC News recounts the time when roleplaying was a controversial topic in America.
Armello – A New (Digital) Boardgame. Armello is a fantasy boardgame being planned for iPad, PC and Mac, which is currently looking for backers on Kickstarter. With stunning artwork and a really interesting premise, this is definitely something to keep an eye on for any fans of boardgames in digital formats.
Gaming at The Gate. Don’t forget, we’re back for our monthly session of boardgames at The Gate from 7pm on Monday 28th April. Hope to see you there!
Easter Opening Hours. We’ll be closed on Easter Sunday (20th April) and open for Sunday Hours (11:00-16:00) on Bank Holiday Monday (21st April) for all your Easter gaming needs!
Releases/Restocks/Coming Soon!
New in store from next week – snarling onto the shelves next week is the brilliant and very eagerly-awaited One-Night Ultimate Werewolf. Also hitting the shelves next week is steampunk deck-building with Professor Pugnacious, or add some Spare Partsto the undead with the latest expansion for Munchkin Zombies.
New Releases Available Now - Thunderstone Advance: Worlds Collide, the new standalone expansion which revisits some of the best cards from the original Thunderstone; two new innovative games of galactic empire building in the shapes of Among the Stars and Quantum; the classic party roleplaying gameKobolds Ate My Baby returns in a brand-new edition; re-release of classic card game Fairy Tale; the brand new card game from the creators of Fluxx, Loonacy; deep strategy in the wonderful Madeira, and Assassin’s Creed: Arena, based on the smash-hit computer game series.
New Releases Available to Order From Today – Liber Magica for Victoriana; Nine Worlds for Yggdrasil RPG, and new co-op Zombies Keep Out.
Arriving soon - Foul Play, the second expansion for Blood Bowl Team Manager; the new game for 6-25 (!!!) players, The Last Banquet; Ticket to Ride 10th Anniversary Edition; expansions for budding starship captains with Space Cadets: Resistance is Mostly Futile, Space Cadets Dice Duel: Die Fighter, and a brand-new Space Cadets game, Away Missions; Warhammer Conquest, the new card game based in the 40K universe; Foresaken Lore for Eldritch Horror;Civilizations, the first expansion for Clash of Cultures; dark fantasy adventure based on the massively popular series of novels and computer games in The Witcher; the first expansion for Relic, Nemesis; Game of Thrones: Westeros Intrigue; new ships for Star Wars: X-Wing; Seafall Legacy, from the designer of the brilliant Risk Legacy, and the return of the classics Blue Moon Legends and Prophecy. PRE-ORDERS FOR ALL THESE BEING TAKEN NOW!
Events
…are now over on the Events Tab. As always, if you want it and we’re not doing it, SHOUT!!
Leave a comment