Mojang, the company founded from the massive indie success of Minecraft, has announced, at GDC this week, that they are working on a new game called Scrolls. John Walker over at Rock, Paper, Shotgun was fortunate enough to get to visit the Mojang headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, and get a sneak peak of the game and interview with the guys. According to interview, the game will be a mix of a collectible card game and board game, but played on a PC or Mac. The player will take their set of cards and play them against what is happening on a board. This seems like an interesting meld of three different genres/industry and will have to see what Mojang is able to come up with considering the current state of the online CCG market. Head over to Rock, Paper, Shotgun and check out the interview with Mojang and find out for yourself about Scrolls.
It seems like this might be turning into a somewhat consistent thing here at Critical Gamers. We are getting so much awesome news that if we don't post multiple times a day, we would never get it all out there. Why not just grab a bunch of the best articles and toss them together into a massive news update?
Yesterday, Fantasy Flight Games announced Black Crusade, the latest standalone RPG in the Warhammer 40,000 line. Black Crusade will offer players a unique experience in the conflict between the forces of Chaos and the Imperium of Man. Players will be able to play as a Disciple of the Dark Gods, as a either a Chaos Space Marine or a human Servant of Chaos. This latest edition gives us the ability to examine Chaos from a different angle. We will be able to learn out about their characters and what steered them into the path of corruption. Head over to the official Black Crusade website and get ready to surround yourself in Chaos this summer!
First thing, the Lich King looks badass. However, we expect nothing less from Blizzard. Secondly, it appears that there will be 93 cards in the raid. While not called out explicitly in the article, the writing is on the wall, so to speak, well on the card at least. We will have to see how that plays out. Third, if you check out the article, it appears that the Lich King will be the only Boss Hero in this raid. Those familiar with the MMO will be quick to point out that this is not the case in the 10 and 25 man versions of the raid. However, Drew Walker, Creative Content Lead for WoW TCG and Lead Designer for Assault on Icecrown Citadel, has pointed out that Lord Marrowgar, Blood-Queen Lana'thel, Lady Deathwhisper, and the other raid bosses will still exist in this raid. Just their purpose will change a bit. Instead of taking them on individually, the Lich King, will be able to summon them throughout the battle.
Fans of the Grand Alliance have not been left out of this raid either, you will be able to play Lady Jaina Proudmoore, Dark Lady Sylvanas Windrunner, and Highlord Tirion Fordring. Each of the three iconic heroes also have their own weapons, Staff of Antonidas, Deathwhisper, and Ashbringer, respectively. Also, each hero comes with their own 61-card tournament legal deck. So if you have friends that don't have their own full decks, this raid will provide them for you. You can also replace Tirion, Jaina, or Sylvanas with a tournament legal hero of your own and those same friends can use the decks in a tournament. Pretty sweet.
Fans of the comic books, AMC series, and zombie fans in general, will be excited to know that Robert Kirkman, creator of the Walking Dead, has announced a partnership with Telltale Games (Sam & Max, Back to the Future) to create a "multi-year, multi-platform, multi-title" video game series based off of the franchise. Specifics weren't announced but it appears to be heading to most of the major gaming platforms such as PC/Mac, consoles, handhelds, mobile, and social media outlets. No official release date has been announced but Telltale Games is expecting a Q4 2011 release.
Head over to IGN for the breaking news and an interview with creator Robert Kirkman.
At IGN.com
With the 2011 Toy Fair in New York nearing its end, news abounds among the analog gaming and toy industries. Instead of devoting an individual entry per news article, we are just going to give it to you lottery style, one lump sum (minus the ridiculous taxes). Please feel free to comment about the articles in the comments fields below. We are looking for input on the types of articles you are interested in so we can keep the content relative and fresh. Any input would be greatly appreciated and we at Critical Gamers thank you for your patronage.
In preparation for their 10 year anniversary, Days of Wonder (DoW) has announced a $10,000 design contest. Contestants must design their own Ticket to Ride map and DoW will select the best fan-made map to win. The winner will receive $10,000 and the map will be added as part of a Ticket to Ride Map Collection to be revealed at Essen Spiel 2011, alongside new maps designed by Ticket to Ride creator Alan R. Moon. For official rules and entry form, visit the Days of Wonder design contest page.
Japan: the land of the rising sun, a nation of proud and industrious people, and the main focus of the game We Must Tell the Emperor, published by Victory Point Games (VPG) in the later half of 2010. In this 7th installment of the States of Siege solitaire series, players must control Japan during the Pacific Theater of World War II, from 1941 to 1945, and protect it on multiple fronts from advancing Allied forces, all while balancing resource consumption.
Funagain games is currently offering a fantastic promotion on Queen Games - Robber Nights, Airships, and Thebes. You can purchase them in a bundle of all three for $49.99 which is 62% off the list value. Already own Airships and don't need the whole bundle? Not a problem. They are also on sale individually; you can buy Robber Knights for $10, Airships for $20, and Thebes for $30!. Head over to Funagain games and find out why Thebes won the 2008 BoardGameGeek Golden Geek Best Family Game.
Cargo Noir, the latest highly anticipated release from Days of Wonder, is now available for pre-order. Designed by Serge Laget, Cargo Noir is a game of trading smuggled goods where each player represents a "family" in a 1950s noir setting. Each turn, the player will head to a different port city - Hong Kong, New York, Rotterdam, Rio and more - and bid on goods that were "lost". If there are other "families" present in the same port city, prepare for a bidding war, but find yourself alone, you can make off with the goods cheap. The goods are used to purchase more ships for your fleet, scout for wares in more locations, purchase Victory Spoils, or perform actions. The player who accumulates the most spoils wins!
Check out the Official Game Teaser from Days of Wonder -
Minecraft Developer Announces New CCG/Board Game
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