News

Game of the Week – Cheaty Mages. Take a big arena, fill it with mythical creatures to fight each other with devious wizards betting on the outcome of matches, and you have the concept behind Cheaty Mages. In the game, 3-6 players take the part of the eponymous gambling spell-casters who aren’t afraid to use their arcane powers for personal profit. Watch out though, as judges can disqualify creatures if they believe rules have been broken. Designed by Seiji Kanai of Love Letter fame, Cheaty Mages is a lighthearted and brilliantly fun game with fantastic art that takes around 30 minutes to play, and has become one of our favourite games to take to the pub. For more information, check out the video reviews from Tom Vasel and Joel Eddy.

Chess From Cardiff Without A Board. Over themadness that is Christmas at Rules of Play, we had the pleasure of meeting Ben Rigby and Miguel Brito. Ben and Miguel met while at school in Cardiff, and their passion for strategy and gaming has led them to design En Prise, a card game for 2-4 players based on chess. If you’re a fan of strategy games and looking for something a little different (and very portable), you owe it to yourself to check out this clever little game. The guys have released a video explaining how to play, and we’ll be stocking En Prise very soon.

… and CCGs Without Cards. We have two new contenders joining the growing marketplace of online collectable card games (CCGs). Solforge is the from the makers of brilliant deck-builder Ascension in conjunction with Richard Garfield (creator of Magic: The Gathering). Playable on PC, iPhone and iPad, the game combines fantastic fantasy artwork and some innovative mechanics, and is definitely worth a try. Made available in public beta this week,Hearthstone is the new card game from the creators of World of Warcraft. As you’d expect from Blizzard, the game oozes class, is very accessible and highly addictive. Both games are free to play, but you can spend real money to get yourself more cards. The success of Magic: The Gathering online has helped introduce loads of new players to the joys of tabletop games, and we’re confident that the games above will do the same too.

Desperately Seeking Boardgame Collectors. Cody is a gamer and photography student at the University of South Wales. Cody’s final year project celebrates interesting collections, and she would love to speak to people who  collect boardgames. You’d be required to provide a short audio interview and let Cody take some pictures of key items from your collection (no pictures of the individuals are required!). If you think you could help, please contact Cody directly.

National Storytelling Week. The 14th annualNational Storytelling Week begins tomorrow. If you’re in the mood for joining in with a little bit of narrative gaming, why not make some time for some brilliant storytelling games like Once Upon A Time, Rory’s Story Cubes, Story War or the brand-newHobbit Tales. If you’re looking for a longer-term opportunity for creating tall tales, then why not dip your toes into the wonderful world of roleplaying – we have great systems such as Dragon Age, Savage Worlds and the Pathfinder Beginner Box ready to launch you into a world of imagination!

Gaming at the Urban Taphouse. We’ll be taking a host of our favourite games to the Urban Taphouse, our favourite new city-centre drinking venue onWednesday 12th February. Come along and join us for some great beer and great games from 7pm.

Releases/Restocks/Coming Soon!

New in store from next week – the latest expansion for fantasy classic Talisman, The Nether Realm; the new 2nd edition of the card game with mischievous monkeys, Poo; give your brain hunting some bling with Zombie Dice Deluxe; the return of the brilliant sci-fi deck-builder Eminent Domain, and its brand new expansion, Escalation; 2-5 player zombie card game, Card of the Dead and the Ninth World Bestiary forNumenera RPG.

New Releases Available Now - Nations, the brilliant new Civilization game; build a steam-powered theme park for robots in the marvellous Steam Park;Rampage, the monstrous game of city destruction; Origin, the stunning new game of evolutionary exploration; Middle-Earth story-telling in Hobbit Tales; tense underwater drama in Hunters: German U-Boats at War; Hegemonic, the new space 4X game getting favourable comparisons to Eclipse; the first expansion for co-op sensation Robinson Crusoe, Voyage of the Beagle;  Firefly: The Boardgame; survive the incoming hoards in co-op Dead Panic; coffee-cup conundrums with Cappuccino; Caverna: The Cave Farmers which builds upon the classic Agricola, and Level 7 [Omega Protocol], one of the Dice Tower’s favourite games of 2013.

New Releases Available to Order From Today – Belfort: The Expansion Expansion; Captain R for Super Dungeon Explore; Upon A Fable fantasy board-game; the Third Doctor supplement for Dr Who RPG and Blacksand for Advanced Fighting Fantasy RPG.

Also in Stock Now - get your thinking cap on to take on some of the best Euro-strategy games available, including Bruges, Troyes,Power Grid, Le Havre, Castles of Burgundy, Puerto Rico, Trajan,Bora Bora, Keyflower, Tzolk’in: The Mayan Calendar and Navegador. 

Arriving soon -  Dark fantasy adventure based on the massively popular series of novels and computer games in The Witcher; the first expansion forRelic, Nemesis; new ships for Star Wars: X-Wing; Seafall Legacy, from the designer of the brilliant Risk Legacy, and the return of the classic Blue Moon Legends.. PRE-ORDERS FOR ALL THESE BEING TAKEN NOW!

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