GamingAngels » Hobby Angels

Hasbro gives Twister a new twist

GamingAngel — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 18:00:59 +0000

It’s a Britney Twist! Hasbro is looking to modernize their game Twister. The white sheet of colored dots has been replaced with movable Twister spots. The “spinner” is replaced with the Twister Console. And instead of calling out the color, the console is calling out moves.

That’s right, Twister Dance is a dance game. Britney Spears is the spokesperson for the title and the console will release with “Till the World Ends”.

“Dancing has been such an important part of my life since I was a little girl,” said Britney Spears. “As soon as I saw the new TWISTER DANCE game, I knew I wanted to be involved. I think kids will love rocking the spots and dancing to the music as much as my boys and I do. It’s a lot of fun!”

Players will be able to upload other songs to the console and it will create the dance routine on its own. What is weird about the press release is that it goes between saying the product is for kids, to players and then specifically girls.

“Girls will also be able to move to the beat of songs featuring Ke$ha and Willow Smith, and an exclusive TWISTER DANCE song called “Caught Up in a Twister.”

A little confusing, since last I remember, Twister was a gender neutral game. TWISTER DANCE will be available in Fall 2012 for the approximate retail price of $34.99.

Apples to Apples coming to console & Facebook

GamingAngel — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 18:21:19 +0000

I love Mattel’s game Apples to Apples. In the boardgame, one player picks a word and the others place cards from their hand that they think the player would associate most closely to that word. Or in the cases I’ve played, what that person is most likely to pick based on personal preferences. For example, anything Disney always wins when it’s my turn to pick. Apples to Apples is a great conversation starter and great for families or adults.

Apples to Apples is now coming to console and social networks. It will be released first on Xbox Live and Playstation Network this winter for 800 MS Points or $9.99 on PSN. What’s interesting is there is a single player mode included. Not sure why anyone would want to play this as a single player. Online and local modes support up to six players. New to the game are Golden Apple cards that change game play and animated avatars that players can choose from.

Later Facebook fans will be able to play using their smartphones. Facebook players will also unlock achievements and Apples Coins and Cash.

The interesting thing about Apples to Apples is that while it’s a great boardgame, it does help to know the people you are playing with. Having this knowledge assists you in knowing what the person may pick. Someone may always pick the funniest card, or maybe they hate dogs and would never pick an answer with a dog. I would recommend playing this online with people you know. Playing with total strangers just might not be as fun.

Games with Kids: Lemming Mafia

Quinn — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:17:14 +0000

Game Name: Lemming Mafia

Designer: Michael Rieneck

Artist: Joscha Sauer

# of Players: 3 – 6

Suggested Ages: 8+

Average playing time: 15 – 20 minutes

When we went to Free Comic Book Day back in May, I decided it would be fun to get a new family game. After some discussion with the boy (9), we decided on Lemming Mafia, because it looked silly, and we like silly. The helpful people at the comic book shop also recommended it, saying that it is a quick game, which is nice for a weeknight game session.

We meant to play this game right away, but somehow time got away from us, and it went on our game shelf and was forgotten for a few months. Last weekend we had some friends over and finally got it out, and we are so glad we did!

We started with a review of the rules, which seemed somewhat complex, but once we dove into play, they were not hard to keep track of. The basic idea is that there is a group of lemmings of different colors traveling along a pier, and when they get to the end, they will all follow the leader and dive in. A player’s task is to bet on which lemming will make it to the end first, along with attempting to get points for various mission cards with tasks like Red finishes before Blue or The 1st Place Lemming finishes without any concrete. Why the reference to concrete? Well, remember, this is a lemming Mafia–sometimes lemmings get thrown over with concrete shoes, and don’t finish the game.

Our first game was mostly a trial run, figuring out the rules as we went, so it involved a lot of questions and explaining, but it still went quickly. In fact, the game goes so quickly, we were able to play it 3 or 4 times and still have an early night (my friend is a teacher, and used to an early bed time). At first we thought that we would be playing a specific lemming, and trying to get that lemming to finish first, but that is not how it works. Everyone bets on which lemming will make it, trying to get that one to the end while hampering other colors or getting rid of them via the concrete shoes. You can change your bets somewhat as the game goes on and strategies change.

We played with a 9 year old boy, a 14 year old girl, a 15 year old girl, and two 40ish moms, and we all enjoyed the game. Since that first night, my 9 year old and 14 year old have played a couple of quick games on random afternoons, even playing once or twice when I wasn’t around saying “Turn that TV off!” Although the game is recommended for 3-6 players, they enjoyed it as a two player game. I like that the game goes quickly; I don’t mind the occasional weekend afternoon spending hours on an epic game, but I like having something that is an option for busier times, like a school night during the week, or just a day when I have too many other things to do to devote more than an hour or so to a board game.

Overall rating: 4 out of 5 stars

This game is definitely a keeper, with quick play, silliness and appeal for multiple age groups. We are not obsessed with it or anything, but we are glad to have it around, and will play again, many times.

First Look – Penny Arcade The Game: Gamers vs. Evil

stealthyslyth — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:41:44 +0000

I definitely got my video game on while at PAX, but I also made it a point to check out some tabletop gaming, and boy am I glad that I stopped off at the Cryptozoic booth. They were demoing their new Penny Arcade deck building game “Penny Arcade – The Game: Gamers vs. Evil”, and man, what a fun game!

To start the game, you choose between different roles such as Gabe, Tycho and other familiar faces from the comic strip and then work to build up your deck. To do this, you use tokens to get merch cards or use power cards (cardboard tubes!) to make your deck more PvP based. The monsters you can snag for your deck are great, and can even infect the other players with the dreaded Pax Pox!

You will of course need some good strategy, and it begins with picking the character you’re going to play as. Some characters give you bonuses as to how many gold and power cards you receive in the beginning, or cards gained when you perform certain actions in the game like buying merch and a power card in one turn.

I sat down to play this game with one of the fine guys from Cryptozoic as well as a friend and a random stranger, and man did we have some fun! Sadly I lost, but there were quite a few laughs had over sicking some PvP bosses against one another as well as the humor from the comic showing up in the cards. The game and rules are very balanced, and any fan of Penny Arcade will for sure enjoy themselves with this game.

As a bonus at the show, Cryptozoic was actually selling the full game early to Pax attendees! With any purchase of the game ($49.99) attendees got another bonus: a boss deck for Fruit F#%&er Prime! Sadly I missed out on being able to get a copy myself (they were all sold out by Sunday morning), but Cryptozoic was super nice and gave me a bonus deck for when I purchase the full game in October. Yep, the full game will be out in October at your local game shop and online! And as someone who’s played, I highly recommend adding it to your game collection!

A Pokémon Black & White TCG expansion

Cherith — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 20:33:15 +0000

There’s now a Pokémon Black & White TCG expansion. In it, there are over 70 never-before-seen Pokémon from the newly explored Unova region, including new starter Pokémon Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, as well as powerful new Pokémon like Zoroark, Galvantula, Reuniclus! The new expansion is battle-ready containing over 110 cards which includes the Legendary Reshiram and Zekrom, both with new art covering the entire card.

There will be three Pokémon TCG: Black & White theme decks arriving in stores nationwide today. Each theme deck- Green Tornado, Red Frenzy, and Blue Assault includes a special code to unlock an identical digital deck in the recently announced Pokémon TCGO: Trainer Challenge Online! You’ll be able to use any of the three brand-new decks to battle against fourteen virtual TCG players in three lLeagues. Pokémon TCGO: Trainer Challenge launches this month at www.pokemontcg.com.

In addition, 10-card booster packs for the new expansion will arrive later this month, April 25. The four boosters will feature new Pokémon on the packaging: Reshiram, Zekrom, Zoroark and, Zebstrika, and with each booster pack is guaranteed one parallel foil card!

New Phyrexia Set Release Date Announced

Cherith — Tue, 29 Mar 2011 16:05:17 +0000

“The Great Work is Complete,” said Grand Cenobite Elesh Norn. “The stain of imperfection which is Mirrodin has been scourged and in its place we have shaped the face of New Phyrexia.”

The New Phyrexia set for Magic: the Gathering will be released on May 13, 2011. This is 3 of 3 in the Scars of Mirrodin block. Keep an eye out for pre-launch events happening in the week before launch (May 7 & 8). Check out the trailer:

A Geek A Week: a new collectible for 2011?

RainbowSleeve — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 12:36:39 +0000

I certainly would, if these initial cards are anything to go by….

But I think that, deep down, I’m glad that this is a collection of the real geeks of our time, rather than a hand-picked selection of our chosen posterchildren.

Why A Geek A Week? Because, in March 2010, cartoonist Len Peralta decided to interview one prominent geek every week for the 52 weeks of the year. From those interviews, he created a trading card for each of his “heroes”. Thinkgeek (one of the founding originals of online geek couture) snapped up the idea and decided to publish and distribute the 52 trading cards that Peralta created.

So, are these part of a trading card game? Well, not exactly. However, each of the cards promise the artwork of Peralta as he illustrates the chosen geek as either a character or as their alter-ego, with “vital nerd stats” calculated on the back of each card. Looks like these are going to be the basketball collector cards of our time!

This first deck features 8 well-known geeks, including Internet rockstar Jonathan Coultron, cartoon TV executive Fred Seibert, tech hostess Veronica Belmont, sci-fi author John Scalzi, riffing experts RiffTrax (Bill Corbett, Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy), senior editor at Lucas Online Bonnie Burton, nerdcore rapper MC Frontalot and web Moriarty Ken Plume. The rest of Peralta’s artwork will be released in additional sets throughout the year until the full 52 trading cards are completed.

However, that is not the end of ThinkGeek’s selling pitch. In conjunction with the launch of the first set of cards, Len Peralta and ThinkGeek are hosting an eBay charity auction beginning today. Many of the geeks profiled during the course of Peralta’s project have joined in and have donated some insanely cool autographed products to benefit both EFF & Child’s Play charities. Along with signed copies of the first eight cards, auction items include signed copies of The Guild Issue 1 comic, Wil Weaton’s book “The Day After”, and other goodies.

The first, 8-card series of Geek A Week cards are available on ThinkGeek.com for $9.99. Additional sets will be released throughout the year.

Len Peralta

Pokémon Black & White TCG to arrive in stores in April!

RainbowSleeve — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 00:37:44 +0000

The new Pokémon Black & White games for the Nintendo DSi have been flaunted in the media for many months, with many Pokémon fans salivating at the possibilities in the next chapter of their favourite series.

Thankfully, our trading card enthusiasts are not left out of the hype either. The Pokémon Company have announced the new Pokémon trading card expansion to complement the release of the video game, available as either theme decks or as booster packs. This expansion will include 70 new Pokémon from the Unova region, including new starter Pokémon Snivy, Tepig, and Oshawott, as well as powerful new Pokémon like Zoroark, Galvantula, Reuniclus.

The new card layout promises space for an expanded image of each Pokémon, and look out for the Reshiram and Zekrom cards, which will receive a unique foil and full-art treatment.

Added bonus for people considering the theme decks (Green Tornado, Red Frenzy, and Blue Assault) – these theme decks will include codes for an identical digital deck in the new Pokémon TCGO: Trainer Challenge online game. These theme decks will be available on April 6 2011, with the 10-card booster decks to arrive in retail stores on April 25.

For more information about the Pokémon TCG: Black & White expansion, head on over to www.pokemon.com. You can also check out the Pokémon TCGO: Trainer Challenge at www.pokemontcg.com.

Paradox Interactive releases “Hearts of Iron – the Card Game”

RainbowSleeve — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 17:18:57 +0000

What is Valentine’s Day without a little bit of heart?

For the single ladies, it often seems as if we hide our hearts away, behind an inpenetrable shield, protecting ourselves from love and it’s pitfalls. And, for those “cast-iron” hearts, Paradox Interactive has the Valentine’s Day solution: Hearts of Iron – The Card Game.

That’s right – take out all of those feelings of hurt and regret with a good dose of real-time strategy.

Paradox Interactive is another company hopping onto the bandwagon of “online collectible card games”. And for anyone who has had a go at the online Magic: the Gathering collectible card game, you will understand the ideal that Paradox is striving for. Hearts of Iron takes that idea and gives it a “realistic” spin. Players will take on the role of Axis or Allies during the events of World War II, and choose their strategies as they challenge opponents online. The game is being developed internally by Paradox and is the company’s first online TCG.

The game is boasting some good features. The 120 collectible cards use authentic World War II artwork, with 20 more promotional cards added to the mix. There are multiple game modes for the player to engage in, as well as opportunities to build your own deck and trade with other players online through the Paradox Connect system.

Hearts of Iron is scheduled to enter open beta in the coming months and go live later this year. For more information, follow Paradox on Twitter, or check in for updates on their website.

Yu-Gi-Oh goes on a mall tour

GamingAngel — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 18:00:21 +0000

Like Debbie Gibson or NKOTB, Yu-Gi-Oh! is going on a mall tour! The ten city mall tour will start on February 12 starting at Lake Grove, NY.

At each mall stop, players can learn how to play the game, watch demos, and game with experts. Each player will walk away with a demo pack to keep playing.

“This is a great way for us to reach out to a new audience and to satisfy our avid fans,” Yumi Hoashi, Vice President of the Konami Card Business said of the mall tour. “The face-to-face interaction is a perfect way to introduce the game to budding Duelists around the country. And, once they learn the basics of the game at the tour, they can continue to play and develop their skills at one of our Official Tournament stores in their area.”

I believe Yu-Gi-Oh is appropriate for young players, so parents can go and have a fun time with their kids in the mall.

The tour is:
New York, NY
February 12th Lake Grove, NY Smith Haven Mall
February 13th White Plains, NY Galleria at White Plains

Philadelphia, PA
February 19th Toms River, NJ Ocean County Mall
February 20th Philadelphia, PA Franklin Mills

Chicago, IL
February 26th Gurnee, IL Gurnee Mills
February 27th Orland Park, IL Orland Square

Houston, TX
March 5th Katy, TX Katy Mills
March 6th Houston, TX Houston Galleria

Tampa/St. Pete, FL
March 12th St. Petersburg, FL Tyrone Square
March 13th Port Richey, FL Gulf View