Heroscape: Boiling Tension

Posted on February 22, 2025 by Mark Jackson

Well, we’re barreling toward the one year mark of the new era of Heroscape – it was GenCon 2024 in early August that marked the official release of the first new figures & terrain since 2010 – and like clockwork, the Renegade Games Studio team is releasing information about how they’ll empty our wallets expand our armies this summer whilst celebrating 365 days of ‘Scape.

Yesterday was the virtual RenegadeCon event – and the first stream of the day was the wave 4 Heroscape reveal. After a technical glitch, the good folks at Renegade kicked off the con with previews of the next wave of Heroscape – Boiling Tension. (Yes, some of the jokes in the chat while they worked on the sound issues took full advantage of the “boiling tension” title.)

I’m going to take this opportunity to give a rundown on the next 6 months of releases – with special attention paid to the information that just dropped in the last 24 hours.

Releasing Next Week

I’ve had the privilege of playing with the new stuff (the Rising Tide story arc) that shows up on your local game store shelf next week – and I even wrote about it on Valentines Day. (Short version: loving the ability to field a heavily armored force of polar bears, jazzed to see Sonlen back with a much bigger dragon, and the Hellforge is both creepy & incredibly cool. Also, more terrain!)

Releasing In April

Coming soon will be the second half of the Rising Tide wave – including a bunch of very evil bug-like creatures and Wing Commander Tuck Harrigan and his Vorid Glide Strikers (flying animals with weaponry – what’s not to love?) I wrote a preview about the Rising Tide releases – and I’ll be reviewing the new figures when they land (or crawl with horrific chittering noises) into view.

And now we get to the new stuff!

Continue reading →
Posted in Convention Report, Preview | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of Rebirth

Posted on February 21, 2025 by Dale Yu

Rebirth

  • Designer: Reiner Knizia
  • Publisher: Mighty Boards
  • Players: 2-4
  • Age: 10+
  • Time: 60 mins
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/3EpP4J5 
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Following a series of calamities that left civilization in shambles, societies around the world are being rebuilt anew in harmony with nature. Scotland lies in ruins and the ancient clans have taken it upon themselves to restore the land. As clan leaders you will compete for strategic control of the land by rebuilding its prestigious castles.

Rebirth is a new, tile-laying game from Reiner Knizia. The game revitalizes this classic genre by combining Knizia’s elegant mechanics with Mighty Boards’ evocative world building. The result is a eurogame with smooth gameplay, set in a lush and hopeful future.

Each turn, players draw a tile from their supply and place it strategically on the board. These tiles represent your clan’s contribution to rebuilding the land. Rebirth rewards strategic foresight and clever tactical play, with tougher decisions emerging over the course of the game.

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2024, Reviews | Leave a comment

Convention Report: Gulf Games 53

Posted on February 20, 2025 by Mark Jackson

I was there at the (nearly) beginning of Gulf Games… my wife & I were one of nine families who made up the attendees of Gulf Games 2 in the fall of 1998. For the next 5 years, I was a pretty regular fixture – then we moved across the country and I only managed to make two Gulf Games events between 2004 and 2014. Beginning in 2015, I began bringing my sons (first the oldest, then both of them) to enjoy one of my favorite family-friendly gaming events.

My older son (Braeden) and I had delightful time road-tripping and gaming together – due to finishing college & his previous job, this is the first time we’ve been able to both make it to a “winter” Gulf Games since 2019.

Join me as I take you along on our magical gaming mystery tour!

Continue reading →
Posted in Convention Report | Tagged | 2 Comments

Dale Yu: Review of Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan

Posted on February 19, 2025 by Dale Yu

Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan

In this city that he has made into the pride of Kaan, the Ilkral has eyes and ears at every corner. He is a beloved ruler, but there is an ambition in him that will not rest until all of Kaan has bent the knee. I fear he will burn our homeland to ash and scatter it on the winds if it stands in his way.

Fateforge: Chronicles of Kaan is a mythical action-adventure cooperative campaign full of surprising twists with a sprawling story and intense fights played in episodes of under an hour.

The game offers an accessible, RPG-like board game experience for 1 to 4 players. Meaningful narrative choices and action-packed combat scenes are the heart of the game. You will take on the role of a hero and backflip, double-slash and charge your way to victory! The app-driven story lets you navigate your way through a city full of intrigue and your choices will ultimately determine the fate of the empire.

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2024, Kickstarter, Reviews | Leave a comment

Dale Yu: Review of Lunar

Posted on February 18, 2025 by Dale Yu

Lunar

  • Designer: Masato Uesugi
  • Publisher: Allplay
  • Players: 2 or 4
  • Age: 11+
  • Time: 30+
  • Amazon affiliate link: https://amzn.to/412VAhz
  • Played with review copy provided by publisher

Lunar is a quick-playing, trick-taking game for two or four players in which players combine the phases of the moon and nocturnal animals to form cards played into tricks, which are combined to determine their value within each trick. Each round consists of twelve tricks played, and at the end of each round, a score is awarded based on the number of tricks and cards acquired. Once one player (or team) reaches 30 points, the game ends, and the side with the most points wins!

Lunar is a trick-taking game that was once known as Ortrick.  If you are familiar with that game, no need to read this rules part; you already know the game.  But for those of you who don’t know the game, let me paraphrase James Nathan’s explanation of the original in order to explain this one.

Continue reading →

Posted in Essen 2024, Reviews | 1 Comment

Dale Yu – First Impressions of Soul Raiders

Posted on February 17, 2025 by Dale Yu

Soul Raiders

  • Designer: Marc Andre
  • Publisher: One For All
  • Players: 2-4
  • Time: 10+
  • Time: 3 to 4 hrs per chapter
  • Played with review copy sent to us by the publisher

I have been excited about Soul Raiders since meeting up with Marc Andre at SPIEL 2018 – where I got to finally meet one of my favorite designers and also get a sneak peak at his new narrative style game.  From the little bit (first 2 locations) that I was able to see, I instantly wanted to know more about the game.

[note – to avoid spoilers, I’m mostly using pictures from the publisher or plain pictures that do not include content of the actual quests you will undertake]

In the intervening years, the game has apparently been worked on and refined over and over.  The finished game has three chapters, each with over 40 locations.  There are over 1,000 cards to support the playing through those locations!   After a wait of seven years, the game is finally done and has been distributed to its backers.  The Grimoire edition comes in a giant box that actually looks like a book – a pretty cool package, I must say.   While we haven’t played through the entire game yet, I wanted to talk a bit about the game after our first two sessions.

In this fast-paced narrative game, the players become powerful heroes. They will be able to roam freely in a variety of settings, cooperating to overcome the threat of an impending doom before it is too late!  Below is the description of the game from the publisher:

Continue reading →

Posted in Reviews | Leave a comment