I was recently contacted by Never Engine Games about their new game, Facility 07. This card=based spy game is one worth taking a look at. Though I haven't had a chance to play it yet, I took the time to peruse the video, Kickstarter campaign and Tabletopia implementation. This game's graphic art style has taken a simplified and pleasant approach. I particularly liked the approach of having the card deck generate a randomly-created map of the facility. This will change and add variety to future plays. I can't speak to the game-play however I do think this one's worth checking out. I've included some more information provided by the publisher below. Facility 07 is a Game of Exploration and Espionage with a Battle Royale Twist for 2-6 semi-cooperative players. You play as iconic spies and action heroes who infiltrate an evil genius' lair and stop him from destroying the world! The facility is built out of cards room by room as you explore, so it’s different every time - there are over 2 million possible layouts! Never Engine Games, is a small team of three people and we’ve been working on the game for about 6 years (off and on) but when COVID hit and our income dropped hard almost overnight, we decided to follow our dream and finally bring Facility 07 to Kickstarter. When I receive game projects I think are well produced I like to pass along. If Facility 07 interests you, use the following links to learn more:
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Recently my neighbors and I have been wanting to play tabletop games in person. Desiring also to be safe and responsible during the pandemic, we tried a couple of options. Utilizing a neighbor's deck and an other's garage were our choices. At the onset of Covid-19 restrictions my gaming group found it difficult to find ways to play board games together. Eventually a portion of the group migrated to meeting online via services such as Tabletopia and Tabletop Simulator. Both are great options and work quite well, however we felt we were missing some of the personal interaction. As summer began to wind down and temperatures decreased, my neighbors in the group and I decided to try some outdoor or partially outdoor options. In both the cases listed, we all agreed to wear facial masks and to wash hands and/or us sanitizer minimizing the risk of contamination. Option One – Deck/Patio, Outdoor Area One of my neighbors has a very nice back deck and pergola which is well-suited to hosting a small group of four to six players and a table set-up. We played a couple games on the deck and really enjoyed it. A couple minor challenges we noted were:
Option Two – Gaming in a Garage (open door) Another of my neighbors suggested the use of their garage. She purchased some mesh material and fashioned a screen with a zipper door/opening to hang via velcro to the large garage door opening. The result was a partially open ventilated gaming area. This addressed a few of our concerns with outdoor gaming:
Final Thoughts
Both of the gaming-together options described are great ways to get that personal interaction that I know most of us are craving. I personally enjoyed both of my group's solutions. I would be happy to play in either of the two outdoor gaming areas. When utilizing the back deck, we can take into account the outdoor challenges to best prepare. The garage option is a little more confined but is a great option. Most recently our group has met in the garage setting and we have affectionately dubbed it the "Gaming Garage". This has worked well for our neighborhood gaming friends. Consider creating that safe outdoor or partially outdoor gathering option for your group. Take note of some of the possible challenges to prepare the area and your group for the best possible outcome. Keep finding ways to play board games together and ... Game on! This week my neighbors and I decided to play a board game online via Tabletop Simulator. I decided to teach them HORRIFIED. This cooperative game pits the players against the classic Universal Studios movie monsters. Our group tried out the Steam workshop online community built version of this popular board game. If you're looking for it on Tabletopia, you can subscribe to the workshop build named "Horrified (Scripted)" created by One Must Be Free. This was my first time playing an online version and it was the first time being introduced to any form of the game for the others. I created a server, opening Horrified and quickly got it set up, thanks to many of the scripts built into the game allowing for automatic placement. I was able to go over the basic concept and rules, allowing us to get started in about 15-20 minutes. We didn't have the best luck in the game. Very early on our group suffered three defeats, resulting in the terror track advancing nearly half way. Once the terror track reaches the end, the game ends in defeat. Undaunted by this bad luck and determined to keep learning and playing the game, we continued on. Each player quickly gathered the game-play process and rules. It went very smoothly. Adding villagers and items to the board was a quick and easy process as there were scripts created to help with these functions. Eventually our game ended in defeat, however we all enjoyed it. It felt like we were really making progress against all three monsters when we had two villagers get defeated, sending the terror track to the end. Horrified (Scripted) on Tabletop Simulator was a big success with our group. I was very happy with this community workshop build. Thanks to One Must Be Free for doing such a nice job. If you'd like to play games using Tabletop simulator, it is available via Steam online. To learn more about Horrified, you can link to the Board Game Geek website by clicking here.
Game on! Cthulhu: Death May Die is a mission-based dungeon-crawl style board game designed by Rob Daviau and Eric M. Lang. Last week I got the chance to play a Tabletop Simulator version of the game someone had created within the Steam community workshop. Cthulhu: Death May Die is an adventure game that is played in missions or episodes. Each mission has the same basic formula – Disrupt the ritual and then destroy the Great Old One who emerges. I'm not going to get into the detailed description of how to play. If you'd like to read more about it on Board Game Geek, click here. I would like to focus on the Tabletop Simulator experience and share photos from the gameplay. Playing community created games from the workshop on Tabletop Simulator can be a mixed bag. Some games are just not well constructed, while others have put in a lot of time and effort to not only recreate a board game experience, but also add some simple scripts to make the game a bit quicker/easier to play. My group's experience playing Cthulhu: Death May Die was more of the latter. Our group of four had one experienced player who taught the other three of us how to play in probably about twenty minutes. We truly were able to start playing very quickly and most everything made sense. This online implementation of the game also includes the rulebook which sat on the table for easy reference. Each mission, when selected, is set up with map tiles, gates and other features in their proper locations. Each player area had a custom script which allowed players to place found items and allies on either the left or right side of their character card. This is important in the game. This script was used often and generally worked well. Instructions for using the script are written in the script rectangle just below each player area. In addition, there were clever dice scripts set up to allow players to select the number of Black and Green dice needed in any particular roll. By clicking the dice count on the circular script area, all dice of that color were rolled. There were also groupings of dice around the table for those who prefer to gather and roll in the standard way. All of the miniature models were quite nicely translated into the virtual environment as were the character standees. The one "glitch" we encountered was that the miniatures could not be laid on their side as need in the particular scenario we played. The result was having to place the miniatures upside down in a "hand stand", which looked odd, but served its purpose. All-in-all this Tabletop community created implementation was very well done. I really enjoyed playing Cthulhu: Death May Die via Tabletop Simulator. My character was The Kid and I actually had the honor of dealing the final blow to Cthulhu at the end of the game. Our party was victorious. The whole group seemed to enjoy the game and we are planning to play other missions in the future.
If this sounds interesting to you, check it out on Tabletop Simulator in the community workshop or consider purchasing the physical game by CMON from your favorite board-game source. Have fun fighting the Elder Gods and game on! |
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