Christian T. Petersen et al, A Game of Thrones Boardgame
A multiplayer wargame more like Diplomacy than Risk, set in a fantasy world that bears a more than passing resemblance to War-of-the-Roses-era Britain, using mechanics cribbed from probably half a dozen games. It's good stuff. Lots of negotiating, some interesting high-level randomness (you'll get new units at the start of your turn just under half the time), and battles are partially determined by the strength of units (attacking and defending, with the potential of "support" from adjacent units on either side) and partially by the play of cards from your hand. There's a decent amount going on, but not so much that it's overwhelming, and there's a lot a lot of player interaction. It's got a few problems (navies are bordering on overpowered, and the five-player game has an unfortunate balance issue due to the vagaries of the map) but overall it's a really good game. This one'll probably get broken out about as often as Puerto Rico did this time last year. Looking forward to the expansion (due out at Origins!).
Ian Jones-Quartey, RPGWorld Volume One: Unlikely Hero Out for Adventure
It's a webcomic about the characters in a [nonexistent] console RPG. It mostly pokes fun at all the cliches of console RPGs ("Why did we get all fuzzy just now?" "It's a battle transition!") but managed to slide a bit of character development in there as well. The art's nice and the jokes are mostly pretty good. If it weren't an ongoing story I'd probably start reading it. (I hate having plot doled out to me in N-panel-per-day increments. It's all I can do to read comic books at twenty-four pages per month.)
Serena Valentino and Ted Naifeh, Gloomcookie
A comic book that starts off as the story of a small group of goths and their soap operas but quickly veers off into Changeling / Books of Magic territory. Neat, though bits feel a bit shallow (one character starts out looking like he's going to be fairly major, and then vanishes about halfway through the book and is never heard from again). I'm considering buying this one and the next two collections. It's drawn by Ted Naifeh of Courtney Crumrin fame, so the art is top-notch gothy.
Andy Diggle and Jock, The Losers: Ante Up
Trade paperback collecting issues one thru six. My second time through they still tell a compelling story. I don't feel like I necessarily got anything more out of it this time, but I did pick up on the clues that Character X is a traitor. (I'm upset that they played the "traitor among us" card so early; dangerously close to shark-jumping. To the left, there's time to work in the ramifications of the betrayal, and there's nothing that says no one else can betray them later.) The art's good, and several of the one-liners are brilliant. "That's one giant step for, uh, people who steal things."
A multiplayer wargame more like Diplomacy than Risk, set in a fantasy world that bears a more than passing resemblance to War-of-the-Roses-era Britain, using mechanics cribbed from probably half a dozen games. It's good stuff. Lots of negotiating, some interesting high-level randomness (you'll get new units at the start of your turn just under half the time), and battles are partially determined by the strength of units (attacking and defending, with the potential of "support" from adjacent units on either side) and partially by the play of cards from your hand. There's a decent amount going on, but not so much that it's overwhelming, and there's a lot a lot of player interaction. It's got a few problems (navies are bordering on overpowered, and the five-player game has an unfortunate balance issue due to the vagaries of the map) but overall it's a really good game. This one'll probably get broken out about as often as Puerto Rico did this time last year. Looking forward to the expansion (due out at Origins!).
Ian Jones-Quartey, RPGWorld Volume One: Unlikely Hero Out for Adventure
It's a webcomic about the characters in a [nonexistent] console RPG. It mostly pokes fun at all the cliches of console RPGs ("Why did we get all fuzzy just now?" "It's a battle transition!") but managed to slide a bit of character development in there as well. The art's nice and the jokes are mostly pretty good. If it weren't an ongoing story I'd probably start reading it. (I hate having plot doled out to me in N-panel-per-day increments. It's all I can do to read comic books at twenty-four pages per month.)
Serena Valentino and Ted Naifeh, Gloomcookie
A comic book that starts off as the story of a small group of goths and their soap operas but quickly veers off into Changeling / Books of Magic territory. Neat, though bits feel a bit shallow (one character starts out looking like he's going to be fairly major, and then vanishes about halfway through the book and is never heard from again). I'm considering buying this one and the next two collections. It's drawn by Ted Naifeh of Courtney Crumrin fame, so the art is top-notch gothy.
Andy Diggle and Jock, The Losers: Ante Up
Trade paperback collecting issues one thru six. My second time through they still tell a compelling story. I don't feel like I necessarily got anything more out of it this time, but I did pick up on the clues that Character X is a traitor. (I'm upset that they played the "traitor among us" card so early; dangerously close to shark-jumping. To the left, there's time to work in the ramifications of the betrayal, and there's nothing that says no one else can betray them later.) The art's good, and several of the one-liners are brilliant. "That's one giant step for, uh, people who steal things."
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