Reviews
Some four and a half years ago, I had the pleasure of reviewing The Gamers, the progenitor of -- and a sort of prequel/sidequel to -- The Gamers: Dorkness Rising. Despite what one might think, the two films are quite different in style, and I think they need to stand alone for the purposes of a review. Thus, while I will refer to the original in a few places, you won't see me saying anything like "Dorkness Rising is a better movie" or "The original was maybe just a tad funnier." I think both statements are true, but I also think they're beside the point.
“Begin with the end in mind,” is a well-used adage when managing a project or writing a novel. The end of Battlestar Galactica, for all the hype, all the anticipation, was as vacant and un-inspired as so many other shows on television. It began so well; established a sense of mystery and completeness; and when the curtain drew back we saw it for what it was – another example of mediocrity. We accept that long-running T.V. shows are written in committee and the story unfolds with a limited degree of continuity. With a well documented termination point, I had hoped that BSG (Battlestar Galactica) was in a class of its own. Sadly, I was wrong.
Well, it's finally out. This is the review you've been waiting for, the one you expected as well as the one you secretly hoped you'd never read. They've finally released D&D 5th Edition! Of course, a lot's changed about the publishing industry and the way we read books since 4e came out, so it's probably no surprise to see 5e now. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if we started getting new editions every few years, since it's all just a download away, on your computer, Kindle, console or iPhone.
Ed. You may also wish to read this article for further thoughts about 4th Edition.
On September 11, 2000, I posted on this site my first impressions of D&D 3rd Edition. Now, 8 years and change later, I thought I would post my impressions of D&D 4th Edition. These are not first impressions, however; these are based on my having played the game for several months now. They may very well incite a riot. Line forms on the right.
Ed. You may also wish to read this article for further thoughts about 4th Edition.
In my previous article here at Gamegrene, I talked about my experiences with Hunter: The Reckoning, particularly in light of the fact that my unconditional love for H:tR was not shared by the vast majority of gamers. Though the publication of material for Reckoning ceased a number of years ago along with the rest of the old World of Darkness, I (and other Hunter fans) are fortunate in that the Hunter concept was chosen to be revised and republished.
Gaming is about many things. Some of us game for fun, some for the social aspect, some to win – but for most of us, it’s some combination of those interests that attracts us to gaming. So, for the moment, let’s look at a couple of games and consider strategy as a way to make games more fun for all the players. Let’s face it, it’s more fun if you’re not getting womped all the time and as we play across ages (generations in fact) in my game group, some level of strategy is important to keep the ‘tweens from feeling like there’s no point in playing if you’re not a grownup.
It’s summer and at least up here in the Pacific Northwest that means we actually see the sun more often than usual. Games, especially board games, tend to be inside kinds of endeavors. So what’s a gamer to do? Well, partly, you add a BBQ to the gaming gathering.
Enemy Chocolatier is a strategy-based board game from Cheap Ass Games, whilst Chocolatier is a computer "Coffee Break Game" primarily about time management, but with enough strategy thrown in to be interesting. Comparing a board game and a computer game might strike you as funny, but as I'm sharing what I'm interested in spending my game-playing time doing, it actually makes a kind of sense.
The Shab-al-Hiri Roach is a Lovecraftian game of academic satire, designed for a single session of play. Players take on the role of professors at Pemberton University, a New England institute of higher education, in the year 1919. These professors, like those at any other university, jockey with one another for prestige and tenure. The catch? An ancient Sumerian roach-god with telepathic powers is running about, crawling inside heads and using you to wreak chaos and destruction upon the human race.
7th Son is a science fiction thriller written and read by budding novelist J.C. Hutchins. This is the first of many reviews of my latest boredom-suppressing form of media: podcasts. Most of the podcasts I'll be reviewing are role-playing specific, but there will be several, this one included, that are audiobooks distributed in the podcast format.
