What I thought of… Exploding Kittens

Exploding Kittens reviewJust over a year ago I discovered kickstarter. In the initial month or so I backed a lot of projects. I would like to say that when they were all funded, made and delivered, that I loved them all and we lived happily ever after. I didn’t, but this isn’t the place for that discussion. This is the place to discuss what I thought of the world’s most successful kickstarter ever – Exploding Kittens.

Exploding Kittens

Created by Elan Lee (Xbox, ARGs), Matthew Inman (The Oatmeal), and Shane Small (Xbox, Marvel), Exploding Kittens describes itself as a highly-strategic, kitty-powered version of Russian Roulette. It is a card game where players continually draw from a deck of cards hoping not to get ‘exploded’ by an exploding kitten. There are various other cards which can help you (or hinder your fellow players) and the winner is the last person standing.

Having been funded, made, shipped and delivered through kickstarter, Exploding Kittens is now available for general purchase through Amazon and (coming soon) through the Exploding Kittens website.

My thoughts

Exploding Kittens is one of very few of my kickstarter purchases that actually arrived when it said it would. In terms of the campaign it was very well run. They kept us informed, the updates were interesting and most importantly, they delivered a brilliant game which was everything that it said it would be.

Putting the kickstarter campaign aside, I’ll now focus on the actual game (I promise). The game play is delightfully simple. After a few minutes explanation and a “learn by playing” attitude, I had non-gamers understanding all the rules and enjoying the game pretty much straight off the bat. For me that is one of the best and most important things. This game can be played with anyone. My players had no experience of card games or gaming in general and no prior knowledge of the Oatmeal (though a number said they planned to look it up). They all picked up the game quickly and most importantly, enjoyed playing it.

The most striking thing about the game (and my favourite thing about it) is the imagery and text on the cards. Created by Matthew Inman from the Oatmeal, the images and text are brilliant and hilarious (not to mention fantastically weird). My players loved the artwork and we often had to pause the game while people read their cards and laughed at the insanity of it all.

It would have been very easy for this game to fall into the trap of having amazing and hilarious cards that, once the novelty wore off, were never played with again. Luckily I don’t think this will happen. It is true that if I play enough I’m sure the original magic of “Feast upon a unicorn enchilada and gain its enchilada powers” will be lost slightly, but the game behind the cards is more than enough to keep me coming back to Exploding Kittens, especially if I have some non-gamer friends that I’m trying to entertain.

Final thoughts

I love this game. It is quick, simple and beautifully made. A real alternative to playing UNO or snap on a rainy day.

Rating

9/10 – Just because I don’t want to give anything a 10 so early on in my reviewing life.
 

Bladestorm tabletop game

Bladestorm tabletop gameOur friends over at Metal Express have been hard at work this past year, working away on refreshing old products, creating new artwork, even getting a brand new logo. Now all the hard work has finally paid off… Bladestorm is back!
 
Bladestorm is a classic fantasy “skirmish-style” miniatures game. Simple and fast-paced, it’s a raw, hard-edged game with an emphasis on action and color. Use the Bladestorm rules to fight miniatures battles set in virtually any fantasy world you desire.
 
Fun and easy to play, Bladestorm captures a dangerous, chaotic, unexplored quality to tabletop miniature battles and offers a lot of bang for your buck.
 
Bladestorm is a stand alone product and doesn’t require any knowledge of any other gaming system or products.
 
 
Bladestorm ‘Box Set’
 
The cornerstone of Metal Express’ new releases is the Bladestorm ‘Box Set’. The box set offers everything you need to set up and play a game of Bladestorm.
 
Available as a pdf download for just $20, the ‘box set’ contains all the book material from the original box set with reworked rules, layout and artwork. This includes:
 

  • A rulebook containing simple, concise introductory guidelines, as well as a host of standard and optional rules which are perfect for full-blown battles.
  • The Bladelands Sourcebook containing everything you need to know about the Warring Holds, the setting for the scenarios. You also get 26 scenarios, so you can jump right into battle.
  • A color Guidebook containing 18 color plates, a miniatures painting guide, photos of scenario dioramas and full color banners.
  • A scenario Book containing blank forms, ready-to-play scenarios, and cut-out terrain forms and markers.
  • Eight pages of color maps ideal for constructing new scenarios and campaigns.
  • A terrain and painting building manual.

In addition to the bladestorm ‘box set’, Metal express have released the Bladestorm bestiary, Bladestorm calculator, Bladestorm combatant and unit templates and the Bladestorm quick-start rules.
 
If you haven’t ever played Bladestorm, we highly recommend you download the free quick-start rules and test it out with some friends.
 
Download the FREE Bladestorm quick-start rules >>
 

Shadow World Master Atlas 4th edition now a silver pick on RPGNow

Shadow World Master Atlas 4th editionHot on the heels of Quellbourne becoming a copper pick on RPGNow, another Shadow World product has received the online RPG stockist’s acclaim and this time it is a SILVER pick product. Ladies and gentlemen, we are incredible pleased to announce that Shadow World Master Atlas 4th edition has now become a silver pick product on RPGNow.
 
You can get Shadow World Master Atlas 4th edition as a pdf for just $20 at RPGNow.
 
Shadow World Master Atlas 4th edition
 
…A planet hangs on the threshold between Order and Chaos, a focus of strange powers and portals to alien dimensions. Sorcery clashes with ancient technology while capricious deities make war and the Dragonlords walk as men. Against them all rises the Unlife, a force whose dark servants seek the destruction of all that lives…
 
Return to the Shadow World, home of Dragonlords and Loremasters, mysterious ancient civilizations and Navigators who ride the magical Flows of Essænce.
 
Some Highlights of the Fourth Edition:
 

  • Complete race listings and statistics to include RMFRP stats.
  • Greatly expanded history, updated to 6054 Third Era of Ire.
  • Geopolitical overview of the entire Western Hemisphere.
  • Info on the major good and evil deities
  • Stats on selected Loremasters, Navigators and other NPCs.
  • Color map of the western hemisphere.
  • Black & white map of The Bay of Izar

A huge thanks to everyone who has bought and supported Shadow World products through the years and helped to make the Shadow World Master Atlas 4th edition a silver pick product on RPGNow.
 

Director’s Briefing – September 2015

Welcome to the fifty-second Briefing and the ninth scheduled Briefing for 2015. September this year for me means being overwhelmed by research consultancy work bids and degree revalidations at the same time as my due diligence on a new module and module updates. So if you get a very succinct answer to a query from me, it just means that I am answering emails on the train or on a short break.
 
Rulebooks in Colour or Black & White?
 
At some undisclosed point, I will feel comfortable that regardless of any additional improvements to be made to RMU, it is in a position where we can start commissioning artwork. As you have undoubtedly noticed, all of our enhanced Shadow World sourcebooks have had colour interior art and have only been available in colour print editions. Conversely, all three enhanced HARP Fantasy books and HARP SF were only available in black&white, with HARP SF Xtreme trialling premium color in order to better support the vehicles and vehicle combat chapters, but also available in black&white.
 
Printing in premium color via OneBookShelf / Lightning Source costs ten US cents per page, printing in standard color costs 3 cents per page, while printing in black and white is 2 cents per page. Premium color is therefore not sensible for most folks’ budgets, but the differential between black&white and standard color is modest.
 
We are minded that RMU should have standard colour interiors for its rulebooks. What do you think?
 
What about HARP? Should future HARP supplements such as HARP Folkways, HARP Bestiary and so forth embrace colour? Should we colorize the existing HARP and HARP SF books in the future, perhaps at the same time as performing an errata cleanup?
 
I realise that there is a significant fraction of our fan base who only buy rpg products as pdfs and ebooks now. Would you prefer colour interiors?
 
Tell us what you think on the forums.
 
HARP Bestiary
 
I have written all the Undead text and Overlay mechanics for HARP Bestiary. I still need to generate example instantiations for each type of Undead, i.e. apply the Skeleton Lord overlay to a standard Fighter, a Lament overlay to a Harper, a Sorcerous Head overlay to a low-level mage. The complete set of Undead to appear in Bestiary are as follows: Apparitions, Blue Men, Corpse Candle, Gaunt, Ghost, Ghoul, Lament, Lich, Mummy, Phantom, Sandspirit, Skeleton, Skeleton Lord, Sorcerous Head, Spectre, Vampire, Wight, Wraith, and Zombie. I have been inflicting various of these on my players in my Cyradon playtest campaign.
 
I have also made substantial progress on the Elemental chapter, adjusting text to fit in its new home of Bestiary rather than the original Something Wicked chapter. My remaining tasks are rejigging the Elementals themselves, and subsequently modifying the Elemental Heritage and introducing generic Elemental Overlay mechanics. I intend to donate the Elemental Creatures to my coauthors for use in non-Elemental forms and chapters.
 
Until next time
 
Despite my real-world deluge, I hope to sneak some time on the train for Elemental writing amongst other editing and organisational tasks. The next Briefing will be in October.
 
Best wishes,
Nicholas
 
Director, Guild Companion Publications Ltd.
 
 
If you would like to receive the Director’s Briefing straight to your inbox each month, you can sign up to our mailing list HERE.
 

Quellbourne: Land of the Silver Mist now a copper pick on RPGNow

Shadow World QuellbourneWe’re VERY pleased to announce that yet another Iron Crown product has received recognition on RPGNow as a Copper pick product. This time we are celebrating Shadow World’s Quellbourne: Land of the Silver Mist.
 
You can pick up Quellbourne: Land of the Silver Mist as a pdf for just $5 at RPGNow.
 
Quellbourne: Land of the Silver Mist
 
Set sail for the Land of the Silver Mist, where treasure and undead alike rest uneasily in the ruins of Quellbourne’s capital city, Quellburn. Overcome by the forces of the Unlife centuries before, the rugged Mannish population of this fog-swept land struggles to survive, battling pirate bands of Ice Krals and raiding Trolls, as they mine for gold and silver. Fortune hunters will find Quellbourne bountiful, if they can avoid being sacrificed to the Spider Goddess, Hrassk. Equallt fatal are the Destroyers of Galtoth, a cult of men dedicated to destroying everything – even the island they live on!
 
Riches and tales too fabulous to be believed lure adventurers to Quellbourne’s battered coast. The bold may find a map leading to an “abandoned” silver mine, now home to denizens best left undisturbed. After outfitting themselves on the brawling streets of Kelfour’s Landing, fortune-seekers might prowl the ruins of Quellburn, uncovering centuries of gold and booty. Or sail to Trelkinaark to challenge the formidable and plunder-laden Krals in their homeland.
 
Thanks to everyone who bought this classic Shadow World module and to everyone who continues to support ICE products old and new!
 

What I thought of… Nod

Nod by Adrian BarnesNod by Adrian Barnes is an interesting take on an apocalypse survival story. There is no plague, no monsters destroying mankind, just the simple ideas that the vast majority of humanity can no longer sleep. Structured society slowly crumbles as people lose their grip on reality and ultimately their lives.

Nod

Paul is a writer who lives in Vancouver with his wife Tanya. Life is good. That is until one day he wakes up and his wife hasn’t slept all night. As it turns out, she isn’t the only one. The vast majority of the human race hasn’t slept and cannot sleep. Without sleep, cracks begin to show in society and Paul is forced to try and out-survive these ‘awakened’ people as they slip slowly towards madness and the destruction of the human race as we know it.

My thoughts

I really enjoyed Nod. While there are a lot of apocalyptic novels out there, this one felt different. The survival story itself isn’t that different, nor is the style of writing particularly ground-breaking. It is the subject matter that kept me enthralled. Such a simple premise and yet such an interesting one: What would happen if no one could sleep?

One of the book’s strengths is that it doesn’t attempt to tell the story of the world’s demise due to this sudden inability to sleep. It tells Paul’s story and though you do finish the book wondering what might have happened elsewhere in this slowly declining world, it isn’t necessarily a bad thing.

My main complaint about the book is that there are times when the main character feels a bit passive. As someone that has been able to sleep, he is not privy to the psychosis that the vast majority of the other characters are undergoing and though there are some really good explanations of this slowly disintegrating world, there are moments when it all feels a bit slow.

As a role playing adventure

There are some very interesting themes in Nod that would translate well to roleplaying. The book sets a very strict timeline on how long a human body can survive without sleep, so from the very start Paul is simply trying to run out the clock and survive. Also, the moral implications are interesting. These people are innocent, they’re sick and confused so how do you defend yourself against them if they attack? Is killing them ok? They’re eventually going to die anyway so perhaps you’re doing them a favor. All very interesting ideas to explore in a roleplaying adventures.

Final thoughts

I like this book. I think the premise outshines the execution however. I like the idea of an apocalypse caused by something as seemingly insignificant as a bout of insomnia. The book is good and well worth a read but failed to blow me away.

Rating

7/10 – A good book worth reading but not a game changer

If you have read the book and would like to give your thoughts on it, take part in our forum discussion. The next book in our ICE book club will be ‘The Dinosaur Lords’ by Victor Milan and will be reviewed in November. If you would like to give your thoughts on The Dinosaur Lords before the next review, you can do so in the forum.

The Order of the Iron Crown – July round-up

The Order of the Iron Crown LogoThe Order of the Iron Crown is a select group of fans that have made it their mission to promote Iron Crown Enterprises’ products at game conventions and in game stores around the world. The Order was set up to allow us to better help those who want to promote our games and to reward them for doing so.

This month we’ll be reporting on what members of the Order of the Iron Crown have been up to during June AND July (as I was have been away and need to catch up on publicly thanking all these wonderful people).

As it started in July, I will be including GenCon in this OIC round up. A huge thanks to everyone who went to GenCon and ran and played Iron Crown games. Here’s a run down of what the Order members have been up to:

 
The Rolemaster Blog

Peter R continues his brilliant Rolemaster blog. Over the past couple of months he has added no fewer than thirteen new articles on his blog including explorations on the various different creatures in Rolemaster and his thoughts on the new Rolemaster playtest.

The Guild Companion

This month Order of the Iron Crown member Peter Mork wrote an article for the Guild Companion E-zine entitled Cultures of Metal Age Kur – An overview of the non-human cultures on and under the Levensild Sea. for which he has earnt yet more OIC points.

GenCon Demo

This year we sent OIC member Bruce along to GenCon with a pile of swag and an official Iron Crown T-Shirt to run a game of High Adventure Role Playing (HARP). By all accounts it was an absolute success (you can actually read the full account on the Iron Crown Enterprises blog. The game went so well that a number of the players have already signed up to the Iron Crown Enterprises mailing list. A huge thanks to Bruce for running such a great game and bringing new players into the ICE family.

Thanks to all of our Order members and to everyone who has helped support them and us throughout June and July. If you would like to learn more about the Order of the Iron Crown, you can visit the Order of the Iron Crown webpage or click the banner below.

If you believe you are due some OIC points, please get in touch and let me know. I do my best to keep up with everyone’s efforts but an e-mail outlining what you intend to do/have done to earn points is always well received.

Order of the Iron Crown handbook

Crowdfunding a lifesize Minas Tirith

Minas TirithThere is an indiegogo campaign underway to build a lifesize Minas Tirith in the South of England.
 
Cold hard facts about where the giant city will be built, how it will be built and quite what will happen once it has been built are sparse, but the campaign is looking to raise £1.85bn to build a complete, lifesize copy of Tolkien’s famous city from Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy.
 
Jonathan Wilson who set up the crowdfunding page writes “We are an ambitious team of architects and structural engineers who are passionate about creating a beautiful, inspirational and fully-functioning replica of Peter Jackson’s depiction of Minas Tirith, as seen in his Lord of the Rings films.”
 
The campaign runs for 60 days (48 left at the time of writing) and offers backers the chance to have guided tours around the city, be commemorated in plaques, name streets and even buy property depending on the size of their pledge.
 
The sceptic in me isn’t sure that they’re going to make the £1.85bn. The child in me wants to own a home in Minas Tirth. If only I had a few thousand pound to spare.
 
Realise Minas Tirith on Indiegogo